Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

July 1, 1910, Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Comoros.

While West and Central Africa and Europe are discussing the conflict between France and Spain in full swing, in the Indian Ocean, the current French colony is still continuing to carry out various colonial duties as usual.

"I'm talking about Modo, since you have said so much, so simply, why do you want to deal with a notorious lazy guy like Spain now? He is such a bastard. Now he can't even talk about Spain. It is also riding on our heads. We have been offended by Britain and Germany. Now that Spain has appeared aggressively, do they really think that this is the time when Spain dominated Europe in the Middle Ages? It is really infuriating. . And the [Government] seems to be too incompetent. It has been bullied to this level, and it is still standing there like a fool, pretending to be a gentleman without fighting back and scolding. Humph, if this continues, how many people will In the presidential election in a few months, I will never vote for this softie Fallier again, even though I am a member of the radical party."

"Okay, Sahimi, let's patrol our work first. Perhaps as President Falier said, the government is studying countermeasures to deal with Spain's bold provocation! We must believe in our own party. , and more importantly, as the president of France, we have the obligation to respect each other, whether right or wrong, when there is no discussion with the right to discuss, it is better for us soldiers not to participate in politics casually." In comparison. Sashmi, Modo is a more cautious person. However, he had no choice but to be careless. As France's highest-level temporary naval leader in the Indian Ocean, he certainly would not casually criticize the government formed by Armand, who admired him, even though he was also very dissatisfied with it in his heart.

The two of them are now on the Volda, the flagship of the French naval fleet in the Indian Ocean. On this 1,300-ton old-fashioned wooden-hulled cruiser, they are not worried about their safety at all, especially when there is the Dujue Recording next to it. With the Iron Threat cruiser and the two wooden-hulled cruisers Ferrers and Destin following, in the Indian Ocean, which is huge but seriously lacking in navy, can it threaten this huge force of its own? There are only the British naval fleet in India and the Spanish fleet in the Indian Ocean. But is this possible. And if they come to attack, with the French port artillery on Madagascar, they will definitely not be threatened again after discovering them and quickly escaping back to the port. At that time, it is the Spanish or British fleet that should be afraid, because there, the cannons on the military port far exceed the range of the warships. The power is also far greater than that of naval guns that dare not carry more due to the tonnage of warships.

Due to these factors, even if they knew that Spain was at odds with France again, they did not take the dangers they might encounter too seriously. Even Modo, who had always been very cautious, only started talking to Sahimi on the deck after giving careful navigation instructions to the captains of several other cruisers. This shows that his view of security is similar to that of Sasimo.

But what they didn't know was that it was precisely because they chose to remain indifferent after receiving the notice from Paris a few days ago. The final result was that they received a lesson.

It is only 1.6 kilometers wide and was first discovered by Portugal in the early 16th century. However, in the late 18th century, when France occupied the islands of Comoros and Madagascar, it also included the island on the map and claimed sovereignty.

But it still can't change the fact that there is no population living on this island. Of course, no one in France is willing to live on it for a long time, so few people have been seen on it for many years. But today, a figure appeared above. And there are still quite a few people.

"Everyone, hurry up, charge the battery and do other things. Let's hurry back to the submarine. The telegram has just been sent. In the information sent by our intelligence personnel in Madagascar and Mozambique, the target has appeared. Drive over here, and there are still a few targets. We have a lot of prey this time, so we need to be extremely energetic to deal with it. Don't fail to hunt but become the prey. Finally, if everyone is prepared If it’s okay, then let’s go.”

"Snook, do you think our operation will be successful this time?" Snook is a colonel of the Spanish Navy submarine fleet in the Indian Ocean. He commanded all Spanish naval submarines in the Indian Ocean. The person who just spoke next to Snooker was his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Brucie. Although he had some self-doubt, he really reassured Snooker the most, because he always doubted and cautiously doubted over and over again. He also carefully carried out safety maintenance and other tasks on the submarine, allowing Snooker to use his hands and feet in many matters entering the submarine.

"Don't worry, since the Ministry of National Defense has issued such an order, and the Ministry of Navy is also very confident about it, plus we are very confident about ourselves, especially our beloved baby We should have more confidence in its strength. And it is said that His Majesty will be very concerned about it this time. If it is really successful, then France's attitude may even change because of our actions. So, Bu Lu Xi, we must succeed in this operation, we must succeed."

"Yes, we must succeed..." After others heard this, they also loudly joined the shouting team.

Modo temporarily took over the third largest navy in the Indian Ocean because the original navy chief had returned to Paris to report on his duties. As usual, he started driving south from Mahajanga, France's home port in the Indian Ocean. This time his mission was to make a detour and patrol, in addition to defending against the enemies outside, and making a show for the powerful countries outside. In addition to threatening them, the other reason is naturally to show the indigenous people on the island. They circle the island and stop at every big port to take a rest, and then deliberately fire a few cannons to scare those brave people. After a small number of indigenous people in this area, they moved to the next area to do the same thing. That's what this fleet is going to do.

A tour is required in almost two months, and this time he will lead the team, which may also include a friendly visit to the British-ruled Mauritius and the Seychelles. According to his idea, this would allow the British government to increase the chances of Britain siding with France during the fight between France and Spain.

Due to the difficulty of the destroyer taking part in the operation, Volda began cruising without an escort and soon had to withdraw from the operation due to lack of coal and damage to her radio equipment. Without sufficient coal, Jean Wolda could see that the operation was indeed poorly planned and the preparations of the staff were not in place. Many resources were mobilized to the mainland.

The bad weather did not even allow Major General Modo to transfer the command flag to another cruiser during the cruise. He had to hand over the command to the captain of the Dujus Recording without telling him clearly. When the weather improved, he ordered the destroyer to go out to sea. It was precisely because of this that the subsequent accident completely confused him.

As a result, these older cruisers lost the protection of destroyers, and this unclear order would be fatal if enemy submarines operated within the cruising area.

Morning, 11 o'clock. Some gloomy weather makes people feel uncomfortable no matter how they look at it, especially those who are good at sea. After taking a few glances, they no longer want to look at the sea line in this unpleasant weather.

The four cruisers recklessly sailed north-northeast at a speed of nearly 8 knots, and did not adopt a curved navigation method to avoid nearby enemy submarines. What they didn't know at this time was that they were already under the surveillance of Snooker, the captain of the Spanish submarine. When the two wooden-hulled cruisers Ferrers and Destin appeared in his periscope, He couldn't believe how lucky they were.

At 11:25, x3 launched a torpedo at the Ferrers, which soon hit her port side. The wooden ship was unable to stop it, and then quickly flooded and lost power. The captain and his crew Forced to abandon ship. Initially, he thought his ship had struck a mine and directed two other cruisers to approach to assist. By the time he realized his mistake it was too late, his ship was torpedoed and he watched as it was sunk by the x3. Became x3's first harvest target.

The Ferrers sank within 30 minutes. Another x3 also fired two torpedoes at the Destin and hit the middle of the hull. It quickly flooded the engine room.

If you don't watch this scene live, you will never see the thrilling feeling. Watching the Gundam cruisers being hit again and again by the torpedo shells launched by them like docile sheep, and then being shattered into pieces and buried in the sea, this result can be said to be as magical as a dream. While they saw the fragility of life, they also saw the potential of submarine warfare.

The entire naval battle only lasted less than three hours. A total of 10 x3 submarines were dispatched this time. Only one was hit by the fallen Ferrers, which was conducting a sonar detection underwater attack, so Only one ship was damaged and the other nine ships were not damaged.

This battle is of great significance. After defeating the French navy, the Spanish army that was already in Mozambique quickly landed on Madagascar when the French army on the island was caught off guard. , under the double-sided attack of the Pars Navy and the Mozambique Navy. Reports of the fall of Madagascar finally appeared in French newspapers.

Thanks to Huanyue Wuchen for the reward and monthly pass, third update. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com () to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)