On the western coast of New York, the United States, there are 12 large and small armed ships, the largest of which are ocean-going light cruisers, new warships with a displacement of more than 5,200 tons, and the smallest is also a 00 tons destroyer. They formed the 12th Special Mixed Escort Fleet, including two escort aircraft carriers converted from merchant ships.

Such an aircraft carrier is a new thing born after World War I. Although Germany has used clear examples to prove the huge role of airships, countries led by Britain and France have still invested a lot of energy in aircraft. This escort aircraft carrier that can accommodate 16 seaplanes is a very obvious example. It is specially modified and has a huge strengthening of the reconnaissance range and even the range of sea attacks.

In addition to the two escort aircraft carriers, most of the remaining ones are destroyers, 8 of which were delivered by the United States. They even bear about half of the seafarers, a fleet of more than 36,000 tons, including 56 deep-water bomb projectors. This is the confidence of the entire fleet. Even if they encounter a German submarine formation, they can face it head-on, or even gather to annihilate it.

It is precisely because of the strong protection capabilities of this escort fleet that this escort fleet attracted a large number of cargo ships. Since the release of the news, there have been a steady stream of cargo ships coming. In the end, when we set out from New York, the final number was 78, and there were 53 cargo ships over 10,000 tons. The rest were also quasi-ocean cargo ships. The entire fleet had a total carrying amount of 680,000 tons, and a large amount of materials carried by them, not only were there 12 military divisions on it, but also some airships and grain supplies worth up to hundreds of millions of dollars. This is the largest fleet since the war in Europe.

This is a huge fleet. Escort can reduce the attacks of submarines. One or two submarines may not pose much threat to the escort formation. However, German submarines are main combat submarines that already have practical combat capabilities and can even forcibly attack military ports and main battleships. They thought that 12 ships could protect dozens of cargo ships, which was really naive.

Starting from the escort fleet recruiting cargo ships, the intelligence personnel under the German staff have already begun to investigate the fleet. Every day, professional intelligence personnel have stared at the harbor and carefully evaluated the situation of the fleet. When this huge fleet left New York, information about the fleet had already been through radio, crossing the vast Atlantic Ocean and transmitting to Germany.

"What a big piece of fat!" I'm afraid the final conclusion of the General Staff and the Admiralty was that there was no main ship. With just 12 escort fleets of different sizes, the safety of these cargo ships was guaranteed. The 12 armed forces were partly from the British armed colonies. Britain would form an army of 8 divisions in the colonies and local troops, and the remaining 4 divisions of supplies were transported by France, losing one-third of the land in the north. On the Mediterranean, it was suppressed and raided by Italy. The French fleet was frantically providing them with the British from the colonies.

The blue Atlantic Ocean is calm, but under the calm, there is a bloody storm. On the channel, the nine fastest reconnaissance submarines cruised in 9 different directions to find the target. Originally, airships should have used airships to reconnaise and search, but in the vast Atlantic Ocean, the airship's targets are too significant, so the submarines were chosen. Through intelligence in the United States, the huge fleet has determined the route and should not make any changes.

Sure enough, after two days of searching along the route, we finally got the huge, nearly 100 large ships of the other party's fleet, moving forward quickly in a fixed waterway. When the first reconnaissance ship discovered the target and notified the rear by radio, the entire sea area was boiling. This is probably the most intensive operation in human history. After the submarines were present, the submarines were in a certain waters.

The radio was really very convenient. It was 150 nautical miles apart, and it was still received here. Boer quickly ordered to set up an ambush before the channel. The 52 ships were divided into different groups, one group of 24 ships, mainly smaller, mainly dealing with cargo ships, and the other group, 28 ships, the smallest of which was also 1,500 tons of ocean submarines. They were all equipped with the latest torpedo launch tubes, which could release two wheels at the same time. There were no torpedoes. He was drawn to deal with 12 escort warships. As long as the warship was sunk, the remaining ships would become a ripe fruit. The cargo ship with a value of more than 600,000 tons alone was nearly 200 million yuan. With the above materials, a loss of nearly 400 million US dollars would definitely cause Britain to suffer a great loss.

In the early morning, the mist of the North Atlantic Ocean still enveloped the earth. Against the backdrop of the night, every seaman seemed to feel particularly comfortable. After just woke up from the deepest night, the navy guarding the entire ship seemed to stretch out the fatigue of the night and look at everything in front of him seriously.

After shifting, after a night of high-intensity duty, the seafarers tilted all their fatigue into the ocean. At this time, the traces of more than 100 torpedoes drove away the comfort of the night. The war started at the moment when dawn came. The shrill sirens suddenly sounded in the calm sea. The shouts and sirens, and the entire fleet changed from the most comfortable transformation, as if they had suddenly become nervous. The close-defense machine guns continued to sound. They shot wildly at the sea surface, trying to knock out the torpedoes that were close at hand, but the sudden attack seemed to be futile. In the end, three or four torpedoes exploded before they hit the target under the attack of the saturated machine guns. Most of the remaining hit the target.

When the red flames reflect the morning light, everything is destined. Each of the 28 ships emitted 8 fish, divided into two groups, more than 200 fish, and the entire escort fleet was networked. In the net, the destroyers and cruisers moved their positions almost in vain, but the closest distance of the torpedo attack was 800 meters, and the longest distance was not more than 1,500 meters. At such a close distance, there were about 50 torpedoes.

The speed may be less than one minute, and you can hit these fleets, dodge one, and another. The dense torpedo network, without letting go of any escort fleet, has no way to avoid this attack. When the sound of explosions and firelights enveloped the entire morning, an annihilation battle was underway. The first one was the seven largest cruisers. Each of them was hit by more than 3 torpedoes, and there was no room for any reaction. It sank into the water because of the sudden attack of the torpedo.

Later, there is statistics that this attack, which started ten days ago, caused the sinking of 17 ships in total. Including all escort fleets, plus some cargo ships, the entire fleet seemed to lose its protection ability in an instant, which was equivalent to naked beauty waiting for the arrival of the robbers.

The escort fleet lost its fleet and woke up like a dream at this moment, leaving the fleet crazily, but it was too late. In order to ensure safety, the densely deployed fleet was at this moment, but the sea wolves flocked to it, one or two, or even three or four torpedoes, and rushed towards the fleet frantically. In the end, the sea surface was covered with oil, and more than 600,000 tons of ships and the same amount of cargo, sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean forever.

The escort did not have any effect. On the contrary, because of the escort, not only did 12 large and small armed forces and 78 cargo ships silent, but they were also surrounded and annihilated by many submarines. This was the largest loss of ships since the war in Britain. The extent of the heavy damage to Britain was far above one or two fierce battleships. On the 12 ships, 1,800 sailors of various types, plus more than 7,000 sailors on 78 cargo ships. Not to mention the loss of materials, the British could not bear it. The seafarers were not only the foundation of the entire UK. The shipping was also the basis for the rapid recovery of the Royal Navy after losing ships and sailors. This time, the British suffered a great loss under the sudden attack of the German Fleet.

In a short period of time, the British long-distance cargo ship lost too much tonnage. In a sense, it no longer has a sense of existence. The first one million tons, plus the current more than 600,000 tons, was sunk more than 2 million tons in less than a month. Even if Britain is in power, the tonnage of naval and cargo ships is the world's most powerful. Such continuous blows have made him unable to bear it. Since early 1914, British ocean-going cargo ships have not been sunk significantly, and have used a large number of American cargo ships. This is the only choice for Britain, unless he wants to destroy the remaining scattered cargo ships all over the world, all of which are on the route from the United States to the United Kingdom.

The price was extremely high, and the profits were quickly obtained, and American cargo ships became the dominant part of the entire North Atlantic route. After the initial hesitation, Germany quickly made a decision to declare that the entire North Atlantic region was a war zone, and all those who transport necessary war items to Britain would become the targets of attack. No matter which ship transports these military supplies, the Germans conducted ophthalmology regulations. In addition to weapons and equipment, important military supplies, steel, grain, and cotton textiles, became the orders on the list.

Even the British did not expect that Germany was so rude that it issued an ultimatum. At first, the American ship owners were not very convinced and wanted to challenge this ultimatum. When the United States and Britain had been silent for less than 24 hours, no one dared to challenge this ultimatum. It has to be said that this ultimatum has a certain effect. Those cargo ships that entered the freight field because of funds were quickly withdrawn, and the Sea Wolf hunted some of the fleets, which almost fell into silence. The chains were tightened again, leaving Britain facing suffocation. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!