"Commander, what we have to do now is save the fleet!"

Will. Smith is now incredibly sober.

"We still have a dozen battleships, and in South Africa, in Madagasda, we also have some sub-fleets, which can also be equipped with a large number of rapid-fire guns with some modifications! Obviously, in the future naval battle, it is unlikely that you want to sink the enemy ship with one blow, and the pursuit of damage is the best solution! We must maintain a presence fleet in the Indian Ocean, otherwise the Chinese will brazenly bypass the Cape of Good Hope! Establish a stronghold in West Africa and even cut off the Atlantic route! ”

John. Hearing this, Jervis finally nodded heavily on an extremely gloomy face.

"Order each ship, three ships as a group, each to break through to the south!"

On the island of Madagascar in the south, there is a base of the British Royal Navy, and with the protection of the fortress guns of the base, the Ming Navy will definitely not dare to attack the military port in a hurry.

"Concentrate your fire! Target the USS Auckland! ”

Zhang Bao's face was now full of excitement.

Thousands of miles away, the first war will determine the sea power!

It's just by virtue of this.

The next Admiralty Shoshu.

Even the position of the admiral, he could think about it.

Victory!

What a victory!

"Governor! The horizontal squad of the British was disbanded!! They had three warships as a small horizontal squadron. They're going to run away! ”

"Chase!"

Zhang Bao, of course, knew that the British could not be allowed to leave with the fleet.

This battle has been a complete victory.

Right now.

It's time to expand the gains!

The half-crippled Hung Lie ran aground on a coral reef - although it did not sink, there was no need for repair and salvage.

At the time of the breakthrough of the British army.

Another armor-piercing bullet was hit on the waterline of the Honglie, causing a large opening in the seawater.

It took a few cabins to shut down before the influx of sea water was finally stopped.

In the end, the Hong Lie staggered to a coral reef and chose to run aground.

After completing all the tasks, Deng Huanzhuang and his deputy Ito Yunori led more than 800 sturdy and exhausted men to extinguish the fire on the Hongyeol, and then began to quietly look at the battlefield in the distance from the cabin.

Everyone is praying for victory to God, Mazu, Buddha, and so on.

This is, after all, a naval battle.

After the Hong Lie lost its combat effectiveness.

The 800-odd men are basically useless - they can't carry self-defense revolvers to kill the enemy's warships like hills, right?

As the situation on the battlefield becomes clearer and clearer.

Deng Huanzhuang's mood became more and more excited.

He seemed to see the stars and titles beckoning to him.

This battle.

He's definitely done a great job!

Lead a cruiser/frigate formation and sink a Giant-class battleship and cripple a Giant-class battleship.

Such feats.

It is enough for Deng Huanzhuang, Ito Yunori and others to carry a general star on their shoulders and even be knighted.

After seeing the decisive battle between the two sides evolve into a chase battle.

Deng Huanzhuang breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Then I began to wait for the battle to be over.

The British warship was fleeing south.

All the British lost confidence and lost the confidence to fight against the Ming naval fleet.

All they had left now was the idea of escaping from the guns of the Ming warship.

The chase lasted until 6:30 p.m.

The falling night saved the last remnants of the British warships, and the Ming Navy did not risk taking advantage of the night to pursue - for Zhang Bao, the governor of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Ming Navy, the current results are big enough!

Sink 9 enemy battleships!

It also includes two 10,000-ton super ships!!

Besides.

The vast majority of enemy ships were damaged to varying degrees.

At least more than twenty enemy ships were damaged to the point where repairs were no longer necessary.

Most of the remaining warships will also have to stay in the repair shop for at least a year and a half before they can regain their combat effectiveness - if the British have enough slipways.

Such a brilliant result.

Zhang Bao's position as a national duke is stable - counting his old bean Zhang Hong's position as a national duke, a double national duke, his Zhang family can be regarded as a bitter Tan family pirate at the beginning, and has become the top wealthy family in the world.

Therefore, it is a normal choice for Zhang Bao to accept it when he sees it.

Enough has been won now.

There's no need to take any chances.

If something happens in the night, the gains outweigh the losses.

After an overnight voyage.

The dilapidated Vostok slowly headed south.

"The Chinese didn't catch up!"

Get the news of John. When Jervis heard this, his hanging heart finally let go.

But when I think of the losses in this battle.

The British admiral had the urge to pull out his pistol and shoot himself in the head.

It's too much of a loss.

The battle damage situation received so far alone is already very bad.

A total of 11 warships were sunk (two of them were caught on the reef in a panic during last night's voyage and were not observed by the Ming Navy. ）。

The remaining warships were also damaged to varying degrees.

Among them, the speed of the battleship Vostok has been reduced to less than 10 knots.

The rest of the battleships were also the key targets of the Ming Navy, and 8 of the remaining 11 battleships had completely lost their combat effectiveness.

Of the remaining three, only one turret remains.

And the remaining 9 cruisers were even worse, the superstructure was almost all gone.

With the exception of a few cruisers that were able to maintain a speed of more than 14 knots, six of them lost power completely and are now towed south by friendly ships.

Dozens of battleships.

Now only 21 remain.

All are to be put on the slipway for major repairs

"How long will it take to repair so many broken warships?"

Vostok's command room.

Many naval officers lamented in their hearts.

"Commander, what about the fortresses in the Maldives?" Will. Smith asked, "There are 30,000 defenders in the fort, and without a fleet they would be besieged to death!" ”

Of course, it was impossible for the Ming navy to storm the fortress.

30,000 people on the island of the Maldives.

It is enough to besiege and it is enough.

If it were a later generation, it might be possible to rely on the planes at the airport to retreat.

But where are there planes in this day and age.

A naval fortress without a fleet, militarily almost no one makes any sense.

"Surrender"

John. Jervis made a painful decision.

30,000 people held on to death.

It's just a sacrifice in vain.

"Send people to negotiate with the Chinese, we give up the Maldives, they let our people withdraw safely."

"What about Australia?"

Someone asked.

At this time, everyone in the command room was silent.

Lost a transit point in the Indian Ocean.

The British stronghold in Australia was also to be evacuated.

This also means:

East of East Africa to the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, this vast area of the world, all of the world. It's all going to belong to the Ming Empire.

The British Empire could no longer gain world hegemony - they did not have this power.

Only when the whole of Europe unites can it have the capital to confront the Ming Empire.

(End of chapter)