Since the Ming Dynasty still cannot realize the industrial production of small engines, the Ming Dynasty's main fleet currently has a total of 60 thermal torpedoes. Such precious things are of course impossible to use to fight transport ships. However, even the slow-moving torpedoes

It is very easy for white-headed torpedoes to hit transport ships that are so densely packed, so slow, and most importantly have no offensive capabilities. What's more, the 75mm naval guns on destroyers are certainly not effective against battleships, but they are enough to hit transport ships.

Deadly.

At 11:40, the destroyer fleet of the Ming Navy approached the Spanish transport fleet from the southern waters. In just twenty minutes, these light cavalry at sea scored sixty-three hits, and countless European soldiers were filled with hope.

Reluctantly, it sank into the sea to meet God. The largest and fastest Pyrenees received the focus of attention from the destroyers: it hit three torpedoes directly and sank quickly within a few minutes. The whole ship was 100

Of the 60 crew members and the 5,000 troops on board, less than 200 people grabbed the lifeboats and struggled on the sea.

"Commander, our army has sunk a total of seventy-two enemy transport ships, about seven or eight of which escaped to the north, and more than twenty that slipped through our destroyer array and escaped to the south."

"Forget it, let's not pursue it. If I'm not mistaken, the enemy's warships are right behind, and we can't disrupt our formation because of this. The order was given, and the entire army continued to advance eastward, and the destroyer fleet continued to remain three miles behind the battleships.

O'clock direction."

"yes."

"By the way, have you sent a telegram to that guy Cao Bianpeng?"

"It was sent out forty minutes ago."

"That's good. I guess he will pick up a lot of good things later."

…

"As expected! I knew that the Chinese would not let us go back so easily. Fortunately, His Majesty Philip left early and has arrived in Alexandria now. Otherwise, it would be troublesome to be stuck on the road. But!" The king was congratulating himself.

After His Majesty retreated early and safely returned to the EU's control, Garcia pounded the table anxiously: "Are the captains of the transport ships in front of them stupid? They didn't even report how many battleships and heavy patrols the enemy had?

A lot, a lot, how much is this?"

He lost his temper and saw that no one in the command cabin had any intention of applauding him. Garcia shook his head boredly: "Give electricity to the second, third, and fourth batches of transport fleets and ask them to turn now."

Go south to Somalia and generate electricity for the five or six batches of transport fleets. Those who have completed the supply will also go south to Somalia. Those who have not completed the supply will continue to supply.

Give all battleship captains clear power and ask them to tell our soldiers that home is not far away. Defeat the enemy in front and we can go home. Let us cheer up and fight hard for the glory of His Majesty the King and the Navy.

!”

"yes!"

"Raise the Z flag!"

"yes!"

At 11:40, when the Ming Navy was busy destroying the first batch of transport ships, the Theo Combined Fleet increased its speed to 16 knots after a brief negotiation and began to move westward with all its strength.

At 12:25, when the Ming Navy sank more than 20 enemy second batch transport ships during its eastward march, both sides confirmed the other's existence in their respective fields of vision.

"Hmm~ Six battleships, eighteen heavy cruisers, and nearly fifty light cruiser destroyers." Putting down the telescope, Garcia breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems that the Chinese original seven battleships, the one that was seriously injured,

We also failed to catch up with this battle. So, in this battle, we still have an advantage in the light cruise destroyers! Order, the light cruise destroyer fleet first withdraws behind the heavy cruisers and battleships. This battle, as long as we fight

We will definitely win tonight!"

"yes!"

"Huh? That guy Garcia put the light cruiser and destroyer behind again? Haha, are you still thinking of a night attack?" After lightly sneering, Inukai Touji no longer hesitated: "Then...

Let’s start with the duel of the main fleet, let’s fire!”

As the flagships of both sides opened fire one after another, the fleets of both sides once again began an artillery battle. Suddenly, on the sea surface, the sound of cannons rumbled again, and water columns rose in all directions.

In this naval battle, without the bonus of the two time travellers, the Spanish's hit rate quickly dropped from the previous 10% to 23%, which is about the same as that of the Ming Navy. The output frequency of the Ming Navy also also

It was one-third faster than the opponent in the past, but it has dropped to about the same level as the opponent. For a while, although the battle on the sea was very lively, the number of hits was much less than last year's Battle of the Bay of Bengal.

On the other side, the three to four hundred transport ships that fled south in a hurry spent more than three hours running south for nearly fifty kilometers, and found in despair that the Ming army actually had a small fleet waiting for them in front.

.

"Haha, the countless clear messages on the radio just now were all caused by our ship being hit and sunk, which made the brothers feel extremely itchy! Now, it's finally our turn!"

At this moment, waiting for the Spanish transport fleet near the Somali coastline is a small fleet composed of ten destroyers, led by Cao Bianpeng, and headed by the battleship Shihuang.

The reason why the most powerful HMS Shihuang was taken out of the battle line was that, on the one hand, the Shihuang had just entered service, and most of the officers and soldiers on the ship were novices, and their gunnery skills were very limited. Moreover, there was a lack of drills with the main fleet.

There were certain problems with tactical coordination. On the other hand, the Shihuanghuang's speed exceeded 20 knots, and it was the only large ship among the battleships of the Ming Dynasty at this time that could barely keep up with the cruising speed of the destroyer.

Of course, the most fundamental reason is: the goal of this battle is not to sink as many enemy warships as possible, but to retain as many EU land forces as possible. Therefore, Inukai Touji did not hesitate to send out the First Emperor alone, and from

The already unfavorable destroyer fleet was divided into ten ships to carry out this battle.

Of course, it was impossible for eleven warships to sink them all when faced with more than 400 escaping enemy ships. So after Cao Bianpeng used his 320mm main gun to smash the two largest-looking transport ships, he let

The entire fleet ceased fire.

"Invent code telegraphs, put up signal flags, put up light signals. In short, we tried every means to tell them that if they don't want to be sunk by us, just put up a white flag, and then follow us obediently."

After this message was sent, about a few minutes later, more than a hundred transport ships raised white flags, and then, under the guidance of two Ming army destroyers, began to form an honest formation. As for the other three hundred or so...

…

"Boom!" The 320 cannon fired again, and after shredding two more transport ships, more and more transport ships began to fly white flags.

"Hey, that's right. Then invent the code for them. From now on, all ships will keep radio silence. Anyone who dares to send a telegram to report their position. I can't find out which ship sent it. It doesn't matter. Anyway, I found a telegram.

Send it out, one telegram will reach ten ships!"

At 3:40 in the afternoon, most of the European transport ships surviving on the sea raised white flags. Some of them tried to take advantage of the chaos to escape quickly, but Cao Bianpeng sent a single destroyer to catch up and sink them. By 4 p.m.

About twenty minutes later, the remaining three hundred or so transport ships basically accepted their fate - being a prisoner is better than being a drowned ghost, right?

Then the First Emperor, commanded by Cao Bianpeng, transformed into a dog king, leading the ten sheepdogs under his command, driving the sheep towards a specific beach.

There, the three marine divisions led by Zhang Hong had already hastily set up a prisoner camp, just waiting for these European soldiers to move in.

From Zheng Chenggong's proposal to seize Socotra Island, to Inukai Touji's modification of the plan to a naval battle first and then to seize the island, and then to the detachment of a squadron to escort the transport fleet to the designated location and enter the Marine Corps prisoner camp. The entire

The combat plan has been continuously improved during the implementation process, and now it is finally becoming complete!

…

"What? The enemy still has a squadron to the south? And it is led by a battleship? This, how is this possible?"

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Garcia, who had been fighting fiercely with the fleet commanded by Inukai Touji for more than two hours, received a telegram from the transport ship escaping south, and almost fainted on the spot. He really did not expect that the old man on the other side would

The opponent is actually so bold: My whole army is here. How do you look down on me so much that you don't use all your strength to fight me, and yet you dare to dedicate a battleship to harvest my transport fleet?

"Haha, from the last naval battle, we have already understood that it is very difficult for a battleship to sink a battleship. With such a huge two fleets, it takes half a day to fight. Unless you are very lucky, it is impossible to decide.

Win or lose." When Garcia was so angry that his head was heavy, Inukai Douji received Cao Bianpeng's telegram at 4:25, and his mood instantly became extremely good. He actually started to give instructions to the young staff officer in the command cabin.

They started teaching.

"Commander, the biggest purpose of this battle has been achieved, so shall we continue to fight later?"

"Fight, we have to buy time for General Zhang Hong. After all, Major General Cao Bianpeng said that more than 300 transport ships were captured. There are probably between 150,000 and 200,000 prisoners on this ship. These prisoners need to disembark.

, it takes time to reorganize into the camp. However, we had to retreat around 5:30 in the afternoon. After all, the enemy destroyers did have many more destroyers than us. Although the white-headed torpedoes were very slow and had a short range, they arrived

At night, we will still be in danger."

"But after we withdraw, what if the enemy searches south?"

"Hahaha, young man, first, the sea is very big. Although the temporary prison camp is less than 70 kilometers away from here in a straight line, the enemy may not be able to find it. Second, even if it is found, what can they do?

What to do? Shell the prison camp? If they really do that, why do they need to search south? Third, no bombardment, a landing attack? I don’t think our navy can beat the Marines on the ground. Neither does the Spanish navy.

Maybe. What's more, as long as they really dare to land, Mr. Garcia may not be able to bear it if our navy comes to attack them from behind."

"I see, the commander has a clever plan, and we have learned from it."

"It's not a brilliant plan. You have experienced the whole process of this battle. You all know that when we came out this time, the entire battle plan was constantly revised and improved. This is everyone's credit. Okay, now let's report the battle damage.

.”

"Yes, as of 4:30 now, four of our heavy cruisers have been seriously damaged, and the remaining battleships and heavy cruisers have been lightly damaged. The enemy's six battleships have also been lightly damaged or moderately damaged, and five heavy cruisers have been lightly damaged.

It should be a serious injury."
Chapter completed!