Chapter 758: Sneak attack

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

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

  At this time, the destroyer was clearing the channel for the ANZ fleet that passed at dawn for a few hours. All the civilian ships were forcibly driven off the northern channel and waited 20 kilometers away. There is another destroyer Drosophila on the other side of the port that is also doing this task. It was originally not needed, but because the time is dawn, the visibility is bad, and the transport ship cannot wait, so the only way is to clean up Channel, let the fleet pass.

"Send them a signal to leave the main channel quickly. Otherwise, we will go up and teach them how to do it!" After a while, the ship in the distance did not seem to move, which made Captain Short feel very The dissatisfaction, the ship that dared to challenge the British Empire at sea does not exist yet!

  The opponent did not implement light control. With the help of searchlights, the destroyer Musketeer quickly leaned forward, and two 4-inch guns aimed at the opponent.

"Listen, no matter who you are! Even if your dad is God, now you have to listen to me and step aside!" When the Musketeer approached the unruly ship, Short discovered this. The ship is really big. If you look at the tonnage, I’m afraid it’s close to 10,000 tons. The volume is almost several times his own. The distance between the two is only 300 meters, but Schott doesn’t worry that this guy will object Opinion, for civilian ships, two 4-inch guns are deadly enough! Not to mention there are 21-inch torpedoes!

   "Captain, there is no one on the opponent's ship!" At this time, a sharp-eyed person suddenly realized that something was wrong. When the Musketeer approached, the opponent did not answer! This is abnormal!

  Just as Schott was about to take action, suddenly a series of hot flames spewed from the side of the opponent's ship!

"It's a bombardment! Send a signal immediately!" However, before Schott could finish his sentence, a 6-inch shell had hit the Musketeer bridge, accompanied by a violent explosion, and a violent shock wave mixed with shrapnel. Sweep the entire ship surface! At a distance of 300 meters, 3 inch guns and 4 5 inch guns will never give a destroyer reaction time! The entire attack process was very fast, almost within 3 minutes, there was no Musketeer on the sea.

   "Don't worry, go over later, we must ensure that all British soldiers who fall into the water are captured." Caron was quite satisfied with the attack. According to the information provided by an American ship passing here, the British will clear the sea near the Mande Strait when a large fleet passes by. This process is generally carried out by destroyers. Now, because of the emergency in the direction of the Mediterranean, So there are only two destroyers, one on the north side and the other on the south side, about 20 kilometers apart. Therefore, the firelight caused by a short shot will not expose the Nautilus. As for other civilian ships, they will be farther away.

Caron took a look at the pocket watch in his hand. There is still about 4 hours left before the British fleet enters here. It only takes 45 minutes at most to pass through the strait. After that, he can exit the mine in the north, relying on special Mine-laying slides can take up to 2 hours to complete mine-laying. As for the other destroyer Drosophila, if it encounters it, it will repeat the trick. If it does not, it will be considered lucky!

  "500 mines, arranged in such a small sea area, there will always be one that you can hit!" Caron lit a cigar for himself. "Pay attention to Pirin Island and nearby reference objects when laying mines. Leave a passage." Caron reminded his subordinates again.

  "At this time, the fleet should have been eyeing the British fleet, right?" In Caron's voice, the Nautilus returned to the cover of night and sailed towards the other end of the strait.

   "Your Excellency, the Mande Strait is in front of you. After passing here, we entered the Red Sea." An officer said to Colonel Harris.

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

   "Very good. We entered from the narrow northern section of the strait. 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 speaking, Colonel Harris took the telegram in his hand and looked at it again. Just last night, he received several clear telegrams in succession. 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 provide maritime intelligence to the British Navy. As long as abnormal conditions are found, it can be sent via radio. Of course, subject to the current radio technology, it is really uncertain how far it can be sent and how much it can be received.

  But this time Colonel Harris received the intelligence that made him feel uneasy~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The telegram said that two very large warships appeared in the Gulf of Aden in the evening yesterday. But it's not clear what kind of battleship it is. After all, you can't expect that at dusk, an ordinary merchant captain will recognize the model of a passing battleship more than ten kilometers away, right?

  Don’t talk about them, Harris, as a colonel of the Royal Navy and captain of the Armored Cruiser Defense, has not once admitted wrong warships. For example, it is very common to think of the Minotaur as the Invincible, and to confuse the Invincible with Australia. It's a shame to admit a mistake, but who didn't admit it?

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

When the British fleet approached the entrance of the Mende Strait, the watchman of the armored cruiser Defense found a new target, which made Colonel Harris's heart tight, but soon, when he picked up the binoculars and looked around, he found the opposite What came here were 4 ordinary civilian ships, neither in number nor size, which made him a little relieved.

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