It seems that the intelligence coming from the southern Indian Ocean has confirmed the whereabouts of the Italian East African Fleet, but Ali always feels uneasy because so far he has never found any trace of the two heavy cruisers. In line with the principle of not letting the eagle go when you see the rabbit,

, the Turkish fleet did not immediately enter the Mediterranean Sea, but has been cruising directly in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean to prevent the other party from sending a few small ships to hunt in the southern Indian Ocean, while the main fleet is hidden somewhere in the northern Indian Ocean, waiting for opportunities!

"The Turks haven't left yet?" At almost the same time, Iyakino, who was cruising off the coast of German East Africa, also learned through his own channels that the Turkish fleet had not left for the Mediterranean. "You really can afford to wait!

"Looking at the route that the Turkish fleet has been cruising in recent days marked on the chart, Iyakino understood what the other party was waiting for! "The Turks are looking for the Sicily and the Pola. They will not be relieved if we don't show up.

"

"Have any German merchant ships appeared in this area recently?" Iyakino turned around and asked. "There is a merchant ship called Hamburg Shipping Company, which seems to be transporting a batch of soap and daily chemical products to East Africa." The staff officer beside him said.

He looked at the sailing schedule and said with a little embarrassment.

"Well, soap is good, it's better than nothing. At least you can stay and take a shower." Iyakino, who had a black hair, said coquettishly. Originally, Iyakino planned to send two battleships to help him this time.

Turkey was relieved, but who knew that the prey this time was so worthless, just a boatload of soap and daily chemical products. "Even a boatload of heavy oil will do!" Iyakino complained in his heart.

Since you want to reassure the Turks, your whereabouts must be exposed. And you must have enough time to send a message to the other party! Otherwise, you will intercept a ship of soap, but the telegram will not be sent, and the Turks will not get the news.

.Isn’t all your hard work in vain? Are you going to rob another ship of soap?

As a result, two Italian warships discovered the Hamburg Shipping Company merchant ship with the help of seaplanes, and then passed by with great swagger! In order to ensure that the other party could send a message, they did not fire their guns after entering 15km, not even using seaplanes.

Machine guns strafed the deck to prevent the other party from sending signals.

"You sent a report!" Iyakino was so angry that he was itching with hatred! But the other party's long-distance communication signal was never sent, and the merchant ship, which had a maximum speed of no more than 12 knots, had no intention of escaping and watched helplessly.

The approach of two giant ships of 10,000 tons! Iyakino was very puzzled. At this moment, he received a short-distance communication message from the other party. The result surprised Iyakino.

"Our ship has decided to obey your order and will not send a message, resist, or destroy the ship. I hope you can ensure the safety of the people on my ship. We are Russians and there is no need to sacrifice our lives for the Germans." I saw this unexpected letter.

After receiving the telegram, Iyakino felt his blood rising. He almost vomited blood! What they said makes sense. It is estimated that everyone on this ship is here.

People from the German-occupied areas had to work in German companies in order to make a living. Even in peacetime, there was absolutely no possibility of working for the Germans during the war. But it is not a good thing for some things to go too smoothly, such as now, Iraq

Yakino planned to expose his position to the German merchant ship, but in the end they simply gave up resistance. How could he do this?

"Mr. Colonel, they are destroying their own wires. It seems that they have really given up resistance." Pfft. Iakino, who was in depression, heard this and sprayed water on the wall. "You bitch

Are you professional? How many times have you practiced?!" Today is really not going well. Iyakino looked at the almanac on the wall, which he got when he was studying in China. Normally, everything should be going well today. Why?

So unlucky?

"Facts have proved that the almanac has some basis, and it will come true in the future." Decades later, Iyakino once said in a joking tone when talking about the war in the southern Indian Ocean.

“The situation that day was really full of twists and turns.”

"Report, a German light cruiser is coming here! One of our seaplanes spotted him, but the other party didn't seem to find us." Soon, a piece of good news dropped from the sky made Iyakino excited. "Told

The Pola immediately goes to deal with the German light cruiser, and we'll deal with the soap boat.

!" Iyakino ordered loudly. But he really couldn't figure out why this German light cruiser dared to come over? He didn't know that there were two behemoths waiting for him here? Or was the Russian captain a spy, deceiving the German light cruiser?

Come here to die? A very unreliable idea popped into Iyakino's mind.

The actual situation is this. Although the Russians were ready to surrender, they did not expect that there was a German light cruiser patrolling nearby. From the beginning to the end, the Russians sent a telegram to Iyakino.

I received this telegram, but this telegram did not say anything about it.

The size of the Italian fleet did not mention that the other party had aircraft to provide reconnaissance. And because it was sent in clear code, anyone could decipher it. The result was that the Italians received the telegram, and then the unlucky ship cruising nearby

The German light cruiser also received this telegram!

Why are there German light cruisers cruising here? This is also a matter of course. To be honest, the previous actions of Italian destroyers to break diplomatic relations still caused a lot of trouble to the German East African colonies. "We are not here

In one week, five merchant ships have been lost, with a total tonnage of nearly 20,000 tons. They contained hundreds of tons of lubricating oil, thousands of tons of machinery and daily necessities, and by the way, there were more than 3,000 tons of

Frozen meat and eggs. And all this is caused by a few destroyers." The governor of the German East African colony said to the local garrison commander. In his opinion, Italy would be wiped out by the Allies in a few days, and the war was mainly in Europe.

There is also a Turkish fleet patrolling near the Red Sea. Only a few ships can get here, but these ships have caused a lot of trouble to themselves. This cannot be tolerated.

Unlike Italy, Germany did not station too many fleets in East Africa at this time. On the one hand, it was because it was caught off guard, and on the other hand, Germany and Austria's focus was always on the Mediterranean and the Middle East. And because of the cover of land-based aviation, it did not

I wasn't worried that the Italian fleet would come, so I didn't care about it at first. When the Italian destroyer

After causing some losses, and whether traces of the Sicily and the Pola were found at the same time, the German Fleet Headquarters in East Africa believed that this was most likely a false shot by the other side, and the main force was still waiting elsewhere. In this case, otherwise, send

The light cruiser went out to look for it? So the new German light cruiser Rhein went out like this!

"This is the ugliest battleship I have ever seen, but it is also the best light cruiser in Germany!" A designer said of the Rhine at the time. This light cruiser has a paper tonnage of less than 10,000 tons and is equipped with

3 triple-mounted 175mm heavy guns. But unlike the usual ones, these three turrets are not

On the front deck, No. 2 turret is carried on the back, and No. 1 and No. 3 turrets are flat. The entire rear deck is a hangar and seaplane mooring space. At most, this battleship can accommodate 6 various seaplanes. The main armor

It can also be immune to half of the 7-inch guns, and its speed is not slow, making it the best among light cruisers.

"How far are we from each other?" Captain Hansen asked. "According to the radio lateral results, we are about 50 to 70 nautical miles away from the target sea area. If the direction is correct, we will be there in 2 hours at most.

Can we detect the opponent and release the reconnaissance plane now?" asked the deputy captain next to him.

"Wait a minute, it has only been 15 minutes since receiving the telegram. They have completely obtained this transport ship. It should not be easily sunk. As long as it is brought to a port in China or the Allied Powers, they can obtain a lot of benefits.

It will take at least half an hour for them to deal with this ship. Now it is possible to launch a reconnaissance plane

It can alert the enemy." Captain Hansen shook his head and said. Although the Rhein's speed can reach 32 knots, it is still far behind the high-speed destroyer. And does the reconnaissance aircraft have enough weapons to threaten the warship? If the other party insists on running away after discovering it,

He couldn't catch up, so he decided to get closer before taking action.

"Those Russians are really bold. This kind of action is almost surrendering to the enemy. They clearly had the opportunity to inform us of the other party's whereabouts! But they gave up resistance directly!" A staff officer next to him said through gritted teeth. "It doesn't matter, our goal has been achieved.

, it will be up to you how to deal with those Russians. I think putting them in prison or staying in East Africa to do hard labor is a good choice." Hansen said calmly.

As a result, the Rhine lost its last chance to escape. A reconnaissance plane flying above the clouds discovered the light cruiser that was eager to die. After receiving the news, the heavy cruiser Pola was approaching at high speed, and the two sides almost

Relatively speaking, if nothing unexpected happens, both sides will be able to discover their opponents in half an hour.

"Prepare to take off the plane! This is the first battle, it must be clean and tidy!" Just as the Pola was preparing to fight the Rhine, Iakino had already dealt with the Russian merchant ship. The other party was very cooperative and stopped the ship directly.

, even all the crew members walked out of the cabin and gathered on the front deck. After the small boat was lowered on the Sicily, Iakino finally had his hands and feet ready to deal with this big fish that came to his door.

According to the previous intelligence, there seemed to be no threatening targets in this sea. After the reconnaissance plane sent the intelligence, he confirmed the identity of the other party. A pure Italian heavy cruiser seemed to be enough to deal with this light cruiser.

.However, in line with the principle of leniency when predicting the enemy, Iyakino decided to send 10 aircraft to help the Pola, and the Germans must not be allowed to escape!
Chapter completed!