Early morning of April 3, 1832.

"The report, B-10, found six armored cruisers, six cruisers of the second or third class, and several destroyers heading north. It is currently in the area of the Bahamas. ”

In the combat command center of the Texas Haizi, the staff officers marked the position of the enemy ship formation on the chart according to the telegram, and then they all turned their heads to look at Zhuge Weidao.

Zhuge Weidao immediately turned around and walked to the edge of the chart platform, holding the edge of the chart platform with both hands, leaning forward slightly, staring at the huge chart and the wide sea area displayed on the chart.

The opening of the Atlantic Ocean made him frown slightly, if it were not for the fact that he had arranged for 8 Type B ocean-going submarines to follow two submarine supply ships disguised as Rakshasa merchant ships to sneak into the Atlantic Ocean, and carry out reconnaissance in the Bahamas, Wind Direction Channel, and Florida Strait. The combined Mexican-Texas fleet may not have even known that the American fleet has returned from the Caribbean.

However, as the main force of the US Atlantic Fleet sailed out of the relatively narrow waters of the Bahamas and into the truly vast ocean, it became very difficult to track down the main force of the US Atlantic Fleet. Because the sea area is so large, it is simply impossible to place sentry submarines in the lanes through which the American fleet may pass. And the speed of the submarine cannot keep up with the large fleet of the Americans, and it will soon be lost.

As for sending carrier-based aircraft to reconnoiter . Due to the small range of the current carrier-based aircraft, the search range is only more than 100 kilometers around the mothership, and no further away will run out of fuel. With this pitiful search distance, it is not enough to see in the vast Atlantic.

So the main forces of the Atlantic Fleet of the Americans must be blocked in the area of the Bahamas!

When Zhuge Weidao thought of this, Guo Xiaobao had already quietly come up and said in a low voice: "Junmen, what B 10 found should be the vanguard formation of the US Atlantic Fleet, and their main formation should be 20-30 nautical miles away behind the vanguard formation. It seems that David. Pete (the commander of the Atlantic Fleet) had already anticipated the danger, so he sent a relatively fast cruiser and cruiser to take the lead. If we send carrier-based aircraft to cooperate with Wang Wen's rapid formation to launch an onslaught, then Davy. Pete is likely to lead the main force to hide in the depths of the ocean, and it will be difficult to find the main force of the US Atlantic Fleet at that time!

Although our six aircraft-carrying frigates can stay in the Caribbean Sea forever, the more than 200 carrier-based aircraft pilots on it cannot stay in the Texas Sea forever. After this battle, they had to go back to Pearl Harbor, or they would not be able to fight the next Australian campaign. ”

Carrier-based aircraft pilots are always very precious, and the current Ming Empire is no exception.

Although the Ming Empire is the world's first industrial power, but the invention of the aircraft has only been a few years, even if the Ming naval aviation attaches great importance to the training of pilots, the flight training school was opened very early, and many airship pilots with rich experience in airship operation have changed careers to fly airplanes. However, up to now, there are only a few pilots who can drive carrier-based aircraft to complete take-off and landing on aircraft carriers, and this is because the current biplane only needs a very slow speed and a very short glide distance to take off, and the speed is also very slow when landing, and it will not cause damage to the airframe if the plane is covered with a large net, so it is relatively easy to train carrier-based aircraft pilots.

Of the more than 600 carrier-based aircraft pilots who could be on board, half were assigned to the Pacific Fleet, and two-thirds of them were lent to Texas Haizi by Zhuge Weidao.

That is to say, of the 240 carrier-based aircraft pilots in Texas Haizi, only 40 really belong to Texas Haizi, and the rest are pilots of the Daming Naval Aviation. Once these pilots returned to Pearl Harbor, the Texas Sea would lose most of its combat effectiveness for a considerable period of time.

Therefore, Zhuge Weidao must play the prestige of the Mexican-Texas Combined Fleet in this operation, at least let the US Navy temporarily dare not enter the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, so that the remaining old birds in the Texas Sea can run at both ends of Texas and Florida and help the ground forces on both sides fight the United States.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Weidao said to Guo Xiaobao: "Baozhi, we have to give Lao Mei a ruthless touch this time!" Six cruisers of the second and third rank alone are not enough to beat their United States-class battleships! ”

Guo Xiaobao thought about it and already had an idea, so he made a suggestion: "Junmen, the lower officer suggested that the large formation be divided into two, and the main force of the aviation formation and the vanguard formation should be formed into an ambush formation. Among them, the main force of the air formation can retain five aircraft-carrying frigates, and another aircraft-carrying frigate will be incorporated into the main formation.

The ambush formation and the main formation separated, with the main formation close to the waters of the Bahamas and sailing north to attract the attention of the Americans. And the aircraft-carrying frigate that follows the main formation can send fighters to expel or shoot down airships that are trying to get close to the reconnaissance, so that the Americans will most likely not know that our large formation has been diverted.

At the same time, the main formation divided two Haohan-class armored cruisers to form a rearguard formation to approach the vanguard of the US Atlantic Fleet and pretend to lure the enemy or monitor the posture, with the aim of grasping the position of the vanguard of the US Atlantic Fleet.

The ambush formation drove 50 nautical miles to the east of the main formation and occupied the ambush position. When the vanguard fleet of the Americans sailed past the west of the ambush formation, the ambush formation turned to the west and sent reconnaissance planes to search for the main force of the American Atlantic Fleet.

If nothing else, before dusk today, our carrier-based aircraft can launch at least two waves of air assaults, and tonight is the end of the US Atlantic Fleet! ”

"Good!" After listening to Guo Xiaobao's plan, Zhuge Weidao also felt that it was perfect, so he nodded and said, "Send this plan to Admiral Guerrero, Enomoto Wugui and Wang Wen by telegram!" ”

"Lieutenant General, the report from the airship base in the Bahamas that our airship seems to have discovered the enemy's main force, which is less than 50 nautical miles away from our vanguard formation!"

Inside the battleship HMS Ark Royal of the British Royal Navy, William was leisurely watching the scenery from the window of the bridge. Lieutenant General Baga suddenly heard news that made him unbelievable.

"Where are the enemy formations?" William. Baga asked as he walked towards the chart.

"In the northern part of the Bahamas. Here's around the area. The staff officer pointed to a location that had just been marked on the chart and told William. Baga.

"How is that possible?" William. Baga still didn't believe it, "They already crossed the waters off the Florida Peninsula yesterday, and now they're off the coast of Virginia!" How did you get to the vicinity of the Bahamas? Do we. Discovered? ”

"Lieutenant General, it must be Spaniard"

"Damn it!" William. Baga scolded, "We all told them that there was a strong wind and waves, and they must have collected a lot of money from Emperor Augustine!" ”

"Lieutenant General, what should we do now?" The staff officer on the side asked, "Should we fly the Union Jack, or. . Evacuate the battlefield immediately? ”

William. Bhaga glared at the staff officer, "This is not the Pacific Ocean, it's the North Atlantic!" We must defend the North Atlantic from being controlled by the yellow fleet. And we can't fly the British flag either, that's what Mr. Prime Minister meant. The British Empire must have reservations! ”

"Then we'll do."

William. Baga looked at the charts and thought: "Send electricity to the US Atlantic Fleet and let them leave the Delaware Bay immediately, and we will give the Mexicans a hard fight near the Bahamas!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

William. Baga added: "Let's turn south, and then send a telegram to Brigadier Jervis across the Wind Direction Strait, so that he can lead the armored cruiser detachment to continue to follow the enemy's large formation, but remember to avoid engagement!" ”

"Yes"

(End of chapter)