The narrow passage was crowded with officers and soldiers on the Qian-29, and even a few engineers from the stern cabin rushed over to join in the fun, and everyone's eyes were all looking at the listening cabin located behind the pilot and command cabin. 【 I want: super fast update 】

Inside the cabin, Xiao He, a listener with a large headset like half a pineapple, ignored his partners outside at all, and put all his mind on the mixed sound world.

The principle of the audiophone is similar to that of a doctor's earpiece, which seems very simple, but it is not easy to become a professional audiophone, and you must go through a long period of training that is unimaginable to outsiders.

First they need to spend half a month in a completely enclosed quiet room to allow their ears to fully acclimatize to the environment, and then they can go from simple monophony to hear complex mixes all the way and discern from the mixed sounds what is needed and what is not.

The monotonous and boring repetition is constantly trained until the brain produces a subconscious filtering response, automatically eliminating some useless and self-emitting noises, and it is said that the current good listener can already tell which type of warship it is from the rhythm of the propeller's rotation.

Xiao He asked himself if he could be so powerful, he could only tell if there were ships nearby, and locate the general direction through sound, but today he didn't need these skills at all, because what he needed to listen to now was a battle that had nothing to do with the Empire, and the loud noise when the large-caliber naval guns fired, let alone him, could be heard very well by ordinary people.

But as time passed, the British fleet, which had been tracking an hour earlier, began to accelerate, apparently having found the target, so why hadn't there been an exchange of fire until now? Did you miss it when it got dark?

Xiao He looked at the clock that had been adjusted after crossing the equator above his head, and seemed to think that he had guessed correctly, because it was already 7 o'clock in the evening, and searching for an alert enemy on the dark sea was as difficult as finding a golden sand in the desert.

Just when he was a little disappointed, a dull thunder suddenly sounded in his ear drums, like a rolling dragon roaring, this voice made him subconsciously wave his fist and shout: "It's a fight!" ”

This sentence made the air inside the submarine hot, nothing worse than a sea battle next to him, but he hid next to him and couldn't see or hear it, it was uncomfortable, and a few clever ghosts even looked at the periscope, but unfortunately the captain still occupied it.

In fact, Dai Jintang couldn't see anything in front of him, mainly because the submarine was at the periscope depth, and he couldn't see a few kilometers away in good weather, not to mention that there was a strong wind after night, and the sea ln caused a lot of trouble for observation.

The rumbling sound of cannons can be heard even without a sounder, which makes everyone's hearts itch, and they can't wait to sneak up close to see the excitement.

However, this is just a wishful thinking, and once the distance is too close, not to mention the heavy shells, the impact of the explosion after falling into the sea is extremely dangerous.

Dai Jintang reluctantly handed the periscope to the navigator, sat down on the chart table, took out the sweet orange from his pocket and bit it hard, and the sweet and sour juice dripped down the corner of his mouth to the corner of his clothes.

Just when he was enjoying the orange but was anxious, the sea 20,000 meters away was already filled with gunsmoke.

In the darkness, two lines of warships appeared and disappeared in the gale, and the roaring sea kept the water rushing onto their decks, but even this could not disturb the fierce battle.

The bad weather not only did not make Spee anxious, but kept giving orders with impatience and excitement, the reason is very simple, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau are both warships, and the eight main guns and most of the secondary guns are on the deck, and this sea condition will not be impossible to fire except for a few shells. 【 I want: super fast update 】

But his opponent, General Craddock, was already dying, because the two armored cruisers in his hand were old models, and the two twin 234mm guns on the Cape of Good Hope were powerful enough, but the number was too small, and the 16 152mm guns could only play half when firing on one side, and this half could not be fired because the sea water often flooded the guns!

He regretted it a little now.

If it weren't for the fact that the old man was too slow, if he wasn't greedy for credit and called Rear Admiral Stoddat, who was in Uruguay, if he had three first-class armored cruisers and four protective cruisers in his hands, then why would he have no power to fight back at this moment!

It was impossible to turn back the clock now, so he immediately made a decision to continue closing the distance and at the same time order the torpedo to be ready!

After this order was later transmitted to China, it caused a great deal of controversy within the navy, and some people said that Craddock's choice was right, that he could quickly close the distance by taking advantage of natural conditions in high sea conditions, and that he could make up for the weakness of equipment by using torpedoes to carry out assaults, and although he did not succeed later, his bravery was worthy of admiration.

Others thought it was reckless, because the Old Man Star was only 300 kilometers away from the war at the time, and if he had been less impulsive when he saw the Leipzig decoy released by Spee, it would have been completely different when the Old Man Star arrived in search of a fighter plane.

However, no matter whose arguments are reasonable, it is impossible to save the lives of Major General Craddock and more than 1,600 officers and soldiers who are buried here.

After Dai Jintang finished eating the oranges, he still felt that there were dozens of cigarettes in his mouth, if it wasn't for the fact that he had received an order to monitor the naval battle and report the results, and cover Shi Pei's departure to prevent a sneak attack, maybe he would have ordered to go farther away, and he would not be upset if he couldn't hear it.

Just as he took a deep breath to forcibly calm his mood, another muffled thunder faintly came, this sound that was obviously louder than the explosion and the cannon fire made Xiao He almost throw away the headset, and the navigator who was observing the sea surface jumped up.

"Captain!"

When Dai Jintang quickly pasted the periscope, he was also stunned by the scene in front of him, only to see a hundred-meter-high fiery red cloud blooming above the waterline in the distance.

Beautiful, deadly!

Because there is only one possibility for such a scene, the explosion of the ammunition depot!

----

----

Whitehall, the Royal Navy of the British Empire.

In the long hallway, the atmosphere is dreary.

The unfavorable situation on the other side of the strait made the officers have less to think about the female secretary, and for the Admiralty, although it won the victory in the Gulf of Heligoland, it was humiliated by the fact that not long ago the German submarine sank the three large cruisers "Abuco", "Hogg" and "Crecy" in an hour.

If the loss of three cruisers was nothing to the Admiralty, then the old guy who still leads the German Far East has become a thorn in everyone's eyes, making the Royal Navy criticized from all walks of life!

When the list of ships and stations that had been attacked was published in the pervasive newspapers, Britain was simply in a mess, because no one thought that the Royal Navy, which had the world's largest fleet and spent huge amounts of taxpayers' money every year, would be tossed half dead by several German cruisers that had difficulty even supplying, and also lost more than two million tons of ships, and even Brisbane was attacked by shells!

God, that old fellow, how did he take a few cruisers, evade the pursuit of nearly a hundred coalition warships, and set out from the Indian Ocean and cross at least the Pacific Ocean to attack Brisbane?!

The dreary atmosphere in the hallway made people feel as if they were standing in the middle of a group of old men, and this feeling made Fisher, who had just walked out of the conference room, frown.

Although he was not young, he felt that he should be considered a young man, because he still retained his ardent love for the navy, but in the face of this situation, he could only sigh in his heart, because this situation could not be changed by him alone.

Just as he held his head high, hoping to inspire the young people around him with the pride of the Royal Navy for a hundred years, a drum-like footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Vice Admiral Hamilton, the Second Sea Minister, who was holding a telegram and running away with a stern face, Fisher's heart sank violently.

"Craddock was ambushed, and he ......."

Before Hamilton finished speaking, Fisher had already jumped up and asked with a cold face, "Is it Spee?!" ”

Milton nodded, did not speak again, but took Fisher back to the Admiralty Conference Center, and when he pushed the door open, Churchill and other admirals who were discussing the matter furrowed their brows, because they had never seen Vice Admiral Hamilton, who was considered to have the grace of the Royal Navy, look so anxious.

"Under Winston, Rear Admiral Craddock and his fleet were ambushed by Spee at Coronel, and both the Cape of Good Hope and Menmers ......." Hamilton paused at this point, everyone in the room understood what he was trying to say, and after a moment he took a deep breath and continued: "Now the Otranto and the Glasgow are returning to Port Stanleys under the protection of the Old Man Asterisk. ”

"What about Stoddat's fleet? Wasn't he supposed to act with Craddock? ”

"John Luce, captain of the USS Glasgow, said that Craddock did not inform the Uruguayan fleet after discovering the trail of the Dresden, but set off on his own."

"Stupid!"

Churchill slapped the table hard, an action that also made both Fisher and Hamilton frown, although Craddock was suspected of being greedy and reckless, but criticism should not be made at this time.

Under the watchful eyes of many generals, Churchill quickly walked to the sea map.

Craddock's rashness, in addition to the loss of two more cruisers to the navy, caused Britain to temporarily lose the important nitrate replenishment of Peru and Chile, as the main raw material for the manufacture of **, which was extremely disadvantageous for the army that was getting bigger and bigger.

Seriously, if Spee continues to be allowed to attack in the Pacific, then where will the face of the Royal Navy of the British Empire go?!

Fisher also walked to the map, unlike Churchill who thought about the image of the navy, he was attracted by the long route from Sikkim in the Indian Ocean to Chile, knowing that there are only 13,000 nautical miles in a straight line between them, plus maneuvering and evasion during the voyage, and Spee's previous attack on Brisbane and other places, his fleet has sailed at least 20,000 nautical miles!

For any fleet, sailing 20,000 nautical miles is an extremely painful thing, and Spee's arrival in such a short time shows that his fleet is in very good condition and can always maintain a high speed, which shows that there are always people providing him with logistics along the way, otherwise it would be impossible to complete such a long distance and maintain a high speed!

Who is it?

When Fisher saw the red area in the southwest Pacific Ocean, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, and it was clear that it was the arsonist who was playing tricks!

The Chinese, like the United States, did not say neutrality or declare who to support, but judging from their performance, it is clear that Li Mo and Wilhelm II had some kind of tacit understanding, so he would contain the millions of Russian troops and provide support to Spee.

This made everyone resentful, but there was no good way to do it, because Britain lacked evidence, and it would be foolish to declare war on a great power and lead the war in a direction that no one knew about on the basis of selling coal and supplies to Spee.

This is not to say that Britain is afraid, but the generals in this room all understand that Britain will declare war with Li Mo sooner or later, so they will actively win over the United States and pull it into the chariot step by step, but the United States is not completely ready at home, and President Wilson is still hesitating, so it is not yet possible to declare war.

But just let Li Mo keep doing it like this?

Fisher was just about to speak when the doors of the conference room were slammed open.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there's a big problem on the Army's side!"

The naval staff shouted: "The Germans have sent 30,000 troops to attack Orange (South Africa) from West Africa, and the Boers have been stirred up there, and Vice Admiral Sanchez has sent a telegram for help." ”

"How is that possible? Is there a mistake? There are only 7,000 German troops there, and even if you add local mercenaries, it will not exceed 20,000, and Lieutenant General Sanchez has at least 50,000 troops! ”

"yes, did the Germans break through Jericho's?"

"No, it wasn't the Germans who broke through to our fleet." Fisher waved his hand: "The 10,000 German Army that we forgot about disappeared from the Far East, it should be that they arrived in West Africa." ”

"How is that possible?" Churchill jumped up at once, and there were more than 10,000 nautical miles from Japan to West Africa, could the Germans fly?

"We were all negligent." Hamilton sighed, pointed to Coronel and said: "Our eyes were drawn too much by Spee, who attacked the French Far East Fleet, and then deliberately swaggered into the Indian Ocean, attracted our attention and then crossed the Pacific Ocean, and when our fleet gathered in the Pacific Ocean, their fleet could pass through the Cape of Good Hope without any problems." ”

"But Germany doesn't have such a strong transport force in the Far East, 10,000 soldiers and equipment, and at least eight large transport ships?"

"They don't, but the Chinese do!" Fisher coldly said the answer, which also made Churchill hate itchy, and immediately said: "I want to go to the prime minister immediately, and restrictions must be imposed on the Chinese!" ”

After Churchill left in a hurry, everyone hula surrounded Fisher and Hamilton, and after the former's eyes swept over everyone's faces, he suddenly turned his head and asked Hamilton: "Did the intelligence from Egypt yesterday say that four Chinese cruise ships entered the Suez Canal?" ”

"Yes, on the way to Austria-Hungary."

"Then let it stay in the Mediterranean, we should not sit idly by, we should let the arsonist know that he is not without weaknesses!"

。