In the early morning of Republic Day, the San Salvador, an auxiliary cruiser of the Kingdom of Spain converted from a merchant ship, was patrolling the Danish Strait. On the west side of the strait, stretching from Greenland, there is an endless stretch of towering white icebergs, and the sea is full of white fog. The biting north wind blew across the deck and bridge for a moment, and the converted warship swayed and swayed in the rolling waves.

The warship was hastily converted from a fast ocean-going passenger liner with a displacement of 18,000 tons, with only 4 six-inch guns and a couple of Haqikai 20-mm anti-aircraft guns installed on the deck. At this time, the lookouts around the bridge stood at their posts, holding binoculars up and down, left and right, and regularly searching the sea surface. The captain stood in front of the bridge and was broadcasting to more than 300 crew members via the ship's cable broadcast: "...... According to the Admiralty's notice, a powerful Tang fleet has entered this area, and we only know that they are south of Cape San Roque, because the weather is too bad to conduct aerial reconnaissance at this time. What is certain, however, is that they will head north into the North Atlantic to disrupt our maritime communications. ”

On the modified bridge, lookouts sat in swivel chairs and leaned back to the swaying of the warship, and several gunners in combat uniforms stood next to the anti-aircraft guns, and the mist of the wind on the sea forced them to look for even the smallest thing that could keep the wind and waves out.

Whenever a warship plunges deep into the trough of the waves, it splashes a large amount of seawater and flies across the deck, making it even more unbearable. “…… Our mission is to patrol the area around Pernambuco Island and report them to the Admiralty in a timely manner if they are found. It is necessary for me to remind you that those Tang battleships with thirteen-inch cannons can hit us at a distance of fifteen nautical miles. This means that our lookouts must fulfill their duties, and if anyone does not take it seriously, he will bring extreme danger to the lives and safety of our warships and all the crews. ”

After conveying the order of the Admiralty, the auxiliary cruiser continued to patrol in moderate rain between the sea surface and the dense fog that fluttered from time to time.

At the top of the bridge of the auxiliary cruiser "San Salvador", the lookouts were changing shifts.

The newly reappointed lookout took the binoculars, sat down in the swivel chair on duty, and began to search back and forth on the sea in the wind and rain. Visibility was a little better at this point, and after a while, he felt as if he saw something...... and he looked carefully for a while, only to confirm that several vague figures were rapidly approaching them on the water antenna.

The Tang Task Force had already discovered the Kingdom of Spain warship half an hour earlier.

Due to the sea conditions, the fleet did not send reconnaissance aircraft, but the radar on the light cruiser "Wuzhou" in front still detected the enemy beyond visual range. Judging from the radar room, it should have been a large warship, or a battleship or a heavy cruiser.

Chen Shiying decided to send a warship to take a look, in fact, his current situation could have been completely able to dispatch carrier-based aircraft first, out of habit of thinking and cautious considerations, but he still personally rushed over with two battleships and two heavy cruisers, leaving two battleships and several cruisers behind to protect his aircraft carriers and supply ships.

The optical equipment on the battleship was many times more advanced than that of the merchant ship, and although there was still a layer of rain and fog on the sea, about 7 nautical miles away, the observers on the "Yunling" had already roughly judged from the outline that it should be a merchant ship.

Admiral Chen Shiying ordered the warship to approach at full speed, and by the time it was 5 nautical miles away, the lookouts could already see that it was a cruise ship of the Kingdom of Spain, but it had a flag of the Kingdom of Spain flying on it.

After identifying the other party, Chen Shiying did not order the attack, the other party was a cruise ship of the Kingdom of Spain, and it was very likely to carry passengers, and the attack on civilians would not be done by ordinary admirals.

He, of course, was looking forward to capturing this "prey".

……

"130 degrees to starboard, warship spotted!" At this time, the alarm had already sounded on the "San Salvador", the outline of the target was getting bigger and bigger, and the two Tang warships coming at high speed from the southeast looked particularly powerful under the sky before sunrise.

More than a dozen pairs of binoculars turned to starboard in unison.

"Left full rudder!" The captain of the ship, Major Plipp, decisively gave the previous orders. The converted warship changed course sharply on the surface of the sea, and the massive hull was slightly tilted. "Send a telegram to the Admiralty." Major Plipu's voice came out quickly: "Special urgency: two Tang State battleships have been discovered, heading south-southwest, and our ship's position is 34 west and 7 south. ”

"Ah, it's signaling us!" A voice came.

Major Pripp held up his binoculars and read the Morse code signal from the other party: "Stop-boat, I-want-catch-catch-you!" ”

"It seems that the Tang Guoyan treats us like a merchant ship!" Standing by the porthole, the deputy captain spoke.

"Ignore them and sail at full speed!" Major Pripp said, and as the order was given, the warship began to move quickly through the morning fog on the surface of the sea, and began to escape at full speed.

The "Yunling" and "Qinling" and the two "Peninsula" class heavy cruisers on full speed were several angry hedgehogs, the muzzles of the main and secondary guns on the foredeck were already raised high, pointing forward, and the bow waves were splashing, and they were rushing towards the "San Salvador" at a high speed of 30 knots.

"Sir, the other party is ignoring our signals and is escaping at full speed! And they're constantly sending out wireless signals! ”

"Warning shot!" Chen Shiying was a little annoyed, and his hopes of capturing his opponent alive might be disappointed.

"Turret A, target 9200 meters, azimuth 87, one high-explosive shell, ready to shoot!" Lieutenant Colonel Luo Yongqing, the gunner, had already completed the measurement of the target, and about a dozen seconds later, the green signal light for the preparation of the No. 1 turret in the firing command tower was turned on.

"Launch!" As the order was given, the front main gun of the "Yunling" spewed out a ball of fire, and a shell stirred up a huge column of water about 500 meters in front of the "San Salvador". Subsequently, two more shells exploded in front of it.

After the warships of the Tang State fired warning fire at the "San Salvador", the auxiliary cruiser of the Kingdom of Spain also began to return fire with its two aft deck guns.

"Oh my God, it's firing cannons, it's an armed merchant ship of the Kingdom of Spain!" Seeing the other party firing, the lookout of the "Yunling" exclaimed loudly.

Only then can they confirm that the opponent is a converted cruiser......