Herzendorff's order was meaningless in actual combat, the German ships had an absolute advantage in the state of engagement, and at this time the change of direction maneuver would strictly affect the accuracy of the ship's guns, and even if it cut horizontally to the front of the opponent and form a T again, it could only force the opponent to turn again without firing the cannon.

Moreover, the distance between the two sides at this time was only 3,000 meters, and such a drastic change of direction was very likely to lead to a collision accident after the other side did not have time to change direction, but in the case that neither side could open fire, Herzendorf could only use this method to put pressure on the other side.

And the attempts of the Germans, which the British clearly understood: "Accelerate, accelerate, we must get ahead of the Germans!" They want to cut us off from the coastline! Stokes shouted.

As soon as the German warship was inserted between itself and the coastline, then it meant its own complete defeat! Because the British blockade fleet on the East African coast was ordered to intercept a ship that might be carrying supplies to the Boers, and to ensure the safety of the entire East African coast.

And the Germans inserted themselves between themselves and the coastline, which meant that they lost the protection of the coastline, and it was a complete failure in the mission!

However, it was impossible to get to the front of the German ship with superior speed, and the Lufthansa forced a right turn in front of the Citis, and if the Sitis did not turn again, the two ships would most likely collide, and Stokes scolded the Germans on the opposite side for being crazy, and ordered the left full rudder to evade.

The two ships staggered at a distance of only 400 meters, and the British lost the coastline.

This result made all the officers and men on board the Citis pale as if they were dead, and the Germans left behind the British warships and continued to go deep into Maputo Bay, where they were to pick up the men.

The Citis did not turn around to chase, and Stokes knew that he would not be able to catch up if he turned around and chased after him, and this time the confrontation began. I lost completely. Perhaps the German warships would be intercepted by other British ships, but that was nothing of its own. Stokes decided to return to the port of Durban to report on the incident.

The Lufthansa entered Maputo Bay and found the Herzog, which had been detained for 10 days, and the Herzog crew cheered as the German flag fluttered on the Hansa on the island, and all the Germans on board shouted Long live the German Navy. This filled the hearts of all the German naval officers and sailors on the Lufthansa.

6 days of high-intensity running, 6 days of mental tension, and the dangerous sea fighting methods that have just passed are all worth it at this moment.

Happy to be happy, but the situation of the Germans is still very bad, the Lufthansa coal has bottomed out, even if the German Navy has a coal ship to respond, it is estimated that there is no way to penetrate into the British Royal Navy's control area, and he has to break out with the Herzog first, which is more difficult than killing all the way out.

But there's no end to it. After learning of the current situation of the Hansa, the Portuguese governor aboard the Herzog said that the Hansa could enter the port of Maputo to refuel coal, and sent a telegram to his own country by the way.

You must know that Maputo Bay belongs to the waters of Portuguese Mozambique, and the port of Maputo is the capital here, and the Portuguese governor who was detained on his own territory was also angry with the British, so he spared no effort to help the Germans.

Thus, the Germans, who entered the port of Maputo, instead sent a telegram to Europe earlier than the Citis, which had returned to Durban.

"Well done! He sailed for 6 days and nights, traveled 2,500 nautical miles, and then won a great victory in an encounter with the British cruiser. Finally, the trapped Chinese ship was rescued. This time we hit those damn Britons hard in the face! After receiving the telegram from the port of Maputo, Foreign Secretary Billo was very excited.

However, Koster, who reacted fiercely at first, is now much calmer: "Our operation is far from a success. There were far more than one or two British ships on the coast of East Africa, and even if the Lufthansa refueled the Gulf of Maputo with coal, it would be difficult to continue north with the Herzog.

When they arrive safely in Tanganyika, our operation will be truly successful, and then we will be able to celebrate the victory. ”

"If it's safer, we can let the Hansa and Herzog stop in the port of Maputo first, and then we can use diplomatic means to ensure their safety before leaving." Mashal was built yì to.

"This is indeed a safer approach, at least our citizens will not be threatened by the British naval guns. Moreover, the British conducted a raid in Maputo Bay and seized the Portuguese governor enough to annoy the Portuguese, so I don't think the British would do such a stupid thing as using a fleet to blockade the port of Maputo, right? Jochen agreed with Mashal's proposal.

It was not advisable for German citizens to risk being intercepted by the British fleet again, and at least they would be safe in the port of the Portuguese.

"If they do that. Then it would be a complete reversal with the whole European continent, and I will see how the British are going to end up at that time. "Then let the Lufthansa and Herzog stop at the port of Maputo for resupply, and the lads need to rest and thank our Portuguese friends by the way," said Koster. ”

"The Foreign Office would like to send a note to the British, asking them not to stop our ships, and to express its gratitude to the Portuguese Government for their assistance to the Lufthansa." Marshal said.

That afternoon, Salisbury received a diplomatic note from the Germans, which shocked him: "The Germans say that they have guaranteed the safety of the detained ship and escorted her to the port of Maputo, and they are glad that we have not acted irrationally in the way that endangers the personal and property safety of German citizens?"

Who can tell me what the hell is going on? How did the Germans end up on the coast of East Africa? What are our warships doing ?! And our own report has not yet appeared! ”

"Your Excellency, it must be quicker for the Germans to send a telegram home from the port of Maputo than after our ships return to Durban.

As for the appearance of the Germans on the east coast of Africa, they should have departed from Walvis Bay, and only there was the closest, and the only armored cruisers of the African Fleet that the Germans could dispatch were there, and only their armored cruisers could run so far in such a short time. First Sea Secretary Frederick was in perfect agreement with the analysis of the Hansea's actions.

"I learned about the firepower and speed of the new armored cruiser at the Kiel Canal celebration before, and now I didn't expect the endurance to be so good, it seems that the Germans do have a unique design of armored cruisers." However, seeing that Salisbury was not good, Frederick immediately changed his words: "Your Excellency, please don't worry, the only thing the Germans can do is this warship of the African Fleet, the main question now is how we will deal with it next, the German ships are now stuck in the port of Maputo, we can call in ships to blockade it, but this will cause a bigger problem." ”

"Yes, you're right, now the Portuguese are on the side of the Germans, we can't keep the blockade there, the Germans won't do nothing, and if the confrontation escalates, those Gauls and Yankees must be happy to see it. So we can't drag it out, and release is a must. Salisbury said helplessly.

"But we must keep the impact of this incident on the face of the Reich to a minimum, and reply to the Germans that our inspection of the German cruise ship has been completed, and therefore it is allowed to be carried out, and the previous inspection was necessary to maintain the safety of the East African coast, but regrets the long time taken in the inspection of the German ship."

"Then the apology that the Germans had asked for ......," Chamberlain asked cautiously.

"Our inspections are necessary actions to maintain safety, and do we need to apologize? If an apology is made, then our blockade mission on the East African coast cannot continue. Salisbury refused to apologize and was prepared to continue this hegemonic act.

In the evening, the telegram from Durban from the Citis was finally placed in Salisbury's desk, and since it had been decided not to allow the situation to escalate further, it was decided to release the Germans, so the report did not attract much attention from Salisbury.

However, Frederick, the First Sea Lord, was able to find a lot of value, and he could still sail at such high speed from Walvis Bay to Maputo Bay, which showed that the Germans could project naval power into the Indian Ocean with Walvis Bay as the center.

Only the 8,000-ton Elizabeth class is so outstanding in terms of firepower, speed, and endurance that it overshadows the Cressie-class armored cruisers that the Royal Navy started construction in 1898, knowing that the Cressy is nearly 4,000 tons larger than the German ship, and the Monmouth class, which was slightly smaller than the Cressy-class tonnage in 1899, is completely no match for the Germans in terms of firepower.

Walvis Bay, the West Coast port of Africa that had been handed over to Germany by Britain in exchange was now enough for the Germans to threaten the east coast of Africa with excellent German cruisers, making it even more difficult for the Royal Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet to fight back.

This also gave Frederick the idea that he needed to build armored cruisers that were stronger enough to overwhelm the Germans in order to better secure the shipping lines of the British Empire.

The cancellation of the six Monmouth-class armored cruisers, originally scheduled to begin construction in 1901, was enough to overwhelm the requirements of the German Elizabeth-class in all respects and become the design standard for the next class of armored cruisers in the Royal Navy.

The naval race has quietly begun. (To be continued......)