"This time we have made many efforts, and have mobilized 2 "Star" class light cruisers, 4 "Madao" class sail guard gunboats, 4 "Yaksa" class armed transport ships, an ammunition supply ship, a water supply ship and a coal transport ship. Of course, we cannot forget our main battleship. Although we are old, we are still brave in the heavy cruiser of the "Cadis Rock". Well, there are 14 ships in total, with a total tonnage of about 8,000 tons. The tonnage of all ships anchored in Guan Hanoi is even larger. If they don't come out, they will not be able to escape unless they are lucky enough to come out." Liu Fubo, the commander of the Okhotsk Sea Squadron of the Third Fleet, and the Navy Major Liu Fubo, said to Liao Xiaoyao who came with the ship if they come out.

Major Liu Fubo is the son of the naval veteran Liu Dafa. In his early years, he served as a staff officer in the Navy. He served in the country's first all-steam powered ship, the Tahiti. He participated in the colonization of Tahiti organized by Zhang Jinhua. Later, he was transferred to the Third Fleet to serve as the captain of the guard gunboat of the "Mackerel" and crossed several times in the South Pacific with high winds and high waves. Because this section of the sea was too dangerous, his mother was so anxious that she wanted him to return to the Navy to serve, but Liu Dafa did not agree and was considered an old sea dog.

Later, he was transferred to the Far East. At that time, he was still in the organization of the Hei Water Temporary Task Force. After working for a few years, he felt boring and hopeless to get promoted, so he moved around and wanted to return to the First Fleet. The turn of the matter occurred when the number of the Hei Water Temporary Task Force was abolished and the establishment of the Third Fleet Okhotsk Sea Squadron. Liu Fubo (the then Navy Captain) stood out, defeated many competitors, was appointed as the commander of the squadron, and entered the circle of the top naval forces for a time and became a hot new star in the East Coast.

Liu Fubo has been in the position of commander of the Okhotsk Sea Squadron for many years. He is less than 40 years old this year and believes that he can go a step further and see the throne of the three main fleets, especially the commander of the first fleet with the strongest combat power. However, the factors caused by the rise in official positions at this level, the connections and relationships are no longer the main factors, and real achievements are the most convincing.

Under such a guiding ideology, Commander Liu Fubo and Liu are very aggressive and aggressive. This seems to be the main reason why Liao Xiaoyao negotiated with him to intercept and sweep Xiangshui Port, a major trade center in Qing Dynasty: attack, interception, capturing enemy warships (armed merchant ships can also be barely called warships), and obtaining a large amount of spoils. This is no matter how it is said, it is also a credit that cannot be ignored. Although it may not be as good as the credit for killing generals and winning flags in the face-to-face naval battle (in this regard, some new generations of East Coast generals who participated in the Eastern Portuguese naval battle have a great advantage), at least they avoided their own credit card, right?

This time when Liu Fubo surrounded Xiangshui Port, he transferred almost all the mobile forces that could be adjusted. He even narrowed the maintenance period of some warships despite the opposition of several captains below, allowing him to drive to Guanhekou. It can be seen that the capital is so large that 11 combat-capable ships, and 7 of them are professional warships. He doesn't believe that anyone else dares to provoke head-on in this far east ocean!

In fact, they quietly arrived at the sea outside Guanhekou in the middle of the night. Then several senior officers discussed and decided to take advantage of the favorable time when the sea water rises at night to see if they can sneak into Guanhe, and repeat the incident in which Druittel led a Dutch fleet to attack the Thames at night.

However, the Qing army stationed in Xiangshui Town seemed to have shortage of funds and corruption that year, and most of the troops had been disbanded (because Congress refused to allocate funds). The British Navy and Army were strong! After discovering the attempts of the East Coast people at the first time, this was not difficult. They had two large lighthouses built by the Dutch on both sides of the Guan River, and there were also some small, specialized in night-occupied nearby. The old-fashioned Junk ship patrolled the Qing people's forts immediately issued guns as quickly as possible to warn, which caused a series of chain reactions, causing the East Coast people to sneak into the Guan River in the dark at night to go bankrupt.

At this time, both Liu Fubo and Liao Xiaoyao were scolding the British in their hearts for being incompetent, how fierce the fight between the parliament and the king was, and how the officers and soldiers were reluctant to fight, so that Druittel's extreme risky behavior was successful. This was simply a waste of epic success!

Unfortunately, the Qing people are not as stupid as the British at the time. They are unwilling to "cooperate with" the East Coast people's port stealing in the middle of the night. They use coastal defense heavy artillery to form strict firepower, keeping the East Coast people firmly in the outer sea, protecting the safety of Xiangshui Port, a trade center.

However, the coastal defense is temporarily safe, but the problem is that it is not a big deal for people on the east coast to block the outside world. The ships that have entered the port for trade cannot be removed. The ships that are driving here from the South China Sea are likely to be caught by people on the east coast. The trade at Xiangshui Port is about to be paralyzed, so the Qing officials are not in a hurry, because at present, this level of overseas trade has a great impact on their court, both in both economic and military levels.

In terms of economy, the Qing Dynasty obtained a massive cash inflow through this increasingly large scale overseas trade, which effectively enriched their finances and allowed them to maintain a huge old army (to be honest, it was not too much money to raise this old army, it was nothing more than food, cloth and a small amount of silver). It also had sufficient funds to support the construction of the new army, which was an important part of supporting their military deterrence.

From a purely military perspective, a large number of weapons, military funds and officers from the old continent (many English and German mercenaries were incorporated into the Eight Banners and granted considerable official positions) not only enriched the Qing army's equipment, but also gradually innovated their military ideas and combat modes, and their combat effectiveness overall improved significantly, just like the Dashun Armed Group, which the East Coast people supported and the powerful factions in various places in the South Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the Qing people now attach great importance to Xiangshui's foreign trade. The navy and army stationed here are also front-line troops with great combat effectiveness. The night defense is also organized, and there are military supervisors to investigate at any time. Once someone is slacking off, military law is immediately engaged, which directly defeats the risky operation of the East Coast people stealing the port.

However, in Liu Fubo and Liao Xiaoyao's opinion, stealing the port is a military operation with a small possibility of success. If it fails, it doesn't matter! Anyway, everyone has more time now, so I'm going to waste if you don't come out. There is no need to spend more than a dozen old "Hara Island" class sail guard gunboats can block more than a dozen foreign armed merchant ships inside. In addition, two "Yaksa" class armed transport ships are allocated to coordinate. Even the leaked fish cannot exist unless you take the risk of going out to sea at night.

In addition to these ships, the Navy also has five combat-capable ships, including the "Cadis Rock", which can spread out and patrol nearby, and search for foreign merchant ships that may come to trade, mainly ships of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company, and then chase them and detain them. Of course, if the other party does not cooperate, you can open artillery fire.

Since this plan was formulated in advance, the following will naturally be implemented. Now, after hearing Major Liu Fubo boasting about his lineup, Liao Xiaoyao chuckled and said, "Commander Liu, I naturally believe in the strength of your troops. As a Qing Dynasty, the coastal defense fortress is still quite good, and the gunners seem to have been trained. Although their level is a bit ordinary, they are not just a person who can do nothing and wait for death. Look at the shore.

The Qing army, both infantry and cavalry, responded very quickly last night. If we really wanted to land, we would probably not be able to succeed. So the decision to not bring the army this time was a fight. So, it is estimated that your navy will be alive, blockade, intercept, and sweep, and clean up the nearby ocean surfaces and crack down on some European merchants who dare to come to trade. I don’t believe that they will not restrain themselves after the pain."

"I'll stay here for about two or three days, and then go back to Denglai. It's very close to Jiaozhou Port, and the supplies are very convenient, which is very helpful for you to continue fighting. I have no other requirements, so I'll block me until the end of this year, about four months, and give these European merchants a profound lesson." Liao Xiaoyao then instructed.

After saying this, he shook hands with other officers of the squadron one by one, and then transferred to the armed transport ship of the "Kuril Islands" and planned to return to Denglai by boat in a few days. There were still many affairs waiting for him, because a new group of delegations from the Nan Railway Company had officially arrived at Yantai Port and the field survey was completed. There were still many details on the two sides to discuss. The Guyan Line and Taorong Line Railway were the most important task before Liao Xiaoyao left office. He was worried about leveraging others and had to personally inquire about many things, so he had to return to Yantai as soon as possible.

On August 28, 1676, the "Kuril Islands" armed transport ship carried a batch of spoils. This time, the East Coast people were very lucky and caught a merchant ship "Kent" from the British East India Company (130 tons, carrying 12 small cannons, which was the second time I came to Xiangshui Port for trade). They seized a large amount of spoils, plate armor, old-fashioned mechanics, axian medicine, spices, ambergris and other spoils and returned to Yantai Port. The remaining 13 ships were still moving outside the Guanhekou sea. They seemed to have no intention of leaving in the short term, which undoubtedly made many people who were paying attention to them in the port very regretful.

On September 16, an unlucky foreign merchant ship was captured by two Star class light cruisers. At that time, the three-masted sailboat from the Dutch East India Company was sailing towards Xiangshui Port in a strong southeast wind. It was discovered by the two warships seconded from the Taiwan Bank, and then a chase started.

Dutch merchant ships had a premonition that the warships flying the Naval Flag of the East Coast of China might be unfavorable to them, so they turned their course and fled desperately into the depths of the ocean. However, because the ship was loaded with too much cargo and the ship drank too deep, they were constantly pulled closer. In desperation, the Dutch could only throw some heavy cannons purchased from Goa into the sea to speed up their ships. As a result, they still lost to the "Star" class light cruiser, which was born with rapid speed. Finally, they were surrounded by one in front and one behind at around 6 pm that day, and had to hang a white flag to express their surrender.

The ship has no big oil and water, because it is mainly loaded with weapons and military funds. The people on the East Coast cannot see it themselves. It is estimated that a small part of it will be distributed to the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division of the Denglai New Army that are being formed. The rest may still be sold and given to the Shunjun Group half to enhance their strength. Now they are fighting in Sichuan, and there are also small wars on the front line in Hubei. The risk of comprehensive conflict has begun to increase sharply, and it has reached the point where the people on the East Coast have to pay more attention.

On September 25, a merchant ship "Holmosa" from the British East India Company was discovered by the East Coast people. This British merchant ship, which had traveled to Xiamen and Surat many times, was fully loaded with weapons, spices, wool and other commodities. After being discovered by the East Coast people, they thought they would die. To be honest, whether it was pirates or private fleets of various countries in this era, they were inhumane for capturing crew members of the ship. Killing and silencing is common, which will naturally arouse the desperate resistance of merchant ship sailors. Therefore, they surrendered until the last moment of the battle. The East Coast people had only time to carry some of the cargo of the ship, and had to abandon the ship because the ship was seriously infiltrated.

On October 2, a merchant ship from Portugal drove to Xiangshui Port with its tail of the southeast wind, and was blocked by the East Coast people as usual. Like the previous English merchant ship, the Portuguese sailors of the ship shouted "San Diego", and then fought a desperate battle with the East Coast warship until it was finally sunk. No dime was left for the East Coast people, but instead caused more than a dozen casualties, which was also unlucky.

As time goes by October, the prevailing winds offshore began to slowly turn into north winds. At this point, it is no longer possible for any ships to come from the south. Therefore, almost all the warships were gathered on the coast of Guanhekou and began to strictly prevent the more than a dozen foreign merchant ships moored in Xiangshui Port from going to sea.

These merchant ships have basically completed trade, full of various specialty goods. The East Coast Fleet, which is "dissatisfied with desire", has only seized two ships, and the cargo of almost three ships, so they are naturally very dissatisfied with the excellent targets of plunder. Although the Dutch and British people came out to negotiate with the port before, they accused the East Coast people of their actions, which seriously damaged bilateral relations and had to bear serious consequences. As a result, Major Liu Fubo did not miss them at all and drove them back directly.

What a joke, you have benefited so many times in recent years. If you don’t clean up, you will still be fine! What bullshit consequences are you? Let the white shirts of the local Foreign Ministry negotiate!

/bk
Chapter completed!