There is a saying that "misfortune does not go alone", and there is also a saying that "good things come in pairs". This is very apt for the Imperial Navy fleet in the Indian Ocean at this time. When things don't go well, nothing goes well, and when good luck comes, you can't stop it. The day after Tan Renhao confirmed the battle plan, the most important telegram was sent from the naval command, and the information directly related to the combined British and French fleet finally arrived.

"Are the British crazy?" Chang Jianxin was a little skeptical about the authenticity of this information, "Did the British Prime Minister take the wrong medicine and actually ordered the shelling of French ports?" ”

"I don't think the British are crazy, if we were replaced, I am afraid that not only will we have to shell, but we will also have to occupy it!" Tan Renhao was not surprised, "The British are acting to protect themselves, although it is a bit unacceptable, but it is completely reasonable. ”

"But this is outrageous, yesterday we were allies, and today we smashed the shells!" Chang Jianxin shook his head, "However, this is definitely a good thing, at least the French will not be beaten passively." ”

Tan Renhao also smiled and shook his head, he didn't think so.

Jiang Zhongmin ran in quickly, holding a new telegram in his hand. "I just received a telegram that the actions of the British were almost completely successful, only two cruisers escaped, and the British fleet did not receive much of a strong counterattack, only the seaplane platform of one battleship was shelled, the losses were not large, not even scratched skin, and the French fleet in the Mediterranean was basically finished."

"It seems that this operation of the British has been planned for a long time and is very well arranged." Tan Renhao took the telegram. quickly glanced at it, and then gave Chang Xinxin, "Judging from the current situation." There must have been problems between the Anglo-French expeditionary fleets, even if they hadn't fought. We will definitely not continue to work together. ”

"Now the most likely scenario is that the French expeditionary fleet has returned to the port of Cape Town, and no one knows whether the commander of the French expeditionary fleet will respond to the government's call to return home and surrender to the Germans. But. From the point of view of the British, even if the French expeditionary fleet did not plan to go back and surrender, the British would not let them return to the French mainland. Jiang Zhongmin explained his analysis, "The best outcome is that the French expeditionary fleet will remain in the port of Cape Town, and then the British will take over, and may continue to participate in the war, but the greatest possibility will be sent to the United States, or the ports of other countries, and wait until the war is over to determine how to deal with it." And the worst outcome is. The British and the French themselves fought first, and that was the best thing for us! ”

"Don't get your hopes up ......"

The fleet communications staff officer ran in, and Tan Renhao was only halfway through what he said.

"Commander. Newly received telegrams, sent by the command of the Navy. ”

Tan Renhao immediately took the telegram, and after reading it quickly, he immediately laughed.

"It seems. Our good fortune has finally arrived. ”

Chang Jianxin read the telegram for the second time, and then he also laughed, and finally it was Jiang Zhongmin's turn, and when he saw half of it, Jiang Zhongmin also laughed.

"The Germans really have an accident and came up with this idea!" Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, "If you want us to help them take over the surrendered French fleet, isn't this a fire for them?" ”

"The meaning of the telegram should not be understood in this way." Chang Jianxin took out a cigarette, "Judging from the content of the telegram, let's try to take over the French fleet, and if the French are disobedient, then we can use force." ”

"I feel like this telegram is giving us new information." Jiang Zhongmin's understanding was different, "Judging from the content of the telegram, the French Expeditionary Fleet should have received orders from its government, then, according to the surrender agreement signed by the French government, the French Expeditionary Fleet should surrender to the Allies, whether it is surrendered to Germany or to us, and we are only taking over these warships on behalf of Germany." In this way, regardless of whether the commander of the French expeditionary fleet would obey this order or not, the British would be suspicious! ”

"Yes, that's the point!" Tan Renhao nodded, "The French expeditionary fleet must have received the relevant order, and the British government must have known about this order, and it was known a long time ago, otherwise, the British Navy would not have enough time to organize the shelling of French ports." What if we were British? ”

All three of them pondered, and when they didn't have enough information, they could only judge the enemy's situation by speculation.

"If I were Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I would certainly try to find a peaceful solution to the problem. It would be great if we could make the warships of the French Navy available to us. "Chang Jiexin was the first to speak," as can be seen in the announcements issued by the British government, as well as in their telegrams to the commander of the French fleet. The British were trying to get the French fleet to surrender to Britain, at least to the ports of neutral countries, or other allied countries, to leave the battlefield, and to temporarily suspend combat operations in order to prevent falling into the hands of Germany, or other hostile powers. ”

"But this was a threat of force, not a suggestion, otherwise the British would not have 'convinced' the French naval fleet with a few battleships. In addition, the shelling of French ports a few hours after the announcement by the British did not give the French much time to prepare. From this point of view, the British Prime Minister had several preparations, and the final solution was to solve the problem by force, and the purpose was the same, not to let the French warships fall into the hands of the enemy. Jiang Zhongmin also went on to express his analysis and judgment, "And the British Prime Minister does not value the French warships that remain in the Mediterranean ports, but the French expeditionary fleet, which is the most powerful fleet of the French Navy." Therefore, the same order must have been sent to the commander of the British expeditionary fleet. ”

"If I were the commander of the British Expeditionary Fleet, I would have three preparations." Tan Renhao finally spoke, "I will first find a way to convince my French counterparts that as long as the commander of the French expeditionary fleet agrees to hand over the battleship to the British, the problem will be completely solved."

Of course, 'persuasion' means a lot. If given the opportunity, the commander of the French expeditionary fleet could even be detained, which would be very risky. And even the risk of war with the French expeditionary fleet. If this trick doesn't work, then a way will have to be found to detain the French expeditionary fleet. Or make it impossible to return to mainland France. There were many ways to do this, such as controlling the infrastructure of the Cape Town's port, especially the oil depots, so that the French warships could not be refueled, and controlling the ports along the route. The endurance of the French battleships was not strong in the first place, and when they returned to Cape Town, there was certainly not much fuel left, and it was simply impossible to return to the mainland without going through the halfway resupply. Finally, and most crucially, if these two tactics don't work, use fuel supplies as bait to trap the French fleet in the port of Cape Town. When the time comes, it would be better for the French fleet to give up resistance, if the French stubbornly resist to the end. Then destroy it inside the harbor! ”

Jiang Zhongmin and Chang Jianxin both nodded, this is the only way to try to solve the problem peacefully, but the problem is. Now the ports of France in the Mediterranean have been shelled by the British, and France and Britain are not countries that have been friendly for generations, and the French Navy also has a strong sense of honor, after being slapped by the British. Will the French still fall to the British? This is obviously doubtful, at least the French will not be honest. Even if the French would not risk a war with the more powerful British fleet, there would certainly be a lot of unpleasantness between the two sides!

"The only thing that is certain is that there is a high probability that the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet will still be in Cape Town!" Tan Renhao pointed to the port of Cape Town on the chart, "No matter what happens, the French expeditionary fleet will definitely go to the port of Cape Town, and in order to prevent the French fleet from escaping, or even to control the port of Cape Town, the British expeditionary fleet will definitely go to the port of Cape Town." Therefore, we should go directly south, block the British and French expeditionary fleets here, and force them to come out for a decisive battle. ”

"It's better to spread it out!" Chang Jianxin reiterated the point, "Eliminate them one by one." ”

"Yes, that's the only way to fight, and it's the best option." Tan Renhao looked at Jiang Zhongmin, "The fleet is heading south, and the task of capturing Moroni Harbor is up to you, do you need any assistance?" ”

"It's not a big problem, there is no defense base on Moroni's side."

"I'll leave you two cruisers, plus destroyers escorting the supply fleet, it shouldn't be much of a problem to capture Moroni, right?"

Jiang Zhongmin nodded, under the condition of ensuring sea supremacy, it is very easy to take down a stronghold like Moroni, which does not have many aviation troops.

"Then, the supply fleet and the landing force will leave tomorrow." Tan Renhao looked at the two of them, "The fleet set off two days late and headed south directly from the east of the island of Madagascar, without entering the Mozambique Channel.

After capturing Moroni, the Marines managed to establish several seaplane supply points on the Malagasy side, and then deployed a group of seaplanes to blockade the waters around the island of Madagascar, particularly the Strait of Mozambique. If we had acted in time, we would have reached the port of Cape Town before the question between the British and the French had been dealt with! ”

"The weather should improve in March, and if we can meet a few good weather, even if we have a direct decisive battle with the British and French expeditionary fleets, we are sure enough!" Chang recommended the new Chao Tan Renhao looked over, "As long as the First Task Force can exert its might, victory is in control." ”

"Don't forget, there are three more aircraft carriers in the British expeditionary fleet." Tan Renhao was not so careless, "Although the most difficult to deal with are those battleships and battle cruisers, but those three British fleet aircraft carriers are not easy to deal with, if we are not careful, it is very likely to bite us back." ”

"Talking about the general, I don't think you have to worry." Jiang Zhongmin spoke for Chang Jianxin at this time, "Judging from the information we have now, the combat effectiveness of the British Navy's carrier-based aviation is quite limited. More importantly, the British naval aviation did not have a lot of experience in combat, especially the lack of experience in aircraft carrier warfare. This cannot be learned from others, and the performance of the carrier-based combat aircraft of the British Navy is worse than that of the American ones, and far worse than ours. From the perspective of personnel quality, the gap is even greater. Therefore, in my opinion, the focus is still on those battleships versus battlecruisers. ”

"Zhongmin's words are not wrong, we can't pin our hopes on God, and the weather in March will not be good enough to allow aircraft carriers to fight at any time, unless it is delayed until May." Tan Renhao nodded slightly, "Therefore, we have to prepare for the worst." By the way, Zhongmin, are there a few engineering ships here? ”

"Engineering ship?" Jiang Zhongmin hesitated for a moment, "There should be two ships in Colombo Port." ”

"That's good, let these two engineering ships also set off with the supply fleet." Tan Renhao's expression also relaxed a lot, "Maybe there will be a battleship injured in the battle, bring the engineering ship, so that you can provide maintenance support for the damaged battleship as soon as possible, even if it can't be completely repaired, as long as you can maintain combat effectiveness, it will be enough." ”

"I'll arrange this right away." Jiang Zhongmin also reacted.

Because the shipping routes in the Indian Ocean are very busy, and the ship repair facilities in the port are not sufficient, the Navy has deployed a number of engineering ships here, and some of the first engineering ships have been dispatched to facilitate the maintenance of destroyers escorting the convoy, and to be responsible for rescuing some ships that have broken down on the route and cannot return to port. These engineering vessels played a huge role on the Northern Indian Ocean route.

"It would be better if there were hospital ships." Chang recommended a new point at this time.

"Yes, try to be as thoughtful as possible, anything can happen in battle, and if you can use it, bring it with you, at least we don't have a shortage of fuel." Tan Renhao also thought of this, "Zhongmin, I will trouble you to deal with these things, and after we have determined the specific combat operations, we will send the plan to you." ”

"No problem, then I'll arrange it now!"

After Jiang Zhongmin left, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue, as well as the chiefs of staff of the two task forces, as well as some senior staff officers, began to discuss specific combat operations. Of course, these plans are still based on speculation for the time being. But Tan Renhao and Chang Jianxin did not feel anything to worry about, and according to the current situation, there was nothing to doubt about the whereabouts of the combined Anglo-French fleet.