The next day, on the morning of 16 February, Jiang Zhongmin set off with a supply fleet and a small landing fleet. Before he left, an important piece of information came back that the expeditionary fleet of the British and French navy had indeed returned to the port of Cape Town, and that there must have been a problem between the two fleets, but the problem had not yet developed into a military conflict. And this information was sent back by the Imperial spies who remained in the port of Cape Town.

After the British and French forces occupied the port of Cape Town, they thought of isolating the immigrants of the Tang Empire, but this was almost impossible. At that time, the total population of Cape Town was more than 300,000, and about thirty and a half of them were immigrants from the Tang Empire, and many of them were immigrants after the third generation, with a total number of about 100,000, which was the second largest ethnic group after the local indigenous people. At that time, the Anglo-French forces occupying Cape Town Harbour were less than 30,000 men as predicted, less than 15,000. Among them, some non-combatants have to be eliminated, and the actual strength is less than 10,000. The relationship between the Tang Empire's immigrants and the indigenous population, as well as the mixed-race ethnic groups, has always been very good, if the British and French forces want to isolate and control the Tang Empire's immigrants, it will anger all the citizens of Cape Town, and the result is probably that the Tang Empire does not need to send troops, and these angry civilians are enough for the British and French forces to abandon the port of Cape Town.

It is precisely because of this that it is impossible for the British and French forces to completely eliminate the infiltration of spy personnel, and many of the spy personnel serving the Tang Empire are not immigrants from the Tang Empire, but indigenous people and citizens of mixed races. Even the Tang Empire, which had controlled Cape Town for hundreds of years, could not completely eliminate the infiltration of Western spies here, let alone block all the Tang Empire's spies here.

This information came in a very timely manner, although the content of the information was still not detailed enough for Tan Renhao to accurately judge the internal situation of the British and French expeditionary fleets. But this was enough, at least to prove Tan Renhao's speculation that the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet was in Cape Town. And depending on the situation, the relationship between the two sides is already very tense.

"Maybe. Before we can rush over, the British and the French will fight each other. Tan Renhao sneered, "It's not impossible for this kind of ugly thing to happen, in fact, as long as we stand on the side of the French Navy, I'm afraid we would have done it with the British by now." ”

"I thought so too. As far as I know, the French are even more arrogant than the British. "At the beginning, when we were based in Britain and colonized Europe, France was our important opponent, and France was very dissatisfied with Britain at that time. Later, we left Europe, and Britain secretly supported Germany, hoping to use Germany's rise to contain France.

Neutralize the French threat to the British. Even in the Hundred Years' War, Britain and France were often at odds. Until the last war, Anglo-French relations were between good and bad. If it weren't for the sudden rise of Germany. Moreover, if they are bent on seizing Britain's maritime supremacy, I am afraid that Britain and France will become feuds. With the existence of this factor, the contradiction between the two countries this time is definitely not small! ”

Tan Renhao stood up and walked around the room twice. "The French Navy has always been very suspicious of the British Navy. Since the end of the Empire's colonization of Europe, France has been strengthening its navy, and although the French navy has never been a first-class navy in the true sense of the word, it has always been a threat to Britain. The main factor in the Anglo-French alliance was Germany, and now that France was defeated, Britain took tough action to prevent the warships of the French Navy from falling into German hands.

Perhaps, the top admirals of the French Navy would have been acceptable, and the French generals in exile, led by Charles de Gaulle, would certainly have formed a government-in-exile in England or the United States, and would secretly support British actions. But the question is, will ordinary officers and soldiers in the French Navy accept it? ”

"It certainly won't be!" Chang Jianxin sneered, "The British are also too anxious, or too afraid that the French battleships will fall into the hands of Germany." They only gave the French a few hours, and if they had given the French a few more days, maybe the French battleships would have surrendered to the British Navy. The problem now is that the French Navy has shed blood, and the sacrifices are great.

From what we have obtained, there were at least a thousand casualties among French naval officers and men. This blood will not be shed in vain, and judging from the national feelings, the sense of honor of the soldiers, and the pride of the navy, the French will certainly not be able to endure such naked provocation and betrayal. ”

"In that case, it couldn't be better for us!"

Both of them laughed, of course it is a good thing for Britain and France to engage in a nest fight, it is best for the two countries to fight each other to the death, and when the time comes, Tan Renhao and they only need to clean up the mess, maybe it is not even a combat operation.

Relevant information was also sent one after another. The day after Jiang Zhongmin's departure, specific information about the conflict between the British and French navies in the Mediterranean port was sent.

The British Navy's attack on French ports and the destruction of the French Mediterranean Fleet were codenamed "Ballista", which was directly approved by the British Prime Minister (who was British Admiralty Secretary at the time of the First Global War). Prior to this, the British government had managed to persuade the French naval generals through secret channels, as well as some French generals in exile in England (de Gaulle, among them), and proposed three solutions. First, the French fleet surrendered directly to the British Navy, and the British Navy controlled these warships and participated in future combat operations to liberate France. Second, the French fleet went to the ports of the United States, and the United States managed the warships and properly settled the officers and men of the fleet.

The third was to go to the port of a neutral country and dismiss the officers and men of the fleet upon arrival, while the battleships, after being disarmed, remained under the control of the French navy. All three of these opinions were rejected as a result, to be precise, the commander of the French fleet at that time was not able to make an immediate decision. As a result, the British could not hold their breath. The Germans had already begun to prepare for the acceptance of these ships, and even the officers and men of the German Navy arrived in Marseille. The surrendering French government had also telegraphed the fleet back to Marseille several times to surrender to the German navy. In this case, the British fleet blocked the port and, in warning, issued an ultimatum. Just a few hours later, the British Navy spotted that the French fleet was preparing for the harbor and launched an attack before the deadline was reached.

In a short but fierce battle. The officers and men of the French Navy showed a heroic fighting spirit, but they were far inferior in strength. And in the case of rushing to meet the battlefield, it was not at all an opponent of the British fleet. At that time, the French did not expect at all that the British fleet would fire on their allies, who had been fighting together for several years, and the French fleet commander did not order the fleet to leave port at that time, but only to prepare the fleet for departure. It is not clear whether he would return to France or accept the terms offered by the British. What's more, when the battle broke out, most of the French battleships were not loaded with shells at all! The result was predictable, the battle lasted just over two hours, and all the other French ships were destroyed in the harbor, except for a few small warships that were faster and managed to escape. During the entire engagement, only one battleship of the British Navy was shelled, and not even minor injuries, and only one British sailor was killed. The French Navy paid a huge price in more than 1,000 casualties.

The conflict was of little military significance, and even if the French battleships fell into the hands of the Germans, they would not have threatened the British. But the political significance of this battle is enormous. The effect on Anglo-French relations is indescribable, and the subsequent reversal of France towards Germany can be said to have been brought out by the aggressive attitude of the British. And at that time, the British Navy shelled the French fleet.

It also makes several other countries, such as Spain and Italy, feel chilled. Especially for Spain, the British navy launched such an attack at this time, which not only made the Spaniards see the true face of the British mercenary and the supremacy of their own national interests, but also made the Spaniards feel that the British were unreliable.

Another country that has reacted strongly is the United States. Immediately after learning that the British Navy had shelled the French fleet, the President of the United States sent a telegram to the British Prime Minister, directly asking why Britain was so impulsive and why it was shelling friendly fleets. And the reason for the anger of the American president is very simple, the French expeditionary fleet is still fighting side by side with the British expeditionary fleet in the Indian Ocean, and at this time to provoke the conflict between Britain and France, doesn't that give the Tang Empire a chance? The United States is also planning a counterattack in the Pacific Ocean at this time, and if the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet cannot hold back the two main task forces of the Tang Imperial Navy, the US Navy will be the most affected!

This did affect the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet. When the French government announced its surrender and telegraphed the expeditionary fleet to surrender to Germany, the Tang Empire, or the Persian Empire as soon as possible, the commander of the French expeditionary fleet had not yet decided whether to obey this order. Moreover, some French generals who had been exiled to England at that time, such as Charles de Gaulle, were calling on the French army to continue fighting and not surrender to the Germans, and it was true that some French troops were still fighting. Subsequently, French generals and officials in exile, led by Charles de Gaulle, established a provisional government-in-exile in England and declared themselves to be the legitimate representatives of France. All of this influenced the decisions of the commander of the French expeditionary fleet. If the British could endure it for a few more days, perhaps the French expeditionary fleet would have continued to fight. But at this juncture, the actions of the British finally led the French expeditionary fleet to the other end. Although the French expeditionary fleet did not go directly north to the ports of the Persian Empire at that time (at that time, Germany had not yet informed the French surrender government and asked the French expeditionary fleet to surrender directly to the Tang Empire or the Persian Empire), it no longer participated in expeditionary operations, but broke away from the British expeditionary fleet and returned directly to the port of Cape Town, and prepared to refill the port of Cape Town before returning to the mainland.

The problem was exposed, and the British could not watch the French expeditionary fleet return to the Germans, so the British expeditionary fleet immediately abandoned its entry into the Persian Sea, and instead returned to Cape Town after the French fleet. Before arriving in Cape Town, the commander of the British Expeditionary Fleet (who was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Fleet and the Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Force) telegraphed the British Expeditionary Force in Cape Town to secretly control the oil depots and docks in the port, and to closely monitor the movements of the French Expeditionary Force.

But the problem was that the British Expeditionary Force in Cape Town at that time had about 9,000 men, while the French Expeditionary Force also had more than 6,000 men, and the size of the two sides was not very different. Although the Commander of the French Expeditionary Fleet (who was also also the Commander-in-Chief of the French Expeditionary Force) did not order the French Expeditionary Force to take control of the port, and the French Expeditionary Force did not take any hostile action. But the commander of the British Expeditionary Force in Cape Town, as soon as he received the order, ordered the camp of the French Expeditionary Force to be surrounded and disarmed.

Now the trouble was great, and the impact of the excesses of the British was very serious. Even if the French had thought of heeding the call of the government-in-exile and continuing to fight, could they still be expected to continue fighting after all this had happened? Even if the commander of the French Expeditionary Force was generally knowledgeable and willing to cooperate with the British, would the officers and men of the French Expeditionary Force be willing to cooperate with the British who had collected their weapons?

For the British, this is definitely not a good thing, but for Tan Renhao, it is definitely the best news. Britain and France are engaged in fighting in the nest, and it must be the Imperial Navy that will benefit.

It is better for both sides to fight head-to-head and bloody, and the problem can be solved smoothly without the need for a single soldier from the Imperial Navy.

The fleet left the port of Colombo on the night of the 18th, and the news was still coming. The naval command also knew that Tan Renhao needed more information now, so as long as it was related to Britain and France, or even information that had little to do with it, it was all sent over. In addition, the Empire's spy network is also in full swing, sending a steady stream of information back. Tan Renhao and Chang Jianxin's confidence is also getting more and more sufficient, and if they continue to develop like this, most of them will clean up the mess.

Confidence is faith, Tan Renhao can never be negligent, on the battlefield, any situation may occur, maybe this is a play performed by Britain and France, anyway, there is no harm in maintaining a high degree of vigilance.

And Tan Renhao also began to think about detailed combat operations.