On the morning of December 10, 1987, Saigon Port, South Vietnam......

On that day, the French cruiser "Don Trecasto", which was responsible for the security of the outer port, was cruising along the Saigon outer line, and the mist that filled the sea in the early morning made the whole vision very blurred...... Suddenly, I saw two French torpedo boats fleeing back in panic, and one of the torpedo boats even had black smoke emitting from it...... Soon, the message of the flag from the torpedo boat reached the cruiser commander, Colonel Barr!

"Pirates have attacked a British merchant ship!" The French colonel, who has grown accustomed to a calm life in the South China Sea, was a little surprised by the news that the Chinese Navy has been chasing pirates throughout the South China Sea and even the Pacific region, and in recent years, pirates that once rampant throughout the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean have almost become endangered animals...... Is it a jackpot hit today?

In fact, France, the nominally fourth naval power in the world in this era, has now lost all deterrent power in the Far East, after all, the once proud Paris of the East has long been surrounded by the surrounding Greater China territory, and the only fortunate thing is that the Chinese do not seem to have the intention of forcibly seizing this French colony.

Especially after the Sino-British War, the French cabinet put down its begging "Sino-French Saigon Memorandum" to sign, the French government at least felt a little psychologically safe, of course, in the face of the continuous outbreak of indigenous uprisings in South Vietnam, the French government in the past five years, the size of the local French army from 20,000 to nearly 100,000, while also training more than 200,000 servants.

In particular, the French Far East Fleet, after the addition of the former dreadnought battleship formation "Blifyn". At least on the surface. The Far Eastern Fleet has already received a significant increase in combat power. After all, after being attacked by Qin Kai 12 years ago, Saigon Port has carried out great defensive construction, and the two fortresses standing on Nam Wan and North Island Maoer Hill have been stuffed with 24 main guns of caliber of 254mm or more, forming a key protection for the entire harbor.

Whether on land, or in the defense of ports, France is convinced. This is enough to achieve a controllable defensive circle against China, and as for the pirates that appear today, Colonel Barr obviously finds it even more amusing, and the cruiser "When Trecasto", as one of the main warships of the French Far East Fleet, has a displacement of 8142 tons......

However, in today's ever-changing naval competition, the former France has long been a little outdated, this battleship with a large tonnage, in addition to the 120m slender hull is quite modern, the main gun only has two twin 238mm, 40 times the diameter of the main gun. The number of secondary guns is strong enough, a full 12 140mm, 40 times radial rapid-fire guns...... Mighty France. In addition to the good caliber of artillery, it seems that it is difficult to find something special!

The most important power is still the outdated three-expansion steam engine, such a configuration, not to mention against the Chang'an-class battleships that the Chinese Navy has just launched, even the Ryukyu-class heavy cruisers can surpass this type of French cruiser that has just been launched for one year in terms of main guns, secondary guns and speed...... However, Colonel Barr now has nothing more than a pirate ship to deal with!

At this moment, there was intermittent machine gun sound in the distance, accompanied by intermittent small-caliber artillery roar, which made Colonel Barr a little surprised, but a few minutes later, when the chimneys of the cruiser "Trecasto" were juxtaposed in the middle part of the battleship and spewed black smoke violently, Colonel Barr had already issued a first-class combat readiness order, "Go up, let's see, where are the unsightly pirates coming from!" ”

The cruiser "Terekasto" spewed billowing black smoke and led two torpedo boats that had just eaten stray bullets to quickly insert them in the northeast direction...... The French sailors, who had not experienced a naval battle for some years, stood nervously behind the gun cages, pointing the muzzles of the black holes into the distance.

However, it is clear that in this kind of mist-filled weather, even the view from the lookout will not exceed 3,000 meters, and even if it is a small island, only a slight outline can be seen......

"Captain Barr, 60 degrees north-east, at a distance of not less than 4,000 meters...... There are moving targets approaching! A lookout officer rushed into the command room and reported loudly, and immediately, the alarm bell rang throughout the battleship.

"60 degrees to the left, fire ready!" The gunnery officers did not need Colonel Barr to give orders at all, and immediately shouted at the microphone, under the first level of combat readiness, they must have the fastest reaction speed, the command of the cannon, that is what the captain needs to master.

Colonel Barr was obviously surprised by the approach of the other party, and he could observe the other side, and the other party could obviously observe him, of course, if there were pirates on the other side, after the two small-tonnage torpedo boats had engaged, it would have been strange to go in the same direction.

"Major Pyrok, convey my order, don't fire cannons until you see the other party's flag and ship type!" Colonel Barr was obviously skeptical, after all, the area was an important shipping route for the whole of Saigon, and even on foggy days, there were still many ships passing by, especially French merchant ships.

And his caution was immediately confirmed to be necessary, after the two sides quickly approached, a rice flag revealed the identity of the other party, and when the top of the observatory sent a light signal to the other party for verification, important information was sent into the command room!

"A pirate ship has attacked the British merchant ship, but it has been intercepted by another warship that has arrived later, and the pirate ship is fleeing!"

Hearing this, the French officers on the bridge immediately became excited, it was obvious that the pirate ship was being pursued by friendly forces, and the rumbling cannon sounded without suspense to guide the direction, this was a rare opportunity...... Even Colonel Barr, who was excited at this moment, immediately gave the order to pursue...... After all, it's a rare pastime.

Sure enough, the cruiser "When Trecastor" sailed northeast for only 10 minutes, and had already spotted the flickering artillery fire in the fog in the distance, but ...... What made Colonel Barr depressed again happened, the two ships that exchanged fire, even in the distance of the French battleship, ran at a speed of more than 20 knots that made them absolutely depressed!

You must know that although the cruiser "When Trecasto" is a new cruiser that was launched in 95, this flat-deck cruiser with a displacement of more than 8,000 tons and a beautiful ship shape, although it has a cruising range of 10 knots and 8,000 nautical miles, is completely short in terms of speed, and only has a maximum speed of 19 knots.

"Shell the fleeing pirate ship ahead!" Colonel Barr, apparently unwilling to end the pursuit without firing a single shot, immediately gave the order for the bombardment, and immediately, the bow and port side of the battleship could spray heavy fire from two 238mm main guns and four 140mm secondary guns towards the front......

Whizzing shells pierced through the early morning fog and swooped down on vague targets in the distance...... However, the movement of the French was limited to this, and after a few rounds of firing, there was no real effect at all, except for making the already blurred field of vision more difficult to observe, and the target could only be seen farther and farther away in the fog.

As a result, less than 20 minutes later, when the cruiser "Trecasto" failed to understand the situation, the two battleships had already rushed into the sea off Saigon......

At this moment, Colonel Barr did not realize that there was a huge pit in front of him waiting for him to jump...... At 9:03 a.m., when the cruiser "When Trecasto" followed the target in a large circle into Saigon Bay, the morning mist had gradually dissipated in the strong sunlight, and the French's vision gradually widened......

"Captain, spot the enemy ship!"

When the alarm bell sounded, the two 238mm guns on the front of the cruiser "When the Trecasto" were already pointing at the shadow of a battleship looming outside the bay in the distance!

A dazzling ray of sunlight pierced the mist from the sky, and suddenly, a multicolored halo appeared on the wide sea, and this rare beauty immediately attracted the admiration of the French sailors, and almost at the same time, in the mist slightly torn by the sun, a red flag was on the top of the battleship that seemed to be slowly moving, which suddenly made Colonel Barr feel a chill to the bone!

Chinese destroyer ...... What suddenly appeared in front of him was a naval destroyer flying the Chinese flag, and now, this destroyer is floating in Saigon Bay very strangely!

"Alert! The goal is right ahead! "The gunnery officer, Major Perroko, began his duty very quickly!

My God...... What the hell is going on...... On the cruiser, which was approaching at high speed, every officer, including Colonel Barr himself, uttered the same exclamation at the same time!

The mist shrouded in the sea actually concealed too much of the truth, and just as the cruiser "When the Trecasto" was cautiously preparing to approach the Chinese destroyer, no one noticed that a white line flashed out among the waves, and not far away, a periscope quickly sank from the sea level to the bottom of the sea!

In less than one minute, Colonel Barr experienced a huge change that he could not understand, the Chinese destroyer that had appeared in the bay in a very strange way, suddenly exploded violently in front of him, and the Chinese destroyer immediately capsized in Saigon Bay in the explosion.

Conspiracy...... For a moment, Colonel Barr's mind was filled with these two words that made him feel terrifying! (To be continued......)