Chapter 403: Defeat (Part 1)

After shaking Martinique, the 5th Fleet lost 13 warships, including two Pennsylvania-class warships, and the rest were "Washington-class warships. In addition, another "New York-class warship in the 5th Fleet was also hit by a large-caliber fortress shelling, losing nearly half of its combat effectiveness and part of its power. At this time, facing the powerful French Mediterranean Fleet, they were naturally beaten to no agitated.

"Quick! Go up! All the Iberian-class warships are encircled from the left." Paul stood on the bridge of the Brave, holding a telescope and giving an order excitedly. Seeing the American fleet fleeing in panic, Paul was so happy.

"Paul, I always feel something is wrong!" Clarence, chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, said with a frown.

"Uh? What's going on? My old friend. Look, everything is so beautiful! The American fleet is fleeing and we are pursuing it. It won't take long before we can destroy all the 3rd Fleet of the US Navy. By that time, the Caribbean Sea will return to our control. We will become heroes in the war. At that time, we will definitely get medals, and it is not impossible for His Majesty the Emperor to personally award meritorious deeds." Paul said longingly.

"No, there must be a problem with this." Clarence shook his head and said.

"Why?" Paul asked suspiciously.

"Look, the flagship of the US Fleet does not seem to be the flagship of the US Navy's 3rd Fleet, the USS Philadelphia, nor is it another New York-class warship of the 3rd Fleet, the USS Boston." Clarence said affirmatively. Although the US Navy's New York-class warships are generally similar, each ship still has some subtle differences. If you don't look carefully, you can't tell it.

Paul hesitated now, because after careful observation, he also discovered the doubts. He originally thought that the fleet attacking Martinique was not the 3rd American Fleet as expected before, which made the situation confusing again. According to the information obtained before, the six major American fleets, except for the 1st Fleet deployed near the US coast, the 3rd Fleet was subordinate to the Caribbean Sea, and the remaining four fleets were deployed in the central Atlantic Ocean, competing with the French Navy for control of the Atlantic Ocean. So, how could other fleets appear in this sea area?

"It seems that things are not as simple as we imagined. Why did the Intelligence Department not give us any information before that other American fleets joined the Caribbean Sea?" Paul said angrily. He has now realized that the reason why the US Navy launched a large-scale attack on Martinique was just to attract the Mediterranean fleet. There is no doubt that they have fallen into the trap of the US Navy. Almost certainly, there are a large number of American warships hidden in a certain sea area.

"The US Navy has tried every means to lay this trap. Do you think they will let us easily discover their purpose? I think I should understand that some time ago, we had the intelligence that the Canadian Navy entered the Central Atlantic region to assist the US Navy. Now that I think about it, the Canadian Navy's mission should not be to assist the US Navy, but to replace the US Navy so that they can secretly dispatch fleets here." Clarence smiled bitterly. It seems that it is a bit late to understand this truth now.

"It seems that the Americans are deliberately trying to kill us this time." Paul said. He had never expected that the roles of both sides would change so quickly. In just a while, the Mediterranean Fleet changed from a fisherman to a fish.

"What should we do? Be conservative, we should withdraw from this area immediately to avoid falling into the trap of the US Navy," Clarence said.

Paul didn't say anything, he was a little unwilling to accept it. He was about to destroy a reorganized fleet of the US Navy, but now he had to give up. He would definitely not be able to give up this opportunity. "Can you be sure which American fleet is this?" Paul asked. After some consideration, he decided to carry out the battle to the end. Although the trap was in front of them was a trap of the US Navy, they had already seen through it. Although this trap still had a fatal danger, it was not completely unavailable for the Mediterranean Fleet. If handled well, maybe he could safely withdraw from the American trap and achieve considerable results.

Clarence shook his head helplessly. He knew Paul too much. From Paul's tone of speaking, he guessed what Paul was thinking. "From the appearance, the warship should be the 'Chicago'. The 'Chicago' is the flagship of the 5th Fleet of the United States. Therefore, it is certain that the attack on Martinique and what we are facing now is the 5th Fleet of the United States that should have appeared in the Central Atlantic region." Clarence said.

"I think we should have a chance to turn defeat into victory. Although it seems that the current situation is very unfavorable to us, we only need to quickly eliminate the 5th Fleet of the US Navy, and then jump out of the trap set by the US Navy, and finally, depending on the situation, decide whether to continue attacking or retreating." Paul said.

"However, we also face two problems. First, how many fleets have the US Navy deployed in the Caribbean. Second, although the US Navy's 5th Fleet has suffered a heavy blow, it is also a problem whether we can annihilate them in a short period of time. If we don't grasp it well, it may bring the fleet into a very dangerous mirror." Clarence reminded.

"I have already thought about these two points. In order to maintain the balance of power in the Central Atlantic region, even with the joining of the British Navy, it is impossible for the Americans to draw too much troops from there. According to my estimate, they can draw up to 1 to 3 fleets, and the possibility of two fleets is the greatest. Now, the US Fleet has suffered a heavy blow. Unless the Americans draw three fleets from the Central Atlantic region, that is, they deployed a total of 4 fleets in the Caribbean, we should not be in too much danger. However, this possibility should be very small. As for annihilation of the US Fleet, there should be some difficulties, but we can at least severely damage them." Paul explained.

"In my opinion, I still don't agree to take this risk." Clarence shook his head and said. He is a more cautious person. He will not do anything without being sure of it.

"The opportunity must not be missed, and you will never come back! This may be our only chance to severely damage the US Navy. If we win, it will also have a huge effect not only on us, but on the entire war." Paul persuaded hard.

"Okay. But, I think we should contact Navy Command first. Let's see their reply first." Clarence said.

"Oh my God! If that were the case, the fighter plane would have been lost long ago. Why not do this? You, go and ask the Navy Command first, and I will start to implement my plan. This will not delay each other. I promise that once the Navy Command asks me to cancel the plan, I will immediately order the fleet to withdraw from the battle." Paul said.

"Okay." In the end, Clarence compromised.

When Clarence asked the Navy Command for instructions, Paul issued an order to accelerate the attack. The entire Mediterranean Fleet has 30 "Iberia" class warships. Although the combat effectiveness of this warship is the worst among the French Navy, its speed is the fastest, and it is best to intercept fleeing enemy troops. Under Paul's order, the 30 "Iberia" class ships were divided into two left and right teams, and they were encircled to the US 5th Fleet. On the front, there were 10 "Bonapart" class warships. The "Default" class warships and the "Former Dareless" class warships fell at the end due to speed. But if the two warships in front could hold the US Navy's 5th Fleet, they would later arrive as a nightmare for the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

Faced with the fierce attack of the Mediterranean Fleet, the 5th Fleet of the US Navy could only escape desperately. At the same time, contacted Davis urgently and asked his US Navy 3rd Fleet and the hidden US Navy 4th Fleet to join the battle immediately, otherwise the 5th Fleet would be over. In just half an hour, the US Navy 5th Fleet had lost eight warships again, including the insufficient powered New York class warships, the other two Pennsylvania class warships and five Washington class warships.

"Paul, the instructions from the Navy Command have come out." While the battle was going on very fiercely, Clarence came to Paul with a telegram.

Paul raised his brow and asked casually: "What instructions do the Navy Command have?" He actually didn't care much about the instructions of the Navy Command, because he had made up his mind to implement it according to his plan. This is probably the case for the so-called "they will be outside, and the military will not be able to bear the military's life."
Chapter completed!