Chapter 532 He is not without weakness!
The narrow passage was full of officers and soldiers on the submarine-29. Even several turbine soldiers in the sheard cabin rushed over to join in the fun. Everyone's eyes were staring at the hearing chamber behind the pilot and command module.
In the cabin, Xiao He, a listener with a large headset like half a pineapple, ignored his friends outside and put all his thoughts in the mixed sound world.
The principle of the listener is similar to that of the doctor's receiver, which seems very simple, but it is not easy to become a professional listener. It must go through unimaginable training for outsiders for a long time.
First of all, they need to stay in a completely closed mute room for half a month to fully adapt their ears to this environment, and then hear the most complex mixing from the simplest monotone, and distinguish what is needed and what is not needed from the mixed sound.
Monotonous and boring repetition of continuous training until the brain produces a subconscious filtering response, automatically removing some useless and self-made noise. It is said that the best listener at present can already distinguish what type of warship it is from the rotation rhythm of the propeller.
Xiao He asked himself that he couldn't do so much. He could only tell whether there was a ship nearby and locate the general direction by sound, but today he didn't use these skills at all, because what he needed to listen to now was a battle about the empire, and the loud noise when large-caliber naval guns opened fire. Don't mention him, change it. Ordinary people can also hear it very seriously.
But as time went by, the British fleet tracked an hour ago began to accelerate. Obviously, it found the target. Why hasn't it exchanged fire until now? Did you miss it when it was dark?
Xiao He looked at the clock that had been adjusted after passing the equator on his head, and seemed to feel that he had guessed it, because it was already 7 p.m. It was as difficult to search for a vigilant enemy on the dark sea as to find a golden sand in the desert.
Just when he was a little disappointed, there was a dull thunder suddenly in his ear drum, roaring like a rolling dragon. The voice made him subconsciously wave his fist and shout, "It's fighting!"
This sentence makes the air in the submarine hotter. There is nothing worse than a sea battle beside him, but it is more uncomfortable for him to hide and can't see or hear. Several clever ghosts even looked at the periscope, but unfortunately the captain is still occupying it.
In fact, Dai Jintang can't see anything in front of him, mainly because the submarine is at the depth of the periscope, and the weather is good and can't see thousands of meters away. What's more, there was a strong wind after night, and the waves caused a lot of trouble for observation. Just now, in order to avoid the reverse water, the air pipe has been collected.
The rumble of gunfire can be heard even without a listener, which makes everyone feel itchy. They just want to sneak to watch the bustle at close range.
But this is just a fantasy. Once the distance is too close, not to mention those heavy shells, the shock wave generated after falling into the sea and exploding is particularly dangerous.
Dai Jintang reluctantly gave the periscope to the captain, sat down at the chart table, took out the sweet orange from his pocket and bit it hard, and the sweet juice dripped down the corners of his mouth to the clothes.
Just as he enjoyed the orange but was in a hurry, the sea 20,000 meters away was already filled with smoke.
In the dark, two lines of warships loomed in the wind and waves. The roaring waves made the sea continue to surge on their decks, but even this failed to disturb the fierce battle.
The bad weather not only did not make Shi Pei anxious, but also kept giving orders in an excited mood. The reason is very simple. Shannhorst and Gneisenau are both new warships. Eight main guns and most of the secondary guns are on the deck. Except for wasting some shells, this sea situation will not be unable to fire. The situation.
But his opponent, General Craddock, is already anxious, because the two armored cruisers in his hand are old models. The two double 234mm main guns on the Cape of Good Hope are powerful enough, but the number is too small, and the 16 152mm cannons can only play half when firing on one side. Half of the sea is because of the high sea conditions, the sea is often submerged and cannot be shot!
He regrets a little now.
If he doesn't think that the Old Man's Star is too slow, if he doesn't call Major Stodat, who is in Uruguay, and if he has three first-class armored cruisers and four protective cruisers in his hands, then how can he have no power to fight back at this moment?
It is impossible to go back in time now, so he immediately made a decision to continue to close the distance and order the torpedo to prepare!
After this order was later spread to Xinhua, it caused a lot of controversy within the navy. Some people said that Craddock's choice was right. Under high sea conditions, he used natural conditions to quickly close the distance, and the assault with torpedoes could make up for the weakness of the equipment. Although he failed in the end, his bravery was admirable.
Another part of people thought it was reckless, because at that time, the Old Star was only 300 kilometers away from the war. If he was not so impulsive when he saw the Leipzig bait released by Spee, it would be completely different when the Old Star arrived to look for a fighter or the result.
But no matter whose statement makes sense, it is impossible to save the lives of Major General Craddock and more than 1,600 officers and soldiers who have been sleeping here.
After eating the oranges, Dai Jintang still felt that there were dozens of rats scratching on his chest. If it hadn't been for the order to monitor the naval battle and report the final result, and cover Shi Pei's departure to prevent sneak attack, maybe he would have ordered to go far away, and he wouldn't be upset if he couldn't hear it.
Just as he took a deep breath to calm down his mood, another muffled thunder came faintly. This sound, which was obviously louder than the explosion and firing, made Xiao He almost throw away his headset, and the captain who was observing the sea, jumped up.
"The captain!"
When Dai Jintang quickly pasted the periscope, he was also stunned by the scene in front of him. He only saw a hundred-meter-high fiery red cloud blooming on the water line in the distance.
Beautiful, deadly!
Because there is only one possibility of this scene, the ammunition depot is martyred! ——
Whitehall, the headquarters of the Royal Navy of the British Empire.
In the long aisle, the atmosphere is gloomy.
The secretaries and officers came and went in a hurry. Except for the occasional nodding to say hello, no one was not in the mood to speak. The unfavorable situation opposite the strait made the officers less mind to flirt with the female secretary. For the Admiralty, although they won the victory of the Gulf of Hergorland, it was recently connected by German submarines in an hour. He was humiliated for continuing to sink the three 10,000-ton large cruisers, "Abco", "Hogg" and "Crecy".
If the loss of the three cruisers is nothing for the Admiralty, then the old guy who has led the German Far East has become a thorn in the eyes of everyone, making the Royal Navy criticized from all walks of life!
When the list of attacked ships and stations was published by the pervasive newspaper, Britain was simply upset, because no one expected that the Royal Navy, which had the World's First Fleet and spent a huge amount of taxpayer money every year, would be tosssed to death by several German cruisers that were difficult to replenish. More than two million tons of ships were lost, and even Brisbane was attacked by shells!
God, how did that old guy take several cruisers to escape the pursuit of nearly a hundred coalition warships, set out from the Indian Ocean and cross at least the Pacific Ocean to attack Brisbane?!
The dull atmosphere in the aisle made people feel as if they were standing among a group of old people, which made Fisher frown when he had just walked out of the conference room.
Although he is not young, he feels that he should be a young man, because he still has the fanatical love for the navy, but in the face of this situation, he can only sigh in the bottom of his heart, because this situation cannot be changed by him alone.
Just as he was holding his head high, hoping to inspire the young people around him with the pride of the Royal Navy for a hundred years, a drum-like footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor.
"What's going on?" Seeing Lieutenant General Hamilton, the second minister of the sea, who was holding a telegram and trotting all the way with a grim face, Fisher's heart sank.
"Cladock was ambushed, he."
Before Hamilton finished speaking, Fisher jumped up and asked with a cold face, "Is it Spee?"
"Hmm." Hamilton nodded and didn't say anything more. Instead, he took Fisher back to the Admiralty Conference Center together. When he opened the door, Churchill and other admirals, who were discussing things, frowned, because they had never seen Lieutenant General Hamilton, who was considered the most elegant of the Royal Navy, so anxious. The look.
"Mr. Winston, Major General Craddock and his fleet were ambushed by Spee in Koronel, both the Cape of Good Hope and Monmers." Hamilton paused at this point, and everyone in the conference room understood what he wanted to say. After a while, he took a deep breath and continued, "Now Otranto and Glasgow are returning to Stanlis Harbour under the protection of the old man's star."
"What about Stoddart's fleet? Shouldn't he act with Craddock?"
"John Luce, captain of Glasgow, said that Cradock did not inform the Uruguayan fleet after discovering the trace of the Dresden, but set out by himself."
"stupid!"
Churchill patted the table hard, which also made Fisher and Hamilton frown. Although Craddock was suspected of being greedy, criticism should not be done at this time.
Under the gaze of many generals, Churchill quickly walked to the front of the sea map.
Kladock's aggressive advance not only caused the navy to lose two cruisers, but also caused Britain to temporarily lose important nitrate supplements in Peru and Chile. As the main raw material for the manufacture of explosives, it is extremely unfavorable for the army that is getting bigger and bigger.
What's more serious is that if Spee continues to attack the Pacific Ocean, where will the face of the British Royal Navy be put?!
Fisher also walked to the map. Unlike Churchill's thinking about the image of the navy, he was more attracted by the long route from Sikkim in the Indian Ocean to Chile. You should know that there are 13,000 nautical miles in a straight line between them. In addition, he had to maneuver and evade during the voyage, and Spee attacked Bris before. Judging from the class, his fleet has sailed at least 20,000 nautical miles!
For any fleet, it is extremely painful to sail 20,000 nautical miles, and Spee arrived in such a short time, indicating that his fleet is in very good condition and can maintain a high speed all the time, which means that someone has been providing him with logistics along the way, otherwise it would be impossible to complete this. Long-distance and high-speed maneuver!
Who is?
When Fisher saw the area marked as red in the southwest Pacific Ocean, the fierceness flashed through his eyes, and it was obvious that the arsonist was making trouble!
The Chinese, like the United States, although they did not say neutrality and did not declare their support, judging from their performance, it was obvious that Li Mo and William II had some kind of tacit understanding, so he controlled millions of Russian troops and provided support to Spee.
Although this makes everyone resentful, there is no good way, because Britain lacks evidence. It is undoubtedly stupid to declare war on a big country on the grounds of selling coal and supplies to Spee and lead the war in a direction that no one knows.
This is not to say that Britain is afraid. On the contrary, the generals in this conference room know that Britain will declare war on Li Mo sooner or later, so they will actively win over the United States and pull it into the chariot step by step. However, the United States is not completely ready. President Wilson is still hesitating, so he is not yet. Can declare war.
But let Li Mo mess up like this all the time?
Fisher was about to speak when the door of the conference room was knocked open together.
"Gentlemen, there is a big problem on the side of the army!"
The naval staff shouted, "The Germans sent 30,000 troops to attack Orange (South Africa) from West Africa. The Boers have also been incited. Lieutenant General Sanchez has sent a telegram for help."
"How is it possible? Is it a mistake? There are only 7,000 German [***] teams there. Even if you add local mercenaries, it will not exceed 20,000, and Lieutenant General Sanchez has at least 50,000 troops!"
"Yes, did the Germans break through Jellico's blockade?"
"No, it's not the Germans who broke through our fleet." Fisher waved his hand: "We forgot the 10,000 German troops that disappeared from the Far East. They should have arrived in West Africa."
"How is it possible?" Churchill jumped up all of a sudden, and there were more than 10,000 nautical miles from Japan to West Africa. Can the Germans fly?
"We all neglected it." Hamilton sighed and pointed to Coronel and said, "Our eyes were attracted too much by Spee. After he attacked the French Far East Fleet, he deliberately swaggered into the Indian Ocean, attracted our attention and then crossed the Pacific Ocean. When our fleet gathered in the Pacific Ocean, their fleet could pass smoothly. Pass the Cape of Good Hope.
"But Germany does not have such a strong transportation force in the Far East. 10,000 soldiers and equipment need at least eight large transport ships?"
"They don't have it, but the Chinese have it!" Fisher said the answer coldly, which also made Churchill hateful and immediately said, "I want to see the Prime Minister immediately. I must impose restrictions on the Chinese!"
After Churchill left in a hurry, everyone surrounded Fisher and Hamilton. After the former's eyes swept over everyone's faces, he suddenly turned his head and asked Hamilton, "Did the information from Egypt yesterday say that four Chinese cruise ships entered the Suez Canal?"
"Yes, I'm going to Austria-Hungary."
"Then let it stay in the Mediterranean Sea. We should not sit back and wait for death. We should let the arsonist know that he is not without weaknesses!"
(to be continued)