The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 2601: Bloody Battle One



"British? The best commander is naturally Thomas, but he can't be here, so who else would it be? Duff? Hood? Or who else?" Su Xiong touched his chin, lost in thought. , This is not because he is distracted at a critical moment. If he can guess the identity of the opponent, and then target the opponent's usual tactics or way of thinking, then the battle in front of him may have a turning point.

"Neither Duff nor Hood has the experience of commanding a large fleet. At best, they can command a battleship squadron and its associated destroyers." Ryder shook his head and said.

"Who would it be? Jeram and the others have already lost the battle in the Norwegian Sea. Stetti is still alive, but this person is only qualified and can perform the task without compromise. The tactics are quite satisfactory. , And judging from the Japanese actions this time, this plan is too risky. This tactic is rare in the British Royal Navy, which has a conservative style." Su Xiong was a little worried.

"If you are full of adventurous and enterprising, then there is one person who meets this condition. I feel that Betty's shadow behind this plan! Think about it, who in the Royal Navy dares to go deep alone when he is at an absolute disadvantage. Go straight to the enemy’s core area? Don’t you think that this style is like when Betty rushed directly to the Helgoland Islands with a battlecruiser?” Raidel said.

"It's interesting, but to be honest, Betty's level has improved a lot than before." Su Xiong suddenly realized.

"Hehe, after all, the British pay the tuition. You can always learn some." Raidel said.

"Your Excellency Commander, the new enemy situation is notified." At this moment, an officer sent up the telegram he had just received.

"According to the reconnaissance situation, the Japanese fleet was divided into three! Two main fleets and a separate light cruiser detachment." Su Xiong's words were unusually heavy.

"His. It's not easy." Raidel felt that this battle would be very difficult to fight tonight. Although, when Betty allocated the fleet, he considered letting the light cruisers gather and perform hunting tasks separately to improve. Efficiency, but now, the centralized light cruisers are very threatening to Su Xiong's actions.

The reason is simple. The Suxiong fleet lacks frigates. The 6-inch secondary artillery can be used to deal with destroyers. However, its effect on light cruisers is very limited. If the Suxiong fleet is engaged in a battle with a Japanese main fleet, the concentrated light If the cruiser detachment takes advantage of speed, outflanks, and then protects the destroyer to launch a lightning strike, then the Su Xiong fleet will be very dangerous!

The Japanese still have at least five light cruisers that can be used. They cannot be suppressed without the firepower of the main guns. If they are suppressed with the firepower of the main guns, what about the Japanese battleship squadron that is already very advantageous? If the Fuso-class battleships were not attacked by interference, Bavaria would not be able to hold it now! And if the main guns are not allocated, those torpedoes are terrible once a large number of destroyers get close.

"Should we contact old Fletcher now?" Raidel said. "If you want to threaten the Japanese battleship, you must first cut off the light cruiser squadron or severely inflict it. If old Fletcher can directly choose to attack the Japanese light cruiser squadron, we will be easier to fight later. I am most worried about the old Frye. Toru will directly choose to hit hard. In this case, we will lose a vital mobile force."

"No, our meaning is to cause chaos in the entire Japanese fleet. At this time, if we expose that after the Japanese have separated a fleet, the remaining warships can be hunted unscrupulously, then we are only constrained. Enemy. Not worthwhile." Su Xiong rejected Raidel's suggestion.

"Then what shall we do?" Raidel asked.

"Look at old Fletcher's choice first. If old Fletcher starts with the Japanese light cruiser squadron, then we can naturally cut into the battlefield when the Japanese battleship force supports the light cruiser. If Letcher chooses a wrong target and causes his fleet to be destroyed in a short time, then we can only wait for the Japanese fleet to disperse a certain distance before we do it. At that time, we will attack the light cruiser detachment first, and then think about it. Goal." Su Xiong said.

It is an impossible task to completely prevent the massacre of the Japanese fleet. Therefore, in Su Xiong’s view, only by letting his fleet stay, and then cleverly "using" the U.S. transport fleet can the greatest extent possible. Of course, the Americans do not approve of this principle. But no way, Su Xiong's fleet is in charge!

While Su Xiong was making the final preparations before entering the battlefield, Fletcher was doing the same thing. At this time, he was hiding in the transport fleet, looking for possible fighters!

"When I saw that the Japanese fleet was divided into three detachments, I knew that I could not stop them all, so in this case, I could only choose to attack the nearest fleet to let some transport ships escape death. Kill." Old Fletcher recalled his thoughts when he issued an attack order after the war!

It is a blessing in misfortune! When the Japanese fleet opened ~www.novelhall.com~ the three Japanese fleets lined up one after another, unfortunately for the Japanese, and fortunately for the Americans, the light cruiser detachment located on the far left of the three fleets was far from Old Frye Toru's armored cruiser detachment recently! And it was a coincidence that because the Japanese army focused their attention on the scattered transport ships, the Japanese didn't notice the old Fletcher's armored cruiser squadron in the immediate vicinity!

Therefore, despite the very dangerous situation, old Fletcher still had a feeling in his heart: We have a great advantage, and A will win when he goes up! This is definitely not old Fletcher's arrogance, but because the U.S. Navy does have an advantage in this sub-battlefield. You know, the U.S. fleet has 5 10,000-ton armored cruisers, with a total of 30 10-inch guns. force! Plus more than 16 destroyers and torpedo boats!

And the opposite? Although the other side also owns 5 light cruisers, the tonnage of these light cruisers is only over 5,000 tons, and the caliber of the artillery is also 155mm, which cannot pose any threat to the armored cruisers in the hands of old Fletcher. Moreover, the number of destroyers attached to this light cruiser squadron is far fewer than that of the Americans, and there are only about 6 destroyers!

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