My Italian Chapter 77

In the Andaman Sea, two warships are sailing at high speed. These are the Zhiyuan and Jingyuan that have just been replenished from Yangon, but the atmosphere on board is very depressed, because they got news from the British in Yangon, just five days ago, the French fleet raided Mawei Port, Fujian water The division was almost wiped out, and not only that, the Mawei Shipyard was also bombarded by the French fleet, resulting in heavy losses.

Of course, Carlo is also responsible for the French fleet to speed up the action against the Fujian Navy in Mawei. The news that Italy sold two Venetian-class cruisers to Qing was known to the French.

In addition to protesting to Italy for the first time, they also ordered the French Far East Fleet in Guba to immediately prepare to intercept. And Guba decided after thinking about it, and immediately eliminated the Fujian Navy first, so that the two cruisers who came from afar became lonely.

With the help of Fujian officials (at this time, Fujian officials blocked the news of the officers and soldiers of the navy, and were not allowed to ask the officers and soldiers to "act rashly"), the Fujian navy was beaten up and down completely without defense.

With the demise of the Fujian Navy, let Zhiyuan and the commander of the Jingyuan have a heated discussion. First, they need to consider where to enter the South China Sea. There are currently two options for entering the South China Sea. The most recent option is to take the Strait of Malacca and go directly through it. Another option is to bypass the Sunda Strait and enter the South China Sea.

Both have their own advantages. Malacca can allow two warships to enter the South China Sea at the fastest speed, while it takes more time to travel through the Sunda Strait.

Of course, if you go through the Strait of Malacca, you may be blocked in the strait. It takes more time to travel through the Sunda Strait, and it may also be blocked.

Faced with these two options, the three commanders had a heated discussion.

Among them, Liu Buchan, the nominal commander of the fleet, supported the passage of the Sunda Strait. The reason for him to support the passage of the Sunda Strait was very simple. It was to seek stability. After the Fujian Navy was annihilated, he wanted to bring the fleet back to the country safely.

As for the two captains, they support the passage of the Strait of Malacca. In the words of Captain Lefer, that is, even if the French Far East Fleet blocks them in the Strait of Malacca, with the firepower, protection and speed of the two patrol ships, they will not be able to block them. Can live.

The main thing that gives them confidence is the strength of the French fleet. At present, the French Far East Fleet, which is commanded alone, is basically at a speed of 13-15 knots, and even the five armored ships in its fleet are five. Six thousand tons of stuff. With a speed of up to 18.6 knots, the two Venice-class ships were not able to catch up at all, and the powerful firepower on their own single ships naturally gave the two bold Italian captains the idea of ​​​​trying.

So on the issue of this route, none of the three persuaded the other.

Just as they were at a deadlock, an unexpected visitor broke the deadlock.

On the watchtower, the sailors in charge of reconnaissance shouted loudly. "Two ships were found ahead."

After hearing the discovery of the ship, the three commanders immediately stopped arguing.

At this time, as the captain of the Reach, Captain Leifer immediately issued an order. "Put down the transport boat and let Captain Gomes return to the Jingyuan."

Because they are close to Southeast Asia, they must maintain sufficient vigilance. Captain Gomes understood the same, and immediately boarded the transport boat. Then the transport boat was put down and rowed towards the Jingyuan under its command.

After the Jingyuan sent the semaphore that Captain Gomes had boarded the ship, the two warships immediately drove away to the discovered ship.

The Baron Yoko is a new type of freighter of more than 4,000 tons. Since it was launched in 1879, it has been running sea transportation from Saigon to Colombo. This ship and its crew have rich sailing experience.

This time, the Baron Yoko was ordered by the colonial government of Indochina to receive a batch of coal from Colombo and transport it to the fleet commanded by His Excellency General Gupa. It was accompanied by the freighter Hick, which is also a new type of more than 2,000 tons. freighter.

When the two Venetians found them, they were also found by the two French merchant ships.

However, the discovery of two warships did not attract their attention, as France was not at war with other countries.

I'm sorry, you said that you were at war with the Qing Kingdom. Does that count? I didn't see that these two warships were at least five thousand tons. It was impossible for the Qing people to have such large warships. Moreover, those warships in the Qing Dynasty could only travel in the coastal waters, and they were all wiped out by the Lonely Generals. The warships that appeared did not care.

But then, the actions of the two battleships were confusing. I saw two warships quickly approaching them, and after they got close to a certain distance, the sailor in charge of observation showed a ghostly expression at this time.

"The battleship of the Qing people."

I saw the two warships quickly raising a Yellow Dragon Flag. Although the sailors of the two cargo ships had never seen the Qing Navy, they had seen quite a few Yellow Dragon Flags, which were the symbols of the Qing Dynasty.

And the two battleships raised this flag, definitely not to look good.

They saw two battleships approaching them, making the crew on the cargo ship terrified.

"Boom, boom."

Two shells hit the cargo ship before and after, which made them dare not move. This is not the era of great seafaring. Merchant ships can carry enough artillery for self-defense. Pirates who have been rampant for centuries have long disappeared. Modern development has made pirates no room for survival. Maybe it still exists in an unknown corner, but the major traffic arteries have been cleaned up.

And now the two freighters, facing the threat of large-scale patrols, have no better way than surrender. Can't run and run, can't fight, don't surrender and wait to feed the sharks?

After the two cargo ships were forced to stop, several transport boats were rowed from the warship, which were full of sailors with weapons.

After boarding the cargo ship and taking control of the driving and power rooms, two officers who were different at first sight boarded the ship.

"Who is the captain?"

The boarding officer asked the captain of the cargo ship as soon as he opened his mouth, and the captains of both cargo ships were brought up under the identification of the captured sailors.

At the same time, the cargo on the ship made the officers who boarded the ship feel the difference of intercepting the ship this time.

"Say, why transport white coal."

After learning for the first time that white coal was being transported on the ship, the leading officer's expression became serious.

You must know that white coal is not available for ordinary ships~www.mtlnovel.com~ Generally, it can only be used on warships or fast freighters carrying valuables. Combined with thousands of tons of white coal on board, then the goal is very clear.

"We are civilian ships, we only know the purpose of transportation, and we don't know the purpose at all."

The captain who was being questioned wanted to defend himself, but the officer leading the team didn't give him a chance at all.

"Since you don't want to say it, then throw it down and feed the sharks."

The officer's words, let the sailors **** him to the side of the ship immediately, seeing the sea in front of him, it is his life that is more important.

"I said, I said."

"Tell me, who is it for?"

The captain who was questioned again was honest this time.

"We transport Saigon. I heard that it is to replenish coal for the fleet."

The captain's words shocked the leading officers. This news is too important to them.

Immediately, the news was spread to the warship, and such important news was obtained from the captured captain. Then their next choice is easy. Since the fleet of the isolated commander still needs to replenish coal, then this means that it is either not in Malacca, or it is still on its way.

Immediately, the three of them made a decision to go to Malacca. Malacca should be fairly safe now.

Now that the decision has been made, the fate of these two cargo ships has been decided. After replenishing part of the coal, the crew of the cargo ship will be caught up with the lifeboats, and then the sea valve will be opened. The two cargo ships are ready to supply the French fleet. , was sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Since this is a nautical passage, there are many ships passing by, so the crew of the cargo ship does not have to worry about their safety.

Afterwards, the two Venice-class cruisers immediately rushed to the Strait of Malacca at full speed, and they needed to cross before the arrival of the French fleet.

Chapter end