On the night of October 12th, the night was pitch black. Although it was not yet the case where you could not see your fingers, it was not far behind. Swallow the novel La Rochelle Naval Base in France, the anchorage of the South Atlantic Fleet. The South Atlantic Fleet is the last fleet established by the French Navy. After all, it is small in size and far behind the three previous fleets. Even the Channel Fleet, which suffered heavy losses in the naval battle with the US and Canadian Navy in the English Channel, has much more strength than the South Atlantic Fleet.

In France's military planning, the South Atlantic Fleet is just a temporary fleet. After the war, it will definitely be abolished. After all, after winning the victory, there is no need for France to maintain such a large army, which is very detrimental to the recovery of the economy.

Therefore, after the war ended, the fate of the South Atlantic Fleet could not escape dismemberment and joining the other three fleets. Even so, all the officers and men of the current South Atlantic Fleet are still full of fighting spirit. Regardless of the future outcome of the fleet, it is enough to fight for France anyway. [bsp;The commander of the South Atlantic Fleet is Admiral Bennett. A young general, only forty years old now. At his age, he is able to become an admiral and command a fleet, which is unique among the French navy. Although Bennett is young, his record is very rich. When Vassell, the deputy commander of the French Navy, led the army to attack Canada, he served as Vassell's assistant. After returning to France, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Fleet during the reconstruction of the Mediterranean Fleet. When the South Atlantic Fleet was formed, he officially became the commander of the fleet.

The South Atlantic Fleet is the weakest among the four French fleets in terms of overall strength. There are only 15 'Dolphin' class destroyers, 15 'Bayonet' class destroyers, 8 'Light Cavalry' class light cruisers, 6 'Heavy Cavalry' class heavy cruisers, two 'Tiger Shark' class battlecruisers, 3 A 'Giant Whale' class battleship. All warships added together are less than 50, which is only a little more than a US fleet. From the perspective of combat power, it is only about the strength of one and a half US fleets.

As early as 3 days ago, the whole of La Rochelle was under martial law. Not only the naval base, but the entire city was under martial law. A large number of gendarmes filled every corner of La Rochelle. The intelligence department of the army, the interior department and the security department of the government also dispatched agents who ignored it, causing the entire city to panic. This has caused great losses to the American and Canadian spies operating in this area.

The martial law will not be lifted until one week later, so that even if the United States and Canada find out that something is wrong with France, they will not be able to get the final time for the French fleet to leave the port.

"Is the fleet ready?" Bennett asked as he walked up to Cambridge, the flagship of the South Atlantic Fleet, the 'Vienne'. The five capital ships of the South Atlantic Fleet are all named after rivers in southern France. They are the 'Vienna' and 'Adour' of the 'Tiger Shark' class warships, the 'Garon', 'Dordogne' and 'Lot' of the 'Giant Whale' class warships.

"The fleet is ready and ready to set sail at any time!" Elliott, Chief of Staff of the South Atlantic Fleet replied. After receiving the order from the Naval Command, the South Atlantic Fleet began to prepare. Food, coal, fresh water, shells, etc. have all been loaded.

"Okay, let's order to set sail!" Bennett looked at the time on his watch, and then ordered. By this time, it was already 10 o'clock at night. After the South Atlantic Fleet left the port, it had to go to the English Channel to wait for supplementary personnel and military supplies to the South American army from the Le Havre Naval Base. After the two sides converge, they will go to South America.

Thick smoke came out of the chimney, and the 'Vienne' began to vibrate slightly, and the huge propeller rotated favorably, pushing the 'Vienne' forward slowly. Led by several destroyers, the entire South Atlantic Fleet slowly sailed into the vast ocean under the cover of night.

As for the United States and Canada, it was already the 17th when they learned that the French South Atlantic Fleet had left port. At this time, the South Atlantic Fleet had already assembled the supply fleet from Le Havre and sailed into the vast Atlantic Ocean.

In South America, in the dense Amazon jungle, nearly 100,000 soldiers of the French 16th Army, relying on the vast jungle and dense rivers and the Guyana plateau, gave the US and Canadian armies a violent attack.

Now, the number of troops deployed by the United States and Canada in South America is less than 500,000. Moreover, these 500,000 people are basically compressed near the coastline, unable to penetrate deep into the district. If they left the protection of the naval fleet, I am afraid that they would have been swallowed up by the French army long ago. Although they are almost twice the number of the French army, the two sides are evenly matched in terms of combat effectiveness, and even the French army still has the upper hand. This is why the whole of South America was blocked and the French army could not get supplies. But even so, the vast South American area has become the control area of ​​the French army. This makes the governments of the United States and Canada quite helpless, but they cannot be changed. Unless they continue to send troops to South America, doubling the current number of troops, they can maintain the status quo. It is already the best result.

Óbidos is a city in the middle reaches of the Amazon River. Now, it has become the headquarters of the French 16th Army. Also nominally the French South American Theater Command. But in fact, the three French armies in South America are very separated. The 17th Army is in the Balaya Plateau in South America, threatening important areas such as Sao Paulo. The 18th Army is in the Cambos Grasslands and Katingas Forest Plains on the back of the Brazilian Plateau. Usually, the three legions are generally doing their own thing, fighting their own way. Only when there is a unified action and the cooperation of the three legions is required, the South American Theater Command will play a role.

In the city of Obidos, in the headquarters of the French South American Theater, Marshal Davout was carefully reading the battle plan sent by the French General Staff, his face was full of joy. He had been on the American continent with an army for several years, and the will was eager to conquer the United States and Canada, and then leave here and return to France. Today, I finally saw hope. Years of fighting on the plateau and in the jungle made Davout look very old. And his original age is not too young. If he hadn't insisted on it, Xiao Jie would have transferred him back to France long ago. Even so, he is one of the few marshals in France who is still serving in his old age.

"Come here, send a report to the divisions below, and start preparing immediately. Next, we have a big battle to fight. In addition, order the 18th Army to take Fortaleza within October 25." Da Wu loudly ordered, for a while, he seemed to be ten years younger. Officers at all levels in the headquarters are also busy, and they seem to feel the breath before the war.

The headquarters of the French 18th Army is located in a small town at the foot of Piauy Mountain. Most of the 100,000 troops of the 18th Army were deployed in the original area of ​​​​the Catingas Forest and the San Francisco River area.

After Marshal Davout received the order from the General Staff, Field Marshal Méngti, the commander of the 18th Army Corps, also received a battle plan. The General Staff also directly ordered them to take Fortaleza, but the specific time will be negotiated between the South American Theater Command and the Navy Command. After all, it can't be too early, or the United States and Canada will know the French team's movements too early, which is not good. If it is too late, and the port has not been captured after the South Atlantic Fleet arrives, it will delay the fighter again.

Therefore, following consultations between Davout and the Naval Command, the date was fixed on 25 October. With the speed of the South Atlantic Fleet, it was almost just in time to reach the coast of Fortaleza.

"Order all divisions to prepare for combat and prepare to launch an attack on the US-Canadian forces on the 22nd. Among them, the first, second and third divisions will attack St. Louis. The fifth and sixth divisions will attack Fortaleza. The Fourth Division attacked Recife. The troops directly under the Legion were used as a reserve force." Méngti quickly issued combat orders to the divisions under the 18th Corps. The main force of the general army is used to attack St. Louis ~lightnovelpub.net~ It is entirely for mihuo the enemy. St. Louis is near Belém, the South American theater headquarters of the American and Canadian forces. It is easy to cause the illusion of the US-Canadian coalition forces. To reduce the difficulty of attacking Fortaleza.

In addition, at this time, the 16th Army and the 17th Army will also launch a fierce attack, so that the American and Canadian coalition forces can't care about the head and tail. It also prevents them from guessing where the French team's main attack target is.

After the French South Atlantic Fleet left the port, the French Mediterranean Fleet, Channel Fleet, and Atlantic Fleet also left their stations one after another and entered the Atlantic Ocean. The entire French fleet was dispatched, which was quickly learned by the United States and Canada. All of a sudden, the naval fleets of the two countries were also mobilized, making the entire Atlantic Ocean densely covered with warships.

In Washington, in the U.S. Naval Command, Davis was full of anger: "Damn it, those idiots from the intelligence agency, why did you send the news at this time." Davis slapped the table vigorously to vent With the anger in my heart.

The American spy only discovered that the French South Atlantic Fleet had left the La Rochelle Naval Base on October 16, but at that time the entire La Rochelle was under martial law, and he could not convey the news at all. He didn't send the news until the 18th. In other words, the French South Atlantic Fleet is the first fleet to leave Hong Kong among the many French fleets. When they left Hong Kong, there is no way of knowing.