On the battleship 'Fuxi', the flagship of the Imperial Navy, Marshal Cheng Biguang, commander of the Imperial Navy, began to lay out the battle plan. Now the Imperial Navy is mixing the Pacific Fleet and the South Sea Fleet, and after this naval battle, they will be separated. Therefore, the command of the entire fleet is also in charge of Marshal Cheng Biguang.

"General Li, General Lin. The South Ocean Fleet was temporarily merged with the Pacific Fleet. As for the two of you, for the time being, you will lead a detachment consisting of the 'Longxing-class' battleships, the 'Longfei-class' battlecruisers, the 'Longteng-class' battleships, and the 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers, and will be responsible for advancing to the front of the main fleet for a hundred nautical miles to take on the task of luring the enemy. Once the British Navy is discovered, if the opponent's strength is weak, then eat the opponent in one bite. If the opponent is strong, immediately report to the main fleet and direct the enemy to the main fleet. Marshal Cheng Biguang said.

"Yes, Marshal." Lieutenant General Li He and Major General Lin Jianzhang nodded. Although, it can be dangerous to take on a bait mission. But as long as this war can be won, what does it matter if it is dangerous?

"I've studied David Betty in detail. He was a very bold and adventurous man. Therefore, it is highly likely that he will not act with the main forces of the British Navy's expeditionary fleet, but will lead the battle cruiser formation of the LinkedIn Navy himself. This is undoubtedly an opportunity for the Imperial Navy. The battle cruisers of the British Navy, although they were very energetic, but their defense was terrible. If we can inflict heavy damage on its battle patrol detachment, or even eat the opponent's battle patrol detachment in one bite, we will have a good chance of winning this naval battle. In order to ensure your safety, I will let the second battleship detachment composed of the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships operate not far behind you. If you encounter the main force of the British Navy, they will be the first to support you. Marshal Cheng Biguang said.

Vice Admiral Li He and Rear Admiral Lin Jianzhang nodded, if there were five 'Five Emperor-class' battleships following them. Even in the face of the main force of the British Navy, they have the courage to fight! In the British Navy, there are almost no warships that want to find a battle against the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships. Even the 'Revenge class' battleships and the 'Queen Elizabeth class' battleships, of which the British were the main force, could not be compared. The sighting equipment, fire control system and defense of the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships. Both are stronger than the British 'Revenge class' battleships and 'Queen Elizabeth class' battleships. In addition, in terms of firepower, the 'Revenge' and 'Queen Elizabeth' battleships are equipped with four twin 45 times the caliber 381 mm main guns. The 'Five Emperor-class' battleships were equipped with three triple 381 mm guns of 50 times the caliber. In terms of speed, the 'Vengeance-class' battleships and the 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships were only 23 and 24 knots, respectively. And the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships were above 25 knots. It can be seen from this that the performance of the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships completely suppressed the British Navy. Not to mention that the Imperial Navy had even more powerful 'Three Emperor-class' battleships. Of course, if it is under siege, then the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships will have to avoid the edge for the time being.

"Let's go. I hope that we can win this battle with minimal cost. Marshal Cheng Biguang said.

"The Empire will win!" Lieutenant General Li He and Major General Lin Jianzhang both said firmly.

The Royal Navy Expeditionary Fleet, which had already left Bombay and was rapidly heading south along the west coast of India, was also coming up with his plan when the Imperial Navy was in the midst of operational deployments.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, you are following with all our battleships and two 'Prestige-class' battlecruisers. And I led the 'Admiral-class' battle cruisers. The battle patrol formation, consisting of the battlecruiser "Tiger" and the "Lion-class" battlecruiser, went out to the front of the main fleet to search for traces of the enemy. Once the enemy is discovered. I will entangle the other side and create a chance for the main fleet to annihilate them. David Betty said. Even though he was now a field marshal in the Royal Navy and commander of an expeditionary fleet, he was still so adventurous. In addition, he also wants to be able to prove himself and show those who disagree with him. According to his tactics, he can still bring victory to the Royal Navy.

"What? Your Excellency, how can this be done, this is too risky? The Chief of Staff, General Charles Maden, jumped for a moment. Where is the reason why the commander of the fleet leads the battle patrol detachment to take on the task of luring the enemy, but he, the chief of staff of the fleet, leads the main force of the fleet to follow behind!

"Nope. No. Your Excellency Chief of Staff, this is not risky. Don't forget, I took four of the most powerful 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers with me. Even the 'Three Emperor-class' battleships that encountered the Chinese, the 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers could compete with them. Even if it's not the opponent of the other side. However, with the advantage of speed, we were also able to retreat easily. David Betty said confidently.

The speed of the 'Admiral-class' battle cruiser was indeed very impressive, and for David Beatty, it was the best battleship. If it weren't for the fact that he was too weak to lead only four 'Admiral-class' battleships, he wouldn't have even brought the 'Tiger' and 'Lion-class' battlecruisers. After all, these battleship cruisers were only 28 knots in terms of speed. As for the 'prestige-class' battlecruisers, although faster, they reached 31.5 knots. But the dynamism of only three twin-mounted 381mm guns made David Betty somewhat unsatisfied. In addition, the main fleet also needs fast warships as support. So he directly left two 'prestige-class' station cruisers to the main fleet.

"Your Excellency, we must be cautious in this battle. So, please stay and act with the main fleet. General Charles Madden advised.

"No, we're going to be cautious though. But at the same time, we also need to bring a great victory to the Royal Navy. Our fleet is much stronger than the Chinese. Therefore, even if we encounter them, we will not fail. "David Beatty's attitude is very resolute.

Charles Madden wanted to say more. However, David Betty has stopped giving him a chance.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, I am the commander of the fleet, and I have the final say. If something goes wrong, I'll take care of it. I am sure that we will win. So, you can rest assured. "David Beatty is very confident.

Admiral Charles Madden hesitated for a moment, then said: "Your Excellency, Commander, if you don't do that, in addition to these eight battlecruisers, you will also bring five 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships, just like you did in the Battle of Jutland." In this case, even if they encounter the main force of the Chinese, they may not be without the strength to fight. ”

However, David Betty shook his head: "If I take away five more 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships, the strength of the main fleet will be greatly damaged." At that time, if the Chinese target is the main fleet, then your strength will not be enough. ”

"All right, Your Excellency, Commander." General Charles Madden saw that David Beatty's attitude was very resolute, and he had to say nothing more. However, he made up his mind that if David Betty encountered the main force of the Chinese Navy, he would definitely rush to it as soon as possible. Otherwise, if there is any mistake in the battle patrol detachment, he can't afford to pay this responsibility!

"Your Excellency, Commander, please be careful not to be too far away from the main fleet." Admonished Admiral Charles Marden.

David Beatty waved his hand impatiently, a little dissatisfied with General Charles Madden's verbosity.

Two hours later, Marshal David Beatty separated with his battle patrol detachment and the main fleet. Marshal David Beatty's battle cruiser detachment, in addition to the four 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers, the 'Tiger' battlecruiser and the three 'Lion-class' battlecruisers, included the 1st Heavy Cruiser Detachment, including three Cavendish class heavy cruisers, the 1st Light Cruiser Detachment, including six 'Danae-class' light cruisers, and the 1st and 2nd destroyer detachments, for a total of 12 'R'-class destroyers.

The main reason why Marshal David Beatty took only three Cavendish class heavy cruisers and not the 'Monmouth-class' cruisers was that the Cavendish class heavy cruisers were able to reach a speed of 31 knots, while the 'Monmouth-class' cruisers had a speed of only 23 knots. The Danae-class light cruisers also had a maximum speed of 29 knots, while the R-class destroyers had a maximum speed of 36 knots, which was quite impressive.

Marshal David Beatty's plan was actually very simple, he took away the fastest batch of warships in the fleet, and the purpose was to inflict great losses on the Chinese Navy by virtue of the advantage in speed. If you encounter a small fleet of the Chinese Navy, you can catch up with it with your speed advantage and eat it in one bite. In the event of an encounter with the main fleet of the Chinese Navy, it can retreat with the advantage of speed.

Such a tactic, which seems very risky, is actually very cautious. After all, speed is also a very important factor in naval warfare. If you can't catch up with the other party, then you can only passively meet the enemy, and you will always be at a disadvantage.

Marshal David Beatty seemed reckless, but after he suffered a loss at Jutland, his temper gradually subsided a lot. He knew that this battle was important to the Royal Navy, and naturally the Royal Navy would not lose this crucial naval battle because of his own reasons. (To be continued.) )

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