"It seems that this Ernest Joseph King is really not simple!"

At noon, listening to the report on the combat operations of the Flores Island Air Force and the aircraft carrier formation, Natsuki couldn't help but sigh with such feelings. www.biquge.info Since he came to the Azores front, neither Standley nor Chatfield has been able to cause trouble on his way to the altar, and Joachim's name is fast becoming a spiritual banner in the Allied camp, and more and more people believe that the Allies will win the war, and those who want to seize the opportunity to make a war windfall are becoming more and more ready to move, as evidenced by the entry of Italy and Austria-Hungary.

For the Allied camp, it is of course a good thing to have such an inspiring and morale-boosting banner, and for Natsuki personally, it is a great opportunity for him to reach the pinnacle of military affairs and write the history of the war.

After the enemy air raid on Flores Island, Natsuki immediately mobilized all the forces he could mobilize to try to catch the cunning fox, but it disappeared completely from the sight of the Allied forces as if it had used a stealth method, leaving the Allied Navy and Air Force, which had the advantage in strength, with nothing to vent their anger on.

"After last night's battle, Chatfield's fleet is already a frightened bird, and there is nothing to worry about, but this little-known Rear Admiral Kim is very worthy of vigilance. Speaking of which, I had a relationship with him five years ago, but unfortunately it was only a brief conversation, and I lacked understanding of this person's personality and thinking, but Admiral Spears has been a naval attaché in the United States for a long time, and may be able to provide some valuable information, so it is better to ask him to sort it out and provide a report as soon as possible, what does Your Majesty think? ”

After a period of cooperation, he was already convinced by Natsuki, and Natsuki also praised the meritorious general's rich experience, careful thinking, and upright character, and the two quickly became a good pair of special identities in this war.

Natsuki responds with a dialectical point of view: "The more you know your opponent, the more likely you are to make the right judgment about his next move, but you can't rely too much on the analysis provided by others, because that brings more or less the subjective consciousness of the person who provided the information." ”

"You're absolutely right." Beinke agreed.

"I have a vague fear that the enemy will attack again in places we don't expect to dodge at the moment, just when we naturally feel that the enemy is trying to avoid our big retribution."

Beinke pondered for a moment: "You mean...... Is it possible for the enemy to raid the island of São Miguel? ”

Natsuki did not answer directly, but instructed the adjutant of staff: "Send a telegram ordering the defense headquarters of each island to strengthen their alert, double the range of sea and air patrols, double the personnel on duty of fighter units and anti-aircraft artillery units, and be sure to guard against possible enemy attacks from any direction before the special alert order is lifted." ”

The staff adjutant quickly recorded the order and left Natsuki's quarters.

"Even if there is no order just now, the defense deployment of São Miguel Island is strong enough, and the strength of the Golden Fleet is limited, I don't think it is likely that he will gnaw such a hard bone, as for Santa Maria Island......" Natsuki habitually touched his chin, he didn't shave this morning, and the stubble was already coming up at this time.

Regarding Natsuki's analysis, Beinke did not fully agree: "Santa Maria Island is indeed a more ideal target for attack, but if I were Rear Admiral Kim, I would not be reluctant to go far and go on a long expedition in the current situation, after all, the original main fleet could no longer give me enough support, and if the intention of the attack was discovered, I would inevitably fall into the situation of fighting alone." Therefore, I will lead the fleet to temporarily avoid the opponent and look for another opportunity to fight. ”

Natsuki nodded, he was not a god, and his judgment would be wrong, because of this, he needed a partner who could analyze and speculate the battle situation from different angles, and had enough vision and resourcefulness to remind him.

"But if I were King, I would do it, after all, the Chatfield fleet is basically incapacitated, and if we can't divert the attention of our opponents in the short term and find a way to break the naval blockade, this battle is basically hopeless." Speaking of this, Natsuki looked at the sea outside the porthole, "In this way, this American admiral's way of thinking is very close to mine. ”

At this time, the main fleet led by Xia Shu and the aircraft carrier group that had previously acted separately had already joined the waters southeast of Flores Island, and the silhouettes of the four aircraft carriers could be seen from his cabin. Throughout the ups and downs of the Battle of the Azores, the battlefield position of the air force has replaced the traditional maritime supremacy of battleships and battle cruisers, and the biggest turning point is undoubtedly the battle in which the Allied aircraft carrier group attacked the US and British aircraft carrier formations.

In the case of a number of capital ships returning to Europe for overhaul, the four modern aircraft carriers are obviously the trump card force that Natsuki relies on the most, and the key to whether the combat operations of the gold fleet will be smooth in the next depends on whether their chess arrangements can be accurate.

Among these four aircraft carriers, the "Swabia", "Joachim I", and "Emanuele III" have all been fighting on the Azores front for a long time, and have maintained a high attendance rate, and the backbone pilots have gradually cultivated to a higher level in the fierce and brutal battles, and the newly recruited pilots have not only undergone rigorous technical training, but also have experience in fighting in Britain, and take five stars as the highest level that a naval combat team can achieve. The overall combat level of these three German aircraft carriers is already between two and three stars. As for the Italian aircraft carrier "Garibaldi", which has recently joined the war group, because it has never received war experience, according to Natsuki's assessment, it is at the half-star level -- this 20,000-ton aircraft carrier is an Allies-class quasi-type ordered by the Italian Navy from Ireland, and it is carrying IR-30T fighters, IK-30T bombers, and IK-22T torpedo planes. Half of the 24 torpedo planes and 2 spare planes were trained in Ireland, and the rest were trained by Irish instructors, although they were part of the army in Italy. Don't look at the casual nature of the Italian life, as long as you are serious, you can reach the world's top level in many fields.

It is worth mentioning that a key reason why the Italian Navy sent the "Garibaldi" to fight in the Atlantic Ocean this time was that they had never included aviation in the category of "capital ships," so that they were able to avoid the rigid restrictions of the Italian top leadership on their capital ships only fighting west of Gibraltar and came to the Azores, where the sea and air warfare were the most thrilling. Of course, the German government's "one for one loss" criterion to persuade Italy and Austria-Hungary to enter the war was another important reason for the Italians to take risks. At this stage, the German Navy has placed orders for the construction of a number of Zeppelin Improvements in one go, and if the "Garibaldi" is unfortunately sunk on the Azores front, the loss of ships plus casualties is enough to get a Zeppelin-class or Zeppelin Improved Edition from the Germans as compensation, which is very cost-effective for Italy, which aims to enter the ranks of first-class military powers and suppress the old enemy of Austria-Hungary.

Putting these complications together, Natsuki only sees the "Garibaldi" as half of the main aircraft carrier tactically, and perhaps this Italian team, which has never appeared on the stage of war, will show an impressive performance in future battles, but various examples in history have told Natsuki not to expect high hopes from them at any time, then a miracle may happen.

In line with the consistent routine of making arrangements in advance and adjusting to the battle, Natsuki organized the "Joachim I" and "Emanuele III" together with the "Garibaldi", the three Allied-class aircraft carriers, and sailed to the waters of San Miguel Island accompanied by the battlecruiser "Mackensen" in order to deal with a possible attack by the Golden Fleet on the island of Santa Maria. Cover your ships and continue to transport troops and equipment to the islands of Flores and Corvo.

Natsuki was not entirely sure that the Golden Fleet would take a huge risk to the waters south of the Azores, and that night, a German submarine cruising more than 200 nautical miles northeast of the island of Corvo sent a telegram saying that it had discovered the whereabouts of the American and British fleets and that it had been fiercely attacked by enemy destroyers, which further led Natsuki's judgment in the wrong direction.

Out of tactical considerations for intercepting the Golden Fleet on the way, Natsuki led the "Hanover," "Baden," and "Swabian" and the heavy cruiser formations that had previously made great achievements to advance toward the waters off Pico Island, and issued operational orders to the Allied air forces deployed on Flores Island and San Miguel Island, asking them to launch a large-scale air attack on Texel Island and Pico Island early the next morning, so as to suppress the land-based air forces of the US and British forces and plan the combat operations of the main fleet, but taking into account factors such as time, range, and combat status, On the one hand, the "Joachim I" and "Garibaldi" had minor mechanical problems that needed to be repaired as soon as possible, on the other hand, the self-sustaining ability of the Confederate class was much inferior to that of the Zeppelin class, and it was just right to enter the port to rest and replenish when going to San Miguel.

(End of chapter)