The West Francian navy is much more courageous than the Tang navy, and if it is a Tang warship, I am afraid that it will have slipped away long ago when it encounters such a main fleet as West Francia.

This is also the foundation they have accumulated over the past 100 years.

The so-called navies of major powers are judged by the level of equipment on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are competing for this global maritime power projection capability. Only in this way can the maritime rights and interests of the entire country be safeguarded on a global scale.

The distance between the two sides was gradually approaching, and at 17:10, the two sides were less than 20 nautical miles apart, and they were almost within the maximum range of the heavy cruiser's 8-inch guns. After quickly judging the situation, Ou Chen gave the order for the main gun to be loaded with armor-piercing shells, and asked the signalmen to notify the "Anzhou" in front to prepare to turn through a light signal.

Unfortunately, the days in the South Pacific are so long at the equator that the sun is still hanging high in the sky, and there are still more than three hours before it gets dark.

The two Tang warships began to turn to the right and gradually accelerated on the surface of the sea. Two and a half arcs formed on the surface of the sea, and the two West Francian heavy cruisers rushed away.

More than a dozen nautical miles away, the West Francian heavy cruisers "Gokes" and "Pencent" were closely watching every move of the Tang fleet in front. Colonel Henry Harold, the captain of the "Gokes", was the temporary commander of this cruiser detachment, and he certainly hoped to be able to personally deal with this "evil Tang pirate fleet" - since the beginning of the war, this fleet has sunk more than 20 French and Spanish merchant ships, attacked four ports, and caused huge losses to the Atlantic sea transportation lines of the European Union countries, and now the navy of the King of West Francia has sent more than 20 capital ships above the cruiser to search for and encircle this fleet. And that's not counting the three search fleets sent by the Kingdom of Spain.

Just to encircle and suppress these Tang warships, the fuel consumed by daily activities alone is already an astronomical amount!

Of course, Colonel Henry Harold was self-aware, and he did not want to repeat the mistake of Admiral Jean Soul's victory in the Battle of Cape East, so he wisely ordered to slow down and maintain a safe distance from his opponent. "Continue to report our exact location and the target to General Samuville and General Jean Sur, and ask Lieutenant General Alfonso to come to support as much as possible. Can't let them run again this time! He looked through the telescope at the blurred shadow of the enemy ship on the sea antenna ahead, and commanded the communications officer.

Their fleet was part of Admiral Samuville's H Fleet, a patchwork of pursuing fleets drawn from the West African Fleet, including two aging Brittany-class battleships, the Cotentin and Calais, and the aircraft carrier Wrangler.

However, the speed of the two old "Brittany" class battleships was too slow, and after learning the news that the Tang fleet had fled to the South Atlantic, Admiral Samuville led the fleet to the south along the coast of Africa, intending to prevent the Tang fleet from returning to the waters of the North Atlantic.

After receiving the news that the North Atlantic Fleet of the Tang Kingdom was sailing from the coast of Africa to South America, Admiral Samuville ordered the two heavy cruisers in the fleet, which were fast, to rush to South America for reinforcements first, while he led two old battleships and the "Wrangler" to rush to South America slowly.

Now, this Tang fleet, which is wandering around committing crimes, has finally been caught by the tail, but unfortunately, he does not have such a good tooth to take out the opponent.

It's a tricky thing to do.

At 17:13, the "Pencent", which was sailing to the left of the "Gox", suddenly raised the flag: "I-think-for-enemy-ship-is-in-toward-we-side-turn-direction!" ”

Colonel Harold picked up the phone from the bridge that led to the observation platform above: "Hey, Harper, can you see the movement of the enemy ships?" ”

"Report sir, there's a light fog on the sea, can't you see clearly?" The voice of Captain Harper, who was on duty at the watchtower, came over the microphone.

"Send two men to the top of the mast!" Harold issued an order that he needed to confirm the enemy's new moves.

While the sailors of the "Goks" were climbing to the top of the mast, the signaling officer continued to report: "Sir, the 'Pencent' continues to signal to us that two enemy ships are approaching us!" ”

At the same time, the lookout also loudly confirmed the situation.

"They seem to want to evict us and not let us come close." "If we're getting rid of it now, they're likely to use the night to get rid of our tracking." We need to engage them in a fight, and the navigator and fleet continue to approach the enemy. He raised his binoculars and kept staring at the sea in the distance, and then said to the communications officer behind him: "Report to the Admiralty and to General Samuville and General Phillips: Our ship is about to engage the enemy." Well, and report our coordinates to them together. ”

Both fleets continued to approach at high speed, and combat signal flags were raised on both warships.

Looking at the gray dots in the distance, Ou Chen stood in the bridge wrapped in the hot South Atlantic wind in his short-sleeved shirt, and the West Frankish warships on the opposite side also began to turn, as if they wanted to distance themselves from them.

"General...... Do you need to let the 'Anju' entangle them? Seeing that the West Francian ship began to turn, Captain Shen Congbin, who was standing beside Ou Chen, was also a little anxious. As the captain of the ship, he was well aware of the shortcomings of his battleship, its speed of 27 knots was absolutely unable to catch up with his opponents, and he could not get rid of it.

"No, General Ling Wencha has almost gone around their backs." Ou Chen shook his head, "We just need to drive them over, and then attack them from both sides!" ”

This was a plan that had already been drawn up, and Ling Wencha had now led two other warships around the enemy's rear, and the enemy would soon fall into the trap......

At this time, the two fleets were moving in opposite directions, and although the British ships had begun to make a move to turn south, the distance between the two sides was still narrowing.

This was the first time Ou Chen had experienced an artillery battle with an enemy ship, and his face was glowing red with excitement, and the feeling of a face-to-face fight against the enemy was completely different from that of the gunnery practice.

The SKDSK32 330mm naval gun has a maximum range of 33 km, but in practice it spreads too much of the impact point at the maximum distance, and the commanders are still accustomed to engaging in firefights within visual distance.

At this time, the "Sayanling" was sprinting at full speed, and the high-pressure oil pump and fan in the power compartment were humming, spraying a large amount of fuel and fresh air into the furnace of the burning boiler. The high-powered steam turbine in the engine room was running at full speed, causing the entire hull to tremble.

Two Tang warships approached the target at maximum speed after completing a right turn.