Chapter 1008. They are hunting us, we are finished!

After inquiring about the battle situation in detail via telegram, General Winter finally understood what was happening in the rear.

"Charle's aircraft carrier not only launches fighter jets, but also bombers!" General Winter frowned.

Although he hadn't figured out what was wrong, he had a vague feeling that the war was not as simple as he thought.

He stared at the map, his mind unconsciously recalling Charles's warning at Pontisseau: "If something like this happens again, we will regard it as an act of war and sink your warships. All of them!"

Is what Charles said true?

Is it relying on this kind of bomber that can take off from an aircraft carrier?

No, that's impossible, it's just a few planes.

They are just flies flying in the air, how could they sink a warship weighing tens of thousands of tons and costing millions of pounds?

After a moment of silence, General Winter gave the order: "Order the mobile fleet to rush to the southwest waters to search. Once a target is found, sink it at all costs!"

"Yes, General!" The staff officer responded and passed on the order.

After a pause, General Winter added another order: "Turn immediately and cooperate with the mobile fleet to encircle and destroy the French aircraft carrier!"

"General!" Captain Ethan was a little worried: "If we leave here, will there be problems on the main battlefield?"

General Winter insisted on his own idea: "It is more important to encircle and destroy the enemy aircraft carrier!"

He already sensed the danger.

If bombers like the Charles, which take off from aircraft carriers, can destroy two British aircraft carriers, does that mean they can also destroy other warships or even battleships?

If you can, the battle will change dramatically:

The battleship's range is only a dozen kilometers, while the French aircraft carrier's attack radius is about 150 kilometers.

The latter far exceeds the range of battleships.

Therefore, the aircraft carrier can sink battleships one after another outside the strike radius.

But this is just a guess. General Winter believes he still has a chance: aircraft carriers are slow, and their close-range firepower and defense are seriously insufficient. Once approached by battleships, they will no longer have the opportunity to launch fighters and bombers.

Therefore, we must catch up and destroy them as soon as possible!

…

Under the communication of signal lights and signal flags, three battleships, two battlecruisers and more than a dozen destroyers left the main battlefield and rushed to the southwest waters.

The three battleships were the flagship HMS Canada, HMS Queen Elizabeth II, and HMS Prince of Wales.

(The picture above shows a London-class battleship with a speed of 18 knots. There were five ships in this class, relatively outdated pre-dreadnought battleships during World War I. The fourth and fifth ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, were commissioned in 1902. Their names are used for two modern British aircraft carriers.)

The two battlecruisers were Renown and Repulse, with eight destroyers.

They are the "mobile fleet" organized by General Winter. Their original mission is to maneuver quickly on the battlefield and provide reinforcements wherever danger occurs.

(The picture above shows the Renown-class battlecruiser, with a speed of 31.5 knots. There are two ships in total, namely Renown and Repulse, completed in September 1916.)

More than twenty warships were breaking through the waves on the sea like steel behemoths. The howling sea breeze swept the waves, like an invisible barrier trying to stop the fleet from advancing.

The warship let out a dull roar, warning the obstacles blocking its way.

Their bows were like sharp blades, splitting the waves neatly. In an instant, water splashed everywhere and the waves rose high, and the sound of them hitting the side of the ship was like their screams.

General Winter personally commanded this campaign. He drew on the chart with his instrument and said:

"The enemy is about 80 nautical miles (150 kilometers) away from us."

"Assume the target speed is 20 knots."

"At our mobile fleet's speed of 31.5 knots, it might take six hours to catch up with them and get within firing range."

General Winter took out his pocket watch and looked at it. "Order the mobile fleet to advance at high speed. Be sure to catch up and sink it before dark!"

"Yes, General."

The two fleets were divided into two groups under the command of General Winter:

The slow battleship fleet led by the flagship "Canada" was responsible for sealing the front.

The fast mobile fleet led by the "Reputation" was responsible for the encirclement.

At the same time, the battleships each launched seaplanes to conduct reconnaissance. Their role was to find the enemy fleet and report so that the fleet could approach and surround the target in the shortest time possible.

However, the battle broke out unexpectedly at this time.

Before the seaplane flew far, more than a dozen French fighter planes appeared in the sky.

"Damn, it's a French fighter plane." General Winter cursed.

The inverted gull-shaped wings of those fighter jets are very obvious in the telescope and can be recognized at a glance.

The maximum speed of the seaplane with bulky floats is only 130 kilometers per hour, while the French "Jeanne A" type has a speed of 245 kilometers per hour. The two are not at the same level of equipment at all.

Therefore, although the seaplanes had a numerical advantage, they were like little pigeons that had just learned to fly facing the sharp claws of an eagle in front of the "Jenny A".

In just ten minutes, seaplanes were shot down one after another amid the intermittent sound of machine gun fire.

There was also a case where a "Jenny A" swooped into the target group and shot down three seaplanes in succession. For "Jenny A", seaplanes were almost target planes for training.

Captain Ethan snorted coldly, "This won't change anything. They're trying to evade our pursuit this way. Wishful thinking!"

The high-speed battlecruisers will eventually catch up with them, Captain Ethan thought.

General Winter thought so too, so he ordered the fleet to speed up the search.

It was not until more than two hours later that General Winter, who was lost in thought while looking at the nautical chart, gradually came to his senses.

He sat down weakly on the chair, holding his forehead in pain: "No, Ethan, we were wrong, so wrong."

"What?" Ethan, who was calculating the distance and direction, raised his head and looked at General Winter in confusion.

General Winter covered his face with his hands and rubbed them several times, as if trying to sober himself up.

"Do you think we are chasing the French aircraft carrier?" General Winter shook his head slightly. He hoped that he was wrong.

"Isn't it?" Ethan spread his hands on the nautical chart: "They are running away!"

"No!" General Winter sighed. "On the contrary, they are hunting us, Ethan. We are finished!"

"This..." Ethan looked at General Winter in disbelief.

"That's impossible, General."

"They are aircraft carriers, they don't have many guns, and we have battleships and battlecruisers."

"We have dozens of large-caliber artillery pieces and thick armor..."

General Winter interrupted Captain Ethan:

"None of this will work."

"Don't you understand? We'll never catch up to them, even if the battlecruiser is 11.5 knots faster than them."

"If we can't catch up, our artillery will be useless, and the thick side armor will be useless!"

(End of this chapter)