After the confluence of the four fleets of the French Navy, the fleet formed is quite large. Devour novels include 18 capital ships, 72 cruisers, and 134 destroyers. This fleet already includes the last strength of the French navy, and they are full of confidence that they will win the final victory for France. But among the commanders of several fleets, the mood is very heavy.
According to the order of the Ministry of the Navy, Kirkbride, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, will become the temporary supreme commander of this fleet. This position will continue until the end of this naval battle. If anything happened to Kirkbride, it would be Hercules, then Clarence, and finally Bennett.
From this point, it can be seen how cruel the upcoming naval battle will be. [bsp;The huge 18 capital ships were divided into two capital ship squadrons, lined up in two battle lines, broke through the sea làng, and headed for the waters near Martinique at high speed.
Among them, the first capital ship squadron is composed of the capital ships of the Atlantic Fleet and the Channel Fleet, including the 'Tiger Shark' class battleship 'Azores', the 'Flores', and the 'Giant Whale' class battleship 'Dui'. Lery, Elysee, Amiens, Metz, Le Havre, Orleans, and Caen. Among them, the 'Metz' and 'Le Havre' both have only 1mén 305mm naval guns left.
The second capital ship squadron consists of the capital ships of the Mediterranean Fleet and the South Atlantic Fleet, including the 'Tiger Shark' class battleships 'Mediterranean', 'Iberia', 'Vienna' and 'Adour' . The 'Giant Whale' class battleships 'Madrid', 'Valencia', 'Garonne', 'Dordogne' and 'Lot'.
"General, several French destroyers have been following us. Do you want to send warships to drive them away?" An officer of the 3rd Fleet suggested to Aldrich.
"No need, we can't catch up anyway!" Aldridge said indifferently. The French look at the investigation, let them investigate. Anyway, now Aldrich is not afraid of them. The huge fleet composed of the 3rd, 8th, 10th, and 12th fleets now has 17 capital ships, a total of more than 140 warships, and is not afraid of the French fleet. Besides, the backup fleet will arrive soon.
Le Lamentin in Martinique is a relatively important military base of the United States in the Lesser Antilles. Normally, when the fleet is being replenished, most sailors choose to disembark and go ashore to drink and play with women. But this time, the commanders of the various fleets issued strict orders that anyone who dared to sneak ashore by himself would be shot immediately.
Moreover, of the four fleets, one enters the port for supplies, and the other three defend outside. To prevent the French fleet from attacking while they were replenishing, they have been carefully guarding against it.
"General, General Abbott, General Archibald and General Bartley are here!" a junior officer reported.
"Please come in!" Aldridge said. Then I found out the telegram from Davis.
The three entered the bridge of the 'Philadelphia', sat in front of Aldrich, and waited for him to speak. Now, Bartley's 12th Fleet is receiving supplies. After resupply, you can set sail and leave Le Lamentin. If the fleet has been staying here, it is not suitable for fighting the French navy.
"Just now, General Davis sent us a telegram. He affirmed our performance in this battle. At the same time, we also hope that we can make persistent efforts to defeat or severely damage the French Navy and completely win this time. said Aldrich. In fact, from his heart, he was not very satisfied with this naval battle. After all, judging from the losses, the U.S. Navy is still relatively heavy.
"However, everyone can't relax. There is no doubt that the French will launch the next round of attacks on us. According to the information provided by the Admiralty, this time, the French will concentrate the remaining warships of their four major fleets and attack us. Attack. There will be more than 200 warships in total, of which the number of capital ships will reach 18. The pressure we face will be very high. However, the Admiralty hopes that we can withstand the pressure, even if we cannot defeat the French Navy, Injure them too. Create opportunities for subsequent fleets to win," Aldrich said.
Abbott, Archibald, and Bartlet all have serious faces. After the French navy gathers its final strength, its strength will completely surpass them. This battle is not easy to fight! If it doesn't work well, it will be killed. But as Aldrich said, this battle is related to the fate of the two countries, therefore, only success is not allowed to fail.
"After the supply is over, we will leave the port immediately. Perhaps, after dawn, the battle will break out again. I want to remind that in battle, the protection of capital ships is very important. Every capital ship must leave at least two Protected by more than one destroyer. Avoid being struck by the French. In addition, all capital ships will be divided into two squadrons. The capital ships of the 3rd and 8th Fleets will form the 1st Squadron, 10th and 12th Fleets The capital ships of the fleet form the second squadron. The first squadron is under my command, and the second squadron is under the command of General Archibald. In this battle, we must do our best. The first and second fleets, No. 30 We can arrive at the battlefield in the morning. As long as we can last until then, we will win!" Aldrich continued to encourage everyone.
"Don't worry, General Aldridge, this is the Caribbean Sea, our backyard. Whether it is supplies or familiarity with the environment, we are far ahead of the French. This time we will definitely win." Ah Kibbard said aloud. Both Abt and Bartley had the same determination in their eyes.
At 5 o'clock in the morning on the 29th, the four fleets of the US Navy had all completed their supplies. After that, the 4 fleets were divided into two parts and left Le Lamentin at a distance of 20 kilometers. The fleet did not go south, but wandered in the waters near Martinique, waiting for the arrival of the French fleet.
About 20 kilometers away from them, several destroyers of the French Navy are closely watching the movements of the US Navy and reporting their latest situation to the French Navy.
The morning sun dyed the entire sea surface into a golden color, and the sea surface looked very peaceful. If it weren't for the fleet of warships that rapidly crossed the ocean and caused waves of waves, this would undoubtedly be a very beautiful picture.
However, the sound of the siren and the billowing smoke completely destroyed this beautiful scene.
"How long until Martinique?" asked Kirkbride. He barely fell asleep that night. So, just after dawn, he came to the bridge of the 'Azores'.
"General, it's 7 o'clock in the morning, and we have at most 6 hours before we can meet the US fleet. According to the news sent back by the scout ship, the US fleet is in the western waters of Martinique!" the navigator said to Kirk Bride reported.
"Six hours? After three hours, order the ships to start combat preparations. This time, we must destroy the enemy!" Kirkbride issued an order. The reason why he delayed for 3 hours was to allow the soldiers to rest as much as possible. The whole day of fighting yesterday made the soldiers very tired. Resting for an extra 3 hours can also restore a little more. Only God knows how long this naval battle will last.
On the bridge of the Channel Fleet's current flagship 'Amiens' ~www.mtlnovel.com~ Hercules also ordered the communications officer to send a telegram. No one except Hercules and a few others knew the contents of the telegram. This is a combat order issued to the 'Glorious' fleet. It is now certain that the final decisive battle between the two countries will take place in the waters west of Martinique. The follow-up fleet of the United States will also arrive on the 30th. Therefore, the "Brilliant" fleet crossed the Strait of Martinique on the 30th, entered the battlefield, and gave the US fleet the final blow. This will establish the final victory.
Although the navies of the two sides have not yet met, France, the United States, and Canada on both sides of the Atlantic have already focused their attention here. The final decisive battle will start here. Who can win the final victory? Both France and the United States have great confidence in their navies. The United States is because judging from the current comparison of the strengths of the two sides, the alliance between the United States and Canada has an absolute advantage. As for France, because of all of this, it is basically developing around the "Boseidon Plan" they formulated at the beginning. The basic main line has not changed at all, but some details have been slightly changed. And, this time, the 'brilliant' fleet, which has consumed countless financial, material and manpower resources of the French Navy, will also participate in the battle. The French emperor Xiao Jie and everyone who knew the existence of the glorious fleet had great confidence in them. People who had never seen them shoot together would never be able to imagine their terror.
At 1 pm on October 29, the French fleet resisted the waters west of Martinique and met the American fleet again, and the battle was imminent.