Chapter 567 is coming

After a secret reef to the west of the Gulf of Guinea, the Tumen River slowly broke away from the pipeline, like a vigilant hound, quickly turned off the deck lights, and quietly drove silently into the darkness.

As it left, the two Guam-class battleships approached Dongting Lake, one left and one right. As the bow formed parallel, the supply ship fired two thick cables at the same time. After getting the cable, the sailors on the two battleships immediately stuffed it into the hoist. As the hemp rope began to tighten, the steel cable a few centimeters thick was pulled high. Get up.

The steel cable first brought two hoses with a thickness of the waist and a specially processed inner cavity. After getting the hose, the sailors quickly put them on the oil pipeline. With the hissing sound in the pipe, after preliminary refining, light crude oil, which reduced impurities, began to quickly inject into the huge fuel tank in the ship.

Then, four steel cables were hung on the hanging baskets. These hanging baskets were also specially made to withstand a ton of hanging goods without breaking.

After four special shells weighing 750 kilograms were stuffed into the hanging basket, they slowly slid to the two battleships under the pull of the hoist. After it reached the side deck, the sailors immediately stopped the hoist, pushed the cart specializing in carrying the shells, removed the shells and sent the pod back.

Sea supply is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, especially such a heavy shell, which is a disaster for sailors. The shell requires multiple people to work together to push it to three gun positions, and then use the projectile hoist in the turret to reversely into the ammunition depot.

To complete a task of resupplishing ammunition at sea, it is necessary to mobilize at least half of the officers and soldiers of the warships. For example, it will take at least four hours to replenish 180 special high-explosive bombs and a large number of secondary artillery shells to each of the two ships at the same time.

Compared with the supply shells, the fuel supply is not much better, because even after the primary removal of impurities, the heavy oil is very viscous, and the hose will be blocked for a long time, so it is necessary to use a large amount of lubricating oil every half an hour to flush the inner cavity of the pipe under strong pressure, but even so, it is necessary every two hours. The hose needs to be replaced.

anxious, time-consuming and labor-consuming!

Sitting at the chart table of the navigation bridge, Li Xiuyan and Chen Shaokuan were a little restless. Since they received information from the British E Fleet and the American A Fleet yesterday, this uneasiness has begun to intensify.

The country must have been very worried, so they used the German telegraph system to send a telegram, and then accelerated their departure from West Africa and arrived here at the fastest speed.

Going further, it is the dense area of the British and American navies, so they chose to supply here.

The Tumenjiang pumped nearly 3,000 tons of heavy oil, and the remaining 12,000 tons will be taken over by two Guam-class ships. The last 1,000 tons will be left for the mobile consumption of the supply ship itself in case of emergency. Even Li Xiuyan, the ammunition in the supply ship, decided to replenish all of them first, so that the two battleships and light cruisers can be completely recovered. Re-combat power.

I believe that China has received a telegram at this time, so after completing the replenishment, the Dongting Lake will cross the Atlantic Ocean to the coast of Brazil alone, where it will wait for the oil fleet from Cuba or Colombia, fill up the warehouse and then go home with the 31st Fleet that completed the task.

For the Dongting Lake, this must be a dangerous journey, because the previous attack took place off the coast of Argentina, so the British and American interception fleets will definitely go south along the Caribbean Sea. This is why the 31st Fleet would rather consume fuel than quickly cross the Atlantic to the coast of Africa. The reason.

If you go as normal, the probability of the supply ship encountering the enemy is more than 70%, so after the 31st Fleet is replenished, it has to approach the British naval base in Cape Verde, which is more than 1,000 nautical miles away, involve all the British and American fleets, and then use the speed advantage to form a pair with the other party across the Atlantic Ocean. I reached the east coast of the United States and completed the final task.

Although it seems dangerous and there are many British and American warships, as long as you are careful, the chance of meeting directly on the vast sea is very small. As long as it is not surrounded in all directions, even if the pillar of smoke is found, the 31st Fleet can quickly open the distance and hide far away.

The straight-line distance from here to New York is about 5,500 nautical miles. Coupled with maneuver consumption, as long as the 31st Fleet is not entangled, it can complete the task and return to the sea off Brazil. In case of emergency, it can enter the Ecuadorn confluent tanker.

The whole task is as dangerous as a tightrope walk. Originally, relying on the strength of the two Guam-class ships, there was still a chance to complete it, but the question is why do I always feel a little uneasy?

Where on earth did you make a mistake?

Li Xiuyan looked up and saw Chen Shaokuan's eyes. He saw the other party's worries. To be honest, it has been too smooth since he entered the Atlantic Ocean. This may be the reason for the worry.

The information of the two interception fleets is at hand. The battlecruiser Tiger in the British E fleet has returned to deal with Germany, but there are still three good battleships. The biggest threat is the Queen Elizabeth-class No. 5 Malaya. The newly delivered battleship has a full load displacement of 33,000 tons. It has four double L45/381mm naval guns (a lot of information is said to be L42. In fact, there is a statistical error here, because the British calculation caliber is not counted as a gun chamber, and other countries count as a gun chamber). The speed is slightly insufficient, only 21 knots.

In addition to it, there are two battleships, Ireland and Agincourt. The first super battleship was built for Ottoman. Before the war, it was intercepted by the British and incorporated into the navy. It has five double L45/343 mm guns, and the latter is more dramatic. It was once ordered by Brazil, but later Brazil Unable to buy it, it was handed over to the British for sale. Osman bought the warship and paid for the subsequent construction, but it was also intercepted by the British navy at the last moment.

What's shocking is that the battleship Agincourt has seven double L45/305mm guns. Someone once said that it would break itself when it fired in a volley, so it could not make a volley, but in any case, the unit firepower intensity of this battleship absolutely needs to be vigilant.

In addition to the British E Fleet, the United States also quickly formed the A Fleet. They even pulled out the four latest warships that were still being tested at sea, and urgently recruited a large number of veterans to fight.

Regardless of whether the four capital ships that are still being tested at sea can exert their full capabilities, the paper alone is indeed powerful. The two Pennsylvania-class battleships are completely in line with the Queen Elizabeth class of the United Kingdom, and even the displacement is about the same. It is said that they have adopted the concept of key armor protection.

Two Northampton-class heavy patrols are built in imitation of the British Lion-class battle patrols. They have quite strong capabilities, with a standard displacement of 25,000 tons and a full load of 29,500 tons. Although they do not use key armored defense care. Nian, but 250mm, the slanted main armor belt is also very good.

In addition, there is a more serious thing, that is, the British E fleet is likely to carry six of the latest W-class destroyers, which is a new destroyer built by the United Kingdom after the last Straits assault. It is equipped with steam turbines for the first time and has a very high speed of 30 knots!

They have been here since their endurance was insufficient, but Britain learned Xinhua's method and specially found a fast cargo ship to help them replenish heavy oil all the way, so they also joined the E fleet.

In addition to more than a dozen protected cruisers and other ships that cooperate with them, the two fleets are almost composed of 30,000 tons of big guys, which have enough deterrent power there, which also shows that the United States and Britain are determined to destroy the 31st Fleet!

If there are any disadvantages of the two fleets, I'm afraid it's the speed. Although the W-class destroyer is fast, it is too small after all, so at present, the main ships installed in the United Kingdom and the United States are still reciprocating steam engines, and the fastest Northampton class is only 24 knots, which is still full of boilers. As for the others They are all between 20 and 21 knots, and the endurance is short.

But it doesn't matter. This is the Atlantic Ocean, the British and American nest, so they don't have to worry about supplies and other issues, but for the 31st Fleet, it is necessary to consider completing the task with as little consumption as possible.

Chen Shaokuan looked at the busy deck outside, which is a position provided by Germany, which is said to be safe for at least one night. The tall reef plate and concave shape indeed hindered the light from spreading to the Atlantic Ocean.

After looking at the watch, he called the staff officer next to him and asked, "How long will it take?"

"All the ammunition supply has been completed, and the fuel will be completed in half an hour."

"Half an hour." Chen Shao was relieved. It's three o'clock in the morning, that is to say, the 31st Fleet can leave here before dawn and use the speed to enter the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. As long as you enter the deep sea, the wide ocean can be reduced by at least 30%. Even if you encounter an extremely fast W-class destroyer, there is no capital ship. The containment is almost the same as launching a torpedo assault against the 31st Fleet, which has a large number of secondary guns and rapid-fire guns, so after taking a deep breath, just as he was about to continue talking, he saw Li Xiuyan's fingers suddenly sliding on the chart, and his fingertips slowly stopped in West Africa.

"Shao Kuan, do you think Fleets A and E will not go to South America and move to the coast of Africa?"

"No way?"

Chen Shaokuan frowned and shook his head. The previous massacre took place in Argentine waters. According to common sense, the British and American fleets would definitely go straight to South America, so the 31st Fleet immediately crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the African coast afterwards. The three cargo ships on the journey were all in the middle of the sea and launched a close-range raid, and there was no one at all. SurVive, so there is no possibility of exposure.

And most importantly, the United Kingdom and the United States do not know that the 31st Fleet has a large supply ship. Even if they know it, they will not guess that the Dongting Lake can carry so much fuel, so they will never think that the isolated 31st Fleet will come back to cross the Atlantic Ocean and waste valuable fuel. Even if they encounter this situation, It is also judged that the enemy will go north along the South American coast, enter the busiest Atlantic waterway in the most economical way, and then leave immediately.

In addition, the endurance of the A and E fleets themselves is not enough, so they can't run back and forth across the Atlantic just by guess. If they really don't find the 31 fleet, they will be tired.

"Shao Kuan, I've been thinking about it. Our only flaw is West Africa. What do you think will happen if the West African German army is infiltrated by the British or hidden by spies?"

Although Li Xiuyan did not guess that the German telegram was out of the same time, because he always felt wrong, he thought of whether he would be found by British spies or others when sending planes to contact the German army, exposing the coordinates of the 31st Fleet on the coast of Africa instead of South America.

Chen Shaokuan's face quickly became solemn. He picked up the pen and quickly stretched arrows from the coast of Brazil, the coast of North Africa, and the British navy in St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, Ascension Island and Cape Verde. In the blink of an eye, a semi-encirclement against the African coast appeared on the chart!

"Report, received emergency telegrams from Cuba and Colombia!" The correspondent shouted, "It's transferred from China!"

Li Xiuyan suddenly pulled the telegram and looked at the two lines. After reading the two lines, his face changed: "Come on, order the Tumenjiang radar to turn on, focusing on detecting the northwest and southwest!"

When he finished giving the order, Chen Shaokuan walked to the door of the cabin and asked, "Are they coming?"

"I'm coming!"

(to be continued)