Wild North America 1846

Chapter 573 Expedition Fleet

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 573 Expedition Fleet

Are you planning to build an expedition fleet to go to Egypt?

When such a big problem was thrown in front of Marshal Pan Hengchen, it really made him feel numb. This was an unprecedented severe test for the Royal Navy.

There are countless problems involved in such a long transoceanic expedition, but His Majesty is determined to complete it no matter how difficult it is.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that the Imperial Royal Navy is confident in fulfilling the sacred mission entrusted by His Majesty. From now on, it will deploy elite troops and generals to form an expeditionary fleet." Marshal Pan Hengchen bit the bullet and agreed.

He thought about it and found that it was already mid-June. The naval warships that were about to go on an expedition must immediately go to the shipyard for maintenance. Repairs that needed to be repaired, replaced with things that needed to be replaced, and additional equipment that needed to be installed, it would take 3 to 4 months before they could be out.

.

If you get anchored in the ocean, you won't be able to cry.

If you calculate it this way, the expedition will take place at least in mid-to-late October, and the arrival in Egypt will not be until March next year. This is if everything goes well.

After careful consideration, Marshal Pan Hengchen once again clasped his fists and saluted: "Your Majesty, our Royal Navy plans to be ready for the expedition on October 28th, but we are afraid that our troops will not be enough to meet the minimum requirement of 20,000 people..."

The Royal Navy has only two marine divisions, of which the 1st Royal Marine Division guards the mainland, and four main regiments are deployed in the imperial capital Chang'an, Los Angeles, Seattle and Panama.

The 2nd Royal Marine Division is still far away in South America, and is also stationed in various ports in regimental units. It cannot be gathered together in half a day.

"It doesn't matter. I have already planned this expedition. I will transfer two field divisions from the army and organize them into the Royal Navy's 3rd Expeditionary Division and the 3rd Expeditionary Division. Well... these two marine divisions only retain the main officer command skeletons, plus

Some senior sergeants and veterans, the total number is about 5,600." Emperor Richard had already made arrangements for this, waved his hand domineeringly, and ordered calmly;

"These two divisions will be placed under the Royal Navy within this week. You will go through the handover procedures with the Army Staff Headquarters, and they will be yours from now on.

There are more than 5,600 key officers and sergeants in the 3rd and 4th Royal Marine Divisions. They will carry their weapons and equipment within half a month at the latest and set sail for Paradise Island, where they will receive new recruits and complete their reorganization.

Don't worry, these are not actually new soldiers. They are all soldiers who have been at least one year old and are relatively familiar with fighting in tropical areas.

After the reorganization is completed, the two full Marine Divisions will have a strength of more than 32,000 men, each equipped with a cavalry regiment and an artillery regiment, which are sufficient to meet combat needs.

As for the date of departure of the expedition fleet, it must be no later than October 1.

At that time, the expedition fleet will meet up with the infantry who arrived earlier for training on Paradise Island, and they will join the expedition to Egypt.

Remember my words, those who openly commit crimes against the Tang Empire will be punished no matter how far they are from thousands of miles away."

"I will keep this in mind. Anyone who openly commits an offense against the Tang Empire will be punished no matter how far they are from thousands of miles away." Marshal Pan Hengchen replied solemnly.

Now that the decision has been made, all matters surrounding the expedition are in full swing.

His Majesty the Emperor's will is extremely resolute, and it is urgent to safeguard the glory of the Empire. At this time, the Royal Navy is like a lamb being roasted on the fire and must respond with its own toughness.

Where can you see a rainbow without going through wind and rain?

The expedition to Egypt was a sacred mission entrusted to the Royal Navy by the Tang Empire, and the Imperial Navy would never dare to ignore it.

If the attack fails, it will not only disgrace the Royal Navy, but also the Tang Empire. The mythical legend of His Majesty the Emperor being invincible will also be shattered.

The entire Royal Navy cannot afford the consequences.

After careful deliberation at several combat meetings, the Royal Navy finally determined the size of the expedition fleet. Considering the long voyage, the "Han" ironclad frigate with a displacement of only more than 1,500 tons was first eliminated.

The Royal Navy plans to use the newly commissioned four armored cruisers "Bad Wind", "Howling", "Mountain Wind" and "Sea Wind" as the main force. This class of ships has a full displacement of 4,980 tons and is equipped with 4 8-guns.

inch main gun (203 mm) and 10 7-inch secondary guns (178 mm), with service periods ranging from 3 to 7 years. The ship's technical condition is relatively good.

besides

It will be equipped with no less than 12 coal ships of five to seven thousand tons, and each coal ship will be equipped with seven-inch guns. In wartime, it can cooperate with the main warships to block the bay and capture the Egyptian sail cargo ships.

In addition, all major warships need to install coal storage iron cabinets to extend their cruising range.

As for troop transports, oil and water supply ships, and other cargo ships, they are all ready-made and can be requisitioned directly from major shipping companies at that time. There is no problem at all.

The most important thing now is to select an experienced commander of the expeditionary fleet. After repeated screening, two naval admirals, one old and one young, entered the final list.

At this time, the situation suddenly changed...

His Majesty noticed that the eleventh prince Tang Li Xin would take command of the expedition, and he appointed him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Expeditionary Task Force and was awarded the rank of Rear Admiral. Accompanying him on the expedition was Commodore Viscount Zheng Huaishan, a naval officer with rich combat experience.

general.

in the north american war

Zheng Huaishan participated in the expedition fleet's strangulation battle against the maritime power of the United States of America. He repeatedly performed meritorious service. After the war, he was awarded the title of Imperial Viscount and promoted to Commodore.

Also accompanying the expedition were two generals, one civil and military, and the other Colonel Pan Shouguo, a royal attendant. He also had the identity of the heir apparent of the Protectorate, the eldest son of Naval Marshal Pan Hengchen.

The other is the 26-year-old Lord Liu Daqing. This man is the son of former Prime Minister Liu Xianjun and the companion of the eleventh prince Tang Li Xin. This man is familiar with domestic and foreign affairs and is the chief steward responsible for the overall planning of this expedition.

Pier 11 of Chang'an, the Imperial Capital, also known as Oak Bay Town

After more than 20 years of construction, Oak Bay Town has become a satellite town of the imperial capital Chang'an. The town has a population of nearly 200,000 and is an excellent place with beautiful scenery, mountains and bays.

In the surrounding bay, there are more than a dozen armored warships of various sizes moored quietly. This is the largest local military port of the Royal Navy.

In the large Royal Navy shipyard on the north side of the bay, there is a huge ship moored at the dock. There are many workers going up and down making final installations. It is a busy scene.

This is the "Zhenyang"-class ironclad ship with a displacement of more than 8,600 tons. The first ship "Zhenyang" has been launched after two years of construction and is in the dock installation stage.

"It's a pity that we can't sail this unprecedentedly powerful battleship across the ocean." His Highness Tang Li Xin, who was wearing the uniform of a rear admiral, was tall and looked heroic.

He raised his hand and stroked the thick steel barrel of the 305mm main gun on the bow of the ship, his expression showing his sincere love for this powerful main gun. This is a breech-loaded main gun that represents the advanced level in the world today. It is huge and strong.

The gun mount is simply unshakable.

The ironclad "Zhenyang" is equipped with two 305mm double-door main guns, one at the bow and one at the stern. This is the largest caliber main gun produced by Colt Arms Company.

The gun's gun carriage is tilted backwards with a slope of 17.8 degrees. When the main gun is fired, it will recoil violently to offset the huge recoil force. The rear-tilt gun carriage will offset the 78-ton cannon.

Recoil, and the inertia returns forward after launch.

It's no surprise that men are obsessed with super powerful artillery.

The eleventh prince, His Highness Tang-Li Xin, took the initiative to ask for an expedition to Egypt this time. He, like the third and seventh brothers, worshiped his father crazily and joined the military at the age of 13. Although he had experienced many wars at a young age, he was a colonial

A loyal supporter of expansionism.

After taking over as Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Fleet, His Highness Tang Li Xin made active preparations. He has been stationed in Oak Bay Town for the past two months, because several main battleships preparing for the expedition have been thoroughly overhauled and refitted here. There are two ships in the dock.

A "Tornado" class armored cruiser is under construction and reconstruction.

Potentially dangerous boilers and pipes must be removed, new boilers and pipes installed, the power output shaft replaced, and iron cabinets for coal storage installed in the spare space to extend the battleship's cruising range as much as possible.

Next to His Highness Tang Li Xin, several of his main entourages were standing in line, and they couldn't help but smile when they saw His Highness's loving expression.

Commodore Zheng Huaishan, deputy commander of the expeditionary fleet, took a step forward, saluted and said;

"Your Highness, this is the Marshal's pet peeve!

Moreover, this is the first 8,600-ton main iron-clad ship. The power configuration and ship maneuvering system still need a long period of trial sea trials before the stable technical status can be determined.

Such a new ship is not suitable for long-distance expeditions.

It is estimated that it will take three to four years of running in and eliminating various hidden dangers before it can have stable and reliable ocean navigation capabilities.

By then

I believe that Your Highness will have the opportunity to pilot this giant ship and sail across the ocean. Wherever the ship's cannon points, Xiaoxiao will bow down and frighten the evil spirits. It will be a weapon for us, the Tang Dynasty Empire, to expand its territory."

"Hahaha... What General Zheng said makes sense. I was also overjoyed and couldn't help myself for a moment." His Highness Tang Li Xin laughed and responded.

Standing on this giant ship, can you truly feel the power of the most amazing war beast in the world today?

In addition to the two 305mm main naval guns one behind the other, this class ship is equipped with four twin 180mm secondary guns, a total of eight, arranged along both sides of the ship.

The rows of steel muzzles represent the abundance of martial virtue. Such a giant armored ship sailing into the port is very convincing. It represents the pinnacle of the Tang Empire's steam industry technological achievements in the past twenty years.

There are also 12 40mm rapid-fire cannons equipped along the sides of the ship. This is a powerful weapon against small boats and sailing cargo ships. It has abundant firepower and flexibility, and is fatal to wooden ships.

The ship uses a power combination of two sets of reduced-configuration vertical steam turbines and 10 new high-pressure fuel boilers, which can output a total of 9,600 horsepower, pushing the ship to achieve a cruising speed of 10 to 11 knots and a top speed of 16 knots.

Under the condition of extreme squeezing of power, it can maintain the extreme high speed of 17.5 knots for 5 hours, and its power level ranks among the top levels of naval ships in the world.

Of course, such a giant ship is expensive to build, with the equipment cost reaching 2.3 million Tang Yuan, or about 460,000 pounds.

If the Royal Navy purchases more than 8 ships on a large scale, the equipment cost will be reduced accordingly to less than 400,000 pounds.

The Royal Navy shipbuilding project that has been approved is to purchase three ships of this class at one time. Now one ship has been launched and outfitted, and the construction progress of the other one is about 40% on the slipway. The last one will be cut off the first one early next year.

piece of steel plate.

Iron-armored giant ships have always been important weapons for great powers, and they must be built and equipped with great caution. Only after various technologies have been verified and mature can they be built on a large scale.

It is still in the period of technological exploration, and the Tang Empire cannot yet do what the British did, which was a prodigal act of launching four to five levels of 10,000-ton giant ships.

(End of chapter)