After receiving the telegram, Li Mingbo immediately called Bai Zhizhan up.

By the time Bai Zhizhan came to the commander's bridge, a second telegram had already been received that the "Zehu" was also attacked, only because it was a little farther away, and immediately after observing the explosion of the "Honghu" being torpedoed, an emergency turn was made to evade.

Fearing another attack, the "Zehu" did not slow down and did not return after avoiding 2 heavy torpedoes.

According to the report sent by the captain of the "Zehu," the "Honghu" disappeared from the sea shortly after it was attacked, or to be precise, shortly after the explosion, and there are probably very few survivors. The "Zehu" will turn around and return after dawn to search for and rescue the officers and men who have fallen into the water.

It was precisely because of the violent explosion and the rapid sinking of the "Honghu" that the captain of the "Zehu" immediately concluded that it had been attacked by an enemy submarine.

As for the torpedo mentioned in the telegram, it was not confirmed.

At that time, only the lookout on the rear bridge claimed to have seen a torpedo, while none of the officers and men on the forward bridge, including the captain, saw the torpedo.

In any case, the "Honghu" has been sunk, and the "Zehu" has only escaped by luck.

"Detachment 11.3 is rushing over, and after receiving the news, destroyers will definitely be sent to meet it." Li Mingbo added an additional sentence.

Bai Zhizhan nodded, what he was concerned about now was not whether there were any officers and soldiers on the "Honghu" who had survived.

This is war, and casualties are inevitable.

Moreover, even if the destroyers following the 11.3rd detachment rushed at full speed, they would not arrive until three days later, and the ocean currents could send the surviving personnel hundreds of kilometers away in three days. Finding survivors in the middle of the ocean is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

What Bai Zhizhan was concerned about was actually why the two fleet oil tankers were attacked.

That's the middle of the Fanyan Ocean!

Not to mention in wartime, even in peacetime, there are very few ships passing through the central waters of the Fanyan Ocean.

The reason is simple: the Syvan Canal has changed everything.

Before the canal was opened, especially after the popularization of steam power, ships traveling between the East and the West had to take the route from Cape Town to Lion Springs, which would also have to pass through the central waters of the Fanyan Ocean. It was only after the canal was opened that the route was largely abandoned.

This canal has shortened the distance between the East and the West by thousands of kilometers at once.

The key is that there is no difference in sea level between Luxinhai and Narrow Sea at both ends of the Xifan Canal, so there is no need to build locks to keep the canal navigable.

As a result, the development of ships passing through the canal was not too rigorous.

All in all, after the opening of the Shifan Canal, the route from Cape Town to Lion Springs was deserted, and few ships sailed on this route.

This is especially true in wartime.

The Imperial Army had just taken Shiquan City, and there was no foothold in the surrounding area of Fanyanyang, and there was no need to open up shipping routes for the time being.

Even in the future, the ships of the empire operated mainly in the Northern Fanyan Ocean.

So, what reason does the Royal Navy of Bran and the Newland Navy have to send submarines to the central waters of the Fanyan Ocean, which has no activities of imperial merchant ships at all?

To ambush the 11th Task Force?

Apparently unlikely.

A submarine is not a cruiser, not to mention that the speed of the submarine is as slow as a turtle crawling, even if it is sailing at full speed on the sea, it is difficult to exceed 20 knots.

Besides, who would dare to say that Task Force 11 would return the way it came?

There is only one possibility.

After Cunningham's judgment, the Royal Bran Navy and the Newland Navy redeployed and sent submarines to the central waters of the Fanyan Ocean to look for opportunities.

Submarines attacking fleet tankers are more likely to be on reconnaissance missions.

The implication is to keep an eye on the route from Shiquan City to the southwest Fanyan Ocean, and immediately issue a report after discovering the ships of the Liang Xia Navy.

There is no doubt that the submarine must have sent a telegram!

"I think it's possible that it's a submarine of the Nuland Navy."

Bai Zhizhan was silent.

Zhou Yongtao hesitated for a moment before he said, "Before we attack Lion Spring City, there is no reason for the Bran Royal Navy to send submarines to the central waters of the Fanyan Ocean. The previous submarines were all in the Xunfeng Strait and the Longyan Strait, and then returned to the military port in the Van Luo area. The point is, we didn't encounter the Bran submarine when we came over, so it's certain that there weren't submarines coming this way. ”

"In this way, according to the calculation of time, those submarines that we drove out of the Xunfeng Strait and Longyan Strait will not be able to reach the sea area where the 'Honghu' was attacked." Seeing Bai Zhizhan standing aside, looking taciturn, Li Mingbo took the initiative to take over the topic.

"It's different if you're coming from a port in the western part of the Olympic continent. Don't forget, on the other side of the Longyan Strait, our patrol aircraft spotted a Nuland submarine. If the Nuland Navy were to send submarines to monitor those straits in the southern part of the Salt Sea, the ideal locations would be to deploy at several ports in western Austria. If you are traveling from Perth, you don't have to worry about being spotted by patrol aircraft, and you will be able to sail at high speed on the sea for the first half of the journey. ”

This time, Li Mingbo did not answer, but just nodded, expressing his agreement with what Zhou Yongtao said.

"The point is, was it Spu's decision to send the submarine to the central waters of the Fanyan Ocean, or did it have something to do with Cunningham?"

After Bai Zhizhan asked a question, Zhou Yongtao and Li Mingbo both frowned.

Zhou Yongtao began to emphasize the Nuland Navy, ignoring the most critical issue, that is, the operation to increase the number of troops in Van Yanyang, with the Royal Navy of Bran as the main force.

In addition, the combat operations in Fanyanyang must also be carried out by the Royal Navy of Bran.

What reason does the Nuland Navy have for unilateral action?

"If I really want to say, I can't prove it, but I have a strong hunch that the cooperation between Spark and Cunningham may not be intimate."

"You mean ......"

"We thought before that if the combat operations in Fanyanyang were meaningless, Spark would most likely take the Nuland fleet to Austria. The problem is that until our whereabouts are determined, no one can conclude that combat operations on the Fanyan Ocean have lost their strategic value. If this is the case, even if Sp is unwilling, he will have to delay for a while, and in the meantime he will have to follow Bran's fleet and listen to Cunningham's command. ”

"After a few days, when I go to Ozhou, I will pass through the central sea of Fanyan Ocean."

"You go and draw a route from the north of the Magas Islands to Perth, and see if it will pass through the sea where the 'Honghu' was attacked."

Li Mingbo didn't say much, and immediately picked up a ruler and a pen.

When he drew the route, not to mention him, even Zhou Yongtao was stunned.

The Great Circle Passage passed near the sea where the "Honghu" sank.

This judgment, or intuition, is indeed too accurate!

It's just that the resulting associations are even more amazing.

Spu's Nuland fleet was operating in the near seas, so where was Cunningham's Bran fleet?

The key is also, what is Sp doing in the offshore waters close to the Xuan Continent?

According to previous speculation, it was the Bran fleet that was operating in the offshore waters, while the Nuland fleet was in the south in order to go to Austria after the operation.

If the Nuland fleet goes to the offshore waters, does it mean that the battle will be won or lost?

If so, how could Cunningham and Spud believe that they would be able to defeat the Imperial fleet in the Southwest Fanyan Ocean?

Is there a backhand!?

。 m.