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At seven o'clock in the morning of November 29, in the Rackdiv Sea, 120 nautical miles southwest of Sri Lanka, a British merchant ship 'Burnley' was sailing west, loaded with iron ore mined from India. After the outbreak of the war, Britain needed a large amount of mineral resources, and Australia and India, which were rich in resources, became the main sources of these resources for Britain. Nearly 100 merchant ships traveled between Britain and India and Australia, bringing large quantities of resources back to Britain so that British warplanes could operate normally.

The rising sun shines on the sea, and the calm sea is sparkling, and the scenery is beautiful. A Chinese destroyer flying the dragon flag on a blue background approached from the east, and when it spotted the British merchant ship, it immediately accelerated towards them.

"Hi, captain, a Chinese warship is approaching us!" The lookout on the mast said loudly.

"Chinese warships? Regardless of him, they may not be here for us! The captain of the Burnley said nonchalantly. The entire northern part of the Indian Ocean is the sphere of activity of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, and the Indian fleet of the British Navy can only operate off the coast of India. However, both sides maintained a state in which well water did not interfere with river water, and the Chinese navy did not embarrass these British merchant ships. This situation made the British merchant ships very satisfied. They also want the two countries to remain that way.

"Captain, the Chinese have signaled to us to stop the ship immediately for inspection!" The lookout said again.

"Stop the ship? What are those Chinese going to do? Tell them, we are merchant ships of the British Empire, and we are about to return to England! The captain said.

"The Chinese told us to stop the ship immediately, otherwise they will attack!" The lookout's voice trembled a little.

"Hell! What the hell is going on? Do the Chinese intend to end the situation of declaring no war with Britain? The captain of the Burnley scolded. There is no doubt that this is the case, if this is the case, for the British merchant marine. Not a good thing. Even the British Empire will suffer greatly from this. With the strength of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, it is completely possible to blockade India and Australia, unless Britain sends a large number of warships from Turkey to the Indian Ocean to fight the Chinese Navy. However, as long as Britain dared to draw a fleet from the soil to the east, the Germans, who had already prepared it, would definitely not be able to hold back.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Suddenly, a violent shelling sound came, and several water columns rose from the sea hundreds of meters in front of the 'Burnley', and the water columns smashed into the sea from tens of meters in the air. Make a 'bang-la-la' sound.

"Stop the boat! Stop the boat now! The captain of the Burnley yelled, realizing that the Chinese Navy had come for real.

The destroyer Taishan, which belonged to the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, docked the merchant ship Burnley, and several heavily armed sailors boarded the merchant ship and took care of all the British sailors on board. The captain of the 'Taishan' then boarded the merchant ship 'Burnley'.

"Sir. What happened? We're just a merchant ship, and we're only loaded with iron ore, not contraband! The captain of the 'Burnley' argued loudly.

"Don't you know that China and Britain have long been at war?" The captain of the destroyer "Taishan" said.

"A state of war? But in the past, ...... "said the captain of the 'Burnley', and what he wanted to say was that in the past, didn't the Chinese Navy turn a blind eye to them? Why are you going to attack him now?

"Your British navy can attack Chinese merchant ships, or even sink them, so why should we let you go?" The captain of the destroyer Taishan said coldly.

"Huh? This. How is this possible? "The captain of the 'Burnley' looked pale, he finally knew what had happened, the British Navy sank the merchant ships of the Chinese Navy, so the Chinese Navy is retaliating against the British merchant ships! After thinking about this. He didn't have any hope for what would happen next. The Chinese will certainly not let them go, but they don't know whether to kill them all or take them prisoner. After all, in war, a few civilians died. It's not a big deal!

"Turn the ship around and sail for Singapore. Don't play any tricks, or you'll be sunk! The captain of the destroyer Taishan coldly ordered. Although, he would love to sink the merchant ship and avenge the death of his compatriots. However, he was ordered to capture the British merchant ships and sink them if they resisted.

"Yes, sir, we'll cooperate with you!" The captain of the 'Burnley' hurriedly said. You'll be captured, but that's better than losing your life! In his heart, he has scolded the British Royal Navy all over again, how good it is that everyone's well water does not violate the river water, but the British Navy sank the Chinese merchant ships, but now let them, the innocent civilians, bear the revenge of the Chinese, which makes them very angry in their hearts!

From here, 2,000 kilometres south, twenty nautical miles north of the British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia, two British Navy light cruisers, the Adventure and the Careful, are escorting a fleet of ten merchant ships westward. They sailed from Perth in Western Australia to return to England via the Guò Suez Canal, loaded with iron ore, copper ore, cattle and sheep.

At half past eight in the morning, they continued their voyage west after replenishing water and fuel at the island of Diego Garcia. However, at this time, a fleet appeared on the northern sea, and a huge heavy cruiser with two light cruisers and two destroyers quickly approached from the north, and these warships were hoisting the blue dragon flag of the Chinese Navy.

"The Chinese' 'Jianghe-class' heavy cruisers and 'Ningbo-class' light cruisers. What are they doing here? This is the Southern Indian Ocean, huh? Lieutenant Commander Torke, the captain of the light cruiser Adventure, asked in surprise.

"Captain, the Chinese have signaled to us to surrender immediately, otherwise they will attack!" A junior staff officer reported to Lieutenant Colonel Tork.

"What? Are they going to attack us? What do these Chinese want to do? Colonel Tork was taken aback. Although China and Britain are now at war, in the Indian Ocean, warships of both sides tend to avoid conflict. Although there will be some minor friction to a greater or lesser extent, the Chinese Navy has never taken the initiative to attack them.

"Captain, what do we do now? We have only two light cruisers, the Chinese have one heavy cruiser and two light cruisers, as well as two destroyers. "The staff officer asked with some concern. The 'Adventure' and 'Careful' both belonged to the British Navy in 1904, and belonged to the 'Adventure class' light reconnaissance cruisers, with a displacement of only 2,400 tons, and were armed with only 10 76mm rapid-fire guns and 8 47mm rapid-fire guns, with a maximum speed of only 25 knots. Such combat power is estimated to be similar to the Chinese Navy's 'Fuqing-class' destroyers, and in the face of the powerful Chinese fleet, they have no resources to resist at all.

"Sue them, the Royal Navy will never surrender! Send a telegram to the 'Attentive', prepare for battle, and let the merchant ships flee for their lives! Lieutenant Colonel Tork said.

"Yes, Captain!" The staff officer nodded, and the order was delivered.

When the two light cruisers of the British Navy refused to surrender, the Chinese fleet attacked, and the heavy cruiser 'Minjiang' launched an attack on the 'Adventure', and three triple 210-mm guns smashed a dense barrage of shells on the light cruiser. The other two light cruisers, 'Xiamen' and 'Quanzhou', laid siege to the 'Careful'. The last two destroyers pursued the fleeing merchant ships.

The Chinese fleet was completely overwhelmingly superior, and after only half an hour of fighting, the light cruiser 'Adventure' was sunk, and a 210-mm shell pierced his deck, directly breaking the keel of the battleship. The entire light cruiser broke in two and sank to the bottom of the sea. At the time of the sinking of the 'Adventure', the light cruiser 'Careful' was also heavily damaged, and the superstructure was completely destroyed, and finally had to choose to surrender. As for the merchant ships, all but one was sunk, and the rest were captured.

This is happening all over the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy dispatched a large number of ships to round up British warships and merchant ships, and the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet sailed directly to Mumbai, the home port of the Indian Fleet of the British Navy, blocking all the warships of the Indian Fleet in the military port. On this day, Britain paid the price of three light cruisers sunk and two captured, two destroyers sunk and four captured. As for the merchant ships, more than twenty were lost!

"Sir Fischer, what the hell is going on? Why are the Chinese attacking our warships and merchant ships in a big way? British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith asked aloud. Such a heavy loss made him very angry. Not only that, but if China is determined to attack Britain, then Britain may have to be prepared to lose India and Australia!

"Your Excellency, yesterday afternoon, a Chinese merchant ship was sunk in the North Sea, and it was done by a destroyer flying the flag of St. George. The Chinese thought we did it, so they retaliated against us. However, I have already investigated, and it was not our warship that did it, but someone who deliberately planted the blame on us! Sir John Fisher, the British Admiralty, said with some grievances!