"General, although the tonnage of the Chinese's warships is not much different from ours. However, their artillery is all rapid-fire, and ours is an old rack-fire gun. The rate of fire is completely inferior to them. In addition, the tactics of our bow against the enemy do not seem to be as effective as the tactics of the opposing side's side against the enemy! A junior officer, stubbornly reported to Brigadier General Russell.

Brigadier General Russell nodded, though he didn't want to believe it. However, this is the case. At least in the first round of firefighting, the British Navy was completely defeated.

"Order the battleship to turn and fight with the Chinese for the T-head!" Brigadier General Russell gave the order. He knew that if the old-fashioned tactics were continued, the end result would be that they would be quickly eliminated by the Chinese navy.

As a last resort, the British Navy began to turn, and the remaining 5 battleships formed a column formation. Both sides began to accelerate on the surface of the sea, seizing the T-head. However, the British Navy also faced a big disadvantage. That's the speed of the fleet.

The 'Orlando-class' battleship has a maximum speed of 16 knots, and in fact, because it has been in service for too long, it is already thankful that it can run at a speed of 15 knots. The Chinese Navy's 'Nakshatra-class' cruisers and 'Disha-class' destroyers are both cutting-edge warships, and both of these warships have a maximum speed of more than 24 knots. You can easily shake off the British Navy, calmly seize the T-shape, and then hit the firepower and continue to shoot, giving full play to your own artillery superiority.

Although the British Navy's 'Southampton-class' light cruisers reached a maximum speed of 20 knots, they were barely able to confront the Chinese Navy. However, the 'Manchester' was a serious drag on the ship. So that the entire fleet is in a position of being passively beaten.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! Once again, the Chinese navy seized the T-prefix, and the artillery fire rained down on the British fleet. Dense shells exploded around the battleship 'Manchester'. Constantly splashing up columns of water. Columns of water fell, smashing on the deck. Wet the deck of the 'Manchester' and the sailors on it.

"General, we can't go on like this. Our warships are about to run out of steam! "A lieutenant admiral officer said to Commodore Russell that he was the captain of the battleship Manchester. From the very beginning of the battle, the British fleet was in a position of passive beating, and if it went on like this, was there still a way to live?

"So what should we do? The speed of the Chinese is so fast, even if we want to evacuate, it is impossible! Brigadier General Russell said with a dark face. This battle has changed all his previous concepts. I thought it would. Ships with large calibers and thick armor are the masters of naval warfare. But now it seems that a warship with a fast rate of fire and a high speed has a real advantage.

"General, please go to the battleship 'Basingstoke' and retreat!" Said the lieutenant colonel officer. It is clear that the slow and badly damaged battleship 'Manchester' has become a target for the Chinese fleet, if not to sink the battleship. The Chinese will not give up. Therefore, the battleship 'Manchester' could only remain and continue the operation. On the other hand, the other four 'Southampton-class' light cruisers could take advantage of their high speed to retreat.

However, since then. The fate of the battleship 'Manchester' can be imagined.

"This ......," Brigadier General Russell hesitated. If it was him before, he would never agree to such a construction. After all, as a high Royal Admiral. Fight the enemy to the end, even if it is to the death. That's where he can be. But now, crushed by the superiority of the Chinese Navy. Brigadier General Russell had other ideas.

"General, you need to go and report to His Excellency the Commander about this battle, to report to him about our inferiority. This is very useful for the next battle! The lieutenant colonel probably understood what Brigadier General Russell was worried about, so he said.

"Okay!" Brigadier General Russell nodded. Yes, he is not running away, he is not a coward. The reason why he chose to retreat was to present the Chinese false reality to the commander of the fleet, George Murphy. Admiral Satrus reports.

With the help of a transport boat, Commodore Russell got on board the light cruiser 'Basingstoke'. Then the four 'Southampton-class' light cruisers began to turn and fled north.

"Sir, the British are running away!" A junior officer reported to Colonel Liu Zhiyuan.

"Concentrate your fire on the 'Orlando-class' battleship of the British first, and then chase after it. They can't escape! Colonel Liu Zhiyuan looked confident. After all, the British Navy's 'Southampton-class' light cruisers had a maximum speed of only twenty knots, which was more than four knots slower than the 'Nakshatra-class'. They had more than enough time to catch up.

Under siege by the Chinese Navy, the battleship 'Manchester' lasted only twenty minutes before being sunk. However, this battleship was a heroic battleship, which was sunk to cover the retreat of its comrades.

After sinking the battleship Manchester, the Chinese Navy began to chase the fleeing British battleship at high speed. In 20 minutes, the British Navy only ran more than 10 kilometers. This is nothing to the Chinese Navy. In a maximum of two hours, you will be able to catch them up and eliminate them one by one.

Inside the bridge of the light cruiser Basingstoke, Commodore Russell's face was as gloomy as water. The telegram in his hand had already been crumpled into a ball by him. That was the last telegram sent by the battleship 'Manchester' before it was sunk. Under heavy fire from the Chinese Navy, the battleship "Manchester" did not last long before it was sunk.

"Someone, prepare to send a telegram to the flagship. Tell Your Excellency the Commander in detail about the course of this battle, so that Your Excellency the Commander can prepare for the next battle! Brigadier General Russell ordered. He already had a bad premonition that if the Chinese pursued him desperately, he might not be able to escape at all. In this case, the only way to report to the flagship was by telegram.

"Yes, General!" The communications officer nodded, and then began to send a telegram.

Two hours later, the Chinese Navy caught up with the British fleet, and the battle continued. Although, the British Navy still had four more battleships. However, the 'Southampton-class' light cruisers, with a displacement of only 1,500 tons, were not even comparable to the Imperial Navy's 'Earth-class' destroyers, let alone the 'Nakshatra-class' cruisers.

Whether it was the number or the firepower of the warships, the British Navy was at an absolute disadvantage. Under the powerful firepower of the Imperial Navy, the British Navy was in a very dangerous situation.

Of course, during the high-speed navigation of the battleship, the battleship was very turbulent. In particular, small warships were particularly turbulent, which greatly affected the accuracy of the battleship's shelling.

At 5:34 p.m., a British Navy 'Southampton-class' light cruiser was heavily damaged and its speed began to drop. Then, it was besieged by the Chinese Navy. Ten minutes later, the battleship was sunk, and none of the more than fifty British sailors on board survived.

At 6:12 p.m., another 'Southampton-class' light cruiser was also sunk.

However, it is almost dark now, and the sky in winter is always darker early.

Six warships of the Chinese Navy pursued and intercepted the two remaining warships of the British Navy. In order to sink the other side, he did not hesitate to shorten the distance between the two sides to within three kilometers. At this distance, in the event of a hit, the battleship will be heavily damaged. Even a 105 mm shell can easily tear through the armor of a 'Nakshatra-class' cruiser at this distance.

When the sky darkened completely, the Imperial Navy had to abandon the pursuit. However, only one of the two remaining warships of the British Navy escaped. Brigadier Russell's light cruiser, the TBasingstoke, was also sunk. Only one battleship was left to flee with a scarred body.

The Chinese Navy, on the other hand, has paid very few casualties. Of the six warships, only two of the 'Earthshatter-class' battleships were slightly damaged, which did not affect the rest of the battle. The casualties were also under ten. Compared to their gains, this loss is almost negligible.

Colonel Liu Zhiyuan sent a battle report to the flagship of the fleet, and after receiving the battle report, Vice Admiral Lu Haipeng, commander of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy, was greatly satisfied. He ordered Colonel Liu Zhiyuan to lead the fleet to continue northward to find the location of the main force of the British Navy.

The victory of the fleet led by Colonel Liu Zhiyuan is undoubtedly a good start for the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy! Although, compared to the home fleet of the British Navy, which numbered more than seventy ships in total, the losses of these warships were simply insignificant. However, the Imperial Navy sank five warships of the British Navy without one damage and severely damaged one. This was enough to boost the morale of the fleet. Everyone is full of confidence in the next battle.

Unlike the confident Imperial Navy, the British Navy was very pessimistic. On board the flagship battleship 'Collingwood', the commander of the British Navy's Home Fleet, George Brown. Admiral Satrus's face turned pale. This afternoon's encounter ended up being such a result, which was completely unacceptable to him.

The British Navy's two 'Orlando-class' warships and four 'Southampton-class' light cruisers faced the Chinese Navy's two 'Star-class' cruisers and four 'Disha-class' destroyers, and the tonnage of the two sides was almost identical. However, the end result was a crushing defeat for the British Navy and negligible losses to the Chinese Navy.

If it were possible, George. Admiral Satrus even wanted to give up on this decisive battle. However, he could not make such a decision. Now it's ready to fly, and I have to send it! (To be continued......)

PS: The second update arrives, asking for subscriptions, monthly passes and recommended tickets! Thank you for the monthly pass of book friend A Yun Mengze A!