Chapter 345: Decisive Battle with the French Fleet

Chapter 345: Decisive Battle with the French Fleet

Chapter 345: Decisive Battle with the French Fleet

London Stock Exchange, United Kingdom.

"Have you heard? The big-headed Wen Consortium in the Far East is buying Suez Canal shares at a high price of fifty francs per share."

"There are such idiots? It's true that backward Orientals don't understand finance. They don't even have a bank, let alone a money house. They come to London to make a living. Aren't they going to be eaten up by financial capitalists?"

"Whether they fail or not is none of my business. I have to sell the losing stocks while they have money."

"Well, before the news spreads, come and send a telegram to buy Suez Canal shares on the European continent at 42 francs per share, and then resell them to the stupid Orientals to make money."

In the financial securities industry, information is money. In just one day, 3% of the Suez Canal shares in Europe were all in the hands of the Wen Group.

…………

On September 1870, 9, Shao Quanzhong led the expeditionary force to the Akrotiri naval port in Limassol City at the southern tip of Cyprus.

Lin Taizeng, leading the Black Sea Squadron of the Nanyang Fleet, was already waiting here.

"To the Archduke."

Ivan, the Cossack leader who had not been seen for a long time, saluted Shao Quanzhong.

There were 6,000 Cossack soldiers organized by the Qing Dynasty on the island of Cyprus, led by Ivan, the assistant minister of Cyprus and the foreign general and leader of the Cossacks.

The poor Cossack soldiers surrendered to Shao Quanzhong in Tashkent and immediately became rich. They were transferred to the island of Cyprus, where they spent more than three years in a comfortable life with nothing to do but getting paid and not having to fight.

After being poor for a long time, they longed for comfort and wealth. After being comfortable for a long time, as the first generation who had experienced hardships, these Cossacks did not become corrupt, but were eager to make more money.

Look, Shao Quanzhong is here to make them rich.

Six thousand professional robber Cossacks have boarded the warships of the Black Sea Fleet, and they are eager to try.

They were told that Boss Shao was going to take them to Paris to rob. Hurrah! Boss Shao was mighty!

Napoleon attacked Meaux, and this time we Cossacks are going to attack Paris. Paris is full of wealth, and this time we must grab everything we can.

After joining forces with the Black Sea Fleet, the size of the Nanyang Fleet's warships doubled, and all the auxiliary ships were in place. It only took one day to replenish food and water, and they immediately set off westward in a mighty manner.

Half a month later, the expeditionary force arrived at the Spanish naval port of Cadiz, and Isabel returned to her hometown.

"Liu Buchan pays respect to the Marshal!"

The Nanyang Fleet gathered in the port of Cadiz. With the addition of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, the Nanyang Fleet was finally complete.

The port of Cadiz gathered a huge fleet that ranked third in the world in terms of the number of ironclad ships and whose combat power ranking is currently unknown. The Spaniards watching were filled with excitement, as if the Invincible Fleet had returned and the Spanish Empire had regained its former glory.

The Dingzhen II ship in this time and space is not the Prussian-built Saxony-class ship, but the British-built Minotaur-class ship.

It is 124 meters in length, has a displacement of 10798 tons and has an astonishing five masts.

总计4门9英寸、22门8英寸和2门7英寸舰炮。

其中4门9吋炮和18门8吋炮被布置于主甲板两舷的炮门，4门8吋炮则被布置于上层甲板艏艉。剩余的两门7吋炮则被布置到了主甲板艉部。

According to the Huai Army's requirements, Williams rapid-fire cannons and Gatling machine guns were also installed for close combat against enemy soldiers on the deck.

The Dingzhen II ship that Shao Quanzhong is currently inspecting is the most advanced steam-clad sailing battleship in the world and the pinnacle of steam-clad sailing battleships.

Ahem, the peak means going downhill. The British Destroyer-class pure steam-powered battleships have begun to be fitted out. When they are launched into service next year, they will crush all battleships with sails. The Minotaur-class will be obsolete next year.

But, but, isn't it the most awesome now? The British only have three Minotaur-class battleships. As the leader of the British Empire's fleet that dominates the world, the Nanyang Fleet has two, which is already quite awesome.

Good steel should be used on the blade, and now is the time to use it. There is a saying that ten thousand years is too long, so we must seize the day. Ahem, Shao Quanzhong has never heard of it, but he understands the meaning.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

The two ships Dingzhen fired 21 salutes, and the soldiers dressed in snow-white naval uniforms all went on board and stood on the slope, saluting Shao Quanzhong who was inspecting the two ships.

As the most advanced battleship in the world, in addition to its combat capability, it also had to demonstrate its honor as the leader of the fleet. The Minotaur class had a large tonnage and a lot of space, and was specially equipped with 8 brass-cast 24-pound howitzers as salute guns.

Well, the rule of firing salutes originated from when friendly warships met at sea. In order to show mutual friendship, they would first fire the shells from the ship's guns into the air.

At that time, the naval guns were backward and it took several hours to reload the shells. If the shells were empty and the ship could not fight for a short period of time, it was a sign of respect and non-hostility to the enemy.

The largest warships at the time were equipped with twenty-one naval guns, so firing a twenty-one-gun salute was the highest etiquette.

Shao Quanzhong was the Grand Duke of Crimea, also a foreign head of state, and therefore worthy of a 21-gun salute.

However, neither the gunners of the Nanyang Navy who fired the salute, nor the soldiers on board, including the Spanish who were watching, thought so in their hearts.

Grand Duke of Crimea? What is that? Shao Quanzhong, the Grand Duke of Crimea, had never been to the Crimean Peninsula.

Now Shao Quanxiao is the prime minister there, Xu Bangdao leads the Chu army to maintain order, and Lin Taizeng leads the Black Sea Fleet to guard the coastal security.

As for standing on the slope, this was also a new etiquette that had just become popular. Originally, the highest etiquette for naval officers and soldiers was that when encountering a friendly fleet, all the sailors would climb up the mast and wave their caps on the mast.

It means that we are all here and will not drive warships to fight you.

But now technology has advanced. The sails of steam-sail battleships are powered by steam and operated by pulley remote control. Unless they are damaged, there is no need for sailors to climb up and operate them.

The steam battleship required too many people. The Minotaur-class battleship had a capacity of 800 people, and the mast could not accommodate them, so it was changed to everyone standing on the deck and saluting. In short, all of us came out, which was the same as climbing the mast before.

The Dingzhen II ship was temporarily under the management of Liu Buxian after he brought it back from London, and now it has been handed over to Shao Quanzhong.

Shao Quanzhong looked meaningfully at Liu Buchan, who had been guarding the Port of Cadiz for a long time, and said, "I order Liu Buchan to serve as the captain of the Dingyuan warship. From now on, the Dingyuan will stay in the Port of Cadiz and be assigned to the Spanish Royal Navy."

"Liao Rong, the admiral of the Nanyang Fleet, concurrently serves as the captain of the Zhenyuan. He will use the Zhenyuan as my ship and will follow me back to the Far East after the war."

His decision surprised Liu Buchan. These two most advanced super-giant ships were great tools for showing off. He thought Shao Quanzhong would take them all back, but he actually left one for himself.

The next one stood at attention and said, "Thank you, Marshal, for your cultivation."

Isabel was extremely delighted. She was so proud of herself that Shao actually allocated the Dingyuan to Spain. She couldn't help but step forward and kiss Shao Quanzhong on the cheek in public.

Although Dingyuan and Zhenyuan had the same configuration and Dingyuan ranked first, Shao Quanzhong chose Zhenyuan as his flagship, which was actually a personal persistence.

In another time and space, Liu Buchan went to England to study and practiced on the Minotaur-class battleship HMS Northumberland. After returning to China, Liu Buchan served as the captain of the Dingyuan of the Beiyang Fleet.

He had a connection with both the Minotaur class and the name "Dingyuan", so Shao Quanzhong just followed the trend. Of course, others didn't know and thought it was just because of his attention to Liu Buchan, so Liu Buchan was of course extremely grateful.

The logistics soldiers here began to transport the new TNT shells produced in Lanzhou to the Dingzhen No. 2 ship continuously. Le Sen, who was the first to disembark and obtain real-time intelligence, came over.

"Marshal, the latest intelligence is that the French have learned that the Nanyang Navy has arrived in Europe."

"The French Atlantic Fleet, which had been blockading Prussia's North Sea and Baltic ports, and the Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Toulon were ordered to assemble at Cadiz at the same time."

"The assembled French fleet is the second largest ironclad fleet in the world, including all the main French ironclad warships, ready to destroy the Nanyang Fleet in Cadiz."

(End of this chapter)