"Great!" Rodriguez was overjoyed, but soon he calmed down: "How many troops does the other side have, do you see clearly?" ”

Osvaldo shook his head: "I only know that there are more than five ironclad ships, and if they continue to get closer, the reconnaissance ships are at risk of being sunk." ”

"That should be the enemy's main fleet." Rodriguez speculated:

"Considering that we have given him a day to mobilize his ships, the rear fleet should contain most of the Italian warships, but not the Prince Carignano, Messina, and Cape Conte Verde in Sicily.

In this way, I think there should be about 10 ironclads in the back. ”

Osvaldo agrees, and the amount is about the same as he thought.

"Do you want to continue sailing at low speed and wait for them or run straight to the ambush point?"

"Hmm......" Rodriguez muttered, "speed up to 9 knots." ”

With the order of the commander, more coal was put into the steam engine, and the propeller rotated rapidly, abruptly halting the gradual draw of the West and Italy.

In fact, this speed is far from the limit of the decoy fleet, but it is already a bit difficult for Italy to catch up.

The performance of Italian ironclad ships is no worse than that of Spain, mainly because they are still stuck in the era of the decisive battle of the Grand Fleet in the past, and in order to ensure the victory of this naval battle, it can be said that they are elite.

Not only a large number of gunboats were brought with them, but also a few sail battleships, and these old and large ships generally only had a speed of about 6-8 knots, which greatly slowed down the sailing speed of the fleet.

The chase continued for a while, and the Italian commander, Pietro Badogrio, seemed to know that the mission was hopeless, and he made up his mind to throw away most of the wooden boats.

Having left behind useless old ships, the speed of the Italian fleet increased considerably, reaching a level close to 10 knots.

At 2 p.m. on 9 October, the two fleets reached the west side of Corsica, and under the deliberate control of Rodriguez, the distance between the two remained at 5-7 nautical miles.

In the rear, Badoglio felt that the situation was a little bad, it was far from their plan, what was originally a siege and annihilation battle around the port of Genoa, but now it turned into a chase battle.

Further on, it entered the sphere of activity of the French Mediterranean Fleet, and Italy and France were in a state of alliance and antagonism, and if they collided, it was difficult to guarantee that they would not have some bad intentions.

And he vaguely felt that the other party seemed to be hanging himself, otherwise, judging from the performance of the other party, his own side should not be able to get close to them to such a distance, let alone bite the opponent's high-speed fleet with the main fleet in the high-speed pursuit.

"I can't chase it any further." A voice in his heart was warning himself that there were many anomalies on the other side of this operation, and although there was no definite evidence, the risk had already appeared.

But he is a little unwilling, it is said that this is a very "rare" information to obtain, if this time in vain, there is another such opportunity I don't know when to wait.

Perhaps the stormy Kingdom of Italy will not be able to wait for that time.

After thinking about it and thinking about it, Badoglio still felt that it was better to evacuate first, and he also admitted that he was accused of being an incompetent coward when he went back, and Italy would cut the flesh at most if he lost this opportunity, and if there was any mistake in the fleet in his hands, then Italy could really only be slaughtered by others.

Just as he was about to give the order to return, Rear Admiral Cataño suddenly ran towards him quickly, and his face could not hide his excitement: "Marshal, the reconnaissance ship ahead reports that a cruiser on the other side has suddenly caught fire, and the Spaniards do not seem to intend to abandon that ship, at the current rate, it is expected to engage in 25 minutes." ”

Badoglio's brow furrowed even deeper, this is also too much of a coincidence!

"Have you found out the cause of the fire?"

Cataño shook his head: "I only know that the cruiser is a steam sail hybrid, and the location of the fire is in the rear bottom compartment, the specific reason is not clear." ”

“……”

Badoglio was tempted to say that this was unreasonable, and that the best option for the moment was to retreat, but looking at everyone's eager gaze, he couldn't open his mouth.

"Ugh." He sighed heavily, and then slapped the other party on the shoulder: "Then hurry up, don't miss the opportunity!" ”

The Italians were gleefully preparing for engagement, while the decoy fleet was quickly salvaging the overboard crew of the Pipolo.

In order to make this scene more realistic, they really burned the ship, and the sailors really jumped into the sea after the fire was out of control.

The nearest Italian ship was only 3-4 kilometers away, and they were taking a big risk.

And the decoy fleet also stopped moving forward at this time, turned to a line, and turned to the left side in the direction of Italy, obviously preparing to make a few moves with the other side!

At the same time that the last crew member who had fallen overboard was scooped up, the figure of the Italian battleship appeared in the sight of the Spaniards.

1、2、3…… 7, there are 7 ironclad ships that appear in the field of vision alone! Not to mention the reserve fleet in the rear and the wooden cruisers in the surrounding stars!

It is evident that Italy has divided the fleet into three "V" shapes, which is a very striking formation.

The first V is the main force of 7 ironclads in the middle, the V on the left is several wooden-hulled fast ships, and the rest of the reconnaissance ships and gunboats are grouped in the V on the right.

And the point of impact they have in common is where the decoy fleet is located.

I have to admit that watching a large group of warships sprint frantically towards me brings an indescribable visual experience, as if you don't run away, the next moment you will be smashed into slag by them and sink into the sea.

But at this time, Rodriguez calmly gave the order to open fire, and as the flag command was received, whether concentrated in the gun room or distributed on the deck, the gunners who had been prepared for a long time all opened the firing window and tilted their fire on the Italian ship.

A web of cannonballs flew swiftly forward, the pitch-black iron shell reflecting the icy hue in the sunlight.

Unfortunately, because it was too far away, the best shot of this fire salvo only passed by the starboard side of a gunboat, only shattering the fence on it and killing a few sailors who did not have time to dodge.

In terms of cost, this salvo is undoubtedly a loss, but what Rodriguez wants is its deterrent effect.

He was afraid that the opponent would not engage in firepower with him, but would rush over and fight him hand-to-hand with him by virtue of his numerical superiority.

As the enemy ships continued to attack, the position of the Spanish side also changed, and the ships on both sides of the long snake formation turned slightly and quietly sailed to the rear.

This is to prevent the worst-case scenario, if the opponent really wants to fight in close combat, then they can only continue to escape, and in the melee, their combat power will definitely not be enough for the opponent to fight.