Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 987
Xue Yue quickly made up his mind.Under the guidance of the command flag raised by the "Rage", the ships of the vanguard column and the main column moved away from the destroyer cruiser groups of both sides in the melee, and regrouped in the north of Kabaluyan Island.The planes and airships in the sky disappeared early, and the storm was the natural enemy of these flying monsters.As the southwest rain cloud approached, the gunpowder smoke on the battlefield and the smoke screen released by the enemy were swept over by the strong wind. For a while, the vision of most ships in the vanguard and main column was covered, and Xue Yue gave another order: "Use all means, order The light patrol and lightning strike teams will return immediately."

Soon, the wind gradually increased, the smoke cleared, and the black clouds approached, like a black iron pot, covering the entire sky bit by bit. The waves on the sea grew with the wind, and the waves were higher than the waves. , from time to time a wave rushed to the bow.

At this time, the damages of the cruiser teams in the previous battle were reported: the "Rui Xue" of the light cruiser team 2 of the guard team and the "Ruiyun" of the light cruiser team 3 were sunk, and two other light cruiser ships were sunk. Slightly injured, 2 ships slightly injured.A total of 3 destroyers of each Thunderstrike team were sunk and many were damaged.

"The loss is still under control." Xue Yue immediately ordered the Dragon Army Lightning Strike 1 and 2 teams to drive to the front of the estimated enemy route, preparing to look for opportunities to launch a lightning strike against the enemy after nightfall.

The dark night shrouded the ocean again. It was a pitch-black night, and you couldn't see your fingers. The whistling wind made the night even more eerie.The storm has stopped. The Far East United Fleet is trapped in the nearby waters due to the storm. Now it is dark again. It is a small matter to hit the reef while sailing at night. In case of encountering the opponent's submarine group, the waiting for the Far East Fleet will be destroyed. Therefore, the only thing Bernie can do now is to let the fleet lie dormant. Fortunately, the enemy has not launched any attack so far. .

"Now I'm going to lie down for a while." Bernie couldn't resist a burst of drowsiness: "However, remember to wake me up even if you find a shark on the sea."

"Rest, Commander, please don't worry." Bernie's adjutant said.

Bernie made his way down the stairs, exhausted from days of fighting.He drank a cup of hot coffee first, and then returned to his room, took off his soaked clothes, and changed into clothes that looked dry, and nothing could be dried on the ship.After all this was done, Bernie lay down on the berth.

"This will be a thrilling night." Xue Yue poured himself a cup of tea, a bold plan was already brewing in his heart.

There is a long calm after the storm, but beneath the calm sea there is a terrible undercurrent.

"Captain, I think I've found the target." The chief of staff on the submarine "Dark Reef" who had been observing in the periscope suddenly said, "It's a huge piece of warships. Hedgehog tactics, this is clearly courting death."

Upon hearing the words of the chief of staff, the captain Yu Guoqiang immediately ran to the periscope to look carefully for a while, and then said with a smile on his face: "Finally, I have encountered it, and ordered all the nearby submarines to prepare to participate in the attack!"

The "Dark Reef" sailed quietly to the Far East Combined Fleet first, the stars and the moon were bright and clear on the sea, and several ferocious fishes under the sea had already opened their mouths, and were about to swallow the enemy's fleet in one gulp.

A loud "boom" suddenly sounded on the sea, and Rupert, who was sleeping soundly, was thrown off the bed by the huge impact. Regardless of the pain on his body, he grabbed his clothes and rushed out of the command room, "What's going on?" , What's going on!" Rupert yelled frantically.At this time, he found that his flagship "Britannia" was gradually tilting.

"We are under attack!" Rupert's adjutant ran over with a sad face: "The Britannia has been torn apart, Commander, we must abandon the ship!"

Looking at the panicked and running crew members on the destroyer, Rupert was at a loss. Apart from his own ship, where are there any enemy warships on the water? Could it be that the damned Chinese are invisible?At this time, he saw another explosion on the "Nelson", another frigate. Perhaps its fate was even more tragic than that of the "Britannia". Two torpedoes tore two deep holes on its hull. After a long opening, a large amount of sea water poured into the cabin, and the "Nelson" began to sink rapidly, and the semaphore they sent to Bernie was: "We are finished, we have been attacked by unknown force, and we will have to abandon the ship. "

Immediately afterwards, the "Giant" and "Guba" exploded one after another and caught fire. The crew on the ship lowered the lifeboats, and some put on life jackets and jumped into the sea directly.Another torpedo hit the "Britannia", and the sinking speed of the ship began to accelerate. Bernie on the deck was shocked and frightened. He didn't even have a chance to give an order to counterattack, and he was inexplicably about to attack. Facing the fate of losing the battleship.

At this time in the depths of the sea, Yu Guoqiang was very satisfied with the results of the first submarine sneak attack he commanded. Two battleships with many scars and ten frigates became the first victims of the submarine brigade.

"Order the boats to evacuate." Yu Guoqiang took a cigarette in his mouth, but didn't light it, and said to the chief of staff beside him, "Report directly to the commander about the results of our battles, shoot out all the torpedoes, and then the base will be replenished immediately." Come back with more.”

The submarine brigade came over without a sound like a ghost, and left without a sound, leaving only a fiery wolf kiss for Bernie's combined fleet.

"Abandon ship!" On the "Britannia", the Dutch general Rupert closed his eyes in despair, and issued the order he was least willing to give.

"Your Excellency, our fleet has been under an unknown attack." On the Far East Combined Fleet flagship "Malayan", Captain Rear Admiral Horton hurried in: "According to the last telegram sent by the 'Britannia', They sank without even seeing who was attacking, it was horrific."

Bernie didn't accept the telegram, but frowned and asked, "What's going on, don't panic, tell me slowly."

Horton took a breath and tried to speak slowly: "An hour ago, the vanguard led by 'Britannia' was attacked inexplicably, but they didn't find any enemy ships on the sea surface. Battleship. The last telegram they sent was this: 'We are being attacked by ghosts. I swear I have searched every corner of the sea, but I have not seen a single toy ship of the enemy. Britannia is Sinking. I have issued an abandon ship order and may God keep us all alive, Rupert.'”

"It's a submarine." Bernie closed his eyes, and he knew what weapon the enemy used without even thinking about it: "I have repeatedly asked the Ministry of the Navy to increase research on submarines and anti-submarine forces, but those gentlemen in the Ministry of the Navy always We will pay for our arrogance today by thinking that submarines are nothing more than a boring gadget developed by a boring country, which is of no use to the Navy of the British Empire. By the way, what about our losses?"

"Two battleships and ten escort ships are all sunk." Holden said in a deep voice, "I have already dispatched a rescue fleet to the sea area where the incident occurred. Your Excellency, do you want to send a few more fleets to find the Chinese and fight them decisively?" ?”

Bernie shook his head: "What we need most at this time is calmness, continue to implement the original plan, and order Captain Ivans to increase the search area at sea."

The Fourth Squadron of the Far East Combined Fleet, aboard the flagship "Indomitable".

Commodore General Ivans also got the news that the fleet was attacked. His already slightly melancholy personality was even more gloomy at this time. He smoked the pipe in his hand, and then puffed out the smoke forcefully. It was as if he wanted to spit all the anger and depression in his chest into the air.

"Captain, we have found the Chinese!" His adjutant went to the deck: "25 nautical miles ahead, we found the Chinese fleet, about 6 warships."

"So few?" Ivans frowned: "Alright, let's lure them into the ambush circle first, and don't be afraid that the main Chinese fleet will not come to rescue, then it will be the best chance to avenge our merchant ships! "

When the first ray of sunlight rose from the sea, two strange fleets encountered each other, saying that they were strange because neither of them wanted to eat the other.After the two fleets that had no intention of fighting fought each other more than a dozen times, the "Indomitable" took the lead to withdraw from the battle, and then other warships also escorted the flagship while fighting and retreating, retreating to the south, and the Chinese fleet also cooperated in pursuit. go up.

"Attention, Ivans has successfully attracted the Chinese fleet." Felimantle said: "Order the left wing fleet to prepare to meet Ivans, and the right wing fleet to prepare to outflank. This is a squadron, and their main force is two ships. Battlecruisers, let them not underestimate them, and at the same time, don't rush to destroy them, they must bring the main Chinese battleships here!"

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander. I'll go get ready now." Horton saluted and left the deck in a hurry.

As soon as it reached the scheduled sea surface, the "Indomitable" stopped immediately.Afterwards, the string cannon fired against the "Shanghai" which was at the forefront. Although the "Shanghai" was huge, it avoided it flexibly? The shells from the "Indomitable" followed by the 300mm cannon on the "Shanghai" spoke. The shells fell around the ground of the "Indomitable", and the huge water column stirred up made Brigadier General Ivans, who was in command of the battle, a little unstable.

"Damn Chinese, when did they build such a terrible battleship!" Ivans tried his best not to let himself fall.Muttering and cursing in his mouth: "The left-string naval guns focus on firing, waiting for our fleet to come up!"

"The left-string naval gun focused fire!" 5 minutes later. The "Nanjing" and four cruisers also caught up, and the three cruisers and two destroyers of the combined fleet also joined the battle group one after another.

(End of this chapter)