His Excellency Lord British dared to make such a bold statement because, in the exercise plan drawn up by both sides, the performance of all Chinese warships was limited to the same level as the known German ships.

Rear Admiral Craddock is confident that after clarifying the indicators such as speed, rate of fire of the main gun, range and armor-piercing performance, the key capability that the two sides need to fight for is the experience and command ability of naval warfare.

There is no doubt that no one in the world has done this better than the British. The British Royal Navy must also have such self-confidence, otherwise, they will discredit the face of the world's number one power. No British admiral would allow his ancestors to be dishonored.

The Chinese Navy gladly accepted this agreement and sent officers to each other to supervise the exercise warships, so as not to find fault after losing.

Yang Hao himself didn't know much about naval warfare, so when the conditions for the exercise were determined, he asked Sa Zhenbing with concern: "Is there really no need to rely on our advanced equipment?" Although the British have begun to decline, they are still unbeatable in the background of the navy! ”

Sa Zhenbing was not afraid, and patted his chest with confidence: "Don't look at the fact that our navy only has a history of more than 20 years (according to the official establishment of the Beiyang Naval Division in 1888), and the seniority is inferior to the old nose. But counting the results of the battle, none of us are weaker than him. In addition, in the naval battles after the Steam Ironclad, our experience was unique. No matter how capable the ancestors of the British devils are, their juniors will inevitably eat ashes behind us! Hey, Envoy Young, just wait and see! ”

Seeing that he was so confident, Yang Hao could only choose to trust.

He hadn't cared much about this side for ten years, and his father had passed on how much naval knowledge from the 21st century had been imparted. It's all unknown. on this. Yang Hao is not so optimistic. After all, until my father retired, the Chinese Navy looked like a bitter man. It was only after the 052D and the aircraft carrier were put into service that they began to have some confidence.

However, in the end, it is just a drill, and their real use is not in deciding the winner, it is also good to watch it as a good show.

In a hurry, Yang Hao simply pretended to be Sa Zhenbing's follower. Mixed with the director team, together with the senior generals of both sides, to observe the entire exercise process.

The exercise began with the enemy fleet suddenly launching an attack on the South African colony, which meant that the German navy sneaked south from the Atlantic, bypassed the Cape of Good Hope, and attacked the British colonies all the way, plundering and destroying, and at the same time striking at the scattered British armed forces and creating chaos.

The British fleet, stationed in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, received war reports. Immediately mobilized in accordance with the order issued by the Admiralty, a detachment led by several dreadnoughts immediately pursued and intercepted it south. Another fleet crossed the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean, attempting to block the way of enemy ships before they could attack north to block the canal.

The strength of the British Far East Fleet was too weak, and direct confrontation was naturally useless. However, their purpose of existence was only to protect the security of the Indian colonies.

Therefore, the main drama of the entire exercise was set as the enemy's forces detached a force north of the Seychelles on the way north of Africa in an attempt to move into the waters near India and wait for an opportunity to launch an attack to contain the British fleet coming from the direction of the Mediterranean, thus creating an opportunity for the main fleet to seize the key passes in the Red Sea.

The background of the exercise also included the enemy's surprise attack on Aden from Iraq by land with the help of the Eurasian Railway, across the Arabian Peninsula.

To be honest, such a brain-hole attack plan was really unimaginable to the British at first. If nothing else, the crossing of the Arabian Peninsula is very unreliable to think about, and if it were to go to sea from the southern tip of Iraq and drive out the British stationed in the Persian Gulf, it would be more likely.

However, neither side disagreed with this, nor did they quarrel too much about it. Anyway, if the enemy is lenient, the possibility of it happening is still very high. At least from the perspective of the defense strategy of the British, it is better to calculate more than to be negligent.

In this context, the battle cruisers, which play the role of raiders, plus the light cruisers, take supply ship formations, become the best sabotage force.

Their role is to simulate the latest German battle cruiser, the specific data of which the British have not yet figured out, but it is believed that the ship has a displacement of no less than 20,000 tons, at least 40,000 horsepower, and the main armament is at least four eight 280mm heavy guns - this is also a naval gun with superior performance used by the Germans, and its power is not inferior to the British 45 times the diameter of the 305mm gun

Well, speaking of which, the dignified number one naval power was actually overtaken by a series of juniors in terms of naval artillery, and the British were really sad enough.

It seems that after entering the era of ironclads, British large-caliber naval guns have not been able to keep up. Whether it was the early Armstrong rear-loading gun, or the later 305mm, 324, 343 and other strange caliber guns, the performance has always been unsatisfactory.

Especially when the dreadnought was rising, the 45 times and 50 times the diameter guns quickly launched by various countries, the performance was fierce one by one, whether it was the Germans who had been upgrading from 240 and 280mm caliber for the first time, or the Russians who had been marginalized before, and the Americans who temporarily expanded to 305mm guns based on the mature technology of 203mm guns, or the Italians who took drugs, almost without exception, their artillery performance surpassed the British.

For more than ten years, the British failed to develop a 50 times the diameter of the 305mm gun, so now the new battleships in service or under construction are carrying a 13.5-inch 343mm caliber that is not embarrassing or embarrassing.

In China and the United States, 356mm caliber guns have been developed. The Germans jumped from 305mm to 381mm in one step, and everyone was scrambling to expand the caliber, and no one would fall behind.

Of course, the British would never admit that their naval artillery technology was outdated.

Another light cruiser, purely soy sauce. In his role, he is an auxiliary anti-submarine patrol to drive out enemy ships that have released torpedoes, and a fireman who mainly fights British merchant ships he encounters. Maneuverable and flexible, with strong firepower.

Supply ships, needless to say. It carried fuel that could supply two warships and extend the range to more than 10,000 nautical miles. There is also equipment for carrying infantry on board. and for loading supplies for looting in the middle of the road. One specialization and multiple abilities.

Such a force is not unpowerful for the British Navy in India, which is seriously under-strengthened.

In terms of performance data, it is difficult to resist the former dreadnought with a displacement of 16,000 tons, two twin 305mm guns, four 233mm single guns, and a modified steam turbine that can barely increase the speed to 23 knots.

But fortunately, the British still have a large number of little brothers available here. When the time comes, I may be able to take two hits.

In addition to this, Britain also has a new and fastest battle cruiser, the Indomitable, which will sail from the Red Sea as fast as possible to make peace at the place where the war takes place in western India. When the time comes, this powerful guy with four twin 305mm guns will definitely be able to give the other party some color and see!

Of course, in terms of speed setting, both sides are limited to the more credible number of 25 knots.

Since it's a drill, of course, it can't really be the same as you come and go for days to hide and seek. They can't find each other.

In an era when there is no radar, even in calm weather conditions. It is very difficult to find the traces of enemy ships in the vast sea. At night, everyone is like a blind man, and it is difficult to see the enemy passing by from a distance of more than ten kilometers - especially the attackers who have implemented the control of the lights.

But in the exercise, it's much easier.

In the setting, the enemy ship attacks a British 10,000-ton ship carrying valuable supplies, and the enemy cruiser fires warning shots in an attempt to capture the freighter. But the loyal and fearless British captain flatly refused this despicable demand, and at the same time secretly sent a distress message. Yes, the British, in recent years, have begun to secretly install wireless telegraphs on important ocean-going freighters.

The enemy ships apparently did not anticipate this, and in a fit of rage, they opened fire and sank the freighter, but found nothing.

But the British navy knew their approximate position, and the West Indies fleet immediately advanced from their position, and one morning, with the observation coordinates of the remaining two freighters, preemptively intercepted the enemy ships.

A few hours later, the keen eye of a British good lookout succeeded in capturing the enemy ship thirty kilometers away.

At the same time, enemy ships spotted the presence of the British West Indies fleet. At this point, the two sides began to enter the formal confrontation stage.

Major General Craddock personally went into battle and was responsible for directing the entire battle.

From the outset, the British fleet gained the upper hand thanks to its familiarity with the sea and its knowledge of the nearby meteorological conditions, which was a habit left over from the sailing era. Subsequently, the two sides began to go back and forth to grab the T-shaped position,—— which is again from the experience summed up in the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle and the subsequent melee of various countries.

The battle cruiser form set by both sides was that at least three turrets could fire at the same time, which was exactly in line with the structure of the three turrets of the battleships used by the Chinese side. It's just that when firing, only two guns can be used.

In this way, the strength of the two sides seems to be about the same for the time being.

But until then, the only one that is behind the dreadnought is more difficult and dangerous to deal with! After all, its speed is slightly slower, its maneuverability is not as good as that of the other side, and in terms of the power and range of the main gun, it is obvious that the British are weaker on their side.

Therefore, entangled the other party to restrict its actions is the main thing, and it is not the best policy to fight head-on.

The British battleships struggled to entangle the enemy battle cruisers, and at the same time sent two old cruisers to flank around in an attempt to take out the attacking cruisers and supply ships. There are also some guys who are even more unbearable, and they are cruising from the periphery in a soy sauce pose.

But Rear Admiral Craddock wouldn't really let them be used as decorations, in fact, he ordered all ships to have their torpedoes ready, and when the opportunity was right, they would not hesitate to rush forward and launch them in one go. Although their torpedo range is still not good at this time, as long as there is a blood ox in front of them, if they resist hard fighting, there is a good chance of holding on until the torpedoes are released in piles.

In any case, the thickness and strength of the armor of the British former dreadnoughts are still very good.

The attacking fleet was rather conceited, and in the face of the outnumbered British fleet, they did not flee immediately with their speed, and the supply ship could not run fast. After maneuvering around the opponent for a few circles, the battle cruiser, who had the advantage of speed, suddenly ignored the deviation of the position, rushed straight up against the battleship, and opened fire at a distance of 12 kilometers!

Twelve kilometers away was not very good at a distance of twelve kilometers with only optical rangefinders and mechanical computer aids, but the German naval guns were commendable in their skill and their accuracy was satisfactory, so that the first two shells were able to observe the approximate distance of the opponent, although they were far from the target.

In response to this result, the British observers who stayed on the enemy ships protested, arguing that it was impossible to form a coordinate reference so easily with just one shelling, at least you have to fight a few more times to be reasonable, right?

The captain who was born in the old Beiyang muttered in his heart, if he didn't have to take care of your grandsons, Lao Tzu would not have had the slightest problem forming a span shot for the first time! Do you still need to use dyed cannonballs to calibrate?

But who makes the family the organizer? Besides, the exercises and exercises used all empty cartridges, and no shells fell when they heard the sound, so they could only rely on the observation data reported by the two sides synchronously, and after relative calculations from the director's office, they could get rough results. In any case, it is impossible to determine the effect of forcing in the hit, that is too unusual!

Helplessly, the attacking ship could only suffer this loss, but the attack still did not change. After a tense reloading, both sides pushed to 10 km and opened fire again!

The air cannon fight is also a spectacular scene, with fireworks rising and spreading everywhere, just like the real thing.

This time, the coordinates reported by the attacking ship were more accurate, and the British really couldn't find fault with it, so they had to admit that they had formed a cross-fire, and the two sides officially entered the direct shooting distance of life and death!

Such a ferocious attack caught Major General Craddock a little off guard. However, he is also a general with character, and in this kind of battlefield of showing courage, he must not show weakness in front of real Chinese.

So, while sending telegrams to the fleet, the Indian colonial governor's office, and the British naval command in accordance with the regulations, he directed the battleships to rush up against the enemy ships and prepare their artillery!

The ship's forward twin main guns barely had a firing range of more than a dozen kilometers, but the accuracy was impossible to see beyond seven kilometers, which is why the tactical requirements formulated at the time controlled the engagement distance between three and seven kilometers. If it is farther away, the British optical rangefinder will not be accurate, and if it is closer, even if the opponent's lagging artillery can exert terrible lethality!

So, the two warships came and went, and the boom was endless. The distance also continued to close from 10 kilometers, and soon broke through the dangerous boundary of 7 kilometers, and continued to advance towards 5 kilometers.

In the process, neither side was judged to have hit the blow, but the attacking ship missed twice closely, and the British battleship was damaged!

Major General Craddock and the British, who were watching the excitement in the rear, did not look good! (To be continued.) )