March 23, three o'clock in the morning.

The East African fleet went north along the coastline to prevent the British from inflicting a blow on Mombasa, and the two sides met in the waters of Lamu Bay.

In order to confront the main force of the British Royal Navy, nearly half of the main warships of the East African Navy went north, radiating outward with the city of Lamu and Mombasa as the center.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

The lookout on the flybridge reported: "Suspicious target spotted ahead!" ”

I saw black smoke on the sea surface to the northeast,

"The whole ship is on standby, prepare a combat posture, the enemy ship enters the firing range, and immediately fires!" Vice Admiral Kerry of the East African Navy ordered.

And the British expeditionary fleet finally saw the formation of the main ironclad ships in East Africa, this time there were a total of seven East African ironclad ships in the north, the number was only half of the British fleet, and the heaviest ironclad ship in East Africa was only more than 7,000 tons, far less than the British ironclad ships, but East Africa had a certain number of gunboats as a support force, although the naval battle of Mogadishu proved that the gunboats had no chance of winning against the ironclads, but it was still feasible as an auxiliary warship.

"The British warships are more advanced, the caliber of artillery is larger, the firepower is stronger, and the experience is richer, but behind us is the city of Mombasa and the city of Dar es Salaam, and beyond Dar es Salaam is the capital of our East Africa, so we must not evacuate this war, even if the whole ship is sunk, we must not lose the belief of East African soldiers to defend their homeland and country." Will the captain of the Pelican began to do ideological work.

"Of course, we can't be presumptuous, the enemy is coming from the direction of the Mediterranean, we can completely wait for work, but the British army on the other side is experienced in a hundred battles, and we have no actual combat experience in this world, so we must prove to the world the courage of the East African naval soldiers!"

Although the East African Navy has a long coastline, the lack of good ports and the scarcity of islands have limited the deployment of naval forces in East Africa.

For example, the British have military bases in Djibouti and the Arabian Peninsula, and there is also the island of Seychelles in the center of the Indian Ocean where naval forces can be deployed.

There are only a few large islands in East Africa, the most important of which are Pemba and Zanzibar, which are too close to the coastline of East Africa, which is not conducive to maritime defense, such as the Comoros Islands, which are more favored, but the Comoros Islands are located in a remote location and are not in the scorching area of this war.

At the time of the current British fleet in East Africa, the British were also excited about encountering the main fleet in East Africa, and at present, the two sides had a huge disparity in strength, and their own side had a double advantage.

However, after a night's sailing, the British fleet was now somewhat fatigued, which was not conducive to the battle, but it was still surmountable for the British navy, which had been active at sea all year round.

Kerry: "The accuracy and power of our artillery are far inferior to the British, the mass and weight of the hull and the hardness of the armor are relatively poor, so we must not go head-to-head with the British, we must outwit it, and we must need a suitable distance and close to the battle, otherwise with the range of the British artillery, the war will be more disadvantageous to our side." ”

"So after the battle began, the fleet was divided into two armies, with the Friedrich and Trieste as the command ships, as the first fleet and the second fleet, to attack the British in two directions."

"Led by the Friedrich, we attracted British warships head-on, and in order to avoid the enemy's division of forces, after the start of the war, the ships of the First Fleet would fight independently, and they could act according to the opportunity to expand the range area of the First Fleet."

"The Second Fleet, commanded by the Trieste and led by Rear Admiral Anton, will make a linear circumambulation in an arc to seize the opportunity to launch an attack on the flank or rear of the British army, and the Second Fleet must ensure the concentration of forces and avoid being broken by each one!"

It has to be said that Kerry made a major risky decision, that is, to split the command of the fleet in two, and it is not known what the specific effect will be.

Of course, the root cause of Kerry's decision was the huge gap between the East African Navy and the British Royal Navy, and the East African Navy, as the weaker side, had to take risks.

When the East African naval fleet was divided into two units, and at the same time there was an extremely chaotic change of formation, it was indeed confusing for a moment that the British could not figure out their heads, and now they could not see the military intentions of East Africa.

However, for the British Royal Navy, which occupies an absolute advantage, it is natural that the troops will come to block and the water will cover the ground, but this time East Africa took the initiative to attack somewhat unexpectedly.

"Pay attention to the right flank of the East African Navy, they broke away from the main force of the East African Navy, they must have a purpose, the Gray Fox and the Pig Dolphin...... Keep an eye on them, wait until the East African ships come into range and open fire directly. Grafton, commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy Expeditionary Force, ordered.

The current command of the East African Navy has been divided into two, Vice Admiral Kerry commanded the remaining ships and said: "All ships, to ensure that the ships enter the limited range, before firing, do not waste shells, but to ensure that there is a target for firing, not blind shooting, each ship pay attention to the distance, leave a channel, to avoid the British artillery aiming in the first round." ”

In fact, the difference between the two sides in the range of artillery is not large, the power is definitely stronger British, and at the same time, the British hull is also better, and the speed is faster, while the advantage of East Africa is that the steering is more flexible.

Rear Admiral Kerry hoped to use guerrilla methods to distract the British troops from forming a joint force, and then create conditions for the Second Fleet.

......With a loud bang, the First East African Fleet opened fire, and at the same time, the Friedrich, Pelican, Nightingale, White Eagle and four gunboats formed a line of firepower, forming an attack trend from the outside to the inside.

Although the equipment is backward, the East African Navy is normalized in terms of training and armament maintenance, so in the face of a sudden war, although the soldiers who experienced it for the first time were a little nervous, they quickly calmed down under the leadership of the veterans and began to operate the ships according to their daily training.

As the No. 1 naval power, Britain's sailors are even more fluent in operation by virtue of their rich experience, and the hit rate of both sides is relatively high.

However, the overall manufacturing level of East African warships is not as good as that of Britain after all, so the East African Navy has suffered greater losses, and if there is no accident at this time, then with the passage of time, the East African fleet is doomed to lose.

Vice Admiral Kerry's command ship had already been hit once, and a large crater was blown out by shells on the left side of the Friedrich, but the quality of the Friedrich was passable, and it had little impact on the hull and could continue the operation.

The Friedrich has been in service in East Africa for more than a decade, and it is still a warship produced by the Royal Shipyard of Austria in Trieste, which is indeed a time when the sword is still young, and of course, the annual maintenance cost of East Africa is relatively high, but this is the price of developing a navy.

As a warship that can compete directly with the British ironclad ships, the Friedrich's counterattack was also relatively sharp, and at the same time severely damaged the British Slade, and also hit the stern of the Giant, but unfortunately the shells only lightly brushed over the side, which did not pose much threat to the Giant, but the Antonio gunboat in East Africa was under the fire of the British Navy, and the raging fire could already be seen on the plywood.

Except for the four ironclads, the other gunboats are not in good condition, and without the thickness of the ironclad ship's ability to resist hits, any accidental damage may cause it to lose its combat effectiveness instantly.

(End of chapter)