The United Kingdom was an industrial country, and the characteristic of an industrial country was discipline. The British plan first blocked Chinese merchant ships from entering the Indian Ocean. If the Chinese took any military action, they would immediately take military action against China.
It was August when the United Kingdom's fifty armored ships and sixty or so non-armored ships arrived in Singapore. The United Kingdom announced its decision to China. China immediately "strongly protested" and continuously sent diplomatic envoys to Singapore to pester the Governor of the Straits Settlements, hoping that the Governor of the Straits Settlements would withdraw such "unreasonable demands."
The British Fleet, on the other hand, went on a rampage. The China Fleet stayed in its home port and did not give the British a chance to beat them up. By September 1874, the British Fleet saw that there was no opportunity and began to head north.
The British fleet swaggered around at sea and was quite arrogant. The commander of the British Dispatch Force had long studied the military intelligence of the Western Pacific. China swaggered around the Western Pacific with more than thirty ironclads and fifty or sixty non-armored ships. A fleet of this size in Europe was only at the level of Turkey, the "sick man of Europe." As long as the United Kingdom was willing, they could crush the Chinese Navy as easily as squashing a bug.
The British Fleet did not make a move in the past, giving the Chinese Navy a chance to show off. Now that the British Fleet had finally made a move, the good days of the China Fleet had come to an end. On the flagship, the Agincourt, the commander of the Dispatch Force revealed his thoughts to his subordinates. If the Chinese Navy were to be crushed in the cradle, it would be better to be crushed in their adolescence. Being crushed in the cradle was simply being crushed to death. The Chinese Navy actually did not know the strength of the British Navy. Being crushed in the extremely rebellious and self-righteous adolescence, that feeling of despair was unforgettable. As long as they experienced such a battle, the Chinese Navy's fear of the British Navy would be deeply engraved in their bones.
The commander's wise words were sincerely appreciated by his subordinates. Of course, there was no lack of people who understood the situation. The reason why the British Royal Navy did not crush the Chinese Navy in the cradle was that the British at the time were focused on invading China. No matter how powerful the Marine is, there is no way for them to go to the 6th place. If the British Sixth Army only dared to fight within the range of the naval cannons, then sending the Sixth Army to attack China would be a complete joke.
Now the British Royal Navy decided to slap the young Chinese Navy to death, because the purpose of the British Royal Navy was only to slap the Chinese Navy to death, and no longer had the intention to attack China. In the entire plan, the most optimistic scenario was to occupy the important coastal cities of China. He didn't even have a plan to charge into the Yangtze River. The British had been clear about their strategic goals for more than a decade. Their various plans to send six armies into China were met with various objections, and these objections eventually prevailed.
However, it was not a bad thing to have a war to fight. Once the war started, the British Fleet would have the opportunity to capture merchant ships. That would be a lot of money. So, firstly, I don't dare, and secondly, I didn't even consider dampening the mood of the commander-in-chief.
The British Grand Fleet first went to the French Indochina colony, and strolled around the Siam Sea Route, an important rice trade route in China, to familiarize themselves with the place. Then, they added some fuel coal that the French bought at a high price from the Hongji Coal Mine controlled by the Chinese, and then went north along the coastline of Vietnam, a vassal state of China.
Along the way, the other ships immediately avoided the British Grand Fleet when they saw it. This cruise caused the entire Siam Sea Route to China to be in chaos. The fleet arrived in Hong Kong.
The situation in Hong Kong was not the same. On the China island next to Hong Kong, there was a huge fortress battery. Looking at the signs, the cannons on the battery were at least 350. If they wanted to attack the battery, they would have to pay a heavy price. On the Lion Rock Mountain in the Kowloon area opposite Hong Kong, there was also a huge battery. Port Victoria was within the range of the China battery.
More than a decade ago, the Kowloon Battery was soaked with the blood of thousands of French soldiers. After seeing that battle, the British did not dare to make the decision to send troops again. At that time, Vézé had arrogantly said, "If you want to destroy our Liberation Army, then send 200,000 authentic British lobster soldiers." Not to mention that time, even now, more than a decade later, the British still did not have the ability to send 200,000 authentic British lobster soldiers to China. And what would happen after they were sent? Would they be surrounded and annihilated by millions of China's 6th Army?
The feeling of being within the range of China's Longsong Cannons was terrible. After three days of rest, the British Fleet continued north. Their target was Tokyo, Japan. Since the British Fleet did not encounter any provocations or mobs from the Chinese Navy, the next thing to do was to go to Japan to complete their first goal, which was to destroy the Republic of Prawn.
Japan had promised a large sum of money to ask the British to help take down the Republic of Prawn, which was supported by China, or at least help Japan get to the 6th Republic of Prawn. The Meiji government believed that the 6th Army was stronger than the Republic of Prawn. As long as they could get to the 6th Army, victory would be in their hands.
The British knew very well that they would cut off trade with China after the war with China. At that time, Japan had one thing that was very good, and that was raw silk. Britain's biggest imports from China were raw silk and tea leaves. Tea leaves were not a problem. China had been exporting a lot of tea leaves in the past few years, and the price was dropping day by day. The British had a lot of stock, and they had imported a large batch before the war. It would not be a problem to drink it for two or three years. If Japan could provide raw silk, the British would have no pressure at all.
The British Fleet arrived in Japan on September 28th. The port of Tokyo was filled with people. The Japanese, from soldiers to civilians, were stunned when they saw the overwhelming British Navy. The warships were so huge that it was beyond the Japanese's imagination.
The flagship of the British Fleet, HMS Agincourt, was a side gun ironclad. It was the second of the "Minotaur" class ironclads. The main hull was launched on October 30th, 1861, and completed on June 1st, 1867. It was originally named HMS Captain, and was renamed on March 27th, 1865. The new name came from the famous Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France. King Henry V of England defeated the arrogant French army despite being outnumbered 3 to 1, and won a decisive victory. HMS Agincourt was also one of the last British ironclads to be equipped with muzzle-loading cannons. She had an impressive five masts, which were used to equip sails.
This class of ironclads was a continuation of the era of sailing battleships. Like the battleships of 300 years ago, all the cannons were arranged on both sides of a long deck. Although steam engines had been installed, the huge sails were still used to provide power. The armor was made up of a long layer of iron plates inlaid on a thicker layer of wooden planks.
Number of crew: 800
Displacement: 1,812 tons.
Length: 12 meters (4o6 feet 10 inches * 59 feet 9 inches * 27 feet 10 inches)
Endurance: 567 kilometers (2,825 nautical miles)/10 knots
Armor: 127mm iron armor belt and 254mm wood lining.
Main armament: 4 229mm (9 inches) and 24 178mm (7 inches) muzzle-loading cannons.
Maximum speed: 14.8 knots
The Japanese also had their own ironclads. The two to three-thousand-ton ironclads looked huge next to the civilian ships. The two to three-thousand-ton ironclads were like toys next to the flagship of the British Far East Fleet, HMS Agincourt.
It was human nature to watch a show. This was the same in any country. The Japanese ships wanted to get as close as possible to this huge warship to get a closer look. The British Fleet was kind enough to send small ships to drive the curious spectators out of the safe zone. The photographers who took photos of the British Fleet, especially the British Fleet's flagship HMS Agincourt, made a lot of money that day.
On the 9th of October, a large number of photos were sent to Lushun. At this time, Lushun was no longer the Lushun of the past. In addition to the construction of the North Sea Fleet's port, Dalian City had also been built south of Lushun. Ten of the 12 cruisers began to be outfitted after sea trials, six of which completed the final outfitting work in Tianjin and Lushun.
The battleships could not be added to the navy's ranks, and the navy had scrapped three cruisers. The North Sea Fleet now only had six new cruisers and six new destroyers to fight. The Navy General Command told Ding Ruchang, the commander of the North Sea Fleet, that as long as they could survive for a year and a half, the total number of new naval ships could be doubled or even more.
Ding Ruchang did not doubt that the major shipyards in the country were desperately building new warships. Ding Ruchang knew very well that the finalization of new warships was a difficult process. Ding Ruchang even knew that he had no reason to complain at all. The exquisite design of the new warships and the overall integration with the combat concept needed time to study and realize. However, Ding Ruchang could not help but want to say, "If only it could be done sooner!"
In the end, Ding Ruchang did not say anything. He also realized that just seeing a picture of the British Fleet's flagship, the Agincourt, made Ding Ruchang feel a strong sense of uneasiness. This kind of self-awareness made Ding Ruchang feel a sense of shame, but it also made him turn the shame into motivation, making him determined to fight to the death.
The Republic of Prawn could not afford to lose. The ice-free port in the North Pacific was Hakodate. If a country hostile to China had this port, they would have a huge advantage. On the contrary, China could use this port and the abundant high-quality coal in Hokkaido to exert the combat power of the navy.
Now the two sides did not even have a chance to test each other. The navy of the Republic of Prawn could not be a match for the British Grand Fleet. The British only needed to block both ends of the Tsugaru Strait, destroy the navy of the Republic of Prawn, and escort the Sixth Army of the Meiji government to the Republic of Prawn. This was a very easy task for the British.
China could only rely on the six cruisers and six destroyers, as well as some supply and auxiliary ships to fight against the British Grand Fleet.
The North Sea Fleet began to head north on October 11th. Before the fleet set off, Ding Ruchang only said one sentence, "When enemies meet on a narrow road, the brave will win!"
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