Chapter 493 Chaos

@@@@@@@@ On the blue sea, on the deck of the 13680-ton U.S. first-class armored cruiser Maryland, the sailors gathered in twos and threes, looking at the two snow cloud dragon claw flags blocked by themselves and the cruiser Pride in the sea in the distance, with unspeakable pleasure in their hearts.

The scene in Havana is an eternal disgrace to the U.S. Navy, so even if it is trapped in a small destroyer and an almost unarmed hydrological investigation ship, it is enough to make everyone excited to command their fists.

The conflict did not happen, because it was very simple. Maryland had a full set of 38 guns of various calibers. Although the Arrogance next to it was only 5,700 tons, it had 10 152mm guns, so the Chinese were wise to shrink into a small island in the distance.

It's like two tigers staring at two sheep. It's so exciting!

However, this scene did not let Lieutenant Spruence lean on the deck and avoid any pleasure from everyone staying alone in the corner. On the contrary, looking into the distance, he was like a cold stone, his eyes condensed and kept silent.

This is an unusually beautiful ocean. The islands scattered between the blue seas are like a string of beautiful pearls. Except for slightly valuable phosphate, there is almost nothing that the United States needs. Therefore, in the eyes of the sailors, this is a holiday paradise, but in his eyes, this string of pearls is stuck in the United States. The neck is full of deadly danger!

Because the Gilbert Islands are in the middle of the maritime traffic lines between the United States and Australia, the geographical location is very important. In its northwest and southwest are the Chinese-controlled Marshall Islands and the British-controlled Solomon Islands respectively, and there is also a Chinese-controlled Nauru at the doorstep!

This means that once a war breaks out, the main route from the United States to Australia will be cut off, unless it bypasses Samoa and New Zealand, but the route will be longer and more likely to be attacked.

Pratt, in Spruance's view, the United States has made too serious mistakes, and the loss of Hawaii has been extremely serious, and those above have allowed the expansion of the Xinhua Empire for more than ten years, always using the Panama Canal to fail to open and effectively support as an excuse and slow action.

If these are still reality or helplessness at that time, then we must take action now!

The Panama Canal can be connected in another year. In the Atlantic Ocean, Britain is competing with Germany to build ships. The smell of European gunpowder can be smelled even in the Pacific Ocean, and Europe's power here is rapidly declining.

For Britain, what he needs to defend is the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. For France and Italy, what they need is the Mediterranean Sea, but for the United States, the Atlantic Ocean can't intervene at all, so he must take this opportunity to accelerate control of the Pacific Ocean!

Although the United Kingdom exchanged loans for the Gilbert Islands, the Samoa Islands, the Fiji Islands and Vanuatu, they are still nominally overseas assets of the British political axe at this time. The United States is only a creditor and has the right to protect these places and does not have the right to transform them into sea fortresses.

So in his opinion, the United States is too careful!

Four Florida-classes have been completed, and two Wyoming-classes can be delivered by the end of the year. The construction of the stronger four New York-classes has been accelerated. Even if it is not counted as the New York-class, the United States now has a total of 34 battleships, 10 first-class armored cruisers, and six heavy cruisers to be delivered one after another. For the name of the world's third navy!

The United States has all the advantages of fighting a sea battle. It can take full advantage of Britain's deep trouble in the Atlantic competition to sign all agreements similar to France with them, and take the initiative to take the defense rights in the Pacific Ocean, instead of now, like a rootless duckweed. .

"It's just."

Spruance suddenly looked at his shoulder and scratched his head with a giggle. He was just a little lieutenant, and it was still too early to make a decision.

He patted the corners of his clothes and got up to chat with his friends. Suddenly, a scream sounded from the cage mast above his head.

"At ten o'clock, two ships, they are coming!"

The anxious shouts made the deck messy. Sprues quickly ran to the other side of the deck and saw a large amount of thick smoke in the distance. Judging from the concentration of the smoke, there were at least two large warships.

At the same time, the two Xinhua warships trapped in the distance were slowly coming towards the Maryland. The chaotic situation of the alarm bell made Spruance, an adjutant of the gun, frown and shouted as he ran, "A, B turret points to ten points, and the side is ready. The 3-inch gun on the deck should pay attention torpedoes!"

Under his shouting, the chaotic deck quickly smoothed up, William in the bridge. Captain Pratt looked at the running young man and nodded: "What's his name?"

"Ramond. Ames. Lieutenant Spruance is the commander of the deck gun. The staff officer looked at it and said.

"It's a good young man." Captain Pratt nodded, picked up the telescope and quickly looked into the distance: " Route 270, first-level alert, ask the British, when will the New Zealand arrive?"

"Yes!"

The smoke did not worry Captain Pratt. Everyone knew very well that when the other side arrived, the two sides threatened each other, or fired a warning, and then what to do. Because these two kinds of skirmishes have not been interrupted, but if the British battlecruiser New Zealand can arrive in time, it may trap the Chinese for a few more days this time and embarrass them.

"Tell the observer that I need to confirm the model immediately." Captain Pratt handed the telescope to his assistant and quickly walked to the chart. Judging from the smoke, there must be two large warships. The fastest in the Xinhua Navy is the light cruiser, so these two should be them.

As long as it is not a capital ship, Pratt doesn't care. The firepower of the Maryland is similar to that of light cruiser, and there are four 203mm heavy guns, but it is about 2,800 nautical miles from Guam, while New Zealand is only 2,400 nautical miles here. At the same time, the battlecruiser New Zealand is also They should have arrived earlier than them.

But why did the Xinhua Empire support ship arrive first this time? Is it possible that the New Zealand has broken down?

"Report, the British said that the New Zealand has arrived in the Tuvalu Islands and is expected to arrive in ten hours. They hope that we can hold the two light cruisers."

"Ten hours? Idiot Englishman!" Pratt cursed secretly. Just as he was about to speak, the gun commander shouted in horror: "Damn it, it's a battleship!"

"What!" --

"What's the speed?"

"It has been reduced to 20 knots, and the power module is running normally." The report made Ning Xiaochuan breathe a sigh of relief.

Not counting his order to take the initiative to slow down just now, Hong Kong has never been lower than 25 knots since the emergency departure of Guam. At its peak, it even used the ocean current to reach an appalling speed of 30 knots. At the same time, it is also exciting to make him worry about the power module.

Fortunately, the four big guys held on, which made him finally feel relieved. Looking at the two cruisers in the distance, he didn't expect that after he was finally promoted from light patrol to captain of the battleship, he encountered such a beautiful errand for the first time, with a sneer at the corners of his mouth.

"Direction 090, left rudder 45°, naval gun ready!"

"Notify Pinghai and get ready to attack!"

"Yes!"

The communication staff officer just took the order excitedly, but the first officer frowned: "Captain, are you really going to fire?"

"Prepare to attack!" Ning Xiaochuan continued to give the order, and then nodded heavily, "Do you know what the emperor's first sentence was after learning that our warship was trapped?"

In the action of the first officer and all the officers shaking their heads, Ning Xiaochuan had picked up the telescope, turned around and said slowly, "The emperor asked, where is the nearest battleship!"

"Everyone should forget the previous light patrol regulations. Now we are battleships, and it takes 2,000 tons of fuel to sail back and forth this time! Enough to build a few torpedo boats! If you don't fire, why do you come to us? Do you want to dig bird droppings? Before raising the telescope, Ning Xiaochuan smiled and raised his hand: "2 kilometers ahead of the target enemy ship, warning to shoot once!" -

"Ames, do you think they will fire?" At the side of the turret of the Maryland A, Sergeant Sampson pulled the corner of Ras Pruance's clothes, and his face was a little nervous.

In fact, everyone is very nervous, because there is a new battleship among the support warships sent by the Xinhua Empire, and they have not made any contact so far. Instead, they began to turn right, which made many people feel bad.

Spruance didn't say anything. Looking at the battleship that was suddenly turning right and the turret began to move, he knew that the enemy would definitely fire, because no one would use the battleship in the skirmish, but if it was used, he would at least shell the warning and show force!

Otherwise, the battleship will lose its value!

Because the navy only believes that axioms only exist within the range of naval guns.

In the bridge, Captain Pratt saw the muzzle that began to sink through the telescope and knew that the other party was not attacking, but to fire a warning, so he immediately ordered: "Get ready."

As soon as his words fell, a group of sparks suddenly exploded in the telescope. Only a few small black dots jumped up from the sea and then flew at him.

On the Maryland, everyone held their breath. The gunners were subconsciously ready to fight back, but when they put their hands on the button, they suddenly found that there was no order.

"Boom."

In the retina, nine huge columns of water just rose from 2,000 meters away, and there was a sharp roar and explosion in my ear almost at the same time, sweeping across the Maryland like a summer hurricane.

"Report, they sent telegrams and flags."

"What are you talking about?"

"Release, or go to war!"——

"Where is the nearest battlecruiser!"

This sentence is the sentence "Where is the nearest aircraft carrier?" It's the same, but at a time when the aircraft carrier does not have perfect combat capabilities, the battleship is undoubtedly the only hegemon of the ocean.

However, no one expected that shortly after Li Mo said this sentence that would be recited by many people in the future, there was a roar in the London Admiralty Building, which was said to be heard even on the opposite street.

"Where is the New Zealand?"

Churchill, who had just become the Minister of the Navy, was tired of it. He finally suppressed Germany a little on the battleship, but he didn't expect that Li Mo's bastard to get a more powerful battleship than the Iron Duke class being built, and it is said that there are still three ships of the same type under construction!

In this way, he has to worry about whether the interests of the British Empire in the Pacific will be suddenly attacked, because Xinhua suddenly offered a loan of 500 million yuan to Germany before, will this be a harbinger of their alliance?

To this end, he had to send six Nelson-class ships that imitated the first new battleship of the Xinhua Empire to India, and the two tireless-class battlecruisers assisted by New Zealand and Australia were also sent to India. However, Britain's strength in the Atlantic Ocean has also been greatly reduced.

But not long after it stopped, a naval hydrological investigation ship in Xinhua broke into the Gilbert Islands. Although it was temporarily mortgaged to the United States, it is still the territory of the British Empire at this moment!

You can imagine how angry this news will make him angry.

Fortunately, two cruisers blocked them nearby. Unexpectedly, in less than four days, the other party sent two support ships to force the cruisers to release the two trapped warships.

This is a fierce slap!

There is no doubt that Li Mo never does meaningless things. There are skirmishes in the Pacific Ocean several times a year. Everyone has wins and loses with each other, so he didn't care too much at first.

But the telegram from the United States sent by Maryland five hours ago made this small friction a little too much, because Xinhua actually dispatched a battleship and fired a warning shot! It only shows that he has begun to resend against the cooperation between Britain and the United States in the Pacific Ocean and is going to show his muscles!

What made him even more angry was that the battleship did not leave after completing the task, and was still confronting the Arrogance and Maryland! The New Zealand, known as the world's fastest battlecruiser, has not yet arrived in the Gilbert Islands, so he can only watch the cruiser under the threat of the enemy.

God knows if the shell will fall in the next second!

"Mr. Winston, don't you think the battleship arrived too fast?" John Fisher was still very confident in the cruiser he designed, so he suspected that there was something wrong with the Yanjing-class battleships and said, "Do you think they will use battleships to cover up the truth?"

"John, you mean it's actually a battlecruiser?" Churchill understood a little, and his heart suddenly sank. If the Xinhua Xinrui Yanjing class was not a low-speed battleship, but a battlecruiser, it would be terrible, because the capital ship maneuverability representing Li Mo's fleet would be greatly improved!"

"I heard that the Germans once sold their latest steam engines to Xinhua six sets, so." Fisher said fiercely, "We must increase the number of battlecruisers and increase the mobility of the fleet!" I suggest that the current four lions should be upgraded to eight.

"What?" Churchill waved his hand quickly: "John, although your battlecruiser is perfect, do you know? As the gun and tonnage are getting larger and larger, their speed is decreasing, and the Lion class can only reach 22 knots at present.

"No, in fact, our new power has made a breakthrough. I think it can be used for capital ships in three years at most, and according to my calculations, the speed of the Lion class can be increased to 25 knots!"

"Oh? Really?" Churchill thought for a moment that the fourth Tiger is currently in the process of greatly improving its design. From now on, it will take three years from construction to delivery. Basically, it can match the power system, but the problem is to add four more. God, the parliament and the Prime Minister will kill themselves!

If Britain belongs to the absolute maritime hegemony before Li Mo takes out the new battleship, then when the battleship Rhine bought by Germany arrived in Europe, the whole world was already on the same line.

Although Britain has proud battleship manufacturing and technical capabilities, it is already a little unresisturable economically, which has also led to a decline in the speed of British technology and shipbuilding.

For centuries, except for the previous Anglo-Poland War, Britain's annual budget has never exceeded 200 million pounds, but this year it has reached 400 million pounds. Last year, the total national income of the entire British Empire was only 2.1 billion pounds.

More importantly, Britain is not a reader. It must also provide enough loans to Russia and France. At present, 200 million pounds have been paid to Russia alone to ensure that they can contain the increasingly aggressive Germany.

And there is no sign of the end of this competition so far. The Germans seem to have to catch up. It is said that five King-class battleships will be built again. According to the concept of one German and two British, at least ten Queen Elizabeths who have been secretly started!

The huge financial pressure has made people a little overwhelmed, so in order to borrow money from the United States, and in order to curb the expansion of the Xinhua Empire in the Far East and ensure that the interests of the Pacific Ocean are not violated, Britain had to mortgage a large number of colonial islands in the southwest Pacific to the United States in exchange for loans.

Look at the opponent again. Although Germany is also uncomfortable, Germany made a lot of money when the United States embargoed machinery to Xinhua before. It is estimated that those funds can build at least two battleships! Recently, they borrowed another 500 million blue coins from Xinhua in the control area of Guinea, which will undoubtedly be invested in the military by William II.

There is no doubt that the United States is the world's largest economy.

The only thing that people didn't expect was that Xinhua, because of its huge demographic advantage, has even surpassed the United Kingdom to become the second in the world. Although it is only $40 in terms of per capita income, less than one-nineth of the United States, let alone the United Kingdom, Li Mo has a population of nearly 500 million!

Damn 500 million!

Any number multiplied by 500 million is an extremely huge number!

Coupled with the prices of rubber, sugar and other materials he has monopolized, he can get at least 1 billion US dollars and about 200 million pounds a year to invest in military construction! Coupled with the $100 million blackmail from the United States, the capital ships he is currently building have hardly spent his own money!

Churchill waved his hand and tried to calm himself down from the confrontation in the Pacific Ocean. Thinking of the Chinese battleship that appeared outside Singapore, he was full of depression and asked, "John, do you want me to ask for the opinions of the parliamentarians, but how is your 15-inch gun?"

Referring to the secretly developed 15-inch naval gun, Fisher's face immediately sank. Although it was advertised to be 14 inches, in fact, this gun was very troublesome from the beginning, and it was hard to say whether it could be put into service on time.

In fact, he can't be blamed. The era of new battleships came too fast. From 12 inches to 13.5 inches, and then all countries began to take out 14-inch or even 15 or 16-inch super-large cannons. The British Empire was also a little caught off guard.

That's why he crossed the 14-inch and forced the 15-inch gun. However, when he was about to say the progress, the secretary suddenly rushed into the room: "Mr. Winston, the Negoro of the door has declared war on Turkey!"

Before Churchill and Fisher came to their senses, the secretary shouted again, "Also, Yanjing just sent a telegram. The representative of Nicholas II appeared there. It is said that he will purchase 100 million blue coins worth of arms from the Xinhua Empire!"

"What?!"

"Idiot, this stupid bastard, he actually used the loan provided by our country to buy arms from the enemy!" When Winston Churchill heard the news, he couldn't even care about the opening of the Balkan War. He trembled angrily, but before he finished scolding, his secretary completely punched him into the ice cellar with a stick.

"I think there is a worse news. Germany announced an hour ago that they had sold the Baghdad Railway to Xinhua. It is said that the deal was negotiated last year!"

The news made everyone seem to have sunk into the ice cellar. Everyone knows what the Baghdad Railway means. At that time, Britain almost went to war with Germany for it!

In order to prevent Germany from connecting this large artery across Europe and Asia, Germany was pressed to death in Europe. In the end, Britain, France and Russia exerted pressure at the same time to solve the problem, but now Li Mo's guy is stepping in!

If it had been a few years ago, Britain would not be afraid at all, but now it is different. The important surname of the Baghdad Railway is self-evident. If Li Mo really wants to build it, then Osman, Germany, Austria-Hungary will definitely support it, and Italy may also support it, so that's it!

The sky is full of war!

Fisher couldn't help shivering. Although many people are saying that war is inevitable, in fact, Britain is not ready. If there is a war now, no one can predict the consequences!

Listening to Churchill's roar that almost shattered the whole building, Fisher sat down slowly. There was no doubt that Li Mo was all because of the initially formed Anglo-American Pacific Defense Agreement, but no one expected that the counterattack would come so quickly and unprepared!

"Is it really going to start a war?" Looking at the drizzle outside the window, London in front of me seems to suddenly become foggy...

(to be continued)