Compared to the mess in Mumbai city, the British Royal Navy's supply dock and its surroundings in Mumbai appear to be much more orderly.
A total of twenty pre-dreadnoughts, and an even larger number of cruisers of all types, turned the supply dock into a jungle of steel.
On the sea surface within a few dozen kilometers outside the dock, there were a larger number of warships of various types cruising dispersedly to guard against the possible appearance of the Ming Dynasty fleet.
These battleships were the British and French combined fleet that broke into the Little Western Ocean. The commander at what time was the most famous British admiral: Horatio Nelson.
Due to the direct drive of the Ming Dynasty's industrial revolution, the entire world's science and technology developed rapidly. By Nelson's time, there was no such thing as jumping into gang wars.
Nelson, who is forty-seven years old this year, has not lost his eyes or arms like in history, and his body is still intact and healthy enough.
Of course he would not have known that he would have died in battle in October this year and would become a symbol of the spirit of the British Navy in later generations.
Nelson now led the British and French combined fleets into the Little Western Ocean, and of course he had the idea of a direct decisive battle with the Ming's main fleet.
But this willingness is not strong.
With the current range and detection capabilities of warships, although it is difficult for the Ming Dynasty fleet to truly control the entire Little Western Sea, it at least has most of the sea control.
Most of the areas around Xiaoxiyang are Ming Dynasty's colonies, and Ming Dynasty's fleet is very convenient for any action.
The British and French combined fleets were restricted everywhere.
Before the news of the start of the peace talks was confirmed, Nelson's fleet did not dare to stop at the Tianzhu port, and supplies came secretly in batches.
Even more afraid to resupply in a place close to the front line like Mumbai.
The areas around British Tianzhu were all vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and there were also a large number of Ming Dynasty informants in British Tianzhu itself.
Not only were various Ming Dynasty immigrants active, but there were also a large number of native Tianzhu people who took the initiative to serve the Ming Dynasty people.
If the British and French combined fleets collectively docked, and if they were discovered by these informants and contacted the Ming Dynasty fleet to come and contain them, they would probably have to fight decisively under the most unfavorable circumstances.
In fact, after the British and French combined fleets broke into the Little Western Ocean, they were ready to turn back to the Atlantic Ocean at any time.
As for what Ming Dynasty newspapers said about the British and French combined fleet threatening the Malacca Strait route, this news is indeed true.
Threatening the Ming Dynasty's sea routes was the purpose and actual mission of the British and French combined fleets.
However, the specific war situation was somewhat different from what was exaggerated in the newspapers of the Ming Dynasty and what ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty imagined.
Nelson's method of threatening the Malacca shipping lanes was not to attack the land and islands in the Strait of Malacca.
That is to try to have a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty's main force in a state of absolute disadvantage. There is basically no possibility of victory.
In fact, they were cruising in the Xiaoxiyang area, trying to cut off the sea routes between the mainland of Ming Dynasty and Dongmozhou, Nanmozhou, and Dashi.
Support the anti-Ming alliance's military operations in Tianzhu, Dongmozhou, Nanmozhou, and Dashi areas, and interfere with the Ming fleet's support on the battlefield.
The mission of the Ming Dynasty fleet is to cut the retreat of the British and French combined fleets and force the British and French combined fleets to withdraw from the Little Western Sea.
The two sides circled each other on the Little Western Ocean, chased each other for several days, and several small-scale vanguard battles broke out.
Although the main fleet had encountered it twice, it was because one of the parties felt that their entry posture was not good and left the battlefield after a little contact.
In the era of sailing battleships, once the fleet was at a disadvantage and the wind direction was unfavorable, it would be difficult to escape from the battlefield and had to fight decisively.
But in the age of steam battleships, fleet operations no longer relied on wind direction, and radio allowed commanders to control the entire fleet.
How the superior party forces the inferior party to fight on the spot instead of running away when the situation is not right has become a very important issue in naval battles.
This is the main reason why the largest gunboat naval battle in human history, the Battle of Jutland, ended in an anticlimactic manner. It is also an important reason why it is difficult to see a decisive battleship battle again in the future.
It wasn't until the emergence of aircraft carriers with particularly long hands that this problem was somewhat solved. After all, no matter how fast a ship runs, it cannot outrun an airplane.
Now that the war itself was over, naval dogfights ceased, and fleet battles were completely avoided.
After the news of the peace talks was officially confirmed, Nelson led the fleet to approach the Bombay docks.
However, it is still only partially docked for the time being, and the battleship and crew are also partially relaxed, divided into three groups to take turns to replenish and rest.
The French deputy commander, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, directed supply operations within the fleet.
Nelson was standing on the dock relaxing when his deputy, Cuthbert Collingwood, trotted over with an envelope:
"Telegram from London, the location for the peace talks has been officially determined, at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and the Prime Minister invites you to attend the peace talks.
"At the same time, His Majesty and the Prime Minister have determined that you will be ennobled as an earl and promoted to admiral."
Nelson had already anticipated his arrangement, and was not too surprised about the location of the peace talks. He just said with emotion:
"The Cape of Good Hope...is really a place that brings good luck to us Europeans..."
Collingwood couldn't help but asked with a dry smile:
"Is it really good luck? Many people complained about the atrocities committed by the Spanish and Dutch in Luzon and Java, which angered the terrifying dragon of Ming Dynasty..."
Nelson took the envelope from his companion, pulled out the telegraph newspaper inside, read the details, and said with a smile:
"Of course it's good luck. If there was no direct route from east to west, we might still be using sail warships now.
"We might even have to fight a boarding battle with swords. If we are not careful, we might lose our arms, eyes, or even our lives.
"Maybe I'll wear a black eyepatch and put a hook on my arm, like the pirate captain in the novel illustration..."
Collingwood was amused by Nelson and laughed:
"You are still so humorous. But what are you going to do now? The Prime Minister suggested that you go back to London in advance and go to the peace talks venue after accepting the canonization.
"We Europeans have finally drawn Ming Dynasty this time. This is an unprecedented and major event. This negotiation will also become a gathering of the entire civilized world."
"That way you can return to London half a month early, and the large fleet can be slowly brought back to Europe by Charles and me."
After listening to his companion's advice and reading the telegram carefully, Nelson slowly shook his head and said:
"It is indeed an unprecedented event. The tentacles of the Ming Empire have completely extended into the back garden of Europe - the Mediterranean Sea.
“Europeans will have to accept the fact that Ming Dynasty will be directly involved in local affairs in Europe.
"The most ridiculous thing is that the Europeans couldn't accept this in the first place, so they took the initiative to launch a war against the Ming Dynasty.
"But now, the war has made this a reality, and Europeans are grateful for it..."
Collingwood smiled helplessly:
"The war has made Europeans realize the reality. It is no longer possible to regard the Mediterranean as their back garden.
“After all, the Mediterranean is originally the sea between the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, and it is not originally the sea of Europeans.
"The Baltic Sea is the sea for Europeans. It is not unacceptable for Ming Dynasty to participate in Mediterranean affairs..."
Nelson smiled bitterly and shook his head again:
"It is indeed not unacceptable to us in the United Kingdom, but countries in the Mediterranean may not think so."
Collingwood did not continue to take this issue:
"So what's your decision? Do you want to return to London early? You can leave with a small cruiser fleet.
"You can go directly into the Mediterranean through the Red Sea and...the canals controlled by the Ming people."
Nelson shook his head directly:
“The war cannot be considered completely over until the agreement is officially signed.
"The smoke of gunpowder is still floating in the sky over the world. The people of the Ming Dynasty may regret it at any time. We cannot rush to the territory of the people of the Ming Dynasty now.
“I will go directly to the Cape of Good Hope instead of going to London to receive the canonization.
"The period before the start of the peace talks is just used to verify my new battleship idea..."
Hearing Nelson talk about the new warships, Collingwood understood immediately, shook his head helplessly and sighed:
"Are you still thinking about your perfect battleship? A capital ship all using the same caliber main guns, and a faster armored cruiser of the same design?"
"Yes--"
Nelson spoke very decisively, then turned around with great force, stretched out his arms and pointed at the steel jungle on the sea:
"Our huge fleet is actually no longer the best. The oceans of the future will definitely be dominated by high-speed warships that all use the same caliber main guns!"
Collingwood smiled bitterly and spread his hands and said:
"But the Ming Dynasty's fleet is also like this now..."
Nelson immediately sighed helplessly, and then tried to persuade his companions:
"The choices made by the people of the Ming Dynasty may not be correct, especially this war has verified this. It is not that we cannot keep pace with the people of the Ming Dynasty.
"If our navy of the United Kingdom wants to continue to develop and replace the navy of the Ming Dynasty, we must not just imitate them, we must win by surprise.
“My idea has actually been endorsed by many naval officials and generals, including Viscount Hood.
"It's just that the people of the Ming Dynasty didn't do that, and because we didn't have tangible data and evidence, we couldn't really convince the Navy.
“So when I came out this time, I was ready.
“Concentrate the main guns of multiple warships and jointly attack longer-distance targets under semaphore and radio command.
"With these data, coupled with the upsurge of public opinion after defeating the Ming people, Viscount Hood should be able to get a share in the construction of the test ship.
"The Ming Navy has not yet built this kind of warship. This may be the hope of defeating the Ming Navy!"
After thinking for a short time, Collingwood nodded decisively:
"Okay, then I'll cooperate with you."
Nelson smiled and nodded:
"Thanks……"
