Chapter 674 Closed 1

June 28, Coral Sea.

In the beautiful and calm coral sea, the sea water broken by the bow of the destroyer Chongming Island, like two strings of white pearls, scattered on both sides.

When the white ripples gradually remelt into the blue, a fleet of dozens of steel beasts has quietly come.

On the flagship of the Third Special Fleet, the heavy aircraft carrier Beizhao, the sailors either held the sun in twos and threes, or pointed at the convoy protected by them, and waved their hats to greet each other across the sea.

In the hangar, aircrews and aircrews sat on the ground, chatting and maintaining each other. Although metal planes are much better than wooden planes, the workload of maintenance is much larger, but many soldiers are willing to think that the fighters they have maintained can drop a few more bombs, I'm full of energy.

In the spacious commander's rest cabin, Xiao Tianzhi looked a little anxious. As soon as he spread out the chart, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sir, after receiving a telegram from Port Vila, the patrol fleet found two Australian cruisers trying to approach Port Nouméa last night. In addition, the reconnaissance ship also found several cruisers near New Zealand, and also found traces of British cruisers in the Tuamotu Islands.

Xiao Tianzhi immediately found these points from the chart. Judging from the distribution point, they were all in the east, which made him even more worried, because the main task of the Third Task Force was to prevent Clarkston from escaping.

According to intelligence, after the British mainland fleet was hit hard in the Battle of Tehran, both the Allied Indian Fleet and the Australian Fleet had the idea of withdrawing, so the General Staff transferred and formed the Third Special Fleet to let them come.

It's too late for Clarkston to leave now. With his own speed advantage, as long as he knows the direction, he can ensure that he stops before arriving in Africa or South America, but the problem now no one knows where he will go. You should know that the sea is vast, and once he makes a mistake, he can't even take the regret medicine.

Thinking of this, he immediately asked, "What about Sydney? Is there any movement?

"Not yet, all the capital ships of the Australian Grand Fleet are still there."

After carefully reading the telegram, Xiao Tianzhi said again: "Notify Port Vila and the Second Task Force that we will arrive within three days. During this period, we must conduct an aerial reconnaissance of Noumea and Sydney every two hours, and also inform the submarines operating in that area to strengthen night patrols."

"Yes."

After the staff officer left the telegram on the table, his eyes returned to the table for information about New Caledonia and Numea Port, as well as some information from the general staff.

Although Russia in chaos and blood is about to settle, the war is not over. The Battle of Lower Normandy begins, which means that there is another meat grinder on the Western German line.

However, compared with Russia's withdrawal, Wilson's speech considering sending more troops to Europe again is obviously more eye-catching. If Britain, France and the United States do not fall, the sound of gunfire will continue.

On the German Western Front, the situation of Britain and France attacking from the east and west at the same time is very obvious. For a long time to come, Verdeng and the Somme will be the focus of competition, so it is still early to win or lose.

So while the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fully responded to the negotiations with Russia, the General Staff is still focused on military action and determined to resolve the Australian war as soon as possible.

Everyone knows that Australia, which is sparsely populated, must rely on the army, so the new troop increase plan has begun. Up to 500,000 troops are departing from Luzon, Borneo and Guam, and then arriving in Darwin from Rabaul, and then taking the train into the war zone from there.

In order to ensure the safety of maritime transportation, the navy has set up five patrol fleets to patrol and protect the shipping lanes. Fortunately, the war in the Solomon Islands is now basically over, and the Marines have occupied Port Vila in the New Hebrides, so the area where the Australian Grand Fleet can operate is very small.

In the Australian campaign, there were not many places where the navy could play. Eating the Australian Grand Fleet became the target of the Navy, so the Third Task Force accelerated its arrival.

In addition to preventing Clarkston's escape, the Third Task Force also needs to cooperate with the Second Task Force to cover the Marines to attack New Caledonia Island, 570 nautical miles southwest of Port Vila, and the Fiji Islands 710 nautical miles to the east, both of which are known as the East Gate of Australia.

Especially New Caledonia and Port Nouméa, which is only 1060 nautical miles away from Sydney. If it can be taken here, Australia's East Gate will be completely locked!

However, it is not so easy to take over the island of New Caledonia. Unlike the Solomon Islands and other islands, it is too important to Australia, so when the United Kingdom and the United States signed the Pacific Mutual Insurance Agreement two years before the war, they began to strengthen the defense of the island. In addition, after the war, the United States used the empire here. There are few bases, and it is impossible to control the weakness of the South Pacific. Despite the threat of submarines, dozens of fleets have been sent here through the South American waterway many times, and a large number of supplies have been transported.

According to reconnaissance photos and intelligence, there are more than 30 known large-caliber shore guns on the island, and countless cannons below 152mm. The whole island is full of dark castles and fire points built by cement and steel bars. There are also nearly 80,000 British, American and Australian allied forces stationed on the island, and before the Marines control of Port Vila, it is known that The waterways from Nepal and Auckland to the island can still be kept open, so the force's combat effectiveness has not only been lost, but also strengthened.

In order to solve this problem as soon as possible, after capturing Port Vila, the navy used this time to send up to 402 transport ships to Port Vila. In addition to bringing a large number of supplies and supplies, it also transported two Continental Divisions here, and will be transported by three light carriers, two Jilin-class battleships and two Dalian-class. The second combron composed of heavy cruisers also stayed here, which temporarily cut off the channel as a deterrent and blockade force.

But the strength of the second stun fleet alone is not enough to take up Nouméa and close the east gate of Australia, so the general staff transferred warships to form the third stun fleet.

From the perspective of the number of warships and technology alone, the third special mixed fleet is probably the strongest mixed fleet in the empire at present, because it not only has the two Western Qin-class heavy aircraft carriers of Northern Zhao and Zhongwei that have just been delivered, but also the last two Guamcon-class battleships that have just been delivered, Zhongmeng and Simon.

In the case of not carrying the night owl dive bombers, it dares to claim that the strongest rely on these two Guam-classes, because compared with the first four sister ships, the two battleships delivered three months later than expected not only increased the displacement by 2,000 tons, but also achieved the initial goal of the design, installing three for the first time. The triple L42/406mm naval gun has become a real fast battleship!

can get out of the quagmire of development so quickly and officially install it. In addition to the fact that the project research and development began 10 years ago, which is earlier than that of other countries and has actually reached the critical point, it also benefits from a large number of technicians who poured into Xinhua from Europe after the war, especially those from Austria. Hungary's military experts, after their arrival, many people were invited to join the Xinhua Equipment Department, and some even became technical backbones.

Although it is known from the intelligence that the 406mm prototype gun of the United States has also made progress, it will take half a year to equip it as soon as possible. What's more, after the delivery of these two ships, the first four Guam class in his hand will also be modified by naval guns one after another to continue to lead the advantage on the battleship.

In order to complete this mission, the Admiralty handed over most of the newly delivered warships to the Third Task Force. In addition to two Xiqin-class heavy aircraft carriers and two Guam-class battleships, there are also four second batches of Yangtze River-class cruisers, eight destroyers including two Chongming Island-class, and two Dongting Lake-class comprehensive supply ships. And two Qinshan-class rapid support ships.

The reason why it is equipped with four supply ships is that the operation has a long combat distance and a long time to carry out the mission, because in addition to helping the marines take down the strategic island, it also needs to protect and patrol the east coast of Australia for a long time to prevent Clarkston from leading the fleet to escape.

He knew that he was not as capable as Ji Rushan and Lefei. Compared with the two, he had enough surnames and was calm, so the general manager let him lead the fleet to carry out such a long-term mission. He did not want to sink many enemy ships. The most important thing was to block Clarkston and never let him return to Europe or the United States.

"Report, the Sixth Fleet reported that they encountered four cruisers south of Australia and 230 nautical miles west of Tasmania, two of which were the British Rainbow Goddess class, and the other two suspected American Omaha class."

"Tasmania?"

Xiao Tianzhi immediately found this big island in the south of Australia, 750 nautical miles away from Sydney. Thinking of a few intelligences just now, he frowned: "Where did Clarkston send a cruiser to go? Are you ready to go further to South Africa to return home?

===== "Yuting, do you think Clarkston is really ready to go?" In the combat command center of the General Staff of Yanjing, Chen Ping put a few pieces of information on the table, walked to the chart and looked at it and asked, "If you go, where do you think you will go?"

"It is reasonable to take the South American route. As long as you drill through New Zealand into French Polynesia, there are many islands that can be used as a cover. However, after crossing Polynesia, it is a wide South Pacific Ocean. Not only do you need to face our pursuit, but the South American fleet can also go south to support at any time. Since Ergua After Dole and Peru joined us, Britain and the United States have always suspected that Chile will also join us. The threat of the two super battleships is not small, so under unclear circumstances, where to go must be a lot of crisis in Clarkston's view. Zhang Zuolin stood behind and analyzed.

"From the perspective of distance, the advantage of the South African route is that it is a little closer, but after starting from Sydney and crossing Tasmania into the Greater Australia Bay, it will be blocked by our patrol squadron deployed in Perth. The 4 Yangtze River class and 12 Weiqing class are not strong, but if you count 8 submarines, there is no price. It is impossible to pass.

Clarkston has been with us twice. He knows that we have an advantage in speed. What he is most afraid of is that he will be dragged by us with speed, and as long as he sets out, we can quickly go south from the First Hry in the Arabian Sea, although the First Hry has only An aircraft carrier, but in terms of speed and distance, as long as he shows signs, we will have enough time to get stuck in Madagascar and cut off the Cape of Good Hope route.

"Ha ha, according to Yuting's analysis, isn't it that Clarkston won't leave?" Chen Ping smiled.

"Actually, I don't think Clarkston wants to leave. After all, he still has 16 battleships, 15 cruisers and 22 destroyers, including 2 Delaware and 3 Berlopone, plus dozens of torpedo boats. If he really wants to defend, he can still stand for a while. What's more, he must know that no matter where he goes. Lidu has to pay at least half the price. If it can't be replenished, leaving Sydney, the fleet will be scrapped. Zhang Zuolin continued, "So I think the question now is to see if he can resist the domestic pressure, if not."

Zhang Zuolin walked to the chart and pointed to the west: "I prefer him to take the African route."

"Oh?" Chen Ping raised his eyebrows and said, "Why?"

"It's very simple, because the Indian Grand Fleet also wants to leave!" Zhang Zuolin pointed to India and said affirmatively, "So if he goes this way, we can only block it."

Chen Ping nodded. This analysis is indeed very reasonable. Although Australia and India are far apart, it is better for Britain and the United States to save at least one of the two fleets than to be trapped.

The early combat operations are frequent, and it is currently in a period of naval adjustment. The two Yinshang-class aircraft carriers of the First Fleet are being maintained in Guangzhou. In terms of time, it will take about 10 days. After they go to the Indian Ocean, the Xiqin will also come back to rest, and the two Guam-class ships also need to come back for a three-month gun replacement. Modification, so the first mixed fleet currently relies mainly on two Yanjing-class and four Hebei-class battleships.

Two aircraft carriers and two Guam-class of the First Fleet are currently monitoring and harassing on the west coast of the United States and the Gulf of Panama. Although the maintenance of four Hebei-class battleships is nearing completion, it will take about half a month in terms of time. Now only two Yanjing-classes of the South American fleet are in use.

No matter how incompetent the British and American intelligence is, they must know that this is the weakest time for their strength. After the news that the Third Task Force has arrived on the East Coast of Australia spreads, it is the best time to break through!

The question now is whether Clarkston sends cruisers so frequently that he wants to leave, or is it just reconnaissance and containment?

"Report, Berlin emergency." Chen Ping didn't continue to speak, and the report interrupted the two people.

"What's the matter?"

"The Deputy Chief of Staff and the Foreign Minister called to say that Brest's first negotiations had broken down, Germany refused to reduce land and compensation, and the Russian representative also refused to sign."

"Ha ha."

The news did not make Chen Ping scratch his head, but made him laugh. Obviously, some people in Russia still can't understand the situation! So he immediately said, "Yuting, send a telegram to Li Tianhe and Sun Jiugong immediately."

"Since some people in Russia don't want to close the door yet, just block it!"

"Yes!"

(to be continued)