The 549 Empire Strikes Back (Claxton's Mistake)

What is Ace?

Many people have their own answer to this question. 【 I want: super fast update 】

Ji Weishan, who threw gloves at the decisive battle, Lefei who led the light patrol to pursue and shell Banda Aceh to play the national prestige, Fang Jin, who led the warship to brutally ram, the young soldiers who challenged the enemy without fear of danger with a destroyer across 3,000 nautical miles, Ye Zugui who fought one-on-two for the hatred of Beiyang in the sea battle, etc., there are many, many more, they are all trump cards.

There is also a type, perhaps not so vigorous, but someone who can find a way to make the enemy misjudge in an instant, and make a major turn for the whole campaign.

If it weren't for the warning telegram from Vice Admiral Stedi, and if it weren't for Jin Wei's accurate series of shots later, the outcome of this naval battle, which was later hailed as the prelude to the imperial counterattack, might have been slightly modified, at least the American mobile fleet, which had a clear numerical advantage, would not have been like later.

Vice Admiral Claxton was somewhat undecided in the crowded and heavily guarded conning tower of the ship, the third South Carolina-class battleship, the USS Massachusetts.

With only 15 nautical miles left on Bougainville Island, one of the targets, it could almost be described as within reach, but this distance made him feel as if he had fallen into some kind of fog, perhaps as a commander, he should not be so nervous, but luck and a sixth sense are often very good in naval battles, and this urgent telegram from Nauru made him feel a certain worry.

The Sealand squadron led by Vice Admiral Stedi was ambushed by the enemy, and the opponent had already seen through this joint action between the two countries, which was aimed at cutting off the route from China to Australia and luring the Chinese Second Fleet to come out for a decisive battle.

He was not bad as one of the few officers in the Navy who had participated in the Battle of Cuba and led the old battleship Massachusetts around South America, returned to the East Coast for several months, and sank the cruiser that China had sold to Spain, and he also witnessed as an observer the naval battle off the island of Sibilu that could be called a watershed for the navy.

That naval battle witnessed the birth of a sea power, witnessed the strength of the Chinese Royal Navy, which was as young as the United States, the warships, the ability of long-distance artillery bombardment, the importance of speed in naval warfare, the ability of the captains to seize the opportunity, and the skills displayed by the command post in battle, all of which made him deeply impressed, and at the same time, he also became more cautious and cautious about this imaginary opponent.

Among the many generals of the US Navy, he is one of the few people who is unwilling to go to war with China, not that he does not dare to challenge Li Mo, in fact, he knows better than anyone that the United States and China will have a war, but he also knows that the United States has not yet gained absolute maritime superiority, and a war at this time will only fall into unnecessary attrition.

Britain's ceding of maritime interests in the Pacific seemed to him to be a big trap, but Taft and the Republicans behind him were so keen on Pacific expansion that they forgot the proverb that "beautiful mushrooms are poisonous."

But since the president decided to declare war, as an admiral, he had no right to refute, so he took over the task of leading the mobile fleet to attack the southwest Pacific and cooperate with the British fleet to cut off the connection between China and Australia.

This is a helpless choice, for the United States, Honolulu at the doorstep is like a disgusting, but stubbornly biting gadfly, threatening all the passages in and out of the Pacific Ocean in the United States, Li Mo is also very aware of the importance there, so not only spent a lot of money to build it into a sea super fortress, but also put half of the good Hebei-class main battleships there.

According to intelligence, in order to take Honolulu, it is necessary to defeat the Pacific Fleet of the Royal Chinese Navy first, and it is necessary to concentrate at least ten or more super battleships and at least 100,000 army soldiers to do it. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

Therefore, he will feel that the United States has not yet gained absolute superiority, because as long as Hawaii is not removed, the United States will never be able to enter the Northwest Pacific to directly attack China, not even Japan, so after Andrew ended his visit to Japan to cover his own actions, he didn't even dare to follow up and rushed directly to the east, because he knew that as long as the slightest mistake was entangled, it would be the end of the destruction of the fleet.

He knew very well that in order to defeat China and achieve ultimate victory, it was first necessary to ensure the security of Australia, and then to encroach on it step by step north, using the powerful industrial capacity of the United States to seize the advantage little by little, until the accumulation of small amounts and the final sweep.

And in order to complete this plan, it is first necessary to destroy the South China Ocean Fleet, which is defending the southwest Pacific.

Honolulu has a huge geographical advantage, but it also limits the hands and feet of the opponent's First Fleet, and the defense capability of the Pearl Harbor fortress will be reduced by half after the fleet leaves, so even if Li Mo is arrogant, he does not dare to send capital ships from there to support the southwest, at least four Hebei-class ships must not move!

Such are the pros and cons of containment and counter-containment.

When four powerful Hebei-class ships were pinned down in Honolulu, when two Guam-class ships went to South America to visit Lalian, and when Vice Admiral Phillips of the British Far East Fleet sent a telegram last night that at least four large capital ships had been detected, and the two Beijing-class capital ships under maintenance in Shanghai had just left three days ago, he knew that the opportunity had come!

Because there are only four capital ships left in the Nanyang Fleet, even if you count the two Hebei-class battleships of their home fleet, only six can support here, even if they are transferred from Honolulu, there can only be eight, and for this operation, the United States and Britain have invested a total of thirteen capital ships and ten armored cruisers, not including the British and French fleets that can rush to support from the Indian Ocean at any time!

However, this battle that was expected to be won could face total destruction because of the problems of the important right-wing Vice Admiral Stedi's Sealand fleet, because the Sealand fleet still had an important follow-up mission, which was to immediately support the American interception fleet that had already set off after capturing Nauru, and desperately destroy the two super battleships that appeared before the war.

Although Vice Admiral Sterdy telegraphed that he had only four capital ships and that he had a good chance of winning, Claxton was not so optimistic about Steddy, he was indeed a good naval officer, but he also had the unique "habits" of the British Navy, which were the legacy of a hundred years of power, just like Craddock who died at the hands of Spee.

Brave and aggressive.

This century-old pride-nurtured "tradition" would have led to an epic victory for the British Navy, as well as a crucial war in a matter of minutes.

If he loses the naval battle, then his own way back to Australia will be cut off, and only four American battleships will not be able to intercept the two super battleships visiting Chile, if they will merge and go straight to East Australia or even South Australia, then the route from the United States to Australia will be extremely dangerous.

In addition to this telegram, there is another thing that worries him, that is, a reconnaissance plane released by a British seaplane carrier that rushed to the aid has not returned, and it stands to reason that it should have come back a long time ago, was it lost or crashed? Or is it ......?

A telegram and a seaplane that did not return made Bougainville Island, 15 nautical miles away, strange and unpredictable, and the enemy could not be a coincidence that the enemy could appear off the coast of Nauru so suddenly, because no one would use the capital ship to undertake daily tasks, so Li Mo must have been prepared!

He set up a big trap, he wanted to kill Sturdy's Sealand fleet, and then let two Guam-class super battleships support the southwest, quickly cutting off his own retreat!

Those two super battleships were simply a big decoy, a fog deliberately released before the war, which he had already prepared, ready to eat his own maneuvering power!

Thinking of this, Claxton suddenly felt chills all over his body, the importance of the mobile fleet is self-evident, if this fleet is lost, then the US Navy will be on the full defensive in the Pacific Ocean in the next year, and whether it can hold the west coast is still a big question, so the safety of the fleet must be ensured!

"No, you can't move forward!"

Claxton shook his head, and was about to give the order to turn around and retreat, when suddenly a scream came from the deck.

"Three o'clock, plane!"

In the midst of the shouting, Claxton quickly rushed to the starboard window, and saw eight black dots suddenly leap out from under the northern sea level, they were close to the sea, flying fast, and rushed into sight in the blink of an eye.

"Monowing?"

As soon as the staff officer who knew how to order planes around him frowned, he saw a little fire coming out of the nose of the eight planes, and a series of deserved sounds sounded on the thick shell of the command tower a moment later.

Although everyone knew that even if a cannon was installed on the plane, it would not be possible to penetrate the 12-inch thick armor, but everyone was subconscious, and when the shells clanged on the outer wall of the command tower, the officers all subconsciously covered their heads and squatted down.

The warplanes brushed past the tall cage mast of the Massachusetts, and when Claxton and the officers looked up to the other side, the eight monoplanes that had never been seen before had actually circled in the distance and flew back.

"One team, aim for the Command Tower!"

"Second team, aim at the mast!"

"Team 3, Team 4 Watch Out to the Deck Personnel!"

In Zhu Houbin's shouting, all kinds of strange screams erupted from the other seven hornets, which grazed the enemy battleship and caused panic!

After the rapid turn, Jin Wei followed behind the long fuselage, looking at the battleship with the flagship flag that was getting bigger and bigger in his sight, he adjusted his posture slightly, and pressed the cross on the windshield against the narrow porthole of the command tower.

"Fire!"

As Jin Wei pressed the cannon firing button on the top of the operating stick, the synchronous 25 mm (20 mm written in front, here it is) cannon just installed on the nose let out a series of screams, and at the same time, the two rice machine guns at the wing root also roared at the same time, and suddenly hit the larger and larger portholes.

It is impossible for the cannon to penetrate the conning tower, and it is impossible to even drill a small eye, but Jin Wei still hopes for some effect, in fact, his wish has really come true, the attack is not in vain, at least one of the observers standing in front of the window was hit in the neck by scattered shrapnel, and blood was sprinkled all over the conning tower in an instant.

As Zhu Houbin and Jin Wei crossed the deck of the USS Massachusetts again, the sound of cannon finally sounded behind them, and the balloon guns on the American battleship opened fire.

The constant passing of cannonballs made everyone nervous, but the six Hornets that followed behind them to attack the deck and mast gave these small rapid-fire guns, which were only used against large airships and reconnaissance balloons, the power of the machine guns, and the cage masts were very much on fire because they lacked the strength of the triangular masts, and the observation posts above were open without armor.

"Captain, do you want to come again!"

In the communication channel, the war eagles who swept past the enemy fleet for the second time shouted, and the atmosphere had reached **, and the sound of the cannon bombardment not only did not make the team members afraid, but made everyone tremble with excitement.

"Forget it, it doesn't have much effect." Zhu Houbin knows that this kind of attack is always an itch in the boots, and even killing a few sailors will not change the tide of the battle, so he needs to do important things to make the enemy misjudge!

"01 and 02 continue to take off for surveillance."

"The rest all fly north, circle and go back."

"Yes!"

Lieutenant General Claxton's face became ugly as the six warplanes quickly disappeared north below sea level, and the islands near Micronesia were all about 150 nautical miles away, and these planes could never have flown from the islands, so they .......

There's a fleet to the north!

At least there are motherships to support such aircraft, otherwise they wouldn't have flown that way!

When the adjutant reported that the mast was damaged and the two lookouts were killed and wounded, Claxton immediately made a decision, the fleet turned southeast, entered the Solomon Islands, used the island cover to enter the Coral Sea, and then went all the way south to quickly return to Australia, because the mission has been exposed, there must be a strong fleet waiting for him in the north!

It's a pity that there is one thing he forgot, and that is that he used the best European planes at the moment to calculate the range.

At 12:30, after getting the Claxton fleet to enter the Solomon Islands south, the staff officers behind Gu Junhuo high-fived each other, because Zhu Houbin's sudden tickling attack from the north made the cautious US Vice Admiral make the judgment that there was an enemy in the north, so the only way to get out of the battlefield was to burrow into the Solomon Islands and quickly go south back to Australia!

Claxton's choice was not wrong, it would be unwise to continue to fight the prepared garrison of Bougainville Island westward, and it would be unwise to be forced into a trap of shore guns and naval guns at the same time, and once Stedy failed, his fleet would be surrounded in this area, and the battleship would be just an iron coffin after losing supplies!

But the Americans apparently did not know that the 1st Task Force was not in the north, but in their southwest, and at this moment the bow was rapidly moving east, and as long as Claxton continued to the south, then he would crash head-on with the 356-mm heavy guns of the Hebei-class battleships!

"Announce the start of the meal!"

"Ready in an hour!"

"The third flight team departs, taking over from the second team to continue monitoring."

"The destroyers spread out, pay attention to the search and be careful of the submarine."

As the third wave of bumblebees rushed out of the deck, after giving the order, Gu Junhuo also received a message from Guam that the Dive 21 was monitoring the Battle of Perth.

The sea off Perth started first, and Ning Xiaochuan was three against seven!

RO！ ~！