"Where is the French fleet? How long will it take to encounter us?" Paret, commander of the US Navy's 1st Fleet, asked. They received Davis's order and came all the way from the United States, and finally arrived in Newfoundland. But at this moment, St. Johns has already become a ruin, and the French fleet has long since disappeared. After contacting the country, they learned the whereabouts of the French fleet, so they rushed to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River to intercept the French expeditionary fleet.
"Reporting to the general, the news from Canada is that the French fleet left Quebec yesterday afternoon. It is estimated that we will encounter them before 3 o'clock this afternoon at the latest," said a middle-ranking officer.
"That's only a few hours. Order the ships to prepare for battle and prepare to meet the enemy." Paret ordered. Under his command, the U.S. 1st Fleet was heavily fortified at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, waiting for the troubles of the French expeditionary fleet.
At this moment, Wasser is leading the remaining warships of the French expeditionary fleet to retreat rapidly. After destroying Quebec, the French expeditionary fleet was also greatly damaged. It would be very dangerous to stay here rashly. After the Battle of Quebec, the French expeditionary fleet was left with only 1 Dreadnought-class warship, the Dreadnought, 1 pre-Dreadnought class, the Loire, and 6 Bonapartes Class warships and 12 'Iberia' class warships, including the 'Dreadnought', all of them were more or less injured, none of them were intact. Compared with the original strength, it can be said to have dropped by half. .
"Your Excellency Marshal, there are still two hours to go, and the fleet will leave the St. Lawrence River. Which way should we choose to enter the Atlantic Ocean?" Bennett asked.
"After we leave the St. Lawrence River, cross the Strait of Belle Isle from the north of Anticosti Island, enter the Atlantic Ocean, and return to France by the same route." Wasser said after thinking for a while.
Bennett nodded, this seemed to be the best route.
"However, I think there will definitely be a fierce battle when we leave the St. Lawrence River. If I am not mistaken, I am afraid that the US 1st Fleet is now ambushing at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River." Wasser sighed Said in one breath. Although the attack on Quebec allowed the French expeditionary fleet to achieve great results, it also brought the French conical fleet into a very dangerous situation.
"Hey. Now our power is far inferior to that of the US 1st Fleet, and then we will have to fight hard." Bennett said, frowning.
"Fortunately, the mouth of the St. Lawrence River is very wide, hundreds of kilometers wide. It is basically impossible for the US fleet to ambush us. Under the current situation, we can only break through quickly and try to avoid I got entangled with the US fleet." Wasser said helplessly.
At 12:00 noon on May 28, the French expeditionary fleet arrived at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and encountered the US 1st Fleet that had already been waiting here. Fierce fighting broke out immediately. The U.S. 1st Fleet is at full strength, with two 'New York' class warships, namely the 'New York' and 'Washington', 9 'Pennsylvania' class warships and 30 'Washington' class warships. Moreover, they are waiting for work at leisure, so as soon as the two sides came into contact, the French expeditionary fleet fell into a very passive situation.
"Surround them, make sure to wipe them out here!" Commander of the US 1st Fleet, Commander Paret, ordered with a grim smile on his face. I don't know if he was really angry that the French expeditionary fleet completely destroyed St. John's and the Canadian mainland fleet. Or the destruction of Quebec halted construction of the Canadian Navy's King Arthur-class warships. Although the Canadian Navy has suffered heavy losses this time, it is impossible to recover without five to ten years, but this is not only bad for the United States. The defeat of the Canadian Navy will of course make the United States and Canada lose their advantage in the battle with France for control of the Atlantic Ocean, but if the US 1st Fleet can annihilate the invading French fleet, the United States and Canada will continue to maintain their advantage. At the same time, the Canadian Navy suffered heavy losses, and even the largest shipbuilding base was destroyed. This directly reduced Canada's national strength by a large margin and made Canada more dependent on the United States in the future. This is actually a good thing for the United States. .
Under Paret's order, all the "Washington" class warships of the US 1st Fleet deployed to both sides to outflank the French expeditionary fleet. On the front, there is a powerful firepower composed of the two "New York" class warships "New York" and "Washington" and nine "Pennsylvania" class warships.
"Marshal, we have to break through, otherwise it will be too late. In addition, there is another bad news, we are running out of ammunition." Bennett said a little frustrated.
Wasser thumped the table resentfully, watching his warship keep being shot and caught fire, and then sinking, he felt very uncomfortable. Although the U.S. Navy has also suffered considerable losses, the U.S. Navy's 1st Fleet now has an overwhelming advantage in strength, and the French expeditionary fleet is completely under siege. If this continues, the French expeditionary fleet will be wiped out sooner or later.
As soon as the formation of the French expeditionary fleet changed, it immediately caught Paret's attention. "It seems that they are preparing to break through. Order all New York-class battleships and 'Pennsylvania'-class warships to turn to the northeast, and focus on attacking the 'Dreadnought'-class warship at the forefront of the French fleet." Paret immediately ordered . Under his command, the "New York" class warships and "Pennsylvania" class warships of the US 1st Fleet also turned and launched a fierce attack on the "Intrepid".
For a moment, the 'Fearless' completely became a shell 'magnet' on the battlefield, and a large number of shells were directed towards her. However, the "Dreadnought" is also considered to be rough-skinned and thick-skinned. Ordinary shells will not cause any damage to her at all, and will leave a shallow mark on her armor at most. Shells with a caliber of less than 155mm are even killed Just ignore it. Only the main guns of the 'New York' class battleships can really cause damage to the 'Dreadnought', and the 'Pennsylvania' class is even worse. Too much damage.
In just over 20 minutes, the 'Fearless' suffered at least dozens of shells, but fortunately, these shells did not cause fatal damage to the 'Fearless', only the superstructure was somewhat damaged. Regarding the frenzied attack of the US 1st Fleet, the "Intrepid" simply has no extra energy to fight back. Now his most important task is to break through the siege of the US 1st Fleet.
Finally, with the joint efforts of the "Dreadnought" and other warships, a big hole was torn open in the encirclement circle of the US 1st Fleet. Breakout there. However, throughout the process, the French expeditionary fleet still paid the price of two "Bonaparte" class warships and four "Iberia" class warships.
It was a pity that the French expeditionary fleet successfully broke through. However, he still did not give up and ordered the US 1st Fleet to pursue the French expeditionary fleet. At this moment, most of the French expeditionary fleet was injured, and the power system was also greatly affected. It lagged behind the American expeditionary fleet in terms of speed, and could not escape the pursuit of the US 1st Fleet at all.
"No, going on like this is not an option. We won't be able to get rid of the American fleet at all. Sooner or later, we will be wiped out by them one by one." Seeing that the 'Loire' was about to fall into the siege of the American fleet, Wasser was anxious. Said.
"Then what should we do?" Bennett didn't pay attention at the moment.
"Damn! Fight with those sons of bitches." Wasser said bitterly, and then he was about to issue a combat order.
At this time, the communicator brought a telegram from the captain of the 'Loire'. "Report, Marshal. The captain of the 'Loire' called ~www.mtlnovel.com~ to ask you to agree to the 'Loire' and other six battleships behind to stay to block the US fleet and create time for the main force of the fleet to retreat." Communication Bing said.
"No, absolutely not, I won't leave my soldiers and escape alone. Tell him, I don't approve of this plan." Wasser refused.
"Maybe that's the only way," Bennett said.
"What did you say?" Wasser stared at Bennett with red eyes, as if he was about to eat someone.
"Your Excellency, Marshal, now is not the time to be impulsive. You must consider the overall situation. If all the expeditionary fleet is lost here, then we will still be at a disadvantage in the sea confrontation with the United States and Canada. In vain." Bennett also roared loudly.
Wasser fell silent after being yelled at by Bennett. After about ten seconds, he sighed helplessly and said, "Okay. I agree with their plan."
Afterwards, the "Loire" and another "Bonaparte" class warship and four "Iberia" class warships all broke away from the formation, turned around, and rushed towards the US 1st Fleet.