readx; Chapter 370: The American Fleet

At the end of December, the weather in the north began to enter the coldest time of the year, and the Labrador cold snap spanned thousands of kilometers, under the strong northerly wind, swept across North America, causing the temperature in Chicago, near the Great Lakes, to drop below zero early. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Bang Bang ......!" the boiling water kept lifting the lid of the kettle, and there was a clear but not harsh sound of collision. The exuberant fire released the heat wantonly to the surroundings, bringing the warmth of the entire war room like spring, and the scene of the cold wind howling outside the window and the heavy snow flying formed two worlds.

Wu Guangzong was wearing a white shirt, with sleeves rolled up, an open neckline, a pencil in his hand, staring at the map spread on the table, staring at the map on the table, while contemplating deeply, he kept writing and drawing, his whole mind was invested in it, obviously he had forgotten all the changes around him.

"Squeak!" The hoarse sound of the door opening, with a gust of cold wind, made the temperature in the room suddenly change significantly, alternating between hot and cold, making Wu Guangzong shiver at the same time, but also from his own thoughts. frowned, and after turning his head, he happened to see the political commissar of the military region who was wearing a thick military coat and lifting the curtain to come in!

"Old Wu, the latest telegram from the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Americans have really hidden a lot of military power as we expected!" As he spoke, Wen Wen handed the telegram in his hand to Wu Guangzong. Then he turned around, took off his heavy military coat, hung it on a hanger beside him, picked up the kettle again, poured two cups of boiling water into the enamel jar on the table, and then refilled some cold water. After putting the kettle back on the stove, he rubbed his hands together and moved a chair. He sat down next to Wu Guangzong.

At this time, Wu Guangzong had already read all the contents of the telegram!

"500,000 people! The Americans are really a big deal!" Wu Guangzong said with a smile as he put the telegram in his hand on the table.

"Well, that's right, if we hadn't noticed their anomaly in time, we took the initiative to attack and forced out their hidden means. I'm afraid that our Southern Front Corps will be really dangerous!" said Wenming with some joy on his face. 500,000 troops plus 320,000 troops of the Memphis Regiment of the United States, as well as as thousands of light and heavy artillery, even if Wang Xiangzong's command ability is excellent. No matter how strong the fortifications are, no matter how strong the river fleet is, I am afraid that under the pressure of this absolute superiority in strength, it will be difficult to block the crazy attack of the Americans.

And. Among the eleven divisions of the Southern Front Corps of the American Theater of the Huo Jiajun. Except for two main divisions, which are strong in combat effectiveness, the other nine divisions are all black servant divisions, and they are not much different from the US Army in terms of equipment, training level, and combat experience. Plus so many people have to defend the entire Lower Mississippi River region. After dispersing the already weak strength, it will be even more difficult to resist the US military counteroffensive. At that time, if they are really going to be crossed by the American ** team, then they will be really dangerous!

But. Fortunately, because of the alertness of the high-level leaders of the Huo Jiajun American Theater, none of this happened.

"Still. Although the danger on the southern front has been resolved, the situation on the northern front will be even more severe!"

Hearing this, Wu Guangzong also nodded, the US Northern Army originally had 450,000 people, although in order to reinforce the southern front, the US First Cavalry Army, more than 30,000 cavalry had already turned to the south, but if the 360,000 troops reinforced by the Americans were added, the strength of the US Northern Front Army Corps increased instead of decreasing, reaching a scale of nearly 800,000. On the other hand, the troops of the Northern Front Corps of the Huo Family Army were only 290,000! A gap of nearly twice the number! Even if the Huo Family Army had an advantage in weaponry, the quality of its soldiers, and the use of strategy and tactics, it would probably be difficult to stop the offensive of the 800,000 American troops in the face of such pressure. Especially among the 290,000 troops of the Northern Front Corps of the Huo Family Army, six divisions and 110,000 people are black servant troops, which are really strong in combat, and the main division with complete equipment is only 180,000!

"Commander, do you want to mobilize troops from the other two corps to reinforce the Diao Fei Division of the Northern Front Corps!" Wen Wen asked.

After listening to his words, Wu Guangzong picked up the enamel jar on the table, took a sip of water, pondered for a while, and said: "The Southern Front Corps is no longer needed, although they have surrounded the American Southern Army in Memphis City, and have achieved the result of destroying 80,000 enemies in two weeks after the start of the war, but excluding minor and serious injuries, there are still 200,000 soldiers who can fight in Memphis City, USA, if you add the three cavalry corps and two infantry corps that support them, our Southern Front Corps will still face 400,000 troops in the future!" It's stressful!"

"It seems that we can only draw troops from the Midline Legion!" Wen Wen said with a smile.

"Well, let's take out the 57th Division, the 63rd Division, the 9th Division, and the 12th Division of the Black Servant Army to support the battlefield on the Northern Front! There are 420,000 people left in the Central Line Corps, but the defense is enough!"

Hearing this, Wen Wen nodded after thinking for a while, "After the Fifth and Seventh Cavalry Corps of the American Central Army were transferred south, their remaining troops were only 700,000, and after the mobile force decreased, it also reduced the difficulty of our defense, 420,000 people were enough!" After a pause, "In addition, as long as we can withstand the initial waves of the Americans' offensive, the next pressure will not be as great as it is now!"

Wu Guangzong smiled, took a sip of water from the cup, nodded, and squinted his eyes looked through the window, through the cold wind and snow, to the south!

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**The sun scorches the golden sand, and the warm and strong fishy sea breeze makes people feel the slightest coolness. Even though the Northern Hemisphere is at its coldest time of the year, the temperature in Curaçao, near the equator, has not changed in the slightest.

Now, the largest island of the Little Andrés Islands, which was once one of the three major slave markets in the West Indies along with St. Eustatius and Jamaica during the colonial period, has been sold to Huo Jiajun half a year ago by the Netherlands, which was in deep economic crisis, for 5 million silver dollars, plus 20 million silver dollars.

Now, the former Dutch Andrés Islands, together with the part of the Virgin Islands purchased by Huo Jiajun from Denmark, the French Sint Maarten, Miquelon, and the British Cayman Islands, constitute the Huo Jiajun Caribbean Special Administrative Region. After half a year, the blacks and aborigines on these islands were forcibly relocated to the farms under the Changfeng Agricultural Group controlled by the Huo family to become serfs, and nearly 150,000 Han Chinese were transported from the Qing Dynasty, and the islands were completely controlled by the Huo family's army.

And Curacao, which has a natural deep-water harbor on the island, has become one of the home ports of the American Fleet of the Huo Family Army Navy, which has been established for two years!

After retracting his gaze from the engineering team that was expanding the harbor in the distance, Yang Yonglin, commander of the American Fleet, who was wearing a white half-sleeved naval uniform and with the rank of lieutenant general on his shoulder, sighed secretly! Although Curaçao Island, which has been renamed Dingyuan Island (in the future, it will still be called Curaçao Island for everyone's convenience), has beautiful scenery and beautiful scenery, but these cannot attract Yang Yonglin's attention at all, and in his mind, nothing can interest him more than a naval battle!

"What, are you still thinking about fighting?" Zhuo Guanluo, who was the political commissar of the American Fleet at the time, pushed the door and walked in, looking at Yang Yonglin who was standing by the window and asked with a smile.

"Yes, we have been soaking in the warm sea water here for half a year, when will we be able to fight a battle happily!" Just as all excellent generals are eager to prove themselves on the battlefield, Yang Yonglin, who has become one of the three giants within the Huo Jiajun Navy and serves as the commander of the American Fleet, also has the same idea.

After listening to his words, Zhuo Guan nodded with a smile, since the end of a naval battle with the Netherlands and Portugal in early 1882, the navy has not experienced any decent naval battles for nearly three years now, although the new warships have been launched one after another, and the navy is growing day by day, but experienced naval personnel have become increasingly lacking, and a large number of naval newcomers have joined the combat effectiveness of the Huo Jiajun naval fleet! Therefore, from top to bottom within the navy, the most important hope is to be able to use war to train soldiers and improve the combat effectiveness of the naval fleet!

But looking around, it seems that the only one who can be used as an opponent is the U.S. Navy, which has not built new warships for nearly 20 years, although their naval strength is not even comparable to the original Portuguese Navy! (In the original history, the United States built armored cruisers to perform the 'fleet decisive battle', and the first batch of steel battleships with double-bottom and watertight compartments approved for the construction of the 'AD' fleet was in 1883, but unfortunately this process was ruined by the war with the Huo Jiajun!)

"Brother Yuchen, don't worry, didn't we already receive a telegram from the theater headquarters last week? This fight of the Southern Front Corps will inevitably lead to the outbreak of the entire American War, and it will naturally be our turn to play at that time!" Zhuo Guanluo said with a smile.

Looking at this old friend who was a classmate from the Mawei Ship Master School, and then also came to serve in the Huo Jiajun Navy, Yang Yonglin nodded, "That's right, as long as the Americans move, then it's our turn to move!" After a pause, Yang Yonglin fastened the buttons on the collar of his jacket, put on a white navy hat, and said calmly: "Let's go, go to the warship and have a look!"

However, before his words fell, a young ensign in a white navy uniform was already panting and running in with an excited expression, "Report, telegram from the theater command!" (to be continued......