The flagship of the combined fleet of the Anglo-French Navy was replaced by John Brown. Admiral Jericho was selected as the Battleship Brave, the fourth of the British Navy's Queen Elizabeth class. The battleship had very good luck in the naval battle in the North Sea, not a single large-caliber shell was hit. John. Admiral Jericho thought that the battleship Warrior was very lucky, so he chose it as the flagship of the fleet, and also hoped that the battleship Warrior would bring good luck to the entire Combined Fleet. After all, luck is also an extremely important factor in naval warfare.

However, the French Admiral Palmiro, who served as deputy commander of the fleet, did not stay on the battleship Warrior, but chose to stay on the French Navy's own battleship. Although the Breton-class, battleships were far inferior to the Warrior battleship in terms of size and firepower, it was the French Navy's own battleship after all. Except for meetings when Admiral Palmiro rarely went to the 'Warriors, the battleship. As an admiral, Admiral Palmiro also hoped that the French navy would grow stronger. However, after the battleships were sunk by the Chinese Navy and two were captured, the French government completely abandoned the development of the navy and focused on the army. After all, for France, the biggest enemy is Germany, from land. As for the equally powerful German Navy, it was enough to leave it to the ally British Navy. Therefore, the French Navy only built three Breton class after the battleships of the "Lone Class", and after the battleships, the construction of new battleships was stopped, making the French Navy completely reduced to the world's second-rate navy.

'Brittany-class, battleship, displacement of 25,000 tons, top speed of only 22 knots, armament of five twin 340 mm main guns, 22 138 mm secondary guns, more than 1,100 members. The three 'Brittany-class, battleships were named 'Brittany,' 'Provence, and 'Lorraine,'.

It is only 1,500 kilometers from Gibraltar to the sea off Sicily, and it takes only four days to reach it at the speed of the combined fleet of the British and French navies. John. Admiral Jericho believed that the naval battle would break out on August 17 or 18. For this battle, John. Admiral Jericho was full of confidence. The Combined Fleet had 13 battleships and 3 battlecruisers, all of which were advanced battleships, while the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet had only eight battleships and one battlecruiser, with the exception of the Han-class, which was armed with 343 mm guns, and all other battleships were equipped with 5 mm guns. The Combined Fleet has three 'Queen Elizabeth-class, battleships, which carry 381 mm guns that can easily send the Chinese Navy's battleships to the bottom of the sea. With such a huge advantage, John. Admiral Jericho thought that the combined fleet would be victorious in this battle. The only thing to pay attention to is probably the submarine force of the Chinese Navy, and the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Vice Admiral Howard, suffered heavy losses under the attack of the submarine forces of the Chinese Navy. Therefore, dozens of destroyers in the combined fleet have been explained to Xinjiang and destroyers, and it is necessary to be prepared for anti-submarine warfare, and if the submarines of the Chinese Navy dare to come forward, they will be blown up and sunk immediately, and at the same time, all destroyers must be ready to block torpedoes for the capital ships. If a submarine of the Chinese Navy fires a torpedo at the capital ship, the nearby destroyer must rush to the side of the capital ship and save the capital ship at its own expense, otherwise the commander on board the battleship will be tried by a military court. Although such an order is somewhat inhumane, a destroyer is much cheaper than a capital ship, and the cost of a battleship is dozens of times that of a destroyer. Therefore, sacrificing destroyers to protect capital ships is a very cost-effective one

"General, according to the latest intelligence, the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy is still in the waters near Marsala in Sicily, and there is no sign of leaving!" Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Roslyn. Vice Admiral Wells reported.

"Excellent! Let our reconnaissance ships keep an eye on the movements of those yellow-skinned monkeys, lest they escape. As long as they don't run away, then they will lose this battle! "John. Admiral Jericho said confidently. More than a dozen powerful capital ships of the combined fleet gave him a lot of confidence. His greatest fear was that the main force of the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet would flee after learning that the Combined Fleet had departed from Gibraltar, in which case the Combined Fleet would be in vain. The Chinese Navy remained dead or alive in the waters off Sicily. Admiral Jericho seems to be sending him to his death. He was sure that the powerful capital ships of the Combined Fleet would lightly send those old battleships of the Chinese Navy to the bottom of the sea.

"General, but we have found traces of the submarine forces of the Chinese Navy in the waters northwest of Sicily. The reason why the main forces of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy did not leave must have been on guard

I think they must have a lot of submarines attached, and these submarines must have set up an ambush and want to attack us! "Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells reminded.

"Hmmm! The Chinese still think that they can defeat us in this despicable and shameless way. It's useless! The Royal Navy doesn't fall twice in the same place. Order the fleet to strengthen anti-submarine and sail on anti-submarine routes, especially at night, especially to strengthen anti-submarine operations! "John. Admiral Jericho ordered. Although he was arrogant, he was not reckless, and he did not want the tragedy of the Red Sea to be repeated. Despite the fact that the Mediterranean Fleet is now so powerful, he is also not willing to take risks.

John. Admiral Jericho believed that as long as the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet could be defeated this time, the Royal Navy would gradually attack eastward and gradually regain the colonies occupied by China. And the Mediterranean fleet will undoubtedly become the main force in this. Therefore, he did not want the Mediterranean Fleet to lose too many warships in this naval battle. You must know that the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet he is now leading has almost concentrated most of the advanced capital ships of the British Navy. Most of the capital ships left behind by the home fleet are relatively old capital ships. Although there are still 5 more advanced 'Revenge class' battleships on the slipway, the construction of battleships is being intensified, but because a lot of the materials in the early stage are used in the 'Queen Elizabeth class, battleships, so that 'For the Revenge class, the construction of the battleship will be delayed a lot, and it will be almost a year and a half before it can be put into service. Therefore, John. The fleet led by Admiral Jericho was already the main force of the British Navy, and if something missed, it would be a huge blow to the British Navy.

As soon as the combined fleet of the British and French navies departed from Gibraltar, the Chinese Mediterranean Theater Command was already informed of the relevant information. Admiral Zhou Shun, commander of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, once again summoned the commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet and the two wings of naval aviation to discuss the combat arrangements.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the combined fleet of the British and French navies has departed from Gibraltar at 9 o'clock this morning. It is expected to arrive in the waters off Sicily on August 17 or 18. In other words, the battle between us and the combined fleet of the British and French navies will break out on August 17 or August 18. The Anglo-French combined fleet had more than 80 large and small warships, including 13 battleships and 3 battlecruisers. This kind of strength is very powerful. If we hadn't decided to have naval aviation as the main force of the attack, with our current strength, there would be no way to compete with them. General Chen, General Cai, this time it's mainly up to the two of you! Admiral Zhou Shun looked at Major General Chen Guoguo, Wing Commander of the Naval Air Force, and Major General Cai Shudong, Wing Commander of the Naval Air Force.

"Yes, Commander, leave it to us!" Major General Chen Guoguo, the commander of the 1st Wing, immediately replied, his voice revealing a deep excitement. China has been vigorously developing its air force and naval aviation for many years, but they have never shown their strength in front of the world, and this major war will be the first time that China's naval aviation will show its formidable attack power in front of the whole world, and it is destined to go down in history. Being able to send huge battleships of the British Navy and the French Navy to the bottom of the sea represents unprecedented glory and feats for the officers and men of the Chinese Naval Aviation.

Major General Cai Shudong, the wing commander of the 1st Wing of the Naval Aviation, also nodded, and his personality was a little more restrained. But he is also full of confidence in this battle. Two wings with a total of two hundred and forty plus fighters against the combined British and French fleet, if nothing else, should be enough. Of course, those small ships will not be considered, and all capital ships will be the preferred targets.

"Haha, it's good to have faith, I believe that His Majesty the Emperor is also looking forward to the performance of naval aviation. Commander Lee, the combat radius of naval aviation is only 200 kilometers, so it is very important to lure the combined fleet of the British and French navies into the sea area 100 kilometers from Sicily. This is a task that only the Indian Ocean Fleet will be able to accomplish! Admiral Zhou Shun said.

"Yes, General Zhou, the Indian Ocean Fleet will definitely guarantee the completion of the mission!" Admiral Li Haitao said. Although he longed to fight with the combined fleet of the British and French navies with dignity, he also knew that the gap between the two sides was too great. Without the help of naval aviation, the Indian Ocean Fleet would simply not be an opponent of the combined Anglo-French naval fleet. The opponent's more than a dozen new battleships were enough to destroy all the capital ships of the Indian Ocean Fleet. Of course, as long as the combined fleet of the British and French navies is lured within the strike radius of naval aviation, then the combined fleet of the British and French navies will be a dead end, and the Indian Ocean fleet may have the opportunity to beat the water dogs!