Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 794: Warships are Shepherd Dogs
Since the Ming Dynasty still could not realize the industrialized production of small engines, the main fleet of the Ming Dynasty only had 60 thermal torpedoes at this time. Such precious things, of course, could not be used to attack transport ships. However, even the slow white-headed torpedoes could easily hit such dense, slow, and most importantly, incapable transport ships. Moreover, the 75mm naval guns on the destroyers could not attack battleships, but they were deadly enough to attack transport ships.
At 11:40, the destroyer fleet of the Ming Navy approached the Spanish transport fleet from the southern waters. In just 20 minutes, these light cavalrymen on the sea scored 63 hits, and countless European soldiers sank into the sea unwillingly. The Pyrenees, which was the largest and fastest, received special attention from the destroyers: it was directly hit by three torpedoes and sank quickly within a few minutes. Of the 160 crew members and 5,000 army soldiers on board, only less than 200 people grabbed the lifeboat and struggled on the sea.
"Commander, our army has sunk a total of 72 enemy transport ships. About 7 or 8 of them escaped to the north, and more than 20 escaped through our destroyer array and fled to the south."
"Forget it, we won't chase them. If I'm not mistaken, the enemy's warships are right behind us, and we can't disrupt our formation because of this. Send out orders, the entire army continues to move east, and the destroyer fleet continues to maintain the three o'clock direction of the battleship."
"yes."
"By the way, have you sent a telegram to that fellow Cao Bianpeng?"
"It was sent out forty minutes ago."
"That's good. I guess he'll pick up a lot of good stuff later."
…
"Sure enough! 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. However!" After congratulating himself on the fact that his Majesty the King had retreated early and returned safely to the EU's control area, Garcia pounded the table anxiously again: "Are the captains of the transport ships in front stupid? They didn't even report how many battleships and heavy cruisers the enemy had? A lot, a lot, how many are these?"
He vented his anger to himself, and when he saw that no one in the command cabin was interested in joining in, Garcia shook his head in boredom. "Send power to the second, third, and fourth batches of transport fleets, and tell them to turn south to Somalia now. Send power to the fifth and sixth batches of transport fleets, and tell them to turn south to Somalia if they have already completed their supply. Those that have not completed their supply should continue to supply.
Send a clear message to all the captains of the warships, and have them tell our soldiers that home is not far away. If we defeat the enemy in front of us, 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 Western and Australian Joint Fleet, after a brief negotiation, increased its speed to 16 knots and began to move westward at full speed.
At 12:25, when the Ming Navy sank more than 20 enemy transport ships in the second batch during its eastward advance, both sides confirmed the existence of the other side in their respective fields of vision.
"Hmm~ six battleships, eighteen heavy cruisers, and nearly fifty light cruisers and destroyers." Putting down the telescope, Garcia breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems that the Chinese's original seven battleships, the one that was seriously injured, could not catch up with this battle. Then, in this battle, we still have the advantage in the light cruisers and destroyers! Order, the light cruiser destroyer fleet to withdraw behind the heavy cruisers and battleships first. As long as this battle lasts until night, we will win!"
"yes!"
"Huh? Garcia put the light cruisers and destroyers in the back again? Haha, he's still thinking of launching a night attack?" After sneering, Inukai Touji no longer hesitated: "Then let's have a showdown between the main fleets first, fire!"
As the flagships of both sides opened fire one after another, the fleets once again started a cannon battle. Suddenly, the sea surface was once again filled with the rumble of cannons and the rise of water columns.
In this naval battle, without the bonus of the two time travelers, the Spanish hit rate quickly dropped from 10% to 20% to 30%, which is similar to the Ming Navy. The output frequency of the Ming Navy also dropped from one-third faster than the opponent to a level similar to the opponent. For a while, although the battle on the sea was very lively, the hit rate was much less than last year's Battle of the Bay of Bengal.
On the other side, the three or four hundred transport ships that fled south in panic, after spending more than three hours rushing nearly fifty kilometers south, discovered in despair that the Ming army actually had a small fleet waiting for them ahead.
"Haha, the countless codes flying around on the radio just now were all about our ships being hit and sunk, which made the brothers feel very itchy! Now, it's finally our turn!"
At this moment, waiting for the Spanish transport fleet near the Somali coastline was a small fleet led by Cao Bianpeng, consisting of the battleship Qin Shi Huang and ten destroyers.
The reason why the most powerful First Emperor was removed from the battleships was that, on the one hand, the First Emperor had just been commissioned, and most of the officers and soldiers on board were novices, with very limited artillery skills. In addition, there was a lack of drills with the main fleet, and there were certain problems in tactical coordination. On the other hand, the First Emperor had a speed of over 20 knots, and was the only large ship among the Ming battleships at that time that could barely keep up with the cruising speed of the destroyer.
Of course, the most fundamental reason was that the goal of this battle was not to sink as many enemy warships as possible, but to keep as many of the EU's land forces as possible. Therefore, Inukai Touji did not hesitate to send out the First Emperor alone, and also separated ten ships from the destroyer fleet, which was not dominant to begin with, to carry out this battle.
Of course, it was impossible for eleven warships to sink more than four hundred fleeing enemy ships . So after Cao Bianpeng smashed the two largest transport ships with his 320mm main gun, he ordered the entire fleet to cease fire.
"We invented code signals, raised signal flags, used light signals, and tried every possible way to tell them that if they didn't want to be sunk by us, they should raise the white flag and follow us obediently."
After this message was sent, a few minutes later, more than a hundred transport ships raised the white flag, and then, under the guidance of two Ming destroyers, began to form an honest formation. As for the other three hundred or so ships...
"Boom boom!" The 320 gun fired again, and after tearing two more transport ships to pieces, more and more transport ships began to raise the white flag.
"Hey, that's right. Give them another code. From now on, all ships must maintain radio silence. If anyone dares to send a telegram to report their location, I can't find out which ship sent it. It doesn't matter. Anyway, if we find a telegram sent out, we will report ten ships for one telegram!"
At 3:40 pm, most of the European transport ships that survived on the sea raised the white flag. Some of them tried to escape in the chaos, but were caught up and sunk by a single destroyer sent by Cao Bianpeng. At around 4:20 pm, the remaining 300-odd transport ships basically accepted their fate - being a prisoner is better than being drowned, right?
Then the Emperor, commanded by Cao Bianpeng, transformed into the Dog King, leading his ten sheepdogs and driving the sheep towards a specific beach.
There, the three Marine divisions led by Zhang Hong had already hastily built a prisoner camp, waiting for these European soldiers to move in.
From Zheng Chenggong's proposal to seize Socotra Island, to Inukai Toji's modification of the plan, which changed to a naval battle first and then the island capture, to the separation of a squadron to escort the transport fleet to the designated location to enter the Marine Corps' prisoner camp. The entire operational plan was constantly improved during the execution process, and at this moment, it finally came to fruition!
…
"What? The enemy has another squadron in the south? And it's led by a battleship? How is this possible?"
At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Garcia, who had been fighting with the fleet commanded by Inukai Munji for more than two hours, received a telegram from the transport ship fleeing south and almost fainted on the spot. He really didn't expect that the old opponent on the opposite side would be so bold: My whole division is here, do you think so lowly of me that you dare not fight me with all your strength and even send a battleship to harvest my transport fleet?
"Haha, we already know from the last naval battle that it is very difficult for a battleship to sink a battleship. With two such large fleets fighting for half a day, it is impossible to determine the winner unless we are extremely lucky." When Garcia was so angry that his head felt heavy, Inukai Touji received a telegram from Cao Bianpeng at 4:25. His mood instantly became very good, and he actually began to give lectures to the young staff officers in the command cabin.
"Commander, the biggest goal of this operation has been achieved. Do we still need to continue fighting?"
"Let's 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 these ships. It will take time for these prisoners to get off the ships and be reorganized into the camp. However, we will have to retreat around 5:30 pm. After all, the enemy does have far more destroyers than we do. Although the white-headed torpedoes are slow and have a short range, we will still be in danger at night."
"But what if the enemy searches southward after we withdraw?"
"Hahaha, young man. First, the sea is huge. Although the temporary prisoner camp is less than 70 kilometers away from here, the enemy may not be able to find it. Second, even if they find it, what can they do? Bombard the prisoner camp? If they really do that, why would they search south? Third, land and attack without bombardment? I don't think our navy can beat the Marines on the ground. The Spanish navy can't either. What's more, if they really dare to land, our navy will attack them from behind. Mr. Garcia may not be able to bear it."
"I see, Commander, your plan is brilliant. I am grateful for your advice."
"It's not a brilliant plan. You have experienced the entire process of this operation. You all know that the entire operation plan has been constantly revised and improved since we came out this time. This is everyone's credit. Okay, now let's report the damage."
"Yes, as of 4:30, four of our heavy cruisers have been severely damaged, and the rest of the battleships and heavy cruisers have been slightly damaged. The enemy's six battleships have also been slightly or moderately damaged, and five of the heavy cruisers should be severely damaged."
"It's almost done. Let the four severely damaged heavy cruisers withdraw first. Let Cao Bianpeng's detachment return north as soon as possible to join us after completing the mission. The sun sets around 6:40 here, right? We will withdraw on time at 5:30."
