Vice Admiral Abel was naturally furious after receiving the telegram from Brigadier General Lucius, but he naturally understood that Brigadier Lucius's decision at this moment was correct, and the original plan was that the attack formed by his main fleet and the fast fleet of Lord Dieters of the Royal Navy was enough to break any means of confrontation against the Chinese.

But obviously, the cunning Chinese took advantage of their self-confidence, but took the initiative to attack the second squadron used to close the bottom of the encirclement network, if the attack on the second squadron could not win quickly, this plan would obviously put the Chinese into a more dangerous entanglement war, when the time only needed the main fleet of the US army to arrive, it would be a complete encirclement war.

However, China's unexpected air strikes caused the Second Squadron to lose its will to resist in almost the shortest possible time, which means that there is a big loophole in its plan to encircle China's Guam Fleet...... However, the Chinese also seem to be too bold!

"General, are we going to attack the Guam base where the Chinese garrison is empty?" The staff officer who was surveying the nautical chart on the side put forward his own suggestion, "Now we are 600 kilometers away from Guam, and the Chinese warship group that is engaged with the Second Fleet is already at least 800 kilometers away from Guam, and Lord Dieters' fast fleet to the north is also about 800 kilometers away from Guam!" ”

The key point mentioned by the fleet staff officer, Vice Admiral Abel naturally thought of it a long time ago, which, according to the Chinese, is "the enemy must be saved"! The attack on Guam was originally an important purpose of this fleet sortie, and if the Guam base could be destroyed, it would at least delay the tactical advance of the Chinese in the Pacific Ocean for a few months. It also provides huge space for cutting off the Chinese's supply lines across the Pacific.

600 km ...... Just give up on rescuing the second squadron. His own large fleet will be able to arrive tomorrow morning. And the British fleet will arrive by early tomorrow morning, when the huge firepower will be enough to smash the defense forces and supply facilities built by the Chinese on Guam! As for the Chinese fleet to return to support, it will be a good thing that they can't ask for, and the crushing sea firepower is just the icing on the cake for themselves.

And as an alternative, now rush to the position of the second detachment, more than 100 kilometers away. If Commodore Lucius had already begun to turn away from the Chinese fleet, with the Grand Fleet currently capable of reaching a maximum formation speed of 16 knots, there would be no possibility of catching up with the opposing side, unless the second squadron could take the Chinese fleet around in a circle...... But it's almost impossible.

What worries Vice Admiral Abel even more is that now he has to consider the situation of the existence of the Chinese Grand Fleet! He was constantly maneuvering in the Pacific Ocean and getting rid of the detection of the Chinese, and he was naturally very concerned about the powerful Chinese main fleet, and the information provided by the intelligence department that the Chinese Grand Fleet had indeed set off from Hawaii earlier, so at that time, Vice Admiral Abel even considered the feasibility of attacking the Hawaiian military port. However, due to the difficult terrain and the long return route, this plan was finally put as a backup.

As for where the Chinese's Grand Fleet is now. It is impossible for the intelligence department of the US Navy to come up with accurate information, after all, this Pacific Ocean is not the sphere of influence of the United States, but according to the possible cruising speed of the Chinese Grand Fleet, the farthest sailing position plotted on the chart is also near Wake Island, unless it does not maneuver, it is reasonable that the Chinese Grand Fleet cannot intercept itself.

"Send a telegram to Lord Dieters informing him of the battle situation of the Second Fleet, and we will continue to sail westward, complete the blockade of the Guam Naval Base by the early morning at the latest, and ask the Royal Navy to assist in the deployment of defenses on the periphery of Guam, and intercept any Chinese Navy warships that attempt to break through or rescue!" Eventually, Abel came up with a strategy that he endorsed.

"General, do you want to inform the Chinese Grand Fleet of the prediction?" The staff officer asked.

Lieutenant General Abel frowned, "There's no need for that, and we don't have any definite news...... We urgently need the assistance of the British, and it is impossible to disrupt the tactical arrangements because of such unconsequential information! ”

"That'...... How does Brigadier General Lucius call back? ”

"Colonia in the southeast...... Marshall Islands...... Let them withdraw in this direction, and I authorize General Lucius to make a decision based on the situation of the battle, and wait to join us, or attack! Abel stared at the charts for a moment, if the Second Fleet was at a tactical disadvantage, it would have to evacuate to the ports of the British colonies, and although the ports of the Marshall Islands were not well armed, they could rely on the coastal defense fleet for defense.

At 12:50, the second wave of Eagle dive bomber formations that took off from the Shandong aircraft carrier finally launched another round of attacks on the US second squadron at 1:20, but because of the sudden heavy rain interference north of the Vino Sea Reef, the strong northeast wind and the visual interference caused by the heavy rain, the hit rate of the attack in the rain was greatly reduced, and finally only two bombs from the 15 fighters hit the battleship Delaware and the battleship Louisiana, and the maximum result of the hit. It was the destruction of the battleship Delaware's damaged B main gun position that completely paralyzed.

The performance of Lucius's fleet in the face of air strikes was also quite unexpected, due to the serious shortage of anti-aircraft firepower, coupled with the fact that the three destroyers of the detachment were sent away, and the American warships that were withdrawn at full speed, except for sporadic and ineffective counterattacks, were almost desperately maneuvering to evade, and after finally surviving the second round of air strikes, Brigadier Lucius seemed to see the favor of the god of luck.

The continuous heavy rain caused a significant reduction in the visibility of the airspace, coupled with the beginning of a thunderstorm in the air, which made him realize that the possibility of another air attack by the Chinese had been greatly reduced, and he immediately ordered a realignment of course, turning 20 degrees to the southeast, preparing to quickly break away from the main route discovered by the Chinese, which quickly widened the distance from the three destroyers that were used as bait.

It was only at 1:44 p.m. that he received a telegram from Lieutenant General Eber, in which Abel did not specify his plan to attack Guam, but had him transfer to the British colony, which reassured him a little, and he quickly made the decision to get out of the passive battle first! Unbeknownst to him, the telegram was also picked up by the Chinese Second Pacific Fleet, which was on its way to intercept him, and was deciphered in less than 30 minutes due to the Chinese navy's long-term infiltration of the Brisbane military port.

Fleet Commander Tang Zhen was undoubtedly pleasantly surprised by the news sent by the Americans, who was pursuing Lucius's fleet eastward along the 11.7th parallel, obviously did not expect that Lucius, an old fox, would slip so completely, and immediately turn around and run away after encountering a round of attacks from the Shandong.

After nearly 3 hours of pursuit, Lucius's main fleet disappeared from the outer destroyer reconnaissance circle, and the sudden appearance of stormy weather in this sea area made aerial reconnaissance difficult, and the telegram from the Americans obviously gave the clearest hint that on the chart, the nearest British territory was 680 kilometers away from the island of Cronia, but the local area was a free trade port with a weak garrison.

The Marshall Islands were 1,800 kilometers away, and Tang had carefully considered that unless the Lucius fleet was prepared to make a large-scale maneuver like Vice Admiral Ebel, it would not be possible to run to the Marshall Islands, and besides, the large reefs and island areas south of the Marshall Islands had always been a high-risk zone for the Grand Fleet's activities, and it was not a good idea to engage there.

So, he immediately decided not to search along the 11th parallel, but to go directly south to the island of Cronia...... Lucius's fleet suffered two rounds of air raids, and the battleship Nebraska in the American battleship formation was an old battleship that did not use large steam turbines, so it was difficult to continue to sail at high speed, and the probability of intercepting it in a straight line was very high!

At this moment, the officer in the telegraph room ran out and reported loudly, "General, a telegram has been sent from the fleet command!" ”

Fleet Command...... Tang Zhen frowned, and after taking the telegram and reading it, his brows furrowed even deeper, the telegram was from the South China Theater Command, and the Chinese submarine No. 077, which was cruising near 11.3 degrees north latitude and 147 degrees east longitude, discovered the Royal Navy's fast fleet passing nearby, which included 3 dreadnoughts, 2 battle cruisers, 3 former dreadnoughts, and more than 10 destroyers on the periphery.

He immediately stood in front of the charts, and had learned earlier that the position of the Royal Navy's Rapid Fleet was around 9.2 degrees north latitude and 152 degrees east longitude, and he soon came to the conclusion that the British did not seem to be attracted by their tactics of raiding Lucius's fleet, but continued to abandon their previous siege plans and continue to sail west!

In this case, the plan of the British and Yankees will only be one, and that is to attack Guam!

Guam -- the base that he has painstakingly managed is now a sweet tooth that is enough to attract the entire Pacific battle group, and he was originally going to use the Second Squadron as this bait, but unfortunately, the old man Abel is very cunning and does not want to follow his own pace at all, and since the Yankees and the British like their nests so much, then he has to play well with them!

The tactics of the American fleet and the British fleet flying together are undoubtedly two great threats, but ...... They seem to have forgotten that no matter how powerful a battleship is, it is impossible to become a land battleship! And he has been preparing for a long time in Guam, just to test this powerful and bubbling Anglo-American combined fleet! (To be continued.) )