The rain was pouring down, and it was getting dark at about five o'clock in the afternoon.

The Pacific Fleet sent two destroyer groups to search for the remnants of the British Asian Fleet, but the visibility was too poor and the reconnaissance planes could not take off in this weather, and the enemy fleet disappeared for a while.

In the command tower of the Emperor Qi, Lin Jianzhang listened to the results reported by the various detachments. After a day of fierce fighting, the Pacific Fleet sank a total of 7 capital warships and 13 auxiliary warships of the British Asian Fleet, captured two battleships, the Counterattack and the Indian, and captured 323 British officers and sailors such as Field Marshal Lyons, commander of the British fleet, Vice Admiral Beale, chief of staff of the fleet. In addition, 22 capital ships of the British fleet were heavily damaged, followed by 9 auxiliary ships, and they were fleeing. The Pacific Fleet lost 549 killed and 1023 wounded.

Lin Jianzhang nodded, this result is still good, I have to admire the combat capability of the British Navy, although they have no actual combat experience, they still caused heavy casualties to the Chinese Imperial Navy.

However, the British main fleet was still on the run, although Lin Jianzhang temporarily achieved a tactical victory, but if he could not destroy the British main fleet, he would lose strategically, so he said: "All the ships of the British main fleet have been severely damaged by our army, and we must find them as soon as possible and destroy them." ”

Chief of Staff Ye Zugui replied: "We have put the fleet on the way to Malaya, and it seems that the British fleet is not taking this route at present. ”

Lin Jianzhang frowned and said: "We must not let them escape, they have been severely damaged by our army, and they should dock at some ports with maintenance facilities." Immediately find all the nearby places that can provide maintenance for the British fleet and intercept them. ”

"It's already being done!" Ye Zugui had already ordered to go down.

Lin Jianzhang nodded, he was very unhappy that he did not completely annihilate the main force of the British Asian Fleet, so he said: "What about Lyons? Bring him in! ”

Soon Leons was escorted to the command tower by two armed sailors.

Looking at the bandages that Lyons was wearing all over his body, Lin Jianzhang smiled: "My subordinates didn't embarrass you, right?" ”

Lyons pinned his face to the side and didn't look at Lin Jianzhang, obviously he was very unhappy.

Lin Jianzhang smiled: "This is not like your demeanor!" ”

Lyons glared at Lin Jianzhang angrily and said, "You guys are so shameless that you actually attacked my fleet." ”

"Oh, that's why you're angry with me about this!" Lin Jianzhang smiled and said, "Soldier, treacherous." Fighting the world's number one navy, we had to use some tricks. ”

Lyons said: "With your strength, even if you don't have to sneak attack, you may not lose." ”

Lin Jianzhang sighed: "I killed one-third of your capital warships in a sneak attack, but the remaining two-thirds of you are still tenacious, this decisive battle just now I only sank seven of your capital ships, and twenty-two capital ships escaped, your British Navy still has the power to resist in this unfavorable situation, which shows that you are still capable of the world's No. 1 navy." ”

When Lyons heard that their main fleet had successfully escaped, his face immediately became overjoyed, and although he had lost the battle, he had not been completely wiped out.

Seeing Lyons' smug look, Lin Jianzhang smiled and said: "Don't be too happy, your remaining twenty or so warships are all seriously injured and can't run far, I will find them, sink them or capture them to be your companion." ”

Lyons snorted, a look of concern on his face. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "Commander Lin, I want to know if our radio station suddenly failed, is it your doing." ”

Lin Jianzhang smiled: "Why do you say that? ”

"You sold the radio station to us at a high price, and I suspect you manipulated it so much that I suddenly failed when giving the order, and as a result we missed the golden time to sink your flagship," Lyons said. ”

"How can such a thing happen?" Lin Jianzhang asked knowingly, "I thought you deliberately let me?" ”

Everyone laughed, and Lyons sighed helplessly, obviously Lin Jianzhang would not tell him the truth.

At this moment, the communications staff officer came in, had something to report, and stopped talking when he saw Lyons.

Lin Jianzhang said with a smile: "If there is any information, our military affairs are open to Mr. Lyons. ”

Everyone laughed again, and Lyons was furious, but there was no way, who made him a prisoner of war.

"Report to the Commander, the Pipa Spirit has predicted the course of the British fleet, and it is no more than fifty kilometers away from us!"

Lin Jianzhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked, "How did they find out?" ”

The communications staff officer coughed dryly, and Lin Jianzhang suddenly understood, so he ordered someone to take Lyons out. Lyons protested, "Didn't you say that military affairs were open to me? You are not keeping your word. ”

Lin Jianzhang was suddenly embarrassed, Ye Zugui waved his hand, and the armed sailors immediately pressed Lyons out.

After Lyons went out, the communications staff officer said: "Commander, chief of staff, after the Pipa Spirit stopped the radio interference, it has been closely monitoring the signals of the British fleet, and just half an hour ago, they found that the British fleet had resumed radio communication and was in contact with Singapore, probably wanting to return to the port of Singapore." ”

Ye Zugui asked, "Then how can you judge their course?" ”

The communications staff officer replied: "The communication equipment on the Pipa Jing is far more mysterious than we know, and they have mastered a technology that can determine the approximate position and direction of the other party by detecting the power and density of the radio signal. They called it radio orientation technology, and it was with this technology that they discovered the frequent radio signals of the British fleet. ”

Lin Jianzhang nodded and said, "There are more than twenty warships in the British fleet, and the casualties and losses must be reported to their flagship, so that they must use the radio frequently, which also gives the Pipa Jing the possibility to determine their position and direction!" ”

Ye Zugui said worriedly: "But what if they don't judge correctly? If we do the opposite, we will miss the opportunity. ”

Lin Jianzhang thought about it, this was indeed what he was worried about. So he said, "Can you tell their course?" ”

Ye Zugui shook his head and said, "Our reconnaissance plane can't take off, and I can't judge the position and direction of the British fleet. ”

"That's it!" Lin Jianzhang said: "Since we don't have a basis for judgment, the Pipa Jing has given us a basis for judgment, something is better than nothing, you can't let our fleet's cannons fire into the air, right?" ”

Ye Zugui no longer refuted, and the other officers had no objections, so Lin Jianzhang said: "Since this is the case, then we will believe the report of the Pipa Jing." If something goes wrong, it's not our responsibility, it's because the technology of Beiyang Technology is not hard enough. The order was given, and the whole fleet headed westward at full speed. ”

"Yes!" The crowd immediately received the order.

In this way, the main forces of the Pacific Fleet quickly advanced at full speed in the direction of Singapore to the west. At the speed of the Pacific Fleet, it will be possible to catch up in less than two hours.

At 8:17 p.m., a destroyer of the 2nd Destroyer Group of the 6th Detachment spotted the main force of the British fleet heading to Singapore.

Lin Jianzhang was overjoyed when he learned of the situation, and hurriedly ordered all the destroyers of the Sixth Fleet to launch wolf pack tactics and attack the faltering British fleet at night.

At this time, the ships of the British fleet were scarred, their speed had been drastically reduced by the intensity of the battle and the wounds, and they thought that they had escaped the pursuit of the Pacific Fleet, and were sailing slowly so as not to leave the five or six battleships that had been badly damaged behind, while the ships were also hurrying to repair the holes that had been pierced by the shells.

At night, the British Asian Fleet was brightly lit, despite orders from Rear Admiral Sorensen, the acting commander of the fleet, not to turn on the lights, so as not to expose the target. However, there were too many wounded on the ships of the British fleet, and many of them urgently needed surgery and treatment, so they had to turn on the lights. As a result, the entire British fleet became a navigation light in the night, and was soon locked by the Pacific Fleet.

At half past nine in the evening, fifty-four destroyers of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Destroyers began to raid the British fleet.

The two battleships Mars and Bulwark, which fell behind the British fleet, and the three cruisers of the first class, the Monmouth, Bedford, and Donegal, were torpedoed and sank one after another.

The British fleet was suddenly torn apart, and the ships of the fleet quickly scattered and fled like frightened birds. The capital ships of the Pacific Fleet then pursued and intercepted them on all sides.

In the night, in the wind and rain, the ships of the British fleet ran frantically in front, and the ships of the Pacific Fleet pursued desperately behind. Both sides fired desperately, no matter where the other side was, whether the other side was friend or foe, and opened fire when they saw the light.

The hit rate of the artillery battle on both sides in the night was too low, and it was all based on the lights on the opponent's battleship and the fire when firing as a reference to aim at the target, once the opponent turned off all the lights and stopped firing, it could not be detected. In the vast sea, even a battleship is very easy to hide at night.

Fighting lasted several hours, and neither side sank a single battleship of the other side. Rear Admiral Sorensen, captain of the Hannidial battleship, once again used his wits to lead the remnants of a British fleet out of the Pacific Fleet.

However, whenever Hanni dialed up to use radio communications, it was immediately detected by the Pacific Fleet, and Sorensen never suspected that there was a problem with the radio system, only that the Pacific Fleet had been experienced in the field for a long time.

In this way, the two sides tangled in the south like a cat and mouse for a night, and until dawn the next day, the British fleet still did not sink another one.

As soon as the next day dawned, the Pacific Fleet immediately released carrier-based seaplanes and began to search for the remnants of the British fleet.

At 8:30 a.m., the Pacific Fleet spotted the fleeing British fleet in the waters near the Tsangmu Shoal, and immediately began to pursue it.

At 9:50 a.m., the 5th and 6th Fleets, the fastest of the Pacific Fleet, blocked the British fleet's route to the Philippines, and the British fleet, not wanting to entangle with the Pacific Fleet, quickly turned to the direction of French Indochina.

At 10:34, nine Xia Dynasty-class battleships of the 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the Pacific Fleet caught up with the British fleet and opened fire at a distance of 7,000 meters.

At this time, there were only a dozen British warships, and all of them were scarred, the officers and men had no fighting spirit, and fearless resistance could only increase casualties. Rear Admiral Sorensen, who took over the command of the fleet, decided to surrender, so Hannidial, the flagship of the British fleet, hoisted the white flag.

At 10:53 a.m., the British Asian Fleet began to surrender, and the four battleships Hanni Dial, the Determination, the Vitality, and the Noble, and the six first-class cruisers of the Warrior class, the Cochran, the Natal, the Minotaur, the Defense, and the Shannon anchored one after another, and raised the white flag.

The Pacific Fleet escorted British officers and men to auxiliary transport ships, and wounded British officers and men were taken to the naval hospital ship for humanitarian treatment.

At 12:47 p.m., the Pacific Fleet intercepted another British fleet 60 nautical miles southwest of the Spratly Islands, which they had broken up the previous night. After learning that the other warships had surrendered, the Republic and Nelson also raised the white flags and surrendered, but the three battleships Blenheim, the Monmouth, and the Bedford refused to surrender and sank.

At this point, the decisive battle between the main forces of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire and the Asian Fleet of the British Empire came to an end, and ended with the complete victory of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

After this battle, the main force of the British Asian Fleet was completely annihilated, and 24 battleships were lost, of which 8 were captured; 19 cruisers of the first rank, of which 6 were captured; 4 cruisers of the second class, 2 cruisers of the third class, 28 destroyers, 8 auxiliary ships. The total tonnage loss was almost 440,000 tons, and it was pulled from the throne of the world's first naval power.

The British Navy's Asian Fleet lost 8,987 killed, 213 missing, and 9,236 captured, with the highest rank being British Field Marshal.

On the other hand, the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire lost only 7 hunting ships and 19 submarines, and 1,434 officers and men were killed and 109 captured.

The Pacific Fleet was able to achieve such brilliant results thanks to the service of nine battleships of the Sharpbow type, with which the British Navy had no rival battleships. Then there was the surprise attack of the Pacific Fleet on the port of Singapore, which destroyed one-third of the combat strength of the British Asian Fleet and created the conditions for a decisive battle of the main force. In addition, the advanced radio technology used by the Pacific Fleet paralyzed the command system of the British fleet at the beginning of the engagement, causing chaos in the British fleet, and then the Pacific Fleet took advantage of the chaos to defeat the British Asian fleet. In the end, under the guidance of the idea that you were sick and wanted your life, the Pacific Fleet did not give up on destroying the remnants of the British fleet, and was finally able to annihilate them completely.

The naval battle in the South China Sea came to an end, and Britain's maritime power in the Far East was completely wiped out, and the sea supremacy in the Far East and the Pacific fell into the hands of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

On the same day, Admiral Lin Jianzhang, commander of the Pacific Fleet, immediately reported the results of the battle to the Imperial Admiralty, and after receiving the report, the Admiralty immediately reported it to the General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of National Defense.

The sleepy-eyed Wang Chenhao was really not happy to be called by Wang Shizhen, he finally tamed Concubine Lifei Shalina who had been against him today, and was called up by Wang Shizhen's so-called "emergency military situation" before he could save enough.

However, when he learned the news of the navy's victory, Wang Chenhao was still very happy, and seemed to be energetic again, and it should not be a problem to go back and fight Concubine Li for a few more rounds.

"Your Majesty, if you defeat the British Asian Fleet, all British colonies in Asia will be within the range of the Imperial Navy's naval guns."

Wang Chenhao nodded, this is true, but he knows that the huge war machine of Britain has not yet fully operated, and it is unwise to fight Britain for a long time.

"We should accept it when we see it, after all, Britain is an old industrial power, and it is unwise for us to fight with Britain. Now that we have recovered Hong Kong, Tibetan Province and the Yunnan border areas, we are taking advantage of the opportunity of destroying the British Asian Fleet to negotiate peace with Britain and end the war as soon as possible. ”

Wang Shizhen disagreed, he was now thinking about seizing the British colonies, he naturally did not have Wang Chenhao's foresight, let alone Wang Chenhao's clear that once the war machine of an old industrial power was running at high speed, it would be very terrifying. In particular, Britain's shipbuilding capability is not yet something that the Chinese Empire can compete with, and Britain can build the Dreadnought battleship within a year, but the naval industry of the Chinese Empire cannot do this, this is the gap. Therefore, it is not the best policy to fight hard with the UK, Wang Chenhao likes to accept it when he sees it, this is the king's way.

Wang Shizhen said: "But Your Majesty, the Imperial Army has already assembled two large armies in Tibet Province and Yunnan, and the War Department is ready to fly, Your Majesty is afraid that stopping them at this time will hurt the morale and fighting spirit of the army officers and men. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "Is it because I have not thought about it, how is the army's preparations?" ”

Wang Shizhen replied: "Your Majesty, the army has deployed two plateau divisions in Tibetan Province, preparing to attack the British Indian colonial army out of the West Mountain Pass. An army group was assembled in Kunming, Yunnan, and prepared to send troops to British Burma to attack the British army in Burma. In addition, the War Office was preparing to send an expeditionary force to land in Malaya to seize the British Federation of Malaya and the strategic location of Singapore. ”

Wang Chenhao frowned and said, "It's December now, and it should have snowed in Tibetan Province." At this time, it is not possible to start a war in Tibetan Province, the imperial railway has not yet been built to Tibetan Province, and it is too difficult to supply. I do not approve of the use of force in Tibet at this time. In addition, attacking British Burma could be tried, and it would be beneficial to the southwestern frontier of the empire to support the pro-Chinese Burmese army to control Burma. As for sending an expeditionary force to fight in Malaya, put it on hold for the time being, and don't mess with the British. I felt that I could send troops to Australia to help the Chinese Australians control Australia, which was vast and rich in resources, which was suitable for the Imperial Army and the national policy of putting the Empire's economy first. ”

"Wechen obeys!" Wang Shizhen received the order, and then said: "Your Majesty, the Atlantic Fleet has entered the Atlantic Ocean and is launching a battle to break diplomatic relations with British ships. As of this afternoon, the Atlantic Fleet had sunk 75 British merchant ships and captured six. ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "This Du Xigui never forgets to make some benefits!" ”

(To be continued)