"Your Excellency, congratulations on your victory!" Archduke Ferdinand and Austro-Hungarian Navy Commander Anton Fernando Fernando Ferdinand and Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Feng. Admiral House boarded the battleship HMS Emperor Hanming, the flagship of the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet. After Archduke Ferdinand calmed down, although he was still a little dissatisfied, he also knew that now was not the time to contradict China, so he took the initiative to send a congratulatory telegram to the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy.

People respect me one foot, and I return one foot to others. After the goodwill of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy quickly called a meeting and invited Archduke Ferdinand to visit the battleship 'Emperor Ming of Han'.

"Thank you very much, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. We also did not expect that the Italian Navy would be so indifferent. I thought it would be a lose-lose result, but I didn't expect to win at such a small price! Admiral Li Haitao, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, said with a smile.

Archduke Ferdinand saw the smile on Admiral Li Haitao's face, and his heart was very uncomfortable, as if he had eaten a fly. Originally, he also tried to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and finally the Austro-Hungarian navy picked up the cheap, but he did not expect such a result. If it had been known that the Italian Navy was so unfought, then the Austro-Hungarian Navy would not have to wait for the Chinese Navy to arrive and settle the Italian Navy first when it was in the Adriatic Sea. Well, now the Austro-Hungarian navy is probably already celebrating victory!

"Your Excellency Admiral, after the destruction of the Italian Navy, there is no navy in the entire Mediterranean that can threaten us. I wonder what your Excellency has planned next? "Anton. Feng. Admiral House saw that Archduke Ferdinand's face was a little unpleasant, and hurriedly changed the topic, lest Archduke Ferdinand say anything inappropriate and affect the relationship between China and Austria-Hungary.

"No, Your Excellency General House, I do not agree with your Excellency. Although the main forces of the Italian Navy had been wiped out, in the Mediterranean Sea the French Navy had three more powerful battleships. In addition, the British Navy is also close at hand. Although the capital ships of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy have all been transferred back to the mainland. But with the defeat of the German navy, the crisis in Britain itself has been resolved. Therefore, it is foreseeable that it will not be long before the British Navy will rebuild the Mediterranean Fleet. When the time comes, we will be in great danger. Although our Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet has eight battleships, most of them are old-fashioned battleships, and I am afraid that they cannot compete with the advanced battleships of the British Navy. Therefore, when the time comes, we will need to cooperate closely with the navies of our two countries! Admiral Li Haitao said.

"Your Excellency, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has not experienced any major wars, and although our 'Combined Forces-class' battleship is good, the officers and men are not very high! Therefore, in the big war against the British and the French, the Chinese Navy is still needed as the main force! Archduke Ferdinand said immediately. Obviously, he has not given up the idea of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, the Italian navy was too ineffective before, and this time if it is replaced by the British navy and the French navy, the Chinese navy may be difficult to resist. When the time comes, when they are both defeated, the Austro-Hungarian Navy will be able to pick up a big bargain and dominate the Mediterranean.

"Humph! We have done everything, so what is the Austro-Hungarian Navy going to do? Vice Admiral Wu Zhiyuan, chief of staff of the Indian Ocean Fleet, said with some displeasure. He was very dissatisfied with Archduke Ferdinand's practice of stealing and playing tricks, using the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy as a shield. This is also because of Ferdinand's noble status, he is not good at seizures, if it were someone else, I am afraid he would have been scolded a long time ago!

Archduke Ferdinand's face was a little unsightly, and a little lieutenant general and chief of staff dared to talk to him like this, if it was in Austria-Hungary, he would probably have taught this guy who didn't know how to top hat a hard time. However, the other party is the chief of staff of the Chinese Navy's fleet, and he has no power to deal with it, and he can't even offend the other party, otherwise, once the other party deliberately makes things difficult, it will also have a great impact on Austria-Hungary. After all, once China agreed to transport all kinds of war materiel to Austria-Hungary, all routes would need to be escorted by the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the next plan of the Austro-Hungarian Navy is to attack the coastal cities of Italy. The attack of the Italian army in the Alps caused great problems for the Empire, and we must first defeat Italy and solve the crisis of the Empire. Otherwise, the Empire will not be able to devote all its strength to other fronts! "Anton. Feng. Admiral House said.

"Well, in that case, then the task of dealing with the British and French will be completed by us!" Admiral Li Haitao nodded, he knew very well what Archduke Ferdinand was thinking. This time, however, Archduke Ferdinand was destined to be disappointed again. In the next battle against the British and French navies, the main forces will no longer be the Indian Ocean fleet, but will be replaced by submarine forces and naval aviation. After the capture of Sicily, the engineering forces will urgently build a number of field airfields and submarine bases in Sicily for naval aviation and submarine forces. In the event of an attack by the British Navy and the French Navy, the main role of the Indian Ocean Fleet was to assist naval aviation and submarine forces, giving up the main forces to combat the British Navy and the French Navy to naval aviation and submarine forces. At most, the Indian Ocean Fleet pursued the British and French navies after they had suffered defeats!

"I believe that with the strength of the Chinese Navy, it will be able to withstand the attack of the British Navy and the French Navy!" Archduke Ferdinand said with a smile on his face. In his opinion, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy is completely arrogant, and the French Navy is okay, but is the British Navy easy to mess with? Even the German Navy's High Seas Fleet suffered a crushing defeat, and it would be foolish to confront the British Navy with only a few broken ships of the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet. Perhaps the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy will ask for asylum from the Austro-Hungarian Navy after the defeat. At the thought of this, Archduke Ferdinand was very excited.

"Your Royal Highness, please rest assured, the Chinese Navy will definitely resist the British Navy and the French Navy, and will not disappoint His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Admiral Li Haitao said affirmatively. It's just that his firmness is nothing more than a face-saving effort in the eyes of Archduke Ferdinand.

Seeing that the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy had fallen into his trap, Archduke Ferdinand was very happy and in a much better mood, and began to look at the huge battleship under his feet. The Chinese Navy's 'Han-class' battleships have a displacement of up to 28,500 tons, while the Austro-Hungarian 'Combined Forces-class' battleships have a full load displacement of only 21,700 tons, which is a large circle smaller than the 'Han-class' battleships. In addition, the 'Han-class' battleships were equipped with three triple 343 mm guns, while the 'Combined Forces' battleships had four triple 305 mm guns. Although the 'Combined Forces class' had three more guns, they were not as powerful as the 343 mm guns of the 'Han-class' battleships. Coupled with armor, speed, fire control system, etc., the 'Combined Forces-class' battleships cannot be compared with the 'Han-class' battleships. It's just that Archduke Ferdinand will definitely not admit it, he will only think that the firepower of the 'Combined Forces class' is more powerful, and the combat power will definitely surpass that of the 'Han-class' battleships. However, he was still very envious that the Chinese Navy could be equipped with such advanced battleships. Moreover, he knew that the 'Han-class' battleships were not the most advanced battleships of the Chinese Navy, and that the Chinese Navy had more powerful 'Tang-class' battleships, but that kind of battleships were not equipped with the Indian Ocean Fleet. If Austria-Hungary had such a large amount of financial resources, then the Austro-Hungarian navy would definitely be more powerful than it is now, instead of only being equipped with a battleship like the 'Combined Forces class' as it is now.

Fortunately, Archduke Ferdinand was still relatively optimistic about this war, although the Allies and the Entente in the European theater had reached a stalemate, and the Allies still had an advantage on the land battlefield. But as long as China defeats the United States and starts fighting in Europe, the Allies will definitely win the war in the end. At that time, Austria-Hungary will also receive a large share of the war dividends. Archduke Ferdinand had already figured out that he would definitely fight for the best interests of the Austro-Hungarian navy when the time came. He believed that in the future, the Austro-Hungarian navy would surely become one of the most powerful in the world. At that time, it will not be the turn of the Chinese Navy to show off its might in the Mediterranean.

Archduke Ferdinand and Anton. Feng. Admiral House did not stay long on the battleship 'Emperor Han Ming', and after determining that the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy would deal with the British and French navies, they returned to the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Since they could no longer pick up the bargain, they could only vent their anger on the Italians. The early defeat of Italy was also the most powerful for Austria-Hungary. In this way, Italy's coastal cities have suffered. Italy's coastline is so long that it is impossible to cover all cities with all their coastal defenses. Under the attack of the Austro-Hungarian navy, many Italian cities were reduced to rubble in the shelling.

The crushing defeat of the Italian Navy in half a day turned the situation in the Mediterranean Sea upside down. After receiving the telegram from Italy asking for help, Britain and France could not sit still, they knew that if Italy was not rescued, Italy would most likely not be able to hold out and become the first Entente country to collapse! rs！。