Chapter 5 The fourth form

Sun Tzu said: In the past, those who were good fighters first fought the invincible, and waited for the enemy to be victorious;Therefore, those who are good at fighting can be invincible, but cannot make the enemy certain to be victorious.Therefore, it is said: Victory can be known but not done.Those who are invincible, defend; those who can be victorious, attack.Rules are not enough, but offense is more than enough.Those who are good at defending hide under the Nine Grounds, and those who are good at attacking move above the Nine Heavens; therefore, they can protect themselves and win. Seeing victory is not what everyone knows, it is not a good person; winning and the world says it is good, it is not a good person.Therefore, lifting autumn is not for strength, seeing the sun and moon is not for eyesight, and hearing thunder is not for hearing.The so-called good fighters in ancient times are better than those who are easy to win. Therefore, the victory of a good fighter has no name for wisdom and no courage, so his victory is not good;Therefore, those who are good at fighting stand in an invincible position without losing the enemy's defeat.That is why the victorious soldiers first win and then seek war, and the defeated soldiers first fight and then seek victory.Those who make good use of soldiers practice Taoism and protect the law, so they can govern victory and defeat.

The Art of War: The first is speed, the second is measurement, the third is counting, the fourth is scale, and the fifth is victory.Earth produces degree, degree produces quantity, quantity produces number, number produces scale, and scale produces victory. Therefore, victorious soldiers are called baht by yi, and defeated soldiers are called yi by baht. In the battle of the victors, if you decide on the Xi who accumulates water in Qianren, it will be like this. Sun Tzu said: In the past, people who were good at fighting first created the conditions for not being defeated by the enemy, so as to wait for the opportunity to defeat the enemy; not being defeated by the enemy was due to their own subjective efforts, and being able to defeat the enemy was due to the enemy's mistakes.Therefore, those who are good at fighting can avoid being defeated by the enemy, and prevent the enemy from having a chance to win.Therefore, it is said: Victory can be predicted in advance, but it cannot be won rashly. The one who is not defeated by the enemy lies in strict defense;An army that is good at defense is like hiding in the unfathomable underground; an army that is good at attacking is like coming from the unfathomable sky, so it can preserve itself and win complete victory.

Foreseeing victory is no more than most people can know, and this is not the best of the best; winning a battle is said to be good, and it is not the best of the best, so lifting a hair is not considered great strength. To see the light of the sun and the moon is not considered sharp eyes, and to hear the vibrations of thunder is not considered to have keen ears. In ancient times, those who are good at war are those who are victorious over an enemy that is easy to win. Therefore, those who are good at war gain He has neither the wisdom to predict the enemy's victory nor the martial arts to kill the enemy bravely. He defeated the enemy because he made no mistakes in combat command. , is to win against the enemy who has already been defeated. Therefore, those who are good at war first establish themselves in an invincible position, and never let go of the opportunity to defeat the enemy. Therefore, the victorious army always creates the conditions for victory before fighting the enemy. , the defeated army always fights with the enemy first and then wins by chance.Those who are good at directing war must cultivate politics and ensure the rule of law, so they can have the right to decide whether to win or not.

The art of war: one is to measure the land area of ​​both sides, the second is to estimate the population and the number of soldiers, the third is to calculate the amount of products and resources, the fourth is to weigh the comparison of military strength, and the fifth is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and the enemy and make decisions The method of victory is that both the enemy and the enemy have land, which creates the "degree" of the size of the area; the difference in the "degree" of the land size of the two sides results in the "quantity" of the population and the source of troops; the difference in the "quantity" of the population and the source of troops The "number" of the amount of products and resources will be produced; the difference in the "number" of the amount of manpower and products of the two sides will produce the "weight" of the strength of the two sides, and the victory or defeat will be clear. up.

Therefore, the victorious army fights like "weighing baht with yi", and the defeated army fights like "weighing yi with baht".When the victor fights, it is like digging up the accumulated water in the eight-hundred-foot-high mountain and valley, rushing straight down, possessing the power of thunder and unstoppable. This article mainly discusses the two different forms of offense and defense based on the strength of the military strength of the enemy and us, and puts forward the guiding principle of combat that first stands invincible and then seeks victory. Looking at the military history of our army, we will find that the principle proposed by Sun Tzu in the Art of War is very correct. It conforms to the basic laws of all wars throughout the ages and is a magic weapon for defeating the enemy.

Back then, when our Red Army was first established, because we didn’t understand this rule, when the Nanmao Uprising began, we tried to seize big cities with revolutionary courage and ideal enthusiasm, and fought a decisive battle with powerful reactionary forces.However, after a few rounds, the weak Red Army suffered an almost devastating blow, and was surrounded and suppressed by enemies that were several times its own. Mao Zedong first discovered the role of revolutionary bases. He discovered that the mountainous areas far away from towns, with inconvenient transportation and backward economy are just places where the enemy can't reach, and the Red Army can survive safely. It took root, gradually developed, and finally formed a prairie fire.

Mao Zedong's decision is exactly in line with Sun Tzu's guiding principle of combat, "First fight the invincible, and wait for the enemy to win." In the following several anti-encirclement and suppression wars, Mao Zedong, Zhu De and other revolutionaries of the older generation also basically followed this combat principle. In the face of a powerful enemy, they did not confront the enemy head-on, but avoided the enemy's sharpness. Li played hide-and-seek with the enemy, "A good defender hides under the nine grounds." When the enemy's fighting spirit was depressed, his spirit was exhausted, his food was exhausted, his ammunition was exhausted, and he had no intention of fighting me decisively, the Red Army concentrated its superior forces. Attacking one or a group of weak enemies resulted in repeated victories and smashed Chiang Kai-shek's four encirclement and suppression campaigns with hundreds of thousands of troops. Let the people see the light and hope in the dire straits.

However, after the four rounds of encirclement and suppression, the dogmatists headed by Wang Ming and Li De took control of the military leadership. The reality of the strong and the weak, and the enemy's obedience to the few, is to set up a position and fight the enemy squarely. As a result, not only the Red Army suffered almost destructive losses, but also all the bases that had been opened up for several years were lost. , the Red Army had to carry out a strategic general retreat, and began the 25,000-mile long march that shocked the world. In this article, Sun Tzu also talked about the issue of the art of war, that is, the so-called "degree", "quantity", "number", "weight" and "victory". The author believes that these principles discussed by Sun Tzu are in line with the level of productivity and As the saying goes, if you fall behind, you will be beaten. If a country does not have a certain economic strength, a certain border, and a certain source of troops, then this country cannot conduct or maintain a war.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period where Sun Tzu lived, the level of productivity was very low at that time. There was neither advanced science and technology nor machine production, and the level of labor was basically the same.Therefore, to measure the strength of a country's economic strength, it is basically determined by the size of the country and the size of the population. But in modern warfare, the standards for measuring these things have undergone tremendous changes. The application of advanced science and technology and the production of modern machines on a large scale have made the strength of some countries not only measured by the size of the country and the size of the population. For example, on the eve of World War II, Japan in Asia and Germany in Europe developed their military industries. As a result, they once gained the upper hand in the early days after the outbreak of World War II, defeated more than a dozen countries successively, and almost realized their goal of dominating the world. Wild ambition.

It can be seen that "weighing" before the war is very necessary.Whoever can gain an overwhelming advantage will win the war. Of course, the content of "weighing" is not the same as in the past.He has injected the atmosphere and content of the times, but the basic principles of warfare expounded by Sun Tzu have not changed. If you fall behind, you will be beaten. War is a bloody textbook, which teaches those who prepare for war or prepare for war, if they want to win a big war.Therefore, in the history of mankind, from sequential weapons to force weapons, from pistols to cannons Almost without exception, the tank atomic bomb, all the latest inventions of science and technology, are first applied to military or war.

In modern times, the struggle between imperialists for colonies and commodity markets has intensified, and the thirst for new weapons has become more urgent. In order to gain an advantage in the war, the old imperialist countries such as Britain, France, and Germany are all using new weapons. Invest heavily in development and research. Finally, when World War I broke out, more than a dozen new types of weapons appeared on the battlefield. The appearance of these new types of weapons did have a huge impact on the course of the war and caused unprecedented lethality.This makes war, the devil, bring more bloody and heavy disasters to mankind. Poison Gas—The God of Plague in War In January 1915, the Masurian Lake in East Prussia was covered with thick ice, and a gust of cold wind blew through it.Sweep off the snow on the ice. The two armies at the lake are two war madmen facing each other. On one side is the emerging empire-Prussian Germany, which is eager to re-divide the world; on the other side is the old Tsarist empire-Russia. The two armies fought here for nearly a hundred days, and both sides suffered heavy losses. However, the Russian army secured the defense line, and the German army's attempt to quickly defeat the Russian army's defense and occupy East Prussia has never been realized. Today is a rare fine weather, the sun is shining warmly on the earth, scorching people's bodies, and there is a rare peaceful and quiet atmosphere between the positions of the two armies. It's really not a good feeling to be in a wet, cold bunker.The sun is so good outside, and the scattered gunfire is far away from the position.It seems that the war is far away. As a result, the Russian soldiers curled up, holding cold rifles in their arms, drilled out of the cat ear holes, and lay in the trenches to bask in the sun. At this moment, a few shells flew over from the German positions and landed scatteredly on the Russian positions. No one in the Russian army paid attention to this kind of aimless shooting. After a while, a smell of rotten apples began to float in the air, which was sweet and greasy and disturbing.Suddenly someone felt short of breath and their pupils dilated, and many officers and soldiers passed out one after another. They had no symptoms before they fell ill, and they checked their bodies without any scars, which made those field doctors helpless.No one thought that this was the poison gas warfare used by Germany. The shells they fired just now were filled with lethal chlorine gas. Due to the relatively cold weather and the German army's first use of chlorine gas shells, the distribution of the shells was very uneven, so this time it did not cause huge damage.But as a kind of psychological warfare, it has already changed the face of the Russian army and made them terrified. On April 22, 1915, the British and French allied forces on the western front were fighting the German army for the second Battle of Ypres. On this day, when the officers and soldiers of the British and French allied forces were ready to launch a general attack on the German positions, suddenly, a group of yellow Green smoke came towards them. What is this?Many officers and soldiers of the British and French allied forces were curious, and some even stood up to welcome the coming of the fog. When the fog surrounded them, some people even sniffed hard a few times, trying to find out what this yellow-green fog was. But they soon tasted the pain, as if suddenly, they felt blind in their eyes, suffocation and pain like burning in their throats. The tens of kilometers long Liaodi suddenly became terrified and disturbed. Many officers and soldiers thought they had been hit by the enemy's magic, and ran away in panic. Until then, they didn't know the horror of this yellow-green cloud. In this poison gas battle, the German army placed thousands of poison gas cylinders on the leeward high slope, and released 160 tons of chlorine gas on the opposite British and French coalition positions for 5 minutes. As a result, 15,000 people were poisoned. , 5,000 people died, and a large gap of 4 and a half kilometers appeared in the position of the British and French allied forces that the German army had been unable to attack for a long time, which made the German army win the battle with almost no effort. This battle alarmed the supreme commanders of the British and French allied forces. From the mouths of German prisoners, they knew that the German army used a poisonous gas called chlorine gas, but how did this poisonous gas bomb come out? How should poison gas be protected?The commanders of the British and French forces were still helpless. At this time, a French spy named Charles Luartor made great contributions. He successfully stole the detailed information of the German army's experiment and production of poison gas, and figured out the method of making gas masks. After the initial use of chlorine gas bombs, the German army switched to phosgene, which is three times heavier than air and ten times more lethal than chlorine. Near the end of the war, they developed the oily corrosive mustard gas , The casual use of poison gas in wars has caused lifelong pain and disability to tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. Soon, the Germans got a taste of revenge. On October 13, 1918, at the forefront of the Belgian battlefield, the British army bombarded the German positions with fierce artillery fire. ... At this moment, the morale of the German army was low, the veterans were numb all over, and the recruits who had just been added to the front line were frightened out of their wits. Suddenly, a row of dust kicked up by the shells poured into people's nostrils with a pungent smell. Someone shouted: "Poison gas!" The officers and soldiers suddenly exploded like nests looking for gas masks. This was the first time that the Germans encountered mustard gas. Before, they used this kind of thing to subdue the French and the British, but this time, it was their turn to taste it themselves. When people first smell this smell, they don’t know how powerful it is. Some say it has a scent, and some say it’s extremely pungent. After wearing gas masks, the officers and soldiers bent over and leaned against the earthen wall of the trench motionless. . A few hours passed, the gas in the gas mask had become filthy, maybe the British gas had dissipated?A recruit was so suffocated that he tried to take off his mask. He took a few breaths of what he thought was the fresh air, but then fell to the ground dizzy and foaming from his mouth. .After a while, there was no sound. What happened to this soldier made other soldiers dare not take off their gas masks easily, no matter how dirty the air inside the mask was and how unpleasant the smell was. When the dawn was approaching, the soldiers couldn't bear it any longer, so they took off their gas masks one after another, and breathed heavily into the air in the mountains. They seemed to feel that it was a happy thing to be able to breathe freely. The air was filled with the aftertaste of gunpowder and mustard gas. However, this happiness was too short-lived. The British army started to fire again just after dawn, and the air was once again filled with poisonous gas and gunpowder smoke.In the Bavarian regiment's position, those who had no time to put on their masks immediately turned over and fell dead on the ground. All the soldiers who survived were blinded. At this time, there was only one exception. Although he also suffered great damage to the auditorium.But there is still a bit of blurry vision.He suggested that everyone grab each other's skirts and let him lead the escape. His suggestion was unanimously supported by the living officers and soldiers on the position, so he walked in front, and the soldiers lined up in a single file, one by one clutching the skirts of their clothes, and stumbled to the front-line emergency station ticket of the German army. The soldiers survived. The survivor who led this group of blind soldiers was a 29-year-old corporal. 15 years later, he became the Supreme Head of State of the German Empire. The British and French allied forces were defeated in one round, so there was the miracle of Dunkirk, Normandy, and the demise of the Third Reich. This blind corporal in World War I was the war devil Hitler. Cannon - God of War Today, when missiles are invented, cannons are considered small advanced weapons, but in World War I, cannons were quite advanced and powerful weapons.Don't say it's a cannon then.In addition to rifles, even the Maxim heavy machine gun is a new type of weapon. Germany was the first to provoke the war in the two world wars.They have always been in the leading position in the development of weapons. They were the first to use howitzers in the war. At that time, the French guns used 76 mm caliber light guns. Although the transportation was convenient, their power was also very limited. A 13.5-inch naval gun. This gun is generally installed on a warship or used as a shore gun. There is a heavy gun in Austria. It was made by the famous Skoda factory in 1910. It has a caliber of 305mm and a range of Reach 7 miles away. In the family of guns, the two guns of the Germans can be called the best in the world. One is the howitzer for siege, nicknamed "Big Bell Tower", which is based on the largest arms dealer at that time, Bei Zhaota von Named after Krupp's wife.This kind of cannon was secretly developed by the Krupp factory in 1909. It has a caliber of 420mm, which is 3 inches larger than the British military cannon. It can shoot a 1-ton shell to 9 miles away. The timing signal tube, the shell will explode after penetrating the target. When transporting this huge monster, it needs to be hauled by a fire truck. The gun mount must be dug deep and fixed with cement. It will be blown up when it is moved. Hour. The Kruppist factory produced a total of 5 guns of this kind. At the beginning of August 1914, when the First World War just started, the German army used it to attack the Liege Fortress in Belgium. The Liege Fortress was once the pride of Belgium. They It is believed that Liege Fortress is an impenetrable fortress forever. However, in front of the German artillery, the original myth was shattered like soap bubbles.Ludendorff, the deputy chief of staff of the German Second Army commanded Germany to bombard with this giant artillery for only two hours, and this strong castle collapsed like a building block. Another type of cannon is the long-range cannon.Designed by the German weapons expert Berhat Bo, Germany only built three at that time. This giant gun has a diameter of 8.26 inches and a range of 75 miles, far exceeding ordinary cannons. The shell weighs 276 pounds, and when it is fired, it needs to be fired with 430 pounds of gunpowder. It shoots at a speed of 5,500 feet per second into the sky at a height of 20 miles, and then falls in an arc towards the intended target.The giant cannon weighs 180 tons, plus the accessories weigh 375 tons. Such a huge monster, not to mention 80 years ago, is probably even now, it will be amazing. Call it a war spectacle! From March to July 1918, these three cannons fired long-range shots from the Saint-Gobain Forest to Paris, firing a total of 370 shells. For a time, everyone in Paris was in danger, and the color of the guns changed. They always thought that the end of Paris had arrived. . Since the day it was born, cannon has been revered as the god of war, which has its own reasons. Secret Weapon - Tank Today, tanks are a conventional weapon in warfare, but in World War I, tanks were a secret weapon that first appeared. The earliest designer of the tank was Colonel Ernest Swinton of the United Kingdom. Because the German firearms were relatively advanced as a whole and had great lethality, this made the upper echelons of Britain and France troubled. Starting to study a machine that is not afraid of bullets and can advance automatically in offensive battles, Colonel Swinton got inspiration from American crawler tractors and finally successfully developed a new type of weapon, the tank. After the tank was born, because the design was not very reasonable, the British Minister of War did not appreciate it, thinking that it was a "wonderful mechanical toy with very limited value". However, the British Secretary of the Navy highly praised it. He has seen its brilliant future from its imperfect prototype. This visionary military strategist is one of the three giants in World War II—Winston · Churchill. With his strong support, the trial production work continued, and by August 1916, Britain had produced 49 tanks. Tanks appeared on the battlefield for the first time in the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front in World War I. At this time, the German army launched the famous Battle of Verdun. To reduce the casualties during the attack, Lieutenant General Hager, the commander of the British army who served as the main attack, ignored the opposition of the Minister of War and eagerly put these newly created tank soldiers into battle. At that time, the battle tanks were indeed not perfect. The speed of the tanks was not fast, the firepower of the weapons on the tanks was not strong, the mechanical performance was not very good, they often broke down, and the drivers were not well trained. A new type of weapon, throwing shows its great power. The Germans were terrified to see these steel monsters, unafraid of roadblocks and gunshots, across the trenches, rumbling and staggering towards them, they dropped their weapons and ran back, only to be targeted by tank soldiers. target. During the offensive battle on the Somme, a tank even rushed into a village, and more than 300 Germans obediently became prisoners with nowhere to hide. However, after all, Germany is a country with a very developed industry. After they discovered the new weapons of Britain and France, they immediately developed anti-tank guns and armor-piercing shells in a targeted manner. In the next year, in the Battle of the Aisne River in 1917, the Anglo-French coalition forces, which had tasted the sweetness, once again produced 150 tanks for use in combat, but this time the battle was hit hard. Among the tanks participating in the battle, 132 vehicles were destroyed, and only a dozen survived. After the British army discovered the weakness of the tank's front deck being too thin, it quickly refitted and produced a second-generation new tank. From November 20 to December 7, 1917, in the Battle of Cambrai, it was the largest tank in the battle. A tank battle ensued. Before the launch of the battle, General Lian Bing, commander of the British Third Army, on the advice of Colonel Fuller of the General Staff, decided to concentrate the use of tanks in the town of Cambrai, which is suitable for tank operations, as the main assault force in offensive operations. Before the battle started, in order to avoid the attack of the German anti-tank guns, the British tanks were hidden in the dense forest, quietly assembled and on standby. In the early morning of November 20th, 381 tanks were dispatched at the same time, and rushed towards the German positions in an earth-shattering manner. In order to fully reflect the suddenness of the attack and maximize the firepower of the tanks themselves, the British army did not conduct routine firepower preparations before the attack. . The German army had never seen so many tanks used in a single battle. They were frightened by the constant flames and accurate shelling from the tanks. Therefore, after only a symbolic resistance, they quickly turned around and fled. up. As a result of the battle, the German defense line was broken across the board. Although 65 tanks of the British army were destroyed and 118 tanks were trapped in the trenches and could not move, they captured 7,500 German soldiers. It should be said that this was not a small victory. Due to the many weaknesses of tanks, after the end of World War I, Britain and France no longer valued it. Therefore, they did not work hard on the production and development of tanks. However, the Germans who suffered from tanks in the war did not appreciate tanks He has a soft spot. After Hitler came to power, he started to produce the latest Tiger tanks at full capacity. A generation of famous general Guderian conceived a new set of relatively complete cluster tank tactics. As a result, in the first half of the Second World War , The German tanks showed their magic power, they destroyed Poland and broke France.After defeating the British and French allied forces, they marched northward, broke through the Soviet military defense line, and swung troops directly to the city of Moscow, bringing the tank's might to the extreme. In World War I, airplanes and airships also appeared, and new weapons such as dreadnoughts, submarines, and submarine hunters appeared at the same time. At that time, the German "Zeppelin" was once famous. feet, 75 feet wide, and can store 2 million cubic feet of hydrogen. Since 1911, the Germans have used this airship to bomb London many times, causing the "Zeppelin" panic that people feared the enemy at that time. The power is great, the range is long, and the flight is high, but the volume is huge, the speed is extremely slow, it is easy to burn and explode, the hit rate of bombs is low, and the wind resistance is poor. Therefore, the airship suffered heavy losses. With the development of weapons, military Airships have gradually been eliminated, but in commercial and festive activities, airships have shown their prowess and become an indispensable prop to set off the atmosphere. December 13, 1939. At this time, it was the eve of the Second World War. Although Britain and Germany had not yet fought on land, the sea transportation battle had already begun. This way of fighting has humiliated the British Royal Navy, so they are eager to find these executioners who have caused trouble everywhere, so that they can be severely punished.Among them, the German "Earl Spee", which hit the British Navy the hardest, is the top priority of the British Navy's full search. Although Europe is still in the middle of winter in December, covered in ice and snow, it is a silvery white, but in Argentina, South America, it is still a bright tropical summer scenery. Like clouds, under the tall coconut trees, couples leaning on each other, laughing again and again, the sea is rippling, white sails are dotted, flocks of herring gulls fly across the swells, and from time to time they make a cry like a baby . Rear Admiral Lundau, the captain of the "Graf Spee", got up a little late today. When he shaved his beard and walked onto the deck as usual, the routine work of the sailors scrubbing the deck was coming to an end. On the front deck, The six British captains have finished their aerobics and are changing their military uniforms. It has been more than three months since the "Earl Spee" left Germany. During this period, it has sunk six British merchant ships and warships. Now, The six captains doing exercises on the ship's side are his proud spoils. Looking at these captives, Lun Dao shook his head smugly, letting them walk up and down in front of him, as if telling himself all the time how brilliant the achievements of this sea hunting were. When we entered breakfast, the galley reported that the food stored was only enough to last the next week. In addition, the deputy captain reported that the fuel on board was almost exhausted and must be replenished as soon as possible. These news aroused General Randolph's worries. According to the overall planning of the navy and the experience of past battles, every few weeks, there will always be a comprehensive supply ship waiting at the appointed place to refill food, drinking water, fuel and various necessary supplies for its warship, but this time , the situation is a bit abnormal. It has been more than ten days, and the supply ship "Altmark" has not appeared on the sea here. What happened, did the Admiralty forget them?Or the supply ship is in the wrong direction. Although Randolph was a little worried, the fact is that the supply ship had been sunk by a battleship of the Royal Navy, although Randolph didn't want to think about it. Now that the German navy had first broken the sea and the agreement on maritime commerce and transportation, the British army responded with an eye for an eye and began to attack the German merchant ships. This is the proper meaning of the war topic. Randolph is not unexpected, but he is unwilling to admit it subjectively. But what should we do now?Radio to headquarters for help?The British intelligence station will definitely be able to decipher the code. At that time, I am afraid that the British warships will gather like cats smelling fish before the ships to supply themselves arrive. Replenishment from neutral ports?In fact, it's very simple, you only need to spend some money, you can move everything you need on the ship, but this is tantamount to disclosing your identity and telling the British that the battleship they are pursuing with all their strength is anchored in the sea of ​​Argentina . For a shortstop at sea, the most important thing is to hide his whereabouts. Since it is a single-ship battle, one who wants to protect himself from the shadows can only look for opportunities to attack the British if he first seeks to be undefeated. Randolph always had indelible fear and shadows in his heart. He knew that the British Navy would deal with him at all costs after he had sunk six British ships. If he was not careful, he would be killed. After thinking about it, Randolph thought to himself, there was only one way to go, and that was to capture a Confederate boatman of any kind, supplement himself with food and fuel from other people's ships, and then quickly break away from this sea area and continue The business of hunting at sea. Randolph apparently overlooked one thing. Today is the nasty 13th. No matter how urgent the situation is, this ominous day should be avoided and wait until it is sure. "Report, a cargo ship is spotted at 45 degrees left," the signalman reported. Randolph immediately raised the binoculars to his face, and saw a thick black smoke rising from the distant sea-sky boundary line, and two tall masts were looming. "Turn around, turn on the horsepower, and head towards this ship." Randolph gave the order decisively. According to his experience, this is an isolated freighter. Although its nationality is unknown, it can only be disposed of temporarily when the time comes. Getting closer, getting closer, when the two ships were about to sail towards each other, Randolph had already discovered that it was indeed a British cargo ship. This was so natural that Randolph immediately ordered the battleships to stick over and let them surrender. Apparently, the British ship was taken aback when it spotted the German warship, and started to flee in a panic.Of course, the speed of this cargo ship is much slower than that of the "Graf Spee". Just when Randolph saw that the hunting round was about to arrive, an alarm suddenly came from the signal tower. He turned around and looked in the other direction. In the binoculars, a huge British cruiser appeared, with turrets on the deck and ships with deep draft and told Randolph unequivocally that this was a formidable opponent. At the same time that Randolph discovered the British warship, the British "Ajax" cruiser also discovered the enemy's warship. The British captain was also an expert, and he immediately recognized the unique shape of the enemy ship. The terrible killer at sea - the German "Earl Spee", the captain understands that it is impossible to catch this giant shark with the firepower of his own ship. Let him escape, and when other ships arrive, gather together to kill this vicious shark. "We found the Graf Spee, we found the Graf Spee, please support, please support!" A series of radio waves flew from the battleship "Ajax" into the sky. Randolph understood the opponent's intentions from the opponent's evasive and insistent approach, and he couldn't help being secretly surprised. He understood that time was in the British favour, and the only way to quickly sink the lonely British warship in front of him was to be defeated by other British warships. The only way to get out of danger is to follow the depths of the sea before the ship arrives. Fortunately, the "Arjax" is far inferior to the "Earl Spee" in terms of tonnage, armor thickness, number of artillery, and artillery caliber, so it must be resolved quickly. Just after 8:00, the first batch of bullets hit the British ship with lightning and electricity. The huge bursting bullets set off a monstrous water column in the sea. The shrewd "Ajax" saw that the momentum was not good. Relying on the light and nimble speed, he retreated south while fighting back. Randolph, who has always been known for his decisiveness and fierceness, hesitated. To the south was the direction of the British warship. The opponent's purpose was very clear, that is, to lure himself to follow and let their sea fleet kill them. Stop here and take this opportunity to turn around and leave the battlefield?But Randolph felt reconciled again.We can't let this big fish get away. Such a good opportunity may not be many in the future. Moreover, our ship is in desperate need of fuel and food, so we can't delay it any longer. At this critical moment, Randolph did not first avoid the powerful enemy and put himself in an invincible position. Instead, relying on the psychology of winning by chance, he issued a disastrous order: "Catch up, it is difficult to hit hard, let them surrender !" The "Earl Spey" caught up at full speed and moved closer to the god of death step by step. The distance between the two ships narrowed again. Just as Randolph was about to give the order to fire, the dark figures of two British cruisers appeared on the sea on the left. The British ship "Ajax" obviously saw the arrival of reinforcements. It no longer fled indifferently, but turned around and joined the ranks of attacking the German ship. Three to one. Major General Randolph's heart suddenly became heavy. Although the German ships still had the upper hand in terms of firepower, the British warships could use their superior numbers to disperse the artillery fire from the "Earl Spee".Even if all three British ships are sunk, the "Earl Spee" will inevitably be severely damaged, and then the British ships that arrive later will definitely send themselves to the bottom of the sea. However, there was no choice but to fight head-on, and Randolph deeply regretted the wrong decision just now. For a whole morning, gunfire rumbled on the huge sea, gunpowder smoke filled the air, projectiles intertwined in the air, and torpedoes shuttled across the water. 10时左右，伤痕累累的英国巡洋舰“爱克塞特”号又一次被德舰上的11英寸口径的大炮击中，炮弹穿透表层装甲，在机房里爆炸了，顷刻之间，它的速度从32海里减到15海里，它落伍了。 当天夜里，“受克塞特”号踉踉跄跄地驶往福克兰岛中的海军基地，总算没有沉入海底。 到达基地时，舰上生还的官兵仅数十人，甲板上火炮倾倒，陈尸遍地。 二比一，伦道无咬紧了牙关，想尽快再吃掉一个对手，但是英国的军舰变得谨慎了，他们虽不同程度的受了创伤。可是还有战斗，他们与德舰保持着一定的距离，既能够跟随着它，又不致被德舰上的大口径火炮所击中。 当伦道夫正准备抽身逃走的时候，英舰又施展出一种复杂的战术，一艘军舰突然加速跑到有效射程之内，向着德舰轰隆轰隆地开上几炮，随后施放一片烟幕，马上撤出战斗。另一舰军舰快速穿过阻断德舰炮手视线的烟幕，开炮之后又退回烟障之中，两船如此循环往返，把德舰打得恼羞成怒，却双无可奈何。 这种游戏持续到日暮，终于，英舰的努力没有白费，有几发炮弹击中了“施佩伯爵”号，前甲板上立刻出现了几个可怕的窟窿，成吨的海水呼啸着灌进舰舱，德舰的速度立刻减慢到每小时三到四海里，就像一个一瘸一拐的老太婆婆。踉踉跄跄地再也走不动了。 伦道夫明白，自己的军舰已经无法作战了，必须靠拢港口修补创伤，即使进港要冒绝大的风险。 深夜，在黑幕的掩护下，行孔百疮的“施佩伯爵”号悄悄驶进了乌拉圭的蒙得维的亚海港。 “'施佩伯爵'号被封堵在中立国的港口里了，立刻前往聚歼！”英国皇家海军的一道命令，使得英国战舰从南大西洋的各处向蒙得维的亚港拥来。 与此同时，英美法同德国展开了激烈的外交战，作为中立的乌拉圭政府决定还是都不得罪为好，于是正式通知德国方面，“本政府为了信守中立立场，'施佩伯爵'号务心于星期日下午6时驶离港口，否则将被无条件扣留至战争结束之日。” 伦道夫知道，如果硬赖在港内不出，舰上官兵的生命便可以保全。但这个死硬的纳粹分子却选择了另一条路，他要为元首尽忠，为帝国的荣誉做垂死的一战。 星期日下午，随着伦道夫的一声军令，“施佩伯爵”号拔锚启航，拖着累累创伤的躯体驶向港外。 一出港口，他立刻发现，自己的末日也许真到了，辽阔的海面上，威风凛凛地耸立立着7艘英国战舰，它们正在高昂炮口。严阵以待。 乌拉圭的居民们似乎都知道要发生什么，像庆祝节日一样，全城几乎举家出动，他们按照地势的起伏，乌压压地坐地港外的沙滩上，目睹这场即将上演的无比壮观、扣动人心的海上大战。 然而海战没有发生。 指挥舱里，伦道夫举起左轮手枪，对准自己的太穴，“砰”的一声，一股血箭喷出来，糊满了桌上的航海图。 接着，整个军舰发出了骇人的巨响和骤亮骤暗的火光。 “施佩伯爵”号自爆自焚了。 它摇晃着巨大的舰身，慢慢向海底没去，随着最后一声巨响，这只海上凶残无比的恶鲨终于消失了。 皎洁的月光下，沉寂的海面上，只有7艘英国舰艇拉长的身影。 突然，海上响起了凄厉的汔笛声。7艘巨舰一齐拉响了汽笛。 乌拉圭的居民们弄不清，这是英国人在欢庆自己的胜利，还是大度地为葬身海底的德国人表示哀悼。