The Rise of the Empire

"Mr. Captain, there seems to be a ship over there." The Musketeer destroyer pointed at a ship in the distance and said.

"Okay, let's go up and tell them to wait in the southern waters." Captain Short said. The Musketeer is a Huangquan-class destroyer with a displacement of more than 700 tons. It is equipped with two 4-inch guns and two 12-pound guns, and Two 21-inch torpedo tubes. The output power of up to 1.6 horsepower is enough to allow this destroyer to run at a speed of more than 28 knots.

At this time, the destroyer was clearing the channel for the Australian and New Zealand fleet that passed through at dawn a few hours ago. All civilian ships were forcibly driven away from the northern channel and waited 20 kilometers away. There is another destroyer USS Fruit Fly on the other side of the port that is also doing this task. It was not needed originally, but because it was dawn, the visibility was bad, and the transport ship could not wait, so the only way was to clean up channel to allow the fleet to pass.

"Send them a signal to leave the main channel quickly. Otherwise, we will go up and teach them what to do!" After a while, the ship in the distance did not seem to move, which made Captain Short feel very Dissatisfaction, there are no ships that dare to challenge the British Empire on the sea!

The opponent did not implement a blackout. With the help of searchlights, the Musketeer destroyer quickly moved closer and aimed its two 4-inch guns at the opponent.

"Listen, no matter who you are! Even if your father is God, you have to listen to me now and move aside!" When the Musketeer approached this ship that did not understand the rules, Short discovered this. The ship is really big. Judging from the tonnage, it is probably close to 10,000 tons. Its volume is almost several times his own. The distance between the two is only 300 meters, but Short is not worried at all that this guy will make any objections. Opinion, for civilian ships, two 4-inch guns are deadly enough! Not to mention a 21-inch torpedo!

"Captain, there is no one on the other side's ship!" At this time, a sharp-eyed person suddenly realized that something was wrong. When the Musketeer came closer, there was no answer from the other side! This is so abnormal!

Just when Short was about to take action, a series of hot flames suddenly spurted out from the side of the opponent's ship!

"It's a shelling! Send the signal immediately!" However, before Short could finish his words, a 6-inch shell had already hit the bridge of the Musketeer, accompanied by a violent explosion and a violent shock wave mixed with shrapnel. Sweep across the entire ship! At a distance of 300 meters, 3-inch guns and 4 5-inch guns will never give a destroyer time to react! The entire attack process was very fast. Within 3 minutes, the Musketeer disappeared from the sea.

"Don't be anxious. We'll go there later. We must ensure that we capture all the British soldiers who fell into the water." Caron was quite satisfied with this attack. According to intelligence provided by an American ship that passed here before, when a large fleet passes by, the British will clear the sea near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This process is usually performed by destroyers. But now, because of the emergency situation in the Mediterranean, So there are only two destroyers, one on the north side and one on the south side, about 20 kilometers apart. So the flash from a short burst of fire would not expose the Nautilus. As for other civilian ships, they will be further away from here.

Caron looked at the pocket watch in his hand. There are still about 4 hours before the British fleet enters here. It will only take 45 minutes at most to pass through the strait. After that, he can lay mines at the northern exit and rely on specialized The mine-laying rail can be mined in more than 2 hours at most. As for the other destroyer USS Fruit Fly, if it encounters it, it will repeat the same trick.

If he doesn't come across it, consider him lucky!

"If you place 500 mines in such a small sea area, you can always hit one of them!" Caron lit a cigar for himself. "When laying mines, pay attention to Pilin Island and nearby reference objects. Leave a passage." Caron reminded his men again.

"At this time, the fleet should be almost targeting the British fleet, right?" As Caron muttered to himself, the Nautilus returned to the cover of night and sailed towards the other end of the strait.

"Your Majesty, Captain, ahead is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. After passing here, we will enter the Red Sea." An officer said to Colonel Harris.

"How is the situation in the alleyway ahead?" Harris asked, putting down the telegram in his hand.

"Very good. We entered from the narrow northern channel. There are no other ships on this route. It should be the Mediterranean Fleet that helped us clear the route." the officer replied.

"Well, very good, let the fleet pass quickly." After saying that, Colonel Harris picked up the telegram in his hand again and looked at it. Just last night, he received several clear telegrams one after another. These telegrams were sent by British merchant ships in this area. After the war broke out, the British Navy required all Allied merchant ships to have the obligation to provide maritime intelligence to the British Navy. It can be sent via radio whenever an abnormality is detected. Of course, due to current radio technology, it’s really hard to say how far it can be transmitted and how much it can be received.

But the intelligence Colonel Harris received this time made him feel uneasy. The telegram said that two very large warships appeared in the Gulf of Aden at dusk yesterday. But what kind of warship it is, I can't tell clearly. After all, you can't expect an ordinary merchant ship captain to recognize the model of a passing warship more than ten kilometers away at dusk, right?

Don't talk about them. As a captain of the Royal Navy and the captain of the armored cruiser HMS Defense, this is not the first time that Harris has mistakenly admitted the wrong warship. For example, it is too common to mistake the Minotaur for the Invincible, and to confuse the Invincible with the Australia. It's embarrassing to admit a mistake, but who hasn't?

He could even wonder whether the other party was a high-speed cruise ship or other large ship that was regarded as a warship. After all, the visibility was not good at the time. But soon, another telegram confirmed the existence of the large ship. Last night, two other British merchant ships spotted a large ship passing by. The other party did not implement light control and was traveling very fast. Although it is not certain whether it is a battleship, it always makes people feel a little uneasy when such a thing appears here. This is not a judgment based on rationality, but something similar to a sixth sense.

When the British fleet approached the entrance to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the lookout of the armored cruiser HMS Defense discovered a new target, which made Colonel Harris feel nervous. But soon, when he picked up the telescope and looked, he found that the target was on the other side. What came over were four ordinary civilian ships, none of which matched the number or size, which made him feel a little relieved.

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