On the Ligurian Sea, the main fleet was moving slowly by the light of the moon.

Although the lack of on-board lights limits their speed, it also minimizes the risk of exposure.

At 6:35 a.m. on October 9, the sun had slightly dispelled the mist on the sea, and on the open deck of the broadside gun ironclad Arapiles, Morales raised his arm to look at his military watch.

After nearly two years of development, military watches have become more and more mature, and their waterproof ability and adaptability are far more than those of previous pocket watches, and now they have become a must-have for the navy.

However, Morales's mind was obviously not on this, and according to the predetermined plan, the decoy fleet should have entered the territorial waters of Italy at about half past six.

In the days when there was no radio, even an extremely simple plan had a lot of variables.

Perhaps because of a storm and an interception, the bait fleet could not reach the predetermined ambush point on time, and there was a possibility that the bait fleet and the main fleet would pass by.

Morales, who had personally commanded the previous operations on the Numancia, was now blind to the situation on the front line, how could he not be worried?

But he was blown by the cool sea breeze and understood that there was no point in worrying about him, and now everything could only be up to Diego Rodríguez......

While the main fleet was heading for the intended ambush site, Rear Admiral Rodriguez arrived at a distance of 8 kilometers from Genoa as planned, just one step away from actually entering the territorial waters of Italy.

At this time, everyone in the navy noticed that something was wrong, and it stands to reason that there would be a lot of fishermen fishing here at this distance, and there would definitely be no shortage of merchant ships coming and going around.

But now there is no ship here, which is very different from what they have experienced in the past.

Obviously, Italy was convinced of the news that they had deliberately released before, which deliberately dispersed the nearby fishermen and merchant ships.

"The fish bites." This is the common sentiment of the seamen of the decoy fleet.

Rodriguez noticed that the hands of the guards behind him were trembling slightly, looking both frightened and excited.

In order to prevent the plan from being exposed, most of the sailors, except for a few high-ranking officers, were informed of the true purpose of the operation before setting sail, and they were not even given time to write their last words.

Using 2 ironclad ships to take the initiative to enter the ambush circle of the enemy's main force, and also hanging the other party to ambush them in turn, there is no doubt that this is definitely a strong stroke in the history of modern naval warfare!

In other words, they're making history!

In the midst of this excitement, Rodriguez had to make a choice that would be a matter of life and death, and even the future of Europe—whether to continue on his way to Genoa or to sit here and wait for the Italians.

In the early morning, the fog has not completely cleared, and even with telescopes, the visibility is only about 1 km, and if you continue to advance, you risk being surrounded, and the deeper you go, the harder it will be to escape.

There was another risk that the Italian fleet might abandon the hunt because of their unusual behavior, and that they would not be able to stop the ships, so they would have to circle around the nearby seas and perhaps enter the battle in a disadvantageous position.

Both options have their own risks, so Morales did not interfere with Rodriguez's actions beforehand, but only let him "act cheaply".

Rodriguez looked at his watch, it was 6:40, and when it really dawned in a few hours, maybe a spy in Rome would find the port empty.

In advance, the navy placed many sail battleships in the harbor, but there was a difference between wooden ships and iron ships.

No matter how tightly defended it is, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not be seen, after all, it is a group of big guys nearly 100 meters long, and the military port of Rome is temporarily cut out.

We must act as soon as possible!

Rodriguez looked around: "Go ahead, take the zigzag route and be ready to turn at any moment." In addition, send all the reconnaissance ships. ”

Everyone nodded solemnly and went to arrange their own tasks, only the captain of the Numancia, Colonel Osvaldo, raised a question: "General, do our troops want to seize positions after discovering enemy ships?" ”

The position that Osvaldo said is naturally the horizontal of the "T", whether it is a sail battleship in the past or an ironclad ship today, the firepower on the side is far greater than the frontal firepower.

It is the consensus of the world's navies to seize a favorable position.

But the purpose of the decoy fleet is not to fight the opponent to the death, so in other words, Osvaldo is asking, "Do you run after a few moves, or do you just run?" ”

This really stopped Rodriguez, just run, it seems a little fake, and if you don't grab the position, the other party will grab, which may cause them a lot of losses in a short contact.

But if you want to grab it, the prolonged contact time will definitely increase the risk accordingly.

After thinking about it, Rodriguez couldn't give a definite answer, so he could only respond: "Wait for my order." ”

……

As time passed, the visibility on the sea became higher and higher, but there were no enemy ships in sight, and Rodriguez guessed that the other side should want to wait for his side to start attacking the port as usual before acting, and the fleet trapped around the port was naturally unable to resist.

But the decoy fleet would not give them what they wanted, and at a distance of 5 nautical miles southwest of Genoa, 7 nautical miles in fact, the zigzag course combined with the influence of the current caused a slight shift in bearing.

From there, the fleet slowly turned and headed west.

Rodriguez was already sweating his palms at this time, and he was betting that if Italy found them, then they would also find Italy, so both should not know each other's exact location.

But they had been on track along the way, and he speculated that Italy had a rough estimate of where they were.

If they are perceived to be turning, Italy may catch up.

This avoids getting caught up too deep in the encirclement.

As for the abruptness of this act, Rodriguez believes that there are already too many anomalies around Genoa, and it is reasonable for him to temporarily cancel the attack, and Italy should not suspect it.

Under his command, the fleet moved slowly at a speed of 8 knots, waiting for Italy to catch up.

And he himself has been standing at the stern of the ship with a telescope to look around.

It's a pity that nothing was found.

Just when his heart was half cold, he felt that this mission was probably a failure, and he was hesitating to take the risk of going to Genoa to provoke again.

Osvaldo suddenly ran over excitedly: "General, a reconnaissance ship has just returned, and 5 nautical miles to the port on the left side, the Italian ship has been found!" A lot, Grand Fleet! ”