The sun is slanting westward, and the remnant sun is like blood.

Brisbane in Moreton Bay burned in flames for three days and three nights, and the British Navy's supply base here was once again attacked by the Imperial Chinese Navy, losing more than 100,000 tons of supplies, worth tens of millions of pounds.

Matt looked at the black smoke billowing over Brisbane with a pale face, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.

I was so angry, but I didn't squirt it out this time!

If no effective countermeasures are taken, the entire Royal Navy of the British Empire will be dragged alive, because recently Matt has clearly felt that the coal supply time is getting longer and longer, because hundreds of high-quality coal warehouses that were originally stored have been destroyed, and the coal supplied to the British Navy recently has been transported from the interior and is of much worse quality.

As we all know, the Navy is a bottomless pit that burns money, and the reason why it burns money is because the coal-fired boilers of battleships must use high-quality coal, and if it is replaced by ordinary coal, the combustion value is low, which has a great impact on the speed.

In this era, limited by the industrial mining capacity of coal, the price of coal is very high, and ordinary people cannot afford it, while the amount of high-quality coal mining is even less, and the price is more expensive, so the warships that cause modern steam power have become money-burning holes.

Therefore, when Matt saw hundreds of high-quality coal warehouses along the coast of Australia destroyed and burned to ashes, his mood can be imagined, and it is no wonder that he is not angry and vomits blood.

Not only the coal supply gave the problem, the ammunition supply was also cut off, before the British Empire in order to prepare for the war against China, with Australia as a bridgehead and transit point, a large number of weapons and ammunition in the past five years, now by the Chinese Imperial Navy repeated sneak attacks, the loss of more than eighty percent, the remaining ammunition and materials are still because of the inland storage and survived, but the total amount is less than a base.

"Can't put it off any longer!" After a long time, Ma Ji sighed and said, it will be even more unfavorable if it drags on any longer.

"Your Excellency, Commander, have you made up your mind to divide your troops?" Adjutant Thomas asked.

If you want to force the Chinese Imperial Navy to fight a decisive battle, you can only adopt the tactics of interception in front and back. Because the warships of the Imperial Chinese Navy were generally faster than those of similar British warships, they could not catch up without interception.

If you want to intercept the front and rear, you will divide the troops, but the problem also comes, how to divide the troops so that you can not only block the Chinese Imperial Navy, but also not be eaten by the other side, and achieve the goal of the fleet Armageddon.

"It's safest to split the fleet in two!"

"But in this way, any fleet that is separated is no match for the Chinese Imperial Fleet, you know, the Chinese Imperial Navy's warships are very advanced. In particular, the latest Hsiungfeng-class battleships and Zhongning-class armored cruisers, judging from my personal judgment and analysis, their armor is by no means wrought iron, but the hardest steel plate, and in the event of an engagement, we will suffer a big loss if we do not have a numerical advantage. ”

Matt was an excellent admiral of the British Navy, and from the previous naval battles of Guam, as well as the survivors of British warships and merchant ships that had recently been attacked by the Imperial Chinese Navy, he had already judged why the new warships of the Imperial Chinese Navy were so powerful. It is the steel plate used in the armor instead of the traditional wrought iron.

Wrought iron is known to have low density and low strength, even if it is not penetrated by armor-piercing shells. will also explode a "cylinder flower". However, when the armor-piercing shell of the British ship hit the armor of the Hsiungfeng-class battleship of the Imperial Chinese Navy, it only dug a hole, which shows that the armor density is very large and the strength is very high. Only steel plates can do it.

Matt was surprised that the Imperial Chinese Navy had such a strong financial and industrial strength to build warships from steel plates, and also realized that when the same number of capital ships were engaged, the British Imperial Navy would definitely not be able to defeat the Imperial Chinese Navy. So if Matt wants to win, he can only rely on numbers.

And the division of troops is to weaken the numerical superiority, which is dangerous, and Matt has to be cautious.

Thomas then suggested: "Then it can only be divided into two or eight, 20% of the warships will be used to intercept the Chinese Imperial fleet, and the remaining 80% of the warships will be used for the decisive battle." The fleet used for interception must be prepared for total annihilation, can you make such a sacrifice? ”

The British are selfish and afraid of death, so Thomas must remind Matt that there is no fleet that is not afraid of death, and he does not want to stop the fleet of the Chinese Empire.

Matt fell into deep thought, sighed for a long time, and said: "I will be responsible for interception, and you will command the main fleet, I hope you can succeed!" ”

Yes!

Tom exclaimed, looking at Matt in disbelief.

"Your Excellency, why are you doing this? How can you do it without you being in charge? Thomas said this, but in his heart he jumped up with joy, thinking that after so many years as a deputy, he finally had the opportunity to command the entire Royal Navy of the British Empire. Hopefully, Admiral Matt will die when he completes his mission, and then Toms will become the next commander of the Navy.

"It doesn't matter, only I personally lead the team to boost the morale of the Imperial Navy, and it is difficult for others to hold down the formation." Matt narrowed his eyes, naturally noticing Toms' expression and guessing what the other party was thinking. But he made this decision anyway, not for anything else, for himself, but also for the sake of the British Empire.

As long as the Chinese Imperial Navy is defeated, it will bring the British Empire a stable situation of sea power for decades, as the naval commander of the British Empire, Matt is obliged to sacrifice himself to do all this, this is probably the last thing he will do for his homeland, he can imagine how terrifying and crazy the other side will be attacked when he stops the Chinese Imperial Navy.

"It's decided!"

Matt then convened a naval meeting, called hundreds of captains, and assigned combat missions.

Despite the opposition of many people, Matt finally insisted on going his own way, and he took ten old ironclads, twenty cruisers, twenty frigates, as well as a water radium boat group and a submarine group, and it was clear that Matt was ready to break the boat.

Soon, the British Navy was ready for battle and sent a large number of reconnaissance ships to search for news of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

At the same time, the Imperial Chinese Navy also sent a large number of reconnaissance ships to investigate the movements of the main fleet of the British Navy, and they were also worried about accidents, after all, the British Navy had a large number of warships, and there were submarines and fish and radium boats, so it was better to be careful.

Before the advent of dreadnought battleships, the speed of capital ships was generally not as fast as that of fish and radium boats, and once it suddenly encountered an attack by a group of fish and radium boats at close range, it was difficult to avoid, as long as one fish and radium was enough to severely damage a 10,000-ton capital ship or even sink it, so the Chinese Imperial Navy was also very careful. The capital ship is protected by a large number of cruisers and frigates at all times.

The waters around the Solomon Islands, with its many islands, reefs and shoals, and complex water ripples, were unfamiliar to the nascent Imperial Chinese Navy.

Chen Shaoyi has in his hand a chart of the waters near the Solomon Islands, which has been obtained from the British military by the intelligence staff of the Chinese Empire for many years, and only the British Navy in the world has the ability to draw a chart of the waters of the Solomon Islands.

In the era when there were no satellites and sonar, the value of a sea area was immeasurable, and the British Empire ruled the world's oceans for hundreds of years, on what basis? One of the important reasons is the unavailability of other countries.

The British military is not stupid either. The custody of nautical charts is very tight, and there is a complete set of systems and procedures. Every 20 years, the British military will update the military charts, and most of the updated content is the charts that have been surveyed and mapped by other countries, and the British military will not mark the charts that have not been surveyed and mapped by other countries, but have been kept secretly, and only after the outbreak of war will the charts accurately surveyed and mapped in the sea area in recent years be handed over to the Supreme Commander of the British Navy. Help him win the naval battle.

The intelligence officers of the Chinese Empire did obtain many charts from the British military, including the charts of the waters of the Solomon Islands, which were indeed true, and the intelligence officers of the Chinese Empire did not pay the price and sacrifice in vain. However, it is only a nautical chart surveyed by the British military 20 years ago, and many islands, shoals, reefs, and secret waterways that have been newly discovered in recent years are not marked on them.

Admiral Matt, of course, had in his possession the only chart of the waters of the Solomon Islands, which was very detailed, and was the latest chart of the British military's New Britain Squadron after a long period of time last year.

The Imperial Chinese Navy was able to hide in the waters of the Solomon Islands so many times without being discovered by the British Navy. Matt guessed that the Imperial Chinese Navy had a very detailed chart of the Solomon Islands, so Matt compared the old and new versions of the chart in his possession, and each time he sent a British warship to reconnoitre. He would draw a nautical chart to constantly lock in and narrow the scope of the activities and lines of action of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

"If I were Chen Shaoyi, where would I hide so that I wouldn't be discovered?"

"If I were Chen Shaoyi, which route would I choose to quickly get rid of the enemy and win the time difference, so that I have time to attack Guam or Australia?"

Matt continued to investigate, as the admiral of the British Empire, his ability is quite strong, and the experience accumulated over the years is far from being comparable to Chen Shaoyi, after all, the Chinese Imperial Navy is too young, they are all a group of hot-blooded young people, and the knowledge they master is obtained from the Naval Academy, and the experience is obviously slightly better than Matt.

"Report, three hours ago, a reconnaissance cruiser of the Imperial Chinese Navy was spotted in Vila Bay!"

"Sure enough, it's here!" Matt finally smiled, and after further narrowing down the possible range of activities of the Imperial Chinese Navy, he finally spotted the other party.

"Immediately take back all the reconnaissance ships, inform Vice Admiral Tom, and let him lead the fleet from the north side of New George Island into Vila Bay, and if it encounters the reconnaissance ships of the Imperial Chinese Navy, send a deportation detachment to follow them, and the main fleet will immediately change to the Munda Strait, and make a quick detour to the South Solomon Sea of Taipared Island on the south side of the Blanche Waterway, and change to the middle of the Lenwa Island Waterway. If you don't meet a reconnaissance ship from the Imperial Chinese Navy, you will go straight ahead and bypass Colomban until you encounter a reconnaissance ship from the Imperial Chinese Navy, and if you never meet the other side, you will go directly to the eastern waters of the Blanche Waterway to join me. ”

"Tell him that I will lead the fleet to block the east side of the Blanche Waterway, he only has two hours, and if he doesn't make it, the plan will fail."

Matt calculated all the possibilities and made the final decision on whether or not he would succeed in this move.

At the same time, the main fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy was resting in Naura Bay, southwest of New George Island, a bay devoid of human activity and a hiding place chosen by Chen Shaoyi.

The reason why it is hiding here is to wait for the main fleet of the British Navy to leave, and only the farther away the two sides are, can there be enough time difference, and Chen Shaoyi can take advantage of this time difference to either attack Guam or Australia. Otherwise, if the fleets of the two sides are too close and the time difference is too short, it will be too dangerous to act, and it will be easy to be dumpled by the main force of the British Navy.

Chen Shaoyi had already tasted the sweetness of guerrilla warfare, and Solomon's version of the classic tactic of crossing the Chishui River made the British fleet exhausted, and Chen Shaoyi believed that as long as he insisted on fighting guerrilla warfare for another half a month. Destroy a few coastal cities in Australia and destroy all the supply depots of the British Navy, then he will win, and then he will not have to fight the British Navy, they will also lose their combat effectiveness due to insufficient supplies.

The art of war is "to fight for the army, then to attack the enemy, then to attack the army, and then to attack the city", Chen Shaoyi chose the best tactics, and he has already stepped into the threshold of the top military strategist with one foot.

Report. The 3rd reconnaissance patrol fleet spotted the main group of the British fleet in Vila Bay five hours ago! ”

Vila Bay?

Chen Shaoyi was stunned, because Vila Bay was less than two hundred nautical miles away from Naura Bay, where he was.

Was it discovered by Matt?

Then I thought about it again, that Matt is also a British admiral, and after so long, he should have found out by now.

Looks like we're going to have to change places!

Chen Shaoyi stared at the charts, and soon decided to take the Blanche Waterway, enter the South Solomon Sea from Taipared Island, and then circle with the British Navy, and find a new hiding place by the way.

According to Chen Shaoyi's estimate. It took at least 10 hours for the main fleet of the British Navy to search for the Bay of Naura, and the reconnaissance and patrol fleet of the British Navy discovered the other side five hours ago, so it means that the main force of the British fleet is now very close to the Bay of Naura.

Chen Shaoyi is well aware that the Blanche Waterway is a bay sandwiched between New George Island and Lenwa Island. There are only two exits from the north and south. If the British main fleet came in from the north, it was behind the Imperial Chinese Navy, and the average speed of British battleships was slow, so it could not catch up. No need to worry. If you don't come in from the north entrance, but go south to the Solomon Sea, then it will take longer. Because Lenwa Island is a long arched island outward, the British Navy needs to go around half a circle to reach the southern exit of the Blanche Waterway to block the departure of the Imperial Chinese Navy, according to the speed and distance comparison between the two sides, there is at least a time difference of at least four hours, at that time the Imperial Chinese Navy has already entered the vast South Solomon Sea, so Chen Shaoyi is not worried about being surrounded by the main force of the British Navy.

So Chen Shaoyi ordered the whole fleet to set sail immediately, leave Naura Bay, and go straight to the Blanche waterway, although he was not worried about being blocked by the main force of the British navy, but he was careful and it was better to leave early.

However, what Chen Shaoyi didn't know was that the nautical chart in his hand was drawn by the British 20 years ago, and the map of Lenwa Island drawn on it was a banana-shaped island, and on the latest nautical chart in the hands of the British Navy, Lenwa Island is actually two islands, namely Lenwa Island and Taipared Island, and there is a waterway between the two islands, which was only discovered by the British Navy three years ago and was not marked on the old map. If the main force of the British Navy came in this waterway, the distance and time would be cut in half.

Of course, even if the time is cut by half, it still can't catch up with the Imperial Chinese Navy.

Here's the problem, Matt has already led the fleet to block the southern exit of the waterway, he will block the Imperial Chinese Navy in the Blanche Waterway for at least two hours, once Matt succeeds, then the Imperial Chinese Navy will be surrounded by the main British naval force rushing from the rear, and will be forced to have a fleet decisive battle.

Of course, there is also the question, that is, when Chen Shaoyi finds that there is a British fleet in front of him to intercept him, will he launch an attack or choose to turn around and leave? If Chen Shaoyi chooses to attack, then he will fall into Matt's trap, and if Chen Shaoyi turns around and leaves, then Matt's careful plan will be in vain.

But Matt is an old fox, as an admiral of the British Empire, he has forty years of more experience in maritime combat than Chen Shaoyi, and he has already calculated that Chen Shaoyi will attack. Because Matt is acting as a decoy in this British fleet, and his fleet only has ten old-fashioned ironclads and some old-fashioned cruisers and frigates, such a big temptation, Chen Shaoyi will definitely take the bait when he is young and vigorous.

The night passed like this, and by dawn, the forward reconnaissance fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy spotted Matt's decoy fleet.

After receiving the report, Chen Shaoyi was taken aback, thinking that his intelligence was wrong, and the main force of the British Navy was not behind him, but blocked in front.

Chen Shaoyi was about to order a U-turn and evacuation to avoid a decisive battle with the main force of the British Navy, at least for a short time, he did not have such an idea, and continuing to fight guerrilla warfare was a foolproof strategy to win, so there was no need to risk a decisive battle.

However, just as Chen Shaoyi was about to give the order to turn around and leave, a report came again.

"Report, it's not the main force of the British fleet on the other side!"

"What? Did you see it clearly? Chen Shaoyi suddenly asked rhetorically.

"See clearly, they are not the main fleet, the capital ships are only ten old ironclads, and the rest are old cruisers and frigates."

Chen Shaoyi frowned suddenly, he hesitated, thinking about why this was, why did the enemy divide his troops? Could it be the enemy's danger?

"Report, discover Matt's flag ship!"

"What?" Before Chen Shaoyi had time to think deeply, he was aroused by this sentence.

He quickly came to the bridge and used a high-powered telescope to observe the so-called Mater Flag.

"Sure enough, it's him!" Chen Shaoyi instantly found that Matt was on the deck, and compared the photos on Matt's information in his hand, Chen Shaoyi was sure that it was Matt.

"Why is this Matt here?"

Without waiting for Chen Shaoyi to think about it, he heard his subordinates shouting again: "Look, the British fleet has turned around, they want to run!" ”

"Want to run? It's not that easy! ”

Chen Shaoyi suddenly thought that Matt's appearance here was just a coincidence, and he should have searched for the hiding place of the Chinese Imperial Navy nearby, and encountered it unexpectedly.

At this moment, the main fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy occupies an overwhelming advantage in quantity and quality, Chen Shaoyi is confident that he will fight quickly and eat this British fleet, not to mention that Matt, the commander-in-chief of the British Navy, is still here, and he must not let it go.

"Pass my orders and get ready to fight!" (To be continued.) )