The naval strength of Germany, Austria and Italy cannot be compared with that of England, and if more than 10 ironclad ships are lost in South Africa, it will not be a loss of muscles and bones for the navies of the three countries, but a great loss of vitality.

France's naval strength in Europe can be said to be second only to England, but after the Franco-Prussian War, France's industrial strength and economic strength have declined significantly, and the loss of more than ten ironclad ships at one time will also be greatly damaged.

The great loss of naval strength of the four countries is not only conducive to maintaining and consolidating Britain's position in Europe, but also conducive to Britain's rapid recovery from the shadow of the economic crisis.

Yan Yangtian pondered for a while before he said: "Germany, Austria and Italy are dominated by Germany, will Germany agree to attack Maputo?" ”

"Of course." Yi Zhishu leaned back slightly, "If the navy does not take the initiative to attack Maputo, it means that the land battle will be the mainstay, and the German army has the largest number of troops, and the current casualties are also the largest, how can you agree?" ”

As he spoke, he casually asked, "There has been no news from India?" ”

"The news from Shi Dakai said that the British had gathered 200,000 troops and were advancing towards Bitar."

"Tell Shi Dakai to be flexible, if you can defend it, if you can't defend it, go south to Orissa." Yi Zhizu said slowly, let Shi Da send troops, the purpose is to force England to participate in the war, of course, if he can fight smoothly, he doesn't care about ceding some territory, however, it can only be done in moderation, if you really want to fight with England, it is not a good thing for the Qing Dynasty.

Cape Town, Simon Military Port, South African Fleet Command Building.

On the balcony on the second floor facing the sea, Du Bailei, commander of the Allied Navy, was holding a pipe and looking at the warships with the flags of various countries floating in the harbor with a comfortable face.

It is obvious that Maputo is the largest military base of the Qing State in South Africa, not only stationed heavy troops, but also has a huge coastal defense fortifications, which is a difficult hard nut to bite, which is a well-known thing.

However, compared with the Qing State sending a large number of torpedo boats to participate in the war, the generals of all countries without exception chose to gnaw on this hard bone, after all, the threat of torpedo boats to warships is greater, and no one is willing or has the courage to face a large number of torpedo boats, and attacking Maputo is more conducive to the allied fleet to give full play to its advantages in artillery and strength.

As long as Maputo is captured, even if the Qing state sends a large number of torpedo boats to participate in the war, it will not help, Maputo's huge coastal defense fortifications are enough to deal a devastating blow to the torpedo boats, and furthermore, the capture of Maputo is equivalent to cutting off the retreat of the Qing army, cutting off the logistics supply of the Qing army, and the balance of victory will be completely tilted in their favor.

In another office on the same floor, Arthur Hood looked at Hobber with a solemn expression and said, "I always felt that attacking Maputo contained a huge risk....... to be precise, Maputo was more like a huge trap. ”

"A huge trap?" Hebu muttered softly, "Tell me your judgment." ”

"I can't tell." Hood shook his head slowly, "I just suspect that Qingguo's naval power in Maputo is not only shown on the surface, but also hidden secretly, and in addition, it is impossible for Qingguo to not improve on torpedoes." ”

"Qing Guo's entry into Maputo's fleet, we have all monitored, it is difficult to conceal it." He Bu said slowly: "As for the torpedo, even if the Qing Kingdom has improved the torpedo, can the speed and range of the torpedo be higher than the naval gun?" ”

"In addition to torpedo boats, will the Qing State have new weapons for naval warfare?" Hu De pondered and said: "The Qing State openly declared war on the Five Kingdoms, and the importance of Maputo is obvious, and I always feel that attacking Maputo is not as simple as I imagined. ”

"If the Qing Kingdom really has a sharp weapon of naval warfare, it is not only our warships that will suffer losses." He Bu said: "Besides, the Qing Kingdom may never have dreamed that the five countries would cobble together such a large fleet to come to South Africa. ”

Hu De didn't dare to be so optimistic, he didn't have a good impression of the Qing army at all, whether it was the Qing navy or the army, there was no gentlemanly demeanor, but sinister and ruthless, a little groaning, he said: "For the Qing army, I don't think it's too cautious, I hope Your Excellency will not go to Maputo in person." ”

"I can't do it if I don't go." He Bu hesitated for a moment, his words made his heart shake a little, and he groaned for a while before he continued: "Do something and leave the two main warships in Simon." ”

Two days later, the smoke billowed from Simon Military Port, the whistle sounded, and the huge fleet of the coalition forces slowly left the port in an orderly manner and set sail, heading north, aiming directly at Maputo!

Maputo, Qing army battalion, headquarters.

Report ——。 An operational staff officer reported loudly: "Observation points No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 have reported one after another that the enemy's fleet has found 76 large and small ironclad ships and 43 transport ships. ”

"It's finally here!" Xiao Mingliang perked up and laughed loudly: "Come to the nest!" Good! Order, prepare to meet the enemy! With that, he strode out of the war room.

The alarm of the enemy attack immediately sounded throughout the port, and the naval units that had already entered the first level of combat readiness quickly rushed to their respective assembly points to assemble and board their ships in the sound of whistles one after another, and the warships moored at various piers rose smoke one after another, and the most striking thing was the submarines in the southern area of the port.

The big killer of this South African naval battle was not a torpedo boat, but a submarine! The first submarine force of the Qing Dynasty, the Independent Submarine Brigade of the Nanyang Fleet, consisted of twelve submarines.

The 15-meter-long Qingdao III submarine is equipped with a dual propulsion system, a 33-kilowatt gasoline engine power plant on the surface, a speed of 7 knots, and a cruising range of 1,000 nautical miles, and an electric motor for the underwater, with a speed of six knots, a cruising range of 80 nautical miles, and a diving depth of 12 meters.

The submarine is equipped with torpedoes, and the bow is equipped with torpedo tubes that can launch torpedoes under water, and is equipped with four torpedoes.

The reason why Xiao Mingliang was sure to annihilate all the coalition fleets that came to attack Maputo was not only on submarines, but also on mines! Blockading the sea at the mouth of Maputo Bay with mines, combined with submarines, is enough to leave all the coalition warships behind!

The huge coalition fleet spread out in formation, and quickly entered the Maputo Bay in unison, five columns chopping waves on the surface of the sea, and on the flagship of the French fleet in the center, the 'Sevany', Du Bailei stood on the bridge and held a telescope to search the sea.

He knew very well that it was impossible for such a large fleet to come without hiding from the reconnaissance posts of the Qing army, which not only used wired telegraphs but also wired telephones extensively in the war, and in this case, the Qing army should have enough time to react.

Although he was convinced that any intrigue was not worth mentioning in the face of absolute strength, the Qing army's fighting style was always unconventional and known for its insidious cunning, and he did not dare to be cautious, after all, Maputo itself was a hard bone.

The wind and the sun are beautiful, the waves are not alarmed, the visibility on the sea is extremely high, it is a rare good weather, the fleet went deep into the bay for ten nautical miles and still did not find the activities of the Qing warships in the surrounding waters, Du Bailei secretly relaxed in her heart, it seems that the Qing fleet is planning to rely on the powerful coastal defense fortifications of Maputo to resist.

As soon as this idea came to mind, a communications officer came to report, "Fifteen nautical miles ahead, the enemy fleet has been spotted!" ”

The Qing fleet actually went to sea to meet the battle? Du Bailei couldn't believe it, this is really abnormal, judging from the current situation, the strength of the two fleets is very different, it stands to reason that the Qing army has no reason to go to sea to meet the battle, it is really not following common sense!

Although it was not clear what the intentions of the Qing army were, out of prudence, Du Bailei still ordered in a deep voice, "Order all ships to slow down and stabilize at ten knots." ”

As the distance between the two fleets got closer and closer, and the Qing warships could already be clearly seen, Du Bailei's brows were also getting tighter and tighter, because the Qing fleet that came to meet only forty-two warships, including eighteen torpedo boats, dared to come to meet the battle in this battle?

Another point of irregularity is that the Qing fleet is actually a horizontal line of battle, this kind of battle line is a common tactic used in the battle of sail warships in the past, with the gradual popularization of ironclad ships, the navies of various countries have completely eliminated the battle line tactics, and now the Qing fleet is abnormal, what is the other side doing?

The Qing army adopted a horizontal arrangement of battle lines, naturally in order to hide the submarines following behind the battleship, seeing that the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, Xiao Mingliang did not dare to hold it up, and ordered the fleet to stop advancing and let the submarine sneak.

After all, the endurance of the submarine under the sea surface is limited, only 80 nautical miles, and if it is not covered, it will greatly consume the submarine's cruising range under the water and affect the combat capability of the submarine.

As the submarine began to dive, Xiao Mingliang immediately ordered the surface ships to return.

The coalition fleet on the opposite side, seeing that the Qing fleet did not fire a single shot, directly turned around and returned home, not only Du Bailei, but also the admirals of other countries were also very strange, what tricks is the Qing fleet playing? Baba ran to take a look, and then ran away?

"Full speed pursuit!" Du Bailei quickly gave the order to pursue, the gap between the two sides was obvious, no matter what tricks the Qing army played, there was no reason to be afraid when the sea situation was unobstructed.

The dull sound of "boom boom" cannon sounded on the sea, and the Qing fleet actually opened fire while fleeing, but it did not pose the slightest threat to the coalition fleet, and the sparse bomb points were too far away from the fleet.

In the face of such an abnormal behavior of the Qing fleet, Du Bailei's brows furrowed even tighter, he really couldn't think of which one the Qing army was singing?

On the flagship of the British fleet, He Bu also frowned, such an abnormal move of the Qing fleet must have a purpose, although he had the experience of fighting with the Qing fleet, he could not judge the intentions of the Qing army for a while, knowing that the other party had a conspiracy, but he could not see through it, which made him faintly panic, "Tell General Du Bailei, be careful of deception." ”

Receiving Hebu's warning, Du Bailei was full of depression, such an abnormal behavior of the Qing army is naturally suspicious, but what is the intention of the Qing army? Attract them to pursue? The sea is empty, what ambush can not be achieved? Moreover, even if there is an ambush, with the strength of the coalition fleet, it is not afraid.

After much hesitation, Du Bailei finally ordered, "Stop the pursuit." Stay in place. He wanted to see how the Qing fleet would react if they stopped pursuing.

Although they stopped the pursuit, the Qing fleet still fled at full speed, and they opened fire while escaping, Du Bailei's face was so gloomy that she could almost drip water, what was going on? This situation is so weird, so strange that it makes him faintly uneasy.

Pursue? Or not chasing? He was torn in his heart, and the communications officer came to report: "Admiral Heb has suggested that the Italian fleet of His Highness be allowed to return to the mouth of Maputo Bay. ”

Du Bailei turned around and looked at the mouth of the bay, with a suspicious face, what do you mean? Could it be that you are still worried that the Qing army will kill you from behind? The main force of the Qing fleet and all the torpedo boats were in front, even if there were a few warships behind, they would not pose any threat, and they would ignore it, but the behavior of the Qing fleet was really strange, and he groaned for a while before he ordered, "Let the Italian fleet return to patrol at the mouth of the bay at full speed." ”

Although the Qing fleet was retreating at full speed, it always paid close attention to the movements of the opposing fleet, and when it was reported that the Italian fleet behind the opponent's palace broke away from the formation and turned around and headed at full speed towards the mouth of the bay, Xiao Mingming's heart tightened, the speed of the submarine diving underwater was not fast, the speed was only six knots, and the speed of the surface ships of the Italian navy was at least fourteen knots, and it was obvious that the Italian fleet would arrive at the mouth of the bay first.

The submarine is 12 meters underwater, and it is not worried that it will be discovered, but it is difficult to hide from the Italian warships if it is necessary to lay mines underwater, and once the submarine is discovered, the coalition fleet is very likely to retreat.

Xiao Mingliang looked at the sea with a gloomy face, can't he just watch the cooked duck fly? The problem was that he couldn't stop it now, and after a long silence, he said in a deep voice: "Turn around!" Strike in battle formation. ”

Seeing that the Qing army fleet did not escape, and turned around and put on a battle formation, Du Bailei's heart couldn't help but sink, could it be that the Qing army was behind them, that is, at the mouth of the bay, and really deployed ambush soldiers? Where did the Qing army get so many warships?

He Bu also looked at the sea behind him in disbelief, the reaction of the Qing fleet undoubtedly confirmed his previous conjecture, but the fleet came all the way, and the nearby twenty nautical miles of sea area were under the surveillance of the fleet, and no trace of the Qing army was found at all, what was going on? Is the Qing army bluffing? Or is there an ambush?

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