On November 13, the 27th year of Shengde, the entire South Atlantic Ocean suddenly became lively. From the border coast bordering Guyana to the coastline of South China, thousands of lookouts in hundreds of lookout towers searched the sea day and night, looking for any suspicious targets.
On the ocean, a patrol fleet consisting of thousands of fishing boats of various sizes was also searching the sea day and night for any traces of the US fleet.
In fact, although the Imperial Navy had established a maritime cordon and a maritime alert system by distributing radio stations to fishing boats as early as last year, the number of search ships had increased to nearly a thousand ten days ago. The Imperial sailors on each search ship kept their eyes open for any suspicious ships on the sea.
Just as they were watching the sea with vigilant eyes, the Allied fleet was approaching the south little by little.
Finally, when the fleet passed the tenth parallel north, it was discovered by a surveillance airship in the sky, and radio waves were immediately sent out hundreds of kilometers away.
Afterwards, the whereabouts of the Allied fleet were constantly discovered by airships. For a while, the sea was full of radio waves. As the fleet commander, Fisher did not think it was a big deal. After all, exposing one's whereabouts at sea posed a possibility of this.
Moreover, the Imperial Navy has also established a maritime cordon.
Fisher said the next day, after another undecipherable telegram was intercepted in the telegraph room as the fleet crossed the equator.
"It seems that the Empire is already prepared. We don't need to lead them in. They will come to find us!"
Then he said again.
"Send a telegram to General Mahan, and we will implement the second set of combat plans."
Standing in the command tower of the flagship battleship USS New York, after receiving Fisher's telegram, Mahan was silent for a moment and then spoke.
"Well, they're coming for us."
After putting down the telegram, Mahan looked very solemn. Despite this, he still ordered the fleet to act as planned. Of course, Mahan wrote in his diary that evening.
"It can be expected that in 10 days the Ming Empire will become a country without a navy!"
The reason why he was so conceited at this moment was because... Imperial Pacific was still in Australia. Just a few hours ago, the "Da Han" and "Da Wei" had just bombarded Melbourne, and their aircraft carrier fleet also participated in the bombing.
This means that the Allied Forces have an absolute power advantage over the Imperial Navy.
"The Dynasty class should have started moving out by now!"
…
"The Dynasty-class 15-inch guns can sink a battleship with one shot..."
In fact, since the outbreak of the war, the "Dynasty Class" of the Ming Empire has always been valued by countries around the world. After all, the 15-inch cannons they possess are the most powerful naval guns in the world and are also unique.
For this reason, after the war, almost all newspapers on both sides of the war declared that no warship could withstand the bombardment of the "Dynasty Class". The Japanese said this to boost morale, while the latter was just to tell Congress to give money and build ships.
But no matter what, the power of the Dynasty class cannot be denied.
Today, on the pier of the Huizhou Bay Naval Island, the two Dynasty-class battleships, the Daqin and the Dajin, are loading supplies. Not only are they loading supplies, but the other thirteen warships and dozens of auxiliary ships are also loading supplies.
All the warships were trying to fill all their store and ammunition compartments to capacity, filling their freezers with fresh meat, their food stores with rice, flour, and vegetables, their oil tanks with fuel oil, and their water tanks with fresh water.
Of course, the most important thing was to load the ammunition into the ammunition compartment. On the pier, a steam locomotive spewing smoke with an open car parked on the side, loaded with huge 380mm shells. The crane on the shore was constantly lifting 830 kg of powerful shells into the air, then slowly lowering them, passing through layers of decks, and loading them into the ammunition compartment deep below the waterline.
From early morning until noon, when the loading and unloading work at the dock was completed, an order came for the team to face the bridge.
The officer supervising the loading and unloading of munitions on the dock shouted:
“The last one!”
An officer on deck waved a finger and replied:
“The last one.”
The crane wobbled and delivered the last gleaming 380mm shell into the ammunition bay. The groups of service personnel who had been busy at the dock gradually dispersed, and soon only the sailors were left standing in line.
At this time, Imperial Navy Admiral Cheng Bichen left the cabin and walked to the loudspeaker on the bridge.
"Everyone! I believe you all already know that the target, the British and American joint fleet - this unprecedentedly powerful fleet, is heading towards the empire's homeland. As members of the imperial navy, we should stop the enemy overseas..."
As he began his speech, the young officers listened attentively and seriously. His voice was carried throughout the ship through the public address system, making sure everyone knew their duties.
The first men in the fleet knew their duties well. They would guard the empire's sea borders and had now boarded the newest and most powerful battleship. No warship in the Royal Navy or the United States Navy dared to match it, and no large warship could survive its guns.
They will drive the most powerful and combat-capable warships to stop the Anglo-Saxons from offending the empire. What does it matter if the power of the British and American combined fleet exceeds theirs?
They are members of the Imperial Navy, and they will use their lives in the upcoming naval battle to prove that they will become the rulers of the sea.
The Royal Navy... is just yesterday's news.
The voice of the admiral's speech echoed through the loudspeaker throughout the Navy Island. At this time, this huge fleet, consisting of 21 warships as the main force, was ready to set sail.
Finally, as the speech ended, the sailors began to disband, and they cast off. The "Daqin" gently swayed its huge body, turned its bow, and slowly sailed to the sea. Many soldiers gathered on the pier, watching this huge fleet go out to sea to the sound of the military band.
“This is a fateful day!”
Standing on the deck of the "Daqin", Qiu Zhenzhi did not stand on the side of the ship to say goodbye to his comrades like the others, but just silently ate fried soybeans, which was his only hobby.
"Are you sure?"
In response to his friend's question, Qiu Zhenzhi said.
"We all know that there are many contingencies in naval battles. The only thing we can do is to do our best..."
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