At noon on 23 May, with the sound of a long whistle, the British task force in India slowly sailed out of the Visakhapatnam military port and sailed for Sri Lanka.

At this point, all the forces of the British army and navy stationed in India have been put into the battlefield of the duel with the independent division, and the air force stationed in India has not yet recovered from the attack of the last air battle in northern Burma, guarding the poor two dozen planes, and the self-protection is still insufficient, and it cannot help at all.

On the sea surface of the eastern Indian Ocean, the wind and waves are still calm, the sea and the sky are the same, the afternoon sun, sprinkled on the dark green water, beating with pieces of golden light, revealing behind the coral reefs on the sea surface, the fleet of more than 30 warships, quietly anchored there, like a fierce beast that can burst out at any time, the fleet commander Vice Admiral Tang Qiuquan, resolutely refused, the carrier-based aircraft flight regiment, to send fighter planes to the south of Visakhapatnam to reconnoitre.

Qiuquan is a person with a firm mind, since it is an ambush at sea, it is necessary to calm down, the British are in a hurry, the grass and trees are all soldiers, any slightest disturbance, will bring adverse effects to the ambush war, unobstructed sea, can have an alternative ambush site, it is not easy, light yì exposed, it is a pity!

His order to the fleet was, "Wait, wait patiently, the whole fleet will keep the radio silent," Qiuquan believed in Tang Qiuli's judgment, and at the same time, he also believed in his own judgment, Han Tie was on the island of Sri Lanka, and the battle was turned upside down, and the British were bitter, so he didn't believe it, the British fleet. can sit idly by, and in this battle, it can completely annihilate the task force of the Indian army in the eastern Indian Ocean. It is the world of its own fleet.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the fleet, hurriedly walked into the operational command room of the flagship "Canglang" and said to Tang Qiuquan and Amosyev: "Commander, deputy commander, radar report, the task force of the Indian army is approaching the Jaffna coral reef group. There are still more than 70 nautical miles from our ambush area. ”

Tang Qiuquan and Amosiev glanced at each other, and they both saw a hint of relief in each other's gazes, and Tang Qiuquan asked: "Chief of Staff, can the radar distinguish the number and model of the British fleet?" Also, what kind of sailing formation did they take? ”

Xin Xiguo replied, "Yes, but yet." The fleet of the British was needed, a little closer, into the best reconnaissance range of our radar. Within forty nautical miles, now, only a radar signal can be roughly received. ”

Tang Qiuquan smiled and said: "A good meal is not afraid of being late, then let's wait and see, deputy commander, I see, the time has come to inform the commander of the aviation force in Yangon, Le Yiqin." ”

Amosiyev nodded and said: "I agree, according to the speed of the British fleet." When the air fleet arrived in the area of war, just as we began to attack, the number of British warships was more than double ours, but alas. In the absence of aircraft carriers, the number of warships, does not compensate for the lack of air power. ”

"Commander, I will build yì, our tactics should be like this, first take off carrier-based bombers, together with the bombers of the air force, to carry out the first wave of strikes on the British fleet, and strive to sink their main combat warships, and then, our warships, from the left and right flanks, strive to push the battlefield to the sea near the island of Sri Lanka, in that case, our armed transport ships can also play a role, moreover, it is also conducive to our three-sided encirclement!"

Tang Qiuquan nodded and said, "Okay, Xiguo, just arrange it according to the tactics of the deputy commander, and when you send a report to Commander Le, use code language, be concise and clear, and try to shorten the time for sending the report!" ”…,

Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill, commander of the British Task Force in India, is a proud man, and in his bones, there are too many shadows of the most glorious era of the British Empire, and the task force in India is a well-deserved maritime hegemon in the Indian Ocean, and the Japanese warships have not yet sailed into the Bay of Bengal, and from the Indian mainland to the west, it is a poor and backward Africa, like primitive people.

Not to mention warships, not even a few mechanically powered ships, the British Empire began to dominate the world from the sea, relying on strong ships and artillery, and played an empire on which the sun never sets, since the day he joined the navy, Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill has a passionate impulse, but unfortunately, in poor and backward Asia, in addition to the Japanese fleet, there is no maritime power to compete with the British Imperial fleet.

And the attention of the Japanese is all in the Pacific Ocean, which is the sphere of influence of the US Navy, so Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill, since he became the commander of the task force in India, has not fought a single naval battle, not because he does not want to fight, but because there is no opponent to fight, which is quite a bit of a master's loneliness.

After receiving the order to reinforce Sri Lanka at home, Major General Jeffrey Hill, very excited for a while, finally had the opportunity to fight, Chinese, Chinese have warships? Why haven't I heard, shouldn't it be John, the commander of the defensive zone? Major General Pkins, that guy was stunned and lied about the military situation, right?

According to Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill's own judgment, the Chinese do not have warships, and there should be quite a few armed civilian ships, John? The possibility that Puggins thinks of armed civilian ships as warships is very large, and among the senior officers of the entire Indian army, who doesn't know that this guy is notoriously neurotic.

At about forty-five minutes, the British task force in India sailed into an area of more than forty nautical miles away from the Jaffna coral reefs, and the fleet chief of staff looked at the charts and said to Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill: "Your Excellency, the fleet is about to pass through the waters of the Jaffna coral reefs. Rear Admiral Pugins's report that the Chinese have dozens of warships. ”

Looking at the commander with an indifferent face, the chief of staff said more and more cautiously: "I will build yì, change the sea formation of the fleet, from one line to advance in unison, to two columns sailing, wedge-shaped formation, two times into each other's horns, the transport ship transporting two Marine brigades, put in the middle, once the Chinese warships, if there is any conspiracy, we can also enter the battle as quickly as possible." ”

Major General Jeffrey Hill snorted in his nose and said disdainfully: "Your Excellency My Chief of Staff, have you heard that the Chinese have warships?" Pugins's words, you can also believe, are too naïve, my task is to sink all the ships transporting Chinese infantry and armed civilian ships to the bottom of the Indian Ocean and cut off the Chinese's retreat. ”

"As for how to fight on land, I don't care, however, I will give an order, two Marine brigades, just on the landing ground in the central part of the Chinese soldiers, tail chasing squadrons, together with the defenders on the island, will wipe out all of them on the island of Sri Lanka, the current sailing formation, can ensure that all warships, in the first time, reach the target, no need to change!"

The chief of staff swallowed his saliva with difficulty, and his stomach was full of words, and he was pushed back alive by a few hard words from the commander, and the chief of staff was out of the intuition of a soldier, is there no big mistake in being careful!

In the entire task force of the Indian army, no one understands how much combat power the fleet of the independent division has, and he doesn't even know whether the squadron has warships, and the chief of staff doesn't know. The chief of staff thought with annoyance in his heart. …,

Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the "Canglang" war room, the flagship of the independent division's fleet, said to Commander Tang Qiuquan: "Commander, the radar has ascertained that the British task force has entered the sea area of the Jaffna coral reef group forty nautical miles, and they have adopted a formation of a line advancing in unison, with a total of 64 large and small warships, and behind the warships, there are dozens of transport ships, which are initially estimated to be transporting reinforcements to the army units of Sri Lanka Island. ”

Major General Amosyev, with his hand on his forehead, groaned like a toothache, and said: "My God! A line of flat pushing, I really doubt that the British who commanded this fleet, whether they were born as naval officers, how could they make such a tactical arrangement, commander, we won this battle, there is no suspense, the British put on a posture of being beaten, I think, we can start attacking! ”

The warships of the fleet, which had practiced radio silence, turned on their radio stations one after another to receive orders from their flagships, and the radio waves, which were invisible to the naked eye, were chaotically intertwined in the air on the sea that had been silent just a moment ago.

The communications officer of the task force stationed in India anxiously reported to the commander, Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill, "Your Excellency, just now, our monitoring radio found a large number of radio signals in the waters of the Javna coral reef group, and it is initially estimated that there are more than 30 units receiving and receiving reports at the same time, and it is very likely that there is a fleet, which is operating there!" ”

When Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill heard this, he was dumbfounded, and the navy, which has been working for more than twenty years, does not know what this means, which means that there is a considerable number of fleets, just in the waters of the coral reef group of Jaff, waiting for himself, not encountered, but the other side is prepared, it can only be a Chinese warship, God! When did the Chinese have more than thirty warships?

Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill, who was about to drop his jaw in surprise, issued a series of orders, "Order the fleet, immediately switch to a three-way column, light and fast destroyers, go out of the fleet, take the lead in attacking, transport the fleet, immediately leave the battlefield, and sail at full speed to the island of Sri Lanka, be fast!" ”

Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hill, really anxious, the sailing formation of the fleet was taken without encountering a battle, and now, the Chinese warships suddenly appeared, no matter how many there were, the formation was not good for itself, I only hope that it will be saved in time!

(To be continued) (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )