Chapter 571: Blockade of Miyako Strait
"General, the Japanese on the other side have raised the white flag. Are they surrendering?" General Glaze's adjutant Morse looked at the twenty or so small boats left behind with some surprise.
Glaze sneered, "Haha, they are not pretending now. How can fishermen raise the white flag to a warship? Wouldn't it be better for them to just walk away? This way, their identities will be further confirmed."
Morse said: "Does that mean the Japanese really want to surrender now?"
Glaze shook his head and said, "Don't jump to conclusions. Since they are surrendering, the ones who just evacuated must be the main force of the Japanese. Only a very small part of them are left now. Think about it carefully, why don't they keep in line with the main force?"
"Maybe they want to stay and negotiate. After all, we know roughly what the Japanese are up to. It's certain that they are determined to do something evil. It's impossible for them to give up their interests in the South Ryukyu Islands as soon as we come."
Gresh: "Impossible. If it's a negotiation, there's no need to withdraw right at the beginning. It won't be too late to withdraw if the talks fail."
He didn't know that Japanese soldiers had a tradition of defeating their superiors with the weak, so he was a little confused about Gao Shao Morita's intentions.
"Should we let them on board and see what they are trying to do?" Morse asked.
Well, Grace thought so too. After all, I have the advantage now and I am not worried about the opponent doing anything weird. At the same time, Grace also wants to know what the opponent's commander is planning.
So Glaish gave the order: "Send out the communication boat and let our people get close to them..."
When talking about getting closer, an idea suddenly came to Grace's mind, "Get closer, get closer..." He seemed to have thought of something?
"Wait a minute, Morse, do you think those small fishing boats can pose a threat to us?" Glaze asked Morse.
"General, that's impossible, unless we just stand there and let them fire. Their artillery can only threaten merchant ships, but we are armored cruisers. Even if they hit key parts of the ship, they probably can't cause us damage immediately. If we had that much time, we would have sunk them long ago."
"You're right, but artillery is unreasonable, and we can't take any risks. If we capsize in the ditch, we'll become the biggest joke in the world!" Glaze said seriously.
Morse heard the hidden meaning in Glaze's words, so he asked, "General, have you noticed anything?"
Gresh did not answer the question directly, but asked: "Do you think the Japanese have any way to do what you just said, that is, let us stand still and be beaten, or have no way to counter them?"
Morse knew that Grace would not speak without a purpose, and that there must be something he had not considered when he said that, so he also began to think about it.
Soon he had an idea: "General, are you saying that the Japanese might be pretending to surrender?"
Seeing that Morse had followed his train of thought, Glaze said with satisfaction: "That's right, our warships are indeed advanced, but as the saying goes, a small ship is easier to turn around, so this is our disadvantage, which is the advantage of the Japanese."
Morse continued, "So if the Japanese approach our ship, our reaction speed may not be as fast as their small boats, and this is our weakness. Especially if they get close to us, it will be difficult for us to use our weapons on them, and we may even accidentally hurt our own people."
Gresh: "Isn't this a bold guess? You know, the success rate of this kind of thing is probably only one percent. Do you think the Japanese really dare to do this?"
This is almost the same as committing suicide. Even if the ironclad ship can be damaged, other warships in East Africa can make up for it. East Africa may suffer losses, but the opponent will definitely be destroyed.
"This is not a matter of life and death, but a matter of disproportionate cost. In my opinion, even if we lose one ship in our fleet, it will be a much greater loss than the enemy's complete annihilation. Even the most backward sailing warship is a legitimate warship, while these Japanese ships are temporarily converted from fishing boats and merchant ships." Morse said.
Since East Africa annexed the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the shipyard on Zanzibar Island has naturally become an industry of East Africa. The Zanzibar Navy has also been completely incorporated into the East African Navy. Therefore, the East African Navy still retains many sailing warships. These ships may be a little backward compared to other countries, but they still have some advantages for a declining maritime country like Portugal. Back then, the main opponent of the Omani Navy was Portugal. With the support of new technologies, it can be said to have come back to life. Of course, wooden ships are now a sunset industry, but a group of mature workers can be trained, which is a good thing for East Africa.
This is also the reason why there are two sailing ships in this expedition fleet. Although they are sailing ships, they are also equipped with many new technologies, so it is naturally impossible for the Japanese to calculate them.
"Then General Glaze, what should we do? Should we accept the Japanese surrender? Or how should we accept it?"
"Of course we have to accept it, but we have to give them hope and then ruthlessly kill it. Of course, it would be best if they don't have that intention, otherwise let them sleep forever at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean!" Grace said viciously.
Soon, the East African communication ship was lowered, and then negotiated with Morita's men: "We accept your surrender, but according to the East African Navy regulations, you can only stay in the area 500 meters away."
Gaoshao Morita thought about it carefully. This distance was not very good, but not too bad either. Moreover, he mainly wanted to attack East Africa by surprise. East Africa would not have thought that he was so brave as to challenge the East African warships with a small fishing boat.
So he said, "I agree to the conditions for returning home, but I also have a request, which is to have a direct interview with your highest commander."
"You're not qualified yet!"
"Here is my ID. I am Japanese Navy Major Takatsuki Morita. Don't worry, I am alone. I will follow you on your boat. Our boat will not follow."
"Okay! But we have to keep the documents first."
“No problem!”
Afterwards, Gaoao Morita followed the East African sailors and boarded the East African communication ship towards the "Partridge". Before leaving, he signaled his subordinate Jiro Nakata with his eyes to act according to the plan.
The purpose of Gao Fen Morita's risking his life was to continue to paralyze the East African Navy. After all, no one would joke with their own life.
But Morita, who had a high fever, did not notice that after he boarded the ship and sailed for a while, the East African Navy also began to mobilize. The gunboats began to approach the "Partridge", while the other two ironclad ships began to disperse to both sides.
Jiro Nakata was the first to discover East Africa's unusual behavior, but now his superiors had left with East Africa, so he could only bite the bullet and continue to act according to the plan, while trying to convince himself that the East Africans would not be able to see through his plan.
The Japanese also began to maneuver their ships towards the "Partridge", but their target changed from three parallel ironclad ships to gunboats.
After the deployment in East Africa was completed, Gao Fen Morita also discovered the flaws in East Africa. Seeing the strange smiles of the East African sailors around him, he knew that something was wrong.
At this time, the Japanese fleet had already started to move. They began to accelerate towards the "Partridge", but the East African gunboat seemed to have known their movements in advance. It headed towards the Japanese ship and hit the front of the "Partridge".
Both sides opened fire almost at the same time. The Japanese small boat was no match for the East African gunboat. Although some shells hit the boat, they were basically blocked by the gunboat.
Knowing that his plan had been exposed, Morita, who had a high fever, looked as pale as death. He could only watch his men being sent to hell one by one by the East African artillery.
"The Japanese Navy's sneak attack on the East African Navy is a fait accompli. I order the Miyako Strait to be blocked from now on and Japanese ships are prohibited from entering!" Glaze said excitedly.
(End of this chapter)
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