The flowers bloom on two branches, each with one end.

From November 10 to December 23, it lasted 43 days, from Seattle in the north to Buenos Aires in Argentina in the south, with a battlefield distance of more than 10,000 kilometers.

December 23rd

The sea near the entrance to the western end of the Strait of Magellan

The three marinda formations, which were the first to arrive here, joined up with the battleship formation of the Victoria and formed a formation consisting of three battleships, two heavy cruisers "White Tiger" and "Suzaku", as well as 12 cruisers and 17 logistics ships (the destroyers did not enter the expeditionary strike formation sequence due to range factors), and they have been searching for two weeks near this sea area.

During this period, nearly 30 coal carriers were intercepted, all of which were forcibly escorted to seaports near Chile and were not allowed to continue deep into the Pacific Ocean.

Fight to this day

The U.S. Great White Fleet originally gathered 19 battleships on the West Coast (16 belonged to the Great White Fleet and three belonged to the former Pacific Fleet), lost six battleships in the Battle of Hawaii and seven battleships in the Battle of Seattle, for a total of 13 battleships.

In the pursuit battle in the eastern Pacific that began thereafter, on November 27, the Ocean Empire Expeditionary Strike Formation blocked the battleship "Kansas" in the remote Hemet Harbor north of Los Angeles and captured the battleship "Kansas" completely.

On 6 December, the US battleship "Rhode Island" was resupplied in the port of Panama and was blocked outside the harbor by three battleships of the 1st Squadron of the Expeditionary Strike Formation, the USS Queensland, the USS Tasmania, and the USS Beilun.

In other words, there are still 4 main battleships and a small number of other warships left in the US Great White Fleet.

Today, the Strait of Magellan is the choke point from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and it is a necessary place to pass through and cannot be bypassed in any way.

The Royal Navy Expeditionary Strike Formation is blocked here, that is, at the throat, and this is also the last checkpoint for the enemy to flee to the Atlantic.

The Strait of Magellan is located at the southernmost tip of the South American continent and is surrounded by islands such as Tierra del Fuego.

The Portuguese navigator Magellan first crossed the strait into the Pacific Ocean in 1520, hence its name. The Strait of Magellan is 592 kilometers long, with only 3.3 kilometers at its narrowest point and about 32 kilometers at its widest point.

Its water depth is 1,170 meters, and the shallowest channel is 30 meters, which can pass large ships of 100,000 tons.

In winter, huge glaciers hang over the rock walls of the Strait of Magellan on both sides of the Strait of Magellan, and when the falling ice falls into the sea, it thunders and threatens the navigation of ships.

The strait area brings low temperature, rainy and dense fog weather, and is easy to cause strong winds and sharp waves, which is a world-famous strait with fierce wind and waves, which seriously threatens the safety of navigation.

Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was an important and only shipping route between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific.

Wind and waves of magnitude 7~8 in the Strait of Magellan are commonplace, and windy weather of magnitude 9~11 is also common, and there are often winds and waves more than 10 meters high in the strait, which are regarded as daunting by ships at sea.

Once the fish of the US Great White Fleet escapes into the strait, it is very likely that it will escape with the cover of bad sea conditions.

December 23, 4 p.m

On the battleship Sanmarinda, Rear Admiral Li Siyuan, the crown prince, looked much darker and thinner, and the messy beard on his lips had no time to be taken care of, but his eyes showed a firm and sharp gaze, bright and terrifying, and he quietly looked at the afternoon sky in the South Pacific, and the fiery clouds rendered by the sun covered the sky, a magnificent and magical scene.

He's thinking about it;

Today, the Royal Navy of the Ocean Empire has become famous all over the world, and its reputation is as strong as that of the German High Seas Fleet.

Major General Li Siyuan is clear; The German High Seas Fleet has always been known for its excellent training, and its combat effectiveness is on par with that of the Royal Navy, but the High Seas Fleet is twice the size of the Royal Navy, and it is not yet comparable to it.

A total of 12 battleships of the Royal Navy, the two dreadnought-class battleships "Nanao" and "Beiao" are still in the shipyard in order to perch and install due to the gratifying battle situation, but the construction period has been tightened a little, and it is expected to be put into service in January ~ February next year.

Since the beginning of the war, a total of four US battleships have been captured, and all of them have been damaged in varying degrees, and they need to be repaired in the factory, and they will not be able to be used until about February next year at the earliest.

Therefore, at present, the Royal Navy has 16 battleships on the surface, but the actual main force is still 12 battleships and 4 heavy patrols of Qinglong, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu.

By early February next year, with the entry of new ships and captured warships, the Royal Fleet would rapidly swell to 18 battleships.

After June next year, with the launch and outfitting of the new generation of super-dreadnought-class battleships "Somalia" and "Toxiang", by the end of 1909, two more battleships could be added, reaching the scale of 20 battleships, and it would be much easier by then.

After the Battle of Seattle, the Joint Task Force split in two;

Some of the battleships (5 ships) and the Qinglong and Xuanwu heavy cruisers that needed to be repaired were left at the Pearl Harbor base on Hawaii Island, responsible for escorting the army units landing in North America and carrying out escort missions.

In the future, the mainland will send a large number of troops and materials to North America, and this part of the capital ships will also participate in the escort, and the task will not be easy at all.

A part of the expeditionary strike formation was formed, with a total of seven battleships plus two heavy patrols, the White Tiger and the Suzaku, divided into four strike squadrons to fight separately, searching all the way south along the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, and launching a 10,000-mile pursuit.

Now four strike detachments have arrived in two, that is, the formation of ships cruising in the waters near Magellan, with a total of three battleships and two heavy cruisers.

Among them, when the "Queensland" warship formation of the 1st Fleet was besieging the battleship "Rhode Island" in the United States, the battleship "Tasmania" was hit by a 305-mm armor-piercing shell, which damaged the ship's amidships, causing a large number of high-pressure steam pipes to burst, and had to return to the Pearl Island base for repairs.

The battleship "Beilun", which belonged to the formation, was hit by the enemy's secondary artillery and suffered a slight wound on the chimney, and is now being repaired in the harbor of Santa Barbara, and can only sail away again when it is repaired.

Although the chimney was leaked, it was insignificant, but it was annoying when sailing, and the ship was full of black smoke, which even seriously affected the operation of the main and secondary guns, and had to be repaired.

The formation is estimated to arrive in mid-January, and it is not possible to count on it for the time being.

The remaining Fourth Squadron (the "New South Wales" battleship formation) is expected to arrive later today, capable of bringing together the main lineup of four battleships and two heavy cruisers.

No way

The expeditionary strike formation has a total of 7 battleships, two heavy cruisers, and the "Queensland" formation of the first detachment is the main force, accounting for a small half, and it has the battleship "Tasmania" and the battleship "Beilun" under its command, a strong lineup of three battleships, and it cannot weaken its strength by half.

With four battleships and two heavy formations against the four battleships (at most) of the American Great White Fleet, Rear Admiral Li Siyuan was full of confidence.

But the problem is that the US military is not limited to these four battleships, in the Argentine port of Buenos Aires, the main force of the US Atlantic Fleet went south, and the three battleships and 21 capital cruisers of the US army all arrived, and it seems that they are going to play with the Royal Navy of the Ocean Empire.

Anyway, President Roosevelt lost the election, and he only had more than two months left in his term.

If we can take four battleships back to the Atlantic, it will be a shot in the arm for the current gloomy American society!

In any case, I finally saved a little face.

Therefore, the elite of the US Atlantic Fleet is exhausted.

The "Pennsylvania" class armored cruisers have a displacement of 13,800 tons, and the Roosevelt administration has started construction of 6 in one go, the "Tennessee" class armored cruisers have a displacement of 14,500 tons, and four have been built in one go, and the nearly 10,000-ton "Mississippi" class A cruisers have been built in one go.

In addition, there are armored cruisers of the "New York" class (8200 tons) and the "Brooklyn" class (9216 tons) with a displacement of almost 10,000 tons, and the lineup is quite impressive, and the strength should not be underestimated.

What's new;

Among the four battleships that have just been launched by the US Navy, the latest "Connecticut"-class battleship No. 6 "New Hampshire" and the "Mississippi" among the "Mississippi" class battleships have arrived at the port of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This brought the number of U.S. Atlantic Fleet battleships gathered in the harbor to five, in addition to a strong lineup of 23 cruisers (two later added).

In the entire Hampton anchorage of the Atlantic Fleet, only the battleships "Idaho" and "Nevada" were in their perch, and the US Navy really poured out of the nest in order to meet the four lonely ghost battleships on the Pacific side.

Other words;

The ship expeditionary strike formation led by Li Siyuan had to face a super lineup of 9 battleships and 23 cruisers on the other side, and he couldn't eat such a big melon.

In this huge lineup of the main cruisers of the US Atlantic Fleet, there are 7 large armored cruisers with a displacement of more than 13,500 tons, and 5 armored cruisers with a displacement of about 10,000 tons.

At this moment, he misses the 1st Squadron ("Queensland" strike formation) very much.

What are you afraid of!

The confidential staff officer hurried to the captain's room, and after saluting, he handed out a report on the cruiser "Jingyue" patrolling in the distance;

At the exit from the Strait of Magellan

It was discovered that the main force of the Atlantic Fleet of the US Navy, led by 5 battleships, accompanied by a total of 13 large cruisers and 10 small and medium-sized cruisers, and the main force of the fleet rushed towards our formation, at a distance of about 22 nautical miles and a speed of 13 knots.

Rear Admiral Li Siyuan looked at the telegram in his hand and looked serious, the communication and liaison technology of the people of the United States is not backward, since the fleet that responds is coming, then the fish hiding in the depths of the Pacific Ocean should not be far away.

In the face of an imminent attack between the two sides, where do we go from here?

"Immediately issue a combat alert and telegraph the position of the formation" Matsue "? When will I arrive? Go quickly. ”

"Yes, sir."

The terrible battle sirens immediately sounded, resounding in the sea and air, and the warship fighters quickly ran out of their cabins and entered the battle positions to stand by, and a tense battle atmosphere was permeated over the sea area, and a fierce battle was about to begin.

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