There were huge cheers from the command hall of the Ministry of National Defense in Nanjing.

The front-line navy has successfully destroyed the enemy's capital ships and large warships, which is equivalent to reversing the balance of strength between the two sides in a short period of time. This naval battle is related to the implementation of China's overall strategic plan and affects the hearts of the top leaders.

"Great!" Duan Qirui could barely contain his excitement. So far, China's land and naval battles have progressed amazingly smoothly, which has doubled his confidence in victory. Who doesn't want to revive the Han and Tang dynasties? He especially wanted to think that because he was the president, at least the official face was the leader of China.

Xu Shuzheng was also ecstatic: "The British are finished." Without the British Royal Navy, just an island nation, how can they dominate the world. ”

Wu Di also said proudly: "I'll just say it." Our killer feature is not covered. ”

Yang Yongtai said happily: "If the naval battle is won, it will be impossible for the British and French armies to quickly land in Calcutta to support the front-line battlefield, then our army will be able to sweep half of India." With this money, we in China will be able to flourish and become stronger and stronger. ”

Li Bufan and Li Huashan frowned and remained silent for a long time.

Duan Qirui was surprised and said: "Extraordinary, how can you achieve such a big victory?" ”

Li Bufan said in a deep voice: "The British fleet did not retreat, nor did they flee in the night, but fought back frantically, which is not a good thing for us. ”

Li Huashan continued: "What the commander-in-chief said is extremely true. The British Navy frantically counterattacked, their qualities were outstanding, and even if our Navy wins, it will suffer heavy losses. Important: The British and Western shipbuilding capabilities are a hundred times greater than ours, and in the event of huge losses on our warships, it is extremely difficult to replenish them. And without a considerable number of warships, then we will not be able to guarantee the supremacy of the existing sea areas. We can't afford to fight such a war of attrition, and even if we win, we will lose the future. ”

Li Bufan and Li Huashan's words poured cold water on Duan Qirui, Xu Shuzheng and Yang Yongtai, and the excitement dissipated a lot at once.

Xu Shuzheng said in a deep voice: "We have five battleships and two battlecruisers in Da Nang, and four 10,000-ton armored heavy cruisers can be repaired and used, even if we lose some." But our navy is still stronger. ”

Li Bufan shook his head and said, "That's not what I said. That's right. But sometimes quantity is essential. There are not enough warships, what anti-submarine do we take, what do we take to escort the transport fleet? We have concentrated the nation's shipbuilding efforts, and we can only launch three warships in one month. And light cruisers and destroyers. Again, this is the result of standardization. The war dragged on. Once a war of attrition at sea is formed, we will not be able to compensate for the losses in this number of ships. ”

Yang Yongtai said humbly: "Why don't we withdraw first?" ”

Li Huashan shook his head and said: "The British Navy has come up to fight, and it can be withdrawn if it wants to." In particular, our old fleet also took part in the war. The speed of these old warships is even more inextricably unable to escape from the opponent's entanglement. ”

Li Bufan said in a deep voice: "At this point, the only way to do it is to fight." Necessary trade-offs are also necessary, and he telegraphed to Li Navy to preserve our new warships as much as possible. ”――

In the Indian Ocean, the sky is getting dark.

On the battlefield of naval battles, the light of artillery fire became clearer, and even the trajectory of dark red shells could be seen.

The three pocket-sized battleships of the Jiangsu class, "Jiangsu", "Jiangxihao", and "Fujian", were almost shrouded in the smoke and flames of artillery explosions. In the eyes of the British Royal Navy, although the tonnage of these three warships is only 12,000 tons, they are real super warships. Of course, any three battleships that can destroy five battleships, four battlecruisers, and nine 10,000-ton armored heavy cruisers in just over half an hour are fully worthy of this title.

These three warships undoubtedly attracted the powerful firepower of the British Navy's frantic counterattack, and the Royal Navy was simply crazy to destroy the culprits who caused them to be so passive in the naval war they are now fighting now, and they will not give up until they are destroyed.

Li Haijun clung to the handrail of the command cabin and watched the continuous explosions with a cruel smile, and the explosion sound of the warship barely stopped after being hit by a bullet, and the rising columns of water on both sides could hardly be seen outside.

Sa Zhenbing's face was full of gunsmoke, and he said anxiously: "Commander, it's safer for you to go down." ”

Li Haijun shook his head and said, "Don't worry! Our command module has excellent armor protection. It would be nice to use three of our battleships to attract the fire of the British. Otherwise, with the combat effectiveness of the British Navy, we are afraid that we will lose a lot of warships. ”

Sa Zhenbing smiled bitterly: "This feeling reminds me of the 'calm' second ship of the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle. ”

Li Haijun smiled, the 'calm second ship' was known as the 'unsinkable battleship' in the naval battle of that year, but he believed that this battleship that had been modified by experts in many ways to form the most reasonable configuration of protection would definitely not be inferior to the giant ship of the year, and immediately said: "Let this naval battle become a battle for the rise of our Chinese navy." Order all units, leave us alone, and give me the opportunity to concentrate fire and give me a hard blow. ”

"Report" A staff officer ran over, and suddenly a shell hit the armor of the command module, and the huge shock made the entire command cabin stagger, and a huge irregular bulge appeared in the part of the command cabin that was hit by the bullet, and the staff officer who ran over was thrown out of the shock on the spot, but he quickly got up and came to Li Haijun's side and shouted, "Report to the commander, the commander-in-chief has an order, asking us to keep the new warship as much as possible." ”

Li Haijun looked at this staff officer, the impact just now had already injured him, and blood gushed out from his forehead, covering his face, looking extremely hideous and tragic. was stunned, nodded and said, "I know, come on, give him a bandage." "Then to the Sa Zhen Ice Road," ordered, adjust the position of the fleet, the second formation in front. ”

Sa Zhenbing was taken aback, he knew that the second formation was the old-fashioned fleet. But he did not hesitate, the battle has been fought so far, the loss is certain, then we must know how to make trade-offs, and saving the new warships is the best choice for the Chinese Navy.

"Woohoo!" When the sky finally darkened, naval flares were fired, making the entire sea feel like day.

For the sake of its pride and honor, the British Navy has entered a state of decisive death and will not retreat. And the Chinese Navy will never want to retreat at this moment, and needs to use the British Royal Navy, an invincible fleet that spans 300 years, to become a stepping stone to its rise.

Battleships on both sides continued to catch fire and sank

When the news reached the troop carrier, the entire British and French fleets were panicked, especially the land forces on the troop carriers, which were almost going crazy, and once the Chinese navy was killed, they would be like lambs to the slaughter.

"Withdraw! Withdraw immediately, no matter where it is, we must immediately land on the shore. "The army officers made crazy demands to the navy, they didn't think that the transport ship could withstand the attack of the warship, even if the destroyer wanted to destroy a 10,000-ton troop carrier, it would be easy.

In the darkness, the entire fleet was terrified.

Suddenly, a continuous explosion sounded, several troop carriers were broken into two at the violent explosion, and what was even worse was that at least seven warships were severely damaged, and almost half of the side sides were blown away in the violent explosion, and one of the cruisers caused a martyrdom, and the flying steel parts caused casualties to the officers and men on the warships several hundred meters around.

"Submarines! It's a submarine for the Chinese! A panicked cry reverberated in the night.

Flares were constantly being lifted into the air, but it was impossible to see the Chinese submarine directly, only the torpedo launches and the waterlines.

The surrounding escort warships frantically designed towards the sea and fired in the direction where the torpedoes came, and the entire fleet was in chaos.

China's submarines have not surfaced to aim and shoot, and the periscope is not easy to detect even if there are flares in the dark. In fact, the Chinese submarine did not rise to the periscope altitude at all, except for the first wave of attacks, and has quickly dived and withdrawn.

However, the threat posed by submarines to the fleet made the British and French officers and men almost collapse, you must know that torpedoes are fully capable of sinking any warship, not to mention some of their current small-tonnage warships, basically take a torpedo, the warship is finished, and the troop carrier is even more vulnerable.

The submarine itself is a deep-sea killer, and when it attacks in the dark, it is even more like a ghost, and it is impossible to prevent it.

The escorting warships fired like crazy, dropped depth charges, and fired an unknown amount of ammunition for more than an hour, but found that it was quiet on all sides, and after the Chinese submarine launched a wave of attacks, it seemed to have disappeared. But in fact, everyone knows that such a big target is here, and it is impossible for Chinese submarines to stay away, and they are lurking in the deep water in the darkness around them, and they may give them a fatal blow at any time.

For a time, the flotilla was deadly, only the wounded officers and men wailed, and the officers and men who fell into the water cried for help

In the distance, the naval battle was under fire, getting closer and closer, and the constant flashes of explosion and fire made the whole night more full of murderous energy

"Go, we must get out of here, or we'll all die!" Finally, someone couldn't bear such a depression and screamed like crazy.

Soon, the fleet decided to withdraw, and everyone understood that even if the British Navy fought to the death in front, it would not be able to win under the fatal gap, and once the Chinese Navy arrived, all the troop carriers and supply ships would have a dead end.

However, not long after the convoy started, a warship that had opened the way immediately struck a mine, and the explosion of the mine filled everyone's hearts with despair.

China's submarine forces really did not go far, they have already laid mines on the periphery of the fleet, and it is simply impossible to clear mines in such a dark night, especially under the threat of the enemy's submarines.

Want to leave? Is it possible to take a boat to hit the mine and open the way? (To be continued......)