Chapter 635 The road is long 5

Blue water and golden sand, the scorching sun is like fire.

To the north of the busy port of Salalah, there is no one on the long seawall-like wharf, and the roads connecting the wharf and the town have been blocked. Sandbags, machine guns and cannons have made the workers who used to travel to the wharf and the town involuntarily stop and take a detour.

This is the only deep-water wharf in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. The 13-meter depth ensures that it can dock any ship and warship in the world. The Sultanate of Muscat can also resist the covetousness of the Nejishat family and the Aden people because of its continuous flow of taxes.

In fact, today's Muscat Sultanate is no longer a country. There is more chaos and strife here, because this country is too important. It not only guards the Strait of Hormuz, but also has such a good deep-water port. Naturally, the British will not give up the strategic place to control the global strategic point. The ruling methods that create internal contradictions have deeply hurt this land.

Winning is Xiao He, and losing is also Xiao He.

This sentence is the most appropriate to use here, because it is important. The ancient Muscat Sultanate was once the most prosperous region in Arabia, and because of its importance, with the invasion of white people, it fell into a long period of turmoil.

Now, the turbulence is coming again. The residents of Salalah can only stare at the large number of white soldiers occupying here, driving away all the ships, and then throwing them into the bay one by one from the small boats, making them clench their fists, because these sudden white soldiers are destroying their lives. Source, these things will make people afraid to be visited by ships here for a long time.

"27, 28, 29."

In a three-story residential building far away from the bay, something similar to a small astronomical telescope was explored. The camera was pointed at the ship that dropped mines, and fire was sprayed in the pupil.

"Gunnie!"

Beside him, a seal heard the number and spat fiercely. The British were so useless that he actually put so many mines into the bay. If they hadn't come to see it in advance, even if the fleet arrived, it would have been difficult to land in a short time.

Removing mines is a big problem for navies around the world, but it is not difficult for seals. Due to the calmness in the bay, as long as the location of the mines can be located in advance, there is still a way to clean it up, but it takes time.

"How long will it take for the fleet to arrive?"

Chang Gui raised his wrist and looked at his watch. The destruction of time made his temples have white spots, but this task was too important, so he came here with the seals on the electronic reconnaissance ship Golden Eagle.

"The signal from the Golden Eagle said that it would take about five days."

"Five days." Chang Gui scratched his head, which means that the enemy still has five days to prepare. If they are asked to arrange mines like this unscrupulously, God knows how many things will there will be in the bay in the end, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Notice everyone that tonight's action will take off the arsenal and the transport ship, in addition."

"Head, look!"

Before Chang Gui finished his words, he was pulled by the scouts. He turned around and saw only two very strange-looking warships slowly entering the port.

"What kind of ship is this?"

Everyone's eyebrows were suddenly twisted. Judging from the volume and tonnage, they should be only about five or six thousand tons. The height of the side of the ship is about the same as that of the destroyer. The stern was cut off. The deck is wide and straight. There is a tripod mast in the center of the hull, and the top is equipped with a compass and observation stations for artillery command, and the waterline on both sides. The torpedo tank is 5 meters bulging outward.

The most important thing is that in addition to a few small guns, there is a double 356mm (14-inch) heavy naval gun on it. It is the first time that seals have seen such a small hull equipped with such a large naval gun.

The two strange warships that suddenly arrived made Chang Gui's heart sink suddenly. The 14-inch naval gun is not a joke. Even if it is a small ship, it will suffer a great loss if it is unprepared! Moreover, I'm afraid that such a wide torpedo compartment on both sides can't be completely destroyed by the small magnetic surname thunder of seals.

"Tell the fleet about the situation." Chang Gui's eyes suddenly smoked twice, and the chimney on the deck, which was only more than three meters high, caught his attention.

"Notice everyone, take action tonight." -

"General!"

The flagship Malaya, an exclamation made all the officers turn their heads. The correspondent ignored his eyes and quickly ran to Campbell: "Receiving the Colombo telegram, they were attacked by Xinhua's main fleet."

"God."

The news made the officers in the bridge exclaim that Colombo was too important. If it was lost, I was afraid that southern India would be completely occupied, so I immediately looked at Lieutenant General Campbell.

"The main fleet?"

Campbell took a deep breath. He thought that Colombo was attacked. If he was Li Mo, he must pretend to attack Ceylon if he wanted to contain himself. But if it was the main fleet, he didn't believe it. With thousands of troops on their five transport ships, it was impossible to take Ceylon Island with more than 100,000 troops, so He immediately asked, "How many warships are there?" Is there a convoy?

"According to current observations, the port of Colombo has been bombed by at least 200 aircraft, the forts have been completely damaged, at least four battleships are shelling the harbor, and the pilots have also found troop carriers on the sea."

"How many!" Campbell immediately asked. He asked.

"I don't know. The pilot dares not fly too close. There are too many enemy planes."

"Damn it!" Campbell scolded. He really wanted to kick the guy in front of him, but most importantly, he didn't find it.

"General, what should we do now?"

"Continue to." Campbell's word "West" was still in his throat, and the news came again: "Mr. Lieutenant General, Colombo reported that the enemy marines began to land. They said that there were many landing ships on the sea, at least tens of thousands of people."

"At tens of thousands!" Campbell rose up--

Singapore.

In the renovation of a new Jurong Naval Base, Li Mo's fingers slowly slid across the map, crossed 600 kilometers of uninhabited desert area, and then protected the infantry to take the train. Finally, he had to forcibly break through the 50-kilometer-wide enemy defense area. Even after arriving in Kuwait, some troops still need to walk another 300 kilometers to rescue Avas!

This is only on land, and it is also very troublesome at sea. If the Indian Grand Fleet, with 11 main battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 6 old-fashioned battleships, and up to 50 cruisers and destroyers, he can't stop Xie Baozhang's three heads and six arms, so can he involve the main force of the Indian Grand Fleet to Ceylon? It is crucial how much time to buy for convoys and convoys across the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.

In order to fake it, three aircraft carriers and four Hebei-class battleships have begun to launch a strong attack on Colombo, nine waves, a total of 500 aircraft, a total of 250 tons of bombs will be dropped. After the preliminary destruction of the forts and threat defense facilities, four Hebei-class battleships will be launched. The ship carried out 30 rounds of shelling, firing a total of 1,440 high-explosive bombs, and dropped a total of 1,130 tons of bombs in the sea and air!

The most important thing is that a land battalion and some sailors will launch a landing wig-off, and it needs to create the illusion of a large-scale landing.

From the perspective of fire strength, even if he is attacked so fiercely, he may make a wrong judgment. So what will Campbell, who has left Mumbai before and led the fleet on the west coast of India, choose?

If he continues to cross the Arabian Sea, then Xie Baozhang must fight with the Indian Grand Fleet off the coast of Salalah, and then forcibly open a landing site. Even if he has three mother ships, there is no guarantee that he can protect the harbor.

If he goes south to support Ceylon, he must pass through the Eighth Strait and arrive in Colombo from Mumbai. According to the average speed of the capital ships of the Indian Grand Fleet, it will take 48 hours. At this time, Xie Baozhang can command the fleet to play with them and enter the Arabian Sea first, so that Campbell reacts and turns back. When chasing, it is equivalent to losing 48 hours.

Now for myself, it takes more than 40 hours!

Campbell should have received the news now. Did he ignore Ceylon's continued crossing the Arabian Sea or go south to support Ceylon?

Li Mo asked Du Dazhuang for a cigarette. As soon as a fire broke out on the match, a voice suddenly sounded, "Move, move! Emperor, Campbell led the main force of the fleet to the south!"

Chen Ping held up the telegram he had just received, quickly walked to the map and pointed to Mumbai and said, "The submarine found the main force of the Indian Grand Fleet south of Mumbai and is moving south at a speed of 19 knots. I guess I have received help from Colombo, otherwise it would not have maintained such a high speed. Now the Snow Sculpture has taken over the tracking. If they keep this speed, they will reach the Eighth Strait in 40 hours!

If the inference is correct, then we can use it for at least 40 hours!

According to the current situation, there are only two capital ships and four old battleships near Salalah. It is enough to kill them, clean up the bay, and attack the port of Salalah for 10 hours. The troops can be sent up in the remaining 30 hours. At that time, even if Campbell arrives, our fleet can turn around with him. Have a decisive battle!"

Chen Ping's excited voice made Li Mo relieved. As long as the seal could keep the deep-water wharf from being destroyed, 40 hours was indeed enough. If it hadn't been for the slow troop carrier, the unloading speed of the roll-rocket and landing ship would have entered the Neizhi desert area for hundreds of kilometers by Campbell's arrival.

However, before Li Mo could relax, the staff officer immediately handed a telegram to Chen Ping. After reading it, the latter immediately frowned: "Your Majesty, Campbell's squadron appeared. This morning, the seal found three cruisers in the target in the port of Salalah, but they left after hurried supplies. According to this point, They should be nearby.

In addition, the seal reported that two new warships entered the depths of the bay in the Central District today, and their decks were equipped with double 14-inch guns!"

"14 inches?!"

Li Mo jumped up suddenly. None of the British capital ships had this caliber. Could it be said that the United States intervened in the port of Salalah?

"It is indeed a 14-inch, 356mm heavy naval gun, but they often say that the displacement of these two warships is only about 6,000 tons, and"

"6,000 tons?"

Li Moxun knew what kind of warship it was. Unexpectedly, after Fisher was taken off the heart stage by himself, Yu Wei was still playing a role. Although this kind of warship is not suitable for ocean combat, it is a very good near naval ship.

They are the monsters that have a mixed reputation and have been active in World War I in history, shallow-water heavy gunboats!

Many people in the BB Party in later generations think that the diving heavy gunboat is simply a toy, but only seniors know that this kind of warship is still very good if it is used for coastal seaport defense. Due to the small tonnage, it has considerable mobility and heavy artillery comparable to the main battleship, so it can maneuver in the narrow bay. It's not much worse than a fixed shore gun.

Li Mo is not worried that two diving heavy gunboats can block him, but the problem is that the aviation torpedo must not be able to nip up torpedo compartment of this monster, which is several meters thick, so once they find that they can't stop it and hit the shells at close range to the deep-water pier for damage, it will be terrible!

Seeing that it was about time to grab them, these two monsters appeared. Li Mo didn't know whether to cry or laugh. He gritted his teeth and said, "Tell Chang Gui to find a way to pull out these two nails, at least to make it unable to fire!" -

There was silence in the port of Salalah at three o'clock in the morning.

Hufflock and Lagolan lie in the middle of the bay like two monsters, with five meters of torpedo compartments on each side. They look like a corridor around the hull. Although they look ridiculous, they are the essence of these two warships. They can increase their defense capabilities and make the warships more stable. It can also reduce the depth of eating water.

Two sentinel sailors yawned and sat on the deck with a gun on their backs. They hung their feet and could just be placed in the "cloister". It looked like they were sitting on the steps. One of them stretched out and was ready to remind their partners not to fall asleep. The shadow suddenly appeared behind them.

His mouth was suddenly covered, and the snowy dagger slid through his neck. Before the big eyes were completely dark, he only saw countless underwater ghost-like divers climbing up the deck from the torpedo compartment.

In the cabin of the Lagolan, the two sailors were slowly dressed and ready to take over their partners to continue to stand guard.

"Hill, have you heard about it? The main fleet of the Chinese people may come here. Do you think we can block it alone?

"Idiots, of course not, but they must first pass the interception of General Campbell's Grand Fleet."

"Can they pass?"

"God knows."

As the two sailors whispered, they were ready to walk to the deck with their guns on their backs. Suddenly, the sound of a few thumps falling like heavy objects suddenly came from the position of the chimney. The sound of everyone in the silence was harsh, so they were shocked.

"What is it?"

"Go and have a look."

Some awakened soldiers looked around sleepy and recalled the sound just now. The two sentries immediately walked to the chimney in the middle of the cabin. When they entered the boiler compartment, they saw that the two "big iron blocks" like thick iron plates broke through the flue wall and fell into the boiler compartment.

Hill leaned up carefully and suddenly found that there seemed to be a ticking sound in the big iron block. He immediately asked his partner to do it carefully, but when the two tried their best to turn over the big guy weighing more than 50 pounds, his face suddenly became miserable. White.

Boom.

Dozens of explosions sounded from the sea of the port of Salalah almost at the same time. Two submarine heavy gunboats and two transport ships that had just arrived in the afternoon raised fire, screams, cries, and dense gunfire, which drowned the whole of Salalah in an explosion.

(to be continued)