The Rise of the Empire

At a distance of 1,000 meters, the Swordfish climbed up carefully, and then three round torpedoes were pushed out of the launch tube under the action of compressed air. The three white traces were like reminders. Two minutes later, two large water jets emerged from the Satsuma. The sides of the ship rose into the sky. Subsequently, the battleship tilted rapidly. During the tilting process, the bow of the ship entered a lot of water, so the huge torque broke directly from the place where the torpedo hit.

As if being twisted into a twist by a pair of giant hands, in less than 3 minutes, the bow part of this huge battleship had sunk to the bottom of the sea. On the German auxiliary cruiser Swordfish, you can even see the fracture in the rear half of the hull. The situation is such that the cabins spewing flames and thick smoke are like the entrance to hell, which makes people feel frightened. Seven minutes later, the second half of the Satsuma also sank to the bottom of the sea. At this point, the two German battleships used 30% of their artillery shells to eliminate the first fleet sent by the Japanese Navy to Europe...

"How much ammunition are left?" Just as the German naval officers in the entire command tower were cheering for their victory today. Reidel suddenly asked.

"More than half of it has been knocked off," an officer replied.

"It's time to leave. Let's take the opportunity to deal with the Japanese transport fleet and attack as many as we can. If we don't leave, something will happen. The British should have known the news by now. The Satsuma kept sending telegrams before the war started." Su Xiong's words reminded him, and they were like a basin of cold water that instantly doused his heated mind.

The British Mediterranean Fleet should be near the Aegean Sea now. Two of its divisions are being sent to the Red Sea. The British will probably go crazy, right? If the fleet fights its way from the Aegean Sea through the Suez Canal, it won't take long. There are 2 battlecruisers, 4 armored cruisers, plus light cruisers to follow. These are all high-speed battleships.

If it is a fair situation, Su Xiong is not afraid of two Invincible-class battlecruisers at all, but it will be different if a group of armored cruisers and light cruisers are added. A bunch of cruisers coming up and firing torpedoes indiscriminately are enough! Torpedoes are magical things. If you are not careful, they can turn into something magical! But at this time, the two German battleships didn't even have enough shells for their main guns, so what the heck!

Not only do you have to run, but you also have to run fast! My own fleet has been sailing at sea for dozens of days. The boilers and pipes need to be cleaned. The speed has dropped drastically. It is true that it is faster than battleships, but it is incomparable with pure-blood battlecruisers and cruisers.

As for the auxiliary cruisers and the escorting Australian and New Zealand transport ships, they have already begun their return journey. Being dragged down by the transport ship, their speed was only about 10 knots. It's impossible to go any faster. And there is another very important reason why we have to run away quickly. There is only one place where the German fleet can go, and that is the Persian Gulf. The British can easily guess the Germans' lair. If they are blocked by their opponents and lay some mines, what will Su Xiong do?

Therefore, after solving the Japanese fleet, the two German fast battleships quickly ran away and sailed in the direction of the Japanese transport fleet at a maximum speed of 24 knots. At this time, I didn’t want to hit many Japanese transport ships. I just wanted to grab a few and leave, and I didn’t even care about the Japanese naval officers and soldiers who fell into the sea. This also allowed Kato Tomosaburo to escape. By the way, at this time, he was hugging him in the sea. There is also an outstanding person among the people holding wooden ladles. This person's name is Yamamoto Isoroku...

The Japanese transport fleet that received Kato Tomosaburo's telegram naturally began to retreat quickly, but they still underestimated the pursuit speed of the German fleet. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the rapidly sailing German fleet finally captured the retreating Japanese transport fleet. included in the attack range.

Although the Japanese transport fleet had already dispersed initially, this time, with the tracking of German auxiliary cruisers and the help of seaplanes, Su Xiong still captured the largest wave of Japanese transport fleets. ! In addition to the two light cruisers, there are also 10 transport ships!

Except for the two auxiliary cruisers that were escorting the Australian and New Zealand transport ships, 2 fast battleships and 3 auxiliary cruisers launched an attack on the entire fleet. 80 main gun shells were used at Scharnhorst, and the Gneisenau After using up 70 rounds of artillery shells, the two Japanese cruisers once again turned into brilliant fireworks on the sea. As for the remaining 10 Japanese transport ships, except for 3 ships with large tonnage and good speed suitable for conversion into attack ships, the remaining 7 ships were all sunk.

Five of the transport ships were destroyed by brutal shelling because the Japanese were stubborn, or because they wanted to surrender but had no time to send a signal. As for how many people are hanging in Japan? After the battle, Su Xiong described it like this, "I can't tell how many people were lost at that time. The fight was a bit hasty. You know, we didn't know when the British fleet would catch up, and we arrived in the Persian Gulf. It will take quite some time.”

When asked again at a banquet, Su Xiong said: "There are still more than 5,000 casualties. What we intercepted were large ships. The three captured transport ships and the Japanese soldiers transferred to these ships The total number is about 6,000. In short, these Japanese and Commonwealth members have greatly solved the problem of insufficient manpower in Faao Port."

When the Souchon fleet arrived in the Persian Gulf two days later, the two fast battleships, led by the Turkish Navy destroyer Pillar of the Nation, passed through the defensive minefields deployed by the Turkish Navy at the exit of the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz was very narrow, and the final The narrow point is only 56 kilometers. After two weeks of efforts by the Turkish Navy minelayers, this defensive minefield has basically taken shape. In addition to the mines used in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the five auxiliary cruisers were also equipped with more than 800 various mines. These mines were not intended to be taken back. After the two auxiliary cruisers Sturgeon and Swordfish were broken, they were Oil deployed 800 mines in the Strait of Hormuz, making the defensive minefield throughout the strait thicker!

Just 8 hours after the German fleet finally arrived at the port of Fao, a large pursuit fleet composed of 2 battlecruisers, 4 armored cruisers, and 6 light cruisers, led by Lord Milne, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, arrived in Oman. Bay, after sending away two destroyers and a minesweeper, Sir Milne had to choose to retreat. There was no way. The minefield on the opposite side was too thick. Without sufficient preparation, it would be difficult to clear a passage. . After all, the Strait of Hormuz is more than 100 kilometers long. Who knows how many more minefields there are behind this minefield?

"The German fleet has arrived in the Persian Gulf. They have made good preparations and deployed a large number of mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The entire fleet is under good protection and we cannot break through." Sir Alex told the Admiralty In the telegram, he wrote this.

"What a bad start!" Sir Milne sighed as he looked at the vast sea.

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