This was another battle between the Daxia Fleet and the Franki Fleet four years later.
In this battle, the Daxia Fleet had 180 warships, while Franky's Imperial First Fleet had only 60.
Both sides have made great progress in military, but it is obvious that Daxia's technology has developed faster.
The warships are larger, the artillery has a longer range and greater power, and the stability of the artillery has been enhanced, so the shooting accuracy is also higher.
In addition, the Daxia warships have a more advanced command system. Although they still rely on messengers to send flag signals, each ship can respond more quickly.
Thus, after only one hour of fighting, Duke Williams fell into despair.
The Great Xia Fleet was flanking him from both sides. He had originally intended to concentrate his fleet to defeat the Great Xia Fleet directly in front of him. He had thought that this would at least hold off the Great Xia Fleet's attacks for most of the day while he waited for reinforcements to arrive. But now...
His sixty warships were completely suppressed under the fierce artillery fire of the Daxia fleet and had no power to resist!
The range was the biggest obstacle. He even ordered the fleet to rush into the artillery array of the Daxia fleet regardless of life and death, in order to cause some damage to the Daxia fleet within their own range.
Lost, definitely lost.
But even if we lose, we must sink several warships of the Daxia fleet.
However, two hours later, Duke Williams was completely desperate.
His twenty-eight warships rushed forward and did attack, but in the panic their hit rate was pitifully low. Even if they hit the enemy's warships, it seemed that nothing was done to them.
How to fight this battle?
The Empire's glorious fleet that conquered all of Europe was like a child in front of the Daxia fleet.
Such a powerful fleet, even if all the warships of the Imperial Navy joined the battle at the same time, I am afraid they would not be a match for the Daxia Fleet.
He put down the telescope and looked around. All he saw on the vast ocean were his own warships on fire, smoking and sinking. Now there was no way to escape.
Now, including his own flagship, there are only ten battleships left that can barely fight...
Duke Williams issued a final order in desperation—
"Charge forward, even if it means ramming an enemy ship, you must sink one for me!"
…
…
The First Fleet, where the Chang'an was located, did not participate in this battle.
Fu Xiaoguan was awakened from his sleep by the roar of artillery fire. He rubbed his eyes, climbed out of bed, and went to the command desk. Zuo Mu handed him the telescope and asked, "Are you sleeping well?"
"Well," Fu Xiaoguan took the telescope, "I also had a dream. In the dream, we all returned to Daxia, and the emperor awarded you all medals of honor..."
He looked ahead, a little surprised, "Is the fight over already?"
"What else?"
"Okay," Fu Xiaoguan tossed the telescope to Zuo Mu and continued, "I also dreamed that the emperor built a huge square outside Chang'an City and erected a monument in the center... The monument was engraved with the names of all the soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for Daxia since its founding."
"The creation of a strong nation relies on the unity of the people, on strong national strength, powerful technology, and the powerful and unyielding soldiers of Daxia!"
Fu Xiaoguan looked up and squinted at the already bright sun. "I'm not a belligerent person, but for the sake of Daxia's long-term peace and stability, and for Daxia's future voice in the world, I have no choice but to launch this expedition."
"I know it's been tough for the soldiers, but we must persevere...Hold on until we sign a series of treaties with Frankie, and then we can go home."
When they got home, smiles appeared on Zuo Mu and Fang Chaoyang's dark faces.
"Didn't you say that the world is vast and there are many unknown places?"
"Yes, but I think the rest of the things should be left to our descendants."
Fu Xiaoguan waved his hand and took the two of them to sit at the tea table on the deck. He brewed a pot of tea and said with a smile, "Exploring the world is a long process. It is not something that can be accomplished by our generation alone."
"Just like this ocean, it should have four oceans, and this continent should have seven continents... but it's not necessarily the case. If we know what it is, there's no need for us to dig so hard."
"After the trade agreement with Europe is signed, Daxia's navy will requisition or establish military ports and garrisons in many countries along the route...so the navy's development has just begun."
"The purpose of our garrison is, firstly, to protect the security of the signatory countries, and secondly, this waterway is extremely important to Daxia's economy. We must protect this hard-earned route and bring tremendous economic prosperity to Daxia's merchants, Daxia's people, and our country."
Zuo Mu was of course very familiar with fighting, especially naval battles. He also knew that the completion of this route was simply a golden road for the merchants of Daxia, but he did not think so far and see so high.
"...It took us two years to get here. The merchant ships aren't as fast as our warships. Even if there weren't any delays, wouldn't it have taken us three years to get here?"
Fu Xiaoguan poured them a cup of tea and said with a smile, "Three years, that's six years round trip. If they can earn as much wealth in those six years as they would in ten... do you think they'd be willing?"
"Once the profits are huge enough, businessmen will hope to shorten this time to earn more wealth. So they will spontaneously recruit scientific talents to research more advanced power sources, which will promote the leapfrog development of science and technology..."
Fu Xiaoguan picked up his teacup and looked out at the vast ocean. His thoughts drifted back to his almost forgotten past life. After a moment, he took a sip of tea and said, "One day, a round trip from Daxia to Europe will only take a few months."
He looked up at the sky again. "One day, there will be a huge plane in the sky... Much larger and faster than our airship. It will only take a few hours to travel from Daxia to Europe."
Fang Chaoyang opened his mouth in astonishment and asked in disbelief, "How is this possible?"
"Hehe, everything is possible. It's economic incentives that drive scientific progress, so I've never considered the profession of merchant to be lowly. On the contrary, from the very beginning, all I wanted was to boost commerce and elevate the status of merchants. Hence, those laws and the establishment of departments specifically to serve merchants."
"I hope that Daxia will continue in this direction in the future."
"I hope that the Emperor, with the assistance of Yan Xiwen and the others, can clearly understand this and pass this understanding down through the generations."
However, Fu Xiaoguan did not know that Wu Tianci, who was placed with high hopes, had already been dismissed by Yan Xiwen and others and was imprisoned in the palace. Daxia's course was almost deviated.
The fire that was finally ignited was almost extinguished.
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