"Mr. Captain, there seems to be a ship over there. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info" said the lookout of the destroyer USS Musketeer, pointing to a ship in the distance.

"Okay, let's go up and tell them to go and wait in the southern seas." Captain Short said that the Musketeer was part of the Yellow Springs class destroyer, with a displacement of more than 700 tons, armed with two 4-inch guns and two 12-pounder guns, as well as two 21-inch torpedo tubes. The output of up to 1.6 horsepower is enough for the destroyer to reach speeds of more than 28 knots.

At this time, the destroyer was clearing the channel for the ANZ convoy that passed at dawn a few hours ago, and all the civilian ships were forcibly driven away from the northern channel and waited 20 kilometers away. On the other side of the harbor, there was another destroyer USS Fruit Fly that was also doing this task, which would have been unnecessary, but because it was dawn, the visibility was poor, and the transport ships could not wait, so the only way was to clear the channel and let the fleet pass.

"Give them a signal to get out of the main channel quickly. Otherwise, we'll go up and teach them how to do it! After half a ring, the ship in the distance did not seem to move, which made Captain Schott very dissatisfied, the ship that dared to challenge the British Empire at sea did not exist!

The enemy did not implement light control, and with the help of searchlights, the destroyer Musketeer quickly approached, and two 4-inch guns were aimed at the opponent.

"Listen, whoever you are! Even if your father is God, now you have to listen to me and lean aside! "When the Musketeer approached this ship that didn't understand the rules, Schott found that the ship was really big, looking at the tonnage, I'm afraid it was close to 10,000 tons, the volume was almost several times his own, and the distance between the two was only 300 meters, but Schott was not worried at all that this guy would make any objections, for a civilian ship, 2 4-inch guns were deadly enough! Not to mention the 21-inch torpedoes!

"Captain, there's no one on the other side!" At this time, a sharp-eyed person suddenly realized that something was wrong with the situation, and when the musketeer approached, the opposite side did not answer! This is so abnormal!

Just as SCHOTT was about to take action, suddenly a series of scorching flames erupted from the side of the opposing ship!

"It's shelling! Signal now! However, before Short could finish speaking, a 6-inch shell had already struck the bridge of the Musketeer, accompanied by a violent explosion, and a violent shock wave mixed with shrapnel swept across the entire ship! At a distance of 300 meters, 3 inch guns and 4 5-inch guns will definitely not give a destroyer time to react! The whole attack was very fast, and almost within 3 minutes, the Musketeer was no longer on the sea.

"Don't be in a hurry, it's too late, we must guarantee the capture of all the British soldiers who fell into the water." Cuarón was quite satisfied with the attack. According to the information provided by an American ship here, when a large fleet passes by, the British will clear the sea near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a process that is usually carried out by destroyers, but now, because of the emergency situation in the direction of the Mediterranean, there are only two destroyers, one on the north side and one on the south side, about 20 kilometers apart. Therefore, the fire caused by a short shot does not reveal the Nautilus. As for the other civilian ships, they will be further away from here.

Caron looked at the pocket watch in his hand, now there are about 4 hours or so before the British fleet enters here, and it will take him a maximum of 45 minutes to pass through this strait, and after that, he can exit the northern exit to lay mines, relying on special minelaying slides, at most more than 2 hours can complete the minelaying, as for the other destroyer Drosophila, if it encounters it, it will repeat the old trick, if it doesn't happen, then he is lucky!

"500 mines, laid out in such a narrow sea area, there is always one that you can collide with!" Cuarón lit a cigar for himself. "Pay attention to the Pilin Island and nearby references when laying mines. Leave a passage. Once again, Caron reminded his men.

"At this time, the fleet should be already eyeing the British fleet, right?" At Cuarón's muttering, the Nautilus returned to the cover of night and headed for the other side of the channel.

"Your Excellency, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is ahead. After passing here, we entered the Red Sea. An officer said to Colonel Harris.

"How's the aisle up 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, good, let's get the fleet through quickly." With that, Colonel Harris picked up the telegram in his hand again and read it. Just last night, he received several telegrams in clear code, these telegrams were sent by British merchant ships in this area, after the outbreak of war, the British navy required all Allied merchant ships to have the obligation to provide maritime intelligence to the British navy, as long as they found anything abnormal can be sent by radio. Of course, subject to the current radio technology, it is really impossible to say how far it can be sent and how much it can be received.

But this time Colonel Harris received information that disturbed him, and the telegram said that two very large warships had appeared in the Gulf of Aden in the evening yesterday. But what kind of battleship it is, it's not clear. After all, you can't expect an ordinary merchant captain to recognize the model of a passing battleship more than ten kilometers away in the twilight situation, right?

Not to mention them, Harris, as a colonel of the Royal Navy and captain of the armored cruiser Defense, has not recognized the battleship for a single time. For example, it is all too common to think of the Minotaur as the Invincible, and to confuse the Invincible with the Australia or something. It's a shame to admit mistakes, but who hasn't admitted them?

He could even wonder if the other party was a high-speed cruise ship or other large ships as warships, after all, the visibility was not good at that time. But soon, another telegram proved the presence of large ships. Last night, two other British merchant ships spotted a large ship speeding by, the other side did not enforce the lights control, and the speed was very fast. It's not sure if it's a battleship, but it's always a little unsettling that something like this is here. This is not a judgment based on reason, but a kind of sixth sense-like thing.

When the British fleet approached the entrance to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the lookout of the armored cruiser USS Defense found a new target, which made Colonel Harris's heart tighten, but soon, when he picked up the binoculars and looked at them, he found that there were four ordinary civilian ships coming on the opposite side, which did not match the number or size, which made him a little relieved.

The second is more ~~~! Ask for subscription, ask for tips~~~! (To be continued.) )