"Any news?"

Hale shook his head, and if there was news, he would tell Lofos over the phone that he would not come out of here, even though the State Department was not far from the Gray House.

Without further ado, Lofos flipped through the papers in front of him.

Hale was a little embarrassed, feeling that he was worrying about nothing, after all, the president was not in a hurry, but he couldn't sit still, and he seemed a little impatient.

Of course, it's not a matter of patience either.

On the first day of this month, the two "Imperial Capital"-class aircraft carriers of the 41st Task Force left Naqiu Harbor and entered the Guia Ocean accompanied by four destroyers.

At the time, Nuland's federal intelligence agencies didn't take it seriously.

The reason is also very simple, the two "Asahimi"-class fast battleships in the 41st Task Force, and several cruisers are still in the harbor and have not gone to sea. The point is that for more than a month in the port of Naqiu, two ships of the "Imperial Capital" class carried out the necessary repairs.

This is not a strange thing either.

Affected by the initial design, the two "Imperial Capital" class ships had minor problems, and after each deployment, they had to return to port for inspection and maintenance.

Even during the deployment, the two "Imperial Capital" class ships often had problems.

If you're doing a major repair, especially with the powertrain, you'll definitely have to go out for a few laps before redeploying.

This is also the reason why only four destroyers were brought with them, and the other battleships remained in Naqiu Harbor.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Three days later, on 4 October, the intelligence agencies of the Nuland Federation received reliable information that the four "Wushu"-class heavy cruisers, which had been part of Task Force 21 but had not departed with Task Force 21 at the end of August, had left the port.

At the same time four light cruisers and four destroyers that had just been commissioned were dispatched.

Crucially, these twelve warships did not go to the Northwest and Eastern Seas to join Task Force 21, but went to Naqiu Harbor, to be precise, the waters near Naqiu Harbor.

It is inferred from this that it is likely to be assigned to Task Force 41.

The point is that the twelve warships left the port of Mazado on October 1.

Because Mazatsu Harbor was a military port and had previously been the home port of the Home Fleet, the Nuland intelligence agency was not able to get the news that day.

A day later, on the evening of October 5, two "Asahihai" class ships departed from Naqiu Harbor, which attracted the attention of Nuland's intelligence agency.

Sadly, this information was also a day late.

This is also the most fatal problem of the Nuland Federation, the intelligence work against the Liangxia Empire is highly dependent on the Narrow Imperial State, and it does not have a complete intelligence network.

Admittedly, there is a problem of race here.

It's just that it is also related to not paying much attention to intelligence work.

From another point of view, it can also be said that the Nuland Federation seriously lacks experience in the confrontation of great powers.

Before the outbreak of the Great War, there was no problem in relying on the Sayi Imperial State to provide intelligence, after all, they were allies, and the intelligence work of the Sagi Imperial State was mainly aimed at the Liang Xia Empire.

It's just that right now, the problem is very serious.

The key point is that after the establishment of the Western Sayi regime, many of the Sayi intelligence personnel defected to the Liangxia Empire, and also betrayed other spy personnel by the way.

In fact, many of the narrow-minded spy agents lurking in the Liangxia Empire had already taken the initiative to surrender in the previous few months.

As a result, the intelligence network in the hands of the Eastern Sashiyi regime collapsed almost overnight.

By the time the intelligence agencies of the Nuland Federation reacted, it was too late to do anything.

It is precisely because of this that when collecting intelligence on the Liang Xia Empire, the Nuland intelligence agency is often powerless, and in many cases even speculates only through publicly reported information, which can be said to be very passive, not only can not ensure timeliness and effectiveness, but reliability is even more problematic.

That was the case a few days ago.

In the first piece of information, it was mentioned that the two "Xuhai" class ships were going out to conduct coordinated training with the two aircraft carriers to train and replenish the recruits.

Presumably to add credibility, the recruits were highlighted.

Because the outfitting of the four fast battleships has entered the final stage and is expected to be delivered ahead of schedule, the Liangxia Navy has been using the existing fast battleships to train new recruits. On the other hand, two "Asahimi" class ships are definitely more suitable than the four fast battleships that have been upgraded.

The biggest advantage of this is that it allows the four fast battleships to quickly become combat-ready after delivery.

Of course, the same goes for aircraft carriers.

Interestingly, only a few hours later, the Naval Intelligence sent in a second report.

The two fast battleships had already returned to Asahimi, and were heading towards Nagagi, most likely to join up with Task Force 42 over there.

Lofus was furious and asked Hale to call the Secretary of the Navy and ask the Bureau of Naval Intelligence to immediately explain the two inconsistencies.

Unfortunately, not "immediately".

It was not until 7 October that the Bureau of Naval Intelligence received definite information that the two "Xuhai" class ships were just outside Chang Wee, and they also merged with the two "Beihe" class ships to form the 43rd Task Force.

Crucially, the 42nd Task Force, which consists mainly of four "Longxing" class ships, also left Changwai on the night of 6 October.

According to the time calculation, by October 7, all eight battleships had entered the Guia Ocean, and it was likely that they had reached the northwest sea of the Volcanic Islands.

Although there is no reliable information, there is reason to believe that the eight battleships were organized into two task forces.

There is nothing strange about it, the speed of the "Longxing" class is slow, and forcibly grouped together will only drag down four fast battleships, and it has no practical value.

The point is, these eight battleships were very powerful.

In terms of combat effectiveness, far above the ten battleships of the Guia Fleet of the Nuland Navy, especially the four fast battleships, they are definitely the most powerful existence in the ocean outside of aircraft carriers. If there is really a fight, the Nuland Navy's Guia Fleet may not be able to take advantage of the decisive battle of the fleet.

However, it is not Task Force 42 and Task Force 43 that really need to be guarded against.

If Task Force 41 had been dispatched on 1 October, it would have been possible to be in any part of the Guia Ocean by 8 October.

The implication is that the Nuland intelligence agency "lost" the three powerful task forces.

It was at this time that the Naval Intelligence Bureau concluded that the Liang Xia Navy had become vigilant, so it deployed several task forces in advance.

It's just that what is the point of such a "judgment"?

Without vigilance, Liang Xiajun will change his tricks to make so many famous halls?

Besides, the Nuland Navy is also mobilizing, and the fleet has been sent out one after another, and the Liangxia Navy has not strengthened its defense, so there is really a problem!

It was not until yesterday afternoon that a patrol plane of the Narrow Navy spotted Task Force 42 in the waters northeast of the Volcanic Islands and identified four "Longxing"-class battleships.

It is possible that another patrol aircraft spotted Task Force 43, the four fast battleships.

Unfortunately, the patrol plane was shot down by fighters as it tried to get closer, and in the telegram it sent only mentioned large warships suspected to be capital ships.

In addition, the area is not far from the patrol area of Task Force 21.

In other words, the patrol plane may have spotted a fast battleship from Task Force 21.

The point is, even now there has been no news related to Task Force 41.

It was as if the huge fleet had just disappeared from the ocean.

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is .. m.