Although He Wenxiong did not completely block the fleeing fleet of the Yin army.
But the sinking of two destroyers was a small victory.
And they did slow down Yin Jun's speed.
Otherwise, Bao Youzhi wouldn't even be able to catch up with Yin Jun.
Now Bao Youzhi finally bit Ying Jun's ass.
Both are battleships of more than 3,000 tons, but the destroyers of the Renaissance Army are slightly faster than the cruisers of the Yin Army.
With such a small distance, Petry had to send a frigate to stay behind.
Bao Youzhi often left a destroyer to deal with the enemy's frigates.
The rest of the fleet continued to pursue. But if this happened, he would have to catch up again.
In this way, we chased each other from morning to night.
The name of the Lady Luck is not given for nothing.
After night fell, the moon in the sky was obscured by dark clouds, and Bao Youzhi lost his goal.
He originally wanted to pursue him directly to Bombay, but the fleet's fuel and ammunition were insufficient to support the battle to Bombay Port.
Therefore, Bao Youzhi could only regretfully lead his fleet back to Colon Port.
It was already the morning of the third day of fighting when we arrived at Colon Port.
News of the fleet's victory has been received in the port.
Yang Bingchun personally went to the port to greet the triumphant fleet and organized a simple welcome ceremony.
"Commander Bao, thanks to your hard work, the situation in the Indian Ocean can basically be settled this time." As soon as he saw Bao Youzhi, Yang Bingchun excitedly came forward to congratulate him.
This is a sincere congratulation. The victory in the naval battle here is of much greater significance than the victory in the land battle.
With the enemy's fleet gone, the crisis on Ceylon Island has been resolved. The South Route Army can even mobilize a certain amount of troops from the island to go north to participate in land battles in the subcontinental theater.
How could this not excite him?
But when Bao Youzhi returned to the port, he suddenly remembered that when they left here, the number of ships was almost twice what it is now.
However, among the ships that have returned now, only the destroyer is still intact. The other two detachments suffered heavy losses.
"Commander Yang, at most the merits and demerits are equal to each other this time. Our Renaissance Army has never suffered such heavy casualties."
"I understand you. It is said that one general can achieve great success, and some generals are really cold-blooded. But war is like this. It is a battle of life and death. It is impossible not to shed blood and make sacrifices."
"From the perspective of a general, your choice is right, otherwise we would have sacrificed more soldiers."
The two walked toward the city together, and Bao Youzhi discussed the next battle plan with Yang Bingchun on the way.
"Commander Yang, I am going to seize the time and go north. First, I will clean up the naval power of the Japanese army. Then I will seize control of the Persian Gulf and trap the Japanese expeditionary force in the subcontinent."
Yang Bingchun nodded and said: "Well, it should be the case to take advantage of the victory and pursue it. It is best to discuss the matter of turning back with Commander Peng."
He continued: "Actually, I think we can go north to the Indus River Valley and attack the Peshawar Governor-General together with Aiwuhan and our army from the Western Region. In this way, the rebel army in Bombay will become a turtle in the urn."
Yang Bingchun's words reminded Bao Youzhi, and he thought for a moment and said: "Well, well, the Koreans must have sent back the news of the navy's defeat. Their troop transports and old warships in the Arabian Sea and Red Sea must have been withdrawn.
Go back. We can't catch them now if we go on an expedition."
"But I still want to send an expedition fleet over, at least to Cape Town for a stroll and to show my face. From now on, our Renaissance Army will have the final say in the Indian Ocean."
"Okay, Commander Bao is really a hero. Then I will help you keep an eye on Ceylon Island, a crossroads in the Indian Ocean."
"Commander Yang, there is one more thing that needs to be done now. I hope you can prepare some land forces. I will send warships to escort you to the Maldives Islands in the west. The Chinese also have a naval base in Male, but there are not many troops stationed there.
."
Male is an important transit supply base for the Japanese Army on the direct route from Cape Town to Ceylon.
This is an archipelago composed of thousands of small islands. Although the land area is not large, it controls a large sea area and its location is very important.
A long time ago, there was a country established by the Arabs on the Maldives Islands.
Zheng He also passed here during his voyages to the West.
However, after the great voyage began, this place became a place where Western colonists continued to invade.
After the Great Empire took control of Ceylon, it was assigned to the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of Ceylon.
As a naval general, Bao Youzhi knew the important role of a maritime hub like Maldives.
Such a place does not require too many troops to be stationed, but it can play a vital control role.
"Okay, that's no problem at all. There is no threat from the sea now. There is no need for so many defenders here in Ceylon."
The two returned to the Governor's Palace in the city and continued their discussions.
The navy decided to go north first, but would still escort part of the army to the southwest coast of Kerala to first take back the coastal areas south of the Goa area controlled by the Portuguese into its own hands.
Make preparations for the army behind to move north.
On the other side, the Yin army took advantage of the darkness and finally escaped the pursuit of Bao Youzhi's fleet.
They retreated all the way to Bombay Port.
The injured ships that had been returned earlier have entered the slipway for repairs.
They were originally waiting for news of the army's victory and triumph, but what they did not expect was the sad news that almost the entire fleet was destroyed.
Many officers and soldiers of the Yin Army found it difficult to accept this fact, and some officers and soldiers were even stimulated to the point of losing their minds.
A military camp in Mumbai Port was converted into a temporary prisoner of war camp.
The camp was surrounded by a tall wooden fence, with some tents set up inside, and the conditions were very simple.
A group of prisoners wearing the navy uniforms of the Renaissance Army were squatting on the ground in groups.
They were listless and lifeless, and some of them had bandages on their bodies, with bright red blood oozing from the white bandages.
At this time, several drunken soldiers of the Yin Army broke in. These people were disheveled, their red military jackets had open collars, and their white shirts were stained.
The soldiers of the Yin Army who were responsible for guarding the prisoner-of-war camp saw a colonel among the group of people, so they stepped forward and saluted.
Although it was obvious that these people were coming to cause trouble, they did not dare to stop them.
Sure enough, after these people entered the prisoner-of-war camp, they started beating the prisoners without saying a word.
Zhang Sheng was the highest-ranking Renaissance Army officer in the prisoner-of-war camp. He was originally a captain of the frigate detachment.
During the battle, the "Fenhe" frigate he commanded was shot and sank. Zhang Sheng survived by chance. After the naval battle in the Eighth Strait, Zhang Sheng, who had been soaking in the sea for a long time, was picked up by the Japanese and became a prisoner.
.
Because he had the highest military rank, the Japanese appointed him to help manage prisoners of war.
Before the battle, Bao Youzhi had already given instructions. If the battleship sank, try to save your life and be a prisoner without any psychological burden.
Their sacrifice is itself part of the grand strategy.
Waiting for the two parties to exchange prisoners, they will be exchanged back.
The most indispensable thing in the hands of the Fuxing Army is the prisoners of the Yin Army.
Zhang Sheng and these hundreds of captured brothers had only been in the prison camp for two days.
What he did most in the past two days was comfort these soldiers.
Everyone was not in a good mood after being held captive, and some people couldn't figure it out.
Some people still hold on to the idea that when the ship is there and the people are there, the ship perishes and the people perish.
Moreover, the Renaissance Army has not had many soldiers as prisoners for so many years.
At the same time, he was also secretly observing the situation in the port through the prisoner of war camp.
Finally, he saw a bullet-riddled British cruiser entering the port with three frigates.
Perhaps they wanted these prisoners of war from the Renaissance Army to see with their own eyes the triumphant return of the Imperial Navy fleet.
These Koreans arranged the Fuxing Army to this military camp where they could see the port.
"Brothers, our fleet has won. If you look at the port, the enemy forces have returned with four warships." Zhang Sheng immediately shared the good news with his comrades.
Everyone stood up and looked towards the port. Everyone stretched their necks, like a group of geese.
"Really, it's great."
"we won!"
"Victory!"
These captured Ba'ath Army soldiers shouted excitedly.
The British soldiers guarding them did not know what they were talking about and could only fire shots to stop them.
Half a day later, a group of drunken soldiers arrived at the military camp.
Zhang Sheng immediately became vigilant.
These people smelled of alcohol, and they were wearing military uniforms of the Korean Navy, with a colonel in them.
"These yellow-skinned monkeys are really comfortable, and they can even squat here to rest," said a Korean military officer.
"Get up, you damn yellow-skinned monkeys..." Other Chinese people were also kicking and kicking the prisoners of the Renaissance Army who were squatting on the ground.
Zhang Sheng knew that these people must be soldiers of the Yin Army who had returned from the battlefield.
They were deliberately looking for trouble to provoke resistance among the Baath Army soldiers.
Every soldier of the Renaissance Army is very arrogant. How could they bear such humiliation?
When a soldier wanted to stand up and fight back, Zhang Sheng quickly stepped forward.
He stood in front of the Yin Army officer who was rushing forward.
"You can't do this, it violates the rules of war. We enjoy the legitimate rights of prisoners of war." Zhang Sheng stepped forward to stop him.
He is the only one here who understands the Yu language. He learned this from his Yu language master when he was in the Nanyang Navy.
Although the people of the country at that time were arrogant and looked down upon the Fuxing Army, for the sake of money, they were still very dedicated to their duties.
Zhang Sheng learned a lot of useful knowledge from his Japanese master.
However, these defeated soldiers in front of them looked like a group of drunkards and thugs on the street, and there was no trace of gentlemanly demeanor.
"Bichi, do you want to die?"
A Yin Army officer actually took out the pistol from his waist and pointed it at Zhang Sheng's head.
Not only that, he also pushed Zhang Sheng backward with the muzzle of his gun.
"Come on, keep talking, try moving again? Bichi!"
Zhang Sheng grabbed the man's wrist and shouted without showing any signs of weakness: "Bichi, you mother, shoot if you can. If I die, all of you who were captured will be buried with you. I will give you my life."
Thousands of miserable lives of the countrymen!"
"You don't know how to do math. Let me do the math for you. You have returned four battleships and almost all the battleships are gone. So the number of captured soldiers must be at least several thousand."
"I tell you, whatever you do to us, my comrades will help us pay back double the amount."
Zhang Sheng said it in the Yu language. Some of these Yu people were sober and knew the seriousness of what they had done.
"Let's go, Jim, there's no need to waste words with these yellow-skinned monkeys."
"Hahaha, you're scared, it turns out he's a coward." Zhang Sheng had a look of contempt on his face.
Seeing that he was overwhelming the opponent in terms of momentum and seemed to be useful, Zhang Sheng became more energetic.
At this time, all the Renaissance prisoners of war in the camp stood behind Zhang Sheng, as if they had formed a battle formation.
Beads of sweat broke out on the forehead of the Yin Army colonel. The hand holding the gun trembled slightly, and his finger bones turned white from the excessive exertion.
He didn't expect these prisoners of the Renaissance Army to be so tough. Aren't they afraid of death?
However, he has already said what he said just now. If he goes back on his words now, wouldn't it be a slap in the face?
"Stop!" At this moment, a loud shout came from outside the camp gate.
A general of the Yin Army wearing general uniform strode in.
The visitor was none other than Petry, who was originally preparing to discuss with General Campbell, the army commander of the Expedition Force, how to deal with the navy's defeat.
The naval failure had a great strategic impact on the entire subcontinent.
Without the cover of the navy, the army will fall into great passivity.
Not only are the reinforcements and supplies gone, the enemy may also land from the rear at any time, and the army will face the risk of being surrounded and being attacked from both sides.
The Army officer guarding the prisoner of war camp was not high enough, so he had to find Petry and tell him what happened in the prisoner of war camp.
Petry rushed to the prisoner of war camp without saying a word. He had already begun to curse the troublemaking naval officers and soldiers in his heart.
At this time, we still have to make trouble for ourselves.
He knew that the naval officers had accumulated deep hatred towards the Renaissance Army because of their defeat.
If something unexpected happens, the consequences will be disastrous.
The Great Empire still has a large number of prisoners in the hands of the Renaissance Army.
Let's not talk about the army and the expatriates, but also the navy. Including the soldiers who were captured in the Straits Settlements, there should be tens of thousands of people now.
"Jim Clark, what are you doing? Put your gun away."
Petry first asked the Korean officer to stop, then turned to Zhang Sheng and said: "Sir, please take care of your own people and abide by the management of the prisoner of war camp."
Petry did not say that Jim had done anything wrong, but preemptively warned Zhang Sheng that they did not abide by the regulations of the prisoner of war camp.
This is simply a slap in the face.
Petry's purpose was to give Jim Clark a step down, while also suppressing the momentum of these Baath Army prisoners of war.
"General, please take good care of your subordinates. His behavior has seriously violated the rules of prisoners of war. I will reserve the right to report. I hope this will not affect the treatment of your prisoners at the Renaissance Army."
Petry did not speak, and with a red neck led the group of drunken naval officers and soldiers out of the prisoner of war camp.
At this time, Zhang Sheng discovered that his back was completely soaked with sweat.