Chapter 703 Naval Battle

Compared to the overwhelming attack of the Australasian army, the French seemed a little anxious.

But for France, there is another country that has not gained much benefit at present, that is, the British Empire that promoted the war against the United States.

The 100,000 troops sent by Britain have now arrived in Canada, and most of them participated in the Battle of Augusta and the Battle of New York.

Because most of the elite American troops gathered here, the British army's advancement was very slow, and it can even be described as a turtle's speed.

Half a month ago, the Canadian army had already reached Augusta. Now that the British army has taken over the defense line, the front line is still in Augusta, advancing less than two kilometers.

This seems a bit incredible, but it is indeed the main theme of this war.

Although the combat effectiveness of the US army is not strong, as long as the war enters the trench warfare of continuous consumption, the little combat effectiveness advantage of the British army will disappear.

Trench warfare is not about the combat effectiveness of the army, but the number of heavy firepower weapons equipped by the army and the ammunition reserves.

Of course, there is one more thing to add, that is, the number of people who are often lost quickly in trench warfare.

The British army led part of the coalition forces and the US army to fight a continuous war of attrition, and the total number of deaths on both sides has exceeded 30,000.

If the number of people injured in the offensive and defensive battles is counted, the total number of casualties on both sides has exceeded 100,000, which is more than the previous regular number of the US Army.

However, the medical technology of various countries is no longer so backward, and penicillin from Australasia is also popular in Europe and the United States.

As long as they are not seriously injured, it is no problem for lightly injured soldiers to return to the battlefield after simple medical treatment.

Severely injured soldiers will be transferred to important cities in Canada for treatment, and they will return to the battlefield when their injuries are almost healed.

Although the British offensive has temporarily fallen into a stalemate, neither Britain nor other countries have any intention of further increasing troops for the time being.

After all, less than half of the 800,000 soldiers of the coalition army have been deployed on the battlefield, and the remaining half are either still on the way or have not set off at all.

In addition to the three countries of Britain, France and Australia, which can quickly assemble their troops, the countries that can rush to the battlefield earlier are nothing more than Canada and Mexico, which are relatively close.

As for the remaining European countries, I am not criticizing them, but their war mobilization is really several levels behind that of the great powers.

Although the army's offensive was in a stalemate, the British navy was very active. Compared with the army, the navy does not need long-term mobilization and preparation, and can set off at any time with sufficient personnel and supplies.

This led to most of the navy of the coalition forces gathering in the Atlantic Ocean. The British led the coalition navy to frantically track the whereabouts of the US Navy in the Atlantic Ocean.

As long as we can have a decisive battle between the navies with the US Navy and quickly solve the main force of the US Navy, this war will be half won.

As for the United States relying on the army to delay the attack of the coalition forces, this is almost impossible.

After all, the domestic economic crisis in the United States is also quite serious. Although the coalition forces cannot delay for too long, it does not mean that Americans can withstand the long-term war consumption.

Although the logistics of the coalition forces are at a disadvantage, if they really enter the consumption stage, the combined strength of multiple countries cannot be underestimated.

Compared with the attitude of the coalition navy seeking a decisive battle, the US Navy appears to be more wretched.

Under the order of the US Navy Commander, the Atlantic Navy retreated to the port, and even the patrol fleet was recalled, as if to give the entire Atlantic to the Allied Forces.

Although this avoided a decisive battle between the main navies of both sides, it also exposed the US East Coast to bombing and threats from the Allied Navy.

This is not over yet. After the news that Australasia did not find the Pacific Fleet on the west coast of the United States reached Britain, Britain decisively strengthened patrols in the Panama Canal and Drake Passage to prevent the Americans from quietly assembling all fleets.

No, the long-term patrols soon paid off.

More than a month after the outbreak of the war, on August 27, 1928, the Allied Forces finally received the whereabouts of the US Pacific Fleet.

The Pacific Fleet was indeed not on the west coast of the United States, and they had even quietly arrived in South America.

But the problem is that the current navy does not have nuclear power, and it needs to dock to replenish fuel and supplies before the fuel runs out.

Especially after the Panama Canal was blocked, the US Pacific Fleet needed to detour the entire South America to go to the Atlantic, which also meant that they needed to replenish supplies at least three or four times.

Unfortunately, the relationship between South American countries and the United States is not very good, so it is basically impossible for the US fleet to replenish supplies quietly.

When the US military was quietly replenishing supplies in Ecuador, South America, the intelligence personnel here also noticed the US warships and successfully reported it to the Supreme Staff of the Joint Forces.

At the same time, the Ecuadorian government also reported the news to Spain, and the Spanish government also reported the news to the Joint Forces.

With the mutual confirmation of the two pieces of news, the Pacific Combined Fleet led by Australasia and the Atlantic Combined Fleet led by Britain quickly rushed to the area and surrounded the US Pacific Fleet.

Of course, the Atlantic Fleet is doomed to be unable to move in full force. According to the naval strength of both sides, the strength of the Pacific Combined Fleet alone has surpassed that of the US Pacific Fleet.

Because of this, the Atlantic Combined Fleet will only send a squadron to assist the Pacific Combined Fleet in combat, ensuring that it can defeat the US Pacific Fleet with a crushing advantage.

The purpose of the US Pacific Fleet appearing in South America is already quite obvious, that is, to go to the Atlantic Ocean and join the US Atlantic Fleet.

The joint forces will naturally not give the Americans such an opportunity. The squadrons that went to South America to implement the encirclement and suppression are all fast fleets composed of strategic cruisers. Starting from the Panama Canal, it is no problem to catch up with the Americans within half a month.

After all, the Americans are acting in secret, which also means that their navy is doomed to be unable to move at full speed.

In addition, most of the Pacific Fleet participated in this operation, and the speed of the US fleet must not be too fast, and it will take longer to replenish supplies.

On September 11, the fast-moving Pacific Combined Fleet finally found the trace of the US Pacific Fleet.

However, the fleet did not act rashly, but first used the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier to explore the strength of the US Navy, and by the way, look for opportunities to weaken the strength of the US Pacific Fleet in advance. ₆₉ₛₕᵤₓ.cₒₘ

Australasian currently has a large number of aircraft carriers, and the number of aircraft gathered together has exceeded hundreds.

Among them are not only reconnaissance aircraft and fighters, but also bombers that pose a great threat to the main battleships.

However, jet aircraft will definitely not be used in this operation. This type of aircraft is currently the trump card of the Australasian military and is not suitable for display in such a small-scale military operation.

Even so, the aircraft that Australasian brought out can be regarded as world-class.

At least compared with American aircraft, the number and combat effectiveness are still superior.

Shortly after the Australasian aircraft was dispatched, the US Pacific Fleet actually noticed something wrong.

But the enemy's long-distance reconnaissance Pacific Fleet had no way to do it, so it could only send aircraft on its own aircraft carriers to drive it away.

Soon, the Americans realized the gap between them and Australasia in terms of aircraft.

Realizing that his whereabouts had been exposed, the commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Fleet did not dare to be careless. He even ordered all the aircraft on an aircraft carrier to be dispatched to drive away the reconnaissance aircraft of Australasia.

But more than 20 American aircraft had no ability to resist the aircraft of the same number of Australasia troops. Several of them were soon shot down. The remaining ones did not dare to confront head-on and could only desperately dodge bullets.

But unfortunately, the most important thing about aircraft is flexibility and speed. In these two aspects, American aircraft are lagging behind.

Although the American pilots have tried their best to operate, they only persisted for one or two minutes, and finally crashed into the ocean with a puff of black smoke.

Seeing that almost all the aircraft on his side were destroyed, the face of the commander of the US Pacific Fleet suddenly darkened, and he conveyed his order to retreat to the messenger.

Where to retreat? Naturally, evacuate to the Drake Passage in the south.

It is no longer realistic to stay in the Pacific Ocean, because the fleet has no reliable supply point for supplies, and every time it replenishes supplies, it is most likely to be surrounded and pinched by the enemy.

Instead of staying in the Pacific Ocean and waiting for death, it is better to attack the Drake Passage with all our strength, at least to let the main force of the Pacific Fleet go to the Atlantic Ocean.

After all, although the Drake Passage is called a strait, it is actually a very wide ocean.

The southernmost part of South America and the northernmost part of Antarctica are separated by thousands of kilometers. The commander of the US Pacific Fleet does not believe that the joint forces can completely block the Drake Passage, and there will definitely be gaps in defense.

Although the replenishment of supplies along the way is still a problem, it is obvious that the US Pacific Fleet has no place to retreat.

At most, it is forced to replenish supplies from the cities in South America halfway, anyway, the commander of the US fleet thinks so.

But unfortunately, before this US fleet sailed too far, there was a clear buzzing sound in the sky again.

This time it was not the reconnaissance plane from Australasia, but fighters and bombers with sufficient weapons and ammunition.

The fighters were responsible for escorting the bombers, and the more than ten bombers that looked very large were the main weapons of this attack.

When the enemy's planes were seen, the commander of the US fleet immediately ordered the air defense weapons in the fleet to aim at the enemy.

But the current air defense weapons are not very reliable. It is very difficult to hit high-altitude and high-speed aircraft, and it can even be said that there is no hope.

The only thing that can really resist aircraft is aircraft, but at present, most of the aircraft of the US fleet have been lost, and the remaining ones are obviously no match for the enemy aircraft.

In order to make this bombing operation go smoothly, the Pacific Combined Fleet did not take action.

At the same time as the aircraft were dispatched, the fleet also moved forward for a distance, and both sides were almost within the range of each other.

The US fleet also discovered this soon, and the messenger reported to the commander of the US fleet with a nervous face: "Commander, the enemy is about to enter our range!"

Looking at the bombers getting closer and closer in the sky, and then looking at the enemy fleet whose outlines were almost visible through the telescope, the commander of the US fleet was also in a dilemma.

Obviously, the enemy wanted him to be attacked from both sides and reveal flaws in a hurry.

But he didn't have a good solution. After most of the planes were damaged, the only thing that could limit the enemy planes was the anti-aircraft weapons on the warships.

In order to better guard against enemy planes, the fleet became more dispersed and concentratedly attacked enemy planes with anti-aircraft weapons.

Dispersing is to reduce the probability of enemy bombers hitting. After all, the size of warships is big and small, and it is indeed not easy for high-speed flying aircraft to aim.

As long as the bombs do not fall on the more important positions of the warships, the threat to the warships is not that high.

Making the warships more dispersed is to increase the probability of bombs falling into the sea.

But the problem is that if the fleet is dispersed, the naval battle is bound to be at a disadvantage.

The enemy fleet is also close at hand, and a formation that is too dispersed will not have an advantage in a naval battle.

Especially if the enemy's warships are in a battle formation, the more dispersed fleet on our side will easily fall into a disadvantage.

So, should we deal with the enemy fleet or the aircraft overhead?

After careful consideration, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet decided to focus his attention on the enemy fleet.

After all, the United States also has airplanes, and facts have proved that the current threat of airplanes to warships is not that high.

Unless you are unlucky and the bomb falls on the deck and falls in front of the naval soldiers, otherwise, the damage caused by the airplane to the warship is not fatal.

But the enemy's fleet is different.

The Americans also have certain intelligence. The Pacific Fleet in front of them is a combination of the Australasian Fleet and the British Indian Ocean Fleet. The total tonnage of warships and the number of main battleships exceed those of the US Pacific Fleet.

If they fall into a disadvantage at the beginning of the naval battle, this naval battle is doomed to fail.

As for the planes overhead, send a certain number of people to drive them away with anti-aircraft weapons, and don't let the enemy's planes get too close to the warships.

The commander of the US fleet thought so, and his orders were also issued in this way.

Under the commander's order, the US Pacific Fleet quickly took action, set up a naval battle formation, and waited for the enemy fleet to approach.

In the case of naval advantage, the navy's decisive battle in Australasian is not timid.

More importantly, according to the news, the battlecruiser fleet sent by the Atlantic Combined Fleet is not far from the battlefield.

Now, even if a large-scale naval battle breaks out with the US Pacific Fleet, the advantage is completely on the side of Australasia, and there is nothing to worry about.

The navies of both sides are arranging battle formations, while the aircraft have already begun their own actions.

Although the distance between the navies of both sides is several kilometers, it is just a blink of an eye for aircraft to change lanes.

After the bombers approached the US fleet, they immediately dropped a large number of bombs, naturally the decks and command towers of the US fleet.

The flagship where the commander of the US fleet is located naturally became the main target of the bombers.

As expected by the commander of the US fleet, most of the bombs did not hit the decks and facilities of the warships, but fell into the ocean not far from the warships.

But the Australasian Air Force is obviously well-trained, and several bombs fell on the deck of a battleship.

Boom! Boom!

As the bombs exploded, the gun turret on one side of the battleship was directly ignited.

The chain explosion directly affected the entire deck, and almost no American navy on the deck of the battleship survived.

This is not the most important thing. The explosion directly blew a big hole on one side of the deck, the steel deck was directly deformed, and there was a crack in the hull. Seawater was constantly pouring into the battleship along the crack, causing the battleship to tilt quickly.

"Damn, a battleship is silent like this?" The commander of the US fleet watched all this, but there was no way to remedy it at this time.

Such a serious injury can only be dragged to the shipyard for repair, but the current situation is definitely impossible for this battleship to support the shipyard.

It can only be said that the captain of this battleship is really too black-faced, and the explosion of the bomb can affect the turret.

For battleships, the two most dangerous places are the turret and the ammunition storage. There are a large number of shells in these two places. If they are unfortunately ignited by enemy shells and bombs, the chain bombing caused will be a fatal blow to the warship.

The instantaneous serious injury of this battleship is not the most serious. Because there are still several bombers looking for targets above the US fleet.

Although not every bomber can achieve its goal, such guys hovering above the head are a big blow to the morale of the US Navy soldiers.

The good news is that this round of bombing ended quickly, and the US main warship only lost the battleship.

The remaining light cruiser and a destroyer were sunk, but it was a blessing in disguise for the main force of the fleet.

However, the commander of the US fleet did not breathe a sigh of relief, because the real naval battle has just begun.

Compared with the threat of aircraft in the sky, if the enemy's navy cannot be resolved, the only fate of their Pacific Fleet may be to be captured.

As for all the warships being sunk, this is impossible.

After all, no one is a fool. When most of their own injuries are incurred, they will definitely think of running away as the best strategy.

Huh!

Exhaling a breath, the commander of the US fleet set his sights on the enemy fleet in the distance and asked the messenger to pass his order to all American soldiers: "Soldiers, defeat the enemy in front of you!

Either we successfully reach the Atlantic Ocean, or we can only be buried in this ocean. For the United States, and for all your families, kill them!"

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