In August of the thirty-seventh year of Chengshun, on the coast of Portugal, outside the port of Lisbon.
On the bridge of the cruiser Qiongzhou, Commodore Song Yuanlong, commander of the second formation of the European Expeditionary Fleet, wearing a navy standard navy blue uniform, was looking at the port ahead with a large monocular telescope on the bridge.
After a long time, he said: "This Portuguese has been sailing on the sea for more than two hundred years. He has some knowledge, and he should have accumulated a lot of wealth. This port is built in a decent way, better than most of the indigenous ones I have seen before. The port must be good!”
As a naval admiral who has served in various overseas fleets for a long time, Commodore Song Yuanlong has been to almost most places in the world, including North and South America, India, West Asia, Africa and other places.
This time he joined the European Expeditionary Fleet as a squadron formation commander and also came to Europe.
After arriving in Europe, he first led his formation to cover the army's useless guys and captured the Port of Tangier. Then, after reinforcements arrived from the rear, he once led the cruiser Qiongzhou and the accompanying frigates and supply ships across the Strait of Gibraltar. Entered the Mediterranean Sea.
After experiencing the scenery of the Mediterranean Sea, we sailed along the North African side, mainly to draw up nautical charts, determine the route conditions along the way, the location of local port cities, basic geographical conditions, etc.
There were no surprises along the way. The local natives basically didn't have the guts to attack... After all, the news that the entire city of Tangier had been completely destroyed had already spread, and many natives in the nearby areas already knew the news.
Commodore Song Yuanlong did not plan to carry out any more attacks, not because he was kind-hearted, but because the ammunition reserves he carried in the fleet at that time were not too large, and he did not intend to waste ammunition!
When we fought against Tangier, we felt so happy and experienced its power. Tangier was successfully reduced to rubble.
It's just that after the fun was over, the ammunition problem became more serious.
If you want to replenish ammunition in this broken place, you can only wait for the supply ship from behind, and the ammunition on the supply ship is also limited. Every ammunition used on the supply ship will be one less.
If you want to get more supplies... you have to transport them from India, Southeast Asia or even the mainland, which will take at least half a year or even longer.
Therefore, after fighting Tangier, Song Yuanlong had to reduce attacks as much as possible to avoid wasting ammunition... Otherwise, according to his temperament, if he encounters indigenous medium and large port cities along the way, it is best to fire a round of artillery first. It is used to announce to the local indigenous people that the Chu people are coming, and they should be more honest in the future.
It will be much easier to wash it with cannonballs first, and then talk to the natives.
Like now in Lisbon!
If you want the other party to fully open its market and even give up its tariff power, the other party will not easily agree to this unless it is a fool.
Under such circumstances, if you want the other party to agree, you have to show enough strength!
This strength does not mean whether the empire is strong or not...but how much damage the empire can inflict on Portugal itself.
No matter how awesome the Chu people are, if they can't hit Portugal, or don't hit the Portuguese mainland...then they won't actually be a threat to Portugal.
Even many dignitaries in Portugal will think that the Chu people's toughness is just an exaggeration... Don't doubt the knowledge and quality of the nobles these days.
Many nobles never left their small village in their lives...not as well-informed as the sailors on colonial ships.
But a violent shelling of the Portuguese in the port of Lisbon would be enough for them to fully realize the power of the empire and its own fragility.
Then it is natural to talk about market opening next.
Unfortunately, it is now difficult to supply ammunition in his formation, and since the ammunition reserves in the entire European expedition fleet are also limited, Song Yuanlong can only endure it for now.
I am going to send someone to talk to the Portuguese first... If they are smart enough, they will agree to open the market. As long as they agree to this general direction, Song Yuanlong feels that they can even make some concessions, such as leaving some tariffs for the other party. face.
If he wasn't smart enough...then Song Yuanlong could only reluctantly achieve his goal by wasting ammunition.
But no matter what...the Portuguese on the opposite side must sign a treaty to fully open the market. This is the purpose of his second formation's voyage this time.
As far as he knows, the main force of the European Expeditionary Fleet is heading north. Once the European Expeditionary Fleet arrives, they will find a way to sign a comprehensive market opening agreement with Spain.
In the short term, the European Expeditionary Fleet hopes to first pry open the markets of these two southern European peninsula countries and set an example for countries in other European regions, so as to prepare for subsequent full-scale entry into the European market.
Compared with Spain, which is more powerful, has a larger land area, a larger population, and its capital is also inland.
The market development in Portugal is relatively easier... Who makes their capital, Lisbon, right on the seaside!
As long as Song Yuanlong gives the order now, a cruiser and two frigates under his command can destroy the coastal defense batteries deployed outside the port in minutes, and then the fleet can go directly deep into the port and bombard their port city.
At the same time, a reinforced infantry battalion accompanying the fleet can be landed to cover the fleet's operations!
Based on the current absolute strength of the Chu Empire's navy, those indigenous countries that built their capitals in the coastal areas were basically cleaning themselves up and sending them to the Chu Empire's navy.
The Portuguese are no exception!
On the other hand, indigenous countries that built their capitals in inland areas could have more buffer space and time when facing the Chu Empire.
Such as Spain.
Their capital is Madrid, which is almost 500 kilometers away from Gasland, an important port on the Atlantic coast.
The Chu army came all the way to Europe and knew very little about many conditions on the European land, especially geography, transportation and other details closely related to the military... Under such circumstances, it would be difficult to pass through in a short time and quickly. A landing blow forced the Spaniards into submission.
To make Spain completely surrender, it is estimated that thousands of troops would have to be mobilized to land, and then directly land on the shore to defeat the opponent through large-scale military operations.
This is also because the action against Spain needs to wait until the main force of the European expedition fleet arrives, and requires a lot of preliminary preparations.
But it’s easy here in Portugal!
As soon as Song Yuanlong's three warships moved out of the port, panic began on the other side!
The sail warships in the port began to gather regardless of whether they were useful or not.
A large number of soldiers on land also began to be dealt with.
The coastal defense batteries on the north and south sides guarding the entrance and exit channels of the port have directly entered a state of combat readiness.
We can't blame the Portuguese for being so panicked, but the Chu warships put too much pressure on them.
How was Tangier destroyed not long ago?
It was destroyed by just three warships.
Now these three warships are placed outside the port, among which the cruiser Qiongzhou is particularly conspicuous.
The Qiongzhou cruiser, as one of the Jinzhou-class cruisers, is not the most advanced warship in the Chu Empire to be honest, but this class of ship is the most representative of the warships in active service in the Chu Empire, and it is also used in actual combat. The most powerful first-class battleship.
Battleships that are more powerful than it are rarely seen overseas. Even if they are basically used, they are used as flagships, or used in the rear, or they are only dispatched in large-scale battles. In fact, you don't see big things like battleships dispatched in daily life. Fight with the natives.
Although the more advanced Datong-class cruiser is said to be more advanced and equipped with a breech-mounted rifled gun, there is actually not much difference in size between the two. When fighting the indigenous people, it is actually no better than the Jinzhou-class cruiser: both Beat up!
Therefore, although the Qiongzhou belongs to the previous generation of cruisers, its status in the navy is very high. It is a serious main warship in active service and widely appears in sea areas around the world for operations.
The Navy doesn't even want to modify this class of ships with rear-mounted guns... It's a waste of money, as the current front-mounted guns are enough.
In the minds of the Navy's top brass, this class of cruisers and the four Toyoshu-class cruisers are cheap and easy to use for overseas deployment... much more reliable than any battleships.
Although this kind of cruiser is only a low-cost cruiser for overseas use in the eyes of the Navy's top brass, the combined steam engine used on it is outdated, the maximum speed is only 14 knots, and the endurance is not very good, only 3,000 nautical miles. Most of them At that time, in order to save coal, we had to rely on sails for sailing.
The protection ability is not very good, only a very thin wrought iron armor... To be honest, with this little protection ability, if the indigenous warships can get closer to one or two hundred meters, they can use a 32-pound caliber long-barreled smoothbore cannon. , the solid shells fired can really make a hole.
It's just that no one in the Da Chu Empire Navy would be stupid enough to let the large indigenous sailing battleship slowly approach one or two hundred meters and then fire solid rounds!
As early as a few hundred meters or even more than a thousand meters away, the powerful firepower of the Jinzhou-class cruiser was able to sink the indigenous warships through intensive shelling. Even if it could not be sunk, it could destroy their sails, resulting in Their sail warships became dead fish on the sea!
Compared with land warfare, the Jinzhou-class cruiser is actually better at naval warfare... After all, it is an ocean-going cruiser anyway, not an offshore gunboat.
To be honest, land support is not what it is good at... As an ocean cruiser, its hull is very slender and its draft is very deep. If it is bombarded close to the coast, it will easily run aground.
However, land bombardment is what the Jinzhou-class cruisers have done the most since they were put into large-scale service, and it is even what they do often.
This is very helpless.
But today... God seems to be giving the Jinzhou-class cruiser a chance for a sea showdown.
Commodore Song Yuanlong was debating whether to launch a bombardment or to let the army buffoons on the following troop carriers land directly.
The lookout officer on the side suddenly said: "They have left the port!"
As soon as these words came out, many officers on the bridge immediately looked forward curiously. Song Yuanlong also looked forward with the dual-channel navigation telescope hanging on his chest.
Through the telescope, a battleship with its sails inflated appeared at the entrance to the Lisbon port about five or six kilometers away. From this glance, it was clear that it was a sailing battleship that had become more mainstream in Europe in the past twenty years.
It is visually estimated that the displacement is about 1,400 to 500 tons. Not surprisingly, there should be 74 long-barreled naval guns.
The shape of the entire hull is hugely different from that of European warships decades ago. It appears to be smoother and slender. Although it seems to have a displacement of about 1,400 to 5,000 tons, it does not use three-layer deck guns. structure, but adopts a two-layer and half-deck gun structure.
And these characteristics... yes, this thing is the European version of Chu's third-class battleship, which is a 74-gun battleship.
After the Dachu Empire's 74-gun battleships came out, they built a very large number of them, with more than 80 ships built in total... They were widely active in various sea areas. They were the absolute main battleships of the Dachu Empire before the 25th year of Chengshun. There was no other battleship. one!
Even twenty-five years after Chengshun, some 74-gun battleships were equipped with steam engines as transitional battleships and continued to serve until the early 1930s.
The large-scale service and use of this kind of battleship inevitably affected the design and construction of battleships in Europe. Three countries, including Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, successively built their own 74-gun battleships. Later, countries such as England, France, Denmark, and Sweden Countries are also following suit.
Just when countries in Europe followed up to build and put this kind of 74-gun sail battleships into service, the Chu Navy had already begun to retire traditional sail battleships on a large scale... and replaced them with steam engines and iron-ribbed wooden hulls. The new generation of warships will be followed by new warships equipped with front-mounted rifled guns and rear-mounted rifled guns.
The Europeans' 74-gun battleships once caught up with the Chu people, but soon fell behind again, and fell further and further behind. In just a dozen years, they were left behind by the Chu navy and disappeared.
This 74-gun battleship was followed by four battleships of the same size. After these five battleships, there were a dozen old battleships with a displacement of more than a thousand tons.
Finally, there was a group of various messy ships of hundreds or even dozens of tons!
The Portuguese... this is pulling out all the fleets in the port.
A naval lieutenant colonel next to Song Yuanlong couldn't help showing excitement: "It looks like we are going to have a full meal today!"
A naval lieutenant colonel swallowed his saliva and said: "The delicious food is ahead, but we must exercise restraint and let them come out before we fight. Fighting now will easily scare them all back!"
Song Yuanlong started to drool when he looked at the group of people under his command. Even the young people who had just graduated from the military academy this year and were assigned to the task looked expectant. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Their navy is miserable. How many naval officers have served in the army for more than ten or twenty years, but they have never fought a serious naval duel.
They can only have fun in exercises or sandboxes. If they are exhausted, they will just get a few scrapped ships and engage in live-fire exercises.
Not to mention ordinary naval officers, even Song Yuanlong... It's not his fault, he has never fought in a serious fleet duel in his life.
All I do every day is attack ports and build forts... To be honest, although this kind of thing can be done well, it still doesn't make sense.
Now, the Portuguese actually pulled the fleet out directly. It seemed that they were going to face their own fleet at sea.
What an opportunity!
In this life, I estimate that I will only encounter a serious fleet duel this time.
Although there are just a bunch of sail battleships on the opposite side, they are not battleships. The key is the large number.
Immediately, Song Yuanlong's face tightened, and he said to the more than ten officers under his command: "Give me the order, spread out the formation and prepare for battle!"
"The rear troop carriers and supply ships slowed down and turned to ensure safety."
"Let the boilers on each ship increase the pressure and prepare to speed up."
"All artillery crews are strictly ordered to prepare, but they are not allowed to fire without permission before they are ready!"
At this point, Song Yuanlong added: "If anyone fires in advance and scares away the opponent, I will personally throw him into the sea!"
After issuing this series of orders, Song Yuanlong rearranged his demeanor and stood on the bridge with a serious face looking at the Portuguese fleet slowly coming out in front.
But at this moment, the communications officer said loudly with a hint of anger on his face: "Flag report from Troop Transport Ship No. 20: The Army Transport Formation is requesting to come closer so that we can observe the battle at close range and provide support!"
"It's understandable that you want to come over to watch the battle, but..." Song Yuanlong's tone instantly increased: "But support, why do those landlubbers from their army support my navy's operations?"
This is a naval battle. Your army only has a thousand soldiers, most of whom are Indian soldiers... How can you support my naval battle?
You don’t have any shame when you speak!
The communications officer also looked angry: "They said they can put the field guns on the deck, and when they get close, they can use the field guns to provide fire support!"
Song Yuanlong didn't need to answer, he said it himself: "The firepower of their army's field guns, not to mention their accuracy on the sea, is too small to fry fish with this quantity..."
"They are just here to disgust us!"
Naturally, Song Yuanlong knew that the Army was looking for trouble, and whenever he got the chance, he would disgust the Navy... Niang Xipi, and now he really wanted to send a diver there, and then stick explosives on their troop ship. Then bang.
Once all the army is dead, the world will become quiet.
But after thinking about it, he still didn't dare to do it. He suppressed his anger and said: "Give them a signal back: tell them that our navy is not short of those toothpick cannons, and let them watch obediently from the back as our navy shows off its glory." , don’t cause trouble!”
After the Army received the signal, Army Colonel Xu Duowen, who was leading the team, was not angry. He just laughed and said, "Song Yuanlong looks like he is also a petty person."
"Well, since the guys in the Navy don't want us to get involved, let's just watch the fireworks from behind!"
"Soldier, bring me the fine wine I found from Morocco, and bring me a grand master's chair!"
"There are so many ships on the other side today, it will be really spectacular when they explode and burn!"
"Brothers who want to watch take turns going up to the deck to watch. Such a large fireworks display is very rare!"
"But we have to arrange things in order and don't get crowded into a ball and fall into the sea."
(End of chapter)
