Just after Germany and Italy decided to carry out the operation codenamed Thunder Serbrus, they began to consider how to operate it. The best way is naturally to gather everyone and then besiege, but this method is the most difficult to do.

, in Portugal, the Allied countries have aircraft, airships, various destroyers and picket ships with certain ocean reconnaissance capabilities. Even in the Atlantic Ocean

If it is not discovered, it will definitely be discovered after entering the waters near Portugal. The U.S. fleet does not only provide fire support to the army in the port. They also often go to nearby waters to attack the German troops along the coast. In other words, the Allies can only know that the other side is there.

There is activity in a sea area, but it is difficult to say where exactly. Moreover, the US Navy also has aircraft cover, so it cannot be fought by warships alone.

The result was that after a high-level exchange between the two navies, the Air Force was decisively dragged down! The Air Force's mission was mainly divided into two parts. The first part was to consume as much of the Allied Air Force in Portugal, especially the Sailfish with sea-facing capabilities.

torpedo planes and twin-engine bombers, and then after the Allied fleets converge, the Air Force will deploy elite squadrons to cooperate with the Navy to siege the U.S. fleet. After many actual battles, it has been proven that the current naval battle would not be possible without aircraft.

Well, what a tragic thing it was. In the naval battle in the British coastal waters, the British Swordfish caused the Germans to lose a Königs-class battleship. In the Norwegian naval battle, the German bombers severely damaged two American battleships.

Therefore, both sides now attach great importance to the air force. Aircraft are no longer a dispensable role, but will gradually become the dominant force in the war. To this end, the German Air Force specifically plans to transfer the three flying groups stationed in the mainland to the direction of Portugal.

In order to support the actions of Hipper's fleet, the Allies mobilized all submarines and raiding ships as much as possible to the Atlantic to increase the escort pressure of the Allies. After everything was ready, on the night of January 18, 1919, Hipper would command three Bismarcks.

-class battleships headed to the Mediterranean. Under the cover of night, the German fleet would

First sail north. Then it will meet up with the German supply ship from Norway. After replenishing fuel, it will turn northwest. "Hipper, you will create a history. Let us take the final step of the war. As long as you can fight with Tycho

When the Italian fleet joins together, we will win this war." Scheer said before leaving.

"Don't worry, even God will help us. In the past few days, the weather near our route will not be good, and the British reconnaissance effect will be greatly reduced, whether it is aircraft or surface ships." Regarding this time.

Hipper was not very nervous about the attack. As he said, God was helping them. Then three battleships and four light cruisers left the anchorage in Wilhelmshaven and headed north.

At this time, Magiffin was also considering the next battle plan. Just two days ago, the Thomas Fleet left France for the United Kingdom. If nothing else happens, the British will let the Sims Fleet leave in three days.

, the four battleships he leads will first go to the French port of Saint-Nazaire to replenish ammunition and complete the mopping up work while accepting new crew members. After about a week of corrections, the Sims fleet will go

The original plan was for the Sims fleet to go directly to Lisbon to join the Magiffin fleet, but later because the Italian fleet took the initiative to retreat to the Gibraltar Fortress, the pressure near Lisbon was greatly relieved, and at the same time because the Sims fleet did have some things to do.

It had not yet been dealt with, and it had to accept a large number of new members from the United States, so Magiffin agreed to Sims's suggestion to carry out preparations in France, which is relatively safe.

At this time, Magiffin only had 9 super-dreadnoughts in his hands, namely 2 Tennessee-class battleships, 1 Nevada-class battleship, 2 New York-class battleships and 1 USS Utah battleship that had just completed improvements. This battleship was a Florida-class battleship.

No. 2 ship, as well as the French's only two remaining super-dreadnoughts and the Dutch fast battleship Seven Provinces

The combat effectiveness of this fleet is slightly stronger than the fast fleet commanded by Count Spey. (At least on paper.) When the Sims fleet joined, Magiffin had 13 super-dreadnoughts in his hands. In addition,

There is the Greek dreadnought Athens. The Allied Mediterranean Fleet has 12 super-dreadnoughts. In terms of numbers, the US fleet has a slight advantage.

Then look at the quality. Americans have always believed that the Tennessee-class battleship may be inferior to some 15-inch battleships of the same period, but it is definitely on the same level. The Americans believe that the Tennessee-class battleship should be slightly stronger than the Queen-class fast battleship

, slightly weaker than the Bismarck-class battleships and Longxiang. Although the quality of American officers and soldiers is slightly worse, after this period

After the baptism of time battles, Magiffin believes that the two Tennessee-class battleships are still stronger than the Italian Calagiono-class battleships. The highest combat effectiveness on the side of the Allies is the two Tennessee-class battleships, the USS Nevada battleship and the two French super-dreadnoughts. These five ships

The actual combat power of the battleship is close to or equal to the Italian Dragon Soar and four Calacciono-class battleships.

Although the Allied fleet still has three standard Chinese fast battleships, it doesn't matter. Magiffin still has two New Mexico-class battleships and one Pennsylvania-class battleship in his hands that can take a slight advantage. Then there are Spain's three imitation Moltke-class fast battleships.

and the Austro-Hungarian ship

Super fearless, the remaining 6 battleships in Magiffin's hands can definitely gain some advantages. Although the advantage on the main battleships is not huge, it is still somewhat there. In terms of auxiliary battleships, the United States has also spent a lot of money this time. The United States

Man has invested almost all the equipment at his disposal

Armored cruisers, a total of 6 armored cruisers equipped with 6 10-inch guns, will be responsible for cleaning up the opponent's light cruisers and torpedo ships. At the same time, the Americans have also concentrated 24 destroyers and torpedo ships. The opponent's auxiliary battleships are no more than

There are only a dozen destroyers and light cruisers.

There are only two or three ships planned. "Before the Maryland-class battleships are put into service, we cannot concentrate more troops. Therefore, although this battle is very dangerous, we can only fight it!" Ma Jifen didn't seem to take up too much.

The fleet with a huge advantage hesitated and hesitated, but finally decided to fight.

As a keen naval commander, he knew that relying solely on the surface fleet was not enough. To this end, he specially mobilized 18 submarines from the United States and divided them into three groups to set up cordons for reconnaissance and sneak attacks. As for the Air Force, he requested

More aircraft to provide reconnaissance and air defense. "If possible, I would like the RAF to provide more Sailfish torpedo aircraft." But Magiffin's most important request was refused.

, even requests for more fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft have been severely reduced. This is not because someone deliberately made things difficult. The fundamental reason is that the Allied Powers can only transport supplies to Portugal by sea. And sea transportation takes a long time and also faces

When the Allies attack, the U.S. government requires important equipment such as aircraft to be sent to the battlefield only when there is a real safety guarantee, and this will naturally take a lot of time.

On the one hand, the US military in France has to resist Germany's key offensive, so it naturally cannot provide more aircraft. The British and French want to be optimistic about their own homes, and they also cannot provide enough aircraft, especially on a transport ship carrying fighter jets.

After the ship was sunk by an Italian submarine in the Bay of Biscay, the French theater responded to the war effort to mobilize southward

The actions of the fighter planes were even more conservative. Coupled with the air offensives launched by the Allies in Portugal, the Allied Air Force in Portugal felt a lot of pressure. Naturally, it was difficult to spare the power to cooperate with Magiffin's actions. Therefore, in the aviation

On the other hand, Ma Jifen is a complete tragedy! It would be great if it can maintain its original scale!

From this series of changes, Ma Jifen seemed to have discovered some clues. Although as a naval general, he did not know much about the army and air force, his soldier's intuition told him that the other party was not normal! Under normal circumstances, the other party deployed a large number of air force

The purpose should be to cooperate with the ground forces to launch a concentric assault on Lisbon. Otherwise, the significance of large-scale air combat is really limited. However, under the current situation, the Allied air force is extremely active, but the pace of the ground forces' attack has not accelerated. On the contrary, in order to avoid

Agreement

In response to the attack by the Allied fleet, they gave up part of their coastal positions. At the same time, the army that besieged Lisbon also retreated a bit to avoid naval gunfire. In addition, the Allied navy adopted a new code. In the Battle of Gibraltar, the Allied fleet used the code that the Allied Powers used.

There has been no successful decryption, and the other party should know this, but this time the other party decided to change the password. Generally speaking, a sudden change of password means that there will be a big action. So what is the purpose of the other party's action this time? Ma Jifen is a little confused.

It's clear.

"It would be great if the Thomas Fleet was still there." McGiffin looked at the Allied fleet division marked on the chart and said with some depression. There have been differences between Britain and the United States regarding war and peace. The United States means that it is determined to continue the war, and

The British wanted to negotiate peace with Germany when necessary. But after China acted as a mediator, the British attitude towards China was not clear. He could not figure out whether China was just neutral, or whether it would be involved when necessary.

into this war?

If China joins the Allied camp, then the Allied Powers will really be finished. The Americans are also worried about this, so in addition to defeating the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, this operation also has the meaning of knocking on the mountain. But Ma Jifen knows that right now, the United States is still

There is really nothing that can threaten China. In the coming year, the United States will be in 1919

After August of this year, three Maryland-class battleships equipped with 16-inch guns will be put into service one after another, while China will put into service one after another seven ships! The number is equal to the sum of the new British and American ships! "The mobilization of the United States is still too late, and the expectations for war are still too high.

I'm optimistic!" Ma Jifen sighed. The victory that I thought was easy to come by turned out to be so difficult!
Chapter completed!