The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 824: Trap one

"Can you talk about your plan first?" Major General Kur asked rhetorically.

"My plan? It's very simple. From the current point of view, the Suxiong fleet has only one port in the entire Indian Ocean that can support the maintenance and repair of these two fast battleships, that is, the Basra-Fao Port. The Germans are very smart. The Hormuz Seaman set up minefields, preventing our fleet from entering the port for blockade. If possible, I hope that we can set up minefields outside the Hormuz Seaman to prevent the German fleet from returning. If we are lucky In some cases, it is not impossible to solve these two battleships with mines." Since the mouse only has one cave, it should be blocked directly. Simple and affordable.

"This is probably difficult to achieve now. Our mines in the Indian Ocean are basically used to implement defensive mines in our own ports. The guns of battleships have a range of more than 15 kilometers. Therefore, in order to ensure port security, we must try our best They are forced to retreat to the periphery. And even if there are mines now, laying a tight minefield is slow and dangerous. The Germans have not only mines but also submarines in Hormuz."

"They also have minesweepers and they will go out to sea every day for patrols. Even if we can set up a section of minefield, when the German fleet returns, how much the minefield will remain is unknown. And they also produced a ship whose bow was filled with cement. And the log, directly use the method of collision to clear mines. Of course, this is an emergency response. But the effect is good." Major General Cook said.

"If this plan is unsuccessful, then we can only search for targets in the Indian Ocean. This is almost an impossible task for my fleet." Think about the vast Indian Ocean, and see if you just arrived. Two-digit battleship. Thomas couldn't help his head tingling a little!

This is almost impossible to find! Even in a sunny day, how far can you see from the top of the mast? 40 kilometers to the sky, right? Then draw a circle with a radius of 40 kilometers. What is the coverage area? Yes, perhaps the attacked merchant ship or the camouflaged reconnaissance ship can find the target, but after many retransmissions at the level of the telegram of this age, when will it arrive in Thomas' hands is a question, and whether it will arrive is also a question!

Even if lucky, all this was done. The camouflage reconnaissance ship found the opponent without disturbing the Germans, and after some twists and turns, the telegram was sent to Thomas, but don’t forget, once it’s night, the information obtained during the day will be immediately invalidated. what! God knows where the German battleship went this night!

Therefore, during World War I, there will be a situation where an assault ship has been running at sea for more than a year, and no one can catch it. It may happen that the assault ship has already reached the Pacific, and as a result, 3 dozen British ships are still looking for people in the Atlantic. thing. Well, generally speaking, these are camouflaged cruisers, which are well hidden. The regular cruisers were killed less than a year after the war began. The only long-lived Königsberg nestled in a certain estuary, and spent hundreds of days in confrontation with the British. This is an exception.

But now, Su Xiong's fleet is obviously at the other extreme. If it is good to hide the assault ship in camouflage, then Su Xiong's fleet is too powerful! What if he was discovered before Thomas came? Everyone stand up and meet each other for a fight! I can't beat you! Even through the intelligence provided by other camouflaged assault ships, the Su Xiong Fleet might take the initiative to find trouble with the British Navy! A British former fearless did just that, and two fast battleships did it. At that time, the former fearless was hunting down a German disguised assault ship.

"IMHO, using conventional methods, it is difficult for us to capture these two fast battleships." Thomas said helplessly.

"So, we have never planned to search for these two big guys in a normal way. Before you came, even before you decided to send your fleet out, the Royal Navy had considered this issue and took action. Now, What you and your fleet need to do is to rest, and then ensure that the fleet can attack the opponent in the best possible state!" Major General Cook smiled mysteriously, and the expression wrapped around my body made Major General Thomas a little confused!

The vast Indian Ocean is indeed difficult to search for camouflage cruisers, but if you think that the Royal Navy can't find an opponent in this way, it can only be said that the pattern is broken! A country that has stood on the top of the world for more than a hundred years is terrible, and a navy that has ruled the world's oceans for more than 200 years is even more terrible! The technical background of the British makes it possible for them to complete such a task, and the brains of the British Royal elite provide ideas for completing this task!

"We never thought about having Thomas take 10 warships in a meaningless armed parade in the vast Indian Ocean, nor did we think about how many disguised assault ships were sent to search the German fleet, because the former is useless, and then The efficiency is too low! How can the British Imperial Navy do such a thing? What we are thinking is how to let the Germans get the bait!" Lieutenant General Oliver, the Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy in charge of the matter, wrote in his diary!

Before Thomas Fleet came to the Indian Ocean ~lightnovelpub.net~ The Suxiong Fleet was indeed invincible in the Indian Ocean, but it was not without its weaknesses. Huge consumption is one of the biggest weaknesses of the German fleet. Camouflage assault ships can rely on their spoils to sustain operations, and support the warships in the ocean for hundreds of days by capturing coal, food and fresh water. For example, the famous German raid ship Wolf in the First World War, when sailing at a speed of 8 knots a day, consumed only 35 tons of coal a day! Relying on the thousands of tons of coal it carried and the coal seized, this raid ship sailed for 452 days in the ocean!

But as a warship, it is a small warship, and the daily consumption is very alarming. For example, the Emden light cruiser. Such a ship consumes 2 tons of coal per hour when sailing at a speed of 12 knots. At 23 knots, it consumes 15.7 tons of coal per hour! And this is only a 3,000-ton boat, and the Wolf is a large ship with a registered tonnage of 5,800 tons and can carry nearly 6,000 tons of coal! The battleship is equipped with less equipment and consumes a lot of time, so the endurance here and inside is out of order!

And even more so as a large battleship! According to the British intelligence, the maximum fuel load of the two German fast battleships should be 3,700 tons of coal and 1,200 tons of fuel. According to British calculations, if this warship sails at 14 knots, its endurance should be 6100 nautical miles! In other words, the fuel is only enough for this warship to sail for about 436 hours. But 18 days!

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