The Queen Elizabeth-class battleship is definitely a battleship that ushered in an era, as the first class of fast battleships equipped with 15-inch guns, this battleship has proven its worth in previous naval battles, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the backbone of the Royal Navy, because their survival has allowed the Royal Navy to survive the darkest period. But even the most powerful battleships such as the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were in the same condition as they were at the beginning after three major wars, the first of which was the Battle of Jutland, and in the final stage, the Queen-class battleships were attacked by the German High Seas Fleet. The second time was that Thomas hit Hipper, this time it was not bad, and the queens did not suffer much damage, but the third time, in the process of confronting the Bismarck-class super battleships, 5 queens were scarred by the attack of German 15-inch naval guns. One of them was also sunk. Even if it is repaired, all kinds of hidden diseases and dark injuries make this class of battleship not reach the initial performance at all, and the biggest impact is the speed, the slowest of the 4 queens is only 24 knots! As for the solution? Yes, but it's too late!

On the other hand, the three overseas collar-class fast battleships of the Chinese Navy owned by the Allies have only fought one tough battle. The damage received is not heavy, so the speed is okay, which means that it is still difficult for Thomas to catch up with the other party. And because of the large number of camouflaged raiders and submarines of the Allies in the Atlantic, it was difficult to avoid detection, and the escort warships that accompanied the actions of this fast fleet could also buy time for Count Spee. So overall, it's a bit difficult to catch the other party!

Magiffen did not directly discuss the issue of command after his meeting with Thomas. Rather, it was a sophisticated war game on the sandbox, on the condition that Vice Admiral Spee commanded the fast fleet into the Atlantic, and then the British fleet encircled it. In deduction. The British fleet was to depart from France after receiving intelligence on the entry of the opposing side. The enemy fast fleet would then be located according to the situation of surface warships and merchant fleets, while the U.S. fleet would go to the northern mouth of the Strait of Gibraltar to monitor other Allied warships remaining in the Mediterranean. But the result of the deduction is that the other side can easily shake off Thomas's fast fleet, even if all the fleets are equipped with radios, but because of the distance, Thomas's fleet has a 50% probability of not receiving a distress signal, and the distance between the two sides is too far at first. So even if I found it, the daylily was cold when I rushed over.

And after Magiffen joined the camouflage fleet for his opponent, the difficulty of Thomas locking on the opponent has increased to a higher level. And in the current situation. Whether it is Thomas or the fleet directly under the hands of Majifen, they dare not divide their troops, and if the anti-encirclement and suppression are only pursued and there is not enough strength to block it, the efficiency will be too low! In the end, Thomas came up with a very shameful solution, that is, when the other party was about to return home. Converge with Majifen and squat directly at the west mouth of the Mediterranean Sea and wait for the other party to go back. Then with the Portuguese base as the core, as a support point for the blockade. (Historically, Portugal was on the side of the Entente.) But there was also a problem that Portugal could not provide a safe base for such a large fleet, and France had bases that could accommodate the entire fleet with shore artillery, mine arrays, and mine nets, but Portugal did not! And if you build a base, I'm afraid it will take a long time.

Spain is currently confronting the French army on the northern front, and at the same time concentrating its forces to eliminate the remnants of the enemy in North Africa, after all, Spain wants to expand in North Africa. And if the Allied navy is based in Portugal, or after the dust settles in the war in North Africa. The Confederate forces would immediately turn their heads on Portugal. So, the Entente decided to deploy enough troops in Portugal before doing so. It was not intended to provoke the Allies. At the same time, in order to prevent the other side from taking advantage of the sweep of the Portuguese coastal area, the Entente also made as little use of Portugal's base as possible, but it did not mean that there was no reinforcement, when the Portuguese military port could accommodate the entire Allied Atlantic Fleet and could provide a certain amount of protection, the Allied fleet would naturally be stationed here and implement a blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar. And if Portugal can be used as a base, the Allies' attack on the transportation lines will naturally be reduced a lot.

But the Entente could not afford to wait, they needed to immediately deliver a fatal blow to their opponents! "From the analysis of deduction, it is very difficult for our fleet to catch Spee's fast fleet, and the other party may be 6 warships, or 7 warships, if it is 7, then it means that the other party has incorporated the Longxiang into the fast fleet, and in the last engagement, your fleet suffered his loss." Speaking of this, Maggiffen paused, and peeked at the expression of Thomas on the other side, the muscles of the other party's face twitched obviously, looking a little hideous. However, it soon returned to normal. Obviously, the giant beast from China not only terrified the US Navy, but also left a psychological shadow on Thomas. In the second battle in the Mediterranean, it was because of the excellent performance of this battleship that the British and French fleets were sunk.

"Your country's fast fleet consists of two parts. One New Zealand, one Tiger, and two Amsterdam-class battleships, while the other part is four Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. Your Excellency once proposed that you bite your opponent with four faster ships and then force one or two of them to slow down, even if you lose a lot of money. Then, with the main force of 4 Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, the slowing enemy ships will be eliminated. ”

"It's a bit like a hunt, with the hounds going up and wounding the opponent's old and weak target first, and then the hunter with the shotgun will deliver the final blow. But if the opponent is 7 warships, including one Longxiang, then this plan will be completely bankrupt, and if 4 to 6 can barely support it, then if such a first-class capital ship is added, your hounds may have died before the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship can bring the target into range. If you can't put it off, then the whole plan will not be able to proceed. Am I right? Magiffen looked at Thomas, whose face turned cloudy, and said.

THOMAS'S FOOTHOLD OF THIS STRATEGY IS THAT THE 4 FAST BATTLESHIPS CAN BLOCK THE OPPONENT'S 350MM HEAVY GUNS AFTER SOME IMPROVEMENTS, AND THE BRITISH BATTLESHIPS USING 343MM GUNS CAN AT LEAST DAMAGE THE SPANISH-CLASS FAST BATTLESHIPS IN THE CASE OF STRONG CHARGES, THE PURPOSE OF THIS FLEET IS NOT TO DEFEAT THE OPPONENT, BUT TO SLOW DOWN THE OPPONENT, IF THE OPPONENT IS 6, THEN WITH THE HELP OF SUPERIOR AUXILIARY WARSHIPS, THE BRITISH 4 FAST BATTLESHIPS WILL SUFFER, BUT WILL NOT BE SUNK. Even if 3 seriously injured ships are exchanged for 2 of the opponent's lost ships, when the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships are in place, the two enemy ships that have fallen behind will definitely die, and the battleships that are injured by themselves can still be driven back to repair slowly.

But if the Dragon Xiang is also inside, it will be different. The power of the 15-inch cannon is so powerful that maybe a single shell can make these crispy skins in seconds. Even if the New Zealand, which has the best defense among the 4 battleships, its ships of the same class have been destroyed by the Longxiang, coupled with the numerical advantage of 7 to 4, the ending of the 4 British fast battleships must be quite tragic, maybe the queen has not yet arrived, and his first detachment has been killed! This is the fatal flaw of this plan. Of course, the Longxiang, as the flagship of the Italian fleet, may not be involved in the battles of the fast fleet, but what if? Not afraid of 10,000, just in case. Thomas can't afford to bet!

"You are vetoing the entire plan, and even the naval strategy of the Entente countries, which is not in line with the opinion of the Supreme Military Command." Thomas said with a complicated expression. It is true that as Majifen said, as long as the other party is a little prepared, then the entire hunting plan will come to naught, 7 fast battleships under the command of an experienced commander can definitely resolve most of the crisis, after a detailed comparison of the strength of the two sides, Thomas also had to accept this desperate result, if the other party wants to run, he can't catch them!

"We have to implement the above, but it is difficult to say whether we can achieve the expected goal. The commander of the fleet should have the right to make arbitrary decisions on the spot. It is true that we must set the above command as the first goal, but if we cannot achieve it, we need to settle for the second goal and choose the second goal or the third goal. With the Portuguese base not yet available, it was too difficult to achieve the first goal, so we needed to change the plan. Magiffen said calmly.

"Our mission at this stage can actually be set to hinder the opponent's disruptive operations, with seaplane carriers and auxiliary warships, although we can't catch up with the opponent, but we can always maintain pressure on the opponent, keep them in a high-speed state all the time, and at the same time take out a camouflaged supply ship that supplies them. You and I both know that a high-speed battleship will consume about three times as much fuel as a low-speed battleship. This will inevitably affect their endurance. In this way, even if we can't destroy them, we can still reduce the blow of the Spee fleet to our army's sea transport lines. Magiffen said seriously.

"And then? This is definitely not the whole plan, what will the main force of the Atlantic Fleet led by Your Excellency do? I always feel like you're using me and my fleet as a decoy to force them to jump into your trap. You are a master of strategy, in other words a cunning person. What are you doing this for? "Thomas doesn't care about Majifen's unauthorized change of battle plan, and capable commanders must decide for themselves what to do next, after all, those old men are far away from the battlefield!

"If we're lucky, I think we can create a new era of the Battle of Gibraltar! The other side will not dare to fight a decisive battle with us, but it doesn't matter, we can force them to fight a decisive battle with us in an extremely unfavorable situation, my first target is the main team of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, and the second target is the slippery Spey fleet! Magiffen said.

The second is more ~~~, ask for subscription and support~~~. (To be continued......)