For an aircraft carrier battle group, the Mediterranean, which is 4,000 kilometers from east to west and only 1,800 kilometers from north to south, is too small. It is really rare to have such an opportunity for the American and British fleets to fight separately.

In fact, this is also a cautious eye played by the Americans, going deep into the Gulf of Sirte, where the enemy situation is unknown, where is it safe to stay on the island of Malta? When things don't go well, the entourage can cross the Strait of Tunis and return to the western Mediterranean.

Admiral Royle E. Ingersoll, the new commander of the US Atlantic Fleet and Nimitz's cadet, like Cunningham, did not expect that the main force of the Han Northern Fleet would go around the north of Crete. Isn't Guan Canghai, the commander of the Han army's fleet, known as a fierce general?

Can...... Zhang Fei is still full of beard and shouts loudly every day! But when the suspicious soldiers of Yangqiao retreated from Cao Cao, the true and false Zhang Fei captured Yan Yan, and the drunken arrest of Liu Dai, who dared to say that Zhang Sanye would not use tricks?

On the electronic map on the bulkhead of the command ship of the Zhongmou, the combat staff of the fleet had already marked the positions of the two fleets in a timely manner, and the distance between the two armies was 450 nautical miles, which is almost 700 kilometers in the kilometer system.

Guan Canghai put his hands behind his back and looked up.

The US task force was less than 100 nautical miles away from the Maltese Islands, but the airfields on the Maltese islands had already been bombed to shreds, and they could not get support from shore-based aircraft.

And after sailing out of Cape Spanda and entering the Ionian Sea through the Strait of Andikishira, our fleet will soon be sheltered by the air force along the coast of Taranto Bay as long as it sails north. There was also the port of Taranto, which had been vacant for a long time since it had been attacked by British ships in the Middle Sea and the Italian navy had suffered heavy casualties, and after the battle, the Northern Fleet could immediately enter the harbor to recuperate.

The time and place are all in hand, Guan Canghai smiled, and the smile was very arrogant!

All the warships of the Northern Fleet, which were concealed at Cape Spanda, received an order from the command ship of the Zhongmou: to prepare in advance for the overnight voyage, and the task of the pilots of the carrier-based aircraft was to sleep immediately.

But the ground crews on the temporary anchorage Chania Harbor were busy all afternoon. For a huge fleet with six carrier battle groups, a small port like Chania had to be continuously overloaded to barely meet the fleet's replenishment after dark.

As Commander Guan's order stated, most of the warships had their lights out, and the Gulf of Chania was plunged into darkness. Except for the sailors on duty, almost all of them fell asleep early.

It was risky to do so, and if the Allied fleet could attack Cape Spenda at this time, the ships in the bay would hardly be able to respond quickly.

Guan Canghai's self-confidence comes from the fleet's sea wolf troops, and in any sea area where the water depth of the Mediterranean Sea meets the requirements, yes, even any sea area, there is a possibility of the appearance of the Empire's Dongfeng-class submarines.

As the world's first large-scale AIP submarine, the DF-class can work continuously under the sea for weeks without surfacing the surface. The AIP system is a propulsion system that does not rely on air.

This technology first originated in Germany, and Zhong Yi used the arms deal to exchange the corresponding research results in Germany, and then through the scientists of the War Laboratory, these scientific research results were further deepened, and a new type of fuel cell for submarines was developed.

This battery was soon applied to the new generation of Dongfeng-class submarines to replace the Zephyr-class, and passed the audit of the base and was mass-produced, while the AIP submarine of Germany, the country where the AIP technology was invented, is still on the drawings.

The Dongfeng-class AIP submarine with a submersible displacement of 3,500 tons can have a maximum submersible speed of 20 knots, which is almost the same as the old British battleships of the First World War. 18 anti-ship torpedoes in the arsenal.

As one of the most valuable pelagic fish, yellowfin tuna, which is abundant in the waters of the Ryukyus, is affectionately called skewers by fishermen who catch them for a living.

According to the habits of fishermen, this submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo, named yellowfin tuna, was also nicknamed skewers by submarine sailors.

On the Dongfeng-class submarines, in addition to advanced active and passive sonar, they are also equipped with long-wave radio stations. Of course, before the communications satellite that the empire is preparing to go into space, the submarine force will not be able to access the Beidou command system, and can only rely on radio to communicate with the command headquarters.

It is the existence of these Dongfeng-class sea wolves that allows Guan Canghai to rest assured that the sailors of the fleet can sleep at ease on the eve of the big war.

Of the 42 Dongfeng-class submarines belonging to the Northern Fleet, more than 30 are concentrated in the waters between the Ionian Sea and the north and south of the Gulf of Sirte. Colonel Lin Jie, commander of the submarine force in the Mediterranean, even threatened that if Commander Guan allowed it, he could command the Sea Wolves to take out the battleship King George V.

Most of the British battleships are old ships of the First World War, and the George V class is also the latest first-class battleship built by the United Kingdom, the first ship, King George V, was completed in December 1940, and became the flagship of the British Home Fleet after entering service.

This time, with the implementation of the "Bright" plan, George V joined the Mediterranean Fleet, replacing the old Warrior and becoming the flagship of the Combined Fleet of the Entente.

Alone by submarine forces to sneak attack the flagship of the enemy's Grand Fleet? Guan Canghai is crazy enough, but he didn't expect his subordinates to be even crazier than him. Challenging the anti-submarine forces of the fleet, no matter how advanced the submarine is, there will be much certainty. Unless it's in special circumstances, such as during combat......

Guan Canghai strictly ordered the submarine force not to launch an attack without authorization, and for the Northern Fleet, which was planning to fight a naval battle, sinking a warship, even an aircraft carrier, would be a surprise and would not satisfy Commander Guan's appetite at all.

Like the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the slaughter of the elite of the Japanese Navy in World War I was what he wanted most.

"The night of the military port, quiet, the waves shake the battleship, gently ......" Although the sailors of each ship were ordered to rest in advance, Guan Canghai and a group of headquarters staff officers did not sleep on the Zhongmou ship. Looking at the group of young staff officers who had been tossing for two days and were still full of energy to conduct tactical deductions, Lieutenant General Guan, who was over the age of confusion, secretly walked out of the training room, held on to the railing of the ship's strings, and hummed the song he liked in the salty sea breeze of the Mediterranean.

I haven't figured it out, Your Majesty has never been a navy, it seems that he has always said that he is an armored soldier, how can he write such a suitable "Night at the Military Port" in the mood of the sailors?

The piercing bell rang abruptly in his ears, but Guan Canghai held on to the railing and didn't move, just stopped wondering what the "son of God" would do, and raised his eyes to look at the battleships around him that were lit up one after another.

With the bells and lights on each battleship, the sailors rushed out of the lounge quickly, neat and orderly. "These stinky boys, it seems that they all got up secretly and prepared in advance!"

Although he was smiling and scolding, Commander Guan's expression was undoubtedly quite satisfied. With these high-quality naval officers and men, and with these high-spirited fighting spirits, what is the Royal Navy of the Han Dynasty afraid of? How dare you not do it?

Straightening up the white vice admiral uniform on his body, Guan Canghai walked back to the command room on the bridge with a confident smile, "Your Majesty, even if you are careful, this time, you have to add another star to our Lao Guan, right?" ”

At midnight, the silent Gulf of Chania at Cape Spenda suddenly became lively. At the unified height of the chief of staff of the fleet, eight huge marshal-class aircraft carriers and four aircraft carrier battle groups sailed out of Chania Bay, where they had been moored for three days, and entered the Andy Kithira Strait on the west side of Cape Spanda in turn.

At three o'clock in the morning, the night gradually receded, and the white spray stirred up by the aircraft carrier formation was already faintly visible. In the middle of four carrier battle groups, the Zhongmou was flanked by only a few slender frigates.

Don't underestimate these small warships with a displacement of less than 2,000 tons, they are the secret weapon of the Han Royal Navy. The degree of secrecy is even higher than that of the latest "Eagle" carrier-based aircraft.

Unlike the usual frigates, which used to serve as anti-submarine and anti-aircraft cannon fodder on the periphery of the fleet, they have a completely new name called missile frigates. In commemoration of the untimely death of the first commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army, this missile destroyer was named the Zhiqiu class.

The first ship, the Zhiqiu, was sailing on the sea 150 meters to the right of the Zhongmou. On the Zhiqiu, it is equipped with 8 Fjord Penguin anti-ship missiles and 8 McCland Penguin anti-aircraft missiles, making it capable of both ship attack and air attack. Of course, on the Zhiqiu-class missile frigates, such as 120 mm caliber high-speed main guns and "Goalkeeper" close defense weapon systems, as well as other 30 mm anti-aircraft guns and anti-submarine torpedo launchers, etc., on the aft deck, there is also an FQ-20 Dolphin anti-submarine helicopter.

In response to the Han saying, although the sparrow is small, it has all the organs.

The Zhiqiu-class frigates, which are equipped with missiles and helicopters, are another world-leading military achievement of the base navy. The appearance of anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft missiles further weakened the role of battleships.

For example, the Fjord Penguin anti-ship missile equipped on the Zhiqiu class can fly 25 nautical miles, equivalent to 40 kilometers. With such a long range, the battleship's main gun, which had a range of only a dozen kilometers, was completely useless.

On the basis of the base fjord penguin technology return missile, Royal Road is developing a subsonic active radar-guided anti-ship missile, which is said to have a maximum range of nearly 100 nautical miles.

It is conceivable that if such missiles were put into real combat, it would herald the complete turning of the bulky battleship into a target, the most expensive in the world.

In this operation of the Northern Fleet, six Zhiqiu-class missile frigates also joined the actual combat for the first time. In the battle plan, these "little guys" were not included in the fire strike force, and in the opinion of the fleet commander Guan Canghai, how powerful are the so-called anti-ship missiles? Is the kind of anti-aircraft missile that claims to be able to hit tens of thousands of meters in the air reliable? That's all uncertain, since His Majesty has to stuff these "little guys" into the Mediterranean, then take them with you.

Deploying six Zhiqiu-class missile frigates around the command ship, rather than deploying them to the outermost part of the aircraft carrier battle group like other ordinary frigates, Guan Canghai wanted to protect these frigates of less than two thousand tons, "After all, the battleship is named after Chief Ye, if it loses a lot in the first battle, it will really be against Chief Ye Zhiqiu!" ”

To put it bluntly, Commander Guan is a little distrustful of the combat capabilities of these missile frigates, although His Majesty has always emphasized that their appearance means that the battleships will be withdrawn from active naval service.

"Just by them?"

A slight smile appeared on the corner of Vice Admiral Guan Canghai's mouth, as if he was laughing at the "little guys" shuttling in the waves, and as if he was proud of the super ships and imperial heavy weapons in the distance.