Since the Golden Lion Empire sent 180 battleships with full main guns and 100 battle cruisers to join the joint escort fleet at once, the Red Tiger Empire and the Black Bear Empire also increased the number of capital ships accordingly.

In the end, the Red Tiger Empire sent a total of 150 all-main gun battleships, 70 battlecruisers, 70 all-steel battleships, 70 large armored cruisers, 200 light cruisers, and 260 destroyers to join the joint escort fleet formed by the three navies.

The Black Bear Empire sent 120 all-main-gun battleships, 60 battlecruisers, 50 all-steel battleships, 50 large armored cruisers, 140 light cruisers, and 180 destroyers to join the combined escort fleet.

As a result, the number of capital ships of this joint escort fleet composed of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Black Bear will be as high as 680, including 450 battleships with full main guns and 230 battle cruisers.

The number of secondary capital ships will reach 400 units, including 200 all-steel battleships and 200 large armored cruisers.

It is not easy to assemble such a large fleet, not to mention the hundreds of transport ships loaded with various weapons and supplies, which also need to be assembled.

By the time the warships and transports of the navies of the three countries had assembled at the Maotoudao Naval Base of the Red Tiger Empire, it was already the end of December of the year 1544.

In a little more than a month, the Zhou army, under the command of Xiang Tao, had captured almost 3.5 million square kilometers of the land of the Barbarian Empire, and if it were not for logistical problems, the captured territory might have doubled.

In a study room in the Southwest Town Guard Mansion in Ganyang City, Zhou Rui asked Song Limin, the commander-in-chief of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, in a deep voice: "Old Song, are you sure?" ”

Song Limin said with a solemn face: "Great Marshal, our Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet and the navies of the six beast nations must score a victory, and there is no possibility of reconciliation at all.

This time, only the navies of the Golden Lion Empire, the Red Tiger Empire, and the Black Bear Empire have joined the so-called joint escort fleet, and the navies of these three beast countries have not yet poured out, I feel that this is an opportunity for our Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet. ”

As soon as Song Limin's words fell, Zhou Xiaorong immediately spoke: "But once the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet fights with the joint escort fleet of the three beast countries, it is likely that the Golden Lion Empire, the Red Tiger Empire, the Black Bear Empire, and even the entire Six ** Alliance will declare war on our Zhou family."

According to the intelligence of the 'ghost', the joint escort fleet of the three orc countries only escorted a large number of weapons and supplies, and there were no army units of the three orc countries.

If it's just weapons and supplies, it's actually nothing to our Zhou family's army.

Perhaps many of these weapons and supplies will soon fall into the hands of our Zhou family's army. ”

What Zhou Xiaorong said is not an exaggeration at all, at present, the Zhou family army has eliminated more than 5 million barbarian troops, including some armed forces temporarily formed by the barbarian empire.

Among the more than 5 million barbarian troops, the number of barbarian officers and soldiers who surrendered to the Zhou army alone was as high as 4.3 million, and the number of barbarian officers and soldiers who actually died on the battlefield was less than 800,000.

A large part of the weapons and materials that the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Black Bear supported to the Barbarian Empire before fell into the hands of the Zhou family's army.

Judging from the current battle situation, if the Golden Lion Empire, the Red Tiger Empire, and the Black Bear Empire do not send land forces into the Barbarian Empire to participate in the war, just relying on the Barbarian Empire itself, even if these three beast countries send more weapons and materials, the Barbarian Empire will not be able to resist the attack of the Zhou Army.

Zhou Rui pondered for a moment and said, "Old Song, how many main formations are you going to send to the battle?" ”

Today, the 20 "Shu"-class full-main gun battleships built by Ganyang Shipyard and Jingsheng Shipyard, as well as the 30 Xianyuan-class full-main gun battleships and 30 traditional-class battlecruisers built by the Liang Yan Empire for the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, have all joined the sequence of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

In addition, in the past few months, Zhou Rui added 60 all-main gun battleships and 24 battle cruisers to the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet from the lottery system.

60 full-gun battleships, including 12 U.S. Nevada-class full-gun battleships, 12 U.S. New Mexico-class full-gun battleships, 12 U.S. Tennessee-class full-gun battleships, 12 German Bavaria-class full-gun battleships, and 12 British Queen Elizabeth-class all-main-gun battleships.

The 24 battlecruisers were all British Prestige-class battlecruisers, with a full load displacement of 32,740 tons and a maximum speed of 31.5 knots.

It was armed with 3 twin 42-caliber 381-mm main guns, 15 102-mm secondary guns, 2 76-mm rapid-fire guns, and 4 533-mm torpedo tubes.

The broadside armor belt was from 102 mm to 152 mm, the main deck armor was 76 mm, the main turret armor was 279 mm, and the full crew was 955 people.

As a result of the addition of so many capital ships at once, the original 14 main forces of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet were once again reorganized.

However, after the new reorganization, the main formation of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet changed back to twelve.

The first formation is divided into 8 teams, and has 48 US Nevada-class all-main gun battleships, that is, "Fu" class all-main gun battleships.

The second formation is divided into 8 teams, and has 48 American New Mexico-class all-main gun battleships, that is, "Mo" class all-main gun battleships.

The third formation is divided into 8 teams, and has 48 US Tennessee-class full-main gun battleships, that is, "Tian"-class full-main gun battleships.

The fourth formation is divided into 8 teams, under the jurisdiction of 22 Fuso-class full-main gun battleships of the Dongying Kingdom and 20 Ise-class all-main gun battleships of the Dongying Kingdom, that is, the "Shang" class all-main gun battleships and the "Yi" class all-main gun battleships.

The fifth formation is divided into 8 teams, under the jurisdiction of 30 "Xian" class full main gun battleships and 20 "Shu" class full main gun battleships, the "Xian" class is also the Xianyuan-class full main gun battleship.

The sixth formation is divided into 8 teams, under the jurisdiction of 48 German Bavaria-class all-main gun battleships, that is, "Var" class all-main gun battleships.

The seventh formation is divided into 8 teams, under the jurisdiction of 48 British Queen Elizabeth-class all-main gun battleships, that is, "King" class all-main gun battleships.

The eighth formation is divided into 8 teams, under the jurisdiction of 15 German King-class full-main gun battleships, 15 German Caesar-class all-main gun battleships, and 10 French Corbe-class all-main gun battleships, that is, the "Lie" class all-main gun battleships, the "Tian" class all-main gun battleships, and the "Dragon" class all-main gun battleships.

The ninth formation is divided into 9 teams, under the jurisdiction of 12 British Orion-class all-main gun battleships, 10 British Iron Duke-class all-main gun battleships, 24 captured all-main gun battleships, and 4 all-main gun battleships built by Ganyang Shipyard Dongfeng, Nanfeng, Xifeng, and Beifeng.

The Orion class is the "Rui" class full main gun battleship, and the Iron Duke class is the "Yao" class full main gun battleship.

The 10th Formation is divided into 10 squadrons, under the jurisdiction of 36 British Lion-class battlecruisers and 22 German Seydlitz-class battlecruisers, namely the "Jie" class battle cruisers and the "Fei" class battle cruisers.

The 11th Formation is divided into 11 teams, under the jurisdiction of 36 Dongying Kingdom Kongo-class battlecruisers and 30 traditional-class battlecruisers, namely the "Shun" class battlecruisers and the "Chuan" class battlecruisers.

The 12th Formation is divided into 8 squadrons, under the jurisdiction of 24 British Prestige-class battlecruisers, 15 German Moltke-class battlecruisers and 5 British Invincible-class battlecruisers, namely the "Sheng" class battle cruisers, the "Wu" class battle cruisers and the "Yong" class battle cruisers.

Today, the entire Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet has 422 battleships with full main guns and 168 battle cruisers, and the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet is already the world's No. 1 navy in terms of the number of capital ships alone.

In addition, each main force of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet is also equipped with 24 large armored cruisers, 40 light cruisers and 48 destroyers, among which some large armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers were built by the Ganyang Shipyard.

Hearing Zhou Rui ask how many main formations the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet was going to send to participate in the battle, Song Limin immediately replied: "Marshal, according to the information obtained by the 'Ghost Shadow', the joint escort fleet of the three beast countries has a total of 450 battleships with full main guns and 230 battle cruisers.

There were also 200 all-steel battleships, 200 large armored cruisers, 600 light cruisers and 740 destroyers.

Therefore, our Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet is ready to concentrate all the main forces this time and have a decisive battle with the combined escort fleet of the three beast countries! ”

Zhou Rui's expression was a little hesitant, "Old Song, do you really want to gamble?" ”

Song Limin nodded affirmatively, "Great Shuai, since we have formulated a plan to annex the entire Barbarian Empire, then we can't let those beast countries send troops into the Barbarian Empire, otherwise if we want to swallow the entire Barbarian Empire, I don't know how much time it will take."

This time, the joint escort fleet of the three orc countries is only escorting weapons and supplies, if next time, maybe it will be the army forces of the various orc countries that are escorting.

And at that time, the so-called joint escort fleet may be larger, and even the navies of the Flying Leopard Empire, the Silver Wolf Empire, and the Wild Bull Empire may also join the joint escort fleet at that time.

If our Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet can severely damage the combined escort fleet of the three beast countries this time, then several beast countries should not dare to send land forces to the Barbarian Empire, let alone declare war on our Zhou family. ”

Nowadays, many policies of the Zhou family's feudal towns, Zhou Rui has borrowed from another time and space, which can be called a policy of benefiting the people, which makes the people under the rule of the Zhou family more supportive of the Zhou family.

After the Zhou army captured the cities of the Tuban Empire, they also copied the Zhou family's policy of benefiting the people to the side of the Tuban Empire, which made the low-level people of the Tuban Empire who were originally exploited and oppressed immediately become the supporters of the Zhou family.

In view of the situation of the Barbarian Empire and the weak combat effectiveness of the Barbarian Army, Zhou Rui's ambition for the Barbarian Empire also increased, and he decided to take advantage of this opportunity to annex the entire Barbarian Empire in one fell swoop.

Zhou Rui turned his head to Zhou Xiaorong and asked, "Second uncle, what do you think?" ”

Zhou Xiaorong immediately said categorically: "If the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet can continue to cut off the sea transportation channel of the Tuban Empire, our army is confident that within four months, the Tuban Empire will be resolved!" ”

"Good! Then let's take a gamble!

At the beginning, the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet was able to defeat the joint expeditionary force of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Silver Wolf, and this time it will definitely be able to defeat the joint escort fleet of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Black Bear! ”

Zhou Rui knew that even if the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet could severely damage the joint escort fleet of the three beast countries this time, it would definitely suffer a lot of losses.

However, Zhou Rui's confidence is that the four large shipyards built by the Zhou family in the Ganyang Shipyard, Jingsheng Shipyard and the Liang Yan Empire have now begun to build 48 battleships with 380 mm guns and 48 battle cruisers with 380 mm guns at the same time.

Among them, the all-main gun battleship is equipped with five twin 45-caliber 380 mm guns, with a full load displacement of 38,000 tons and a maximum speed of 22 knots.

The battle cruiser was armed with 4 twin 45-caliber 380-mm guns, with a full load displacement of 38,400 tons and a maximum speed of 27 knots.

This is only the first batch of capital ships with 380 mm guns that Zhou Rui plans to build, anyway, Zhou Rui is not short of money, and then Zhou Rui is also preparing to build the same number of second batch of capital ships with 380 mm guns.

In addition, Zhou Rui also placed orders for 30 Xianyuan-class battleships with full main guns and 30 traditional-class battlecruisers in several shipyards in the Liangyan Empire.

In addition, Zhou Rui can also get a lot of warships from the lottery system, so the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet can withstand losses.

In a large hall of the imperial palace in Lingyang City, the capital of the Liang Yan Empire, Emperor Fan Yi asked the crown prince Fan Pu and the prime minister Lu Qing with a solemn face, "What do you think of the secret telegram sent by Zhou Rui?" ”

Prince Fan Pu said with a wry smile: "That Zhou handsome of the Zhou family is inevitably too bold.

It was a joint escort fleet composed of the Golden Lion Empire, the Red Tiger Empire, and the Black Bear Empire, and the number of capital ships and secondary capital ships combined exceeded a thousand.

That Zhou Dashuai actually wanted to take the initiative to launch an attack on the joint escort fleet of these three beast countries, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was bold. ”

Prime Minister Lu Qing said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Zhou Rui obviously asked our Liang Yan Navy to also participate in the war. ”

Emperor Fan Yi sighed and said, "I know what Zhou Rui means, but the combined escort fleet of the three beast countries is too strong, can the Zhou family's southwest coastal defense fleet win?" ”

Prime Minister Lu Qing said categorically: "Zhou Rui said on the telegram, since the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet will gather 422 battleships with full main guns and 168 battle cruisers this time, then there are still some chances of victory.

Moreover, our Liang Yan Empire and the Zhou family of the Han and Tang Empires are already grasshoppers on a rope, and our Liang Yan Empire actually has no other choice. ”

Emperor Fan Yi shook his head and said, "Then let's gamble with the Zhou family!"

The order arrived at the First Fleet and the Second Fleet on the coast of the Barbarian Empire, temporarily under the command of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet of the Han and Tang Empires! ”

After the Zhou army launched an attack on the Tuban Empire, the Liang Yan Empire, in order to express its position, sent two main fleets to the coast of the Tuban Empire to assist the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet in blocking the sea transportation channels of the Tuban Empire.

And the navy of the Liang Yan Empire only has a total of three main fleets.