(This chapter makes up for yesterday's!)
On March 3, the Iberian capital, the Royal Palace of Madrid, the chamber.
"His Royal Highness, according to the latest information, the Nelson Fleet has left port today after converging with most of the warships of the British Mediterranean Fleet. Its exact course is unknown." Xiao Jie was staying in Gibraltar for the Nelson Fleet with a group of military and government leaders. While feeling sad, a staff officer reported the latest movement of Nelson's fleet.
"What exactly do they want to do? Your intelligence department has been investigating for so long and still haven't figured out the other party's intentions. What are you doing?" Xiao Jie asked angrily.
Facing Xiao Jie's questioning, Major General Soskjaer, the newly established director of the Intelligence Bureau, dared not refute, so he had to bow his head and remain silent. In fact, this is no wonder to them. The intelligence bureau has not been established for a long time, and the previous intelligence system was very chaotic. When busy integrating various intelligence resources, some negligence is inevitable. And this time the United Kingdom kept the operation strictly confidential, and it is normal that accurate information cannot be obtained under such circumstances.
Perhaps realizing that he was going too far, Xiao Jie continued to ask: "Do you know the exact number of warships in Nelson's fleet?"
The staff officer continued to answer: "According to intelligence, Nelson's fleet now has two first-class battleships, six second-class battleships, eight third-class battleships, 16 gunboats and 24 three-masted clippers. The battleship, one second-tier battleship, and four gunboats were wounded."
After listening to the staff officer's report, everyone gasped. Just because the current Nelson fleet is too powerful, and its strength is far from what Iberia can compete with. Even with the addition of the French navy, it is by no means an opponent of this fleet.
"Pay close attention to the other party's actions, and order the coastal cities to step up their defenses." Xiao Jie ordered. Without knowing the specific purpose of the other party, he could only cast a wide net like this. At the same time, he and all the bosses here have always had a question in their minds: that is, the British sent such a powerful fleet, what exactly do they want to do, is it simply to retaliate against the last time they blackmailed them? But why did they let Lisbon go? I can't figure it out, I really can't figure out the other party's purpose. You must know that the Nelson Fleet, which has joined the Mediterranean Fleet, has already accounted for about 40% of the entire Royal Navy at this time.
Xiao Jie seemed to realize something, but he was not sure, which made him very depressed.
On March 8, an important piece of information was sent to Xiao Jie, which made him suddenly enlightened. A fisherman in Mojacar on the coast of Passion discovered a huge British fleet sailing north when he was fishing. Due to the recent bombardment by the British fleet of the western coastal city of Iberia, the entire Iberian coast was in a state of turmoil. , the fisherman immediately realized the seriousness of the situation, and hurriedly returned to report the information to the local garrison, and the local garrison did not dare to slack off, and immediately passed the information to the superior, so this important information appeared in Xiao Jay's hand.
"Give me a good reward for that fisherman." Xiao Jie laughed. With this vital intel, now that everything is clear, sail north? Is there a target in northern or eastern Iberia worthy of sending such a large fleet to attack? Of course there is, and that is the hope of the Iberian Navy—Valencia Shipyard, although the final decision cannot be made yet, it is basically close. After figuring out the other party's true intentions, although the situation is still critical, he can finally concentrate on dealing with it, Xiao Jie was relieved.
"Invite General Dougal, General Eck, General Misend, and Prime Minister Forbeck immediately, and say that I have something important to discuss." Xiao Jie ordered.
Half an hour later, Dougal, Eke, Misend and Forbeck appeared in Xiao Jie's office. "I don't know why His Highness the Crown Prince came to us in such a hurry?" Forbeck asked first. When Xiao Jie's guards came to him, he was presiding over a very important meeting. Due to Xiao Jie's urgent summons, he had to leave the meeting halfway, which made him very dissatisfied.
Xiao Jie naturally knew of Forbeck's temper, he smiled embarrassingly and said: "Of course there is something important, otherwise I wouldn't have called everyone here in such a hurry." After speaking, he glanced at everyone, and then Said: "Nelson's fleet, which has been missing for a few days, appeared on the Passion Coast yesterday and is currently sailing north."
"Could it be that they want to attack Valencia?" Eke, who reacted quickly, blurted out. As soon as he said this, the other three people were also shocked. Everyone knew what happened to Valencia. All the construction facilities of the entire Iberian Navy were gathered there. If Valencia was destroyed, Iberian The Navy dream will die.
Glancing at Eke approvingly, Xiao Jie continued: "That's right, I think so too. The Nelson fleet is here for our Valencia shipyard this time. If they succeed, then we will The long-term efforts are all in vain. Tell me how we should deal with this difficulty?"
Xiao Jie nodded and looked at the others.
"Temporarily transfer the important technical personnel and data of the shipyard." Eck also said.
"Maybe we should consider building one or two more shipyards in the future, so as to spread the risks beneficially." Forbeck also put forward his own point of view.
Xiao Jie nodded, what they said was correct, but he was not satisfied with the answers. So he looked at Misend who had not spoken.
As a general, Misend has always been very low-key, so low-key that many people have almost forgotten that there is such a deputy chief of staff as him. Seeing Xiao Jie looking at him, Misend knew that he couldn't escape today, so he said hesitantly, "Where's our navy?"
As soon as he said this, everyone except Xiao Jie looked at him in surprise. Both Dugor and Ike were from the army, while Forbeck didn't understand military affairs at all, so they almost forgot that Iberia still had a navy, even though they were still very weak.
Xiao Jie was very happy, because he thought the same way, and at the same time, he also confirmed that Mis Ende was really talented. Even though he was a surrendered general, he could be allowed to take on greater positions in the future. "Yes, we still have a navy. Using the army to deal with the navy is still not the best way. It's time to let the British know that we are not easy to bully."
"But Your Royal Highness, our navy now only has 8 'Iberia' class warships that can be put into battle. It is hard for me to believe that they can stop the attack of the huge Nelson fleet." Eck reminded.
"Warships can be rebuilt if they are gone. If the shipyard is gone, it will take us a lot of energy. Besides, the purpose of the navy is to fight the enemy at sea for the benefit of the country. Although the Nelson fleet is very powerful , but we win because the performance of the battleship is much higher than that of the opponent, so we are not without a chance, and even if we cannot defeat the Nelson fleet, we can definitely damage the opponent. It's not that easy anymore." Xiao Jie now made up his mind to use the newly established navy to head-on with Nelson's fleet.
Seeing that Xiao Jie was so determined, the others did not dare to express contrary opinions, and all acquiesced to Xiao Jie's decision. In the end, Xiao Jie issued the final combat order. The 88th Army Heavy Artillery Regiment stationed in Madrid immediately rushed to Valencia to strengthen the defense of the Valencia shipyard. In addition, Rear Admiral Burt's fleet has stepped up preparations and is ready to go to sea to meet the enemy at any time. Another thing is that Xiao Jie will go to Valencia to direct the battle in person. This one was strongly opposed by everyone, but Xiao Jie suppressed it.
The Madrid-Valencia railway was the first to start construction among the many railways. After more than half a year of construction, it was officially opened to traffic on February 1, which brought great convenience to the transportation of the 88th Army Heavy Artillery Regiment. Although due to the power of the steam engine, it can only reach a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, but even so, Xiao Jie feels very lucky.
After more than ten hours of bumpy journey, Xiao Jie and his party finally arrived in Valencia on the morning of March 9th. After arriving in Valencia, the various artillery of the Heavy Artillery Regiment were immediately removed and transported to various positions to stand by. But Xiao Jie and the others rushed to the Valencia City Hall, not taking a break to meet with the Mayor of Valencia, the First Division Commander stationed in Valencia and other senior generals~www.mtlnovel.com~ and Rear Admiral Burt, commander of the Iberian Navy.
"The specific situation is like this. At present, the Nelson fleet is estimated to have passed the White Coast and is about to enter Balenci Bay. There is not much time left for us." Eck introduced the current situation to the people present, and listened After his introduction, all the faces were solemn.
Seeing that everyone's morale was a bit low, Xiao Jie said: "Well, everyone, although the enemy is very powerful, we are not easy to bully. Now in addition to the nearly 500 coastal defense guns of various calibers owned by Valencia itself, we also have The Artillery Regiment of the 1st Division and the Heavy Artillery Battalion of the 1st Division have gathered here, and the Heavy Artillery Regiment directly under the Legion has also been transferred here, plus our navy, we are not without chance of winning."
"Don't worry, Your Royal Highness, with the artillery unit of our First Division, the British plot will never succeed." Major General Monty, the commander of the First Division, said first.
Xiao Jie nodded approvingly, then looked at Bult, and asked: "General Bult, are you and your fleet sure to defeat our powerful enemy?"
(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!)