Two days after the departure of the British Far East Fleet, on 29 February, the First Fleet left Gibraltar, and on the same day, the Second Fleet also left Tangier. The two fleets were to join forces to head north, while the Persian "Mediterranean Fleet," which was responsible for escorting the landing fleet, transport fleet, and supply fleet, was two days late. According to the bilateral agreement reached between the Tang Empire and the Persian Empire, the Persian Imperial Navy was mainly responsible for covering the logistical supply lines, while front-line combat operations were entirely undertaken by the Tang Imperial Navy.

The fleet had just entered the Atlantic when Tan received a telegram from the naval command, telling them to go to Lisbon, Portugal, first, and the Second Fleet to Sebatur, south of Lisbon. Tan Renhao had to turn the fleet, and the intention of this order from the Imperial Navy Command was quite obvious, that is, to delay as much time as possible, let Scheer take the risk, and give Satmoville a chance to annihilate the "Far Eastern Fleet"!

As Tan Renhao expected, Scheer's "Far East Fleet" did not dare to directly cross the English Channel into the North Sea. The British deployed tens of thousands of mines in the strait, and hundreds of torpedo boats were stationed in the strait. The British Royal Air Force has also deployed a large number of tactical bombers, as well as medium bombers that can carry torpedoes, and dispatched hundreds of long-range patrol planes to closely monitor the Bay of Biscay in the south.

Scheer's only option was to bypass the British mainland and enter the North Sea from the shipping lanes between the Famer and Shetland Islands, and between Shetland and Norway, and finally back to the Baltic Sea through the Northern Danish Channel. Or head to Bremerhaven and eventually take the North Sea-Baltic Canal back to the port of Kiel. The route ranges from 5,500 nautical miles to more than 6,000 nautical miles, and the fleet can only reach a maximum cruising speed of 14 knots in the North Atlantic, so it takes at least 16 days to reach the port of Kiel. If something unexpected happens, it's not a strange thing to spend 20 days.

On the 24th, the British Home Fleet in Summerville returned to Aberdeen, the largest shipbuilding base in northern England and one of the largest military ports. At that time, a battleship of the "Avantgarde" class was built here. The purpose of the fleet's return to Aberdeen was obvious, and Summerville wanted to restore his "avant-garde" class battleships to combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so that the home fleet could continue to fight.

At this time, the Imperial Navy Command asked Tan Renhao and them to slow down the pace of their journey north, which was undoubtedly a political murder, and finally put Scheer in a dilemma through a simple transfer and deployment. Tan Renhao even thought that perhaps the imperial diplomats in Brazil had hinted at the activities of the German "Far East Fleet" to the British. If British intelligence had learned that the German fleet with three "New Capital" class battleships was on its way back to the homeland, then the British would have repaired the damaged battleships as quickly as possible, allowing the native fleet to set off again to intercept the German fleet!

As for whether the imperial government "framed" the German "Far East Fleet", no one knows, probably only Xue Xiyue knows in his heart. Judging from the situation at that time, as long as Scheer could not return to the mainland, then the Germans would not be able to attack the British mainland, and the Tang Empire would be able to control Britain smoothly. According to Tan Renhao's understanding of Xue Xiyue. If the Germans insisted on refusing to give in and insisted on confronting the Tang Empire, then Xue Xiyue would definitely not care about such a fleet, and it was not the empire's fleet anyway.

Tan Renhao didn't want to ask about this matter, to be honest, he was very disgusted with political struggles, and it could even be said that he was extremely disgusted. The fleet entered the Tagus River on the morning of March 1, and the three task forces were anchored in three ports in Lisbon, the King and Queen of Portugal. Crown prince. and the Prime Minister. Most of the cabinet ministers came to greet Tan Renhao and the others in person, and the Portuguese naval commander presided over the reception, and on the same day, the Second Fleet also arrived in Semathur.

It was a tourist-like visit. In the name of military exchanges, to enhance the traditional friendship between the Empire and Portugal, in fact, it is to show off the great strength of the Imperial Navy, so that Portugal, a country that sees the wind and rudders, will be honest, and the fleet will be parked outside your capital! But the real purpose is to stall for time. For Tan Renhao, as well as the officers and men of the fleet, this is not a bad thing. The reception of the Portuguese government is very well prepared, and if it were not for Tan Renhao's resolute opposition, he would have to spend the night in the Portuguese royal palace tomorrow evening. Special arrangements were made for the officers, even the ordinary sailors, and it can be said that the main job of the Portuguese government during the visit of the fleet was to receive these tens of thousands of officers and men of the Imperial Navy.

The atmosphere of a foreign country made Tan Renhao relax a lot, and he also had a rare few quiet days. As for the words of the Portuguese officials blowing in his ears, he will not take it to heart, he is just a naval admiral, and this is a temporary visit, what political significance does it have, and how much it can promote the friendship between the two countries, this is a period that Tan Renhao does not care about, and the only thing he cares about is the condition of the fleet.

"As I said, officers and men can move freely during the day, but they must register when they leave the ship, and they cannot go ashore for more than six hours a day." Tan Renhao was a little annoyed by the discipline of the fleet, "Those officers and men who came back after eight o'clock last night all canceled their vacations and gave me an honest stay on the battleship. Tell the others that for whatever reason, that they must return to the battleship before eight o'clock in the evening, and that they do not trouble me, and that if anyone dares to cause me trouble, then I want him to feel good! ”

The staff officer secretly stuck out his tongue, the commander had not rectified the discipline of the fleet for several months, and it seemed that the dozens of officers and men who did not return home at night were going to be unlucky.

"General......

"What's the matter?" Tan Renhao attaches great importance to discipline.

"The telegram I received." The communications staff officer didn't want to provoke Tan Renhao at this time, but he received a very important telegram.

Tan Renhao let out a sigh and took the telegram, which was a telegram from the Navy Command. He quickly adjusted his mood and let the staff officer leave first.

Initially the fleet was expected to stay in Portugal only for three days. The departure was due on March 3, but now the Navy Command has extended the visit to five days, on the grounds that the supplies have not been delivered, which is obviously an excuse for itself, and the real purpose is to take a pound of time. As for the one-time extension, Tan Renhao is not sure, and the naval command must be waiting for information, maybe Scheer is about to finish. (Fastest update: n).

On 5 March, Tan Renhao received an order from the Navy Command. He organized a group of warships to conduct a joint maritime search and rescue exercise with the small fleet of the Portuguese Navy. As for the purpose of the exercise, Tan Renhao didn't care, he only knew that this was a way for the Navy Command to delay time again, and maybe Scheer was not finished yet.

The scale of the exercise was not large, the First Fleet dispatched one cruiser and four destroyers, the Second Fleet also dispatched several warships, and in addition, the aviation unit was arranged to participate in the exercise. The Portuguese Navy only dispatched a few destroyers, and because it was not a combat exercise, the exercise was not large, but it took a lot of time.

It was not until 9 March that the exercise ended, and it took the two sides a few more days to sum up the experience of the exercise. It's a nuisance. Tan Renhao arranged the relevant work to Chang Jianxin to be responsible, Chang Jianxin is the kind of person who is more careful and calm, and it is more appropriate to be responsible for external contact work.

On 11 March, Tan Renhao again received an order from the Navy Command. This time, the naval command did not let him stay in Portugal, but sent the fleet to the North Atlantic on the same day, and its new combat mission was to cut off the North Atlantic and support the Marines in the capture of the Azores. Before the departure of the fleet. The commander of the Navy also sent the latest war reports. There is no mention of Scheer's "Far Eastern Fleet" in this war report. And the actions of the Third Fleet in the Caribbean Sea made Tan Renhao pay more attention.

Huang Xiaotian's Third Fleet entered the Caribbean Sea in February. Less than five days after Tan Renhao and his capture of the Cape Verde Islands, the Third Fleet bombarded Port-au-Prince again, just when the U.S. military thought that the Tang Empire would attack the island of Iripasola. The Marine Corps, commanded by Han Shaofeng, landed on Grand Cayman at the end of February and began the Imperial Navy's attack on the Greater Andres Islands.

Grand Cayman Island belongs to the British Overseas Territory, this is a coral island, the island is 34 kilometers long from east to west, 17 kilometers wide from north to south, there is a water depth of more than 10 meters in the northwest, the whole island is flat, the average altitude is only more than 20 meters, basically all are flat. The island has fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and is largely dependent on fishing, with two British-built airfields and fewer than 5,000 troops.

Relatively speaking, Grand Cayman is the right size, the terrain is also very good, and the North Bay can also anchor dozens of warships, and there are not many guards to guard it. It's an ideal base for moving forward. According to the Navy's plan, after conquering Grand Cayman, the Marines will use this island as a base to attack Cuba, and finally turn Cuba into a base capable of attacking the United States' homeland, which is also an extremely important step in the Imperial Navy's Caribbean strategy.

When Han Shaofeng landed on Grand Cayman, the Imperial Army Corps of Americas commanded by Gu Xunlei also arrived at the port of New San Salvador, and 45 army divisions arrived, which immediately changed the situation in Central America. He will be accompanied by a group of government officials who will assist the President of Mexico in re-establishing his government.

The chaos in Mexico has not changed much, with the Mexican Defense Forces, loyal to the president, continuing to fight the U.S. military, and those that have defected to the U.S. military have been reorganized into the Mexican Forces nouvelles. Although Eisenhower had established a puppet regime in Mexico City, the vast majority of Mexicans did not welcome the U.S. military, and a large number of guerrillas appeared in the U.S.-controlled area. For this reason, Han Shaofeng even asked Long Zhen to arrange a small infiltration unit of a group of marines to go to the U.S.-controlled area to organize Mexican guerrillas, and sent weapons and ammunition to these guerrillas.

With the support of the Third Fleet. The prelude to the war to encircle and suppress the United States has begun. And the Third Fleet has been bombing Cuba since the beginning of March. The navy didn't plan to take every island, because it would take a lot of time and it wouldn't make much sense. The naval blockade, as well as bombing, shelling, was enough to break down the defenses of the other islands. The most crucial step is to go to Cuba and occupy the island, which is close to the US mainland.

In order to attack Cuba, Han Shaofeng had already transferred the main force of the Marine Corps from Central America and handed over the task of occupying Central America to the Army Corps commanded by Gu Xunlei. In addition, when Liao Hanxiang returned to the Imperial Navy Headquarters, Han Shaofeng became the temporary commander of the Pacific Theater, and he also dispatched at least 15 marine divisions from the rear, but now this batch of troops has not yet arrived, mainly because a large amount of equipment is extremely troublesome to transport, and it is also necessary to hoard combat materials on the front line, which also takes time.

The war has reached this point, and in fact the fate of the United States has been basically determined. In the document received by Tan Renhao, there was also an outline of the next stage of operations of the imperial navy and army.

The dispute between the naval and land armies has ended, and Prime Minister Xue Xiyue has basically decided on a strategic plan that will focus on strangulation at sea and supplemented by land offensive. The Army will take full responsibility for the war in Mexico, strive to wipe out the U.S. forces in Mexico as soon as possible, and retreat the front to the U.S.-Mexico border. The navy, on the other hand, will take the capture of Cuba as its number one short-term goal, and then will sweep the Bahamas and, if possible, go north to capture Bermuda and Newfoundland, and eventually achieve the goal of encircling the United States.

Judging from Xue Xiyue's arrangement, the prime minister is still trying his best to avoid a ground war with the United States, especially a protracted ground war on the US mainland, and after occupying Cuba, the Navy's strategic strike force will be fully dispatched to carry out a comprehensive strategic bombing of the east coast of the United States and the Great Lakes region. As for whether to land on the mainland of the United States, I am afraid it is not up to the Tang Empire to decide.

After learning about these situations, Tan Renhao was also a little anxious. The opposite side of the Atlantic is already in full swing, and it is clear that Britain has become a secondary problem, and here the two main fleets of the Imperial Navy are pinned down! If the operation to capture Britain cannot be completed quickly, then the First Fleet will have to stay here, and Tan Renhao can only watch Huang Xiaotian toss the Yankees in the Caribbean, but he can't use any strength!