Either way, they had only two ways back to the Mediterranean, one through the Strait of Gibraltar and the other around the Horn of Africa. And if the opponent consumes fuel and can't get enough supplies before that, then Spee has only one way to choose, in this case, we can wait for the other party to take the bait. Magiffen said as he drew on the picture.

"This is unrealistic, as a very experienced commander, they will definitely leave enough margin for themselves, and in the case of us pressing too hard, they would rather give up the break than return immediately." Thomas shook his head at first, but then immediately reacted: "You mean that you will command the main fleet to squat in the Strait of Gibraltar and wait for the other side to take the bait?" But what if the main fleet of the opposing side comes to meet it? Your fleet will not be able to withstand the flanking of two fleets. “

"Then it depends on your ability, you don't keep chasing the opponent's ass and acting, as long as you keep driving the opponent away from the Atlantic route and keep it in the southwest direction of the opponent's fleet, we have an advantage on the route, once the situation is discovered, you can just take a shortcut and rush over, and we have a large number of auxiliary warships, which can deploy a sufficiently wide cordon. If we're really unlucky, I think I'll get out of the way, and if you can bite or contain the Spee's fleet, I'll give Tycho some color! Magifen said confidently.

"And then? What should we do if Tycho shrinks back at a critical moment? If I'm not mistaken. Do you mean that you yourself led the main fleet to block the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, and then I took the fleet to pursue the Spey fleet? If they don't control their own fuel, we have a chance to trap this fleet to death? After all, it's not easy to get around all of Africa. Thomas suddenly realized. Majifen's vision is indeed unique, and the characteristic of his plan is to use his own logistics and reconnaissance advantages to offset the opponent's speed advantage.

Aren't you running fast? I can't catch up with you, okay, then let's play marathon, you sprint fast, but what about fuel reserves? I'm a slow runner, but I've always had a steady supply of fuel. I'll run with you for 10 days. More than 20 knots a day will be used against you, making your speed advantage impossible and eventually crushing you! As for you saying you want to get rid of me. That's not easy, you don't have aviation reconnaissance forces, I have, no matter how fast the ship is, can it be faster than the plane? And I also have a large number of auxiliary warships. It can be widely distributed. Even if you get rid of me at night, you can find it quickly during the day with the cooperation of planes and auxiliary warships, after all, the distance between you and me during the day is not very large. You can't go fast all the time. You burn fuel like this, can you afford it? The reconnaissance advantage is actually on my side, and the situation is like a wolf pack chasing an elk, although the former is not as fast as the latter, but the stamina is better than the latter. It can definitely drag you to death in the end!

The plan may seem simple, but it's definitely quite insidious. If Count Spee had deviated slightly from his fleet fuel control, the consequences would have been absolutely catastrophic. Imagine that when Count Spee rushed to the Strait of Gibraltar and found that Thomas had already blocked the door with his fleet, and then the Tycho fleet that came out to meet Spee was blocked by Magifin, so what choice could Spee have? Straight punch? That's just looking for death, the 4 queens in Thomas's fleet laughed silently. If you don't, you'll have to make a detour to North Africa or continue to wander the Atlantic, but in either case, what about the supply of fuel? You are fighting in a fleet, and you need at least tens of thousands of tons of fuel to fill the oil tanks and coal bunkers of these warships, and even if there are occasional supply ships that evade the pursuit of the Entente, how much can you replenish? Moreover, when refueling, the battleship must be at a low speed or even stop sailing. And a replenishment is a few hours, if you hang around it, Spee dares to replenish it!

In Magifin's plan, his own fleet was a sword of Damocles hanging from the head of Spee's fleet! As long as you can keep an eye on each other. With this constant pressure to press your opponent, do you want to hit a certain convoy? Okay, I'll follow you, after the big fleet disperses, it will definitely take time for you to catch it, and you can only catch a small part, this time can close a lot of distance, and the Germans will definitely not disperse if they know that there is a fleet behind them. If this fleet was also within the range of the British's radio communications, it was entirely possible to ask the other side to get closer to themselves and avoid being killed. When the fuel and supplies were almost exhausted and it was time to rush back, the Allied fleet was again at ease in the Strait of Gibraltar. Although it can't completely eliminate the opponent's naval battle, it can at least minimize the damage, and at the same time give the Allied Navy a chance for a decisive battle, Thomas has to admit that this hand is really powerful, at least he can't play!

In the next battle, Thomas's fleet had only one task, that is, to keep an eye on Count Spee's fast fleet, and the rest of the fleet strength of the United States had absolute superiority over Tycho's main fleet, and when Tycho's fleet rushed out of the Strait of Gibraltar, Magiffen would cut off the opponent's retreat from the rear and force it to engage. It would be better if the other side continued to go to the Atlantic Ocean to join the Spee fleet, once the main fleet dragged down and the speed advantage of the Spee fleet could not be brought into play, then what awaited them could only be with the Entente Mediterranean Fleet. "It's going to be a brilliant victory. If Tycho had continued to the Mediterranean instead of retreating desperately. Magiffen's last words finally dispelled Thomas's doubts. He agreed to Majifen's plan and expressed his willingness to cooperate.

And while Magifen and Thomas were carefully laying a deadly trap for the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, in the distant German port of Kiel, the elites of the Second Reich's Navy were also considering their next plan of action. Thomas's fleet left the British Isles for the Atlantic, and such a large transfer could not have been hidden from the eyes of the Germans. And this seems like an opportunity? When Scheer saw the information, a bold idea came to mind. Although the Germans then received news that the American fleet was stationed in Britain, it was certain that the fleet must have been a detachment. The final result seems to be 6 for 7, the British sent 6 capital ships in exchange for 7 American battleships and the officers and men on them. Purely on paper, the strength of the other side has not weakened, but even increased.

"For the German fleet, we had two flaws in the face of the British Grand Fleet, the first flaw was that the other side had more 15-inch guns than us, and our battleships were enough to defend against 14-inch guns, but not enough to face 15-inch guns. The second flaw is the lack of a full-fledged fast fleet, which puts our side at a disadvantage in terms of reconnaissance and tactical maneuverability. And with this transfer of the Allied navy, these two problems of ours are gone. With the departure of Thomas's fleet, the opponent had only 5 battleships armed with 15-inch guns, and all of them were slow ships. I think this is an opportunity, a chance to make up for the shortcomings of the last big war! Scheer said at the meeting.

"Although with the addition of the U.S. fleet, the opponent's firepower projection has greatly increased, but because the U.S. Navy is lower than the British Navy, the actual combat power they can exert may not be as terrifying as they appear on paper. According to intelligence, the Americans' shooting range hit rate was only about 70% of that of their British counterparts, and they had not experienced the baptism of actual combat, and their performance in actual combat could be even worse. At worst, we can still choose to evacuate in the unfavorable situation of the war. The other side can't catch up with us. Hipper also expressed support for Scher's plan. And he put forward his own opinion, that is, Scheer commanded the main fleet to drag down the British fleet, and then he led the seven most elite capital ships of the German High Seas Fleet that participated in the last war to quickly defeat the American fleet. And this is considered possible. After all, the pride of the Americans, the New Mexico-class battleships, did not hold out for even half an hour under the Longwu-class battleships of the Huaxia Navy! And according to the intelligence revealed by Huaxia, the Americans' artillery skills are really not good!

Tirpitz did not immediately say anything to Schell and Hipper's request to play, but asked Schell to come to his office after the meeting, and the two politely exchanged views over afternoon tea. "Scheer, what made you ask to play so actively this time? Since the last engagement, your strategy has been on the conservative side. "Tirpitz was the first to break the calm.

"I feared that Tycho would not be able to deal with Magifin and Thomas, even though the Italian newspapers blew the newly promoted admiral into the sky and said what the Caesar of the Italian Sea was. However, in my opinion, he can only be described as qualified, and the first time was to win the Battle of Malta by using a near-sneak attack. There's an element of trickery in this, and the second time? You know, the actual commander is not Tycho. Thomas and Magiffin are no mean. Coupled with their superiority in strength, as well as the system of Portuguese naval bases that are being built at an accelerated pace, I am afraid that it will not be long before Majifen and them will make a move. And if the Mediterranean Sea is lost, the whole maritime situation will be completely over. Scheer thought for a moment and said.

"Therefore, we must take advantage of this time to take action to weaken the Allied navies and contain them. And if we can hurt the Americans, we may be able to win a chance for peace talks. Scheer looked at the solemn Tirpitz and immediately added. To be honest, the Allies are also a little unable to fight, or there is no need to fight, from the fallen corpse of Russia, Germany, Austria, Turkey and other countries have gained enough benefits, these places are enough for them to develop for more than ten years, and it is really worth the loss in taking huge risks and fighting with Anglo-American France. So there are already people who want peace talks, but what is the basis for peace talks? First of all, military superiority can obtain a good position, so Scheer came up with such an idea to promote peace! (To be continued......)