"陛xiàYan zhòng!" Yu Kun hurriedly said, "Jingshi and the Gulf of Aden are thousands of miles away, even if there is radio communication, we can know the situation on the front line at the first time, but the shape of the battlefield is changing rapidly. So now we are also powerless, and we can only rely on the front-line generals, judge the situation, and adapt to the situation! ”

"You mean you can only wait now, but you can't help much?" Ren Chao said with a frown.

"So to speak." Yu Kun replied honestly.

"In that case, then I will wait here with you." Ren Chao said with a helpless sigh.

"Your Majesty's dragon body is important, so Weichen once again implored His Majesty to return to the palace to rest." Yu Kun said respectfully.

"Okay, you don't have to persuade anymore, I've made up my mind. Rest assured! I'm not so squeamish yet. Ren Chao waved his hand and said impatiently.

"Yes! Obey the order! Yu Kun responded.

"Yu Qing, I only ask you, what are the chances of our side winning this naval battle?" Ren Chao asked with a solemn face.

"Qi Majesty, in terms of the strength of the two sides, can be said to be equal. The shape of the battlefield is changing rapidly, and any detail may determine the outcome of the entire battle, so the minister did not dare to speculate. Yu Kun replied honestly.

"That means that there is only five or five points of victory and defeat," Ren Chao said with a frown.

"In Weichen's humble opinion, the two anti-reverse sides each have a four-point chance of winning, and the other two points are all up to God's will." Yu Kun said helplessly.

"By Providence? When did you old man believe in the ghosts and gods? Ren Chao shook his head with a wry smile and said.

"If you don't believe it, you can't believe it!" Yu Kun said with a wry smile.

"That's it! Go ahead and get busy with yours! In that case, then I am here to pray for God's blessing, to bless my Huaxia Empire, and to bless our General Zhang Haiping to be victorious and destroy the enemy's fleet! Ren Chao said helplessly. Zhang Haiping was the commander-in-chief of the Huaxia Fleet.

"Wechen obeys!" Yu Kun replied respectfully.

Since January 7, Ren Chao has come to the Admiralty to wait for the results of the naval battle in the Gulf of Aden, but he did not expect to wait for two days. That is, the combined fleet of the Chinese Empire and the combined fleet of the Entente powers in the waters of the Gulf of Aden. After two days of fierce fighting, the winner was finally decided.

On the morning of the 9th, Ren Chao, who was lying on the table and had fallen asleep, was suddenly woken up, Ren Chao looked up, only to see Yu Kun and several other chief officers of the Admiralty staring at a pair of dark circles one by one standing respectfully in front of him, Ren Chao couldn't help but ask urgently, "How is it?" Are the results of the battle out? Has our army been victorious? ”

"At present, our Chinese expeditionary fleet has returned to India for rest, the enemy fleet has also returned to various ports for rest, and the naval battle in the Gulf of Aden has ended." Yu Kun replied honestly.

"Now that it's over. The result? What do you mean? All I want to know now is whether we have won or lost this battle! Ren Chao couldn't help but be a little anxious.

"Begin to play Your Majesty, the results of the battle are being counted. According to Wei Chen's rough estimate, our losses are smaller than the enemy's, so we have won. However, we did not completely annihilate the enemy's combined fleet in one fell swoop, at most we could only be regarded as inflicting heavy losses on the enemy's fleet, and our operational intentions were not achieved, and in this respect, we should have been defeated. Yu Kun said with some disappointment.

Ren Chao sighed in disappointment when he heard this. I sat down on a chair. At this time, a staff officer walked in quickly and handed a piece of paper in his hand to Yu Kun.

Yu Kun said cautiously, "The latest results have been counted, do you want to listen to it?" ”

"Say it! No matter what the result. I can bear it! Ren Chao said with a helpless sigh.

"In this battle, our army sank a total of 15 enemy battleships, including the British ultra-dreadnoughts HMS Battleweary, HMS Conqueror, and the dreadnought HMS Reckless. USS Elephant, USS Invincible, American dreadnought USS Michigan. The French dreadnought France, the Italian dreadnought Count Cavour, in addition to the above eight ships, there are seven former dreadnoughts. In addition to the battleships, the enemy also had 28 cruisers and destroyers sunk, and according to rough statistics, the total tonnage of battleships lost by the Entente side in this battle was about 440,000 tons, which can be said to be nearly half, and the combined fleet suffered heavy losses. Yu Kun said respectfully.

"What about our losses?" Ren Chao hurriedly asked.

"In this battle, our side lost a total of three dreadnoughts of Guangdong, Shandong, and Zhejiang, and four former dreadnoughts of Jiangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, and Shanxi, a total of seven battleships, and another 13 cruisers, destroyers, and a total tonnage of 180,000 tons. 4,383 officers and men of the Navy were killed. Yu Kun lowered his head and said with a sad face.

"The enemy's losses are more than twice as many as ours, and in this respect our army has won!" Ren Chao nodded and said.

"However, the rest of the main warships of our Chinese Expeditionary Fleet have also been damaged, and several of the main warships have to return to China for repair due to severe damage, so it may be difficult for our Chinese Navy to completely gain sea supremacy in the Arabian Sea in a short period of time. And now that the Western Expeditionary War is imminent, our naval fleet may not be able to provide effective maritime support to the army. Yu Kun said with a decadent face.

"Everything has to be taken step by step, and it is not easy for the expeditionary fleet to achieve such a feat! The decree was issued to reward the officers and men of the expeditionary fleet who participated in the battle, and the commander of the fleet, Zhang Haiping, was awarded the title of Marquis of Jinghai, and the rest of the officers and men were rewarded. In addition, the sacrifice of soldiers is generous. Ren Chao said with a stern face.

"On behalf of the front-line soldiers, thank you, Your Majesty!" Yu Kun said respectfully.

"Hmmm! Although the strategic intention of our army was not fully achieved, after all, it inflicted heavy losses on the main force of the combined fleet of the Entente and achieved an unprecedented victory. All newspapers and media can be ordered to vigorously publicize this matter in order to boost the morale of the whole people. Ren Chao continued.

"Command!" Yu Kun said respectfully.

"Okay, I've been here for two days, and I've caused you a lot of trouble, and now that the results are out, I'm at ease, and I'm tired in the past two days, so I'll go back to the palace first. Zhuqing has also worked hard, let's go home and have a good rest! Ren Chao said as he strode out.

"Congratulations to His Majesty!" Yu Kun and the others said respectfully.

Although this battle was not satisfactory, Ren Chao was very satisfied with being able to achieve such a record under the condition of equal strength. Although the Chinese Empire sank seven battleships in this battle, the losses on the side of the Entente were even greater. Moreover, if the enemy sinks one, there will be one less, but Ren Chao can quickly replenish it through the guò system. The points obtained in this battle are enough to make up for all the losses, and some of them are earned, which is Ren Chao's biggest advantage. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you very much for the generous reward of the book friend "Shenma are all cups"!