"Report, the expeditionary force fleet has been divided. ”

"Oh! Immediately switch the radar display to the big display. ”

Saying that, Shang Jinfeng took a few steps to the large display area of the command room, staring intently at the radar display that had just switched to the large central display, and it could be clearly seen that the expeditionary fleet was divided into three parts, one of which was moving forward to break away from the main body of the expeditionary fleet, while the other part was separating from the other side of the main body of the expeditionary fleet.

Shang Jinfeng pondered for a while before he said, "Send the picture taken by the drone to the display screen." ”

I saw that on the other secondary display screen, there was a picture of drone aerial shooting, which was basically the same as the picture displayed by the radar, but it was a real-life shooting, of course, each ship was displayed very small on the screen, and only the outline could be roughly seen.

Shang Jinfeng said again: "Enlarge the picture and see what kind of warships these are. ”

He was referring to the warships that had broken away from the main body of the expeditionary fleet, and although they had not completely separated at this time, about 10 warships had clearly separated from the main body of the expeditionary fleet. After the picture is enlarged, it can be clearly seen that these warships are all battleships, and the flags fluttering on the mast show that they are all British warships.

Shang Jinfeng nodded, and said, "What type of warships are these warships?" ”

Data clerk Zhou Jiang said: "The first three ships are Dreadsome class, and the back five ships are Majestic class. ”

Originally, in the process of monitoring the expeditionary fleet, the KPA had already matched and identified the main warships of the expeditionary fleet, and the British and French battleships, armored cruisers, and some protective cruisers had all identified and stored the relevant data.

At this time, the commander of the fleet, Han Chao, said: "Is this the vanguard fleet sent by the expeditionary force fleet, with the scale of the expeditionary force fleet, it is completely possible to send an advance fleet of more than 20 warships." ”

Shang Jinfeng said: "This is possible, but we have to look at it again, and then enlarge the fleet that is separated on the other side." ”

After the fleet separated on the other side was enlarged, everyone could see clearly that they were all transport ships. Han Chao said again: "It seems that this is to separate the auxiliary ships from the combat ships, which is like preparing for war." ”

Shang Jinfeng nodded and said, "After the expeditionary fleet is completely separated, determine the direction of each fleet." ”

After about 30 minutes, the expeditionary fleet was completely divided into three groups, of which the fleet composed of auxiliary vessels sailed in the direction of Taiwan's Kaohsiung Port, while the other two fleets, although one in front of the other and one behind, sailed in the same direction, both headed in the direction of the People's Army fleet. Therefore, by this time, the purpose of the expeditionary force fleet was also very clear, that is, to let the auxiliary ships anchor in Kaohsiung Port, so that the combat warships could go into battle lightly and go all out to enter the war, and the target of the operation was, of course, the fleet of the People's Army. It is also prudent to divide the fleet into two branches, the front and rear, first, to test the strength of the KPA fleet, and second, to prevent other changes in the KPA fleet.

It was determined that the expeditionary force fleet had finally chosen war, and the top and bottom of the KPA Navy were also relieved, because the KPA fleet had entered the Taiwan Strait the afternoon before yesterday and had already waited for a day and two nights, and at the same time it was also monitoring the expeditionary force fleet for a day and two nights。

Shang Jinfeng said: "Report to the Military Commission immediately, the expeditionary fleet is heading in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, and it is expected to meet in 2 hours." Of course, the fleet is in a hurry, and the anxious mentality of the people in the rear is not weaker than that of the officers and men at the front, so whenever there is a new situation, it must be reported to the rear as soon as possible, and the people in the rear can also understand the situation at the front line in a very timely manner.

Han Chao, on the other hand, ordered to inform all ships that the enemy fleet had gone fishing and was expected to engage in battle in two hours, and ordered the Southern Fleet to be notified so that they could prepare for an attack, but not act rashly.

At this time, Chief of Staff Zhang Weining said: "Commander, if the Southern Fleet is allowed to attack at this time, it can just intercept the auxiliary ship fleet of the expeditionary force fleet, and can easily destroy them, this is a great opportunity, because the army of the expeditionary force must be inside." ”

When Han Chao heard this, he couldn't help but move in his heart, this is indeed a good opportunity, although the auxiliary ship fleet has no combat effectiveness, but it is the guarantee of the combat effectiveness of the combat warships, and there is also the army of the expeditionary force, if these auxiliary ships are really annihilated in one fell swoop, as well as the army of the expeditionary force, then even if the expeditionary fleet is still there, the role will be slowed down. After all, no matter how strong a warship is, it cannot be driven to fight on land.

So Han Chao immediately calculated on the map, measuring the route time of the Southern Fleet, and taking the route time of the expeditionary force fleet, but after repeated calculations by Han Chao, it was determined that before the expeditionary fleet entered the Taiwan Strait, the auxiliary ship fleet would reach Kaohsiung first, which meant that the Southern Fleet would attack before the Northern Fleet, but the goal of the East China government in this battle was to completely annihilate or severely damage the expeditionary fleet, so the auxiliary ship fleet that attacked the expeditionary fleet first was obviously putting the cart before the horse. Moreover, once the expeditionary fleet finds out, it is very likely that it will change its plan and abandon the decisive battle with the KPA fleet.

Han Chao finally shook his head and said, "Forget it, the expeditionary fleet is about to enter the Taiwan Strait, and at this time, we won't make any more trouble." Let the auxiliary fleet let them go. After a pause, Han Chao said again: "But we can't wait here for the expeditionary fleet to come over, this is too passive, we should take the initiative to greet it." ”

Zhang Weining listened, nodded as well, and said: "That's right, we should indeed send a fleet to lead the expeditionary fleet, but even if it is the vanguard fleet of the expeditionary fleet, the strength is not weak, 8 battleships, 4 armored cruisers, if there is no bonus of modern warships, our fleet will not have much chance of winning against them, so it is not easy to send a fleet to lead them, don't send people to the head." ”

Han Chao also nodded and said, "That's right, let's let the armored cruiser squadron attack, but bring the expeditionary fleet over." ”

Zhang Weining said: "This is the best choice, although the defense of armored cruisers is not as good as that of battleships, but they are faster and more flexible, and they are indeed better than battleships to lead the enemy." ”

So Han Chao immediately gave an order to the armored cruiser squadron to let them go out and go to the expeditionary fleet, and at the same time reminded them not to be careless, and pay attention to protecting their own safety, after all, this time it was just to lure the enemy, not to really fight.

The commander of the armored cruiser detachment is called Lu Kai, who was originally the captain of the Changbai Mountain ship, because the Changbai Mountain ship was dismantled at the beginning of the establishment of the East China government, so Lu Kai was also one of the first to command the warships of this era.

After receiving Han Chao's order, Lu Kai immediately ordered the armored cruiser squadron to attack and sail in the direction of the expeditionary fleet.

When the KPA Navy's armored cruiser detachment was dispatched, it was immediately spotted by the British destroyer Venter, which had been hovering back within 15 to 20 kilometers of the KPA fleet, and this warship was the first British reconnaissance ship to spot the KPA fleet, and Phillips ordered it to keep an eye on the KPA fleet, so it had been cruising around for more than three hours.

In fact, the KPA Navy had discovered the destroyer a long time ago, but it had never moved on the Venter River and had not driven it out, the purpose was to let the Venter River transmit back the news of the discovery of the KPA fleet, so as to attract the expeditionary fleet. Moreover, because the Sanya ship had been tracking the British fleet for days before and had collected a large number of radio signals from the British fleet, and the KPA evacuation fleet had also collected a large number of radio signals during the naval battle of the Natuna Islands, the KPA Navy had input these radio signals into the Kunming ship's computer, and after calculation, the British fleet's wireless password had been cracked at this time, so it can be said that the expeditionary force fleet is basically completely transparent to the KPA Navy now, and there is no secret.

However, the Vent River naturally knew nothing about this, and when it saw the armored cruiser detachment of the KPA Navy dispatching, it immediately sent the news back. And after receiving this news, the commander of the temporary formation, Major General Martinez, was also worried and happy. Worryingly, it seems that the KPA fleet has discovered its own fleet, and the happy KPA fleet did not retreat, but sent an armored cruiser formation to meet it.

Of course, Martinez is not surprised that the People's Army fleet found its own fleet, Bi Jing's own reconnaissance ship can find the other party, then it is not surprising that his own fleet was discovered by the other party, after all, after understanding the naval battle of the Natuna Islands, Martinez has no contempt for the People's Army Navy, and regards it as a strong enemy, if at this time, the other side can not find its own fleet, then what kind of fierce enemy?

It is even possible that the other party even discovered the Vent River, but was too lazy to expel it, because the other party did not retreat, but sent a formation of armored cruisers to meet it, which is very illustrative, this is the intention to fight with himself.

But Martinez thinks that this also shows that the People's Army fleet only found its own fleet, and did not find the home team of the expeditionary force fleet, otherwise the People's Army fleet did not say that it sent a fleet to meet it, I am afraid that it would have turned around and retreated, this is not Martinez arrogant, but the difference in strength between the two sides is indeed too big, and he changed himself to be the commander of the People's Army fleet, and after discovering the home team of the expeditionary force fleet, he will also retreat decisively, which has nothing to do with courage and fighting spirit, it is completely a tactical choice.

According to Martinez's judgment, of course, it is beneficial to the expeditionary fleet, but this time the time for his own fleet and the KPA fleet to meet will be greatly shortened, and it is estimated that it will not exceed two hours.