The Andaman Sea in winter is dominated by the northeast wind. Compared with the summer when the southwest wind prevails, the Andaman Sea in winter has little rainfall and the ocean surface is much calmer. From a distance, the sea surface presents a beautiful green, like a huge piece of jade. The sharp bow of the second-class cruiser "Southampton" cuts open the ocean surface like jade, leaving a white mark on the sea surface. Dozens of seagulls flies over the stern, pecking at the bread crumbs thrown by several British sailors. The whole scene seems to be a beautiful oil painting.

"Col. Kitchener!" Captain Alexander, leaning on the bridge guardrail, gently knocked his pipe twice and made out the ashes inside: "If I'm not mistaken, in another ten to twelve hours, you will see the spire of the Great Golden Tower in Yangon, so I suggest you go to the cabin first, so that you can devote yourself to your work with great energy as soon as you get off the boat."

"Thank you for your advice! Alexander!" Kitchener turned around and put down a sketch that had been completed by two-thirds. As an officer who graduated from military engineering, he was also a good amateur painter. He returned to the coffee table and took a gingerbread, and said with a smile while eating: "But I don't have to sleep for that long. In Africa, I'm used to sleeping for four hours a day. Also, please tell me how you know where we are now? Is it inferred by the time we have sailed?"

"You have strong energy, which is a common feature of great people!" Captain Alexander smiled and complimented Kitchener: "No, my method is much simpler!" The captain stretched out his finger and pointed to the sea outside the ship's side: "Have you noticed the color of the sea here?"

Kitchener glanced at the sea and replied, "It's beautiful green, what's wrong?"

"Yes, this means that the sea water here is not deep, and the deepest depth will not exceed 500 feet. Most of the sea water in the Andaman Sea is not deep, especially in the northeast, where one-third of the northeastern waters are less than 180 meters (600 feet). This is mainly caused by the large amount of silt carried by the Irrawaddy River into the sea. In a thousand years, perhaps this place will become land!"

"Baopa!" Kitchener gently bulged his palms: "Captain Alexander, you are a person who knows the sea very well. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that the Royal Navy is so powerful!"

"Thank you for your compliment, Colonel!" Alexander put his pipe on: "But now the times have changed. It is no longer the courage and determination of the officers and soldiers to win the battleship, but the speed of warships, the thickness of armor and the caliber of cannons, or which country has more lathes, more mines, and more engineers!" When Alexander saw the other party's somewhat confused eyes, he explained with a smile: "I wonder if you have noticed that the speed of renewal of naval warships has been increasing in the past hundred years. If Viscount Nelson was said to be in 1805

If Trafalgar had not died in battle, he could still command the "Victory" to continue galloping on the sea thirty years later. But today is different. A warship will be outdated for at most twenty years after it is launched. The new warship far exceeds the former in terms of speed, armor and cannon caliber, and the former will never be able to fight against the latter. The fate waiting for his fate will either be removed and the cannons will be reduced to a cargo ship, or sent to the ship-destroying platform to demolish it. The one who can win the final victory is to stand at the last one in this endless boxing match, and the naval officers and soldiers cannot constantly send new ships to the ship-destroying platform!"

"You are right! Alexander!" Kitchener was convinced by the other party: "But fortunately, the engineers of Great Britain are also better than those of France and Germany. As for the mines and workers, we will only be better, let alone Britain is an island country, and it does not need to distract energy from the army. In the end, the one who can stand in the boxing ring must be no one else!" At this point, Kitchener squeezed his eyes at the captain.

"As a naval officer, I am not as confident as you! In the past twenty years, the MPs have sunk warships one after another, but our enemies are constantly working hard. Colonel Kitchener, if His Excellency Nelson could defeat Napoleon's fleet a hundred years ago with his genius and brave soldiers. If this kind of situation occurs again today, all we can do is pray to God to bless Old England again!"

Kitchener smiled bitterly, without any contact. As a professional soldier who has served overseas for many years, Kitchener has not heard of the development of the British Navy over the years. Since the Crimean War, it may be because the traditional old opponent, the French, were unstable internal political situation and were unable to compete for global hegemony with the British, and the new maritime opponent was still in full swing, the development of the British Royal Navy has also entered a period of stagnation. From 1875 to 1884, the capital ships authorized to build were far from meeting the control of the British Navy.

The demand for world maritime power; on the other hand, after Napoleon III completed industrialization, France lost to the Germans in the French-Prussian War, but instead vigorously expanded its naval fleet, almost surpassing Britain to become the world's number one. Especially in the British Navy in 1884, there were many old-fashioned side-side gun iron armored ships. These ships were basically built between 1864 and 1872, and were long outdated and could not be compared with the new central artillery steel-shell armored ships. This made Alexander, a young and promising officer who knew the development trend of the navy at that time, felt frustrated.

"Alexander, what about the 'Southampton'? How is this boat?" Seeing the other party's appearance, Kitchener deliberately changed the subject and wanted to say something that made Alexander happy.

"Oh, are you talking about this ship?" When Alexander heard Kitchener mention his warship, his originally gloomy face suddenly became cheerful: "Of course she is the best. She has just been in service for one year, with a displacement of 8,400 tons, four 234mm\/32 times the rear-mounted rifled gun. The most important thing is that she can run to the fourteenth quarter as fast as possible. There is no cruiser in this world that can run faster than my "Southampton"! None of them!"

"But you were just complaining that Parliament was unfair to the Navy?"

"There is no contradiction between the two, Colonel Kitchener, you know that this is the third fast cruiser equipped in the Navy. You must know that the British Empire's territory is spread all over the world. Do we rely on three cruisers to deal with the enemy? This is simply a joke!" Alexander retorted angrily.

"Can you tell me what those are?" Kitchener pretended to know nothing, pointing to a few things wrapped in canvas on the deck.

"That is a 6-inch 40-caliber rapid-fire gun produced by Armstrong. It can fire 7 six-inch shells in a minute. It is mainly used to kill people on the enemy deck and buildings on the deck that the armor does not protect. It can also be used to shoot fast torpedo boats."

"Mr. Captain, if we go to war with the Chinese, I mean if." Kitchener asked in a low voice, considering the words, "How do you think our navy will act?"

"If we go to war with the Chinese, I think we should organize a fleet of four to five main battleships and corresponding cruisers to block China's coastline, bombard one of Guangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou and Shanghai, and force the Chinese fleet to come out to fight and then destroy them."

"No, no!" Kitchener replied in a somewhat embarrassed manner: "Alexander, the war I meant was only the war in Myanmar. The parliament has no plan to start a full war. I mean, if the war is limited to Myanmar, how will the navy act?"

"So that's it!" The captain's face showed a disappointed expression: "If so, then there are actually only two tasks for the navy: escort the Kolkata to Yangon and support the army to enter the inland river! I personally think you should first collect enough hydrological data and prepare some ships suitable for shallow water and offshore combat. Ships like me are too drafted and too high, so they are not suitable for entering the inland rivers! There are many such broken-legged junk goods in the Far East Fleet in Singapore."

"Thank you for your help!" Kitchener stood up with satisfaction and stretched out his right hand. He was very satisfied with the conversation.

"It's nothing!" Alexander shrugged and grabbed Kitchener's hand. "Remember what you once said to me, 'The flag of Great Britain will never retreat!'"

Kitchenna nodded seriously, shook the other person's hand vigorously, and walked down the ladder. He decided to go back to his cabin to sleep for a while, recover his tired body these days, and devote himself to his work as soon as he arrived in Yangon.

At about 7:30 am the next morning, the Southampton arrived in Yangon. The energetic Kitchener sat on the carriage waiting at the dock and whispered to the consul who greeted him: "Let Mr. Jillins and Major Duncan come to my place immediately, and I will meet them as soon as possible!"
Chapter completed!