After the European navies of the League of Nations Combined European Fleet completed their assembly in the port of Herakrion on the Greek island of Crete, after the deliberations of the commanders of the naval fleets of various countries, the huge European Combined Fleet of the League of Nations began to depart from the port of Herakrion on August 4, 1914, and prepared to pass through the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Oman, and finally arrived in the Persian Gulf, where the United European Fleet of the League of Nations would blockade the entire coastline of Kuwait. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

If the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire tries to break through the blockade of the Persian Gulf, the United European Fleet of the League of Nations will stage a decisive naval battle with the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire on an unprecedented scale, of course, if the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire does not want to have a decisive battle in the Persian Gulf, then the United European Fleet of the League of Nations will block the coastline of the Kuwait region, and it can cooperate with the Ottoman Turkish Empire to capture the entire Kuwait region as soon as possible.

At the same time when the navies of the European Combined Fleet of the League of Nations were assembled, the main forces of the United States Navy and the main forces of the Japanese Navy of the United Pacific Fleet of the League of Nations also gathered together at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

In the bridge of the Japanese Navy's Fengxiang-class aircraft carrier Fengxiang, Japanese Navy Minister Heihachiro Togo, who personally served as the commander of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, said in a deep voice to the captain of the Fengxiang aircraft carrier Yuzaburo Kato: "This time, in order to protect the navy of our Imperial Japan, our navy has given up the defense of the home sea and put all the pressure on the army and air force. ”

Yuzaburo Kato, the captain of the aircraft carrier Fengxiang, said with a gloomy face: "Your Excellency Commander, it is a last resort for our Combined Fleet to leave the mainland, after all, it is difficult to resist the attack of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire with our own strength of the Combined Fleet, even if our Combined Fleet stays on the mainland, it is impossible to prevent the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire from landing on our Empire of Japan, and it is the wisest choice for our Combined Fleet to join the main force of the US Navy." ”

Heihachiro Togo said with a wry smile: "I also know that this choice is correct, but I feel very ashamed in my heart, at this time when the empire needs our navy, our combined fleet can only leave the mainland and hide in Pearl Harbor in the United States." ”

Kato Yuzaburo immediately comforted: "Your Excellency Commander, our Imperial Japanese Empire is using the power of the United States and Europe to challenge the Chinese Empire this time, it is unwise to fight hard with the Chinese Empire, borrowing the power of European countries and the United States is what our Great Japanese Empire should do in this war, and things are also developing in the direction that our Imperial Japanese Empire wants, the main force of the Royal Army of the Imperial Chinese Empire has been contained by the coalition forces of European countries in the Ural Mountains at the junction of China and Russia, So much so that the Chinese Empire has not yet made any major moves against our Great Japanese Empire, and this time our Combined Fleet and the main force of the US Navy have converged together, and we also have the strength to fight a decisive battle at sea with the main force of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire. ”

Heihachiro Togo said with emotion at this time: "I really didn't expect the U.S. Navy to have such a strong strength, and now it is the main fleet of our two navies and the main force of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire to have a decisive battle at sea, and it is not necessarily the main fleet of our two navies that will be defeated in the end." ”

The combined fleet of the Japanese Navy brought almost all of Japan's dynamic warships to Pearl Harbor, including 2 Hosho-class aircraft carriers, 2 Hyuga-class super dreadnought battleships, 2 Hiei-class battlecruisers, 6 ise-class super dreadnought battleships, 6 Fuso-class super dreadnought battleships and 3 Amagi-class dreadnought battleships, a total of 21 main fighters, plus 3 all-steel battleships, 12 large fast armored cruisers, 32 fast protection cruisers, 46 destroyers, 78 torpedo boats and 22 submarines, There were even 16 offshore gunboats with a larger displacement that were brought to Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.

At this time, the entire Japanese sea area was no longer defended, and there was no longer a single warship with a displacement of more than 100 tons in Japanese waters, except for small ships such as small gunboats and patrol boats that were not suitable for the ocean.

The strength of the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy is not weak, but it is much worse than the main force of the US Navy, 12 Pennsylvania-class super dreadnought battleships, 12 Nevada-class super dreadnought battleships, 12 Lexington-class aircraft carriers, 14 Saratoga-class battlecruisers, 2 New York-class super dreadnought battleships, 1 South Carolina-class dreadnought-class battleship, 2 Florida-class dreadnought battleships and 1 Wyoming-class dreadnought, and the U.S. Navy has 56 capital warships alone. These capital warships are currently concentrated at Pearl Harbor.

In addition, the U.S. Navy has 38 large fast armored cruisers, 124 fast protection cruisers, 168 destroyers, 312 torpedo boats, and 64 submarines, all of which are also gathered at Pearl Harbor.

However, what shocked the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy was that the Americans had actually come up with 24 aircraft carriers, or escort carriers, in just two months of the world.

The 24 escort aircraft carriers of the Americans were all converted from merchant ships, and the Americans had this plan for a long time, and the 24 merchant ships transformed into escort aircraft carriers were exactly the same model, so these 24 escort aircraft carriers were uniformly called Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers.

The Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier, with a full load displacement of 13,000 tons, a maximum speed of 17 knots, has 20 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and 24 anti-aircraft machine guns, and can carry 18 aircraft carrier fighters, 8 aircraft carrier dive bombers and 6 aircraft carrier horizontal bombers produced by the United States, a total of 32 carrier-based aircraft.

The Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier only has a flat flight deck, and the island-type superstructure is much smaller than that of a conventional aircraft carrier, and due to the use of civilian standard structures and materials, pipelines, etc., the damage resistance is too poor, and participating in the battle may cause huge losses because of small damage, and it is difficult to have a war injury.

However, the Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier has a large number of carriers, and it can also carry bombers, so the strike power of the Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier is quite considerable.

Yuzaburo Kato, captain of the aircraft carrier Fengxiang, said enviously to Heihachiro Togo: "Your Excellency Commander, it is really shocking that the US Navy has suddenly appeared 24 simplified aircraft carriers this time. ”

Togo Heihachiro shook his head gloomily and said: "The Americans used to modify 24 merchant ships called escort aircraft carriers, at the beginning of construction, the Americans had planned to transform them into escort aircraft carriers in the future, so the Americans were able to convert these 24 escort aircraft carriers in just 2 months. ”

Yuzaburo Kato sighed and said: "That's a pity, these 24 escort aircraft carriers of the US Navy are equivalent to an increase in the combat capability of more than 700 carrier-based aircraft at once, you must know that our combined fleet has only two Fengxiang-class aircraft carriers, and all carrier-based aircraft add up to 48 aircraft carrier fighters, 24 aircraft carrier dive bombers, 24 aircraft carrier torpedo bombers, and 4 reconnaissance planes, but only 100 aircraft." ”

Heihachiro Togo continued: "However, the Americans' idea that we can still learn from the Japanese Empire, and in the future, we can directly build aircraft carriers according to the standards of civilian ships, which will not only greatly shorten the construction period, but also reduce the cost of construction a lot." ”

At this time, one of the Japanese Navy Osa in the bridge of the aircraft carrier Fengxiang walked up to Heihachiro Togo and said: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, Admiral Sampson of the United States Navy has sent a telegram inviting Your Excellency the Commander to the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor. ”

Heihachiro Togo turned his head and said to Yuzaburo Kato, "Kato-kun, you can accompany me on a trip!" It should be a matter of forming a coalition of international coalitions Pacific Combined Fleet. ”

Yuzaburo Kato nodded and said, "Yes, Your Excellency Commander." ”

Soon Heihachiro Togo and Yuzaburo Kato took their entourage and boarded the docks at Pearl Harbor in a small motorboat equipped with the aircraft carrier Fengxiang, and then came to the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy.

In a conference room at the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy, Admiral Sampson said with a smile on his face: "Commander Togo, this time your Japanese Navy can understand the great righteousness and choose to join the main force of our US Navy at Pearl Harbor, which can be said to be the most important weight for our international coalition Pacific Combined Fleet to defeat the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire. ”

In fact, the Japanese were not willing to send all the main forces of the Japanese Navy to Pearl Harbor to join the main forces of the US Navy, and the Japanese idea was to let all the main forces of the US Navy sail to the waters of Japan, so that the Pacific Combined Fleet, an international alliance formed by the Japanese Navy and the US Navy, could help Japan resist the landing of the Chinese Empire on its homeland.

However, the US Government strongly opposed this idea of the Japanese, knowing that the Japanese mainland was very close to many of the territories of the Chinese Empire, and once the main force of the US Navy entered the waters of Japan, it would not only face the threat of the Royal Navy of the Imperial Chinese Navy, but also might be attacked by thousands of fighters and bombers of the Royal Air Force of the Imperial Chinese Navy, so the US Government strongly demanded that the main force of the Japanese Navy go to Pearl Harbor to join the main force of the US Navy.

In the end, the Japanese thought about it for a long time, and also believed that the Pacific Combined Fleet of the League of Nations was vulnerable to a joint attack by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force of the Chinese Empire in Japanese waters, so the Japanese let the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet avoid the blockade of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire and came to Pearl Harbor.

Heihachiro Togo said with a smile: "General Sampson, in order to defeat the evil Chinese Empire, our Great Japanese Empire is willing to do everything in its power, and even if our Japanese Navy Combined Fleet leaves Japan, there are still our Japanese Army and Air Force that can defend the homeland, waiting for the news of the victory of our International Alliance Pacific Combined Fleet." ”

Sampson continued: "Commander Dongxiang, rest assured, our Alliance of Nations Pacific Combined Fleet will definitely defeat the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, and now there is good news, the European Union European Fleet, which is composed of the main forces of the navies of various European countries, has been assembled in the port of Herakrion, Greece, and is heading towards the Persian Gulf, in this way, the main force of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire will definitely divide most of its strength to deal with the United European Fleet of the League of Nations, and the opportunity for our Alliance of Nations Pacific Combined Fleet will come." ”

Heihachiro Togo nodded, and said with a smile on his face: "This is really very good news, I don't know what General Sampson is referring to when he talks about opportunities?" Could it be that General Sampson is ready to take the opportunity to launch an attack on the Imperial Chinese Navy? ”

Sampson clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Just as Commander Dongxiang thought, I am indeed ready to take advantage of the arrival of the European Combined Fleet of the League of Nations in the Persian Gulf to launch an attack on some of the naval island bases of the Chinese Empire in the Pacific Ocean. ”

Heihachiro Togo immediately asked, "So what are the targets that General Sampson plans to attack?" ”

Sampson said: "I am going to first uproot Wake Island, which is strategically located in the Pacific Ocean by the Royal Navy of the Chinese Imperial Navy, and at present the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire has a fleet stationed on Wake Island, and after seizing Wake Island, our Pacific Combined Fleet of the League of Nations will continue to advance westward, conquering all the islands of the Chinese Empire between Japan and Wake Island one by one, and lifting the blockade of Japan by the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire." ”

Heihachiro Togo only hesitated for a moment, and then said categorically: "General Sampson, our Japanese Navy fully supports your plan, but to seize the island, not only our Navy can do it, but also the Army needs to carry out landing operations. ”

Sampson smiled and said: "As for landing on these islands, it will be our US Marine Corps and US Army in charge, and our International Alliance Pacific Combined Fleet only needs to defeat the fleet of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire guarding these islands." ”

After listening to this, Togo Heihachiro nodded slowly, but Togo Heihachiro's brow wrinkled slightly. (To be continued.) )