Chapter 293 Anyone who offends our Ming Dynasty will be punished no matter how far away he is! (Please subscribe and vote monthly)

On September 24, the 10th year of Taiping, two huge Ming naval formations sailed out of Little Luzon Bay and Brunei Bay, heading for the Lombok Strait and the Malacca Strait respectively.

The first voyage to the Lombok Strait went through the Sulu Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Makassar Strait, and Java Sea. Except for the Java Sea, almost all of them were the de facto "inland seas" of the Ming Dynasty.

There are patrol ships of the Nanyang Fleet, and there are airships circling in the sky. These days, because the Ming Dynasty is actually at war, the security is even tighter. Any ship that enters will be stopped by the patrol ships for strict interrogation!

The Dutch on the island of Java had long since "flattened imperialism." The reason they were still able to rule the East Indies was that they needed a buffer zone between the Ming Dynasty and Britain.

The Dutch, who have long known what they are, are too lazy to struggle, and they don't build any decent fleet here on Java Island. Naturally, there are no airship patrols - airships are so expensive and not very safe, so why do they have them?

There are some patrol ships, and they are all hybrid-powered, can burn coal stoves, and can also use wind energy. However, they will not go to Makassar, or even go for a stroll in the northern part of the Java Sea.

It suddenly made sense to guard the East Indies at home.

They don't care whether the Ming Dynasty's soldiers come or not. If the Ming Dynasty doesn't come, they will be colonists and collect taxes for a day. If the Ming Dynasty comes, the worst they can do is pack up their bunks and run away.

Therefore, most of the Dutch would not know about the First Air Battle before it passed through the Lombok Strait. The Dutch did not know, and the British certainly had no way of knowing.

However, the British still took themselves seriously when placing the British-Indian troops and fleets in the Strait of Malacca. In their own words, the Strait of Malacca was the first gateway for the British Empire to defend Western civilization.

Since it is necessary to protect the portal, patrol boats, airships, and spy reconnaissance ships are all indispensable. Among them, the airship and spy reconnaissance ship were sent to Temasek 400 kilometers east. The main force of the Ming Navy's Nanyang Fleet only needs to go west

It would take less than a few hours for it to be discovered immediately after sailing out of the waters near Borneo. And because there are no radars these days, and the aircraft is a top-secret project, it is impossible to use it to intercept the airship.

As for the airship intercepting the airship, this speed is not enough. By the time the intercepting airship arrives, everyone will have already gone home for dinner.

So when the main force of the Nanyang Fleet arrived on the sea less than 400 kilometers away from Temasek Island, the British reconnaissance airships in the sky and the spy reconnaissance ships on the sea had already discovered them. But now the British radio

News has not yet become widespread, and most reconnaissance airships and spy ships do not have such advanced machines.

Therefore, after discovering that the Ming Dynasty naval formation was approaching the Strait of Malacca with great momentum, these airships and spy ships had no choice but to head towards the Temasek Fortress at full speed. Three hours later, the two reconnaissance airships landed at the airship base on Temasek Island.

About a quarter of an hour later, Emperor William, who was on his own expedition on the shores of Elephant Island in Mumbai, had already received an urgent military message from Temasek Island!

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the main force of the Nanyang Fleet of the Ming Navy is sailing towards the Strait of Malacca. According to airship reconnaissance, the formation has a total of four Hero-class battleships, eight Hanwu Emperor-class battleships, and twelve Hero-class armored cruisers! Following are the second-class and third-class battleships.

The total number of cruisers, destroyers, and transport ships of all types is no less than 100!"

In the emperor's Elephant Island Palace, in a luxuriously furnished and air-conditioned hall, Emperor William, who was enjoying the art of belly dancing, learned from Charles Elliot that the main force of the Ming Navy's Nanyang Fleet was dispatched.

"Quickly, please invite the Marquis of Nelson, the Earl of Amherst, the Foreign Minister Staunton, and the War Minister Gough to come to the Elephant Island Palace!"

"Yes, sir."

The Marquis of Nelson is still on board the Warrior. The Chief Minister of the Indian Empire, Amherst, the Foreign Secretary, Staunton, and the War Secretary, Gough, are all in Bombay at the moment. However, Elephanta Island is only a few kilometers away from Mumbai by water, and it can be reached by speedboat in a short time.

arrive.

So about an hour later, Nelson, Amherst, Staunton and Hugh Gough had all arrived.

"They are coming!" Emperor William sat on the throne in the audience hall and said to the ministers who came in a hurry, "12 cutting-edge battleships, 12 brand-new Hero-class armored cruisers. There are no aircraft carriers, but there are cover missions in the sky.

Light airships. There are also more than a hundred light ships, auxiliary ships and troop carriers. It seems that a war between the East and the West has really come!"

Emperor William looked at his ministers: "What now? I need your advice!"

"Your Majesty," said Foreign Secretary Staunton, "it is now time to submit an ultimatum to the Ming court!"

An ultimatum is actually a declaration of war!

Because it is impossible for the Ming Empire to accept the conditions in the ultimatum!

"Your Majesty," Chief Minister Amesh said, "I also propose to submit an ultimatum to the Ming Dynasty. The Indian Empire needs a total war! Only a total war against the invasion of the Ming Empire can unite India, an almost fragmented country.

Together! And only by declaring war can we fully mobilize India's manpower and material resources."

War Secretary Hugh Gough also said: "Your Majesty, declaring war can give the imperial government greater power and allow us to organize more troops. In order to defeat the Ming Dynasty, these are necessary!"

"Your Majesty," Marquis Nelson also said, "In fact, we are already at war with the Ming Dynasty. I think we should not only let India declare war on the Ming Dynasty, but also let the United Kingdom join the war! Only in this way can we fully mobilize British financial resources.

, material resources, manpower, especially industrial strength!”

Emperor William shook his head: "No, not yet Marquis, are we sure we can defeat the main force of the approaching Nanyang Fleet?"

Marquis Nelson nodded: "Of course. General Hood's fleet has 22 battleships, 22 armored cruisers (including 2 Blake-class ships that have just joined), and 15 motherships! In addition, there are 15 shallow water ships in the Temasek Fortress

Heavy gunship! In Malacca, our strength is far stronger than the enemy."

"Okay!" Emperor William nodded heavily and had already made up his mind. "Send a message to our ambassador in Beijing, Sir Pottinger, and ask him to submit an ultimatum to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Empire!"

"As you command, my lord!"

Beijing, Chang'an Avenue, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building.

That afternoon, in the hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Zexu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, saw the gloomy-faced Ambassador of the Indian Empire Sir Pottinger Cha, and his brows couldn't help but wrinkled. Sir Poting Cha, who looked very handsome, saw the black man in front of him.

The Ming Dynasty courtiers in gauze python robes frowned, and there was an indescribable pleasure in their hearts - you yellow-skinned monkeys from the East are too late to worry now, because the British Empire will soon lead the entire Western world to attack you!

"Sir Pottinger, why are you here alone?" Lin Zexu looked at the Indian ambassador in front of him and frowned and asked, "Where is Bommer? Why doesn't he come?"

Boehmer was the British Royal Navy colonel who swam to escape during the Battle of Kii Channel. He found an opportunity after the Battle of Kii Channel and got a diplomatic job. He is now the charge d'affaires in Ming Dynasty - Ming Dynasty and Britain

The diplomatic relations between them have been downgraded from ambassador level to charge d'affaires level! And this charge d'affaires is still temporary.

Sir Pottinger could understand Lin Zexu's Chinese. After being stunned, he asked in English: "Mr. Minister, what do you mean? Today I am submitting the ultimatum on behalf of the Indian Empire, and it has nothing to do with the British Charge d'Affaires."

Lin Zexu hummed and smiled: "Ambassador Pu Dingcha, go back and tell your Emperor William that his little cleverness is of no use to the Ming Dynasty! Anyone who offends our Ming Dynasty will be punished no matter how far away! We are not fools and know who the real enemy is.

?So we will definitely go to Great Britain to settle accounts with the British! Whether they declare war or not, they can't change the outcome!

Finally, I don’t want to know what the so-called ultimatum of the Indian Empire is? We refuse! From now on, the Ming Empire and the Indian Empire are in a full-scale war!”
Chapter completed!