(I'm really sorry, the last chapter should be Chapter 213, this chapter is today, today's state is a bit bad, it took me a long time to write this chapter, but there is still a second chapter today, I guess Went there in the early hours of the morning, everyone will watch it tomorrow)

"Eh?" Bult didn't expect Xiao Jie to ask such a question, and he was stunned for a moment. He really wanted to answer with confidence, but in fact he didn't know the answer. As the current commander of the Iberian navy and former French naval officer, it has always been his dream to defeat the powerful and arrogant British navy. But for now, it seems a little unlikely. Now he has 8 warships in his hand. Although they are the 8 most powerful warships in the world today, the opponents he faces are also very powerful. Although most of the soldiers in his hands are retired soldiers of the French Navy or sailors of merchant ships, what they want to use now is a brand new warship, and various techniques and tactics have to be explored slowly by themselves. Compared with the British Navy, which has experienced many battles, it is not a little bit worse.

"His Royal Highness, to be honest, if you ask me this sentence again in three months, I will definitely tell you that you are sure, but now, I can only say that I will do my best. After all, my soldiers need to fight with their warships." After a long period of running-in, the greatest combat effectiveness can be exerted." Boult replied.

"I know what you said. The navy is a technical arm. It cannot be trained in a day or two. It also takes a long time to adapt to the warship. However, what we lack most now is time. The British have killed They are coming, and if we do not defeat them, then our dream of building a strong navy will be postponed for who knows how long. So, General Burt, I hope you and your fleet will do their best Kill the British fleet, even if you can't defeat them, you must injure them." Xiao Jie said in a deep voice, at this moment he has no way out. It took a lot of effort to build the Valencia Shipyard. If it is destroyed, his plan to catch up with the British Navy will be greatly affected. This is what he does not want to see, so he Even if Burt's fleet cannot defeat Nelson's fleet, it must seriously weaken them. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to keep the Valencia shipyard with the cannons deployed near Valencia.

"My soldiers and I will do our best." Boult said firmly. As the commander of the Iberia Navy, he understood the importance of the Valencia Shipyard very well. Moreover, Xiao Jie said so again, and he could do nothing if he didn't work hard.

"Very good, now time is running out, you go back and prepare right away, set sail in the afternoon, search south, and launch the most violent attack as soon as Nelson's fleet comes across, and send people back to report. Others are also ready to fight Prepare, be ready to meet the attack of the British fleet at any time." Xiao Jie ordered.

Everyone took orders to leave one after another. For a while, the air in Valencia became tense, and the smell of gunpowder seemed to be getting heavier.

At two o'clock in the afternoon on March 9th, eight 'Iberia' class warships docked in the port of Valencia Naval Port. Since the morning, the sailors have been continuously transporting materials such as coal, water, food and ammunition to the warships. , Do a good job of preparation before departure. They all knew that they were going to fight against the powerful British naval fleet, but they didn't have too much fear. Of course, it was impossible to say that they were not afraid at all. After all, war would kill people. Most of them are retired soldiers of the original French navy, and the British navy itself is a natural enemy. They have been bullied by the British navy in the past. Now that they have new warships, it is time for them to take revenge.

These 8 'Iberia' class battleships are all named after the big cities in Iberia. The first battleship is named 'Madrid', which is also the flagship of the entire fleet. According to the order of delivery, the next The ships are 'Valencia', 'Barcelona', 'Lisbon', 'Malaga', 'Zagoraza', 'Sevilla' and 'Cádiz' .

When the fleet set sail, Xiao Jie and other Iberian senior leaders went to the pier to see off the warriors who went to the battlefield, and wished them a triumphant return, although everyone knew that the possibility was very small.

With the roar of a steam whistle, thick black smoke also spewed out from the chimneys, and the ships put away their anchors, slowly sailed out of the port, and headed south.

Due to the very good weather today, the 8 warships are lined up very apart, and each battleship is separated by almost 10 kilometers, in order to search as large a place as possible. From east to west, there are 'Valencia' ', 'Barcelona', 'Lisbon', 'Madrid', 'Malaga', 'Zagoraza', 'Sevilla' and 'Cádiz'.

Because it is not sure where the British fleet has arrived, the Boult fleet sails at a very slow speed, only 7 knots. If consumed at this speed, the coal they carry can support them to sail for 2,000 kilometers.

A few hours passed, and there was not even a shadow of the British fleet except for the occasional fishing boat on the sea. The night is slowly approaching. Although the moon is hanging in the sky, the visibility on the sea is still very low. The biggest fear of Burt is that he will encounter the British fleet at night. In that case, their artillery and speed advantages will not be fully utilized. . Fortunately, his luck was relatively good, and nothing happened overnight.

Early the next morning, the fleet continued to head south. At 10 o'clock in the morning, they had already reached the waters outside Gandia. Logically speaking, according to the speed of the British fleet, they should have arrived long ago. Could it be that everyone was due to the darkness last night? Can't see clearly, did the two sides miss it? If that is the case, it would be terrible. Thinking of this, Bult could not help but break out in a cold sweat. He wanted to order the fleet to turn back immediately, but he was afraid that he was overwhelmed, so he fell into a dilemma.

"Sail south for another hour. If we don't find the British fleet, we will return at full speed." After struggling for a long time, Boult finally gave the order.

Time passed by every minute and every second, but the lookout post of the Boult fleet still failed to find the trace of the British fleet. It will be 11 o'clock soon. If the British fleet does not appear again, Boult will have to return.

The hour hand of the pocket watch slowly pointed to 11, and Boult was about to order to return. At this time, a siren sounded from the east, and after passing by the ships, Boult knew that the fleet's easternmost ship 'Valencia' had discovered Seeing the trace of the British fleet, without the slightest hesitation, Burt ordered the fleet to turn around, seize the prefix 'T', and prepare to meet the British fleet with the most violent artillery fire. As for preempting the 'T' prefix in naval battles, it was proposed by Xiao Jie to Burt when he inspected Valencia last time. At the same time, he also proposed artillery salvo tactics. He convinced Burt and used it in future training, making the Iberian navy far ahead of other countries in tactics.

Before the Boult fleet discovered the British fleet, the Nelson fleet discovered them, because in the vast sea, the high smoke column of the Boult fleet was so eye-catching that it was difficult not to be noticed.

"My God, what is that? Did the submarine volcano erupt?" Many British soldiers who were confused looked at the tall smoke column and exclaimed. Only Nelson and others realized that it was not a submarine volcanic eruption, and it was probably their opponent's warship. Sure enough, when the distance between the two sides narrowed, the unique battleship of the Bult fleet appeared in the eyes of everyone. The tall hull and tall chimneys of the warships of the Boult Fleet gave Nelson a powerful shock, and at the same time made them feel an unprecedented crisis. If this fleet is allowed to develop without taking action, it will definitely become Britain's confidant's serious troubles also made Nelson more determined to destroy the Valencia shipyard.

"Fight." Nelson also issued a combat order. Knowing the power of the Iberian artillery, he ordered the ships to speed up and try to narrow the distance between the two sides. Only in this way can the advantages of the British fleet's numerous artillery be brought into play.

Due to the extensive use of high explosives such as TNT and RDX, the range of the Iberian army's artillery has been greatly improved, which is particularly prominent in the navy's naval guns. The main weapons of the 'Iberia' class battleship are four 105mm naval guns installed on the front and rear decks and four 75mm naval guns installed on each side of the battleship~lightnovelpub.net~ In any direction, this class of warships has four 105mm guns and four 75mm guns that can be put into use, and their ranges have reached a terrifying 6 kilometers and 4 kilometers, which was absolutely unique at the time. You must know that the British The range of the naval guns of naval warships is only two kilometers.

In order to give full play to the advantage of the artillery range, Burt divided the 8 warships into two rows, 4 ships in each, with a distance of 5 kilometers between them. The battleships retreated after the approach of the British battleships, leaving the battlefield to the second line of battleships, and so on. Although it is a bit rogue to do so, it is still the most effective way.

The first row of battleships consisted of the 'Valencia', 'Barcelona', 'Lisbon', and 'Madrid', and the remaining battleships formed the second row of battleships. Seeing the British warships getting closer, Boult became excited. Although he knew that an admiral should keep a clear mind at all times, he was a little involuntarily excited at the moment. It's getting closer, getting closer, and it's getting to the 105mm range. "Fire!" Boult gave the command to fire in a trembling voice.

(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to .FU., more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)