1890 King of Southeast Asia

August 5, Sulu Sea.

The huge fleet used by the Japanese Army to transport troops is sailing in the northern area of ​​the blue Sulu Sea.

The fleet is divided into two parts, one part is transport ships, about 20 ships, and the other part is an escort fleet composed of six warships.

In order to ensure sufficient deterrence, the Sanjing ship, which had just been in service, was also dispatched, accompanied by Naniwa, Taka Chie, and Chiyoda.

"I still don't understand why we have to carry out this mission!" The captain of Naniwa complained about this mission.

Naniwa and Taka Chie were both launched in 1885. Compared with Sanjing, which has been in service for only four months, Chiyoda, which has been in service for more than a year, has a slower speed.

"It's not for the army guys! Captain, do you think Nanhua will attack us?" The first mate held a telescope and kept observing.

"If I were their commander, I would definitely order the navy to attack. Such a long transportation line is full of loopholes. This war is abnormal!" The captain shook his head.

"It's hateful. If it weren't for the guys in the parliament who repeatedly denied it, the new warship would have been put into use long ago! How could we be like this?" The first mate patted the steel window in a rage, and then silently retracted his hand.

"The keel of the new warship has been laid, and the Navy Department has collected a sum of money and is looking for sellers. Far away from the country, many warships have insufficient range, and precious coal is all spent on useless places. What a bunch of idiots!" The captain shook his head as he looked at the coal usage record.

There were five other warships with similar conversations, especially the three ships equipped with 320mm Ghana cannons, who thought they were invincible and cursed the army.

Little did they know that the army was also cursing them...

...

One day later, in the southern waters of the Sulu Sea.

"A large area of ​​thick smoke was found in the northwest direction, suspected to be the target fleet!" In the southeast direction of the Japanese army, a Prairie Wolf-class torpedo boat slowly appeared on the sea.

"How much fuel is left?" The captain only saw a piece of black smoke, and the distance was difficult to judge, it should be far away.

"I just checked, 60%, plus the spare fuel, enough to use until the next supply point." The first mate raised the telescope and observed the situation.

The torpedo boat has a small tonnage and limited endurance. Fortunately, diesel is safe and easy to store. It is enough to build a small oil depot on several small islands and hang two small fuel tanks to increase the range.

"3\\/4 speed, get closer and observe."

At this time, there was no fleet, only a puff of black smoke, and a large number of ships were mixed together. In particular, in order to save costs, ordinary Japanese ships used coal of poor quality, low calorific value, and heavy smoke.

The torpedo boat immediately turned left, leaving a beautiful track, and sailed quickly to the northwest at a speed of 28 knots.

"Reduce speed and continue to travel at 1\\/2 speed." Until the top of the mast was seen, in order to avoid being discovered and the real data of the torpedo boat being discovered, the captain chose to reduce the speed to 5 knots.

Gradually, the opponent's ship was revealed in full.

"A freighter, the national flag cannot be seen clearly." The observer continued.

Because the ship's tonnage is small, except for the observer's special observation position, others cannot observe freely under high-speed shaking.

"No! There are more behind! Two! Three! There are warships!" The observer looked at the gradually appearing images in the low-power telescope and shouted loudly.

"Approach to five nautical miles, confirm the target!" Although there are generally no warships in this sea area, the captain still plays it safe.

Five nautical miles away, you can't see much with the naked eye, especially the torpedo boat is not big, and there is no iconic coal smoke from the steam engine.

"Confirmed! It's the Sanjing ship!" The observer shouted.

After the captain repeated the confirmation, it was confirmed that it was the Japanese Navy.

"Right full rudder, 30 knots, to the second supply point."

Did not use full speed sailing, full speed sailing consumes too much fuel, and the vibration is not small, it is not cost-effective.

The Japanese did not know that they had been discovered, and they still kept moving forward at an economic speed. They did not encounter the imagined attack along the way, which was terrifyingly smooth.

"Why? Even a person without military knowledge should know that attacking halfway across the river is the best approach. Why are they not doing anything?" Yamamoto Gonbei was confused in the captain's room of Itsukushima.

"Could it be that they don't know when we will arrive?" Captain Murase Kazutaka asked (fictitious).

"We have replenished coal and supplies at the port of Dieqing, and also replenished supplies in Luzon. What do you think?" Yamamoto said impatiently.

"There must be some conspiracy! Must be! But what is it?" Yamamoto muttered to himself, and Murase Kazutaka did not dare to disturb him.

"Minister Gonbei, Captain, we are at the dock." The first mate interrupted the conversation between the two.

"Murase Kazutaka, you go and command the fleet to dock, and let the coal carrier unload the coal first!" Yamamoto Gonbei waved his hand and said.

"Hi!" Murase Kazutaka respectfully left the captain's room.

"Minister Gonbei is just like this. Nanhua should be afraid of the huge cannons of our navy and dare not fight." Murase Kazutaka thought to himself.

Thinking is one thing, doing is another, and you still have to work honestly.

…

While the Japanese fleet was slowly unloading, the main force of the South China Navy in Xingang finally set out, with the destination being a small island north of Kalimantan, which was transformed into a temporary anchorage.

“After reaching the temporary anchorage, send out torpedo boats to detect the movements of the Japanese.” Xu Sunming studied this new way of fighting.

Don't fight hard, just attack your transport ships, constantly increase your war costs, force you to fight a decisive battle, but don't fight a decisive battle with you.

Fifteen days later...

"It's August 21st, why haven't you returned yet? Burning so much oil every day is really scary." On the torpedo boat responsible for reconnaissance, three people took turns observing the sea surface. There was nothing but seagulls.

"What are the Japanese doing?" Xu Sunming didn't understand. If the torpedo boat hadn't approached for reconnaissance at night and confirmed that they were still at sea, he would have thought that the Japanese had gone south by detour.

"Go south by detour? Impossible?" Xu Sunming thought of this crazy idea. The voyage would increase by hundreds and thousands of nautical miles, but it might not be possible after replenishing coal in Borneo.

"It's okay. If there is something wrong, the news has been passed." Li Jinze didn't worry about this. There was no loss if he went south. Fighting the coastal defense artillery? Impossible!

Attacking farmland? Small villages? Not worth the money for the shells.

"What about the Japanese?"

This is not only Xu Sunming's question, but also Yamamoto Gonbei's question.

"Why can't you do a simple unloading and loading? It took twelve days to unload only twenty ships!"

"It's just some gold and silver, a ship can handle it in one day, why did the ship collide?" Yamamoto Gonbei didn't understand that this dock was completely unloaded manually.

Thinking of the gold and silver worth 10 million yen, and the gifts given by the army to the emperor and other high-ranking officials, the ship just collided.

Yamamoto Gonbei was furious.

Snap! Snap! Snap! ………

"Waste! Idiot! Baka!" Yamamoto Gonbei searched his red right hand.

"Hey!" A group of beaten bastards bowed and shouted.

"How is the salvage going?" After getting angry, he had to do his business. Although he was called Minister Gonbei, he still had to salvage the gifts presented to the generals, the earls, the princes, and the emperor.

"The loading has been completed. I have a question." Murase Kazutaka asked with a stiff face.

"Speak." Yamamoto likes people with brains who can ask questions or at least think. Very good, very gratified.

"Why not put the precious gifts on the warship, isn't it safer?" Murase Kazutaka asked.

Pah!

"Hi!" Murase Kazutaka stood at attention and bowed 75 degrees.

"Idiot, idiot, I really want to see if your brain is left in Kabukicho!"

"If you encounter the enemy on the way, will the warship be dispatched to intercept?"

"Since it is intercepted, there will almost certainly be a battle. Since it is a battle, you must be prepared to sink. Do you want this precious military expenditure to sink to the bottom of the sea with your brain!" Yamamoto shouted.

"Hi!" Move again, indicating that you are standing at attention and bowing again.

Yamamoto did not expect that this time they really did not come for the warship. In his impression, he still stayed in Nanhua's need to fight on two fronts, and the British Empire supported Japan.

According to his idea, the best way for Nanhua is to intercept midway, seek to seriously injure or sink some Japanese warships. Nanhua has the advantage of home field, so it can block the logistics of the army and easily win the victory.

"Set sail!" Yamamoto Gonbei looked at Murase Kazutaka, whose face was swollen like a bun, and gave the order to set sail.

Beep~

After the fleet that had been docked for a long time replenished coal and pulled the return cargo, it slowly started.

By the way, the coal was still transported by coal ships, but this situation will soon be improved. Japan has begun to plan to mine coal in Kalimantan.

…

On the evening of the 21st, the Japanese fleet was discovered by Nanhua's torpedo boats after leaving only a few dozen nautical miles.

When there was no radio, the fleet could only turn on the lights on the ship to ensure that it would not get lost or collide at night. Even in the era of advanced technology, the lights must be turned on when sailing in formation, and it is an important sign.

"A large number of lights are spotted!"

At night, on the dark sea, lights are the best targets, and there are so many of them that anyone can see them as long as they are not blind.

"Turn off all lights!" The captain ordered immediately, it would be best if they could not be spotted.

The torpedo boat began to approach the target. Because it was night, the speed was not fast, but it could approach two nautical miles or even closer.

"Confirm the target, Sankei, Naniwa class, the last ship cannot be confirmed" Sankei is characterized by huge cannons, Naniwa is characterized by being tall and large, and Chiyoda is too dark to see clearly.

"It is probably Chiyoda." said the captain. These five ships are so fast, it doesn't make sense to assign one that can't run.

Yamamoto Gonbei was protecting all the time, which made the torpedo boat dare not approach for reconnaissance. No specific intelligence was obtained, and the more intelligence the easier it was to fight.

"Return!" A preliminary confirmation is enough.

The torpedo boat drew a beautiful arc, passed the fleet, and headed north at high speed...