Clear sky, dazzling sun, tropical seas,.

This sea area is known as the "Gulf of Aden".

The Gulf of Aden is located in a corner of the northwest of the Indian Ocean, connecting the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, the northern part of the Gulf is the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, next to the Protectorate of Aden, where the British sphere of influence is, and the southern part of the Gulf is the "Horn of Africa" Somalia, the northern part of Somalia is the southern edge of the Gulf of Aden, and this is also the British sphere of influence.

There is no doubt that the current Gulf of Aden is the "pond" of Britain, in fact, some officers of the British Royal Navy call the Gulf of Aden the "Pond of Aden", and controlling the Gulf of Aden is equivalent to controlling the Red Sea traffic, and controlling the Red Sea traffic is equivalent to controlling the Suez Canal, and also controlling the sea traffic between the East and the West.

Although Britain now controls the Suez Canal, in the eyes of the British government, this is far from enough, and in order to truly grasp the initiative of global strategy, the Gulf of Aden must also be controlled by Britain.

Since the advent of the steam age of naval technology, the European powers have become more fierce in the struggle for control of the Gulf of Aden, with the wave of African partition, Britain "logically" controlled the Gulf of Aden, and France also followed, controlling a small territory at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden, and even the rising star of Europe, Italy, has unceremoniously divided the interests of eastern and southern Somalia, these powers compete to control this region for only one purpose, that is, to eventually control the maritime traffic between the east and the west.

The more in the wartime, the more the British government attaches importance to the protection of the Gulf of Aden, since China and Britain began the war because of the liberation of Asia, the maritime traffic in the Gulf of Aden has immediately become a matter of great concern to both warring parties, China's ocean-going attack submarines have traveled long distances, lurking in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, unscrupulously ambushing any ships flying the British flag, in order to counter the Chinese Navy submarine force, the British Royal Navy has also rapidly increased the maritime power in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, It not only mobilized the fleet in the Far East to the Gulf of Aden, but also transferred elite troops from the Mediterranean Fleet to the Gulf of Aden to deter the Chinese Navy.

Now, in the scorching waters of the Gulf of Aden, there is a huge fleet sailing, all ships are flying the British flag, this fleet is the British Royal Navy's "Asian Fleet", this is a newly formed fleet, commanded by Admiral Cunningham, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, the fleet includes not only battleships and battle cruisers, but also two aircraft carriers, the strength is not insignificant, and the momentum is fierce, unstoppable.

All the ships of the fleet were painted with wartime camouflage, and sailed arrogantly in a column to the northeast, and the billowing black smoke from the chimneys of the warships covered the sky and the sun, and from a distance, it was murderous.

Standing on the bridge of the aircraft carrier "Brilliant", Admiral Cunningham of the Royal Navy is holding his military binoculars looking out into the northern seas, since the defeat in the Indian Ocean naval battle, the morale of the British Navy is very problematic, although the British government is trying to boost the morale of the Navy by removing the commander of the Indian Ocean Squadron, but there is still not much confidence in victory in the fleet, Mr. Admiral is worried, In fact, this Asian fleet is composed of ships of the Mediterranean Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet, and the shadow of the defeat in the Indian Ocean naval battle always hangs over the hearts of the officers and men of the fleet.

"Mr. Admiral, Admiralty telegram."

An adjutant walked up behind Admiral Cunningham and handed Mr. Admiral a telegram he had just received from home.

Looking at the contents of the telegram, Cunningham's brows furrowed.

"Why is it so different from yesterday's intelligence? Where exactly is the Chinese fleet? ”

Cunningham muttered to himself, but it seemed to the adjutant that Mr. Admiral was asking him, and the adjutant immediately offered his opinion.

"I think the Chinese fleet is now in the waters south of Socotra and most likely cruising in the waters south of the Gulf of Aden."

"Is that so? Lieutenant Colonel, do you have a well-founded analysis or an unfounded speculation? ”

Cunningham turned his head and glanced at the lieutenant colonel.

"It's my personal speculation." The lieutenant colonel was a little weak-hearted, and his voice trembled a little.

"Speculation is a bad habit, especially for officers."

Cunningham seriously criticized the adjutant's irresponsible speculation, then turned back and continued to look through the telescope into the northern seas, but still could not see anything, the sea was empty, and there were not even fishing boats.

It is very strange indeed, because just yesterday, according to the report of the British garrison on Socotra, a large Chinese naval fleet passed by the southern waters of the island, and judging by the course, this Chinese naval fleet seems to be intending to sail towards northern Somalia.

Socotra Island is located at the junction of the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, hanging on the ocean, 400 kilometers away from the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the northeast, and only more than 300 kilometers away from the southwest "Horn of Africa" Somalia, the island area is not large, less than 1,000 square kilometers, but the geographical location is very important, this island actually acts as an outpost in the Gulf of Aden, since the Sino-British war, the British Army has strengthened the strength of the island, there is also an air force reconnaissance unit stationed, And the traces of the Chinese fleet were discovered by reconnaissance aircraft of the Air Force.

The intelligence from Socotra Island has aroused a high degree of vigilance on the part of the British Admiralty and the British Government, and the British Government is very worried that the Chinese fleet may be going to attack the British occupation of Somalia, and judging from the performance of the Malayan Campaign, the Chinese Navy has a very good naval aviation force, and the amphibious landing capability is very strong, and no one dares to guarantee that the Chinese fleet will not come to the British territory of Somalia to carry out landing operations, according to the report of the air force pilots, there are some large landing ships in the Chinese fleet, According to the analysis of public reports in Chinese newspapers, the large landing ship codenamed "Liyu" is a kind of tank landing ship that can load tanks for beach-rushing landing, and its beach-rushing does not need a wharf, and it can be washed directly onto the coastal beach, and there are many sandy beaches suitable for beach-rushing and landing on the northern coast of Somalia.

To make matters worse, Italy, which occupies eastern and southern parts of Somalia, is increasingly hostile to Britain, and if Chinese troops land in northern Somalia, Italy will certainly be happy to see the collapse of British power in Somalia.

Although in the eyes of some British admirals, the Chinese naval fleet rushed thousands of miles to the "Horn of Africa" to carry out a landing operation, and this speculation was really a bit "too imaginative", but the British Prime Minister did not see it that way, perhaps because he was suspicious of the outstanding performance of the Chinese army in the Malayan Campaign and the Burma Campaign. With this mysterious Chinese fleet as the primary combat target, it sought an opportunity in the Gulf of Aden to seek a decisive battle at sea to prevent the Chinese fleet from landing in the Gulf of Aden.

According to the original order that Admiral Cunningham received in Malta, his original mission was to lead the Asian fleet to Australia and join the Commonwealth fleet from New Zealand and South America, but now he had to change the mission objectives and circle the Gulf of Aden.

If the intelligence on Socotra Island is accurate, then the Chinese fleet should have appeared in the waters of the Gulf of Aden by now, but since the morning, the aircraft carriers and shore-based aviation units of the British fleet have successively sent many reconnaissance planes and fighters to various sea areas to conduct reconnaissance, but until now there is still no trace of the Chinese fleet.

This situation made Admiral Cunningham very worried, if the Chinese military planned to carry out a landing operation in the Gulf of Aden, their targets could only be two places, one in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula in the north of the Gulf of Aden, and the other in British Somalia in the south of the Gulf of Aden.

This question may now have a preliminary answer, just now from the British Admiralty, a new situation caused Cunningham great concern, according to the content of that telegram, just today at noon, a British Muscat air force reconnaissance unit in the northeastern Arabian Sea found a large Chinese fleet, but the specific situation is unknown, because the two reconnaissance planes on the reconnaissance mission were shot down one after another, obviously, The Chinese naval aviation is very wary of voyeurism from the sky, which is in stark contrast to the "smooth return" of the British reconnaissance aircraft on Socotra.

Muscat is located in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, next to the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, the full name is "British Muscat and Oman", due to its location, it actually controls the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, and the British also deployed a fairly strong army and air force there, as well as some of the remnants of the Indian Ocean fleet, making Muscat Oman and neighboring Trusil Oman a base for blocking the Persian Gulf sea oil lanes.

Does the Chinese fleet want to carry out a landing operation in Muscat? Perhaps the reason why they deliberately appeared in the waters near Socotra Island was just to distract Admiral Cunningham's Asian fleet with a false shot? Considering the Italian relations, it is impossible for the Chinese not to know the news that the Asian fleet has arrived in the Gulf of Aden.

Thinking of this, Admiral Cunningham became even more anxious, if his disagreement was correct, then perhaps soon the news of the Chinese fleet starting to carry out landing operations in Muscat, because according to the route and speed, the Chinese fleet would see the coast of Muscat before five o'clock this afternoon.

"Mr. Admiral, how do you reply to this telegram from the Admiralty?"

Seeing that Cunningham didn't speak for a long time, the adjutant finally couldn't help but ask.

"Please call back to the Admiralty, and I will immediately lead the Asian Fleet north, and if all goes well, it will be on the shores of Muscat by tomorrow morning at the latest. I ask the Admiralty to keep in touch with the fleet at all times, and if Muscat is indeed attacked by the Chinese, I must know the news at the first time, and the British forces that have been attacked must also estimate the strength of the Chinese fleet as soon as possible. ”

The lieutenant colonel adjutant complained to the telegraph officer about Mr. Admiral's rash order, and the telegraph officer obviously agreed with it, but they did not know that Admiral Cunningham's judgment was correct, the Arabian Sea was about to usher in a fierce naval battle, and unlike the previous Andaman naval battle, this time, the warring parties knew the approximate location of each other's aircraft carriers before they made contact, and this was a real aircraft carrier head-to-head duel.