In the western waters of the Arabian Sea, a hundred nautical miles east of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a large fleet is sailing eastward. This is a huge fleet of hundreds of warships, the fleet and the core, the fleet is like a small mountain floating on the sea. At the heart of the British Navy were the four 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers, five 'Revenge-class' battlecruisers, five 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battlecruisers, two 'Prestige-class' battlecruisers, four 'Iron Duke-class' battlecruisers, the 'Tiger' battlecruiser and three 'Lion-class' battlecruisers.

On the periphery were the three heavy cruisers of the British Navy, namely the heavy cruiser Cavendish, the heavy cruiser Hawkins, and the heavy cruiser Raleigh, which were powerful heavy cruisers with a displacement of 9,860 tons and seven 7.5-inch guns. After the British Navy began to eliminate armored cruisers, these heavy cruisers became the main cruisers of the British Navy. It's just that the construction of heavy cruisers in the British Navy has just begun, and only these three are currently in service. The remaining two are still under construction.

In addition to these three heavy cruisers, the British Navy's expeditionary fleet included 10 'Monmouth-class' cruisers to compensate for the lack of heavy cruisers.

In terms of light cruisers, the expeditionary fleet has six of the latest 'Danae-class' light cruisers and 28 'C-class' light cruisers. These light cruisers, all of which were built by the Royal Navy in World War I, are young and belong to the new warships.

In terms of destroyers, the 39 destroyers of the expeditionary fleet this time are all 'R-class' destroyers, which belong to the elite warships of the British Navy. In the First World War, these destroyers made immortal feats. This time, after being incorporated into the expeditionary fleet, they believed. They are also capable of building meritorious deeds.

The commander of the Royal Navy Expeditionary Fleet was Field Marshal David Beatty, and his chief of staff was Admiral Charles Marden.

Marshal David Beatty, one of the most famous marshals of the Royal Navy of the British Empire. In World War I, the battle patrol detachment he led was almost wiped out by the Germans.

In the Battle of Jutland. Betty was in command of the battlecruiser detachment and the fifth battleship detachment. Betty rushed to attack Hipper's decoy fleet before the main fleet arrived, kicking off the naval battle. Despite the loss of two battle cruisers, "Indefatigable" and "Queen Mary", in the initial engagement with Hipper's battlecruiser fleet, the flagship "Lion" was damaged. Later, he was beaten by the German Navy's battle patrol detachment. If it weren't for the main force of the fleet led by John Jericho to the battlefield, he might have been finished.

However, after the war, Betty received a more generous reward than John Jericho. For example, David Betty's title is 'Earl Betty of the North Sea', while John Jericho's title is 'Viscount Jericho of Scapa Bay'. It's undoubtedly easy to reverie, as if Betty was leading a fleet to fight in the rough North Sea. Jericho led the main force of the fleet to reap the benefits of Scapa Bay. This is undoubtedly grossly unfair to John Jericho.

It is precisely because there are so many accusations against David Betty that even after he has been promoted to marshal, he is eager to have a chance for him to prove himself again. This time, the Chinese Empire and Britain were in a fierce conflict, which was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for David Beatty. In David Beatty's opinion. The Chinese Empire had nothing at all to pay attention to, except for a few battleships with larger guns than the capital ships of the British Navy.

The centuries-old heritage of the British Navy. and the quality of the Royal Navy, which has just risen and is like an upstart, can be compared with the Chinese Navy.

The flagship of the expeditionary fleet was the battlecruiser USS Hood, the lead ship of the 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers. Admiral David Betty seems to have a soft spot for battlecruisers. Of course, the 'Admiral-class' battlecruiser can also be called the most powerful battleship of the British Navy. Up to 47,500 tons of displacement. But with a speed of 31 knots, it is undoubtedly extremely terrifying. In addition, it is equipped with four twin 15-inch guns, which makes it extremely powerful. In terms of armor, the waterline armor was up to 305 mm thick. The deck armor was up to 76 mm thick, the turret armor was up to 381 mm thick, and the conning tower armor was up to 280 mm thick. This kind of defense is not weak. Of course, compared to the Chinese Navy, which has always attached great importance to defense, such defense is nothing.

On the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the flagship of the Royal Navy Expeditionary Fleet, David Beatty was standing on the deck, looking at the huge fleet with satisfaction. This fleet was even more powerful than it had been in the decisive battle with the German navy. Although many of these battleships were battleships that participated in the Battle of Jutland, there were also many cutting-edge battleships, such as the 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers, the 'Prestige-class' battlecruisers, and the 'Revenge-class' battleships. The addition of these warships made the Royal Navy even stronger.

"Damn the yellow-skinned monkeys, I'd like to see what they do with us this time." Marshal David Beatty was full of confidence in the Royal Navy's operation. He was confident that they would be able to easily win the decisive battle. Not for anything else, but because of the strength of the Royal Navy. Marshal David Beatty believed that any intrigue was useless in the face of great power. The mighty Royal Navy will distract all intrigues.

"Your Excellency, a telegram from the Admiralty." Admiral Charles Marden, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, came to the deck and delivered a telegram to Marshal David Beatty.

Instead of looking at the telegram, David Betty asked, "My Chief of Staff, what happened?" ”

"The Anglo-Indian junk was defeated by the Chinese in southern Iran, and the Chinese are continuing to move south, soon reaching the border between India and Iran. The Admiralty asked us to send a fleet to the Persian Gulf to cut off the oil shipping routes for the Chinese. General Charles Madden said.

"Oh God! This is really bad news, and it's no wonder the Admiralty is in a hurry. However, it is obviously a very stupid act to put it on the garbage of the British and Indian army. Although I look down on the Chinese, I have to admit that the strength of the Chinese army is indeed very strong. At that time, their expeditionary force performed better in the European battlefield than our expeditionary force. Even if the British Army launched an attack in person, it was no match for the Chinese Army, let alone the rice buckets of the British and Indian Army. David Betty said dismissively.

There was also a land and sea struggle among the British* army. It's just that in Britain it was the navy that completely suppressed the land and dominated the position. Britain's position as a maritime supremacy was largely maintained by the Royal Navy. Therefore, the status of the Royal Navy is much higher than that of the Army.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander. The Chinese do have a great advantage in the army. If nothing else, their superiority in military strength alone is not comparable to that of the British Empire. Their population is more than ten times that of the British Empire, which means that they can easily arm more than ten times the size of the British Empire's army. General Charles Madden said.

"Exactly. Those yellow-skinned monkeys are so fertile that they have become one of the world's great powers. Otherwise, they would have been beaten down long ago. However, this time we want to show the whole world that their navy is simply vulnerable to the Royal Navy. David Betty said contemptuously.

General Charles Madden nodded, not saying anything more.

"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, let a few 'Monmouth-class' cruisers of the first class, with a few light cruisers and destroyers, go to the Persian Gulf. The Chinese Navy has practically no decent warships there. These warships were enough to cut off the oil transportation routes for the Chinese. As for the other warships, we need to have a decisive battle with the Chinese Navy. Marshal David Betty ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, I'll arrange it right away." Admiral Charles Madden nodded.

Subsequently, four 'Monmouth-class' cruisers, with four 'C-class' light cruisers and six 'R-class' destroyers, left the fleet and formed a detachment to speed up to the Persian Gulf, intending to cut off China's oil shipping routes. As for the main force of the expeditionary fleet under Marshal David Beatty, it continued to the east.

"Order the Bombay side, prepare supplies, we will stay there for three days, and then go south to find the Chinese for a decisive battle." Since they want to provoke the British Empire, then we will send them all to the bottom of the sea and let them know that the British Empire is the hegemon of the sea. The world's oceans belong to the British Empire. Marshal David Beatty exclaimed arrogantly.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The British Royal Navy has been the hegemon of the world's seas for hundreds of years. During this period, one nation after another wanted to challenge their hegemony. However, they did not succeed and instead became a stepping stone for the British Royal Navy to consolidate its sea power. Now, the Chinese Empire wanted to challenge the British, and the British believed that they would be able to win the final victory. It's as if a few years ago they completely defeated the arrogant Germans. The British knew very well that if they lost their sea power, then the weakening of the British Empire was undoubtedly just around the corner. (To be continued.) )

PS: The twenty-ninth is here, ask for a monthly pass and a reward!