At the entrance of the Bay, after three Italian warships were sunk, the two sides of the Baykou suddenly became lively. Groups of soldiers in camouflage uniforms emerged, and small and lightweight speedboats began to quickly shuttle and busy at the entrance of the Baykou. Huge and dark mines, to be precise, were anchor mines placed into the waters of the Baykou.

Anchor lightning is a new type of mine newly developed by Yuanqi. Unlike mines floating on the water surface, anchor lightning is a kind of mine that can adjust and control the depth of mine laying. That is to say, anchor lightning can be placed under the sea surface and mine laying according to the draft of various warships.

The anchor lightning placed under the sea surface is well concealed and not easy to be discovered. Moreover, the anchor lightning charge is large. Once it is hit and exploded by the underwater line of the warship, it will cause huge damage to the warship and its power is not worse than torpedoes. Generally, large iron-clad ships will be directly exploded and sunk when they encounter two anchor lightnings.

The reason why Xiao Mingliang is confident of annihilation of the coalition naval fleet entering Maputo Bay is not only torpedo boats, submarines, but also this new type of mine.

"Dingling" the crisp phone ringing sounded. The regiment commander Yan Mingshan picked up the microphone and heard a slightly nervous and excited voice from inside. "The Nine Observation Post reported that the enemy fleet had begun to return and headed towards the entrance of the bay."

After putting down the phone, Yan Mingshan frowned. The enemy fleet returned quickly and beyond his expectations. No one expected that the enemy fleet would leave four warships to patrol the entrance of the bay. He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. He said in a deep voice: "Send the order to speed up the mine laying speed. After a quarter of an hour, the return speedboats are not allowed to go out to sea again. In addition, the submarine brigade will be sent to the enemy fleet, and the enemy fleet will begin to return."

On the sea, on the Qing fleet's flagship Jingyuan, watching the coalition fleet turn around and return, Xiao Mingliang put down his telescope and ordered in a deep voice, "Follow up and keep a distance of three nautical miles."

The distance of three nautical miles is beyond the range of most naval guns, which is relatively safe and can launch a quick attack when needed. What the Qing fleet now has to do is to bite the target tightly like a wolf pack, waiting for the opportunity to reveal its fangs and pounce on the target.

Seeing the Qing fleet following closely behind, Du Bailei, the commander of the coalition naval forces, was not surprised. This was something that had been expected. He knew very well that the bay eloquence was the battlefield, but he couldn't figure out what else did the Qing army have besides submarines at the bay? It was impossible to have new naval combat weapons?

He had already felt a little fear in his heart. Although the Qing Dynasty started its industry late, it had always been ahead of European countries in weapon development. From Minnie guns, rear-loading guns, automatic machine guns, mortars, rear-loading guns, artillery retreats, and torpedoes and submarines, the Qing Dynasty was always one step ahead.

When fighting with the Qing army, the other party seemed to be able to take out new weapons anytime and anywhere, and they were all powerful and amazingly lethal weapons. This is the most headache and scary place. Just like now, he has no idea what kind of attack the fleet will face, and the unknown is the most scary!

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was filled with sunset, and the huge coalition fleet was driven to the waters near the mouth of Maputo Bay. Looking at the empty sea surface, Du Bailei ordered with a serious expression, "Stop moving forward and dock on site."

In fact, he praised Deman's words very much. The Qing army could not easily allow them to break through. The sea area in front of him seemed empty, but in fact it was extremely dangerous. At least he knew one thing, under the sea, there was a submarine that could launch torpedoes in the Qing Dynasty. As for the other dangers there were submersibles, I still don't know.

"It will be dark around seven o'clock, and it will be getting late." He Bu whispered.

Du Bailei ordered in a deep voice, "Order, the first formation rushed out of the bay entrance at full speed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the communications officer quickly came over to report: "Report, the following Qing fleet launched an attack."

Hebu reacted very quickly, "This is intended to attract our attention and cover the submarine attack!"

"Order the fourth, fifth and sixth formations to intercept, and the second and third formations to keep a close eye on the submarines." After Du Bailei gave the order, he immediately raised his telescope to scan the nearby sea. Compared with the surface ships of the Qing Dynasty, the submarines under the water pose a greater threat to them, because torpedo attacks from submarines are more likely to panic for officers and soldiers.

As the flag was waving, the fifteen warships of the first formation quickly accelerated and galloped towards the entrance of the bay. At the same time, the dull sound of cannons sounded. When the Qing fleet, which had been following closely, started to attack, they couldn't wait to start shelling. After the shells fell into the sea and exploded, they rose up high water columns. This was not only a signal to remind the submarine to launch an attack, but also to guide the enemy fleet's position for the submarine.

On the sea, two torpedo boats with golden dragon flags took the lead and rushed towards the coalition fleet at high speed. The various types of warships following behind also advanced at full speed, as if they launched a decisive charge.

Seeing this, He Bu couldn't help but remind: "The Qing army has a problem with this tactic! It doesn't look like covering the submarine attack..."

"There is no such a way of playing." Du Bailei's brow jumped. At such a close distance, the Qing army warships were simply seeking death regardless of the full speed. Why did the Qing army fleet adopt this way of playing? He instinctively felt danger.

The advantage of torpedo boats is their fast speed and highly flexible maneuvering. The distance between the torpedo boats that charge at full speed and the three formations of the coalition fleet that faced the intercepting front quickly shrank to two nautical miles. The coalition warships, who had a deep understanding of the threat of torpedo boats, dared not let the torpedo boats approach, and fired fire to block them.

For a moment, the sound of cannons rumbled, and the huge explosion was densely sounded like setting off firecrackers. A dense column of water rose up on the sea. From a distance, more than ten torpedo boats seemed to pass through the rain of bullets. In an instant, the dense column of water seemed to flood the torpedo boats. Soon, the torpedo boats passed through the water column and carried out tactical avoidance, just like passing through flowers on the sea.

Although the coalition warships are equipped with a large number of rapid-fire guns and can carry out rapid artillery bombardment, they are still a little unable to do so when facing the small body and fast speed and highly flexible torpedo boats.

"Damn the Qing army, even concealed the speed of the torpedo boat." Du Bailei said hatefully.

He Bu said with a serious expression: "The speed of these torpedo boats is at least 25 knots..." Before he finished speaking, he became shocked and said, "Torpedo, launch torpedo!"

Du Bailei's pupils shrank instantly, and she could see clearly from the telescope. Torpedoes shot into the sea from the torpedo tube on the torpedo boat. The torpedo's track was clearly visible. God, this distance is at least more than 1,500 meters! The range of the Qing Dynasty torpedoes has reached such an amazing level!

Seeing clear torpedo tracks on the sea surface heading towards the warships, the coalition warships responsible for intercepting were intimidated and they all avoided them. After all, the power of the torpedo is too amazing, and no one dares to be careless.

A huge explosion sounded, and a large area of ​​sea water instantly soared into the sky. A patrol ship of more than 3,000 tons in the second formation broke from its headquarters into two pieces.

Submarine! Du Bailei's face changed and the submarine began to attack! Without his order, all the warships quickly reacted and quickly avoided it.

"Boom--" Another huge explosion came. Du Bailei looked up and saw that the first formation that broke through the Baykou was rushing in the front.

Immediately afterwards, another huge explosion sound. This time the one hit was a warship in the third formation. Du Bailei and He Bu's face turned extremely ugly. As soon as the war started, three warships were lost in succession, but they didn't even see the shadow of the submarine. He Bu said in a deep voice: "Roar forward, the number of submarines owned by the Qing army should not be large, and there should not be many intercepting at the entrance of the Bay..."

Before they finished speaking, there were two explosions one after another. The two of them looked in the sound. The two warships in the first formation rose up in the sea.

Three warships were hit one after another, but they didn't even see the enemy's shadow. The remaining dozen warships in the first formation were in deep panic at this time, and they could no longer care about the formation and all increased their power to run around.

Mines are not new. They have been used in the Civil War in the United States. The Russian army also used mines in the Russian-Turkey War. However, they are all floating thunders, floating on the water. Anchor thunders - mines laid under the water have definitely never heard of for the Shanghai army of countries around the world.

The coalition warships of the first formation did not realize that they had entered the minefield. They all thought they had been attacked by a submarine torpedo. They panicked and increased their horsepower and ran around. The sea suddenly exploded. In just a moment, six warships hit the anchor thunder.

The loud explosions followed one after another and overwhelmed the rumbling sound of cannons. Du Bailei and Hebu looked at the scene in amazement. Fortunately, the captain of the first formation, Bendemann, did not react slowly. Despite his lack of practical experience, he also realized that this situation was not caused by a torpedo attack launched by a submarine from under the water.

He shouted loudly: "Send the order! All warships, retreat! Retreat the same way!"

Seeing the warships retreating safely but did not cause an explosion, Bendman confirmed his previous conjecture that they had suffered not submarine attacks before, but the countless invisible mines were laid in this sea area. It was obvious that the Qing people laid the mines below the sea surface.

After finding out that the Qing army had laid a large number of mines below the water surface, Bendman breathed a sigh of relief. The mines were better than submarines. "Report to the rear that a large number of mines buried under the water surface were laid in the water surface in the bay entrance." After pausing, he continued: "Fire a cannon. Carpet-like shelling to the sea ahead!"

After listening to the communications official report, Du Bailei and He Bu couldn't help but look at each other. There were mines buried under the water? Seeing the warships in the first formation ahead taking carpet-like saturated shelling, Du Bailei was delighted. This was indeed a good way to clean the mines.

He Bu also realized that as long as he could clear the mines in the waterway ahead, the fleet could break out! Before he could speak, two huge explosions sounded not far away, and two more warships were unfortunately hit by torpedoes.

The joy on the faces of the two men quickly faded away, and they were replaced by solemnity. The Qing army's fierce surface ships and underwater submarines that were unpreparable were afraid that they would not give them time to clear the mines.

"Enter the second and third formations will be put into battle, causing a melee situation, and the submarines will not dare to attack rashly underwater." He Bu said softly: "Defeat the surface fleet of the Qing army and then calmly deal with the submarines."

Du Bailei nodded, "The first formation will also withdraw, otherwise it will be sunk by all the submarines."

The battle on the sea was extremely fierce from the beginning. More than 40 warships in the coalition 4, 5, and 63 formations of the coalition forces have been suppressed and beaten by the Qing fleet since the war and are passive everywhere. The main reason is that the Qing army's torpedo range not only increased significantly, but also carried a large number of torpedoes, especially the large main warships, who completely used to use torpedoes as artillery, forcing them to avoid anytime and anywhere.

In less than twenty minutes, three warships were sunk by torpedoes, but the Qing army lost only two torpedo boats. What is even more frightening is that the Qing army, both torpedo boats and main warships, rushed forward blindly, with a very obvious intention, which was to shorten the distance between the two sides.

But they could not effectively stop it. With the threat of torpedo boats and the threat of ultra-long range torpedoes, their warships could not fully utilize the advantages of artillery, and could only watch the distance between the two sides get closer and closer.

The closer the distance is, the more deadly the threat to the coalition forces. One shot hit by a torpedo is enough to make a main warship lose its combat effectiveness or sink. The main warship of the Qing army is hit by more than a dozen cannons, but it still does not affect the battle. The two sides are not equal at all!

On the Qing army's flagship "Jingyuan", two other coalition formations arrived to reinforce. Xiao Mingliang decisively ordered, "Retreat!"

In his opinion, the coalition fleet is already in the jar, and there is no need to fight against the opponent, and it will definitely win a sure victory. If there are too many casualties, it will be a shortcoming.

Seeing the Qing fleet retreating, Du Bailei's face was gloomy and silent. It was obvious that the Qing army wanted to torture them to death. If they turned back to clear the mines, the Qing army would definitely get entangled again. Once it was delayed until dark, they would be slaughtered by the Qing army.

"Boom" Another huge explosion sounded. The first formation that was heading back towards the main fleet, which was approaching the main fleet, floated up like fallen leaves, and then fell heavily, and the tail of the ship was directly broken.

The remaining warships suddenly ran forward like frightened flocks. Bendman's expression was also very gloomy. It was definitely not a mine, but a torpedo fired by the submarine. He shouted in a deep voice: "Has the torpedo track been found?"

Soon, the communications officer rushed to report, "No torpedo tracks were found on the lookout posts of several warships."

A torpedo without a track? Bendman couldn't speak immediately. A submarine equipped with a torpedo without a track is not that it is impossible to defend against, but that it is impossible to prevent it at all. It can't even be discovered. How can it be prevented?
Chapter completed!