"Hooray! Sink a Blake class! ”

"Captain, we've won!"

In the bridge of the Cao Guogong armored cruiser, which was scarred and had been beaten as a "strong ship", the officers and men of the Ming Navy, who had changed into life jackets, cheered.

Lei Teng also looked pouted, looking at the Waterloo, which was pouting and head-down into the Indian Ocean, and said with a smile: "Okay! Now we can abandon the ship in victory! ”

It is a victory to abandon the ship, not a defeat to abandon the ship, this is exquisite! If the ship is abandoned in defeat, then according to some unwritten convention, the captain who is defeated and loses the battleship is to sink with the battleship. The water in the Indian Ocean is so cold, Lei Teng is not willing to drown in it. So he must be victorious and abandon the ship!

When he heard the piercing siren of abandoning the ship, Lu Benwei was holding a faucet to cool down a turret that was about to be engulfed in flames. Daming's Guogong-class is still a product of the transition period from wooden-hulled ships to ironclad ships, and there is more wood on board, which is easy to be ignited by shells filled with picric acid. That is to say, the damage management personnel of the Ming Navy are more effective, so that Cao Guogong can support it until now.

However, after all, Cao Guogong is being beaten by two Blake-level people who are much stronger than it, and it is impossible to carry it all the time, let alone this need. Isn't it just an old 3,000-ton cruiser? Nothing can be rebuilt! But if all the crew members of the ship are to be sacrificed, then the pressure on the Admiralty will be great.

Lu Benwei, who heard the abandonment alarm, did not immediately look for a lifeboat or simply jump into the sea, but continued to use the tap to water the turret - this is stipulated by the Navy's combat regulations, and when abandoning the ship, the damage management personnel and the captain must hold on to the end. Because only if the damage management continues to persist under the leadership of the captain, the damaged ship will not sink immediately.

The abandonment of the ship of the Cao Guogong was carried out very quickly, which is also one of the training projects of the Ming Navy! The radio station must be destroyed, the code book must be destroyed or taken away, the documents in the bridge must be destroyed, and those that can be taken away must be taken away. After abandoning the ship, if you can summon your own ship, you have to sink the ship with a few torpedoes, so as not to be dragged back by the enemy to repair and use it again.

After a while, Lu Benwei saw their captain Lei Teng and several officers coming out of the bridge wearing life jackets. Lei Teng also recognized Lu Benwei, so he shouted and said, "Little Luzi, don't water, we don't want this boat!" ”

"Boss Lei, I'll come now." Lu Benwei hurriedly threw away the faucet, dragged the fireproof clothes, gloves, and goggles, grabbed a lifebuoy casually, and rushed to Lei Teng's side. Then a group of people went to jump into the sea together

Lu Benwei joined the Navy at the age of 17 and is 25 years old this year, which is already very "old" among the soldiers. However, at the age of 40, Lei Teng still regarded him as a young man. When Lu Benwei first joined the Nanyang Fleet as a soldier, he was under Lei Teng, who was a major at the time. Now they are on the battlefield again, abandoning the ship and falling into the water together, which can be regarded as a shared hardship.

Colonel Jervis on the Blake also knew that the Cao Guogong had abandoned the ship, but he did not embarrass the officers and men of the Ming Navy who "jumped into the sea" - "jumping into the sea without killing" is a tacit understanding between the navies of all countries in the world, who can guarantee that he will never jump into the sea? It's you who kills people today, and people kill you tomorrow!

And Jervis didn't have the time to deal with the Ming officers and soldiers who jumped into the sea from the Cao Guogong, because he didn't have enough money until now! He lost the Waterloo and sank a national knight. It looks like it's one-to-one, but what kind of ship is the Waterloo? What kind of ship is the national public class?

It's a loss!

So he had to sink one or two more Guogong-class, and at this time, there were exactly two Guogong-class ships with thick smoke billowing on the sea, and they had to be sunk to get back to their original cost and quickly!

Because the Great Fleet of the Ming Dynasty must be on its way, once they arrive, the two Blake-class ships can only "retreat victoriously"!

And to sink these two already injured Guogong-level as soon as possible, the easiest way is, of course, to get close to the fight!

Thinking of this, Jervis raised his hand and pointed to one of the national public ranks, and said loudly: "That's the next target. Rush up at full speed, get closer to within 5,000 yards and slow down! ”

"5000 yards?" The first mate of the Blakes was taken aback, "This is too close. There is a possibility that two of our Blakes Classes will be damaged. ”

"It doesn't matter," said Jervis, "the Blake class doesn't sink so easily, at most it will be damaged, and we have a well-equipped shipyard in Mumbai that can be repaired quickly!" So, our goal is for those two wounded Kokugongs to get close to them, sink them, at least severely damage them, and then retreat victoriously before the enemy's Grand Fleet arrives! ”

"Yes, sir!"

"Sir, Huai'an Hou, it has been discovered that the Indian Grand Fleet has at least 8 battleships and 2 armored cruisers, including 2 improved versions of the Sovereign class!"

On the Tang Wang, the flagship of the Daming Persian Gulf Fleet, Guo Xiaobao, the chief staff officer of the fleet, walked quickly to Zhuge Weidao, who was holding a telescope and looking at several black pillars of smoke in front of him.

It turned out that he had already led the main force of his fleet to the vicinity of the sea where the battle was taking place. Unfortunately, the main force of the Indian Grand Fleet has almost arrived! And there are two British airships that look very annoying and can't hit them, and they are on top of the big hull led by Zhuge Weidao. Now one of them has flown away, presumably to report the news, and the other one is still hovering in the sky.

That is to say, Zhuge is the hole card in the Taoist hand, and people have seen it clearly.

And Zhuge Wei Daoist had no airships to use, so he had to send a few "Hou Ye-class" cruisers to seek the enemy, and really discovered the British fleet!

However, it was a bit out of Zhuge Weidao's expectations, and there were two unyielding levels in the formation of the British!

"Sir, I'm afraid those two monarchs are not easy to deal with, they have 6 twin turrets, and the caliber of the main gun should be 9.2 inches, although it is not big, but the 15,000-ton ship-mounted gun of this size must be relatively stable. And the monarch class is extremely strong, if you have 12 9.2-inch cannons, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with. If those two heroes don't leave, we can fight. Now."

Now it's a real nuisance!

Although Zhuge Weidao's main fleet also had 8 battleships, these 8 battleships had a total of only 32 240-mm cannons. And the two monarchs have 24 9.2-inch cannons! If you add the firepower of the other 6 battleships and those two Blake-class . It seems to be a big advantage!

"Now they don't know that our two heroes have left." Zhuge thought for a while, and then said, "Let's go and join Chief of Staff Chen's detachment first, and then go north together to force the main fleet of the British." See if you can push them back? At the same time, give those two heroes another power generation and make them come back quickly. ”

"Let them come back?" Guo Xiaobao was stunned, "How can Nicholas I explain there?" We have already changed the order for two Heroes to artillery and ammunition, will the remaining two also be exchanged for artillery and ammunition? Will he be willing? ”

Zhuge smiled for the road: "He is now attacking Adrianople, and Prussia and Austria behind him are ready to move, and the Greeks and Bulgarians have begun to retreat." What is he doing with battleships at this time? The key now is that someone can come out and help him. And our entry into the Persian Gulf is the greatest help to him. Therefore, the matter of changing shells and cannons for battleships must be negotiable"

"Sir!"

At this time, the communications officer on the Tang Wang suddenly said loudly to Zhuge Weidao: "Chief of Staff Chen has telegraphed that the two Blake-class Britons have retreated with wounds!" ”

"Oh," Zhuge nodded for Dao, "our loss? ”

The communication officer said: "The Liangguo Gong and Wei Guo Gong have been severely damaged, I'm afraid it will be difficult to repair, plus the Cao Guo Gong that has been abandoned before, we have lost."

"Are there any damage to the other ships?" Zhuge asked again for the Tao.

"Nope."

Zhuge Weidao laughed: "Okay! Then we won. Send a telegram to Chief of Staff Chen, ask him to dispose of the heavy damage to the Liangguo Gong and the Wei Guo Gong, and then lead the remaining five Guo Gong to join me. ”

(End of chapter)