African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 571 Blockade of the Miyako Strait

"General, the Japanese on the opposite side have raised a white flag. Do they want to surrender?" Morse, General Glaish's adjutant, looked at the twenty-odd small boats left behind with some surprise.

Grace said sarcastically: "Haha, they don't pretend now. How can any fishermen raise a white flag to the warship? It would be better to leave just now, so that their identity will be further confirmed."

Morse said: "Does that mean the Japanese really want to surrender now?"

Glaish shook his head and said: "Don't jump to conclusions easily. Since it is a surrender, the main force of the Japanese must have been evacuated just now. Only a very small part of them are left. If you think about it carefully, why don't they keep up with the large force?" Consistent?”

“Perhaps they want to stay and negotiate. After all, we have a rough idea of ​​the Japanese’s purpose. It’s certain that they are still evil. It’s impossible for them to give up their interests in the Southern Ryukyu Islands as soon as we come.”

Glaish: "It's impossible. If it's a negotiation, there's no need to start withdrawing. It's not too late to withdraw if we can't reach an agreement."

He didn't know that Japanese soldiers had a tradition of defeating the superior by the inferior, so he couldn't understand Morita's intention.

“Then shall we let them get on the boat and see what they want to do?” Morse asked.

Hmm, Glaish thinks so too. After all, I have the advantage now and I don’t have to worry about what the other side does. At the same time, Glaish also wants to know what the opposing commander’s wishful thinking is.

 So Glaish ordered: "Send a communication boat and let our people get close to them..."

　　When speaking of getting closer, an idea suddenly came to Glaish's mind, "Get closer, get closer..." What did he seem to think of?

"Wait a minute, Morse, do you think those small fishing boats can pose a threat to us?" Glasch asked Morse.

"Your Excellency General, this is of course impossible, unless we stand and don't fight back, letting them bombard us is not enough, and their artillery is not enough to threaten merchant ships. We are armored cruisers. Even if they hit key parts of the ship, they may not be able to Inflict losses on us immediately, and we would have sunk them long ago."

"You are right, but artillery is unreasonable, and we cannot take any risks. If the boat capsizes in the gutter, then we will become the biggest joke in the world!" Glaish said seriously.

Morse heard something in Glaish's words, so he asked: "Your Excellency, have you noticed anything?"

Grace did not answer the question directly, but asked instead: "Do you think the Japanese have any way to do what you just said to make us stand still and get beaten, or do you think there is no way to counter them?"

Morse knew that Glaish would not make a mistake without thinking. There must be something he had not considered when he said this, so he also began to think deeply.

Soon he had an idea: "General, are you saying that it is possible for the Japanese to surrender?"

Grace saw that Morse had followed his train of thought and said with satisfaction: "Yes, our warships are indeed advanced, but as the saying goes, small ships are easy to turn around, so this is our disadvantage, but it is the Japanese's advantage."

Morse continued: "So if the Japanese approach our ship, our reaction speed may not be as fast as their small ship, and this is our weakness, especially if they get close to us, our weapons are not as good. If you use it against them, you may accidentally injure your own people."

Grace: "Is this a bold guess? The success rate of such a thing is probably only one percent. Do you think the Japanese really dare to do this?"

This is almost the same as dying. Even if it can cause damage to the ironclad, other warships in East Africa can make up for it. East Africa may suffer losses, but the other side will definitely be destroyed.

"This is not a matter of life and death, but a matter of paying a disproportionate price. In my opinion, even if one ship is lost in our fleet, the loss will be greater than the annihilation of the entire army on the opposite side. Even the most backward sail Warships are serious warships, and these Japanese ships are temporarily modified from fishing boats and merchant ships," Morse said.

Since East Africa annexed the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the shipyards on Zanzibar Island have naturally become East African industries. By the way, the Zanzibar Navy has also been completely merged into the East African Navy. Therefore, the East African Navy still retains many sail warships. These The ship may be lagging behind other countries, but it still has some advantages for a declining maritime country like Portugal. The main opponent of the Omani Navy was Portugal. With the support of new technologies, it has been revived. Of course, wooden ships are now a sunset industry. , but it can cultivate a group of mature workers, which is a good thing for East Africa. This is also the reason why there are two sailing battleships in this expedition fleet. Although they are sailing battleships, they are also equipped with many new technologies, so it is naturally impossible for the Japanese to plot.

"General Glaish, what should we do? Should we accept the surrender of the Japanese, or how should we accept it?"

"Of course we have to accept it, but we have to give them hope and at the same time, kill it severely. Of course, if they don't have that intention, it's best, otherwise let them sleep forever at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean!" Glaish said viciously. said.

Soon, the East African communication ship was put down, and then negotiated with the feverish Morita: "We accept your surrender, but according to the East African naval regulations, you can only stop in the area five hundred meters away."

Gao Feng Morita thought about it carefully. The distance was not very good, but it was not too bad either. Moreover, he mainly wanted to catch East Africa by surprise. East Africa should not have thought that he would be so brave and dare to challenge East Africa's large warships with a small fishing boat.

 So he said: "I agree to the conditions for returning to the country, but I also have a request, which is to have a direct interview with your supreme commander."

 “You are not qualified yet!”

“This is my ID. I am Lieutenant Commander Takayaki Morita of the Japanese Navy. Don’t worry, I am the only one. I will follow you in your boat. Our ship will not follow.”

"Okay! But we have to keep the documents first."

"no problem!"

 Then Morita, who had a high fever, followed the East African sailors on the East African communication ship and headed for the "Partridge". Before leaving, he used his eyes to signal his subordinate Nakata Jiro to act as planned.

Morita, who had a high fever, risked his life in order to continue to paralyze the East African Navy. After all, no one would make fun of his own life.

But Morita, who had a high fever, did not notice that after sailing for a while after he boarded the ship, the East African Navy also began to mobilize. The gunboat began to move closer to the "Partridge", while the other two ironclads began to disperse to both sides.

Jiro Nakata was the first to discover East Africa's unusual behavior, but now that the commander has left with East Africa, he can only bite the bullet and continue to act according to the plan, while trying to convince himself that the East Africans cannot see through his plan.

The Japanese also began to maneuver their ships closer to the "Partridge", but the target changed from three parallel ironclads to gunboats.

After the deployment in East Africa, Morita, who had a high fever, also discovered the flaws in East Africa. Under the weird smiles of the East African sailors around him, he knew that something was wrong.

At this time, the Japanese fleet had already begun to take action. They began to speed up towards the "Partridge", but the East African gunboats seemed to have known their movements. They headed towards the Japanese ship and were in front of the "Partridge".

 Both sides opened fire almost at the same time. The Japanese small boat was the opponent of the East African gunboat. Although some shells hit it, it was basically blocked by the gunboat.

　　Morita, who knew that the plan was exposed, was ashen-faced. He could only watch his men being sent to the underworld one by one by East African artillery.

"The Japanese Navy's sneak attack on the East African Navy has become a fait accompli. I order the Miyako Strait to be blocked from now on and Japanese ships are prohibited from entering!" Glaish said excitedly.

 (End of this chapter)