About 100 miles southwest of Port Lyell is HMS Cyclops, the 11th Task Force of the Royal Navy of the British Empire.

Vice Admiral Hood, the commander of the fleet, stood on the bridge of the air ship, silently watching the group of carrier-based aircraft that constantly surrounded the mothership overhead, waiting to return.

Since its departure from Bombay, the task force consisting of 3 fleet carriers, 3 battle cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 16 destroyers has made a large circle from hundreds of kilometers south of the island of Ceylon, away from the merchant shipping routes, while the whole fleet has exercised absolute radio silence in an effort to covertly approach the target.

The storm that raged in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal two days ago affected the normal functioning of the Chinese army's air and underwater cordons -- airships could not penetrate deep into the Bay of Bengal, and submarines had to go down to the deep sea to take shelter from the wind -- but it further enhanced the concealment of the Hoodt Task Force before it met the enemy.

Hood disagreed with this attack from the bottom of his heart, the Kiel operation lost too many skilled carrier-based aircraft pilots, and it would take a long time for the rookies to take over for intensive training and integration, and according to known intelligence, the strength of the main aircraft carrier force of the Chinese army should be higher than that of the Hood Task Force.

"Why don't you wait until 8? Wouldn't it be more certain to wait for the 'Brilliant' and its carrier-based aircraft wing to gather the combat strength of the four aircraft carriers and launch an attack again? ”

Hood had defended his superior, Admiral Jericho, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Indian Ocean Entente.

"I don't want to strike now, either, but the High Command needs a victory, and the entire Entente camp needs a victory - this is an order from the Chief of Staff of the Navy himself." Jericho answered him unabashedly.

If the task force encounters an enemy aircraft carrier mobile fleet...... Hood was not confident of victory, but he was sure that he and his more than 10,000 generals would go all out. Strike at sight!

"The first attack wave begins to land." A loud male voice broadcast on the radio.

Lieutenant General Hood was just about to raise his telescope when a telegram was unhurriedly presented to him.

"A call from the United Fleet Command."

"Read."

"Forward the secret report of the high command that the enemy's main aircraft carrier force was still operating along the southern coast of Taiwan Island on June 25."

"Gone?" Hood glanced at the baby-faced little staff officer who was reading the telegram.

"It's gone."

Hood nodded, waving his hand for the staff officer to step back.

This is a clever plan of the High Command. Or is it a god-given act of absolute luck?

Hood prefers to believe in God.

An officer jumped down the staircase from the mainmast and saluted Hood and reported: "Commander, count clearly, there are still 13 planes left in the first attack wave that have not returned." ”

“13？ What an inauspicious number...... Forget it, pass the order, recover the waves, and the whole fleet will return the same way. ”

Hood doesn't want to, and can't be a hero.

Hit and run, established policy, losses cannot be avoided. However, from another angle, this precious actual combat is of certain positive significance to the integration of the old and new hybrid troops, but it is a pity that the latest "Guanghui" could not arrive in time, and it is the "Guanghui" and its 21st Carrier-based Wing that need to be tempered most in actual combat......

Early the next morning, the conference hall in front of the Xinhua Palace.

“…… The minister was terrified, and on behalf of the Navy Staff, he apologized to the emperor. ”

The chief of staff of the Navy, Yan Fu, bowed his head and said this, suddenly got up and left his seat, knelt on his knees, and kowtowed to the throne.

Qianhua said anxiously: "Why is this. Yan Aiqing, please get up quickly. ”

Immediately got up and went to help.

Yan Fu was shocked by Yu Yan and didn't dare to make a mistake. Without waiting for the Empress to reach out, she crawled back to her seat.

Qian Hua shook his head and smiled, held the edge of the table with his slender hand, and said disapprerovitically: "It's just an outpost that has been knocked a few times, making a fuss and not being a proper system." ”

On 26 July, Port Blair, an outpost in the Indian Ocean, was attacked by British carrier-based aircraft, destroying 53 Imperial planes, damaging one submarine and one torpedo boat, and killing 97 people. Two hundred and sixty-three people were injured, and most of the materials that had been shipped to Port Blair in the previous month, sufficient to sustain the operation of the entire Andaman and Nicobar base complex for three months, were destroyed, and the infrastructure such as the cloth head, water engine parking lot, and airport were damaged to varying degrees, and they could not be restored within three weeks.

More serious than specific material losses. It was the prestige of the Imperial Navy. Since the beginning of the war, the Imperial Navy has been invincible from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It has always been our army's sneak attack to beat the enemy, but this time, without warning, it was successfully attacked by the British army, which is bound to shake the "invincible majesty" of the imperial navy.

Seeing that the empress was so light-hearted, Yan Fu was even more panicked, and confessed guilt again and again.

"Let's stop here, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and this time it is not all the fault of the navy. With such a big movement of the British, the intelligence agencies did not find out the news at all, what is this for? Director Su, tell me about it. Qian Hua waved his hand, and his instantly sharp gaze swept towards Major General Su Mengxin, the chief of the Intelligence Division of the General Staff.

Su Mengxin's face turned pale, and he hurriedly bowed his head and said: "The minister is ashamed, the minister is guilty, ...... is guilty."

Qianhua looked angry, patted the table and said, "No."

Well, let's talk about something else. ”

—

Su Mengxin raised his head slightly and said: "I think that the enemy army chose the timing so accurately, and after succeeding, he transferred so calmly, presumably he had already deciphered the telegram code of our army......

Army Chief of Staff Zhang Yaoqian immediately sneered: "Ridiculous, how is this possible!" ”

"Why can't it be?" Qian Hua glanced at him, and Man Bu returned to his throne.

"Our army's radio technology is the best in the world." Zhang Yao shrugged his shoulders.

"So it's impossible to be deciphered? Anything is possible, a wrecked plane, a sunken submarine, or a damn traitor can get their hands on the codebook. Even if we are optimistic about our own codebook, it is difficult to guarantee that the enemy will not use other methods to solve the code of our army, and before Pearl Harbor, didn't the reference department also solve the code of the US military? We can decipher the enemy's code, but what is the enemy doing is impossible to decipher our army's code? Since the start of the war, it has been so smooth, and I have been carried away by the victory. ”

Zhang Yao was about to argue, but was immediately stopped by Liu Bailiang with his eyes.

"Minister...... Biased. ”

Insincere concessions, or rather, transfers.

Qianhua turned around and tortured Su Mengxin again: "However, I hope that Director Su will explain that it should not be difficult to quickly crack the British army's code with our army's code-breaking technology, and it is also within the responsibility of the Reference Department to listen to the enemy's wireless telegraphy, why, I haven't found any clues?" ”

Su Mengxin broke out in a cold sweat: "The emperor forgives the sin, I really didn't find anything suspicious before, and it is speculated that the enemy army should have restricted the use of radio, changed important information to be transmitted by global submarine cables, and at the tactical level, the traditional light and flag signals were used to solve the visual distance information transmission." As a result, we have to rely on traditional espionage and reconnaissance methods to keep track of enemy movements, but just last month, our intelligence network in India was devastated, and this source of intelligence was cut off. ”

Qianhua sighed with ulterior motives and looked around at everyone: "If you are arrogant, you will be lazy, if you are lazy, if you are lazy, if you are lazy, if you are lazy, if you are lazy, you will be defeated." It's time to learn a lesson. ”

"Obey the holy will......" all the ministers said in unison.

After taking a sip of the water in the goblet, Qianhua held the case with both hands, and his eyes were full of strength that could not be concealed by heavy makeup: "This defeat, I think, is a good thing, a reminder to the whole empire, guard against arrogance and rashness, and avoid greater failure, a very timely alarm!" The top priority now is to come up with remedial measures, and we must not allow this shame to be repeated, let alone affect the preparations for the Ai operation! ”

"The Emperor Shengming—"

Qian Hua raised his hand and pressed the voice of the saint who echoed the Lord, and raised his chin towards Yan Fu: "Chief of Staff Yan, tell me, what are the countermeasures of the navy?" ”

"The navy is united in hatred of the enemy, and it is eager to immediately attack and crush the enemy's mobile fleet in one fell swoop, and ...... shame on the port of Xuebu."

"Changing the radio codes of the three services immediately is the first priority." Liu Bailiang, the chief of the general staff who was holding his hands on the table, interrupted Yan Fu calmly but not gentlemanly, "As for attacking for revenge, I don't think it's necessary, the Ai operation should start in more than a month, I really want to be ashamed, and it will not be too late to add it up by then." ”

"What Chief of General Staff Liu said is extremely true," Premier Yang Zhengjin took the lead in taking a stand, "I was punched by someone, my head is hot, and I immediately want to go back to the past and punch it, which is understandable, but you have to settle down and think about it, do you want to play boxing with others?" No, what you want is his life, one punch, not enough, you can't kill him, bear with it first, wait for your machete to sharpen, find a dark and windy day at night, a remote alley where no dog barks, see the opportunity, and get the knife down! ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zhengjin replaced the knife with his hand, vividly showed a slash, snorted and sneered: "The world is pure." ”

Yan Fu didn't buy it, and continued to take care of himself: "After the attack on Buenos Air, a gap has been opened in the warning circle against the Bay of Bengal, and if the enemy launches a similar offensive again before the Ai battle, it will inevitably disrupt the original plan and trap our army in passivity." ”

"There must never be a second time!" Zhang Yaoqian said indignantly.

"The time is ripe." Liu Bailiang rubbed his robe and said indifferently.

"What? What timing? Zhang Yaoqian was puzzled.

Liu Bailiang stared at Yan Fu seriously, and said half-suggestively and half-orderly: "Leave it to the army in advance, and the navy should continue to prepare for the Ai operation, and don't be disturbed by this kind of emergency." As a remedial measure, the wary forces of the Buenos Aires side should be replenished as soon as possible, and the gaps should be filled, and the ocean-going submarines of the East China Sea Fleet could also be transferred to monitor the arrival of British ports. ”

Yan Fu sat up straight and replied in disbelief: "Dare to ask, how can the army be ashamed?" ”

"Chief of Staff Yan forgot that the two air groups to which the Indian side is attached are almost airborne, and it should also come in handy."