109 Downing Street in London is a newspaper called Global Military, which is headed by military observers from Europe, Asia, the United States and Africa, and is an authoritative military newspaper, but the boss behind it is the London station of the Central Intelligence Agency of the Chinese Empire.

Entrusted by the Imperial Political Axe, in addition to collecting intelligence information from the British side, the London Station also cooperated with the Imperial side to do what it could.

The British Asian Fleet was unable to come out of the harbor of Singapore, and this affected the strategic deployment of the Imperial Chinese Navy to quickly fight a war and seize sea supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region.

For this reason, Senior Colonel Xie Xiaofeng, the head of the London station, ordered the Global Military Newspaper to publish some incendiary editorials, with the headline Field Marshal Lyons, who had lost the face of the British Royal Navy, satirizing the British Royal Navy's Asian Fleet for not daring to go to war in Singapore Harbor, saying that the Imperial Navy was nothing but a paper tiger, and that the world's strongest navy was about to give way. A senior military commentator said: "If it cannot go to war to meet the enemy, the British Navy will lose its naval supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region, and then the Imperial Chinese Navy will sweep across the Pacific Ocean and recklessly attack British colonies in Asia." ”

As soon as the report came out, British public opinion was greatly pursued, and the citizens of London, England, went to the Admiralty building one after another to protest against the incompetence of the navy.

As a result, the British Admiralty came under unprecedented pressure from public opinion, and telephone calls and protest letters from the top brass of British politics, the Senate of the House of Lords, and militants from the private sector filled Fisher's desk.

Fisher was opposed to an immediate counterattack on the Imperial Chinese Navy, because he knew best that the British Navy had no warships that could compete with the Imperial Chinese Divine Bow battleships, that the testing of a Dreadnought itself had not yet been completed, and that the newly built Dreadnought battleships on the slipway would have to be launched in a year at the earliest, and that the British Navy would have to endure this period of crisis.

However, Fisher's power and influence as Admiralty Minister could no longer suppress the Admiralty's officers, and under their compulsion, Fisher had to once again issue a fourth order to Marshal Lyons of Singapore urging him to reinforce Hong Kong.

On the 18th, the order was conveyed to the command of the British Asian Fleet at the Singapore Naval Base, and Marshal Lyons finally could not withstand the pressure of Shangfeng and his subordinates, sighed a long sigh, and called back to the Admiralty to prepare to go to sea.

As early as three days ago, the Indian Ocean Fleet had arrived at the port of Kuala Lumpur in the Strait of Malacca, ready to cooperate with the Asian Fleet at any time to relieve the siege of Singapore Port.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Lyons again contacted Vice Admiral Pete, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, and agreed to launch a breakout operation in the early morning of the 19th. The Indian Ocean Fleet pinned down the main forces of the Pacific Fleet on the periphery and covered the main forces of the Asian Fleet to break through the blockade at night and enter the depths of the ocean.

What Lyons never expected was that his communication line with Pete had been intercepted by Imperial Chinese intelligence agents lurking between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and was quickly reported to the Pacific Fleet.

Lin Jianzhang, commander of the Pacific Fleet, who was waiting for fighter planes in the South China Sea, was overjoyed when he learned the information, and immediately summoned the officers of the fleet to discuss the specific battle plan.

"Your Excellency Commander, I propose to destroy the Indian Ocean Fleet first, and then turn around and come back to deal with the Asian Fleet."

"The Indian Ocean Fleet is only a small cruiser, and attacking them will expose the direction of our capital ships, and we must not startle the snakes, and we must eat the Asian Fleet in one go."

"However, if we don't attack the Indian Ocean Fleet, I'm afraid Lyons won't leave Singapore easily."

Everyone expressed their opinions, and the discussion between them made the issue quickly and thoroughly analyzed.

In the end, Chief of Staff Ye Zugui said: "I think that if the attack of the Indian Ocean Fleet is light, Lyons will not be fooled, and if it is heavy, the force against Lyons will be weakened, so it is better to send the Fourth Fleet to contain it, if Lyons is not fooled, we will give up the decisive battle with his main force, and completely block the port of Singapore until the end of the war." ”

Lin Jianzhang nodded and said, "I agree with this suggestion." I'd rather keep Lyons in the harbor than let him enter the ocean safely. I know what Lyons is capable of, and once he is allowed to enter the ocean, it will be difficult to destroy him. ”

Everyone gradually unified their opinions, so Lin Jianzhang made a combat deployment, ordering the Fourth Fleet and the First Group of Destroyers to contain the Indian Ocean Fleet, and the other fleets to stand by to intercept Lyons's main fleet.

At nine o'clock in the evening of the 18th, seven Edgar-class cruisers of the Third Cruiser Squadron of the Indian Ocean Fleet, under the leadership of Pete, advanced from the Strait of Malacca to Singapore.

At around 10 o'clock, the Exocet, the 1st Destroyer Group of the Sixth Detachment of the Pacific Fleet, discovered the Indian Ocean Fleet heading eastward and quickly reported it to its superiors. Twenty minutes later, nine Haiqi-class cruisers of the 4th Detachment of the Pacific Fleet on standby left Morro Bay and entered the Strait of Malacca, heading for the Indian Ocean Fleet.

In the port of Singapore, Marshal Lyons had ordered the ships of the Asian Fleet to light fires, pressurize their boilers, and prepare them for battle.

On the bridge of the flagship Counter Strike, Lyons and Bill quietly looked at the western sky, as if waiting for the cannon to sound over there.

Just after 11 o'clock, Pete's fleet encountered the Fourth Detachment of the Pacific Fleet under the command of Yang Yonglin in the waters near Padang Island. Both sides did not turn on the lights at first, leaning on the moon in the sky to investigate, and when they found each other, the distance between the two sides was less than a kilometer.

"Combat speed, front main gun ready!" Yang Yonglin immediately ordered to prepare for war.

At this time, Pete on the opposite side also gave the battle order.

There was a "bang" of cannons, and the front guns of Pete's ship, the Edgar, opened fire first. Two 234-mm shells were fired at Yang Yonglin's fleet with 32 times the breech-loading rifled guns, and a naval battle broke out.

"Fire back!" Yang Yonglin saw that the British army had opened fire, and he was not to be outdone, and immediately ordered the Haiqi to fire back.

"Boom! Boom! ”

The twin 203-mm 40-fold main guns in the bow of the Haiqi opened fire immediately, and the shells weighing 100 kilograms of the Black Sokin charge exploded with no less power than the 234 shells of the British ships.

Immediately afterwards, other warships opened fire, as did the British ships.

I saw the roar of cannons, the flickering of fire, the columns of water rising into the sky, and the huge waves rolling.

"The left rudder is full, and the starboard artillery is ready!" Yang Yonglin ordered all ships to turn and cross and prepare to attack with broadside fire. Because the distance between the two sides is less than 800 meters, at this distance, it is more cost-effective to cover it with rapid-fire gun fire.

In the same way, Pete ordered all ships of his fleet to fight horizontally, and to meet them with their port guns.

Seeing that the two fleets were about to meet each other, the commanders of both sides had no bottom in their hearts. In terms of quantity alone, Yang Yonglin's fleet consists of nine Haiqi-class cruisers, and there is also a large group of Exocet-class hunting ships behind it, while Pete only has seven Edgar-class cruisers and six torpedo boat destroyers, and Pete's fleet is in a weak position in terms of quantity.

However, in terms of tonnage and artillery caliber, it is the Pitt fleet that has the upper hand.

The seven Edgar-class cruisers commanded by Pitt can be called first-class protection cruisers at a low price. The reason is that the British Royal Navy not only needs warships with good surnames, but also needs relatively cheap and reliable ships with sufficient surnames to meet the needs of their global deployment. The powerful and economical first-class cruiser Edgar class, as a reduced version of the Blake class, "simple but not simple", she is a model of reliable and durable cruisers, all of their nine ships in history except for one was sunk by a submarine in World War I, all of them served until the end of World War I, which was very difficult in the late 19th century and early 20th century when naval technology developed rapidly.

Based on the Edgar at the time of service, her displacement reached 7,350 tons, and her armament was exactly the same as that of the Blake class, and the price was only 367,000 pounds, compared to the 350,000 pounds price of the 4,900-ton Haiqi-class cruiser of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

Edgar success cost control is often said that war is a manifestation of politics, and for Britain, both political and military, it is at the service of its economy, and the aimless policy of military force is generally not adopted by British political axes. In order to achieve the goal of maintaining the colonial system and protecting Britain's power and interests in other countries, Britain needed an efficient army to complete this complex task.

Since ancient times, the navy has been a huge gold-swallowing beast, and if it is not skillfully controlled, it will not only fail to achieve the goal of defending national interests, but may squeeze out the national treasury, and even affect the nerves of politicians and ordinary citizens, and pull the country into the abyss of needless war. Therefore, the larger the size of the navy, the more skilled it is to operate.

This Edgar-class protective cruiser is exactly the same as the Blake class in terms of firepower, but in order to control the cost, the original maximum thickness of 6 inches of dome armor was changed to a maximum thickness of 5 inches (at the slope, the thickness of the top horizontal armor remains unchanged at 3 inches), and the three-rise steam engine was reduced from three to two, and a relatively compact new model was adopted, these two measures reduced the total weight of the Edgar class, the scale was reduced, not only the construction cost, but also the use fee was reduced a lot.

Compared with the Blakes class, the displacement of the Edgar class was reduced from 9,150 tons to 7,350 tons to 7,700 tons (the four ships of the tropical type had an increased displacement of 350 tons due to thickened wooden insulation); The scale was reduced from 114.3×19.81 to 109.73×18.29, although the draft did not change much, but the length of the ship was reduced, and the width was reduced by more than one meter, laying the foundation for controlling the displacement. On this basis, the boat consumes less fuel, with the same 10,000 nautical miles/10 knots for the Edgar-class cruiser, but 550 tons less coal than the 1,800-ton Blake class. The total construction cost of the two-stage ship was reduced from £440,700 to £367,000.

The propulsion system of this class is not only very reliable (the fifth ship Royalarthur once maintained an average speed of 18 knots for 48 consecutive hours, and no armored cruiser could compete with it at that time), the power of the ships during the sea trials generally exceeded the designers' expectations, and after a long period of test in various bad weather in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Edgar class proved worthy of the honor of the world's cruisers, they are all seafaring ships with the best seafaring surname.

In order to reduce the draft of the first ship and further improve the seafaring ability, the Edgar-class ships 4 and 7 removed a 9.2-inch gun from the bow tower and replaced it with two parallel 6-inch rapid-fire guns, bringing the total number of 6-inch guns to 12. In addition, there are two 234 cannons in front of the main gun, and there is one in the stern, and the fire is very fierce.

Faced with this situation, the Haiqi-class cruisers of the Chinese Empire were several thousand tons inferior in tonnage, and the caliber of the main guns was only 203 mm for the Haiqi-class main gun and 119 mm for the secondary guns, which was in a weak position compared with the 234 main guns and 152 secondary guns of the Edgar class.

However, naval warfare focuses on actual combat results. Although the Haiqi class was in a weak position in terms of artillery caliber, it had an advantage in gun multiplication. Edgar's 234 main gun is only 32 times extended, and the 152 gun is only 40 times extended, while the 203 main gun of the Haiqi class is 40 times extended, and the 119 mm secondary gun is 50 times extended.

In this way, the destructive power of the artillery of both sides is basically the same, and the total number of main guns and secondary guns of both sides is the same in terms of the number of artillery, and on the top of the three-level rapid-fire guns, the Haiqi class is equipped with 16 47 rapid-fire guns, which is three more than the Edgar class, a small advantage.

However, in terms of speed, the gap between the two sides is huge. The combat speed of the Haiqi class reached 25 knots, while the Edgar class could barely reach 20 knots with strong ventilation. A difference of five knots in speed will have a huge impact on naval warfare. However, the Edgar-class 127mm dome armor protection makes her very capable of taking beatings.

In general, the warship strength of both sides was basically evenly matched. The Imperial Chinese Navy, relying on its speed advantage, maneuvered quickly, so that the British Navy's shells could not hit. On the other hand, the British Navy was not fast, and it did not hurt to take a few more shells by taking advantage of the thick armor.

In this way, the two sides are in a state where you can't beat me, and I can't sink you.

At 11:40, the fleets of both sides fell into a scuffle.

In the night, I saw the fire flickering on the dark warships of both sides, the roar of cannonballs, and countless columns of water on the sea rising into the air, and the battle was extremely fierce.

Standing on the bridge of the battleship Counter-Attack in the harbor of Singapore, Lyons watched the western sky flickering with fire and the roar of cannons, knowing that the two navies had already fought.

Bill said, "Let's get moving, too!" General Pitt's cruiser fleet is probably no match for the main forces of the Pacific Fleet, and I am afraid it will not last long. ”

Lyons nodded, then called the communications staff and ordered more than twenty cruisers of the harbor defense fleet to set off and enter the South China Sea from Morro Bay to the east.

Bill frowned and said, "Your Excellency Marshal, why did you let the defense fleet go east into the South China Sea?" ”

Lyons said with a smile: "I have been in China for five or six years, and I have specially learned the Chinese Sun Tzu's Art of War, which is called East and West. I believe that Lin Jianzhang, commander of the Pacific Fleet, will definitely not transfer all the main forces to attack the Indian Ocean Fleet, and their main forces will definitely be waiting somewhere in the South China Sea, waiting for us to send them to their doors. ”

Bill exclaimed, "If you're right, wouldn't you send them to their deaths by letting the defense fleet take the route we had prescribed?" ”

"In order for the main fleet to successfully break through, some small sacrifices are inevitable. Besides, they were fast cruisers, and if they met the main force of the enemy fleet, they were too big to run back. Trust me, this is the best way to get out. ”

Bill asked, "So how do we get there?" ”

"We're going out west of Morro Bay, where the Imperial Chinese Navy fleet has just headed west to intercept the Indian Ocean Fleet, where the defenses are weak, and we can quickly break out from there," Lyons said. After the breakout, we entered the Strait of Beraha and turned north into the South China Sea. ”

Bill wasn't satisfied, but he couldn't do anything better. At present, as long as the main forces of the Asian fleet can break through and enter the ocean, then they can use Britain's vast overseas colonies to fight.

"Let's go!" At the sound of Lyons' order, the capital ships of the British Asian Fleet quickly anchored and moved from the west of Morro Bay in the direction of the Belaha Strait.

At this time, in the direction of the Belaha Strait, as long as the five Exocet-class destroyers of the Sixth Detachment of the Chinese Imperial Navy were patrolling and alert, when the main force of the British Asian Fleet appeared in front of them, they had no way to stop them, and under the fierce shelling of the British fleet, the five Exocet-class destroyers quickly retreated, and at the same time reported to the fleet headquarters.

At this time, the main force of the Pacific Fleet was gathering in the northeast direction of the eastern exit of Morro Bay, and when the patrol ships discovered the appearance of a large number of British warships, Lin Jianzhang immediately ordered the Pacific Fleet to launch an attack formation.

"What? They went from the direction of the Belaha Strait? Lin Jianzhang was taken aback after receiving the report and asked, "Then what is in front of us?" ”

Ye Zugui thought for a while and said, "It may be that Lyons divided into two ways, put a basket of eggs in two baskets, and broke a lump and a lump." ”

Lin Jianzhang shook his head and said, "Lyons is a famous British naval admiral, he has been with us for so many years, he believes that he is not a fuel-efficient lamp. If I were him, I would rather stay in the harbor than separate the fleet and lose half of the fleet's strength in vain. You know, after our sneak attack on the port of Singapore, the British Asian fleet has already lost one-third, and if we lose another third, the British navy will not have the strength to compete with us, and Lyons will not be so stupid! ”

By this time, the 5th and 6th Squadrons of the 3rd Detachment of the Pacific Fleet, which had made a detour from both flanks, had already exchanged fire with the British fleet.

In the distance, artillery roared and fires shone.

Lin Jianzhang hurriedly picked up the telescope to observe, and it was impossible to judge the caliber of the British fleet's guns in the dark night, but Lin Jianzhang, with years of experience, judged that the caliber of the British fleet's main guns would not be 305 main guns.

"It should be a cruiser fleet of the second and third lines!"

Ye Zugui said: "There are really a lot of British families! There are so many decoy fleets! ”

Lin Jianzhang said: "Britain is known as an empire that does not fall, and it is not uncommon for its huge overseas colonies to need hundreds of warships to maintain. ”

At this time, the communications staff officer reported: "Report to the commander, Lin Yongsheng, commander of the Sixth Combat Force, report that their opponent is not the main force of the British fleet, but only some British second- and third-class cruisers. ”

"And so it was!" Lin Jianzhang was already convinced that it was the main force of the British fleet that took the Belaha Strait.

"Bring me the charts!" Ye Zugui shouted, and the combat staff hurriedly unfolded the chart. Several other staff officers illuminated the charts with flashlights.

Ye Zugui looked at the chart, found out the location of the Belaha Strait, and said: "There is only one channel exit from the Belaha Strait to the South China Sea, and the other channel leads to the Panjiang Strait, and you can also enter the South China Sea from the southeast of the Panjiang Strait, but it takes an extra two hundred nautical miles. We should now turn around and rush to sea area 17 at the northern exit of the Belaha Strait, which should be in time. ”

Lin Jianzhang nodded and said, "Fortunately, we didn't put the battlefleet into battle at the first time, and it's still too late to turn around." The order was given, and the 1st and 2nd fleets immediately sailed to the No. 17 sea area to meet the enemy. The 3rd Squadron immediately broke away from the battle, did not entangle the enemy, and quickly returned to the group. ”

The order was issued, and the capital ship of the Pacific Fleet quickly turned around and headed southeast, rushing to the No. 17 sea area at full speed. At the same time, the 3rd Squadron also received an order to quickly break away from the entanglement with the British port defense fleet and turn around to catch up with the main fleet.

The British officers and men on the more than 20 warships of the British port defense fleet suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and just now they were suddenly attacked by the flanks of two warplanes of the Pacific Fleet, and they were caught off guard by the fierce artillery fire of the other side. They thought it was over, and they couldn't help but scold Lyons for shamelessly using them as bait to send them to death, but just when they were desperate, the Pacific Fleet suddenly stopped attacking and turned around and left, which made them cry with joy.

Lyons was overjoyed to learn that the defending fleet was being attacked by the main forces of the Pacific Fleet to the east, but then when he heard that the other side had quickly withdrawn from the battle, Leonston realized that the other side had already known his intentions and was rapidly approaching the direction of the Belaha Strait.

Bill praised Lyons and said, "Your Excellency Commander really expected that the Pacific Fleet really appeared in the east to ambush us!" This time it was really dangerous, and I almost fell into the trap of the other party. ”

Lyons shook his head and said, "We're not out of danger yet!" The bait I gave to the enemy did not lure the enemy to the bait, and judging from their quick departure from the battle, this Lin Jianzhang gave up eating our port defense fleet, and he is now rushing to deal with us! ”

Bill frowned and said: "This Lin Jianzhang has a lot of appetite, he dares to eat our main fleet, and he is not afraid of breaking his front teeth!" ”

Lyons said: "Let's leave it alone for now, if he is blocked by him in the direction of the exit of the strait, it will be very disadvantageous to our fleet." ”

Bill asked, "So what do you have to do?" ”

"The Chinese destroyers in the vicinity are very annoying, and I ordered all the torpedo boat destroyer detachments to be dispatched, and we must drive them far away so that they do not detect our course," Lyons said. ”

The adjutant turned around to convey the order, and soon a dozen torpedo boat destroyers broke away from the fleet and pursued the five destroyers of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

A skirmish broke out in the nearby waters between the two sides, and because of the mission, the Chinese Empire's destroyers refused to leave, and finally forced Lyons to rush and even sent the seventh squadron of the cruiser fleet to expel him.

Faced with the expulsion of four large cruisers, several small-tonnage destroyers of the Chinese Empire had no choice but to retreat. Soon, due to the darkness of the night, visibility was low, and it was no longer possible to judge the course of the British fleet.

(To be continued)