A convoy of six cargo ships, protected by a small fleet of German cruisers with a displacement of 4,400 tons "Hesse" and a displacement of 2,720 tons "Arsonist", advanced all the way to the southern seas.

They were a mixed fleet from Dar es Salaam, the capital of German East Africa, and the Portuguese took out large sums of gold hard currency to buy goods, mainly food and daily necessities, and asked warships to escort them.

The French refused, and the Germans, lured by the lure of lucrative profits, agreed that it was the German adventurer Karl Peters who was now in power in Dar es Salaam, and that the colonies belonged to the German East African Company, and that the capitalists were of course going to make money.

It has to be said that Karl-Peters was very bold and worthy of being a famous German adventurer, who bribed the commander of the German fleet, Rear Admiral Heinrich, with a large amount of money to facilitate this escort trip.

How could Germany have a fleet in Africa?

In 1885, the European powers reached an agreement in Berlin to divide Africa, stipulating that "whoever actually controls it will have the right to rule the colony."

This set off a wave of colonization of Africa, German Prime Minister Bismarck has never been in favor of the plan to colonize overseas, Carl Peters threatened to join Belgium if he did not recognize the East African colonies, Bismarck was forced by the strong pressure of the domestic colonialists, recognized the colonization of East Africa by the German East African Company, and German East Africa was established.

The Sultan of Zanzibar was very unhappy with this and condemned the German occupation of Zanzibar's territory. In April 1886, Germany sent a naval fleet to Zanzibar to threaten force the Sultan of Zanzibar to recognize German East Africa.

Rear Admiral Heinrich was the captain of the fleet on this armed cruise, and after the satisfactory results, the fleet was anchored in Dar es Salaam, and under the lure of gold and beautiful women, Rear Admiral Heinrich agreed to take on the extra task of earning extra money.

At this time, it was about ten o'clock in the morning when the sun was shining

Under the blue sea and blue sky, the mainland coastline looms in the distance, the "Hesse" is in the forefront, the black hole hole gun muzzle is pointed straight ahead, behind him are six bloated cargo ships, open white sails along the coastline, and the last is the "arsonist" ironclad ship to press the formation, forming a long snake queue to the south.

Rear Admiral Heinrich sat in the bridge command tower in a crisp white admiral's uniform, with a bushy beard well-groomed with Germanic upturns, and he looked in a good mood, chatting and laughing with his officers.

"Hey, Lieutenant Colonel Hoffmann, you can buy a big villa with a separate garden in Hamburg when you go back this time, have you ever thought about how to house two beautiful Portuguese maids, I think it's a happy trouble?"

"Your Excellency General, my family owns not only a few shops in Hamburg, but also an apartment building for rent in the city, so this is not a problem."

"Thanks to the generosity of the Portuguese, our trip to Africa has been made even more complete."

"I feel the same way, Your Excellency, although it is poor, ignorant, dirty and backward here, fortunately there are some local products that can be used, thank God, this boring intercontinental journey is finally coming to an end, and I have begun to miss the snow that falls in Hamburg in winter."

"Yes......" Major General Heinrich sighed with deep empathy, and a hint of longing flashed in his light blue eyes.

He missed the German dark beer, the roast pork sausage, the heavy Grand Theater, the lavish evening banquets, the round and snow-white buttocks of the Viscountess Schwartz, the foxhounds in the mansion, the hot and barren continent did not arouse his interest in the slightest, and after the trip, he wanted to lead the fleet back to Europe as soon as possible.

At this moment, the captain of the voyage reported; "Report to Your Excellency, General, we have sailed into the waters of the Kilimba Islands, please instruct."

"Keep the course, keep the speed, order the lookout to be strengthened, and report any situation at any time."

"Yes, sir."

Before you know it, the atmosphere in the Commander Tower becomes serious.

It was no secret that the British and the Portuguese were engaged in a low-intensity war for Mozambique, and the officers and men of the German fleet had certainly heard of it.

Major General Heinrich also knew more about the fact that it was not the British army that attacked Mozambique, but the Dominion of Queensland in Australia, and the army played the banner of the Red Mountain Dragon instead of the rice flag, which was said to be the private army of a certain earl lord, which was the fundamental reason why he was willing to intervene in this trip.

If he saw the rice flag, Rear Admiral Heinrich led the fleet to turn around and leave immediately without saying a word.

This is the sea. Rear Admiral Inrich negotiated the terms with Karl Peters, and if the other side raised the rice flag, then the fleet must not be mixed in the troubled waters, and must return immediately and unconditionally.

The fleet does not participate in real naval battles, it only conducts warning shots, and this is the bottom line.

It didn't take long for the alarm bells on the cruiser Hesse......

"Report to Your Excellency General, 7 light ship targets have appeared in the waters in front of the right side of our ship, 20 chains away, and are approaching our side at high speed, please instruct how to deal with it."

"Duty officer, report the model of the incoming ship."

"Report to Your Excellency General, the incoming ship is led by a thousand-ton ironclad ship, and there are 6 gunboats of more than 300 tons, all of which are flying the flag of the Red Mountain Dragon, and the intention is unknown."

"Flag Message: We are the African task force of the German Empire, which is carrying out escort missions, and no ship of any other country shall interfere with the route, otherwise it will be treated as a hostile act and attacked."

"Report to Your Excellency General, they are ships belonging to the Mozambique Marine Police District, they are ordered to carry out the task of route blockade, and it is strictly forbidden for any ship to go to the island of Mozambique to provide supplies, please return the fleet the same way, the front is not passable;"

"Hmph, it's not a small tone." Major General Heinrich snorted coldly with an ugly face, and couldn't help but curse secretly.

The gunboat fleet of the Marine Police District is still approaching at high speed, and the distance between the two sides is less than 10 chains, and the long track drawn by the small gunboat at high speed can be clearly seen, and the bow gun suit has been removed, revealing the black hole of the 95-millimeter naval gun, which is obviously not a good match.

At this time, the atmosphere in the commander tower became tense, no one wanted to be inexplicably involved in a naval war, unlike the British Royal Fleet, which was flirtatious all over the world, the Royal Fleet of the German Empire was more of a show of existence, patrolling on weekdays to participate in some escort and fishing operations, and running to the coast of Africa to shoot a few cannons to scare Uncle Black.

Suddenly encountering this situation, everyone was a little nervous.

"This is the African task force of the Royal Navy of the German Empire, order the other party to immediately abandon the attempt to get close and remove the interference on the route, otherwise it will be regarded as a provocation to the task force, and all the consequences will be borne by yourself."

"Yes, sir."

"Order the bow turret, ready to fire warning at any time."

"Yes, sir."

The atmosphere in the command tower was solemn, warning shooting was a very dangerous move, and if the other side fired back, then a naval conflict could not be avoided.

The two sides showed toughness in their battle of wits and courage, and the 7 ships led by the Seagull-class frigate were still approaching at high speed, and soon approached the distance of the 6th chain, and it could be clearly seen that the gun crews of the opposing ships were all sticking to their combat posts, and the ships were bumping up and down with the high-speed speed.

After a loud "boom".

The roar of the main guns of the cruiser "Hesse", firing 305-mm medium shells into the distant sea and blasting high waves, was an extremely serious warning, indicating that the German battleship was already on the verge of an outbreak and could not bear further provocations.

The gunboat flotilla led by the Seagull-class cruiser immediately turned sharply and drew a clear white semicircle on the sea, which made the German officers of the cruiser "Hesse" Farry breathe a long sigh of relief;

God forbid, almost scared out of the heart attack.

What was originally a pleasant trip to make money almost turned into a war at sea, can this still be enjoyable?

As long as it doesn't start fighting, it's easy to say, if it does, it will be terrible, and if the gunboat fleet on the opposite side suddenly raises the rice flag, I'm afraid that the always calm Rear Admiral Heinrich will jump in fright.

"Oh, God bless us won"

"Seriously, we've just swam around the brink of war, and we're so lucky."

"Long live the General, we have won this dangerous game of confrontation."

The officers in the command tower couldn't help but cheer, none of them were ready for a battle, especially with the British, not to mention that the other side was a small gunboat of several hundred tons, and the pressure on the German officers was not ordinarily great.

In the bay of Portsmouth, England, the rows of majestic and mighty 10,000-ton ships are really terrifying, symbolizing the unchallengeable majesty of the British Empire's world hegemon, and a huge shadow that lingers over the heads of all European naval fleets.

Who would dare to say that they don't care, it's pure bragging!

Looking back at the excitement of the German officers now, it is not surprising at all.

If someone says that these gunboat fleets come from the British Dominion of Queensland in Australia, and are not home fleets, there is no need to be afraid.

That can only say that you did not understand the unreasonable arrogance of the British Empire in this era, that is really beating you without negotiation, especially this blue ocean, which is simply a small pond of the Royal Navy of the British Empire.

Whoever dares to face the British Empire, the Royal Navy of the British Empire will dare to smash his pot.

Major General Heinrich smugly stroked the two upturned beards on his lips, and a smug smile appeared on the corners of his lips.

He did have reason to be happy, even if he returned to the German Admiralty, it was an experience that he could boast of, and not everyone in the world could deflat the Royal Navy of the British Empire.

Don't look at it as just a bunch of small gunboats, the key is that the background is hard, there are dozens of tens of thousands of tons of ironclad ships moored in Portsmouth Bay, England, just like dozens of villains with big shoulders and round waists standing behind kindergarten children, so who can afford to provoke them?