The Axis fleets have all concentrated in the direction of the western continent, and the St. Martin Empire's two-ocean fleet can confidently and boldly provide offshore cover for its own troops. Three 'Zhili' class battleships and five 'Zhonghua' class battleships, along with
With the cruisers and destroyers escorting them, they sailed to Pensacola Island on the east coast of the Boston Empire, which is closest to the Kingdom of Moss.
Pensacola is located on the outer edge of Moss Bay. Because the land here forms a huge bay, this area has vast calm seas and many excellent ports. Therefore, nearly half of the shipbuilding industry of the Boston Empire was established here.
, if this area is attacked, it will greatly affect the sustained combat capabilities of the Axis navy, and the eleven aircraft carriers under construction may also be damaged.
The lineup of St. Martin's two-ocean fleet is very large. It is impossible for such a powerful fleet to completely cover the eyes and ears of others. Therefore, when they left the port of Rio, spies had already sent the information back to the Boston Empire via radio. After receiving the main force of the St. Martin Empire,
After the news that the fleet had left the port and was sailing towards the Boston Empire, the Boston Admiralty was greatly shocked, because they knew very well the strength of their own side at this time.
Although the Boston Empire's Storm Ocean Fleet did not suffer much losses, the war in the Western Continent was tense. Most of the entire fleet was transferred to the Western Continent and was under the unified command of Halsey. Only the three-star Admiral Zumwalt remained in the country.
Commanding a battleship squadron, if the Saint Martin Empire dispatches its only two aircraft carriers for a naval battle, they will be very dangerous.
The commander of the St. Martin's Oceanic Fleet is Admiral Romus, who was recommended by Marshal Dinant before his death. He followed Marshal Dinant in the north and south and fought many fierce battles, especially when he encountered Admiral Godard.
In the battle of the Boston Battle Fleet led by Admiral Romus, he was the commander of the First Cruiser Fleet at the time. The excellent performance of the Lanting-class battleships and the powerful combat power of the Dinghai Shenzhen left a deep impression on Admiral Romus.
The several levels of battleships built by the Chinese Empire for the St. Martin Empire also became his favorite.
Because of this in-depth personal experience, he, like Marshal Dinant, became a staunch supporter of the giant ship and cannon doctrine. In his mind, the real decisive battle of the fleet relied on the battleships of both sides lining up in a neat battle line, using
In a battle where the main gun fires bombarded each other, he dismissed the aircraft carrier's almost sneak attack tactics.
When receiving the order to prepare for the attack, Lieutenant General Kachin, the commander of the St. Martin Empire aircraft carrier group, was very excited. After all, the St. Martin Empire aircraft carrier had never fought a real naval battle since it was commissioned. This opportunity made him feel even more excited.
Cherish it, many sailors even excitedly wrote letters home, preparing to mail them after returning to the sea, or by the government after being killed in action. However, when the fleet set sail, Admiral Romus intentionally or unintentionally transferred the two Governor-class ships to their homes.
The aircraft carrier was left at home.
In order to avoid being seen by more people, the St. Martin's Two Ocean Fleet set out at five o'clock in the morning in the darkness before dawn. Lieutenant General Kachin, who was not notified, did not learn of the situation until nine o'clock.
When he learned that the main fleet had set off four hours ago, he ignored the nagging with the port management staff and immediately ordered the two aircraft carriers to light fires, fill up with steam, and set sail as quickly as possible.
The formation of two aircraft carriers actually sailed alone without any cover, chasing the main fleet at full speed. At the same time, Lieutenant General Kachin sent a message to Admiral Romus, asking the main fleet to slow down and wait for them to catch up.
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Admiral Romus believed that troops were valuable and quick, not to mention that with his fanatical tendency towards big guns and big ships, he looked down on aircraft carriers at all. Therefore, he sent a message asking Lieutenant General Kachin to return to the sea on the grounds that it would be more dangerous for aircraft carriers without escorts, not to mention the governor-general.
The speed of the class aircraft carrier simply could not keep up with the battle fleet. After receiving the reply from Admiral Romus, Lieutenant General Kachin was so angry that he directly replied to him with a telegram that later became quite famous. There was only one sentence in it: "You
What an idiot'.
Although Admiral Romus ordered the aircraft carrier to return, Lieutenant General Kachin knew very well that in today's naval battle, the power of the air force was very necessary, so he decided not to execute this order and still pursued the main force with two aircraft carriers.
Admiral Romus was certainly wrong in not paying attention to aircraft carriers, but he created an illusion for the Boston Empire, that is, the St. Martin fleet only had battleships coming to attack, and the aircraft carriers performed another mission. Because there was no escort for
No spy would consider that the aircraft carrier was going to participate in the war. Such a configuration would only be used for offshore exercises or transportation missions, so they did not report this situation.
If the aircraft carrier also comes with the fleet, the remaining fleet of the Boston Empire will definitely shrink into the harbor and rely on shore-based aviation. It will be satisfied as long as it can contain the opponent. However, the St. Martin Empire only sent the main fleet, which gave them a chance to annihilate them.
of hope.
Three-star Admiral Zumwalt decided to use his own fleet to make a bet, striving to eliminate this main fleet and reduce his own defensive pressure. If he kills the opponent's aircraft carrier again, the Boston Empire will hope to be behind the St. Martin Empire.
Landing and opening up a second battlefield to reduce the pressure on the frontal battlefield.
This was a big gamble. If it succeeded, at least the east coast of the Boston Empire would not be threatened in a short period of time. If it failed, the consequences would be disastrous. Even so, Zumwalt decided to take a gamble, and the remaining fleet of the Boston Empire set sail.
, and headed out towards the outer entrance of Moss Bay.
After more than 20 years of development, the two empires that were able to compete with each other have become obviously strong and weak. The Saint Martin Empire, which has always been based on agriculture, has been committed to developing agriculture and mining after relying on the Chinese Empire.
In addition to establishing some ordnance factories in the Northern Special Zone to supply army weapons and some artillery shells for the navy, the navy and air force relied on the Chinese Empire for their main equipment. Although they developed a single economy and became rich faster, they were not ready for war.
Potential doesn't help much.
The Boston Empire is different. Since the founding of the country, they have either been suppressed by the Western Continent or the Chinese Empire. Therefore, the Bostonians have been working hard to be self-reliant. After the First World War, due to the acceptance of many Western
The exiled talents from the mainland have made the domestic science and technology and industrial level advance by leaps and bounds, reaching a point where they can compete with the Chinese Empire. At this time, all their equipment can be produced domestically and can even be exported.
No matter how the national strength of the two countries develops, it has little relevance at this time. After all, warships cannot be built in a short time, and they can only use the existing warships to do their best. The only thing that makes Zumwalt happy is that,
We have six 40,000-ton Missouri-class battleships, 35,000-ton North Dakota-class battleships, and four old Maine-class battleships. Although there are no perverted guys like the Zhili-class, at least they have an overwhelming advantage in numbers.
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Half an hour after the Boston left-behind fleet launched its attack, they were discovered by a reconnaissance satellite flying over the middle of the Tempest Ocean. The information was quickly sent to the Eastern Ocean Fleet Commander Feng Ju through the satellite centralized control center. For this information
Feng Ju attaches great importance to intelligence. He knows very well how important this upcoming naval battle is. It can not only determine the ownership of sea control near Moss Bay in the short term, but can even shorten the war process, especially when the Chinese Empire is preparing to attack the west coast of the Boston Empire.
At this critical moment of landing.
Immediately after receiving the information, Feng Ju sent the information about the attack of the Boston Empire's remaining fleet to Admiral Romus. He also suggested that he reduce his speed and wait until the aircraft carrier caught up before engaging in a decisive battle with the opponent. At the same time, Feng Ju
Ju also ordered the Black Feather reconnaissance aircraft on standby in the St. Martin Empire to take off and cruise near Moss Bay to provide intelligence support to the St. Martin Empire.
Originally, Feng Ju wanted land-based aviation to provide support. Unfortunately, the aircraft in the St. Martin Empire belonged to the St. Martin Empire Air Force. There were no naval shore-based aircraft at all. Those bombers did not have the necessary sea combat capabilities and could not carry heavy torpedoes.
, and the range of fighter jets is too short to escort, so he can only place his hope on two aircraft carriers.
After receiving the intelligence notification from Feng Ju, General Romus' spirit was lifted. Since the death of Marshal Dinant last year, Marshal Cao Lan took the post of prime minister as a matter of course. From then on, the army began to gain the upper hand and the navy
The whole system was so stressful that I couldn't breathe.
Admiral Romus is a direct descendant of Marshal Dinant, otherwise he would not be the commander of the two ocean fleets. Recently, the army has criticized him, thinking that he is timid and incompetent and dare not attack. Many cabinet officials
Everyone was clamoring to replace him, but Marshal Caollan was more concerned about the overall situation and had some affection for Marshal Dinant, so naturally he would not suppress the navy too much, so he was not dismissed from his post.
Even so, Admiral Romus is still under great pressure, so he hopes to silence the mouths of those in the cabinet with a victory, and also make some money for the Navy, lest those politicians say that they spend a lot of military expenditures in vain every year. Asking for war
The eager Admiral Romus did not listen to Feng Ju's dissuasion. Instead, he ordered the fleet to speed up and head towards the Boston fleet. He selectively forgot Feng Ju's advice to him about waiting for the aircraft carrier.
With the large-scale reconnaissance of the Black Feather reconnaissance aircraft in the air, Admiral Romus easily learned the opponent's position in advance, and the Saint Martin Navy was able to calmly arrange the formation. When Zumwalt discovered the Saint Martin Two Ocean Fleet, Admiral Romus
The general had already set up a combat formation and charged forward at full speed.
"Fire all main guns." Zumwalt ordered loudly. Although he knew that at such a long distance, his own artillery shells had little power, but in order to interfere with the opponent's attack and buy time for his own formation, he had to do so.