The British's damage management skills were quite high, and the 12 damaged warships were quickly repaired. The iron armor was maintained in a broken state. Due to the lack of good wood and time, the damaged wooden base was temporarily sealed with simple wood.
On November 11th, the British Fleet began to move south as soon as the north wind came. This time, they were going south from the southern tip of Japan to Singapore. Riding the north wind could save a lot of fuel, but it was not easy to travel the whole way. The British fleet was tense all the time, and the only thing that could relax them was drawing. Based on the Chinese warship as a blueprint, the British officers used their brains to draw a lot of pictures of warships. One of the sketches of a warship with a hexagonal main battery was praised by the senior officers of the navy, led by Vice Admiral Bopei. Different from the pure centerline layout of China, the hexagonal main battery layout had a main battery on the front and rear deck, and two main battery on each side of the middle of the ship. The six batteries formed the apex of the hexagon, and in the middle of the hexagon was the chimney and the control tower.
The advantage of this design was that four main cannons could be used for side combat, and three main cannons could be used for frontal or rear combat. Coupled with a series of secondary battery positions, the British Navy's artillery was greatly enhanced. More importantly, this layout could make full use of the mature main body technology of the British Navy. The Chinese Navy's more than 4,000 tons of warships were indeed fierce, but compared to the new 10,000-ton warships of the British, no matter how fierce it was, it was only 4,000 tons. There would be a big gap in firepower and armor. At least the British couldn't see any possibility of China's 4,000 tons of warships having 9-inch cannons.
In early December 1874, the British Fleet returned to Singapore safe and sound. Before this, the British Parliament had also strongly criticized the battle. Members of parliament questioned what the Lord of the Admiralty was doing, and what the Admiralty was doing. The Lord of the Admiralty also had to explain in Parliament.
The Chinese Navy fearlessly fought with the British Royal Navy and damaged many modified warships. The British Royal Navy knew that they had met a tough opponent. As the ruler of the world, they knew their own business. With bases all over the world, the British Navy first paid attention to seaworthiness when building ships. Warships must have good ocean-going capabilities. Armor and airworthiness were a pair of contradictions. Armor that was too thick would greatly affect airworthiness. Compared with the British Grand Fleet, which had to fight all over the world, China's ironclads, which had ports and maintenance factories everywhere, did not have to worry about this problem.
Of course, the British Admiralty would not admit defeat. The Lord of the Admiralty promised to send powerful ironclads to fight against China. Non-armored ships were no longer suitable for the current situation. The current battlefield was no longer in the north of China, but in the South China Sea within Singapore's range.
Thirty years ago, the British wooden battleships rampaged across the seas of China, forcing China to surrender. In just 30 years, England was forced back to Singapore. This situation made the British parliamentarians extremely angry.
Despite his annoyance, the navy's military budget was not cut by a penny. Because of the unfavorable results of this battle, the British Parliament also agreed to expand the British Navy's budget. After the Crimean War, the British navy had a great advantage, and there was no problem of being unable to mobilize troops for the time being. In order to solve the problem of the Chinese Navy, the Parliament agreed to the plan of the Admiralty. Once the British Grand Fleet returned to Singapore and the other warships could return to their respective theaters of war, the main ironclads would be transferred to the South China Sea to fight against China.
In the first three months of 1875, the world situation seemed to be quite calm. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already rejected more than a dozen requests to visit the Chinese warships and shipyards. Now the world's major industrial countries were holding their breath, waiting for the outcome of the war between China and England. The whole world was very clear that there would not be a large-scale war between China and England. The war would be decided by the navies of both sides.
The British Royal Navy had been strutting around for a century. Whether or not they liked China was one thing. All the industrial countries hoped that the British Navy would be defeated, which meant that China's new warships were leading the world's trend. Everyone would never be able to surpass England if they followed behind England. China had led the world's new trend of navies, which meant that all the industrial countries were standing on the same starting line as China. In the future, it was hard to say who would win.
In March, Vézé went to visit the Nanjing shipyard. Last June, the Chinese Navy's first batch of cruisers was launched, and the new ships immediately began construction. At this time in Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, each shipyard had its own 3,000 ton hydraulic press, and the construction of the new ships greatly increased. In the middle of February 75, the new wave of 12 cruisers had been installed and put into the sea for sea trials. After the sea trials were completed, the outfitting would begin. On the empty berths, only two berths were used to build warships.
There were too many problems with the 650,000 ton battleship, and the progress was slow. The navy had to come up with a new plan, to build two 560,000 ton heavy cruisers, which would be equipped with 200 mm caliber cannons. This was a summary experiment of the technology and experience that the cruisers and battleships had accumulated, in preparation for the future construction of larger tonnage warships. In addition, the large ship construction also consumed too much financial resources. In July, 24 cruisers would probably be enough to prop up China's coast. Building 36 cruisers was too wasteful.
These warships could not be exported, and now that they were exported, it meant that a large amount of technology, including the tube-retractable cannon technology, would flow to the rest of the world. This was China's capital at this stage, and foreign countries could develop similar technology sooner or later, but it was a day late. When foreign countries had similar technology, it was estimated that no country would want to buy these warships.
In March 1875, Britain had already mobilized most of its ironclads to Singapore. No matter what the parliament thought, the Admiralty's view was very consistent. If China really dared to go head-to-head with the British Royal Navy, this would be the largest naval battle between Britain and China before the launch of the new British warships. It was also very likely to be the last naval battle in the near future.
Up to now, the war had proved that armored ships and sail power should be retired from the history of naval warfare. The new ironclads required too much investment, and Britain's powerful production capacity was already stretched. Was there a more foolish choice than to invest a large number of resources in a tug-of-war with China?
Britain was now precisely worried that China would not make a move. In order to force the China fleet to come out and fight, Britain chose a target. It was China's Anbana Archipelago.
The Anbana Archipelago was the Natuna Archipelago, located in the South China Sea between the Malay Peninsula and Borneo Island. It was made up of 272 islands and covered an area of 211 square kilometers. It was not high above sea level, and the highest point was on the Anbana Island, which was about 959 meters above sea level. It was a tropical forest with high temperatures and rainfall year-round. It produced timber, coconuts, cocoa, rice, and corn. The two main towns were located on the north and south coasts of the main island. It had been included in the territory since the Song Dynasty. At that time, foreign ships would know that they had entered China's territorial waters as long as they passed by the Anbana Archipelago. Zheng He used the Anbana Archipelago as a relay station when he went out to sea.
The new China had built cannons on the important Anbana Archipelago. If Britain attacked China's South China Sea from Singapore, it would be easily discovered by China's reconnaissance network centered around the Anbana Archipelago. If there was a China fleet in the Anbana Archipelago, China's fleet could tail the British Fleet. If the British dared to shell China's ports, China's fleet could execute a pincer strategy.
If they could seize the Anbana Archipelago, the British Fleet would have the opportunity to attack China's provinces in the South China Sea. If the Chinese Navy made a major mistake and was annihilated by the British ironclad fleet, the situation in the South China Sea would be greatly improved.
On the 7th of March, the British ironclad fleet approached the Anbana Archipelago.
On the 8th of March, the Chinese Navy from Lanfang Province appeared to the north of the British ironclad fleet.
The British Fleet had discovered the medium-sized warships following the British Grand Fleet two days earlier, but they turned a blind eye to them. The British Fleet was hoping to be discovered by the China Fleet, hoping that the China Fleet would take the initiative to attack.
Lieutenant General Bo Pei had not been dismissed because of the unfavorable results of the Battle of Tsugaru Strait. He had also participated in the naval battle. The Tsugaru Strait was very cold, and one could not help but feel a heavy feeling when fighting there. In March, the South China Sea of China had a mild climate. The movements of the gray-painted medium-sized warships seemed much lighter in Lieutenant General Bo Pei's eyes.
Compared to the giant warships of the British ironclad fleet that easily weighed more than 6,000 tons, or even close to 10,000 tons, China's 4,000 ton cruisers seemed small and slender. However, in Lieutenant General Bo Pei's view, the young and fierce Chinese Navy did not have the slightest intention of cowering. The medium-sized warships on the horizon were like a pack of wolves that had started to run slowly on the vast plains after spotting their prey, calmly and calmly closing in on the British Fleet.
At this time, the Chinese Navy had twelve cruisers and eight destroyers, while the attacking force consisted of twelve cruisers and six destroyers. On the flagship, Qingdao? The lookout saw a total of twelve British warships coming towards the British Navy. The mainland of China and Britain were separated by thousands of miles, and the real military exchanges were basically wars. The lookout's report was also relatively simple. "The opponent has twelve warships, divided into three horizontal lines, adopting a V-shaped formation. The first line consists of two ships, Ravager, Thunder, Sultan, and Gradon. The second line consists of four Sudan-class ironclads, and the third line consists of four Daring ironclads. In the distance, there are three Minotaur ironclads, but there are no signs of them entering the battle. "
"Oh! The British have really sent out all their elites! "Ding Ruchang said calmly. The other commanders were excited, but Hayworth was also excited. Even the oldest in the fleet, Ding Ruchang, was only 39 years old this year. The average age of the fleet was 26 years old, which was still a long way from being lethargic.
"Order the flagship to raise the V-shaped flag," Ding Ruchang ordered after pondering for a while.
The navy was basically educated in English, and everyone knew the pronunciation of V, which was exactly the same as the surname of Marshal Vézé of the Liberation Army. The navy members also knew that the word "victory" meant victory. The V-shaped flag perfectly combined the two meanings. This was the flag of the decisive battle, and also the flag of victory. The Chinese Navy soldiers felt that this was the most suitable choice.
The flagship of the British Fleet, HMS Ravager, also raised the Z flag. That was the flag that the famous hero of the British Navy, Nelson, raised on the flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar that decided the fate of Britain.
After the two flags were raised, there was no need for the commanders of both sides to say anything. The China Fleet, which was painted entirely in gray, and the British Fleet, which was painted entirely in white, were using black Victorian-type ships. The average age of the two fleets entering the battlefield was less than five years. The 300 years of glorious history of the Royal British Navy and the invincible and invincible battle record of the Liberation Army were borne by them respectively. Whether it was the continuation of Britain's hegemony in the South China Sea, or the establishment of China's hegemony in the Western Pacific, the two fleets approaching each other had absolute confidence in their victory.
The V-shaped formation was learned by the British Navy from the Battle of Lissa, and the tactic of the Chinese Navy to attack the enemy from the broadside was the tactic of the Chinese Navy. Twelve Chinese cruisers formed a long snake formation and rushed to the right wing of the British Fleet. At a distance of six nautical miles from the British Fleet, they were evenly divided into the first fleet of eight warships and the second fleet of four warships. The first fleet began to turn diagonally to the right, trying to form a horizontal line in front of the British Fleet. The second fleet tilted slightly to the left, trying to take a relative position parallel to the right wing of the British Fleet but in the opposite direction.
On the flagship of the second fleet, Wuzhou, the artillery commander Deng Shichang shouted through the microphone to all the guns on the ship, "There are turrets on the enemy's deck, you can fire to your heart's content!"
The commander of the second fleet also heard this. He first laughed, then ordered the naval flag to display the following content: "The enemy has turrets, fire to your heart's content!"
At a distance of 400 meters, the British Navy's main guns with a caliber of more than 300 millimeters opened fire. At this distance, which completely depended on God to decide where to land, the British shells posed no threat to the Chinese warships. What the British wanted to show was the power and range of the British naval guns. The huge shells smashed into the sea and created huge waves.
The Chinese Navy was not moved at all. The artillerymen loaded two belts of new explosive shells with fuses and added them into the barrels. The elevation of the firing elements was adjusted higher than before. As soon as they entered the distance of 200 meters, China's 150mm artillery spewed flames at the British Fleet.
The British ironclads that participated in the battle of the Andina Islands were all new ironclads. The turrets were placed on the upper deck, and most of them used 9-inch or even 11-inch main guns. They basically fired one round every three to four minutes. The Chinese guns were still 6-inch guns, but the rate of fire was an astonishing 1.4 minutes.
The explosive shells flew towards the British warships like raindrops. These shells were useless against the iron armor of more than 260mm. They were more powerful than tickling. The shells that hit the deck could not penetrate the iron armor of 100 millimeters either. However, the British turrets had huge firing windows. The huge flames and a large number of shrapnel after the explosion rushed into the turrets through these firing windows. Some of the gunners were killed or injured by the hot shrapnel. The flames and hot airflow burned the skin and respiratory tract of the British gunners. The damage was no less than that of the shrapnel.
Less than two hours after the battle began, all the turrets on the British warships that could engage the China warships had stopped firing at least three times. There were about 800 to 900 people on a warship. Most of them were people who burned the boilers and transported the shells. There were far fewer people on the gunner teams. The entire three-wheeled gunner team died one after another in the turrets. There was no one left to use the cannons on the British warships.
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