After staring at the charts for a long time, Vice Admiral Codrington still couldn't imagine where the Ming fleet that had broken through into the Indian Ocean had gone.

Not Ceylon, not Malé, not Chittagong, not Chennai on the east coast of India...... They wouldn't want to go to the Gulf of Aden to block the Suyinz Canal, would they?

In the end, Lieutenant General Codrington actually came up with an answer that was closest to the truth!

But then he was frightened by this thought, because in the past two years the United Kingdom and the Indian Empire have been preparing for war in full force, and the big and old ships have been renovated and renovated. Therefore, the Grand Fleet of the Royal Indian Navy is in a period of low strength, not only the strength of the main fleet stationed in Mumbai is insufficient, but the strength of the four detachments stationed in Malacca, the Gulf of Aden, Chittagong, and Ceylon Island is also very weak, and it is simply not enough to resist the attack of such a huge main formation of the Ming Navy......

And once the Ming army occupies the Gulf of Aden, the shortcut from India to the British mainland will be controlled by the Ming navy. This is really too bad for the Royal Indian Navy, which is far from the British mainland!

Although the Ming naval formation, which broke through into the Indian Ocean, was much stronger than his own, Vice Admiral Codrington decided to make a move...... He was not without a chance of winning, although his ships were inferior to his opponents, but behind him was the Bombay plant of the Hindustan shipyard.

Therefore, if his warship was damaged in the battle with the Ming Dynasty, he could immediately return to Bombay for repairs. Once the Ming warship was damaged, it could only go back to the Borneo shipyard of the Ming Navy east of the Strait of Malacca to repair it.

Judging from the experience of the previous battle of Jiyin Waterway, it is not easy to sink a battleship or ironclad ship, and it is relatively simple to damage. So whoever has a better repair shop has an advantage.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Codrington, as if he had made up his mind, turned around and asked the staff beside him: "Where is Colonel Jervis's vanguard formation at present?" ”

The so-called vanguard formation is a pilot formation composed of three Blake-class fast armored cruisers and three Marvel-class notification cruisers that are 6 years and 7 years old.

The task of this formation is to conduct reconnaissance and search in front of the main fleet, as well as to cover the attack of large formations or "oil on the bottom of the ship...... It's a bit like light cavalry on land, but in the days when there were no radars and no planes, this was the only way to detect the enemy.

And in the fleets of the various naval powers, it is often the armored cruisers that are fast after all, and a few fast cruisers that can act as notification ships.

The so-called notification ship is actually a "ship of ventilation and information".

Because wireless telegraphy has not yet been popularized in these years - the ships on the Ming side are equipped with wireless telegraphy, and the British side is said to have built a prototype of the radio station, which is why the Ming began to sell radio stations with the ship. However, the British radio station has just started to try mass production, and the production is very low, and the quality of the product is not stable. So the Navy has not yet been equipped with a large number of radio stations, and only a few ships are on trial. And in this Indian fleet, there is not a single ship equipped with a radio station.

Therefore, the Royal Indian Navy can only rely on fast and light cruisers and destroyers to fill the docks. Take advantage of its own high speed, come and go on the sea surface, ventilate and signal.

And this efficiency is of course very impressive!

Now there are 3 Marvel-class notification ships in the vanguard formation that serve as the vanguard of the fleet, which only has a displacement of 1,650 tons, and the power of the main engine can reach 2,000 horsepower under natural ventilation conditions, which can make the ship run to a speed of 16 knots, and the main engine power can reach 3,000 horsepower under strong ventilation, which can run up to 17 knots.

This speed...... It is far inferior to the South Island class passenger liners, and the rapid technological progress in recent years can be imagined!

"An hour ago, the flag reported that they had arrived near Goa."

Lieutenant General Codrington's gaze returned to the charts, and although Goa was a Portuguese colony, British warships and airships used Goa's facilities because of the traditional friendship between Portugal and the British Empire, which had been allies for centuries.

"Send a Marvel class to Goa, first give Colonel Jervis an order to lead the entire formation in the direction of the Gulf of Aden.

Then let the Marvel send a message to the airship base in Goa, asking them to send the airship to search the entire Arabian Sea...... I have a hunch that that formation of the Ming Navy is somewhere in the Arabian Sea! ”

"Yes, sir!"

......

Lieutenant General Codrington really guessed right!

The Persian Gulf Fleet of the Ming Navy led by Zhuge Weidao was carefully navigating in the waters of the Arabian Sea, far from the Indian coastline, at this time.

The reason why Zhuge Weidao is so careful is to go far around the Indian subcontinent. Because, of course...... Scared.

The two Hero-class battleships that had previously escorted his large formation through the Strait of Malacca had now left the formation and left on their own - they were both battleships sold to the Rakshasa Kingdom, and Nicholas I had already "oiled".

Since they would join the Rakshasa Mediterranean fleet as soon as they arrived in the Mediterranean, it was decided that Ali Pasha, the Ottoman loyalist, would refuse them to pass through the canal.

As a result, the two ships were left to bypass Black Africa.

And after the two hero classes left, there were only eight battleships left in Zhuge Weidao's large formation, and they were all quite old battleships.

So he'd better stay away from the Indians...... In order to ensure that his large formation would not directly collide with the main force of the Royal Indian Navy in Mumbai, Zhuge Weidao also sent eight light armored patrols under his command to approach the Indian mainland to be responsible for the vigilance.

"Baozhi," Zhuge Weidao, who was a little restless on the bridge of the Tang Wang, suddenly shouted Guo Xiaobao's name, "Is there a telegram from the Duke of Wei?" ”

The Wei Guogong is a 3,000-ton light armored cruiser and the flagship of the Persian Gulf Fleet's armored cruiser detachment, and is now being led by Chen Jian to sail close to the west coast of India.

"Sir, I just sent a telegram half an hour ago." Guo Xiaobao replied with a smile, "They are almost in Goa......

Before he could finish his words, the fleet communications officer suddenly shouted: "Sir, the Duke of Wei has an urgent telegram...... Discover three Blake-class armored cruisers! The location is off the coast of Goa! ”

"What found three Blakes? That's a big ship with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons! ”

"Sir," Guo Xiaobao said, "it is reported that the Royal Indian Navy has only three Blakes in total...... They have a large displacement, so they should not be easily dispatched, and I guess there must be the main force of the Royal Indian Navy nearby!

What should we do? Is it a war? Is it to avoid? ”

"What should I do?" Zhuge Weidao pondered, "Now there are only eight prince-class ships left, and the strength seems to be a little lacking!" However, we can't dodge it now, the brave wins when we meet on a narrow road! ”

"Admiral, we haven't declared war yet...... Theoretically, our fleet is still sailing on the high seas. Guo Xiaobao reminded, "The strength of the three strips of Blake is stronger than our eight national public level!" ”

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"It doesn't matter, they shouldn't know that those two heroes have left. So it's them, not us, who should be scared. Zhuge Weidao seemed to have made a great determination, "My order, except for the eight sail warships and all the auxiliary ships, all turn to us and go to the sea off Goa!"

Tell Jian Chen again that he must have the determination to fight the first shot. If two armies of equal strength meet in a narrow way, the brave will win...... What's more, the advantage is mine! ”

"Yes, sir."

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