Chapter 624 Night Battle Unparalleled 6

On the blue sea, the Australian battle patrol, which had just returned for less than a month, seemed to hit its tail. The second half of the hull was charred, especially the rudder position, which broke a big hole, and the sea water formed a whirlpool at the mouth of the hole.

If you look at it from a distance, you will find that the war patrol water line is high and low, which is obviously caused by a large amount of water in the stern of the ship. However, if you look closely, you will find that the water line is slowly returning to normal, which means that other parts of the ship are injecting water to restore balance.

Two figures emerged from under the stern of the ship. Before he could see it clearly, Seymour had asked anxiously, "Salivin, how's it going?"

"It's terrible."

The second pair shook the water on his hair and spread out his hand with a wry smile, "The stern was blown up by a three-meter-wide wound by a torpedo. The water caused the stern to sink. Moreover, tools are needed, otherwise I'm afraid the rudder can't be reset."

"Damn it!"

Hearing that the rudder could not be reset, Seymour scolded fiercely. It doesn't matter if it enters the water. You can drive slowly, but the rudder is stuck and can't be reset, which means that the warship can't turn. According to the current angle, it will drive all the way to Peru, South America.

Not to mention Seymour, even the officers felt that they were doomed. Seeing that they were about to arrive in Fiji in the control area, they did not expect to be attacked by the Xinhua submarine. Although the submarine was sunk, they still sent a radio signal, which means that if Xinhua received the signal, then in the past few days There will definitely be a large number of warships coming.

"Lt. General, Lieutenant General Bernice has led the Lonely and Jean Bar. General Clarkston said that they will arrive tomorrow night at the latest. Please rest assured."

"Don't worry? Can you rest assured?" Seymour smiled bitterly, "Where are we now?"

"We can reach the Futuna Islands in an hour, which can be used as our temporary hiding place. In addition, I think Brave and Glorious can temporarily leave the fleet and go to the Fiji Islands to wait for support." The staff suggested: "In this way, in case the Australia is in danger, they can use speed to rescue us, and if the enemy is too strong, they can preserve their strength."

"Very good, go and inform them."

"Mt. General, in addition, we hope you can transfer the flagship, Australicia."

When there is a staff member's suggestion, it must indicate that the original flagship is in great danger. Although Seymour was unwilling to give up the Australian, he accepted the staff member's suggestion after thinking about it.

Bernice's fleet has set off for almost a day. As long as it supports until the reinforcements arrive, the Australian can get out of trouble. Besides, if the other party's strength is really too strong, at least two brave-class large cruisers can be retained to save the last mobile force for the Southwest Grand Fleet.

"Two days, can you survive these two days?" Looking at the darkened sky, Seymour sighed and walked down the gangway--

"What do you think?"

"It's similar to what you think. I don't think the two warships will leave." Inside the Guam, looking at Li Xiuyan who asked him, Chen Shaokuan pointed to the Fiji Islands and said, "You see, according to the last telegram of the S3 submarine, he clearly hit the stern of the USS Australia, which means that at least the power of the USS Australia will be damaged. If it is serious, there will be problems with the rudder and the axle.

If the two warships leave at this time, protected by a few cruisers and destroyers alone, as long as we have a Yangtze River-class cruiser, it will be all over, so I think they should be protected nearby and wait for the rescue of the fleet from Sydney.

"But what if the rudder is not damaged?" Li Xiuyan pointed to the last position of the S3 submarine and said, "This is the last Rotuma Island of the S3, 370 nautical miles from the Fiji Islands.

Now it has been 13 hours since the USS Australia was hit. According to the 15 knots, USS Australia has three options. First, continue to go south into Fiji. Where is the Australian garrison, you can get help. Second, go to the Samoan Islands. According to the Anglo-American Pacific Agreement, the U.S. military arrived before the war. There is a wharf built for warships to berth.

The third is the southwest. The road to Nouméa is relatively far, but this is the last barrier to Australia's defense. There are as many as 50,000 troops stationed on the island. As long as you get there, it is basically safe.

"Which one do you think it will be?"

"Samoya won't. It will only get farther and farther away from Australia. It doesn't matter if the U.S. Pacific Fleet is walking. Now it's basically delivering food to the South American fleet, and maybe it will hit the 12th Fleet head-on.

Sending so many warships from Clarkston to show that Australia was seriously injured, or it was difficult to move. It was afraid that the pursuers would arrive before sending a fleet for protection, so it should not be possible to go to Nouméa immediately before being protected and initially repaired, so I think they should stay in Fiji to wait for assistance. Soldiers."

"Then let's go to Fiji!" The captain immediately said, "We are still 1,270 nautical miles away from Fiji. Now we should supply it immediately, and then we should be able to get to Jima within 50 hours at full speed."

"We can arrive, but what about the destroyer?" Chen Shaokuan said, "I just asked that the destroyer's oil volume has basically bottomed out and must be replenished as soon as possible, but we only have one supply ship, and even if we let the destroyer full, when we maintain a speed of more than 28 knots, the Weiqing class can run up to 1,500 nautical miles, and even if it reaches Fiji, it is almost out of oil."

After listening to the two people's words, Li Xiuyan thought for a moment and said, "There are 16,000 tons of oil on Lake Belga. Two battleships and four light patrols are replenished with 2,000 tons each, and the rest will be handed over to the destroyer. After the supply, the destroyer formation searched along the Tuvalu Islands to the Gilbert Islands. The 23rd Fleet should have been there. Let them cooperate with the 23rd Fleet and wait for us to come back.

"Within a destroyer?" Chen Shaokuan looked at Li Xiuyan and whispered, "Two Lone-class and two cruisers with 380mm heavy artillery, the combat effectiveness of Australia should not have been completely lost. In addition, four Tennessee-class armored cruisers and at least 12 light cruisers and destroyers, even if we fight one by one or two, four Yangtze River-class frontal confrontations can still be dealt with. Not so many warships."

"No, don't fight head-on."

Li Xiuyan narrowed his eyes and flashed: "The 12th Fleet led by General Xiao Tianzhi must have arrived in the Phoenix Islands, where there are also some patrol ships and aircraft stationed in Britain and the United States. If there is no accident, it will be found when the 12th Fleet arrives near Samoa. You say that if the 12th Fleet is exposed, they What will you do?"

"Go now, they are not the opponents of the 12th Fleet."

"Yes, whether it's support or rescue home, if you want to return to Australia from Fiji, you have to go to Nouméa, so we are waiting for them here!" Li Xiuyan pressed his finger on the Loyati Islands in front of Nouméa.

Looking at his fingers, Chen Shaokuan and the captain both inhaled cold air, and their eyes were bright but soon shook their heads again. The Loyati Islands are only 45 nautical miles from the port of Nouméa, and it will arrive in two hours. Moreover, there are heavy artillery guards in the port, 6 pairs of at least 20. We can't stop them completely, and it is likely to be slipped away by the two heavy artillery patrols. The captain said worriedly.

"Report, 12 Fleet Telegram."

Before he spoke, the staff officer interrupted the small meeting. Li Xiuyan took the telegram and suddenly cracked the corners of his mouth after reading it: "Jiang is still old and spicy. Take a look."

"Good boy, I went with you. After arriving in Samoa, I deliberately exposed my whereabouts, and then forced the Allied fleet to flee to Nouméa. Let's cooperate with the interception!" Chen Shaokuan said with a smile.

It turned out that the telegram was sent by Xiao Tianzhi of the 12th Fleet. Like Li Xiuyan, his idea was to block the 31st Fleet between Nouméa and the Fiji Islands, and then take advantage of the speed advantage of the Guam class, which was almost 9 knots higher than the opponent's main fleet, and met with the 31st Fleet in the sea east of Nouméa.

"6 to 20, the reinforcements will arrive within an hour, do you want to do it?"

"Of course, but." The captain patted his chest first, turned his head and the corners of his mouth collapsed again: "Look at the sky, there may be a rainstorm in these two days, if it is delayed?"

"War will never wait for you to be fully prepared." Li Xiuyan patted the captain on the shoulder, quoted Le Fei's words, and took a deep breath: "Take off the two planes to monitor the surroundings, the cruiser began to receive supplies, and we set off in 4 hours!" --

The thick clouds over the Fiji Islands make people feel breathless, but Seymour can't wait to hug God and kiss him when he sees this weather.

In the distance, the Australia was like an injured crocodile, cling to his side by a maintenance ship. Looking at the busy sailors, he was finally relieved, because he had just learned that the rudder of the Australia was temporarily usable, and the pump began to work, constantly pumping out the accumulated water inside. The speed of this battle patrol can be temporarily restored to 20 knots, so you don't have to worry about not being able to catch up with the capital ship.

Just as Seymour was eagerly waiting to finish the water road as soon as possible, he suddenly had his shoulder slapped. He turned his head and found that Lieutenant General Bernice, who led the team to support him, came behind him. After handing over a telegram, he was naturally optimistic and smiled cheerfully, "Vieen (Semore), I said, God is blessing us."

Seymour immediately took the telegram and was shocked at a glance: "Two Guam-class!"

"Yes, but God is helping us. They were found by one of our patrol ships in the Samoan Islands, and now we have enough time to leave." Bernice said.

"Dear Di, the speed of the Chinese is very fast. Although they are still 200 nautical miles away from us, we must leave." Seymour has never been interested in the French navy. They seem to be naturally optimistic, but they don't seem to have a sense of urgency.

"Okay." Lieutenant General Bernice looked at his watch and said, "Let's go now. We can arrive in Nouméa early tomorrow morning. Even if they are fast, we have to wait until the evening to catch up with us, and." As soon as I said this, a few drops of rain suddenly fell on the dial.

The two looked at each other and smiled. No matter how powerful the Xinhua Navy was, the rainy night wanted to catch a fleet that kept the lights under control, unless the Chinese really had the kind of eyes of the monkey in their mythical story.

(to be continued)