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On the morning of May 12, the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy had already passed through Sardinia, which was only more than 800 kilometers away from Gibraltar at this time. Admiral Li Haitao, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, also caught up with the fleet and arrived at the flagship battleship 'Emperor Han Ming'. Previously, the fleet had been under the command of the Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Wu Zhiyuan.

The current Indian Ocean Fleet and the Battle of Sicily were preceded by earth-shaking changes. As well as the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships that had been in service for nearly twenty years and the old 'Dreadnought-class' battleships that had captured the British and French navies had withdrawn from the fleet and joined the artillery group. Now the lead ships of the fleet are 11 battleships and one battlecruiser. Among the 12 capital ships, in addition to the battleship 'Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty', the battleship 'Qin Shi Huang' and the battleship 'Prince Fusu' and the battlecruiser 'Wang Ben' were built by China itself, the other 8 were the lead ships of the combined fleet of the British and French navies captured in the Battle of Sicily, including the battleship 'Iron Duke', the battleship 'Ben Bau', the battleship 'Canada', the battleship 'Daring', the battleship 'Centurion', and the ' The battleship Thor', the battleship Lorraine and the battleship Provence of the French Navy. As if to humiliate Britain and France, this time the Indian Ocean Fleet repaired these damaged battleships and joined the fleet without even changing their names, just turning the flag into the flag of the Chinese Navy!

These battleships of the Indian Ocean Fleet, except for two 'Qin-class' battleships and one 'Baiqi-class' battlecruiser, are equipped with 305 mm main guns. The rest of the battleships were armed with 343-mm guns. These capital ships alone have made the strength of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy develop by leaps and bounds! Except for the Chinese Navy itself. Probably no country will be able to come up with a fleet that can match the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy!

Of course, with the continuous improvement of the performance of aircraft, aircraft carriers have shown sharp combat effectiveness in naval warfare. It is foreseeable that in the near future, the capital ships will gradually be eliminated. But now, except for China, which is equipped with aircraft carriers, the rest of the countries do not have such weapons, which makes these capital ships of the Chinese Navy can still exert strong combat effectiveness!

Admiral Li Haitao attended a meeting of the Admiralty presided over by Navy Minister Zhang Cheng. Rushed to the front by plane from Beijing. Because of the distance and the extremely low range of the plane, it took a full three days to reach Cairo. Then take a 'Fuqing-class' destroyer of the Chinese Navy and quickly catch up with the fleet. Fortunately, before the fleet arrived in Gibraltar, it finally caught up!

"Chief of Staff, you've worked hard these days!" On the battleship 'Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty', Admiral Li Haitao said!

"Commander. It's good you're back! Is this meeting smooth? Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan said with a smile. After receiving the order from the Admiralty, he immediately ordered the Indian Ocean Fleet to start preparing for the war, and such a large fleet was to be mobilized, which really tired him these days!

"The conference was a success! By the time I left Beijing, I had already received news from the marshal that His Majesty the Emperor had approved the battle plan we had submitted! And it was all three battle plans approved! This time, we're going to have a big fight! "Admiral Li Haitao is very excited!

"Three battle plans? In addition to hitting Gibraltar. Where else are we going to fight? Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan asked. At the moment, the Chinese Navy is still secretly making preparations, and the specific combat mission has not yet been issued. So Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan didn't know!

"Chief of Staff, taking Gibraltar is only our first goal! After taking Gibraltar, we will return to Sicily and attack Italy! The Army will move troops directly from North America to the Mediterranean. Defeat Italy! If we can defeat Italy within a month, we will finally be able to launch a landing on England! Admiral Li Haitao said!

"Landing in the UK? That's a good idea! But. It's not easy to beat Italy in a month! Italy is not a small country, and although the main forces of their army are concentrated in the north, the Germans will definitely hold us back by then! Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan exclaimed!

"All the soldiers are fast! After we take Gibraltar, we will attack Rome directly! If you take Rome, it is better to capture the Italian king and government dignitaries, and then force them to surrender! If it goes by the way, I'm afraid it won't take more than a month to end the fighting in Italy! Admiral Li Haitao said. In this battle, time is very important.

"Haha! Commander, then it looks like we're going to have to pick up the pace, the 8th Marine Division will be in charge of the attack on Gibraltar! Attacking Gibraltar with one Marine Division, there should be no problem! If you are a qiē shun lì, it is expected that you will be able to take Gibraltar in three to four days! Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan said. They had already received the deployment of British troops in Gibraltar before the attack began. In addition to the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy, which was greatly weakened, there was only one regiment of land and one battalion of marines, with a total strength of about 3,000 men. Such a small number of troops is not at all looked at by the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy.

"Hmmm! In order to speed up the strengthening of our forces, the marshal has agreed to temporarily assign the aircraft carriers 'Jiuhuashan' and 'Putuoshan' to us! It is expected to be on the battlefield in two days! With the support of two aircraft carriers, it will be less difficult for us to take Gibraltar again! Admiral Li Haitao said with a smile!

"What? Give us the 'Jiuhua Mountain' and 'Putuo Mountain'? That's great! "The various fleets of the Chinese Navy want aircraft carriers, but the number of aircraft carriers is too small, and in order to ensure victory in the battle against the United States, aircraft carriers have always been assembled and used! I am afraid that this situation will not be improved until the end of the year, when the first batch of 'Wuyue-class' aircraft carriers are put into service!

"This time, it's time for our Indian Ocean Fleet to develop! Order the fleet, increase the speed, and tomorrow at noon must arrive in Gibraltar! In addition, the 'Lop Nur-class' frigates are ready for anti-submarine operations, so don't let the British take advantage of the loopholes! Admiral Li Haitao ordered! When the Admiralty held a meeting, Marshal Li Dingxin specifically told him about the antisubmarine issue, and all Admiral Li Haitao always kept it in mind.

"Yes, Commander!" Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan nodded, and then gave the order!

Soon, the speed of the fleet increased to 16 knots. The 15 'Lop Nur-class' frigates of the Indian Ocean Fleet are also scattered in front of the fleet and to the left and right, and the sonars on them have been turned on, and the sonar crews are listening under the water with all their might.

At three o'clock in the morning on May 13, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy entered the Alvoran Sea! The speed of the fleet has always been maintained at 16 knots. Fifteen 'Lop Nur-class' frigates have been cruising around the perimeter of the fleet. Although it is difficult to achieve all-encompassing defense with only 15 frigates, it is not easy to be attacked by enemy submarines when the fleet is advancing at a speed of 16 knots!

At this time, a hundred kilometers east of Gibraltar, 12 submarines of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy were lurking here. They waited for this Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy to send it to their door, and then sank the warships of the Chinese Navy with torpedoes! Even though many of these capital ships were once the pride of the Royal Navy, they are now a disgrace to the British Navy!

It's just that these submariners of the British Navy did not know that their ambush would not succeed at all in front of the Chinese Navy. Just like the ambush of their ally the US Navy, it was still found by the Chinese Navy and then eliminated.

At 5:25 a.m. on May 13, the Chinese Navy's frigate "Bell Lake" detected something unusual underwater, and immediately issued a combat alarm! Suddenly, the battle unfolded, and the frigates and destroyers of the Chinese Navy began an attack on the submarine forces of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy! A large number of depth charges were dropped underwater, and many British Navy submarines did not know why they were exposed when they were sunk!

Of the 12 submarines of the British Navy, except for 4 that ventured to the surface and fired torpedoes, the rest of the submarines were found and sunk by the frigates of the Chinese Navy without even having a chance to launch torpedoes. The four submarines that fired the torpedoes were all sunk without any success. The capital ships of the Chinese Navy are at least ten kilometers away from the battlefield at the moment, and the range of torpedoes at this time is mostly only about four kilometers, and it is simply impossible to hit a target ten kilometers away!

After destroying the submarine forces of the British Navy, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy continued to advance westward. At the same time, the fleet also strengthened anti-submarine. After all, no one knows exactly how many submarines there are in the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy!

At 9:15 a.m., the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy and the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy encountered. Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy, John Brown. Admiral Jericho was very disappointed that the Chinese Navy was unscathed, and the submarine force on which he had high hopes did not achieve any results, which made him very disappointed!

At this time, 6 heavy cruisers, 15 light cruisers and 16 destroyers of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy were all here! John. Admiral Jericho gave the order to attack aboard the heavy cruiser 'Cambridgeshire'. More than thirty warships of the Mediterranean Fleet launched a decisive attack on the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy! It's just that in the face of the absolute difference in strength, their final result is the annihilation of the whole army!