Indian Empire, Port of Bombay.
The tune of "God Save the King" was played as the British and Indian soldiers who were queuing up on the pier to board the ship stood at attention under the command of the officer, and then they all performed military salutes towards a slowly approaching golden carriage. When the local dignitaries and British gentlemen in Mumbai saw this golden carriage, they all waved the red cross flags and Union Jack flags in their hands and shouted hoarsely.
Of course, the person riding in the golden carriage was Emperor William, who was driving the expedition himself. This burly emperor with thick features was sitting on a gold-plated carriage that symbolized the orthodox imperial power of India. He was accompanied by two graceful figures wearing gorgeous saris. Although the European monarchs of this era still retained the bad habit of keeping royal mistresses, only the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire could have dozens of Indian beauties as slaves like Emperor William. come out.
If this matter is to be left in the UK, Parliament and public opinion must be denounced to death - this is blatant support for slavery!
But in India...haha, Emperor William really "knows the joy of being a king".
William's people did not dislike him as emperor at all because he openly kept female slaves. Instead, they expressed the greatest enthusiasm for his arrival. On the contrary, the emperor's two most loyal ministers, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Nelson, were worried about the emperor's corruption and frowned along the way.
Emperor William also felt a little guilty - he had not yet reached the level of unjustly killing Zhongliang, and of course he had not thought of giving Zhongliang and his friends a few Indian slave girls. This was not as good as Emperor Daoguang next door.
The guilty emperor spoke: "Duke, don't worry about me. I'm just feinting this time, and Marquis Nelson (Nelson has been promoted) is with me, so there won't be any problem."
Is there really no problem? It seems that in recent years, the British Empire has always had accidents when it was against the Ming Empire. The Duke of Wellington always had a bad feeling in his heart. He felt uneasy and glanced at the Marquis of Nelson again.
"Duke," Marquis Nelson said with a confident look, "don't worry, our blockade of the Persian Gulf is just a bluff. We have used airships and spies to conduct repeated reconnaissance. We have not found anything in Muscat or the Persian Gulf. There is not even a Hero-class ship, not even a Hanwu-class ship. The most powerful is their Prince-class ship. The Prince-class ship cannot threaten our two Indomitable-class ships, plus a few newly transferred old-fashioned battleships, Ironclads, we are far more powerful than them.”
Emperor William also took up the topic and said: "According to the "On the Navy" written by Zhuge Youde, the Ming Dynasty divided the fleet into three categories: sea power fleet, destruction fleet and existence fleet. Among them, the sea power fleet, as the name suggests, has the control of a certain sea area. The fleet and the destruction fleet are the fleets that attempt to destroy the opponent's sea power, while the existence fleet is the fleet that exists in a certain naval fortress or a certain bay, which can pose a threat and contain the enemy's naval fleet. The Nanyang Fleet of the Ming Empire, The Beiyang Fleet and the Home Fleet are both sea power fleets, and the Nanyang Fleet is also a destruction fleet. The Persian Gulf Fleet is obviously performing the mission of the existential fleet.
The first priority for the existence of a fleet is existence itself! Because the existing fleet is inherently weaker than the opponent's fleet, it cannot assume the responsibility of sea power or destroying the fleet. If it reluctantly performs the task of destruction or sea power, then the existing fleet can only be eliminated, which is meaningless. Therefore, Ming Dynasty's Persian Gulf Fleet will never seek a decisive battle before our Indian fleet suffers heavy losses. As long as we are powerful enough, they will definitely choose to retreat. "
After hearing what Emperor William said, Earl Nelson just nodded in agreement.
Obviously, this Emperor William really knows the navy!
And Zhuge Youde, who wrote "On the Navy", was also knowledgeable. He even knew better than his ancestor, King Zhuge Wuzhong. This "On the Navy" was not copied by Zhuge Youde from the ancestral heavenly book.
In fact, King Zhuge Wuzhong himself did not understand the true meaning of sea power.
Because King Zhuge Wuzhong has never lived in a country that really needs sea power from beginning to end - the concept of real need for sea power is not that there are one or two emperors who are willing to spend money to build a fleet, but that it really needs overseas The need for expansion and the need to protect overseas interests. As for a large country with land power, it is impossible to understand sea power when its land expansion or security is not satisfied, and when its overseas interests are not yet significant. King Wu Zhong was able to achieve a certain degree of overseas expansion. We even reached out to America, which is actually quite a time travel. It is simply impossible for him to go further and compete with Britain and the Netherlands for world sea power.
But when Zhuge Youde lived, the Ming Dynasty already had huge overseas interests and needs for overseas expansion, and truly understood sea power, so he wrote "On the Navy" as the theoretical basis for the Ming Dynasty's naval construction.
Although under his promotion and auspices, the Ming Dynasty became the second largest navy in the world, it was a peaceful navy until not long ago. However, this peaceful navy still relied on its own strength to win sea power in half of the Pacific, and also It has the ability to undermine British maritime power in the Indian Ocean.
Sometimes it is not necessary to fight for sea power. Showing off one's strength and intimidating others can achieve the goal. The key is that there is really such a need and the ability to invest and build. I really can’t do this!
When the Ming Dynasty's "Peaceful Navy" became more and more powerful with the help of the Industrial Revolution, Zhuge Youde's "Naval Theory" naturally became a must-read book for naval generals in Western countries, and even became a must-read in naval military academies of various countries. teaching materials. Emperor William was a naval officer with a professional background and was really knowledgeable, so he could tell at a glance that the Ming Dynasty's Persian Gulf Fleet was an existing fleet.
And according to "Naval Theory", this existence fleet. As long as it continues to exist, it will not fight tooth and nail!
This is Zhuge Youde's book. How can the juniors of the Ming Dynasty not listen to it?
So Emperor William should be very safe!
In late autumn, the temperature on the Gulf of Oman is still very high. Under the scorching sun, there are several fishing boats with Arabian triangle sails on the sea, with a tonnage of up to 100 or 200, lowering nets on the sea.
This period is not the fishing season in the Gulf of Oman. You cannot catch the most popular sardines in the Gulf of Oman. At most, you can catch some squid and yellowfin tuna. Probably because these two fish are not very popular, so at this time The people on the fishing boats floating in this area had tanned and shiny skin, and their heads were covered with Arab turbans, but their facial features looked like those of East Asian fishermen, who were all absent-minded. They don't care much about fishing nets, but focus their attention on one direction - the east!
In recent days, many so-called Indian Navy destroyers and gunboats have been patrolling this sea area. From time to time, British Royal Navy ships from Europe come through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to join the Royal Indian Navy. The rumors are getting tighter and the conflict seems to be imminent. These Arab fishermen with East Asian faces are naturally the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Navy's Persian Gulf "Existence Fleet" that has retreated into the Persian Gulf. They left their original ships and were sent to the open sea, opening a maritime warning and search line for the "presence fleet" in the Persian Gulf.
A tough-looking man slipped down from the mast of an Arab fishing boat. There was also a huge clairvoyant eight-fold binocular telescope hanging around his neck. His glasses turned red from observing for a long time. Although people have already gone down to the deck, they still look eastward frequently. A sailor below asked doubtfully: "Second Lieutenant, have you found anything?"
The man just shook his head, picked up the kettle and drank cold water, while he began to count the days in his heart. His name is Wang Zuo, and he is an officer with a professional background. However, because his grades in the naval school were last and there was no one to promote him, he was still a second lieutenant two years after graduation. If this continues, he will retire as a major in this life. Not willing to give in! That's why he filed a report and requested to be transferred to the torpedo boat brigade of the Persian Gulf Fleet. Unfortunately, he came here for several months, fishing and sunbathing every day. His family was originally a fisherman, and he thought that becoming a naval officer would change his class (actually it has changed ), but I didn’t expect to go back to my old job.
At this moment, the sailor who had just spoken to him suddenly shouted: "Second Lieutenant! East! There is a situation on the east!"
(End of chapter)
