On the turquoise sea, the battle cruiser of the Australia, which had just returned for less than a month, was like something had hit its tail, and the back half of the hull was scorched black. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning network) especially the rudder position, is a big hole. The seawater formed a whirlpool at the mouth of the hole.

If you look at it from a distance, you will find that the battle cruiser's waterline is high in front and low in the back, which is obviously caused by a large amount of water entering the stern, but if you look closely, you will find that the waterline is slowly returning to normal, which indicates that the rest of the hull is being filled with water to restore balance.

Two figures emerged from the stern of the ship. Before he could see it clearly, Seymour had already asked with an anxious face, "Sullivan, how is it?" ”。

1 "It's terrible...

The second officer shook the water from his hair, spread his hand and said with a wry smile: 1 "The stern of the ship was torpedoed by a three-meter-wide wound, and the water ingress caused the stern to sink, and tools are needed, otherwise the rudder may not be able to be reset." ”。

1 "Damn! Hearing that the rudder could not be reset, Seymour scolded fiercely, it doesn't matter if the water enters, he can drive slowly. But the rudder is stuck and cannot be reset. This means that the warship will not be able to turn, and according to the current angle, it will sail all the way to Peru in South America.

Not to mention Seymour, even the officers felt that they were not lucky, seeing that they were about to arrive in the control area of Fiji on the day of escape, but they did not expect to be attacked by the Chinese submarine, although the submarine was sunk, they still sent a radio signal, which means that if the Chinese received the signal, then a large number of warships will definitely arrive in the next few days.

1 "Under Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General Bernice had arrived with the Lone Pull and Jean Bal, and General Claxton said that they would arrive the evening tomorrow evening. Please rest assured. 1 "Rest assured? Can you rest assured?。。 Seymour smiled wryly, "Where are we now?。。

1 "There is still an hour to go to Futuna, where we can temporarily hide from the islands, and I think we can temporarily leave the fleet of the Brave and the Glory and go to the Fiji Islands to wait for reinforcements... The staff officer advised: "In case the Australia is in danger, they can use speed to rescue us, and if the enemy is too strong, they can save their strength...

1. "It's good to inform them. , 1 "flat will additionally we would like you to transfer the flagship, the Australasian possible. When a staff officer suggested this, it must indicate that the original flagship was in greater danger, and although Seymour was unwilling to give up the Australia, he accepted the staff officer's suggestion after thinking about it.

Bernice's fleet has been on its way for a day, and as long as he supports it until reinforcements arrive, the Australian can get out of trouble, and if the opponent's strength is really too strong, then at least two Brave-class large cruisers can be preserved, and the mobile force can be preserved for the Southwest Fleet. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

1. "Can you survive these two days?。。 Looking at the darkening sky, Seymour sighed and walked down the gangway.

1 "What do you think? ，。

1 "It's about the same as you think, I also don't think those two warships will leave... Inside the Guam, looking at Li Xiuyan who asked him, Chen Shaokuan pointed to the Fiji Islands and said: 1 "You see, according to the S3 submarine post-telegram, he clearly hit the stern of the Australia, which means that the Australian will at least have problems with the rudder and axle if the power damage is serious."

If at this point those two warships leave. Just a few cruisers and destroyers to protect it, as soon as we have a Yangtze River class cruiser to arrive, it's all over, so I think they should cruise around for protection. Waiting for the rescue of the fleet from Sydney. ，。

1 "But what if the rudder is not damaged? Li Xiuyan pointed to the position behind the S3 submarine and said, "This is the island of Rotuma that appeared after the S3, which is 370 nautical miles from the Fiji Islands.

It has now been 13 hours since the Australian was hit, and according to the 15 sections, the Australian has three options, the first is to continue south into Fiji, where there is an Australian garrison, where to get help. Second, to the Samoan Islands, according to the Anglo-American Pacific Agreement, the American army arrived there before the war, and built a dock. It can be used for warships to moor.

The third is to the southwest, to Noumea. The road is farther, but here is the rear barrier of Australia's defenses. There are as many as 50,000 troops on the island, and as long as you get there, you are basically safe...

1 "Which do you think it will be?。。

1 "Samoa will not go over there, it will only get farther and farther away from Australia, if the US Pacific Fleet is walking, it doesn't matter, now it is basically a food delivery to the South American fleet, and maybe it will hit the 12th fleet head-on.

Sending so many battleships from Claxton to rescue instructions. The Australia was badly wounded, or had difficulty moving, and was afraid that the pursuers would arrive and send a fleet to protect it. So it shouldn't be possible to go to Noumea right away before they get protection and initial repairs, so I think they should be staying in Fiji waiting for reinforcements...

1 "Then let's go to Fiji!" ，。 The Navigator immediately said: 1 "We are still 1,270 nautical miles from Fiji, and now we should be able to reach Fiji in 50 hours at full speed...

1 "We can get there, but what about the destroyers?。。 Chen Shaokuan said: 1 "I just asked, the destroyer's fuel level has basically bottomed out, and we must be replenished, but we only have one supply ship, and even if we let the destroyer drink enough, when it can maintain a speed of more than 28 knots, the Weiqing-class will run an extra 1,500 nautical miles." Even when I got to Fiji, I ran out of gas...

After listening to the words of the two, Li Xiuyan thought for a while and said: 1 "There are 16,000 tons of oil on the Belga Lake, two battleships and four light cruisers will each replenish 2,000 tons, and the rest will be handed over to the destroyers. After the replenishment, the destroyer formation searched along the Tuvalu Islands and headed for the Gilbert Islands, where the 23rd Fleet should have been active, so that they would cooperate with the 23rd Fleet and wait for our return. ”。

1 "without destroyers?。。 Chen Shaokuan glanced at Li Xiuyan. Said softly: 1 "2 lone class, 2 cruisers with 380 mm heavy guns, the combat effectiveness of the Australia should not be completely lost" plus 4 Tennessee-class armored cruisers and at least 12 light cruisers and destroyers, even if we fight one-two, 4 Yangtze River class head-to-head confrontation will not be able to deal with so many warships. ，。

1 "No. Not head-to-head ...

Li Xiuyan squinted his eyes, and his sharp light flashed: 1 "The 12 fleets led by General Xiao Tianzhi must have arrived in the Phoenix Islands, where the British and Americans still have some patrol ships and aircraft, if nothing else, the 12th fleet will be discovered when it arrives near Samoa, what will they do if the fleet is exposed?。。

1. "Go now" they are no match for the 12-ship fleet.

1 "Yes" Whether it is support or rescue home, if you want to return to Australia from Fiji, you must go to Noumea, so we are waiting for them here! Li Xiuyan pressed his finger the Loyal Islands in front of Noumea.

Looking at his fingers, Chen Shaokuan and the navigator both gasped, their eyes bright but shook their heads again. The Loyal Islands are only 45 nautical miles from the port of Noumea, two hours away, and the harbor is guarded by heavy artillery, 6 ships against at least 20 ships "We can't stop it completely, it is very likely that we will be slipped away by the light patrol of the 2 heavy guns... The navigator said worriedly.

1 "report, 12 fleet telegram. Before he could speak, the staff officer interrupted the small meeting, Li Xiuyan took the telegram, and after reading it, the corners of his mouth cracked suddenly: 1 "Jiang is still old and spicy, look at it." ，。

1 "Ride it, I want to go with you. After arriving in Samoa, he deliberately revealed his whereabouts" and then forced the Entente fleet to flee to Noumea, let us cooperate with the interception!" ，。 Chen Shaokuan said with a smile.

The telegram was sent by Xiao Tianzhi of the 12th fleet, and his idea was the same as Li Xiuyan's, to let the pilot fleet block between Noumea and the Fiji Islands, and then take advantage of the speed advantage of the Guam class to be almost 9 knots higher than the opponent's main fleet, and rendezvous with the lead fleet in the waters east of Noumea.

1" 6 to 20, reinforcements arrived within an hour. Do you want to do it?。。

1 "Of course I do, but. ”。 The navigator first patted his chest, then turned his head and the corners of his mouth fell again: 1 "Look at the sky, there may be heavy rain in the next two days, if it is delayed?" ，。

1 "War" never waits for you to be fully prepared ... Li Xiuyan patted the captain on the shoulder, quoted Le Fei's words, and took a hard breath: 1 "Take off two planes to monitor the surroundings, the cruiser begins to receive supplies, and we will set off in 4 hours。。

The thick clouds over the Fiji Islands made it seem like they couldn't breathe, but Seymour couldn't wait to hug God and kiss him when he saw the weather.

In the distance, "the Australia was like a wounded crocodile, clinging to a maintenance ship, watching the busy sailors" He finally breathed a sigh of relief, because he had just learned that "the rudder of the Australia was temporarily usable, and the pumping machine was working, and was pumping out the stagnant water inside." This means that the speed of this battle cruiser can be temporarily restored to 20 knots, and there is no need to worry about not being able to catch up with the capital ship.

Just as Seymour was eagerly waiting to finish pumping the water road, he was suddenly tapped on the shoulder, turned his head and found that Lieutenant General Bernice, who had led the team to support him, came behind him, and after handing over a telegram, he was naturally optimistic and smiled heartily: "Wayne (Seymour), I said that God is valuing us." Seymour immediately took the telegram and was shocked at a glance: "Two Guam-class ships。。

1 "Yes, but God is helping us, they were found in the Samoa Islands by one of our patrol ships, and now we have plenty of time to leave... Bernice said.

1 "Dear Di, the Chinese are very fast, although they are still 200 nautical miles from us, but we must leave... Seymour had never been interested in the French navy, and they seemed to be naturally optimistic, but they never seemed to have a sense of urgency.

1 "Okay ... Lieutenant General Bernice looked at his watch: "Let's go now." We can get to Noumea in the early hours of tomorrow morning, even if they are at a hurry. We had to wait until the evening to catch up with us, and we just said that. Suddenly, a few drops of rain fell on the dial.

The two looked at each other and smiled. No matter how powerful the Chinese navy is, Rainy Night wants to catch a fleet that keeps the lights under control, unless the Chinese really have the kind of fiery eyes of the monkey in their mythological stories! ~！