The Cape Verde Islands are located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 500 kilometers east of Cape Verde, which is the westernmost point on the African continent, in Senegal.

The archipelago stands the key traffic between Europe and South America, and South Africa is composed of fifteen large and small islands.

The dazzling stars had just occupied the sky. On the sea about 200 kilometers east of the Cape Verde Islands, eighteen ships of all sizes quietly sailed from south to north.

Under the dim starlight, the fleet looked like a group of migrating whales. Each ship looked like a huge whale, and the smoke columns from the chimneys were like huge water columns spewing from the whale's nostrils.

Two Portuguese merchant ships passed by about a nautical mile east of the fleet from north to south.

The Portuguese merchant ship passed by the right wing of the opponent's fleet without any danger, but did not know that its appearance caused a small false alarm to the opponent. It also did not know that dozens of naval guns of various calibers pointed at them. The largest of the naval guns was the 381mm main gun from the battleship of the Royal Navy, the battleship of the British Royal Navy, the USS Lamilis.

In the combat command room on the bridge of the battleship Ramilis, Captain Colonel Philip received a report from the observation post that two unidentified ships who claimed to be Portuguese merchant ships had been away and immediately issued an order to lift the combat readiness of the fleet.

The battleship Lamilis, commanded by Colonel Philip, belongs to the ob-272 escort fleet. Its mission is to lead five destroyers to escort twelve merchant ships, with the purpose of transporting the urgently needed combat supplies for the British army fighting in East Africa.

The ob-272 fleet successfully completed the transportation mission, and was carrying a group of British wounded soldiers and Italian prisoners on their way back to the British mainland.

As Colonel Philip approached his hometown step by step, his concerns became increasingly serious.

He has received warnings that the German navy battlecruisers Schánhorst and Gneisenau have entered the Atlantic to hunt British merchant fleets. The Royal Navy is tracking the two high-speed battleships. He must be highly alert to these two enemies.

According to the standards of the British Royal Navy, the other side was obviously two battle cruisers, but the Germans insisted on calling them battleships. They thought this would scare the fearless Royal Navy? What a joke.

Although he was full of contempt for the names of the two German warships, Colonel Philip still cheered up and made arrangements.

He sent the Black Badger and the Pacer to investigate three to five nautical miles ahead of the fleet. When the Pacer was the first to discover the traces of two Portuguese merchant ships in the dark, he was really nervous for a while.

The battleship Lamilis is the No. 5 of the Revenge-class battleship. It was served in September 1917 and is a veritable old ship.

The Lamilis has a full load displacement of 33,500 tons. It has four dual-mounted 381mm main guns and heavy armor, but it only has a poor maximum speed of 21 knots. It is despised as a moving sea turret inside the Royal Navy.

After Britain restarted the escort system, the USS Lamilis and its brother Revenge, Restoration, were unsurprisingly considered unsuitable for naval combat missions, and were then thrown into the escort fleet to undertake escort missions.

If you really encounter those two high-speed warships, you can only deal with the strength of the ob-272 escort fleet. The destroyer that can catch up with the opponent's speed cannot beat the two hooligans, and the Ramilis, who can beat, cannot catch up with the opponent's speed. As long as the opponent's commander is not too stupid, once the ob-272 escort fleet encounters the opponent, even if it can drive the opponent away, the merchant ships and destroyers will definitely suffer heavy losses.

The real identities of the two Portuguese merchant ships were confirmed. The alarm was lifted, and Colonel Philip was finally in the mood to go to the restaurant for supper.

After dinner, Colonel Philip dutifully inspected the night duty staff of each department, and confirmed that there was no problem and returned to the cabin to sleep.

At six o'clock the next day, Colonel Philip had just woken up and received good news and bad news.

The good news is that the two gangsters of the Schanehorst and Gneisenau have entered the Mediterranean and the alarm has been temporarily lifted.

The bad news is that the Navy Command forced the order to go westward with the western coast of Spain and a radius of 500 kilometers in the Atlantic Ocean was designated as a restricted area for the British transport fleet.

The telegram emphasized that the area has become a hunting place for Axis Air Force bombers, and all British transport fleets, including fleets, must avoid that area. Even if they want to enter, they must use night as cover and must leave before dawn.

Philip couldn't help but smile bitterly at the corner of his mouth when he looked at the telegram. This was the consequence of Spain's joining the Axis powers.

The consequence of the loss of the Gibraltar Peninsula is that the German navy can freely enter and exit the Mediterranean.

The fate of the British Empire is as sad as that of the Revenge-class battleship.

First there was the Royal Oak, then the King of the Lord. One Revenge-class battleship after another was sunk by the Axis. Who will be the next one to be sunk?

First there is the Middle East, then the Gibraltar Peninsula. The territory of the British Empire was divided and occupied by the Axis powers one by one. Where will the next piece of territory to be lost?

"Let the war room calculate the fuel reserves of each ship immediately, and then calculate the increased voyage from the coast of Spain to see if the fuel is enough?" Colonel Philip ordered the chief lieutenant.

The statistics are not expected by Colonel Philip. Only six of the eighteen ships of the ob-272 fleet are enough to support the return of the British mainland, and the remaining twelve must be replenished if they want to complete this voyage.

Colonel Philip immediately made a decision to go to the Canary Islands to supplement.

The Canary Islands are an enclave and free port in Spain. They are located on the Atlantic Ocean in northwestern Africa, about 130 kilometers east from the west coast of Africa and about 1,100 kilometers northeast from Spain.

After Spain declared war on Britain, Churchill came to a conclusion when meeting with cabinet members.

The loss of Gibraltar has become inevitable. To make up for the losses caused by the loss of Gibraltar, we must immediately send troops to occupy the Canary Islands, and then use the Canary Islands as a base to monitor the Strait of Gibraltar from the air and sea.

The five thousand expeditionary force and the huge expeditionary fleet were quickly organized, led by Sir Samoville to attack the empty Canary Islands and successfully occupied it on March 11, which was considered to have avenged a revenge for the loss of Gibraltar in advance.

The ob-272 escort fleet arrived at the port of Las Palmas, the capital of the Canary Islands. The ships were busy refueling. Colonel Philip visited Sir Samowel, the commander of the H fleet. Later, he learned that although the Canary Islands were occupied, the situation was still not optimistic.

"There are now eight battleships and battle cruisers from the Germans and Italians in the Mediterranean, as well as two aircraft carriers and two battleships from the Japanese Navy. They are extremely powerful and they may rush out of the Strait of Gibraltar to intercept you at any time. If possible, I hope your fleet will return home as far as possible, which will be safer." Samowel reminded.

"The Japanese fleet? They declared war on us?" Colonel Philip asked in surprise.

"No. But I have a hunch that they can join this war at any time," Samoville said.

"Thank you for your reminder, I will pay attention," Colonel Philip said.

The Spanish defenders stationed in the Canary Islands destroyed most of the port's facilities before surrendering, and the fuel was extremely difficult to add. The ob-272 escort fleet was busy for four days before barely completing the supply.

After politely saying goodbye to Sir Samowel, Colonel Philip led the fleet to set off again and headed northwest.

With Sir Samowel's reminder, Colonel Philip decided to go around a radius of 600 kilometers instead of a 500 kilometers to return to the British mainland.

It was safe and sound for four hours in a row. Colonel Philip was about to go back to the captain's room to rest. Suddenly he received an emergency report.

"Three ships were found in the northeast direction, and the speed was very fast. I suspected it was a warship."

Colonel Philip hurried to the bridge, picked up his telescope and looked northeast, and he saw three ships.

Colonel Philip observed carefully for a few minutes and squinted his eyes and gave an order: "They are coming for us, so that the ships can prepare for battle, and let the communication room ask the other party's identity with clear code."

The communication room sent the answer soon.

"They claim to be the Japanese Navy."

Not long after, the three ships were getting closer and closer, and the observer of the USS Lamilis sent another report that the mast of the ship in front was flying the Japanese flag.

The Japanese fleet approached rapidly, and Colonel Philip quickly saw the other party's lineup. The ship model was estimated to be a cruiser and two destroyers. A plaster flag with a white background and a white background and red heart floated on the flagpole at the bow.

These forces cannot threaten their fleet, and they do not seem to be here to fight, judging by their posture.

Colonel Philip's judgment was very accurate, and nothing happened between the two fleets except for a brief exchange.

The Japanese fleet quickly passed by the left wing of the ob-272 escort fleet and then disappeared on the sea.

The battle alarm is lifted again.

With his keen intuition, Colonel Philip had an ominous premonition in his mind.

Although the other party did nothing, Colonel Philip always felt that the Japanese fleet had bad intentions.

Colonel Philip thought for a while and did not get any results, so he reminded the staff on duty to be vigilant and then returned to the captain's office.

Less than half an hour after Colonel Philip was awakened.

Colonel Philip returned to the combat command room in the bridge, and with his subordinates' guidance, he soon found the plane hovering in the sky.

"It was a German plane, we were discovered." Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said with a frown.

The communication room soon came the news that made Colonel Philip even more nervous, and they detected continuous radio signals.

"It is reporting our location to the base, and I think it won't take long before a group of submarines will be greeted by us," said Lieutenant Colonel Reiner.

"If the German submarine came, it would just be able to relieve our loneliness on our journey, and the deep-water bombs on our destroyers could finally come in handy," Colonel Philip said confidently.

"Look, he flew down." Lieutenant Colonel Reiner said, pointing to the sky.

Colonel Philip looked up again and saw that the plane had lowered its height. The black iron cross logo under the wings could be clearly seen in the telescope.

The roar of the aircraft engine enveloped the fleet, but was soon buried by the roar of the fleet's anti-aircraft guns.

The 35 20mm anti-aircraft guns on the Lamilis were ping-pong for a while, creating countless white smoke and clouds in the sky below the plane. The German reconnaissance planes raised their heights again like frightened little rabbits and continued to hover above the fleet.

Colonel Philip stopped the anti-aircraft gunners from wasting shells and instead ignored the other party.

The German reconnaissance plane hovered over the ob-272 fleet for an afternoon, and did not leave until it was dark.

The night was filled with danger as Colonel Philip had expected.

At 9:20 pm, the transport ship Beth, who was walking at the back of the fleet, was the first to explode. Then the Fox tanker was attacked by torpedoes. The sky-sky flames shone the sea red.

Colonel Philip soon received a report from the destroyer fleet that two submarines were found in the waters on the east side of the fleet, with unknown nationality.

The Black Badger and Vanneza destroyers rushed to the hiding position of the two submarines based on the positions measured by the sonar, and the deep-water bombs fell into the sea like raindrops.

"Boom boom boom" The sound of deep-water bombs exploding in the sea one after another, and countless white fountains spewed out the dark sea surface one after another, and the scene was spectacular.

The victory was soon sent to Colonel Philip, and the destroyer Vanneza was the first to discover black oily stains on the sea. At least one of the enemy's submarines were destroyed.

The two destroyers continued to search nearby seas until no suspicious signs were found before returning to the fleet.

The Beth was hit by a torpedo, and the Fox tanker was hit by two, but neither ship could survive.

The Fox even sank into the sea water directly, and sank in the cold sea water without even leaving time for the crew to escape.

Rescuing the Beth crewman, the ob-272 fleet set off again.

The five destroyers were like five tireless shepherds, cruising all night on the sea around the fleet, protecting the merchant fleet and the Lamilis in the middle.

Over the past night, the sonar of the five destroyers discovered suspicious targets in the rear of the fleet and on the left wing and launched attacks, but did not receive any results.

After a night of struggle, the entire fleet was like a frightened bird. Colonel Philip also followed him all night.

The east is white, and it has been more than two hours since the last time the destroyer discovered the suspected target.

Colonel Philip rubbed his blood-filled eyes, handed over the work with Lieutenant Colonel Reiner, who came to take over, and then walked towards the captain's office.

He glanced out the window and some early crew members were jumping on the deck doing radio gymnastics.

When a new day comes, I am about to fall asleep, it is all caused by the Germans and Italians.
To be continued...