The Atlantic Ocean is currently the busiest ocean, and there are too many maritime legends here.
After staying in Europe for more than a year, Nie Dahua drank some foreign ink.
Nie Dahua had a completely new understanding of the ocean.
In this era, if a country wants to rise and dominate, it must have a powerful navy.
Because what binds the world together is the ocean.
Although things happened in a hurry, after receiving the order, Nie Dahua ordered his men to speed up the fleet's replenishment of supplies.
As a fully steam-powered ironclad, the most important material is coal. When setting off from Prussia, the fleet specially used a transport ship to load a whole shipload of high-quality anthracite.
However, there were no new supplies in the ports along the coast of Europa, and now the coal has been almost used.
The tonnage of these two ironclad ships is only more than 3,000 tons. After all, their own coal capacity is limited, and they still have to rely on supplies.
Fortunately, Cape Verde is the territory of the Portuguese. There is a secret agreement between the Renaissance Army and the Portuguese, and the relationship between the two parties is not bad.
Through this agreement in the past two years, Portugal has gained a lot of benefits. This has made them more and more dependent on the Renaissance Army. Of course, the Portuguese have also secretly helped the Renaissance Army to do many things.
For example, smuggling some things from Europe. For example, allowing the merchant ships of the Baath Army to fly the Portuguese flag. Another example is allowing the Baath Army people to move freely in Goa.
Here in Cape Verde, Nie Dahua contacted the Portuguese through the staff of the Renaissance Army stationed here.
Then they secretly resupplied the fleet with a cargo of coal through the Portuguese.
Nowadays, steam-powered battleships and merchant ships are not uncommon.
Most of the supply ports on the sea are equipped with sufficient coal. If there is demand, there will be a market.
Cape Verde is a maritime transportation hub, and almost all merchant ships going to South Amelia and Asia must supply supplies here.
Therefore, a large amount of coal is prepared here. It is not difficult for the Renaissance Army's warships to be fully supplied.
Moreover, the Portuguese also had some privileges along the coast of Busi, so Nie Dahua could supply supplies at the port of Busi after crossing the Atlantic.
"General Nie, one thing I want to remind you is that almost all the countries in South Amelia have declared war on Donghua. Are you sure you want to change the flag now? Why not wait until you reach Donghua before changing the flag?" Intelligence personnel
asked in confusion.
Just now Nie Dahua asked the intelligence personnel what flag Donghua is using now. He plans to change the flag when he leaves Cape Verde.
"We don't need to worry about trouble. They should be the ones to be afraid of now. If we still use the flag of the Renaissance Army to drive towards South Amelia, it will definitely have a certain impact on the Renaissance Army."
"If I guess correctly, our president is definitely not prepared to directly intervene in the war in Donghua in the name of the Renaissance Army."
Nie Dahua looked at the intelligence officer.
This person can come here to convey orders, and his status in the European station should be quite high.
So this person should know more.
Seeing the man nod slightly, Nie Dahua continued: "Don't look at it, we only have two warships. In the Baltic Sea before, Prussia relied on four such warships to completely annihilate the Danish navy."
"I have also heard about the navy in South Amelia in Europe. Compared with the navy of the powerful European countries, their navy can only be regarded as a coast patrol." Nie Dahua's words were full of disdain, but he was not here.
He talks big and is not arrogant or complacent.
He is indeed stating opinions and facts.
"Okay, General Nie, the national flag of Donghua is the sun and moon flag with a red background. I can draw it for you. It has been published in the Europa newspaper." The intelligence officer said and drew the national flag of Donghua to Nie Dahua with a pen.
While he was talking, the intelligence agent painted Donghua's national flag on the monk.
Fortunately, the company is still in Cape Verde, and Nie Dahua can let people go ashore to buy materials for making the national flag.
Next, he will carry this sun and moon flag all the way to Donghua.
Looking at South Amelia, they are all enemy countries, and his fleet needs supplies. If there is nothing else to do, just grab them.
There are a few pairs of sneaky eyes in the port that have been staring at this fleet.
Although there are only two warships, these are the warships that have just won a victory in Europe.
The Putin-Danish War that just passed attracted the attention of the whole of Europe.
The most outstanding thing in this war was not the army that Prussia was proud of. Instead, it was its naval fleet that suddenly appeared.
The Crimean War made Europe realize the mobility and flexibility advantages of steam-powered warships.
The Battle of Manila gave everyone a preliminary and vague understanding of ironclads.
The Prussian-Danish War officially kicked off the construction frenzy of European ironclads.
The Great Empire has now launched two ironclad warships, the 9,137-ton Warrior and the 9,250-ton Black Prince. Both of these warships were experimental ships built after the Crimean War.
Compared with the Jianghe class of the Renaissance Army and even the Frederick the Great class built by Prussia, the tonnage of British battleships is much larger.
However, these two warships have not completely abandoned the original broadside gun structure, and there are still tall masts on them.
In essence, it is still an iron-armored sailing battleship.
Through this naval battle in the Putan War, the British also realized that their warship concept was somewhat backward.
So their latest design of the ironclad has abandoned those elements of the original sailing battleship.
The heritage of a long-established naval power cannot be ignored.
No one knows how many warships the British have on the slipway now.
Throughout the British Isles, there are no fewer than a dozen large shipyards capable of manufacturing ironclad ships.
Many military shipyards are sealed off all year round. Outsiders cannot enter at all.
Now someone may try to disturb the British maritime supremacy. This is intolerable to the British.
Therefore, the British attach great importance to these Prussian battleships.
When they learned that two of the ships were sold to the Renaissance Army, the British became even more worried.
Therefore, the two warships were ready to return to China after being overhauled in the shipyard. The British not only obstructed them in every possible way, but also sent people to monitor them all the way.
This has not been followed all the way to Cape Verde.
A few days later, Nie Dahua was finally fully prepared and ready to set sail again. This time the fleet raised a new flag. The original golden dragon flag with a red background was replaced by the sun and moon flag with a red background.
This flag was not copied from the Ming Dynasty, but because the original Inca Empire worshiped the sun and moon, so Dong Shutong and Zhumu adopted this design. This was also to give the original Inca Indians a greater sense of belonging.
As for why red is used as the base, it is naturally to be in line with the Renaissance Army.
The crew on the battleship already knew that the fleet was about to change course and head to Donghua, and most of them would become the Donghua Navy.
After several days of mobilization, the crew on the ship have basically made their own decisions.
In addition to all kinds of attractive benefits when you come to Donghua, there is another thing that you won't get back home, that is, you can obtain a knighthood.
After all, these foreign students all came out of the feudal era. They still have a soft spot for things like knighthood.
Ban Chao also worked hard and searched thousands of miles for a title.
Although I am thousands of miles away from home, it is not bad to be able to obtain a title and pass it on to future generations.
The main reason is that Donghua is also a Chinese country, not considered a foreigner, so people can accept it more in their hearts.
"Leader, do you think we can marry a girl from the Han family in Donghua?" a young naval student asked Nie Dahua.
In the past two days, after the news spread, the entire fleet has been discussing this issue.
When Nie Dahua has time, he will also discuss this issue with the international student officers on the ship.
After graduation, these international students will have the lowest rank of lieutenant, and they are all the seeds of future military officers.
Although some people are still doing the same things as ordinary sailors, it is just because there are too many talents on the ship.
Nie Dahua is still nominally the leader of this returning fleet. They have not joined the battle order and are not yet a member of the Renaissance Army Navy, so everyone calls him the leader.
He glanced at the naval student who spoke, who was a temporary forward deck gunner.
"Haha, that's a good question. In the future, you can not only marry Chinese girls, but also Indian and white girls. As long as your cannons can still fire and your military pay is enough, you can marry as many as you want."
Nie Dahua said with a smile.
Most of these people's family backgrounds are pretty good, and they had studied before being sent out by Dong Shuheng. After all, studying abroad requires a certain foundation.
But they basically don’t have big houses at home, and they have no right to inherit the family business.
So after a few days, most people are willing to stay in Donghua, and a few want to go to Donghua for a visit.
No final decision has been made yet.
Among them, some students from poor backgrounds were even more moved by Donghua's treatment.
…
"Boss, you see they have left the port." A thin white man wearing a sloppy sailor uniform said to another stout white man with a beard.
"They are changing the flag!" the thin white man exclaimed, because he recognized that the slowly rising flag turned out to be Donghua's flag.
Recently, Donghua, a newly established country, has been frequently reported in European newspapers, to the point where it has become a household name.
Naturally, the intelligence officers of these two great empires also knew about it.
"Damn it, they are going to Donghua. They are not going south, but going west. Come on, go and report to the consul here." The tall and sturdy white man spat.
The operation suddenly changed. Originally, they only had to monitor and monitor the fleet as it headed south, but now the fleet was heading west, so the impact of this fleet was different.
These are two ironclad ships. If they get to South Amelia, they will cause great chaos there.
The two of them did not dare to neglect, so they could only report the matter to the consul of the Great Empire here.
"Set sail!" Nie Dahua ordered loudly in the command room.
With a melodious whistle, the Donghua fleet, which had just changed its flag, sailed towards the west. It was an unknown world at that time, and it was the place where they made their achievements.
ps: The second update is coming. I decided to create a new volume temporarily. I want to think about it carefully. I will try to update it twice. If there is no way, I will update a big chapter.