After leaving the port of Suez, the main fleet of the Mediterranean, with the battleship "Elector" as the flagship continued to sail south in the vast Red Sea.

Although it is called the Red Sea, the waters in front of Chentian are blue-green like ordinary seawater. In fact, the Red Sea is called the "Red Sea" because of the seasonal bloom of red algae in the sea, which turns the entire sea reddish-brown, and sometimes the sky and coast are reflected red. However, some people say that the "Red Sea" refers to the bright red shells in the sea, and some people believe that the name comes from the large amount of coral sand in the coastal area of the Red Sea.

Of course, for Chentian and this German fleet, these are no longer important. It is important to note that Germany has now completely replaced Britain as the "master" of the Red Sea, and although there are two sovereign states on both sides of the Red Sea, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the two passages in and out of the Red Sea in the south and the north, are under German control. The Turkish government is now also stationed on both sides of the Suez Canal, but they are only "assisting in the defense"!

According to the pre-war agreement between Germany and Turkey, the spoils of the German and Turkish expeditionary forces were to be divided between fifty and fifty and troops to be stationed together, and Turkey sold all the land that was supposed to belong to it to the German government at a price of 1,000 marks per square kilometer in order to repay the loan and obtain new military and civilian supplies and financial assistance. To this end, after conquering and occupying all the British and Italian colonies in Africa, the Turks will receive a total of more than 7 billion marks in funds and equivalents according to this treaty, of which about 3 billion will be used to repay the previous loans, and the remaining 4 billion will be used to import German goods and obtain financial aid, and Germany will receive African colonies including Egypt, Tunisia, Chad, Libya, Niger, Algeria, Nigeria, Congo, South Africa, etc. Such a treaty would undoubtedly be a joy for both colony-hungry Germany and rebuilding Turkey.

When the German-Turkish expeditionary force entered Asia, another agreement was signed, this time that southern Iran and Afghanistan would be owned by Turkey, while Pakistan and India would be owned by Germany. Moreover, the German Government provided the Turkish expeditionary force with all its food, ammunition, and ammunition.

As for how long the alliance between Germany and Turkey, driven by friendship and interests, can be maintained, the world does not dare to say, and Chen Tian has no conclusion in his heart, 10 or 20 years may be longer, but it will certainly not be forever.

As the fleet passed through the port of Hodeidah, Yemen, a German fleet was leaving the port with fresh water and food. After a brief inquiry, Tatsuten learned that it was a convoy of ships carrying supplies for the landing force, which had departed from the German mainland three weeks earlier. Unloading is expected next week at several ports controlled by the landing force on the Indian peninsula.

After greeting each other, the fleet saw that the Hipper's fleet had no intention of escorting them, so they had to follow silently. For some time, the German routes in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea were relatively calm, and India's coastal defenses were poor, but they were not completely incapable of disturbing the German supply lines by sea. You must know that Britain still has a few torpedo boats and gunboats in India, but it is not known why they did not come out to sabotage.

In this way, the fleet on which Tatsuten was riding sailed south along the coast of Shaji at the cruising speed of the mouth section, and a large series of transport ships behind them traveled on the same route at a speed of less than 10 knots. Along the way, they occasionally encountered German ships and convoys returning from the Indian Peninsula after completing their replenishment missions. It seems that the expeditionary force does not need to worry about supplies for now.

Just before sailing out of the Red Sea. Chentian received a telegram from the command of the expeditionary force, and with the completion of the landing mission by the follow-up troops, the second stage of the "Leapfrog Plan" also ended in victory. After this. The Japanese army coming from the east and the German ** team attacking from the north and south made the British and Indian troops completely panicked, and the Indian defense line facing the German-Turkish expeditionary force has shown signs of wavering, and it is said that the deserters in the Indian army are increasing in large numbers every day-

"Your Majesty, there is Pilin Island ahead!" Hipper turned around and told Chentian that the black dot on the sea in front of him was the famous "South Gate of the Red Sea" Pilin Island.

Chen Tian raised the telescope, and the general outline of the island appeared in front of him, but unfortunately it basically had no scenery to speak of, it was completely a bare volcanic island, and from the north, a castle-like fortress could be faintly seen, and the whole island was lifeless. The only thing that moved was the white seabirds.

"It took a lot of effort for you to capture it last year!" Chen Tian sympathetically told Hipper that he remembered that the battle cost the Mediterranean Fleet a minesweeper and more than 100 officers and men, which was the largest loss of the Mediterranean Fleet since its formation.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Hipper's eyes flickered, "The British occupied that island in the 30s of the last century, and in the more than 80 years since then, the naval bases and fortresses on the island have been expanded and strengthened several times!" When we launched our attack in June last year, there were still more than 2,000 British troops stationed there, including nearly 400 British native soldiers, and the rest were Indian soldiers. That battle took us a week. It took six days to clear the mines alone! The docks, fortifications, barracks and other facilities on the island were almost completely destroyed during the battle, and they have not yet returned to their pre-war scale! At present, we have more than 600 garrison troops stationed on the island, all of whom have been transferred from the mainland, and have 4 280-mm fortress guns, 18 105-mm guns below 280 mm, and more than 40 77-mm anti-aircraft guns and 20-mm machine guns. A patrol fleet is stationed under the jurisdiction of 1 destroyer, 6 torpedo boats, 3 minesweepers and 5 patrol boats, of which destroyers and minesweepers are sent to support the landing operation on the Indian peninsula! ”

Chen Tian was a little surprised by Hipper's answer, because the island of Pilin on the map was only an inconspicuous dot, and it was said that the whole island was only 13 square kilometers, and it was almost the outermost stronghold of the Mediterranean Fleet.

"It's small, but the strategic location is so important!" Hipper continued, "The island divides the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the only southern passage of the Red Sea, into two separate straits, the east and west of which are only 3 kilometers wide and about 30 meters deep, becoming an important channel for the Red Sea to enter the Indian Ocean; With a width of about 28 kilometers and a depth of 323 meters, the Saijo Gorge is called the Great Gorge, and it is inconvenient to navigate because of the reefs and dangerous shoals. As long as there is not a single cannon on the island, every ship that wants to enter the Red Sea or sail into the Indian Ocean must have our consent! ”

"Well, that's true! But the era of artillery guarding the straits is coming to an end! Chentian turned around. Ask the navigator to bring the charts of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Hipper didn't say anything, but his eyes were full of curiosity.

After the navigator had laid out the charts on the table, Chen Tian pointed to the island of Pilin above and said:

"13 square kilometers, no strategic depth at all! Volcanic islands with no vegetation and no suitable hiding places! As long as the attacking fleet has a strong firepower and a longer range of naval guns than the island's artillery, or has a large number of aviation units, it is almost impossible to hold the island! ”

Hipper's eyes stared at the chart for a moment, then he looked up at Chentian again. Look at the island ahead. Chentian's truth does not seem to be difficult to understand, the German Navy defeated the British Navy through aircraft carriers and submarines, which made the world see the power of aircraft carriers and aircraft as offensive weapons, but as far as the current situation is concerned, the navies of various countries still put large-caliber fortress guns in the first place when building fortresses, and aviation units are often placed by them in reconnaissance and auxiliary defensive positions, which is largely because they can wait for the right weather for aircraft to fly during the attack, but the time for defense is not allowed to choose, Enemies from the sea may attack in the dark, wind, and rainstorms, and most wooden-skinned planes will have to stay on the ground in these weather conditions.

"Your Majesty's meaning. Is it to defend the straits with aviation? ”

Chen Tian looked up at Hipper. "Not just aviation, but aircraft, fortresses and ships for joint defense! You see, on the eastern side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is the Turkish region of Yemen. To the west is Somalia, which we took over from the French only last year, and in both places we can build air bases! As long as a sufficient number of aviation units are stationed, plus the vigilant fortresses and light ships patrolling the sea on Pilin Island, it will not be a problem to repel or even severely damage any incoming fleet! ”

Hipper neither objected nor agreed, but said: "Your Majesty seems to have a great admiration for the aviation forces!" ”

"Attention, to be exact!" Chen Tian originally thought that the German Navy would reconsider the strategic position of naval aviation from top to bottom after the Battle of the North Sea, but from the top of the Navy to the middle commanders to the junior officers and soldiers, the vast majority of people are still loyal "fans" of the giant ship artillery field, they saw the classic Battle of the North Sea, and they did not forget the scene of the main battlefleet of the German Navy repairing the British fleet at the end. Aircraft carriers, planes, and submarines have become the "super vanguards" in their eyes, but battleships are the "mainstays" that cannot be moved.

The same situation has also appeared in the navies of various countries except Japan, and the most surprising thing is that the Japanese Navy is still as wise as history to realize the leading role of the aircraft carrier weapon, and the current Japanese Navy is also divided into three factions: the traditional battleship faction, the wise aircraft carrier faction and the emerging airship faction, of which the battleship faction has the strongest influence, but the aircraft carrier faction and the airship faction are also trying to fight for more space for themselves.

After staring at Chentian for a long time, Hipper relented: "Your Majesty, as you said, it is necessary to build air bases in Somalia and Yemen. But in the next opinion, the strengthening of the fortress of Pilin Island is still not negligible! After all, there is no way for an airplane to fly in a storm and no way to deal with a submarine under the surface of the sea! ”

"No, my Admiral!" Chen Tian stretched out the index finger of his right hand and shook it slightly, "In the near future, they can do it!" ”

(Needless to say, aircraft attack submarines, piston planes with superior performance are also capable of flying and taking off and landing in storms, such as the historical Japanese Type II seaplane)

After chatting with Hipper for a full hour on the plane, the admiral's understanding of this promising weapon finally came a big step closer, and his attitude towards Chentian's plan to station aviation troops on both sides of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait changed 180 degrees, and he said that he would implement the matter as soon as possible.

After this, Chen Tian was in a cheerful mood, knowing that the 53-year-old Hipperle was the right person in his mind to command a main fleet, at least for 10 years. In his plan, each of the main fleets of the German Navy would normally have 2-4 aircraft carriers, and he naturally did not want to see such a powerful weapon as aircraft carriers reduced to a supporting role in Hipper's fleet.

Soon after sailing past the island of Perin, Chentian's fleet entered the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Peninsula was more than 1,300 nautical miles directly in front of the fleet, and with the current speed of the fleet, it would take another five days to reach the southwest coast of the Indian Peninsula.

By this time, the German convoy encountered outside the port of Hodeidah had fallen to a distance of more than 10 nautical miles behind the fleet, but fortunately a short time later, a flotilla returning from the Indian peninsula was approaching, and two of the destroyers left the original convoy and took on the task of escorting the convoy that was about to go to the Indian peninsula.

In Chentian's view, this situation reflects the lack of German overseas escort ships from one side, when most of the light ships of the German Navy suitable for ocean-going voyages are used for escort missions on Atlantic routes, the protection of German ships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean is obviously insufficient, and the luck psychology of route safety is harmful to maintaining a country's maritime trade!

Therefore, Chen Tian decided to inspect the main shipyards of the Navy after this voyage, hoping that this hidden danger can be solved as soon as possible.

However, judging from the voyage, Chentian has not even arrived halfway through this voyage. The Indian Peninsula is not the end of the voyage, after escorting the two troop carriers from Tunisia to the Indian Peninsula, the "Heinrich" will join the expeditionary support fleet to provide sea support to the landing force, and Chentian will continue to sail east on the "Elector", accompanied by the battleship "Prince William" and the supply ship "Cod", and they will eventually dock in Singapore in Southeast Asia, where they will meet with a very important person.