Chapter 497: The Killer

"Order the light cruisers and destroyers behind to turn around and prepare to face the US 7th Fleet." Kirkbride calmly ordered. "In addition, except for the Poseidon, other battleships and heavy cruisers should immediately evacuate this sea area." Kirkbride pondered for a few seconds before issuing another order. As far as the battleships and heavy cruisers of the French fleet are concerned, the soldiers on the battleships are very tired. And the ammunition is almost exhausted. Staying here will not only be of no help, but will only become a live target for American warships to attack.

Kirkbride's order was conveyed to the various warships of the French fleet in the shortest possible time, and it was well executed. Dozens of light cruisers and destroyers began to turn around, while battleships and heavy cruisers continued to withdraw.

"General, the French fleet has turned around." On the bridge of the US 7th Fleet flagship "Apostle", George put down the telescope in his hand and shouted loudly.

At this time, McCain was enjoying his breakfast leisurely, as if he was not worried at all. Although the U.S. 7th Fleet is already chasing the French fleet, the distance between the two sides is still about 10 kilometers away, and it has not reached the best range of the guns of the U.S. ships. So McCain did not order the firing. However, as soon as he heard George say that the French fleet had turned around, he immediately stood up nervously, put down the bread in his hand, and picked up the telescope. To tell the truth, he was still very afraid of confronting the French battle fleet. After all, the number and quality of warships in the French fleet are much higher than those of the US 7th Fleet. In terms of attack power, the US 7th Fleet is even more unmatched.

Seeing that the French fleet was only light cruisers and destroyers starting to turn around, McCain was relieved. In his opinion, those small battleships could never be the opponents of large battleships with strong ships and powerful guns. The U.S. 7th Fleet is a powerful fleet with two "North Carolina" class warships and seven "South Carolina" class warships. The remaining 23 warships are basically the powerful "New York" class warships and "Pennsylvania" class warships. As for the "Washington" class warships that were previously used as the main battleships, they have long been eliminated. "Hmph! Since the French are going to die, we're not going to be polite. Order the ships to open fire immediately after the French warships enter the optimal range, and send them all to the bottom of the sea." McCain commanded vigorously. In his view, the U.S. 7th Fleet will surely win this naval battle. Although there is a common saying that "ants kill elephants", at this time, McCain believes that even if those weak small warships "boom" lose their "teeth", they will definitely not be able to compete with the mighty "North Carolina" class and 'South Carolina' class battleships.

"General, is the French commander crazy? He actually sent these small warships to stop us." George said feeling very strange. He faintly felt that things were definitely not that simple.

"I think they have no choice. Instead of throwing the entire fleet here, it's better to abandon these small warships with little combat effectiveness, so that those large warships can retreat smoothly." McCain said with a smile on his face. Now, he has no fear at all, and all he thinks about is what reward he can get after defeating the French warship. Before the fleet left the port, what he thought was whether the fleet could repel the French fleet with minimal losses. However, a 'mistake' by the commander of the French fleet gave him a wonderful opportunity. That is to eat these small warships of the French fleet first, and then look for opportunities to fight the main force of the French fleet. He believes that by that time, the strength of the US 7th Fleet will definitely not be much lower than that of the French Fleet. If Kirkbride knew that McCain actually thought this way, he would definitely die of laughter. In the style of the French Navy, how could they deliberately abandon their warships? All this shows that McCain is too optimistic.

"General, I still feel something is wrong. This is really weird. With the speed of the French warships, even if they know that they are not our opponents, they can still escape? There is no need to sacrifice these warships," George reminded.

"Dear George. You are thinking too much. The French battleships are faster than ours, but that is only relative. Their battleships are definitely not as fast as our 'New York' class battleships and 'Pennsylvania' battleships. , if we entangle their battleships and other large battleships with 'New York' class battleships and 'Pennsylvania' class battleships, they will no longer be able to escape. Therefore, abandon these useless battleships in exchange for the survival of the main battleships , This is undoubtedly the best choice for the French fleet now." McCain said with a smile.

Although McCain's reasons are very good, George still feels something is wrong. However, George can see from McCain's expression that no matter what he says, McCain will not listen. So he had to give up, but he secretly paid attention to the movements of the French army. Be prepared to alert McCain immediately if there is danger.

Slowly, it was 6 o'clock in the morning. At this time, the sky was already bright, and although it still felt a little gray, it was enough to see the movement on the sea clearly. At this time, dozens of light cruisers and destroyers in the French fleet had already completed their turn. Start rushing towards the US 7th Fleet.

At 6:10, the distance between the two sides was only 10 kilometers, and this number is still shrinking.

"Order the ships to prepare to fire." McCain ordered solemnly. No matter what he thought in his heart, when the battle started, he went all out to deal with it.

Under McCain's order, the U.S. 7th Fleet soon started firing, and a large number of shells hit the galloping French warships. It's just that the French fleet is scattered widely. At this distance, the US 7th Fleet has no way to hit them at all, it's just wasting shells.

However, as the distance between the two sides got closer, the artillery fire of the US 7th Fleet became more and more intensive. The French warships had to navigate through the dense artillery fire. Fortunately, the speed of the French warships is very fast, and the usual training is also in place, and even special training has been carried out to avoid shells, so even under the fire of the US 7th Fleet, the French fleet still performed with ease. .

At 6:20, the distance between the two sides was only 6 kilometers. It stands to reason that this distance has entered the range of the French warship, but the French warship still did not fire, but continued to rush forward. This sign is very weird, and it also made McCain suspicious.

"What the **** are the French trying to do? Do they want to die or sink us with a warship?" McCain murmured.

George was also a little puzzled, after all, the performance of the French fleet today was too unexpected.

At the same time, McCain also felt deeply helpless, because from the start of the war to the present, the US 7th Fleet has not even hit a single French warship. This fully shows that the training of the US fleet is completely insufficient.

At this time, the 32 French "Bayonet" class warships that rushed to the front were less than 5 kilometers away from the US fleet. At this time, Kirkbride, who was observing all this through a telescope, issued an order to the fleet: "The ships continue to disperse, and a group of four warships will attack the American warships together. Large warships are the primary targets."

Under Kirkbride's order, the French fleet immediately dispersed further, and began to outflank the US 7th Fleet from both wings, while slowly forming an attack formation of 4 warships as a group.

Among them, the four 'Bayonet' class warships rushing to the front first entered the range. The four warships quickly communicated and adjusted to the best position. And at 6:25 they fired together. 8 torpedoes drew long traces on the sea and rushed towards another 'North Carolina' class battleship 'Independence' of the US 7th Fleet~lightnovelpub.net~ After launching the torpedoes, 4 French ships The fleet immediately began to retreat. They needed to temporarily retreat to a relatively safe place, and then look for the attack target again.

It also deserves the bad luck of the "Independence". Who made it so big to stay at the forefront of the US fleet? Isn't that courting death?

"General, what do you think that is?" George suddenly yelled.

At this time, McCain was pondering why the four French fleets rushing to the front began to turn around again. Hearing George's shout, he turned his attention to the sea. However, as soon as he saw the rapidly approaching thing on the sea, his face immediately turned pale. "Send a report to the 'Independence' and ask them to evade immediately, otherwise it will be too late." McCain shouted. As the commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, he is still very familiar with the "killer mace" of the French Navy. Although the U.S. Navy has invested in research on torpedoes, so far, no breakthroughs have been made. Although McCain knew the existence of torpedoes, his fleet had never fought against the French fleet that used torpedoes, so he was unfamiliar with this attack method. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing here. Although he had never seen the power of a torpedo war weapon, he knew from the documents issued by the US Navy Department that this weapon should be very terrifying. Even the most powerful "North Carolina" class warship in the United States will be easily sent to the bottom of the sea by this weapon.