"Immediately send a telegram. I suspect that General Benson was deceived by a decoy fleet." Old Fletcher said loudly.

"This, I am afraid the effect will be very bad, because you are tantamount to suing General Benson. His transfer tonight was a failure. And you are a subordinate and he is the commander-in-chief. Even if it is sent out, General Benson cannot accept it. , And the most important thing is that you can’t explain what General Benson is pursuing!” The chief of staff of the fleet said euphemistically. He did not directly reject old Fletcher, but he said a very important one from another aspect. The question, what if Benson doesn’t listen!

"Damn! Well, immediately order the patrol to expand the search range. If there is a special situation, immediately release the signal flare. All warships, I mean all naval warships, whether I am an armored cruiser, a destroyer or a gunboat! Give me a landing! Ships and fire support ships are also included! Get them all together!" Old Fletcher commanded loudly.

"General, in fact, I think that General Benson is really pursuing a decoy fleet. Think about it. If General Benson is pursuing the main Japanese fleet, he can't chase for so long. The speed difference can be more than 6 knots, and even if the Japanese has only half the power, they will run away early.” At this time, the German officer in charge of contacting Germany, Colonel Nagel, said suddenly.

"But human eyes will not deceive us." An American military officer retorted.

"No, the eyes are easy to be deceived. I used to serve in the Mediterranean Fleet. We can easily simulate the lights and outlines of a light cruiser or a former dreadnought into a battleship at night, even during the day. If we want to add a chimney to the battleship, it is fine, and we can also make the chimney smoke!" Major Nagel said.

"You can take a look at these two photos. Actually, this is a ship! The first one is its original type, a light cruiser. Then we added a wooden baffle and painted it. Its dry string looks higher. After we cover the 150MM artillery on it, this is a large transport ship.” With that said, Major Nagel took out 2 photos from his pocket, and then took the photos Handed over to American colleagues.

"God!" Old Fletcher chuckled. I wailed in my heart. Now I am 70% sure that there is something wrong with Benson. God knows how the Japanese fooled Benson. Well, although it’s too late to expect the Benson fleet to come back, some things must be done! At this time, the chief of staff also ignored the so-called procedures and reasons. He agreed to send a joint telegram to Benson, asking him to return immediately!

"We can't just send it to General Benson. We have to send a report to General Pershing to prepare him for a response. Also, I believe General Pershing will be better at persuading General Benson to come back." Old Fletcher decided not to do anything else and decided to do everything right, and mobilized all the forces that could be mobilized to pull Benson back. If possible, he even wants to send a telegram to the White House!

"Well, let's do it then. Let's prepare too. Perhaps, tonight will be our last glory, shining through the sky like a meteor." There was a trace of sadness in the old Fletcher's tone, but More is full of firmness!

"Okay, let's get ready now, order the fleet to be ready to fight at any time, and then, I will see what is in my hands." Looking at the fleet battle sequence list sent by the staff, old Fletcher suddenly felt cold! To be honest, in a strict sense, he doesn't even have a capital ship in his hands, because in the US Navy combat sequence on this plane, the old-fashioned armored cruiser is not a capital ship, and the most important thing is the former dreadnought battleship!

"This battle can't be fought!" Old Fletcher was really a little desperate. If the three of them rushed forward, it was estimated that the Japanese fleet would be taken apart in 20 minutes at most.

To be honest, the performance of the armored cruisers in Fletcher's hands is actually very good. There are all San Francisco-class armored cruisers, a total of 5, the Americans’ last armored cruisers before World War I, each on the axis of the battleship Equipped with 6 10-inch L50 guns. The main armor belt is a vertical armor belt of 8 to 10 inches, of which the ammunition is 10 inches, and the defense is about the same level as the British lion and tiger. Although the speed is not too high because of the use of a steam engine, it is around 23 knots. And the most important thing is the long range, which is why they have one less twin 10-inch gun than their parent German armored cruisers, because these warships must carry enough fuel and supplies to perform missions in the ocean!

But unfortunately, these armored cruisers are more than two eras behind the enemy they are about to face? ! This is really a tragic story, no, it can already be regarded as a tragedy!

"In fact, if we can, we can think about the problem from another angle, so that we may delay the time longer." Colonel Nagel said.

"What do you mean?" Old Fletcher didn't dismiss the German naval cruiser commander who had fought in the Mediterranean. After all, the Mediterranean battlefield was almost the worst of the three major battlefields. Those who can accumulate work there to be promoted to colonel are somewhat capable.

"We are destined to not be able to protect all the transport ships. The Japanese may have more destroyers than us. Therefore, simple interception is definitely not enough. We can only take a more proactive approach to force the Japanese to focus on us. It is ~lightnovelpub.net~ in order to reduce the pressure on the transport fleet." Colonel Nagel said.

"So?" Old Fletcher asked again.

"Hide it first, and then attack the weaker ship in the Japanese fleet, the King Kong-class battleship!" Colonel Nagel said.

"However, our first task is to protect the safety of the transport fleet, not to attack the enemy's fleet, and we can't beat King Kong." An officer said.

"So, we must attack! The Japanese King Kong-class battlecruisers only have an 8-inch armor belt. At night combat range, we want to use a 10-inch L50 gun to penetrate the outer armor. It is not a problem. If we can cooperate With torpedo boats, we are more likely to achieve results. Of course, the most important thing is that the Japanese value their battleships very much. Every loss of one ship is unbearable for the Japanese Navy. Therefore, once the King Kong class If the battlecruiser is under a strong attack, the Fuso-class battleship will definitely support it. Even if our results are not optimistic, at least it will buy time for the transport fleet." Colonel Nagel said.

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