New Ming Empire mixed in America

After Browning cursed alone for a while, a messenger came over to report that the fleet was ready and could set off.

They turned off all the lights on the battleship at night and ignored the formation. This time they had only one destination, which was the Mexican port closest to them.

Browning looked at the location of Song He's fleet in the distance for the last time, and his dissatisfaction with the former fleet commander had reached its peak.

After he left, if the Easterners wanted to catch up, they would at least need to destroy the fleets of the Netherlands and Argentina first.

In this way, his fleet can be quickly integrated, and the confidants of the former commander can know their current situation.

The most important thing is to unify the voice as soon as possible and put all the responsibility for today's hasty response and failure on the shoulders of the predecessor.

The fleet set off in batches. Except for the steamships that stayed in place as the last batch to set off, the rest of the warships had already begun to set off.

"The fleet with the British has begun to take action. It's time for us to give each other a surprise."

After Song He received the message from the reconnaissance gunboats ahead, he ordered his fleet to set off as well.

As for the remaining injured warships of Argentina and the Netherlands, Song He decided to let them go first.

So in the darkness, the two warships, both of which had their lights extinguished, were traveling one behind the other.

Song He once again focused on the flagship of the Daiying fleet, so this time all eight main warships followed the action and chased the Daiying expedition fleet.

The result of the night battle made Song He very satisfied. The flagship towing the injured second-level ship and several battleships guarding it were the second batch to set off.

But under the darkness of night, they were already far away from the previous batch of warships, and even if they put up the lights again, they might not be able to contact them.

"This time the Easterners must not have thought that we had already evacuated the battlefield."

The captain of the injured battleship stood beside Browning, and he admired the commander's operation very much.

Not to mention that the Easterners didn't notice it, even if they did find it now, it would be too late. It is not easy to find the dispersed and evacuated fleet on the vast sea in the dark night.

"Don't worry, those Easterners can't do anything to us in the dark unless they are guided by the gods."

Browning patted the other party's shoulder. This old guy came to discuss matters with him about his former commander.

The old guy's battleship abandoned its former commander at a critical moment and chose to evacuate, which directly led to the disappearance of the former commander.

Therefore, for the sake of his own future, the captain had no choice but to turn to Browning.

"If you hadn't turned the tide, Commander, I don't know how many outstanding young men from Great Britain would have been lost this time. It's all because of that arrogant guy. He should just be his own politician. Why did he have to come to the battlefield..."

The captain clenched his fist and hammered the wooden guardrail in front of him.

Browning next to him didn't look very good after hearing this.

From the time the fleet set off until now, the former commander has not focused on preparing for war at all.

That guy only plays politics and travels between various countries in South America.

Convince Argentina to send troops, mediate the war between Chile and Peru, encourage all South American countries to launch a trade embargo against the Orientals, and persuade Mexico and Nasa to temporarily stop fighting.

What makes people thumbs up for his political methods the most is that that guy actually persuaded the Mexicans to send the army together with the Queen's envoy.

But none of what the other party did was beneficial to the fleet.

Because of his repeated delays, the Easterners had more time to prepare, and because the other party wanted to directly attack San Francisco, the fleet lost its due vigilance.

What's more, he wanted to show the fleet's elegance in front of battlefield observers from various countries, and have the fleet travel in the most inconvenient formation throughout the entire journey.

As soon as he discovered the Eastern fleet, he commanded the fleet to make all kinds of ridiculous countermeasures.

The expeditionary fleet with superior strength and the Eastern warships were caught in a melee, and suffered heavy losses. Doesn't this show the other party's stupid command ability?

Thinking of this, Browning felt unworthy of the British navy that had been abandoned because of the commander's stupidity.

They did not die at the hands of Easterners, they died through dirty political means.

In order to give himself more capital to seek a position in the Navy, the former commander's contempt for the Orientals was the most ridiculous aspect of this battle.

Even he received news about the Oriental warship, but the former commander chose to ignore it, and even said in the fleet meeting that the Oriental warship was not worth mentioning. It was simply... Fak's stupidity!

"Commander, there is something abnormal in the northwest!"

The messenger's words interrupted the conversation between the two people. Almost at the same time, they raised their binoculars and looked in the direction the messenger said.

With just one glance, the two of them took a deep breath at the same time.

The lights of battleships suddenly appeared on the distant sea, and it seemed that they were not coming from the last batch of evacuated battleships.

Because before the evacuation, Browning ordered all light sources to be extinguished except the navigation lights.

The warships appearing now are definitely not from our own fleet, then...

"Quickly extinguish the navigation lights and let the fleet sail without lights!"

There was a hint of nervousness in Browning's voice. For him, who was always known for his calmness, to have such an emotion showed how urgent the matter was at this time.

The Easterners discovered their evacuation and chased after them, which made him feel like he was in a dream.

But the next movement of the Eastern fleet made him even more stunned, because even though his own navigation lights had been extinguished, the opponent was still following closely behind them and kept getting closer.

"People in the East can see us in the dark. Do they know witchcraft?"

Browning was about to collapse at this time. If the Oriental warships had not suddenly turned on their lights, he might not have been able to spot them.

But he extinguished all the light sources, and the other party was able to accurately determine his position. This was not the work of man at all.

He did not notice that behind their fleet, there were three armored gunboats following closely, and they kept sending signals to the Song He fleet behind them.

The navigation light, which was covered on three sides with only the rear exposed, was the culprit that allowed the Song He fleet behind them to bite tightly behind them.

Soon, the Song He fleet, advancing at full speed, caught up with the four warships led by Browning before dawn.

Even though Browning had ordered the disconnection of the ropes connecting the injured battleships, he still could not escape the pursuit of the Song He fleet.

Of the four battleships, one was sunk and three were damaged. After being hit in the stern by several cannonballs again, Browning finally ordered the white flag to be raised.

There seem to be many commanders who ordered the scuttling of battleships in naval battles in history, but why are such heroic deeds recorded?

Isn’t it because this kind of thing is very rare?

Not all commanders are brave enough to allow warships to launch suicide attacks or sink themselves.

Except for those battleships that sank in ports to block waterways for strategic reasons, most of the others were stranded on the beach while saving their own lives.

There were only a few cases where a decisive charge was launched or a battleship was scuttled.

Prussia's "Operation Rainbow" also opened the sea valve and scuttled the entire fleet only after ensuring the safety of the soldiers.