On January 9, after receiving a telegram from Bai Zhizhan, Zhou Yongtao came to the front command in advance with more than a dozen staff officers of the fleet headquarters.

Although the fleet would not arrive until a few days later, Bai Zhizhan decided to establish a temporary command center.

The first task given to Zhou Yongtao was to analyze what kind of tactics the Bran fleet led by Cunningham with 3 fleet aircraft carriers as the core would use to assist the Bran Royal Army in defending Lion Spring City and preventing the imperial fleet from entering Van Yanyang.

Just like in the past, Zhou Yongtao did not disappoint Bai Zhizhan.

Because he had already received the news, before coming over, Zhou Yongtao had already organized staff officers, analyzed the battle situation, and conducted several deductions.

The final conclusion was that Cunningham didn't have many tactics to choose from.

The point is that 3 fleet aircraft carriers are really not enough to see.

According to the latest information, the Royal Navy of Bran dispatched the "Ark Royal", "Radiance" and "Fearful".

The information is very reliable, because in addition to the aging "Fury", the Royal Navy of Bran only has these three fleet carriers.

Two other ships of the Tejas class are still under construction, while the Dreadnought was officially commissioned in November last year.

If anything, the Royal Navy of Bran is the main force to the fullest.

Even so, these three fleet aircraft carriers can only carry more than 120 carrier-based aircraft, and even if they are overloaded, they will not exceed 150.

This number is not as good as the 2 fleet aircraft carriers of the 11th Task Force.

Counting the performance of carrier-based aircraft, the gap is even more obvious.

There is also intelligence that the Royal Navy of Bran did not get the legendary "Sea Fire", nor the "Sea Hurricane", but the "Wildcat" of the Nuland Federation, that is, F4F.

These fighters were aided by the Nuland Federation, replacing the "Pipe-nosed Swallow" fighters, which had long been outdated in performance.

In addition, torpedo planes and bombers may still be old "swordfish" and "skuas".

Although the intelligence is not very accurate, or there is no relevant information, the most that can be obtained from the Nuland Federation can be replaced by the Nuland Navy's carrier-based attack aircraft and bombers.

Because the new carrier-based aircraft of the Nuland Navy have not yet been mass-produced, they can also provide old aircraft.

It is possible that the aircraft carrier Bran was mainly based on fighters, and did not carry many attack aircraft and bombers.

According to the data provided by the Sixth Bureau, the number of F4Fs that Nuland Federal Aid to the Kingdom of Bran has reached 300, and the last batch of 100 is likely to be F4F-4 type.

Even if all 3 aircraft carriers are equipped with F4F-4 fighters, as well as bombers such as SBD, which are not yet backward, the aviation combat capabilities of the Bran fleet are very average.

Fighting for the 11th Task Force?

Even if Cunningham did not lack guts, he would not do stupid things with courage and no strategy.

According to Zhou Yongtao's analysis, Cunningham's most likely tactic is actually to enter the Andaman Sea with a fleet or ambush near the Andaman Islands. If he can grasp the whereabouts of the 11th Task Force, he may also send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the airfields in the southern region of the Daiman Kingdom to eliminate the threat from the land direction, and at the same time contain the Imperial ** team from the flank, so as to relieve the pressure on the defenders of Lion Spring City.

If anything, the main thing is to hold the route to Lion Springs and convince the defenders of Lion Springs that the kingdom and the Royal Navy have not abandoned them.

As long as you stick to it, you will definitely be able to defeat a strong enemy!

Fundamentally, it is actually the army aviation base in Songkhla.

The dozens of long-range fighters and bombers deployed there not only posed a threat to the shipping routes in the Throat Strait, but also the number one enemy of the Bran fleet.

Even if it's just a reconnaissance mission, it's enough to keep Cunningham on his back.

Zhou Yongtao also concluded from this that as long as Cunningham led the fleet to the northeast Fanyan Ocean, he would send carrier-based aircraft to attack Songkhla just as he did with the Raleigh fleet.

However, there is another possibility.

Stand by in the Grett Strait between the Nixpa Islands and Sumatra, and remain as concealed as possible until Task Force 11 falls into the trap.

It's just that you need to take the initiative to give up Lion Springs City.

The reason is also very simple, unless you go through other straits, otherwise the 11th Task Force will have to conquer Lion Spring City before it can enter Fanyan Ocean.

It was also decided that Cunningham would not go to the Gretel Strait to wait for the rabbit.

If Bran's army took the initiative to abandon Lion Springs, wouldn't it be tantamount to telling the Imperial fleet that there was an ambush ahead?

As for sending the fleet to the west of Sumatra, across the second largest island around the Flame Sea, against the Imperial fleet operating near Lion Springs, it was simply impossible.

Here's why: it's too far.

From the Mentawe Islands in the west of Sumatra to the city of Lion Springs, the shortest distance is more than 600 kilometers, and the combat radius of the Bran carrier-based aircraft is only 500 kilometers at most.

Crucially, Bran's fleet was to the west of Sumatra, so it was unable to blockade the Throat Strait.

This means that after destroying the air force of Lion Springs, the Imperial fleet can force its way through and enter the Fanyan Ocean without being stopped.

Obviously, in a decisive battle with the Imperial fleet on the vast Fanyan Ocean, the chances of the Bran fleet winning are even slimmer.

From both a tactical and strategic point of view, the Royal Navy had to do everything in its power to hold off the Imperial fleet and avoid a frontal fleet showdown.

With Cunningham's mind and gaze, it is impossible not to see this.

If anything, he will stay within the cover of shore-based aviation as much as possible, using the military bases all over the Northern Fanyan Ocean to fight against the Imperial fleet. Whether it is delaying time, or fighting a decisive battle with the Imperial fleet, with the cover of shore-based aviation, the Bran fleet is more certain to win.

Cunningham was not a brave and reckless man, and he would never attack the enemy's strengths with his own shortcomings.

Here, Zhou Yongtao proposed a third possibility.

Blockade of the Throat Strait.

To be precise, it was to blockade the Shiquan Strait, the narrowest sea area at the eastern end of the Throat Strait, and force the Imperial fleet to enter the Fanyan Ocean through other straits.

It is not difficult to block the strait of Shiquan City, all that is needed is mines.

After retaking Lion Springs, the Royal Navy had no intention of expanding eastward, and had always regarded Lion Springs as a frontier fortress in the East, stockpiling enough mines here, many of which were produced in the last war but not used up.

Don't forget, in the first place to block the Watcher Strait, the Alliance used tens of thousands of mines.

Because the Shiquan Strait is narrower and the water depth is much shallower than the Watchman Strait, theoretically, a few thousand mines can be sealed.

Before the outbreak of the war, there were no less than 30,000 mines stored in Lion Springs.

According to the strategic deployment of the Royal Navy of Bran, if necessary, all the straits connecting the Guia Ocean and the Fanyan Ocean must be blocked with these mines!

Even if most of the mines were damaged due to poor preservation, the rest would be more than enough to blockade the Shiquan Strait.

If this is the case, the 11th Task Force will have to go south, from the Xunfeng Strait or the Longyan Strait to Fanyan Ocean.

At that time, Cunningham only needs to take the fleet to the waters south of Java, and he will be able to surprise the Imperial fleet when it passes through the strait.

The Bran fleet operates in the waters south of Java Island and is also covered and supported by shore-based aviation forces deployed in Austria.

Among other things, long-range patrol aircraft deployed in Darwin, Derby and Hedland can help.

To sum it up, it's actually a little bit.

With the arrival of the Bran fleet, the battle against Lion Springs will inevitably be affected, and the battle plan will need to be adjusted. 8)