The Cape Verde archipelago is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 500 kilometres east of Cape Verde in Senegal, the westernmost point of the African continent. ww.w.yan+kuai.c.om

The archipelago is a major point of communication between Europe and South America and South Africa, and consists of 15 large and small islands.

The stars had just taken over the sky, and about 200 kilometers east of the Cape Verde Islands, eighteen ships of all sizes were quietly passing from south to north.

In the dim starlight, the fleet looked like a group of migrating whales, each ship resembling a huge whale, and the plumes of smoke coming out of the chimneys resembled huge jets of water from the nostrils of whales.

Two Portuguese merchant ships passed from north to south, about a nautical mile east of the fleet.

The Portuguese merchant ships passed by the right flank of the opposing convoy without any danger, but they did not know that their presence caused a small false alarm to the other side, and they did not know that dozens of naval guns of various calibers had been pointed at them, the largest of which was the 381 mm main gun from the battleship Ramillis of the British Royal Navy.

In the battle command room on the bridge of the battleship Ramillis, the captain, Colonel Philip, received a report from the observation post that two unidentified ships claiming to be Portuguese merchant ships had moved away, and immediately gave the order to disarm the fleet.

The battleship Ramillis, commanded by Colonel Philip, was part of the OB-272 convoy and was tasked with leading five destroyers to escort twelve merchant ships with the aim of transporting much-needed war supplies for British forces fighting in East Africa.

The OB-272 fleet successfully completed its transportation mission while carrying a group of British wounded and Italian prisoners on its way back to the British mainland.

As he approached his hometown, Colonel Philip's worries grew heavier.

He had been warned that the German Navy's battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had entered the Atlantic to hunt down the British merchant fleet, and that the Royal Navy was tracking these two high-speed warships, and that he had to be on high alert for these two enemies.

According to the standards of the British Royal Navy, the other side was obviously two battlecruisers, but the Germans preferred to call them battleships, thinking that this would intimidate the dreadnought Royal Navy? What a joke.

Despite his disdain for the two German warships, Colonel Philip mustered up his spirits to make arrangements.

He sent the destroyers Black Badger and HMS Walker to reconnoiter three to five nautical miles ahead of the fleet, when the Walker was the first to spot the sight of two Portuguese merchant ships in the darkness. He was really nervous for a while.

The battleship Ramillis was the fifth of the Revenge-class battleships, commissioned in September 1917 and was a veritable veteran ship.

With a full load displacement of 33,500 tons, the Ramillis has four twin 381 mm guns and heavy armor. However, it only had a measly maximum speed of 21 knots, and was contemptuously referred to within the Royal Navy as a moving maritime battery.

After the British re-established the convoy system, the Ramillis and its sister ships Revenge and Determination were unsurprisingly deemed unfit for naval warfare, and were subsequently thrown into the convoy to take on convoy escort duties.

If you really encounter those two high-speed warships, with the strength of the OB-272 escort fleet, you can only deal with it with difficulty. The destroyer that can catch up with the opponent's speed can't beat those two hooligans, and the Ramillis that can beat the opponent can't catch up with the opponent's speed, as long as the opposing commander is not too stupid, once the OB-272 escort fleet encounters the opponent, even if it can drive the opponent away, the merchant ships and destroyers will definitely suffer heavy losses.

The true identities of the two Portuguese merchant ships were confirmed, the alarm was lifted, and Colonel Philip was finally in the mood to go to the dining room for dinner.

After dinner, Colonel Philip dutifully checked the night watchmen of the various departments, confirmed that there were no problems, and returned to the cabin to sleep.

Six o'clock the next day. Colonel Philip had just woken up when he received good news and bad news.

The good news is that the two hooligans of the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau have entered the Mediterranean, and the alarm has been lifted for the time being.

The bad news was that the command of the Navy forced an order that the area west of the western coast of Spain, within a radius of five hundred kilometers within the Atlantic, was zoned as a restricted area for the British transport fleet.

The telegram stressed that the area had become a hunting ground for the bombers of the Axis Air Forces, and that all British transport fleets, including the fleet, were to avoid it, and even if they were to enter, they had to use the night as cover and to leave before dawn.

Philip looked at the telegram and couldn't help but smile wryly. This was the result of Spain's accession to the Axis powers.

The consequence of the loss of Gibraltar was the free access of the German Navy to the Mediterranean.

The fate of the British Empire was as sad as the fate of the Vengeance-class battleships.

First the Royal Oak, then the Sovereign, the Vengeance-class battleships were sunk by the Axis powers one after another, who would be the next to be sunk?

First the Middle East, then the Gibraltar Peninsula. As the British Empire's territories were divided and occupied by the Axis powers, where would the next territory be lost?

"Immediately let the war room calculate the fuel reserves of each ship, and then calculate the increased range of the circumnavigation of the Spanish coast, and see if the fuel is sufficient?" Colonel Philip commanded the first mate.

As Colonel Philip had predicted, only six of the eighteen ships of the OB-272 fleet were enough to sail back to the British mainland, and the remaining twelve had to be refueled to complete the voyage.

Colonel Philip made a decision at once. Go to the Canary Islands for replenishment.

The Canary Islands are Spanish enclaves and free ports, located in the Atlantic Ocean in northwestern Africa, about 130 kilometers east of the west coast of Africa and about 1,100 kilometers northeast of mainland Spain.

After Spain declared war on Britain, Churchill reached a meeting with cabinet members that were quite consistent.

The loss of Gibraltar was inevitable, and in order to make up for the loss of Gibraltar, it was necessary to immediately send troops to occupy the Canary Islands and then use the Canary Islands as a base to monitor the Strait of Gibraltar from the air and sea.

The 5,000-strong expeditionary force and the large expeditionary fleet were quickly organized, led by Sir Samorville, to attack the empty Canary Islands, and successfully occupied them on 11 March, which was an early revenge for the loss of Gibraltar.

The OB-272 convoy arrived at the port of Las Palmas, the capital of the Canary Islands, and the ships were busy refueling, and Colonel Philip visited Sir Samover, commander of the H Fleet, and learned that the Canary Islands were occupied, but the situation was still not optimistic.

"There are now eight German and Italian battleships and battlecruisers in the Mediterranean, as well as two aircraft carriers and two battleships of the Japanese Navy, and they are so powerful that they may rush out of the Strait of Gibraltar at any moment to intercept you. If possible, I would like your fleet to take as far as possible to return home, which would be safer. Summerville admonished.

"The fleet of the Japanese? They declared war on us? Colonel Philip asked in surprise.

"No, but I have a hunch. They could join the war at any moment. Somerville said.

"Thanks for the reminder, I'll take note." Colonel Philip said.

The Spanish garrison in the Canary Islands destroyed most of the port's facilities before surrendering, and it was extremely difficult to refill the fuel, and the ob-272 convoy was busy for four days before it could barely complete the replenishment.

Politely bidding Sir Summerville a farewell, Colonel Philip led the fleet on another voyage. Head northwest.

Alerted by Sir Somerville, Colonel Philip decided to return to the British mainland with a 600-kilometre detour instead of a 500-kilometre radius.

After four hours of uneventful, Colonel Philip had lunch and was about to go back to the captain's room to rest, when he suddenly received an urgent report.

"Three ships were spotted in the northeast direction, and they were very fast, and they were suspected to be warships."

Colonel Philip hurried to the bridge, picked up his binoculars and looked northeast, and sure enough, he saw three ships.

Colonel Philip looked closely for a few minutes and then gave the order with squinted eyes: "They are coming at us, so that the ships are best prepared for battle." Let the communication room ask the other party for their identity in clear code. ”

The answer was quickly sent from the communications room.

"They call themselves the Japanese Navy."

It wasn't long before the three ships were getting closer and closer, and the Ramillis observer sent another report that the ship's mast ahead was flying the Japanese flag.

The Japanese fleet was rapidly approaching, and Colonel Philip quickly saw the opposing lineup, the ships were visually identified as a cruiser and two destroyers, and a plaster flag with a red heart on a white background fluttered on the flagpole in the bow.

These forces did not yet threaten their own fleet, and their posture did not look like they were here to fight.

Colonel Philip's judgment was quite accurate, and apart from a brief exchange, nothing happened between the two fleets.

The Japanese fleet quickly moved past the left flank of the OB-272 escort fleet. Then it disappeared into the sea.

The battle alert was lifted again.

With a keen intuition, Colonel Philip had a sense of foreboding in his mind.

Although the other party did nothing, Colonel Philip always felt that the Japanese fleet had bad intentions.

Colonel Philip pondered for a while and then did not come up with a result, so he reminded the officers on duty to be vigilant. He then returned to the captain's quarters.

Less than half an hour after lying down, Colonel Philip was woken up.

Colonel Philip returned to the battle command room on the bridge, and under the guidance of his subordinates, he quickly found the plane hovering in the sky.

"It was the Germans' plane, we were discovered." First Officer Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said with a frown.

Colonel Philip soon became more nervous in the communications room, as they detected a steady stream of radio signals.

"It's reporting our location to the base. I think it won't be long before a group of submarines will come to meet us. Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said.

"If the German submarines come, it will be just enough to relieve the loneliness of our journey, and the depth charges on our destroyers will finally come in handy." Colonel Philip said confidently.

"Look, he's flying low." Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said, pointing to the sky.

Colonel Philip looked up again, and sure enough, he saw that the plane had lowered its altitude, and the black Iron Cross logo under the wings could be clearly seen in the telescope.

The roar of the aircraft engines hung over the fleet, but it was quickly buried by the roar of the fleet's anti-aircraft guns.

The 35 20-mm anti-aircraft guns on the Ramillis ping-pong for a while, creating countless clouds of white smoke in the sky below the planes, and the German reconnaissance planes regained their altitude like frightened bunnies and continued to hover above the fleet.

Colonel Philip stopped the anti-aircraft gunners from wasting shells and turned to ignoring them.

German reconnaissance planes circled over the OB-272 fleet for an afternoon and did not leave until it was dark.

The night was as dangerous as Colonel Philip had expected.

At 9:20 p.m., the transport, the USS Bass, which was at the back of the fleet, was the first to hear an explosion, followed by a torpedo attack on the tanker Fox, and the sea was lit red by the skyrocketing fire.

Colonel Philip soon received a report from the destroyer fleet that two submarines of unknown nationality had been found in the waters east of the fleet.

The destroyers Black Badger and Van Nessa rushed to the hiding place of the two submarines according to the position measured by the sonar, and the depth charges rained down into the sea.

The sound of "boom, boom, boom" depth charges exploding in the sea rang out one after another. Countless white fountains erupt into the swarthy sea one after another, and the scene is spectacular.

The good news was soon delivered to Colonel Philip, and the destroyer Van Nessa was the first to notice a black oil stain rising from the sea, and at least one enemy submarine was destroyed.

The search continued by two destroyers in the nearby sea. It was not until no more suspicious signs were found that the fleet was returned.

The bass received one torpedo, the Fox tanker received two shots, and neither ship survived.

The Fox even flipped directly into the sea, and sank in the icy sea without even giving the crew time to escape.

Rescuing the crew of the bass overboard, the OB-272 fleet sets off again.

Five destroyers are like five tireless sheepdogs. Cruised all night around the fleet, keeping the merchant fleet and the Ramillis in between.

Over the course of one night, the sonar of the five destroyers spotted suspicious targets in the rear and left flank of the fleet and launched an attack, but did not receive any results.

After a night of tossing, the whole fleet was like a frightened bird, and Colonel Philip followed him all night.

The east was white, and it had been more than two hours since the destroyer had last spotted a suspected target.

Colonel Philip rubbed his bloodshot eyes, handed over the work to Lieutenant Commander Reiner, who had come to take over, and walked to the captain's room.

He glanced out the window. Some early risers were bouncing around the deck doing radio gymnastics.

When a new day comes, I have to fall asleep, and it is all the Germans and Italians who have harmed me.

Colonel Philip walked into the captain's room, took off his coat and washed up, and collapsed on the bed.

The moment Colonel Philip closed his eyes, in the bridge, Lieutenant Commander Reiner received an alert that a ship of unknown nationality appeared in the southwest of the fleet, which was very fast, and it was suspected to be a warship.

Another explicit inquiry, the identity of the other party was soon revealed. is a destroyer of the Japanese Navy.

Lieutenant Colonel Reiner watched the warship with the plaster flag disappear into the northeast direction of the fleet, touched his chin full of stubble, and suddenly said: "Order the communication room to listen to the radio signal of that warship." ”

A report from the communications room was not long in coming. Continuous radio waves were found nearby.

A dark cloud quickly rose on Lieutenant Commander Reiner's emaciated face, and as the captain had speculated, the Japanese had bad intentions and were probably spying on the whereabouts of their own fleet.

If this judgment is correct, the reconnaissance aircraft of the Germans should arrive soon.

Lieutenant Commander Reiner immediately ordered the fleet's observation posts and radar rooms to keep an eye on the sky.

To Lieutenant Colonel Reiner's surprise, a morning's time. German reconnaissance planes did not appear, and the flotilla sailed safely west of Madeira.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Philip walked into the command room in high spirits.

After listening to Lieutenant Colonel Reiner's report, Colonel Philip frowned and said, "I have a hunch that we will also encounter ships of the Japanese Navy. ”

One afternoon, uneventful.

One night, it was safe and sound.

At 7:30 a.m., it was raining continuously, and Colonel Philip had just stepped onto the bridge when he received a report that a ship of unknown nationality had been spotted in the northeast direction, approaching at high speed.

It must have been the Japanese Navy again, Colonel Philip looked indignantly to the northeast.

It didn't take long for a Japanese destroyer to pass from northeast to southwest, through the stern of the OB-272 fleet.

Again, the communications room listened to the destroyer's continuous signals.

Colonel Philip quickly dictated a telegram and then ordered: "They must be spying on us, these damned Japanese." Immediately send a report to the headquarters and submit this information. ”

The communication room quickly sent out radio waves, which flew to London, but also flew into the radio station of the Atlantic Fleet of the Italian Navy, and the Italian radioman immediately calculated the general position of the other party through the radio waves.

Lieutenant General Campioni said excitedly: "The British dare to break the radio silence, are they hoping that we will find them, and we cannot live up to their expectations." The seventh and eighth destroyer detachments were ordered to attack and entangle them first. ”

Eight destroyers quickly broke away from the fleet and swooped down in a southwesterly direction.

Twenty minutes later, the shrill sound of battle sirens echoed over the OB-272 convoy.

"Enemy ships were spotted in the northeast direction, the number of eight. The course is 240 degrees, the speed is twenty-five knots, and the distance is fifteen nautical miles. ”

The more than 1,000 crew members of the Ramillis quickly ran to their respective posts, ready to participate in the ensuing battle.

Colonel Philip picked up his binoculars and looked northeast. Four black pillars of smoke faintly appeared on the undulating sea, and then became six, eight.

"Report, the communication room received a clear call from the other party." The communications staff officer shouted.

"Read."

"We are the Atlantic Fleet of the Italian Navy, and your fleet is forbidden to use radio. Otherwise, all of them will be sunk. ”

A second over-the-top call followed.

"You have no hope of victory, stop your ships and surrender at once."

"Surrender to the Italians? This is an insult to the British Royal Navy. Colonel Philip smiled dismissively.

Colonel Philip's smile quickly faded, and reports came from the radar room and observation posts that a large number of warships had appeared in the northeast direction, numbering ten.

The number of enemy warships has reached eighteen, which is two more than the number of all ships in his own fleet.

"You have no hope of victory, stop the ship and surrender immediately, you still have three minutes to think."

The Italian fleet again sent a clear call.

"Report, the enemy fleet has four capital ships." The observer of the Ramillis sent another report.

Four capital ships!

Colonel Philip's eyes suddenly went dark.

Two of them must have been Veneto-class battleships, otherwise the Italians would not have been so confident in ordering themselves to surrender.

Plus two more battleships. There were also fourteen destroyers and cruisers, and it was a battle with zero chance of winning.

"What should I do?" Lieutenant Colonel Reiner asked anxiously, looking at his watch.

Colonel Philip gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down, but to no avail, and the heat rushed to his brain.

"First, order the communications room to send a distress telegram at once: second," Colonel Philip thought bitterly as he pressed his forehead.

"The speed of those merchant ships is so slow, they can't escape." Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said.

"yes, they're too slow to make unnecessary sacrifices. And those wounded. By the way, those wounded and prisoners of war" Colonel Philip's eyes lit up.

"Order the communications room to immediately send a report in clear code to the other side that there are more than 1,600 Italian prisoners of war and more than 500 wounded British soldiers in our merchant ships. Tell them not to fire on merchant ships, and the merchant fleet will surrender to them.

The five destroyers were ordered to retreat to the southwest at once, make a detour back to England, and concentrate on escaping at their speed. ”

"They won't carry out this order." Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said.

"Tell them that this is the last order I have given them, and I beg them to carry it out in the name of the commander of the fleet." Colonel Philip said with a glare.

Lieutenant Colonel Reiner heard Colonel Philip's recklessness. The order was then conveyed to the communications room.

Five destroyers reluctantly turned around and fled southwest, while ten merchant ships followed the order and headed east, signalling surrender to the Italian navy in clear code.

The communications staff officer sent a telegram back from the five destroyers one after another.

"What did they say?" Colonel Philip asked.

"Farewell, Colonel."

"I see, go back to your posts, follow me, charge."

At Colonel Philip's roar, the old Ramillis blew its whistle and fired at full power.

The huge hull of 33,500 tons rushed to the northwest like a sharp arrow off the string.

The eight 381mm guns in the bow and stern of the ship rotated and pointed to starboard, roaring at the outflanked enemy ships.

Two destroyers were assigned to guard the surrendered merchant ships, and four battleships, four light cruisers, and six destroyers of the Italian Navy were quickly outflanked.

The torpedoes sent a terrifying white wake in the blue waters, and rushed towards the Ramillis in waves.

Two Veneto-class battleships and two Doria-class battleships took turns firing their guns, and 381-mm and 320-mm shells rained down on the British ships from all directions.

Thick white columns of water erupted from around the Ramillis, and from the bridge, they were so close that they seemed to freeze next to the ship.

Under the calm command of Colonel Philip, the Ramillis suddenly turned northwest, due north, and northeast, always keeping its starboard side in front of its four Italian battleships, ensuring that its eight main guns could fire at the same time, while the Italian battleships could only return fire with their bow guns.

Sixteen secondary guns also did not show weakness in firing at the enemy ships that had been outflanked on the left and right sides.

Amid the deafening sound of gunfire, Colonel Philip sent a succinct farewell telegram.

"The Ramiris has been surrounded by sixteen enemy ships, there is no hope of breaking through, we will fight until the last shell, long live the British Empire, long live my king."

With a loud rumble, Colonel Philip's body shook and almost fell, and after holding Lieutenant Colonel Reiner to his feet, he keenly noticed that the speed of the Ramillis had slowed down.

Two 381-mm shells hit the starboard stern of the Ramillis, the wheelhouse was hit, and the sea rushed in.

Seeing the heavy damage of the enemy ship and the billowing smoke of the Italian navy, the morale of the Italian navy was greatly boosted, and the two destroyers bravely rushed to a distance of about a thousand meters to release torpedoes in the face of enemy fire.

Hundreds of shells fell on the Ramillis, from bow to stern, from bridge to chimney.

The stern of the Ramillis gradually sank into the sea, and the bow slowly lifted and sank.

Sensing the danger they were in, the cannon fire on the Ramilis finally subsided, and the surviving sailors jumped into the sea to escape.

Eight minutes later, the last remaining corner of the bow of the battleship Ramillis sank into the sea, and the battle ended. (To be continued.) )xh118