Under the orders of Rear Admiral Halsey, dozens of warships, large and small, of the US Navy's 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force began to change course and sail north. Pen ~ fun ~ Ge www.biquge.info this fleet, in addition to the 'Wasp' and 'Hornet' aircraft carriers, five 'Montana-class' battleships and three 'Iowa-class' battleships, there are also numerous cruisers and destroyers.

The cruisers included two 'Pensacola-class' cruisers, six 'Northampton-class' cruisers, eight 'New Orleans-class' cruisers, two 'Portland-class' cruisers, seven 'Brooklyn-class' cruisers, and two 'St. Louis-class' cruisers.

In terms of destroyers, there are 12 Sims-class destroyers, 10 Bingham-class destroyers, 8 Bagolai-class destroyers and 18 Mahan-class destroyers.

You must know that from destroyers to aircraft carriers, they are the latest warships in service with the US Navy, representing various new warships of the US Navy. These warships are assigned to the U.S. Navy's 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force, which shows the importance that the U.S. Navy attaches to the 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force. Of course, there is no other meaning in this, that is, if they are defeated, they can still escape with speed.

Among the U.S. Navy's 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force, the slowest of the supply ships is probably the 'Montana-class' battleships. The Montana-class battleships had a maximum speed of only 28 knots, which was a follow-up to the addition of main guns and armor. Aside from the Montana class, the slowest is the USS Wasp, which has a maximum speed of only 29.5 knots, which is not much faster than the Montana-class battleships.

The U.S. Navy's 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force sailed north at a speed of 25 knots, and the fleet maintained radio silence along the way, receiving only telegrams and not sending telegrams to avoid detection by the Imperial Navy. Then use the three-point positioning method to find their position.

On the destroyers on the periphery, sonar soldiers were also engrossed in listening to the sounds below the surface of the sea to avoid being attacked by the Chinese Navy's submarines. You must know that in the entire South Pacific waters, there are a lot of Chinese submarine activities. To ensure safety, the U.S. fleet had to sink a Chinese submarine after it was discovered. Otherwise, once the Chinese submarine sends out the telegram, their location will be exposed.

In the plan of Rear Admiral Halsey and Commodore Spruance, Task Force 1 was to attack in two groups. The first wave of attacks will be launched by two aircraft carriers. The carrier-based aircraft that took off from these two aircraft carriers focused on attacking the aircraft carriers of the Chinese Navy and took the opportunity to disrupt the judgment of the Chinese Navy. When the carrier-based aircraft attacked, their two battleship detachments rushed towards the Chinese Navy at high speed as a second wave of attacks. The distance at which the current sea search radar detects large horizontal ships will not exceed forty kilometers. That is, when the battleship detachment of each navy approached the Chinese Navy to forty kilometers, the carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy were detected by the Chinese Navy's anti-air search radar. In this way, it was advantageous to cover the sortie of the battleship detachment.

Of course, these require precise coordination. In terms of time, there can be no loopholes. Otherwise, there will be a big mess.

Once the attack begins, eight battleships of the US Navy will storm the Chinese Navy at a high speed of 30 knots. Among them, five 'Montana-class' battleships will attack the battleship detachments of the Chinese Navy with terrifying firepower, disperse them, or sink them. The three 'Iowa-class' battleships will give full play to their advantages in terms of speed. With a speed of up to 33 knots, it is already faster than all aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy. In particular, the escort aircraft carrier, which is a converted aircraft carrier from a merchant ship, has a speed of only more than 20 knots. It will take more than an hour to catch up. When the time comes, the terrifying 406-mm naval guns will be able to ravage these Chinese aircraft carriers fiercely.

In addition, the morning after tomorrow, even on the morning of January 14, the U.S. Army's aviation will need to take off from airfields south and west of Brisbane to look for traces of the Chinese Navy and provide precise location guidance for the U.S. Navy. It is summer in the southern hemisphere, and it dawns very early in the morning, and by a little after four o'clock, the sky is already gradually brightening. The army's fighters can be dispatched at this time.

The U.S. Navy's 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force also reformed during the voyage. A fleet of eight battleships, the main one sailed on the sea a hundred kilometers in front of the fleet. In addition to these eight battleships, they were accompanied by 8 'New Orleans-class' cruisers and 12 'Sims-class' destroyers. After all, after a successful attack, they are highly likely to be counterattacked by the Chinese navy. These cruisers and destroyers could provide protection for battleships in terms of air defense. Although the anti-aircraft firepower of these eight battleships is very powerful, no matter how powerful the anti-aircraft firepower is, it is inevitable that there will be loopholes. Once the Chinese Navy's carrier-based aircraft seize the opportunity, they may be damaged.

While the fleet was moving north at high speed, Rear Admiral Halsey also ordered a seaplane, wrote their battle plan, and headed to Sydney, asking the South Pacific Theater Command to cooperate with their operations.

On the afternoon of the 12th, seaplanes flew to Sydney, and the U.S. Navy's operational staff officers sent the battle plan to the Allied South Pacific Theater Command. When Admiral MacArthur saw this battle plan, he was very excited.

"Chief of Staff, you can contact the Army Aviation Corps and have them stationed at several field airfields south and west of Brisbane by tomorrow afternoon. At 4 o'clock in the morning of the 14th, no less than 60 fighters took off to search for the location of the Chinese Navy. MacArthur said excitedly. He seems to have seen the scene of the Chinese Navy suffering heavy losses under the attack of the US Navy.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." Lieutenant General Christie nodded.

There is no doubt that the American fleet took the initiative to attack at this time, apparently with great certainty. If their attack is successful, it will certainly greatly change the current balance of maritime power between China and the United States in the South Pacific. This will undoubtedly be conducive to the US Navy's future counterattack in the Pacific region, and at the same time, it will also be conducive to the US-Australian coalition to hold Australia. Therefore, for the request of the American fleet, Admiral MacArthur did not have any reason to refuse.

"God willingly our fleet will be able to succeed in this attack." Admiral MacArthur muttered.

Although, this time the battle plan of the American fleet, it seems that there is a great chance of success. However, the superiority of the Chinese Navy is too obvious, and the US fleet is doing this in order to fight the big with a small one, to take the Chinese Navy by surprise, and to win a classic naval battle in which the weak defeat the strong.

"God will bless the American Navy." Lieutenant General Christie said.

While the U.S. fleet changed course and headed for the waters off Brisbane, the Imperial Navy's main fleet was still replenishing here. Supply ships are sending fresh water, fuel oil, parts and components for warships and carrier-based aircraft, food, medicines, weapons and ammunition. Three supply ships, and at the same time six capital ships, aircraft carriers, were replenished. After that, twelve escort aircraft carriers were also waiting for supplies.

Although, during the replenishment process, the anti-air search radar of the warships of the Imperial Navy has not stopped working, closely monitoring the nearby airspace. However, everyone's hearts couldn't help but sweat. After all, this time the behavior is too risky. The slightest mistake could lead the fleet to a place of no return.

Admiral Chen Shaokuan, commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Navy, although he seemed to be calm and calm, he was actually very worried and anxious. It's just that, as the commander of the fleet, he is absolutely not able to show it in front of other soldiers. In fact, the clothes on his back were all wet.

"Send a telegram to the Chief of Staff to let the 1st Battleship Detachment and the 2nd Battleship Detachment once again move closer to us, and the distance will be shortened to fifty kilometers. The 11th Carrier Strike Group and the 12th Carrier Strike Group, moved to a hundred kilometers due east of us, and waited covertly. ”

On the evening of January 13, General Chen Shaokuan issued a new order. Although by this time the fleet had completed its replenishment and began to sail out of the waters of Brisbane. However, he had a faint feeling that the fish had taken the bait. Their crisis, the supply has not been lifted, but has intensified. This made General Chen Shaokuan both excited and nervous. Now that the fish has been hooked, their next task is to catch the fish. If you let it go, you will undoubtedly fall short after working hard for so long. And the next time you want to lure the fish out, it's not so easy. So, you only get one chance.

At 4 a.m. on January 14, the main forces of the Imperial Navy were already in the sea to the northeast a hundred kilometers from Brisbane. At the field airfields south and west of Brisbane, dozens of P-36 fighters of the U.S. Army Air Corps took off from the airfields and flew in a fan-shaped shape toward the northeast-facing sea area, looking for traces of the Chinese Navy.

About 250 kilometers south of Brisbane, two aircraft carriers of the US Navy's 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force have arrived. And one hundred and fifty kilometers to the north of them were eight battleships of two battleship detachments of the US Navy. Now the eight battleships were sailing north at high speed.

There is already a hint of fish belly white on the horizon, and dawn is coming. However, after dawn, a bloody battle will begin in this sea. (To be continued.) )