The Rise of the Empire

The deal between the two parties was quickly completed. After a group of Germans and Japanese prisoners boarded the American warship, Prince Ruprecht really didn't dare to stay any longer, and immediately led the armored cruiser Mainz to gallop south! At this time, whether it was House or Ingenuel, the two real commanders were unable to serve because of serious injuries, and were sent to Tianjin on an American ship for medical treatment. Ruprecht became the real commander of the warship. the master.

"What if we encounter a Japanese ship?" Earl Spey asked.

"If the scale is small, kill them!" His Royal Highness said without hesitation.

"Will this further expand the situation? After all, our previous actions can be regarded as self-defense counterattacks, and if we take the initiative to attack afterward..." Hipper said with some concern.

"The British will help us with the mud. As for the Japanese? The harder you beat them! The more honest they are! The victors are never blamed!"

At this time, His Royal Highness finally understood his thoughts. Regardless of the outcome of the Sino-Japanese War, he had settled one of his concerns, and the reputation of the Mainz armored cruiser and the Bavarian Ship Design Bureau had also been established, right? There is no way, the prince is only promising at this point, thinking about money like crazy!

And just as the Mainz was accelerating southward, it encountered an unexpected guy, a slender cruiser closely following behind him! From the appearance, it seems to be a first-class cruiser of the British, but in the current Far East, the prince can be sure that this battleship should be an Edgar-class protected cruiser. Not to mention, although the firepower and protection of this product are rubbish, the speed is really nothing to say, and I couldn't get rid of it even at a high speed of 19 knots!

"The other party just followed without any action?" Ruprecht asked.

"That's right, they kept a distance of about 3 nautical miles," Hipper said. "But they're trying to get in touch with us and want to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" His Royal Highness sneered, "Reply to them. We are carrying out combat missions. I hope the British Navy will uphold the principle of neutrality. If there is any inappropriate behavior, we will maintain the right to appeal!"

Why should a cruiser captain talk to himself? What can he guarantee? Doing so is a waste of time! If you have this little time, why not get busy with some serious business, for example, um, destroy this Japanese transport ship in front of you?

The rapidly sailing armored cruiser Mainz found a Japanese transport ship and several gunboats shortly after heading south. Judging from the appearance, it weighed more than 2,000 tons and had a deep draft. It should be transporting something. And the few gunboats next to it are not worth mentioning.

"Raise the battle flag and send them to hell!" Ruprecht ordered. Regardless of prestige or military rank, he is the real master of this battleship, no one dares to refute his orders, and he will not refute! When it said that if something happened, it would stand on its own, the officers and soldiers who had just suffocated their evil fire and couldn't vent their anger were eager to tear the broiler in front of them into pieces!

"Boss, it's a German battleship! They're rushing towards us!" On the transport ship Awa Maru, a Japanese army major pointed at the murderous cruiser Mainz in the distance and said!

"How could this be?" Under the cover of several gunboats, the Awa Maru was supposed to transport an artillery brigade to Incheon. According to the thinking of the Japanese, the Qing Dynasty would definitely not be the first to attack. This point of escorting the fleet was just a formality, but what they didn't expect was that. The Japanese navy actually confronted the Germans by mistake, and after being beaten up, the angry Germans just found themselves!

One of the gunboats went up and issued a signal to show its identity and inquire about its purpose. And Ruprecht is naturally too lazy to talk nonsense with them! Battle flags and shells are the answer! Ever since, the Japanese Army was cheated by the Japanese Navy once! The gunboat that went up to inquire was covered by dense rapid-fire artillery shells just after it identified itself as a Japanese warship. Just a few minutes later,

With a loud noise, it turned into ashes all over the sky!

"Are the Germans crazy? Have they reached some kind of agreement with the Qing Dynasty?" Nozu Daosuke was at a loss in the face of this almost fatal situation. There were three gunboats and a transport ship, and the combined tonnage was still unmatched. Big! This is still a hair!

The 75MM and the old-fashioned pusher on the gunboat counterattacked in vain, but for Mainz, this little guy didn’t have to bother at all, and just took the matter away. The two gunboats instantly became Give extra large firecrackers too!

"Raise the white flag! Let's surrender!" Nozu Michiko suddenly ordered, and now the only chance to survive is to admit defeat. He is not a battleship, so the other party should show mercy, right?

"Stop shelling! Save shells! Use torpedoes to kill them!" Ruprecht looked at the Awa Maru in the distance with a sneer! In order to avoid all possible troubles and political disadvantages, the prince's method is completely short and fast! What are you doing with shells? Give them a chance to surrender? It is impossible for the prince to take this slow ship to the south. If he directly sinks the warship that raised the white flag, it may cause diplomatic pressure. Therefore, I must kill him before the opponent surrenders!

The Mainz quickly approached to a position only a few hundred meters away from the opponent. When the Japanese were in a hurry to raise the white flag, 2 torpedoes decided their final fate!

"I'm going! This is an ammunition ship!" A huge fireball rose from the sea, and this 3,000-ton boat was completely blown to pieces by the ammunition detonated by the torpedo! The flying debris and flames directly impacted the armored cruiser Mainz 700 meters away. Although it did not cause much damage to the hull, the scorching air and turbulent shock waves still made people feel the violence of the explosion!

"The Germans seem to be really angry!" The British cruiser following in the distance witnessed this short and brutal massacre, and the captain of the Edgar, Major Williams, put away the binoculars in his hand and said.

"Are we saving the man overboard?" asked a nearby officer.

"There should be no one alive. We will immediately go south to Qingdao, where there is a telegraph room, and we need to report this matter immediately." Williams is also quite clear about the ins and outs of this matter. Although Japan is the younger brother of the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom obviously You can't directly confront Germany and Russia because of this incident! It's wrong and it can't be done! I am just a small person, let the above decide these matters!

As a result, the Edgar gave up tracking the Mainz and turned to the Liaodong Peninsula, while the Mainz went south at night and rushed to Shanghai to join the main force of the fleet led by Tirpitz. Although an accidental firefight ended, its consequences began to ferment. As time went by, when the high-level officials of various countries knew about it, a storm was about to sweep the world!

Thanks to book friends zhouyu1976, Windsor, 51012576, zr Zhao Rui for their rewards~~~.