"Your Majesty, the ministers and others are guessing as well. Now that we have seen through the conspiracy of the Americans, Wechen thinks that we can completely plan and introduce the American fleet into the waters of China and then annihilate it. Yu Kun said respectfully.

"This is a very good plan, just do as you say!" Ren Chao nodded and said.

"Weichen Command!" Yu Kun replied respectfully.

"The Nanyang side should also step up its offensive and strive to take Australia as much as possible. Now that the war in Australia is progressing smoothly, I plan to transfer Wang Jing back from the South Seas to form the Pacific Theater Command and plan to launch an attack on the United States from the Pacific direction. What do you think? Ren Chao asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, Weichen has no objection to this, but the Australian campaign has not yet ended, and after Wang Jing is transferred back to China, he should choose Yiliang to replace Wang Jing, I don't know if there is a candidate in His Majesty's heart?" Yang Jichang said respectfully.

Ren Chao frowned and thought for a while, and then said, "I thought that Hao Guanqun could be this person, although Hao Guanqun is still young, but he has been with whom Wang Jing has been attacking the Nanyang lands, and he knows the situation in Nanyang best, and he is the best candidate at present." ”

His Majesty Xià Shengming, among the generals of the Nanyang, only Hao Guanqun can take on this important task. If a good general is selected from the country to go to Nanyang, he will have to be familiar with the local form after rushing to Nanyang, which will inevitably affect the war in Nanyang, so the minister also thinks that Hao Guanqun is the best candidate. Yang Jichang replied.

"Since all the secretaries have no objections, then this matter is decided, appoint Wang Jing as the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Theater, and immediately start to form the Pacific Theater, and the post of commander of the Nanyang Theater will be taken over by Hao Guanqun." Ren Chao said with a stern face.

"Commandment!" Yang Jichang and others responded respectfully.

It is a piece of Arabian Sea water between Yemen and Somalia, which is connected to the Red Sea in the north by the Guò el-Mandeb Strait, and is named after the seaport of Aden in Yemen. The Gulf of Aden is a quick stopover for ships traveling between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. In order to prevent the Chinese navy from entering the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, the navies of Britain, the United States, France, Italy and other countries formed a joint fleet to blockade the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to block the Chinese imperial navy in the Arabian seas.

At the beginning of January 1917, the main force of the Chinese fleet entered the Gulf of Aden. The fleet was jointly formed by the three major fleets of the Huaxia Navy, and concentrated more than 70 percent of the main warships of the Huaxia Navy at that time. Of these, there are seven super-dreadnoughts alone. As the caliber of the battleship's main guns increased to 13.5-15 inches, the effective range of the guns continued to increase, the main gun turrets were arranged on the horizontal longitudinal central axis of the hull, the main turrets of the amidships were reduced or eliminated, and the displacement increased to more than 25,000 tons, this kind of dreadnought battleship was often called "super dreadnought".

At present, the Chinese Empire has two classes of super-dreadnoughts. The first type is the Gotake-class battleship, which is equipped with a total of five battleships, each of which is named after Gotake. The ship has a gross tonnage of about 29,000 tons and has 12 14-inch guns with twin turrets. With a speed of 23 knots, it was one of the world's battleships at that time. These five warships were officially commissioned in 1915, and there were four ships that came to the Gulf of Aden this time, namely Taishan, Hengshan, Hengshan, and Huashan.

Another super-dreadnought is the latest type of Emperor-class battleship that was commissioned by the Chinese Empire in 1916. The emperor-class battleship has a full load displacement of about 34,000 tons and a main engine power of 80,000 horsepower. Maximum speed: 26.4 knots, endurance: 6000 nautical miles / 16 knots, armament: 8 4-seat twin 410 mm / 45 times main guns, 20 140 mm caliber secondary guns. Broadside armor belt (maximum) 305 mm, turret frontal 356 mm, turret roof 127 mm, armored deck 75 mm. Command tower 336 mm.

The emperor-class battleships are all named after the ancient virtuous emperors, and the three emperor-class battleships that rushed to the Gulf of Aden this time were Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Tang Taizong.

In addition to seven super-dreadnoughts, there were thirteen dreadnoughts, sixteen pre-dreadnoughts, a full thirty-six battleships, plus accompanying cruisers, destroyers and other battleships, and the total tonnage of the entire fleet exceeded one million tons. As far as the situation at that time is concerned, only Britain and the Chinese Empire, as the hegemon of the sea, had the strength to form such a powerful naval fleet.

Although this naval fleet is large and powerful, the enemies they face are also very formidable. Because they had to face a combined fleet formed by Britain, France, Italy, the United States and other countries, although the main force of the British and French fleets was pinned down by the Germans in the Atlantic waters, but the strength of this combined fleet should not be underestimated. The purpose of the Chinese fleet's visit to the Gulf of Aden was to destroy this combined fleet, to compete for sea supremacy in the Arabian Sea, and to assist the Western Expeditionary Force in capturing the Arabian Peninsula.

On the morning of January 7, 1917, the Chinese fleet was the first to discover the French fleet, and the Battle of the Gulf of Aden broke out. The Chinese fleet and the French fleet were the first to exchange fire, and then the British, American, and Italian fleets arrived one after another, and then entered the battle. The Chinese Fleet and the Combined Fleet of the Allied Powers fought fiercely for two days in the waters near the Gulf of Aden, and the number of troops invested by both sides in this naval battle reached the highest level in history.

Although Ren Chao was far away in Beijing, he learned about the report from the front line through the Guò radio station at the first time. After Ren Chao got the news, he personally rushed to the command hall of the Admiralty.

"Ministers, see Majesty!" Admiralty Minister Yu Kun led a group of officials from the Admiralty to salute respectfully.

"Okay, there's no need to be polite at this time, you can do whatever you need to do! Yu Qing, come on. Ren Chao waved his hand and said.

Yu Kun let Ren Chao into the office, "Your Majesty, the naval battle has just begun at this time, I'm afraid it won't be possible to tell the winner for a while, Your Majesty should go back to the palace as soon as possible to rest!" As soon as the results of the battle came out, Weichen immediately reported to His Majesty! ”

"Hey!" Ren Chao sighed helplessly and said, "You don't know the importance of this naval battle, this battle is directly related to the national fortune of my Huaxia Empire, where can I still sit!" I can't help you here, but I want to know the outcome of the battle as soon as possible. I'm not going anywhere, I'm just waiting here, waiting for the outcome of the battle. ”

"But Your Majesty, the scale of this naval battle is really rare in history, and I am afraid that for a while, it will not be possible to decide the winner at all." Yu Kun couldn't help frowning and said.

"Are you afraid that I will cause you trouble here, you can rest assured that I don't understand the navy, I still have self-knowledge of this, so I will not interfere with your command, I will honestly sit here and wait for a result." Ren Chao said with a stern face. (To be continued......)