On the battleship Wilhelm IV, General William Bagga lifted the curtains, looked at the sky full of stars, and frowned a little more.
"Where is Team B?"
"We have arrived near Guadalcanal Island and are currently conducting a search. Once it is determined that there is no danger there, we can pass through that area."
William Baga put down the curtains, turned around and walked back to the chart table. He held the edge of the table with one hand and slid the other hand on the chart, and found Guadalcanal Island, located in the center of the Solomon Islands. He immediately discovered the value of this small island - as the flight range continues to increase, sooner or later this island will become a key point in controlling the Solomon Sea and the Solomon Islands! If the British Empire can keep Australia this time, it will definitely deploy heavy troops on Guadalcanal in the future!
William Baga felt frightened again at the thought of keeping Australia. This is a kind of battlefield intuition that is difficult to explain clearly. Although the intelligence gathered to him so far shows that the main force of the Pacific Fleet has sailed to the South China Sea, Pearl Harbor is relatively empty. But he still felt that the attack on Pearl Harbor would not have any good results!
Moreover, when he led the fleet into the Solomon Sea where islands are dotted, he felt a strange feeling of falling into a trap and being targeted by the enemy. But the Solomon Islands were clearly under the control of the British Empire!
The British Royal Navy and Army have stationed troops on many islands in the Solomon Islands. The Navy has deployed gunboats and torpedo boats, and the Army has deployed infantry and artillery. But General Baga felt extremely uneasy! Especially after he received a report from the Kaiser Wilhelm this morning that a "UFO" had been discovered, he became even more uneasy.
Are there any UFOs in this world? That thing must be a Ming Dynasty seaplane!
However, Truk Lagoon and Kwajalein Atoll are too far away from the Solomon Islands. The seaplanes deployed there are unlikely to fly to the Solomon Sea for reconnaissance. Therefore, a squadron of the Ming Dynasty's Pacific Fleet may have slipped into the Solomon Islands. Set up an ambush!
William Baga, aware of the danger, did not change his route to the New Guinea Sea or the open sea east of the Solomon Islands.
Because the New Guinea Sea is too close to the Nanyang Islands in William Baga's view. If the Ming Dynasty's seaplane discovered the whereabouts of his large fleet, the aircraft carrier of the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang Fleet was probably rushing over! If he takes a little more time to turn to the New Guinea Sea, after his fleet sails out of the New Guinea Sea, it may be overtaken by the Ming Dynasty aircraft carrier fleet rushing back from the South China Sea. This can be dangerous.
As for moving further east and heading north through the open sea east of the Solomon Sea, William Baga doesn't think it's very appropriate - this route is too "clean", in case something unexpected happens and a huge fleet They can only be exposed to the vast ocean, without even a place to hide.
In the end, it was impossible for him to turn back to Port Moresby just because a seaplane discovered his whereabouts. In fact, his purpose of traveling so far to the South Pacific was not really to attack Pearl Harbor. But for a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty Pacific Fleet after the division of troops!
If his fleet can win this decisive battle, it can temporarily crush the Ming Dynasty's threat to Australia. Don't underestimate this "temporary" breakthrough! Because the actual war between the Ming Dynasty and Britain has been going on for 2 years. During these 2 years, the results achieved by the Ming Dynasty were actually not great. They were only in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra Island, South Luzon Island, the Persian Gulf, and the southeastern coast of Texas. Billions of Points" territory.
Except for the Strait of Malacca between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, the rest of the land was either barbaric or deserted, and did not have much value. Therefore, there must be people within the Ming Dynasty who opposed this war that was not worth the gain.
Once Ming Dynasty cannot quickly make a substantial breakthrough in the direction of Australia, which they want most, the two sides may be able to make peace.
Therefore, William Baga decided to maintain the original march route. However, William Baga did not foolishly follow the original plan and let his large fleet form a large column and march northward.
Instead, he divided his fleet into eight detachments including ABCDEFGH. Among them, A detachment and C detachment are both battleship detachments, D detachment and F detachment are aircraft-carrying armored cruiser detachments, and B detachment, E detachment, G detachment, and H detachment are detachments with armored cruisers as the core. .
During the specific navigation, the four detachments, B, E, G, and H, went hand in hand, clearing the way in front and searching at the same time, while A detachment and C detachment carefully followed behind, and D detachment and F detachment hung on the main fleet. at last.
"Admiral, telegram from Team B, they seem to have discovered a small formation of the Ming Navy!"
At this time, Fleet Chief of Staff Commodore Jervis suddenly shouted.
William Baga quickly received the telegram with a cold flash in his eyes: "Our prey has arrived. Order Major General Boehme to lead his troops into battle immediately!"
"Admiral," Jervis reminded, "do you really want to fight? Will it further expose our strength?"
William Baga shook his head: "No, I want to test the current strength of the Ming Navy. We have made rapid progress during this period, but will they also make progress? And I am not afraid of exposure. Maybe we will be exposed. We can attract part of the Ming Navy's Pacific Fleet to Truk Lagoon, no, near Kwajalein Atoll! As long as we can severely damage them and delay their actions in the South Pacific, we will achieve our goal. Can we attack Pearl Harbor? It doesn’t matter. We don’t have the ability to capture Pearl Harbor anyway.”
In fact, William Baga's fleet also carries some marines, but the number is limited. It is impossible to even think about capturing Pearl Harbor. It may not be enough to capture Truk Lagoon. At most, it can capture Kwajalein Atoll. —The Ming Dynasty didn’t invest much there and just operated it as a submarine base.
On the mast of the large light cruiser Kongming, the two lookouts, Hong Renkun and Feng Yilong, were holding binoculars and looking intently at the hazy figures of the ships in the darkness. Both of them were very nervous and murmuring something!
"Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, bless me, Amen!"
"Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother will definitely keep me safe!"
It’s not that these two are cowardly, but now is the most critical time!
The artillery of the large light cruisers, second-class cruisers, and destroyers of the Ming Navy is not strong. Their advantage is torpedoes! You can't launch torpedoes too far away, otherwise you won't be able to hit them! Moreover, the torpedoes on cruisers and destroyers are not equipped with ammunition. They are all configured to be fired after a wave. Therefore, you cannot release mines too early. The closer the better. But the enemy is not blind!
When the two people were praying to Heavenly Father and Brother Heaven, a dazzling light suddenly appeared in the southern sky, just like a sun suddenly bursting out of the sky.
How can my eyes, which have long been accustomed to darkness, bear this stimulation? Immediately, the legendary "bright blindness" effect occurred, and nothing could be seen except a vast expanse of white.
But even if they couldn't see it, Hong Renkun and Feng Yilong knew that the Kongming had been discovered and was about to be bombarded!
But Hong Renkun and Feng Yilong are not ordinary people. They are both born with the temperament to do great things. They are particularly calm and bold, and they are also particularly lucky. In another timeline, both of them later changed their names. One was named Hong Xiuquan. One is named Feng Yunshan!
Although the two lookout soldiers, who were very lucky and extremely calm, were a little panicked now, they were not in a panic. Instead, they started rubbing their eyes as usual during training - the eyes were their weapons!
You have to quickly recover your eyesight, and then determine the enemy's position based on the muzzle flash. As long as you find the correct position and throw the torpedo out, you won't be afraid of not killing the big fish!
While the two were thinking about it, they heard the dull sound of shelling - the British warship opened fire!
(End of chapter)
