The fleet arrived at Colombo on the morning of the 12th, and Jiang Zhongmin and several officers from the theater command came to the dock to greet Tan Renhao, Chang Jianxin and others. When the other warships were still docking, Tan Renhao and the others followed Jiang Zhongmin to the theater headquarters temporarily set up in Colombo.

The Port of Colombo is the most important military port of the Imperial Navy in the Indian Ocean, and it is also one of the largest ports in the Indian Ocean. If the Lion City was the core military fortress of the empire in the South Seas, then Colombo was the core fortress of the empire in the Indian Ocean region. It is a large port with a history of more than 1,000 years and has been used by the Imperial Navy for hundreds of years. There are five piers with a length of more than 2,000 meters, which can support at least 20 large warships. In addition, there are several deep-water anchorages, and the entire port can accommodate hundreds of warships at the same time, so to speak, this is the home port of the Imperial Navy in the Indian Ocean!

"Did you get any news on the way?"

"What's the news?" Tan Renhao followed Jiang Zhongmin into the office, and Chang Jianxin and others also followed.

"I received news from the command yesterday that France had officially announced its surrender and had signed a surrender agreement with us in Paris on the 8th.

Jiang Zhongmin invited everyone to sit down, "What do you want to drink?" There was tea, coffee, and beer. ”

"Whatever." Tan Renhao noticed that Jiang Zhongmin's expression was a little haggard, "It should be carried out according to the plan agreed before, so is the French government already transferring military command to Germany?" ”

Judging from the words of the principal, these tasks are being carried out one after another, after all, there are still a lot of things to deal with. Even if the French government wanted to hand over military command immediately, they would not be able to. ”

Jiang Zhongmin made a few cups of tea and took out a few bottles of beer from the cupboard. "The handover will last several months. And the German government should also know the importance of military command, and they should first ask the French government to hand over military command. ”

"Is there any update on the French expeditionary fleet?" Chang Zhixin immediately asked the key question.

Jiang Zhongmin shrugged his shoulders. He handed over the beer. "We also want to know the latest developments of the enemy, but since our troops withdrew from Diego Garcia Island three days ago, there has been no news about it."

"So do we have any relevant reconnaissance arrangements now?" Tan Renhao took the teacup handed by Jiang Zhongmin.

"I sent out all the destroyers and reconnaissance planes that could be dispatched." Jiang Zhongmin walked to the chart on the wall, "Now." We have about 20 destroyers and small ships operating on this side of the Persian Sea, and more than 40 long-range reconnaissance planes on search missions. And on the Maldives side, we have more than a dozen small ships, as well as more than 30 reconnaissance aircraft. I have already submitted a reconnaissance request to the Navy Command, and the long-range reconnaissance planes that have been supplemented to us will arrive one after another in the next few days, while submarines and small ships will arrive one after another in the middle of the day. But the problem is that our reconnaissance network is too sparse, and so far we have not gained anything. ”

"Did you intercept the radio activity of the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet?" Tan Renhao also walked over.

"The other day, our radio monitoring station on the coast of East Africa intercepted several signals. It was determined that it was sent by the warships of the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet, but the signal strength was too weak to determine its approximate location. And no radio signals were received in the past two days. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, it is impossible for the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet to maintain radio silence after the defeat of France, then this can only indicate one point, that is, this fleet is far enough away from the east coast of Africa. There are no activities in the coastal waters.

"So we're in Cape Town, did the spy on Moroni's side send back a message?"

Chang Jianxin looked at Jiang Zhongmin.

"Now we have only contacted a small number of remaining spies, the intelligence network has not been fully restored, and the information received is not of much significance. However, the intelligence services are already trying to find a way to restore the local spy network in these locations, and if it goes well, then the news will come back in the near future. ”

"Perhaps, the British and the French are now speculating about our movements, and perhaps the British and the French are already at odds. The most important thing now is to find out the whereabouts of the enemy. Tan Renhao returned to the sofa and sat down, "The fleet will complete the supply as soon as possible, and when there is new news, it will set off immediately." And this time we are likely to be going on a long run, so the logistics support ships should be prepared in advance. ”

"Long distance?" Jiang Zhongmin was a little surprised.

"It depends on what the situation is." Tan Renhao nodded at Jiang Zhongmin, and then said to Chang Jianxin, "Old Chang, you go and contact the port command and ask them to replenish the battleship as soon as possible." In addition, you help me inform Zheng Guanhua so that he does not relax the work of training the fleet. ”

"I'd better go, I'm more familiar with the people here."

Chang Jianxin stood up before Jiang Zhongmin. "It's okay, I'll just get in touch, I'll have to deal with the people here sooner or later."

Jiang Zhongmin also knew that Tan Renhao had sent Chang Zhixin away to talk to him about the defeat of the Fifth Task Force, and his expression darkened. After returning to Colombo, Kang Jong-min persevered and tried to forget about his failures. When he met Tan Renhao, he didn't think about the gap between himself and Tan Renhao, all he thought about was how to explain the defeat of the Fifth Task Force. In addition, Jiang Zhongmin had already received a telegram from the Navy Command, saying that Tan Renhao was the commander-in-chief of the operation, and Chang Jianxin was the deputy commander-in-chief, and Jiang Zhongmin's task was to assist the First Task Force and the Third Task Force in defeating the enemy. This arrangement is reasonable, but Jiang Zhongmin is always a little puzzled.

"After receiving the news, the principal let us go." Tan Renhao fully knew Jiang Zhongmin's feelings at this time, "When I was in the Lion City, I had been waiting for the battle report from the Navy Headquarters, but I never waited. Zhongmin, I have only seen the general process of the battle, although I don't know much about the situation at that time. But as far as I can see, you've done your best. ”

"But that's still not enough." Jiang Zhongmin smiled bitterly, "Since the principal has asked me to be responsible for assisting you. I'll do the essential work, if anything. You can always come to me. ”

Tan Renhao didn't know what to say, Jiang Zhongmin's mood was a little unstable, but he couldn't be blamed for it, no one could be very calm at this time.

"Talking about the general, if nothing else......"

"Zhongmin. There are some things that I probably shouldn't say now, but I feel compelled to say them. Tan Renhao looked at Jiang Zhongmin, "The responsibility for the failure of the Fifth Task Force is not on you, and the principal said the same." You don't need to carry the baggage of your thoughts, no one will blame you! ”

Jiang Zhongmin sneered, and then smiled bitterly.

"I've always tried to look at this from your point of view, and I know that this failure has hit you hard, but everyone has failed, and everyone has had setbacks. As a classmate. As friends, we all want you to cheer up. Tan Renhao hesitated, "I'm not sympathizing with you." Because I know that you don't need anyone's sympathy, what you need is support and understanding.

Before I came, I talked to the principal. There was also a brief talk from the chief of staff, and they thought so too. Now it's not just you, it's all the officers and men of Task Force 5 and the South Atlantic Fleet who need support and encouragement. Perhaps, I am not saying this as encouragement, but I just want to say that I have always regarded you as a friend and will give you the greatest support. ”

Jiang Zhongmin nodded slightly, his expression was a little more normal, but it was obvious that he still hadn't been able to understand the meaning of Tan Renhao's words.

"If it weren't for the suddenness of the incident and the urgency of the situation, the principal wouldn't have let me come over." Tan Renhao's words gradually calmed down, "Next month, we will have six aircraft carriers in service, and according to the distribution plan determined by the principal, there will be at least three more aircraft carriers, originally, these aircraft carriers will be used to strengthen the Fifth Task Force, or rebuild the Fifth Task Force." In addition, the third batch of battleships has already entered service, and according to the plan, this batch of battleships should also be replenished to the South Atlantic Fleet. However, no one expected the tide of battle to turn so quickly. ”

"It's all my fault, if we hadn't been in a hurry at that time, we wouldn't have lost so quickly." Jiang Zhongmin raised his head, "Renhao, I understand what you mean, but someone has to be responsible." ”

"You should also know the current command system, if you want to be responsible, it will not be your turn, and the principal will not let others carry the blame." Tan Renhao's tone was much more serious. "Now, the most important thing is to get rid of the enemy, and as for accountability, it's not my purview, and it's not the principal's purview."

Jiang Zhongmin sighed. "I will fully cooperate with you and Chang Recommend."

"I want to know one thing, that is, how was Task Force 5 defeated?" Tan Renhao stared at Jiang Zhongmin, waiting for Jiang Zhongmin's reply.

Jiang Zhongmin's expression became painful, he had to recall what he had been avoiding, and he also had to go through this test, if he didn't even dare to look back on his failures, then he would definitely not be able to become an excellent commander. After being silent for a while, Jiang Zhongmin told the story of the Fifth Task Force.

The reconnaissance plane sent back the report less than ten minutes after takeoff, and at that time Jiang Zhongmin simply could not believe that the guns of the enemy battleship had been aimed at him. He immediately ordered the fleet to turn around, but the problem was that at this time the Fifth Task Force was already less than 20 nautical miles away from the enemy fleet, and it was on the edge of the storm zone, and the "Qiandao Lake" aircraft carrier had just released its reconnaissance plane, and it had not yet returned to its course. The fleet immediately fell into chaos, although Jiang Zhongmin tried his best to maintain the formation of the fleet, but at this time, he couldn't control the queue at all.

Fifteen minutes later, the first row of shells came from 12 nautical miles away, attacking the fleet with the two fastest Richelieu-class battleships, followed by two Dunkirk-class battleships, the distance between the two sides was rapidly decreasing, and the fifth task force was becoming more and more dangerous.

The first to be attacked were two small carriers, which were much less flexible to turn on the edge of the storm zone, and their power systems were already out of order to reach the top speed of 31 knots. At this time, the Fifth Task Force had already dispersed, and Jiang Zhongmin had to lead the "Qiandao Lake" aircraft carrier battle group to retreat first, and it was definitely the most important thing to keep the fleet's aircraft carriers. But the problem is that the power system of this aircraft carrier has not been repaired for more than three months, and the officers and men on the battleship are not yet fully familiar with the aircraft carrier!

At this critical moment, the destroyers escorting the two small aircraft carriers launched a suicidal counterattack, trying to buy time for the aircraft carriers to escape, but the French fleet also had cruisers and destroyers, and the speed of the four French battleships was not slow, and all the main guns were in the bow direction, which could concentrate all the artillery fire on the enemy ships in front of the enemy during the pursuit, which could be regarded as an advantage.

The two small aircraft carriers lasted only two hours before finally losing contact with Jiang Zhongmin. And Jiang Zhongmin judged that these two small aircraft carriers should have been sunk by cruisers or destroyers, because those four battleships had been following the ass of the "Qiandao Lake" and had not slowed down at all! The cruisers escorting the two small aircraft carriers also followed the "Qiandao Lake" aircraft carrier battle group at this time.

Throughout the battle, Jiang Zhongmin was almost constantly running for his life. Halfway through, he repeatedly thought of forcing the bombers on the aircraft carrier to take off, but the problem was that in order to avoid the shells from the enemy ships, the aircraft carrier had to turn frequently, and in this case, it was impossible to let the bombers take off! By the afternoon, the "Qiandao Lake" had received a single shell, the flight deck had been damaged, although the speed of the aircraft carrier had not decreased, but it had lost part of its aviation combat capability, and a third of the bombers stored in the hangar had been blown up.

Before evening, the French retreated, perhaps the French did not know that the "Qiandao Lake" no longer had much aviation strike capabilities, so after the distance between the two sides gradually widened, the French took the initiative to withdraw from the battle. And by this time the fleet had already left the storm zone. During the night, Jiang Zhongmin arranged for several destroyers to return to the sea area where the battle was fought during the day, and was responsible for searching for people who had fallen into the water, while he led the aircraft carrier battle group back to Colombo. Halfway through, he received news of the fall of the port of Cape Town.

The battle was not fierce, it was the second time in a naval battle that an aircraft carrier was sunk by a battleship, and of course, for Task Force 5, it was a catastrophe!