Just when Li Xiao was depressed because he was being used as a gunman, George in the south welcomed a distinguished guest. Commander Drake, the Queen's special envoy! This naval commander is extraordinary. He led the English fleet back then.

Defeated the Spanish Armada. It was precisely because of that battle that Britain became the dominant maritime power.

Later, Drake was knighted, and then became an earl. Although his title was not as good as George's, he was now the Commander of the Navy, and he was in charge of all the British Empire's navy.

George admired this iconic figure so much that he specially prepared a super luxurious welcome dinner for Drake, and grandly introduced Wu Sangui, Kui Yi and others to Drake.

"Oh! Wu! I know you, you are amazing. After your concept was studied by professors at Oxford and Cambridge universities, we have ironclad ships. In Europe, we in England are the only one. Half of you are in it.

Credit for that!" Drake seemed to like this shrewd and capable Easterner.

"Thank you, Earl Drake!" Wu Sangui hurriedly saluted Drake, but he was complaining in his stomach!

Without the black technology I stole from Li Xiao, you guys wouldn’t be able to develop a steam engine in a hundred years. If you didn’t have the blueprints I bought, how could those idiots from Oxford and Cambridge build an ironclad ship based on the drawings?

The blueprints of the train were not stolen. Haven’t you still not built the train yet?

"This is Mr. Kuiyi, the former Dutch Governor of Java, and now a senior advisor to the East India Company." George did not forget to introduce Kuiyi.

"Oh! Mr. Kueyi, I've heard your story. It's legendary! The King of the Netherlands even sent a letter to Her Majesty the Queen specifically for your matter." Drake shook hands with Kueyi politely.

"Your Majesty the Queen...!" Kuiyi swallowed awkwardly. If the Queen of England agreed to extradite him to the Dutch, he would be guillotined when he returned to Amsterdam.

"Her Majesty the Queen has rejected the request of the King of the Netherlands. You can safely serve our British Empire. Not only you, but your descendants will also become subjects of the British Empire in the future. Her Majesty the Queen will never forget those who have contributed to the Empire.

." Drake's words reassured Kui Yi, and the expression on his face suddenly became relaxed.

Then George introduced him to many people, all of whom were British nobles from England in India. Many of these people had known Drake in England, and they quickly started chatting after meeting.

After the banquet, George invited Wu Sangui and Kui Yi into his office.

As expected, Drake was sitting on the couch in his office, holding a wine glass with whiskey in his hand.

"Gentlemen! You have occupied the resources of the entire India, but failed to defeat the Ming Dynasty. This makes Her Majesty the Queen very unhappy. You know, India is the largest colony of the empire. It has to pay a lot of taxes and supplies back to the country every year, but

Now, for four consecutive years, not a single piece of silver or a grain of grain has been shipped back to England.

Her Majesty the Queen is very disappointed in you, and the MPs are also very disappointed in you. They sent me, an old man, just to bring an invincible armored fleet to defeat the Ming Dynasty navy. They successfully landed on the coast of the Ming Dynasty and opened trade routes for the empire's East India Company.

Make the most profit.”

Drake got straight to the point and explained his mission this time.

Wu Sangui looked at George. He was a layman about the navy. All the drawings stolen from the Ming Dynasty were handed over to Kui Yi, who is now the chief designer of the Bombay Shipyard. George has always been responsible for matters in the water.

"Earl Drake has been awarded the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy by Her Majesty the Queen, which means that as long as the Imperial Navy is under Sir Drake's command. In other words...!" George shrugged, looking helpless.

.

Wu Sangui's head was a little dizzy. The person who understood the current situation best was George. Under the current circumstances, England's Far East Fleet was no match for the Ming Dynasty's navy. To be precise, the English fleet's ability to defend the Indian coast was already very good.

But everything is developing in a good direction, because India has high-quality iron ore. Wu Sangui is from the Ming Dynasty, and he certainly knows that the Ming Dynasty actually lacks iron ore. Even if North Korea has a little high-grade iron ore, the quantity is still small.

Far from enough.

Only when we actually build a factory can we realize how important steel is.

As long as there is a delay of a few years, the warships from the Bombay Shipyard will be launched one after another. When the quantity and quality of England's Far East Fleet exceeds that of the Ming Dynasty Navy, it is only a matter of time before the Singapore Castle is captured.

But now...! Everything seems to be changing.

"Earl Drake, we will obey your orders." Compared to Wu Sangui, Kui Yi was more aware of current affairs.

Years of failure and frustration have turned the high-spirited Dutch Governor of Java into a prudent old man. Now he just wants to work as a shipbuilder in Bombay until he retires, and after receiving a generous pension, he will return to the UK with his family. In London

Just buy a villa and spend the rest of your life quietly.

"Very good! Mr. Kui Yi, I now want to know the status of several warships under maintenance." Drake was very satisfied with Kui Yi's attitude. At the same time, he glanced at Wu Sangui. He didn't like this Oriental in his heart.

The happy look just now was all faked. After all, there is still a need for etiquette among nobles.

"There are currently five main warships, and three of them have been damaged. However, because the armor is very thick, it effectively protects boilers and other important facilities. It is easier to repair, and there is no need to drag it into a dry dock.

However, the condition of the Hood was worse. A shell hit the part near the waterline. The armor was torn with a large hole nearly two meters long. It was able to return to Bombay Harbor without sinking. This was simply a miracle.

Miracle.

The most optimistic one is Mr. George's flagship Queen Elizabeth. Its front deck was hit by two cannonballs and has been basically restored to its original appearance after welding. The rest is just a paint job and it can resume operations."

Since the Battle of Singapore, except for the sunk Prince of Wales, all English warships have returned to Bombay Port. Kui Yi and his people have been busy repairing them these days. He knows the situation of each warship like the back of his hand.

"Hmm! It doesn't look as bad as I thought." Drake took a sip of whiskey.

"Except for the Hood, can the remaining four warships leave the port?"

After hearing what Drake said, everyone was surprised. Wu Sangui, George, Kuiyi, you look at me, I look at you. I don’t know what Commander Drake wants to do!

"Is that okay?" Derek asked again.

"It should be possible, but because the turrets of some ships are damaged, the combat effectiveness will be compromised. Also...!" Kui Yi replied stutteringly.

"There's nothing else, as long as it can be started. The York and Saxony battleships belonging to the British mainland will arrive tomorrow afternoon. In this way, we have six ironclads, two of which are still intact.

And I talked with Mr. George last night. Although the Ming Dynasty’s navy has sharp warships and weapons, in terms of naval tradition and sailor quality, it is much worse than our Royal Navy.

In the last naval battle, we also disabled several of the opponent's ships. Three days later, we faced the Ming Navy again. This time, our military strength was superior. And the quality of the soldiers was better than that of the Ming Navy. This! It is enough to make up for the equipment.

There is a slight gap in the battle, this battle is to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty navy to catch him off guard before Shen'er comes."

Drake waved his arm powerfully, as if he had sunk the entire Ming Navy.

George, Wu Sangui and Kui Yi, once again you look at me and I look at you.

In order to compete for European sea control, the Royal Navy transferred the first and second ironclad ships built in India and returned them to Europe to show off. It was these two ironclad ships that made the English fleet the European maritime hegemon.

Now in order to defeat the Ming Dynasty, Drake actually transferred the York and Saxony back.

In terms of quantity, the British Royal Navy does have more warships than the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the quality of its officers and soldiers is also better than that of the Ming Dynasty Navy. After all, the British Empire is a traditional maritime power.

But the York and the Saxony were both first-generation ironclads. Many technologies were immature. Each ironclad only had two boilers, and the front main gun was a 120mm smoothbore gun. In Europe, it was overwhelming against those old sailing warships.

However, in the Far East, this kind of warship already seems a bit backward.

"Lord Earl! I think that warships going out to sea can be used to cut off the Ming Dynasty's trade routes to Europe, and sink or capture the Ming Dynasty merchant ships. We will have great benefits, and the losses to the Ming Dynasty will also be great. If we fight with the Ming Dynasty

The fleet fights hard...!" Wu Sangui came up with a compromise plan.

It is very risky to bully the Ming Dynasty fleet, but it would be nice to bully the merchant ships. After all, the armament of merchant ships cannot be compared with the main battleships of the navy. Moreover, the Indian subcontinent is like a dagger inserted into the sea. Geographically, India has full advantages.

The most important thing is that if you bully a merchant ship, you will get a lot of money! Who wouldn't like it?

"Wu! Let me tell you, we are the Royal Navy of the British Empire, not pirates flying the pirate flag. Attacking and capturing unarmed merchant ships is what pirates do. What you do is against the spirit of chivalry." Drake said.

His face suddenly fell.

"Oh! Sir Earl, Wu just drank too much, and everything he said was drunk." George hurriedly came out to smooth things over. He felt quite helpless!

Commander Drake was originally a pirate. Now he has become a full-time official and has become a member of the British Royal Navy. The most annoying thing is that some people ridiculed him for being a pirate. Wu Sangui didn't know this history, so he was so stubborn that he ended up like this.

An idea.
Chapter completed!