The U.S. Grand Fleet, which was about to enter the firing point immediately after the battleship North Dakota, was almost stunned by the huge mine shock wave, and Vice Admiral Abel gave a loud order to the officers in the telegraph room with a blushing face, telling the several destroyers accompanying him to rush immediately to continue the minesweeping. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

As soon as the order was given, Commodore Fix, the commander of the battleship North Dakota, had already hurriedly reported the damage to the battleship, fortunately, although the Chinese's mines were so powerful that they blew a large hole of nearly 4 meters in the main armor belt on the right side of the battleship, there was no doubt that North Dakota's strong reinforced steel keel, 12-inch main armor belt, and 700 watertight compartments densely covering the hull played a huge protective role.

The 12 watertight compartments on the right side of the battleship were destroyed, the armor belt near the underwater explosion point was seriously deformed by the impact, and nearly 800 tons of seawater poured into the seawater, but the overall condition of this dreadnought, which condensed the industrial strength of the United States, did not have serious problems, and the only minor problem was the water penetration caused by the mine explosion, because the opening of the outer armor was too large, and it was no longer possible to drain the water and damage the pipe.

The 800-ton water injection on the right side caused the battleship to tilt to the right side of the bow by about 3 degrees, which was not enough to affect the navigation of the battleship, but it did affect the handling of the battleship...... The commander of the USS North Dakota, Rear Admiral Fix, had not yet reported to Abel the effects of the ship's stall, but Abel had apparently anticipated the consequences, and the only thing he was thankful for was that the formidable dreadnought had indeed been put to the test.

Now the choice in front of Vice Admiral Abel has become a little difficult, the channel sailed by the battleship North Dakota, the two destroyers had also passed through almost the same position before, but they did not hit the mine, and the destroyer formation sent a message confirming that more than a dozen anchor mines had been cleared by a cable device near the minefield location of the battleship North Dakota, which made the situation even more confusing......

"Adjust your plan and move to the second point of attack, will you be able to complete a round of strikes before nightfall?" Lieutenant General Abel turned to the staff officer and asked loudly, he obviously did not give up his goal of running thousands of miles, destroying the port in front of him, which was the key to the entire Pacific strategy of the United States, but several staff officers also began to be suspicious about this question.

"General, the Chinese have not launched a counterattack so far, I think this is very abnormal! The minehit of the battleship USS North Dakota, apparently, was a bad tactical signal...... We don't know enough about the defensive tactics of the Chinese, and in order to ensure the success of the attack plan, I think more time is needed to find a breakthrough! Fleet Staff Colonel Max looked at his already angry boss with a somewhat panicked expression, this soldier who graduated from the West Point Military Academy led the development of the entire island attack plan.

As an island surrounded by a large number of reefs, cliffs, and huge rocks, although the island covers an area of more than 500 square kilometers, the US military has limited information in advance, and the Chinese military's strong engineering force has made the defense situation of the entire island change greatly.

And his suggestion was immediately met with a stern response from Lieutenant General Abel, "Colonel, don't you see the situation clearly? Chinese are trying their best to delay my attack, and we're still confused about the direction of the attack...... Immediately order the fleet to turn around, the Grand Fleet will first bombard the fortifications on the outskirts of the harbor, and you will follow the Mississippi to confirm the 2nd attack point...... I have to see the results right away! ”

Vice Admiral Abber's anger seemed to increase the efficiency of the Grand Fleet's slow pace, and after 50 minutes, the American Grand Fleet immediately began to slowly reverse along the previous course and successfully sailed out of this dangerous sea, looking at the sun setting to the west, the American general was confident that he would continue his strategy given the time difference in Guam.

Of course, he has now slightly lowered the initial goal of completely destroying the Guam base, and with the strength of the large fleet, he can easily complete the tactical task of blockading Guam, and then solve the fuel problem by intercepting supply ships and Chinese merchant ships.

Now it is necessary to consider that the Grand Fleet must be given enough time to get rid of the fire with the Chinese Grand Fleet that may rush in, but he has already had an idea in this regard...... In his opinion, in order to see the information on the activities of the Chinese Grand Fleet, it is also unknown whether the Chinese will rush to the decisive battle.

Second, the tactical significance of this long-distance raid was to destroy the seemingly solid Pacific trade route Chinese, and to besiege the port if the Chinese Grand Fleet arrived...... It wasn't necessarily a good tactic, especially since Lord Dieters' fast fleet could be an overwhelming aid force, Chinese wouldn't dare to face 18 battleships anyway...... This is a huge maritime power that can be proud of the world.

At 5:07 p.m. on July 24, the regrouped U.S. Grand Fleet, together with the battleships Rhode Island and USS Connecticut, which remained outside the deep-water port on Guam, began to shell two harbor areas and No. 4 battery that were visible from a distance on the north side......

The No. 4 battery deployed on the west side of the port area immediately opened fire and counterattacked, but due to the position and distance of the American fleet, only a few 150mm fortress guns of the No. 4 battery could counterattack, but the firing range was obviously insufficient, and in a short period of time, the entire battery fell into a state of passive attack, and in just 20 minutes, the No. 4 north battery was hit by the main guns of the US ship nearly 10 armor-piercing shells of more than 12 inches......

However, after the smoke cleared, the concrete fort relying on the port boulder structure, there was a huge collapse of more than 4 meters on the north side, but in addition to the wall, there were only a few large pits, and there was no significant damage, and the 150mm fortress gun on the fort was still demonstratively firing towards the sea, and when the staff of the garrison headquarters arrived at the fortress to inquire about the battle situation, the two sides had already fired a second round of mutual fire......

In the face of the results of the battle, Vice Admiral Abel was obviously not satisfied, except for the destruction of some small civilian ships in the harbor on this side, in fact, there was little tactical value, but if the Chinese battery standing at the gate could not be destroyed, for the battleships firing at close range, the battery firing from a high place was inherently a great threat.

Just now, the seven American battleships fired three salvos, but they only destroyed one corner of the opponent, and this efficiency was really difficult for him to be satisfied, and what made him even more unacceptable was that the planned strike plan was all in vain when he was closest to victory, so he had to take the most laborious strategy -- a frontal assault, which would undoubtedly be the most difficult!

And the artillery officer on the side has already given important advice, "General, if you want to collapse this battery, you must shoot at close range, the current hit rate is only 1 and a half, at least close to 11,000 meters, our shooting fixed target hit rate can be increased to 30%, unless this is done, otherwise the fleet's stock of 50 rounds of main artillery ammunition will not be able to hold out to destroy the pile of Chinese batteries in front of it!" ”

How could Vice Admiral Abel not understand this truth, now the Grand Fleet formation is circling in a circle outside the port to carry out a salvo of demarcated positions, one round is 40 main artillery shells, just two rounds have been fought, and it has only achieved so many results, and the planned plan to attack the inner harbor now looks really bad enough...... While the gunnery officer's suggestion was being considered, an exclamation suddenly came from the telegraph room!

The officer in the telegraph room ran in with a surprised face, "General, the first destroyer formation has sent a message that they and the battleship USS Mississippi have been attacked and forced to run aground!" ”

This news almost made Vice Admiral Abel open his mouth to curse, the Chinese torpedo boats are sealed in the port, and it is impossible for the other party to slip out in a short time, and although the battleship Mississippi is only dauntless, it is improved and has good combat power, and it also carries 4 destroyers to assist, judging from the current situation near Guam, it is absolutely a waste to send such a force to the second firing point to clear mines.

In fact, the battleship USS Mississippi was only helping the destroyer formation to crush the Chinese battleship, and it felt its destination more than half an hour ago, but accidentally detected another small port......

At 4:50, the four Vickers-class destroyers of the U.S. destroyer formation have approached a small civilian port 25 kilometers north of the Guam military port, because this port is only a small fishing port, after observation, Brigadier General Sirt confirmed that the defense force here is very low, except for a small number of Chinese soldiers on the shore, there is no defense force, which makes several American destroyers find the courage to boldly approach the port to prepare for military operations, but unexpectedly found that there are only a few dilapidated Chinese merchant ships in the port......

Moreover, the other merchant ships anchored were all traders from Europe, including the merchant ships of friendly countries such as Russia and France, as well as neutral countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The destroyer USS Merry, which was preparing to blockade the harbor and was waiting for orders, tried to get closer to the harbor, which was obviously the careful thinking of the destroyer commander, and this small harbor was undoubtedly a mouthful of fat, and the result was ...... It was this inadvertent careful thinking that completely buried the American destroyer, which had just been in service for less than eight months.

On the starboard side of the battleship, an anchor mine planted by the Chinese was detonated at once, and the huge explosion power, in addition to setting off waves up to more than 30 meters high, also tore the middle of the more than 1,200-ton Melly destroyer into pieces at once, and the entire battleship was arched high by the huge impact force, and then under the pressure of its own weight, it was violently broken into three sections.

In less than 1 minute, the destroyer Meili went from being hit by a mine to being silent, and almost all of the 100 officers and soldiers on the battleship, except for a few who were accidentally rescued by being pushed to the surface by the air waves, lost their lives in the explosion! This sudden accident completely shocked the American officers who had originally reaped the credit, and a small civilian port was also in danger!

And this also apparently angered the battleship USS Mississippi...... (To be continued.) )