Three battleships and one battlecruiser of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy gradually began to accelerate and continued to sail eastward. The Han class, the battleship had a maximum speed of 26 knots, the Qin class, the battleship also had a maximum speed of 24 knots, and the Baiqi class, the battlecruiser also had a maximum speed of 275 knots. Increasing the speed to 22 knots will not make much of a difference for these ships.

The Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy accelerated its escape, forcing the combined fleet of the British and French Navies to speed up the pursuit. In John. Under the orders of Admiral Jericho, a formation of three battle cruisers pursued the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy at a speed of 24 knots. The two sides are 15,000 kilometers together at the moment, and it will take at least 4 to 5 hours to catch up. Of course, after two hours, the distance between the two sides had already narrowed to the distance of the battle. It's just that at such a high speed, even if you open fire, don't try to hit the opponent.

"Your Excellency, the Chinese have accelerated their flight, and we are now only about one hundred and fifty kilometers from Sicily. By the time we caught up with the Chinese navy, they had almost fled to Sicily. I think that if the Chinese had deployed submarine forces in the waters near Sicily, these submarines would have been near the ports of Sicily. In addition, the Chinese can also use guò shore fortifications to confront us. This may be the reason why the Chinese did not retreat! "Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells guessed.

"It's possible! But I don't think a few old battleships and some shore defense guns from those yellow-skinned monkeys will stop us. Now the combined fleet has 1 of the most powerful battleships and 3 battlecruisers, and such a strength is already completely overwhelming. I firmly believe that we will be able to achieve the final victory! "John. Admiral Jericho said firmly. As for the threat of submarine forces of the Chinese Navy, John . Admiral Jericho believed that as long as dozens of destroyers in the fleet could shoulder the heavy responsibility of anti-submarine, they would be able to provide a complete defense for the capital ships in the fleet. More than a dozen capital ships of the Combined Fleet were able to tear the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy to shreds with a light effort.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, I will let the destroyer formation do a good job in the anti-submarine side!" Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said. He also knew very well that this anti-submarine attack might be directly related to the victory or defeat of the naval battle.

After that, John. Admiral Jericho gave the order for the fleet to speed up again, and he asked the main fleet of the combined fleet to speed up to 20 knots, so that the battle cruiser formation could quickly catch up with reinforcements after intercepting the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy. The Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy now has three battleships and one battlecruiser, and there are five old battleships near Sicily, and if the battlecruiser formation catches up alone, it is very likely that it will fall into the trap of the Chinese Navy.

However, at this time, there was opposition among the Combined Fleet. French Admiral Palmiró, deputy commander of the Combined Fleet, believes that the fleet should not speed up now, but should slow down and remain vigilant to prevent a sneak attack by the Chinese. The last time the French Navy lost four battleships in the Battle of the Red Sea, it was because of a sneak attack by the submarine forces of the Chinese Navy that it was almost the direct cause of the collapse of the French Navy. Therefore, the strange actions of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy at this moment also made Admiral Palmiro feel dangerous. So he was very interested in John. Admiral Jericho's order to pursue did not agree.

Admiral Palmiro's opposition made John. Admiral Jericho was very annoyed that the current Combined Fleet was dominated by the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, and the French Navy had only three battleships and some cruisers and destroyers to join the Combined Ship Fleet. The main combat force in the combined fleet is still the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy. Moreover, the commander and chief of staff of the Combined Fleet are British, and the Combined Fleet should be up to him, the commander, to have the final say. And now Admiral Palmiro has refused to carry out his orders, which has made John . Admiral Jericho was very dissatisfied.

"Damn, what does that Frenchman want to do? Didn't he know that the current fighter planes were very valuable? Once the Chinese have escaped, it will be even more difficult for us to destroy them again! "John. Admiral Jericho roared inside the bridge of the battleship 'Warrior'.

"Your Excellency, Admiral Palmiro believes that there is danger ahead, and the Chinese are likely to have deployed traps in front, so we think we cannot take the initiative to jump into the trap of the Chinese." Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said.

"Traps? Of course I knew there were traps. Aren't the Chinese's traps those submarines? We have such large destroyers and light cruisers, can't we still withstand those submarines? Sue sù Palmiro guy, even if the Chinese really set a trap, I can deal with it lightly! "John. Admiral Jericho said with great certainty

However, Admiral Palmiro's subsequent reply to the telegram once again made John . Admiral Jericho scolded. Admiral Palmiro claimed that he was responsible for the lives of the officers and men of the French Navy and that he would not take any risks without determining whether the front was safe or not.

"Hell! Sue sù that coward, in the name of the commander of the Combined Fleet, I order him to carry out the order at once and act with us, otherwise I will report it to the French government and remove him from his post on the grounds that he has disobeyed the order! "John. Admiral Jericho said furiously. He absolutely could not accept such an act of Admiral Palmiro. In his opinion, the opportunity to defeat or even annihilate the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy is in front of him, and such an opportunity cannot be allowed to slip away in vain in any way.

Admiral Palmiro, after being threatened with this, had to choose a compromise. John. Admiral Jericho is the commander of the Combined Fleet, the main body of which is also composed of the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, and the French Navy is only a supporting role in the Combined Fleet. In addition, the current French government was so focused on fending off the German offensive that it had no heart to pay attention to the French navy. At the same time, France also needed the support of Britain in this war.

If the relationship between Britain and France is affected because of the non-cooperation of the French navy, it will be very unfavorable for France. And he, the admiral, will definitely become a tool to quench the anger of the British. Therefore, despite feeling the danger, Admiral Palmiro chose to follow John for the sake of his own interests. Acting on the orders of Admiral Jericho. However, Admiral Palmiro led the three capital ships of the French Navy to follow behind the British fleet, allowing the British fleet to explore the way in front, and in case of danger, the French fleet could quickly escape.

John. Admiral Jericho was very pleased with Admiral Palmiro's subdues. Although the strength of 10 battleships and three battlecruisers of the British fleet was enough to destroy the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, the reason why he asked the French Navy to obey his orders was purely to preserve his dignity. As the commander of the Combined Fleet, if Admiral Palmiro disobeys his orders, where will his face go? As for Admiral Palmiro's careful thinking of keeping the French fleet at the back of the combined fleet, John Palmiro. Admiral Jericho didn't care so much.

The combined fleet of the British and French navies accelerated the pursuit of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, and they thought that they had already won the victory, but what they did not expect was only to hasten their death.

When the combined British and French naval fleets took the bait, the four field airfields around Marsala were immediately busy, and 240 fighters of the two naval air wings were deployed in each of these four field airfields, all of which were loaded with fuel and bombs and torpedoes. Because the combined fleet of the British and French navies was not equipped with any weapons for air defense at all, even the 'Puffin', two 25-kilogram aerial bombs were suspended under the wings of the fighters.

Admiral Zhou Shun, commander of China's Mediterranean Theater of Operations, personally rushed to a field airfield to see off the eagles of the naval aviation. This time will be the first time that the aviation of the Chinese Navy will conduct actual combat, and it will also be the first time in the history of mankind that an aircraft will be used to attack a warship. Of course, the exercises and exercises conducted by the Chinese naval aviation themselves are not counted, this time it is a real real battle.

The pilots of the two wings are also very excited, this is the first time that the naval aviation has been used as the main force, and their battle will be directly related to the future status of the aviation in the Chinese Navy and China.

At 10 a.m., the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy was less than 80 kilometers away from Sicily, and the combined fleet of the British and French navies was still in hot pursuit. The formation of three battle cruisers of the Combined Fleet was only 8,000 meters away from the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy. It's just that at high speed, the shells fired by the combined fleet could not hit the target.

It was also at this time that the fighters of the 1st and 4th Wings of the Chinese Naval Aviation began to make sorties from the four field airfields in Marsala. When the first 'Puffin, fighter jet took off from the field airfield, other fighters began to take off. Each field airfield is capable of taking off four fighters per minute, so all fighters take off in less than 20 minutes.

After completing the formation in the air, the dense fighters began to fly westward, and the Indian Ocean Fleet will provide them with navigational guidance!

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