Song Limin, deputy commander-in-chief of the coastal defense fleet on Crescent Island, immediately called Wang Hongchun, commander of the fifth formation, after receiving a telegram from Zhou Rui.

"Crazy Wang, send a telegram, the expeditionary force of the Silver Wolf Empire has arrived on Pusha Island, and it is time for your fifth formation to be dispatched next."

Wang Hongchun said with some excitement: "This time, our fifth formation must let the navy of the Silver Wolf Empire have a good look at the power of the battle cruisers!" ”

Three of the eight battle cruisers of the fifth formation of the coastal defense fleet were sunk in the Battle of Xiangshi Island, and two battle cruisers, the Wurui and Yongxi, were seriously injured and are being repaired in the floating dock.

Only three Moltke-class battlecruisers remained, the Wusheng, Wugong, and Wude, which could continue the operation.

However, because Zhou Rui added 4 invincible-class battle cruisers to the fifth formation, the number of battle cruisers that the fifth formation could fight increased to 7.

After the naval battle at Xiangshi Island, the officers of the coastal defense fleet had clearly realized that the battle cruisers were not suitable for fighting the enemy's battleships, especially the battleships with all main guns, because their armor was not thick enough.

The biggest advantage of a battlecruiser should be speed, followed by firepower comparable to that of a battleship with full main guns.

Therefore, in view of the characteristics of the battle cruisers, Zhou Rui, Song Limin and others formulated new tactics, using the seven battle cruisers that the fifth formation could fight as a raiding fleet.

When the Silver Wolf Empire's expeditionary force attacks Xiangshi Island, the harassment fleet will attack the opponent's supply lines in the waters between Pusha Island and Xiangshi Island, and hunt down the opponent's small and medium-sized warships and transport ships.

Song Limin said in a deep voice: "Crazy Wang, this time the fifth formation will be equipped with 6 new light cruisers.

After arriving in the waters between Pusha Island and Xiangshi Island, your fifth formation will need to collect as much information as possible about the enemy's main fleet in addition to the task of attacking the opponent's supply lines. ”

The new type of light cruiser that Song Limin mentioned refers to the German Wiesbaden-class light cruiser extracted by Zhou Rui from the lottery system.

This light cruiser can reach a top speed of 27.5 knots, which is fully capable of keeping up with the speed of both battlecruisers.

At present, the 12 German Wiesbaden-class light cruisers delivered by Zhou Rui to the coastal defense fleet have all been incorporated into the task force.

After the end of the Battle of Xiangshi Island, only the Feirong light cruiser was left in the task force, and if it were not for the addition of 12 German Wiesbaden-class light cruisers, Song Limin would have even been ready to cancel the number of the task force.

Wang Hongchun nodded and said: "We keep in touch at any time, hoping to find fighters for the three battleship formations with full main guns." ”

The three all-main gun battleship formations refer to the third, eighth, and ninth formations of the coastal defense fleet.

The all-steel battleships of the original third formation of the coastal defense fleet have either been sunk or scrapped, and the new third formation consists of six British giant-class battleships, namely the Phoenix, Fengming, Fengyi, Fenghe, Fengluan, and Fengcai.

The eighth formation consisted of 6 French Colbe-class battleships, namely Longjiang, Longwu, Longscale, Longsheng, Longrui, and Longyin.

The ninth formation is a newly formed formation of the coastal defense fleet, consisting of six German Caesar-class battleships, namely Tianxin, Tiangang, Tiangong, Tianguang, Tianjun, and Tianshu.

"Although our coastal defense fleet now has 18 real battleships with full main guns, the enemy we are facing is much stronger.

If the Third Fleet of the Silver Wolf Empire Navy on Pusha Island is also counted, the other side can gather more than ten battleships with full main guns and more than ten all-steel battleships, as well as small and medium-sized warships that far surpass our coastal defense fleet.

For the three battleship formations with full main guns, the best fighter is to wait for the opponent to divide the troops! ”

Wang Hongchun pondered for a moment, "The Silver Wolf Empire won't know that our coastal defense fleet has suddenly increased by dozens of warships, and I feel that it is very likely that the other party will divide its forces." ”

"Crazy Wang, this time your fifth formation will attack independently, you must not be reckless.

If you encounter a battleship formation of the Silver Wolf Imperial Navy, you have to take advantage of the speed advantage to get rid of it as soon as possible and not entangle. ”

"Old Song, don't worry, the loss of the battle of Xiangshi Island, our fifth formation has eaten enough, I won't be stupid to use the battle cruiser and the battleship with all the main guns to bombard again.

If there is an advantage, I will take advantage, and when I encounter the opponent's battleship formation, I will retreat directly, and the opponent's battleship will not be able to catch up with the battlecruiser anyway. ”

Early in the morning of February 23, the raiding fleet, consisting of 7 battle cruisers and 6 light cruisers, left the port of Crescent Island.

What Wang Hongchun didn't expect was that at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, the raiding fleet encountered a detachment of the Silver Wolf Empire Navy.

This detachment of the Silver Wolf Empire Navy consists of 1 large armored cruiser, 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers, and the task of this Silver Wolf Empire Navy detachment is to search for the main force of the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet in this sea area.

Due to the Zhou family's secrecy work on Crescent Island, it has been done very well, and so far, the navy of the Silver Wolf Empire has not known where the main force of the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet is hiding.

Only many old antiques of the Zhoujia coastal defense fleet were found, and they gathered in Jingsheng Port.

"Order the ships to go up at full speed! Don't let these fat sheep run away! Wang Hongchun said with his hands in his hands.

Daniso, the captain of the large armored cruiser Aster of the Silver Wolf Imperial Navy, saw the 7 battleships with full main guns on the opposite side, and immediately ordered the 5 warships to turn around and retreat.

However, the maximum speed of the large armored cruiser Aster was only 21 knots, while the maximum speed of the seven battle cruisers of the fifth formation of the coastal defense fleet reached 25.5 knots.

As the distance between the two sides continued to close, Daniso immediately ordered the first mate: "Let the other 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers immediately accelerate their retreat, and we will stay and stop the enemy."

Tell the four captains that this is a military order and must be carried out!

They stayed and sacrificed in vain. ”

The first mate nodded with a solemn expression, "I didn't expect that the speed of the opponent's all-main gun battleship could reach more than 25 knots."

With the Aster Flower's top speed of only 21 knots, it was indeed difficult to escape from the opponent's pursuit.

And it's too far from Pusha Island to call for reinforcements. ”

Daniso straightened his military hat, "Since you can't escape, then let these humans see the courage of the Royal Navy of the Silver Wolf Empire!"

In addition, the opponent's battleship with all main guns had a speed of more than 25 knots and immediately reported it to the other side by telegraph.

This is also the last bit of contribution that our Aster can make to the Imperial Navy. ”

The Aster large armored cruiser, with a full load displacement of 9,200 tons, is equipped with two twin 45 times caliber 220 mm main guns and 6 45 times caliber 150 mm secondary guns, and the firepower is not weak.

However, in the face of the group fight of 7 battle cruisers, the large armored cruiser Aster fought back, but in the end it still could not escape the fate of being sunk.

Originally, when the Aster Flower sank, some of the wolf clan officers and soldiers on the ship still had a chance to escape.

However, including the 630 wolf officers and men below the captain Daniso, all of them finally sank into the sea with the Aster.

In the previous wars between the human state and the orc state, there were not many orc captives that humans could capture alive.

The orcs have always believed that humans are synonymous with weakness, and becoming a captive of humans is a thing that is even more embarrassing than death.