I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 1008: They're hunting us down! We're finished!
After receiving detailed information about the battle situation via telegram, General Winter finally understood what had happened in the rear.

“The Shire’s aircraft carriers can launch not only fighters, 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.

His eyes were fixed on the map, his mind unconsciously replaying Charles's warning from Pantisse Castle: "If a similar situation occurs again, we will consider it an act of war and sink your warships. All of them!"

Is what Ciel said true?
It was thanks to these bombers that could take off from aircraft carriers?

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

They are flies flying in the air; how could they possibly sink warships weighing tens of thousands of tons and costing millions of pounds?
After a moment of silence, General Winter ordered: "Order the mobile fleet to proceed to the southwest sea area to search. Once the target is found, sink it at all costs!"

"Yes, General!" the staff officer replied and relayed the order.

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

"General!" Captain Ethan said with some concern, "Will there be problems if we leave here, especially on the main battlefield?"

General Winter insisted on his opinion: "Destroying the enemy's aircraft carrier is more important!"

He sensed danger.

If a bomber like the Shire, which takes off from an aircraft carrier, could destroy two British aircraft carriers, does that mean it could also destroy other warships or even battleships?

If possible, the battle will undergo a radical transformation:
Battleships have a range of only a dozen kilometers, while French aircraft carriers have an attack radius of about 150 kilometers.

The latter is far beyond the range of battleships.

Thus, the aircraft carrier could sink battleships one after another from outside its strike radius.

However, this was just speculation. General Winter believed he still had a chance: aircraft carriers were slow and lacked close-range firepower and defense. Once they were approached by battleships, they would have no chance to launch fighters and bombers.

Therefore, we must catch up with and eliminate them as soon as possible!
……

Under the guidance of signal lights and flags, three battleships and two battlecruisers, along with more than a dozen destroyers, left the main battlefield and headed for the southwest sea area.

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

(The image above shows the London-class battleships, with a speed of 18 knots. There were five ships in this class. During World War I, they were considered relatively outdated pre-dreadnoughts. The fourth and fifth ships were HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, which entered service in 1902. Their names were used for Britain's two modern aircraft carriers.)
The two battlecruisers were HMS Renown and HMS Repulse, accompanied by eight destroyers.

These were the "mobile fleets" organized by General Winter, whose original mission was to move quickly across the battlefield and provide reinforcements wherever danger arose.

(The image above shows the Renown-class battlecruisers, with a speed of 31.5 knots. There were two ships in total, namely HMS Renown and HMS Repulse, which were completed in September 1916.)
More than twenty warships, like steel behemoths, cut through the waves at sea, the howling sea wind whipping up the waves, like an invisible barrier trying to stop the fleet from advancing.

The warships emitted a deep, rumbling roar, warning of the obstacles blocking their path.

Their prows, like sharp blades, neatly cleaved the waves, instantly sending water splashing and waves rising high. The sound of water slapping against the hull was like their cries of agony.

General Winter personally commanded this encirclement and suppression operation. He drew on the nautical chart with his instruments, talking as he went:

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

"Assume the target speed is 20 knots."

"At the speed of our mobile fleet of 31.5 knots, it may take 6 hours to catch up with them and enter firing range."

General Winter then pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it: "Order the mobile fleet to advance at breakneck speed. Make sure to catch up with them and sink them before nightfall!"

"Yes, General." Under General Winter's command, the two fleets split into two groups:
The slow-moving battleship fleet, led by the flagship HMS Canada, was responsible for sealing off the front.

The fast-moving fleet, led by the "Renown," was responsible for flanking the enemy.

At the same time, the battleships launched seaplanes to conduct reconnaissance. Their role was to locate and report enemy fleets, enabling the fleet to approach and surround the target in the shortest possible time.

However, the battle unexpectedly broke out at this moment.

Before the seaplane had flown very far, more than a dozen French warplanes appeared in the sky.

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

The inverted gull-shaped wings of those fighter jets were very obvious in the binoculars and could be identified at a glance.

The seaplane with its bulky floats had a top speed of only 130 kilometers per hour, while the French "Jeanne A" had a speed of 245 kilometers per hour. The two were simply not in the same league.

Therefore, although seaplanes have a numerical advantage, they are like fledgling pigeons facing the talons of an eagle in front of the "Jenny A".

Within ten minutes, seaplanes were shot down one after another amidst intermittent machine gun fire.

One instance involved a Jenny A swooping into a group of targets and shooting down three seaplanes in succession. For the Jenny A, seaplanes were practically just training targets.

Captain Ethan scoffed, "That won't change anything. They're dreaming if they think they can evade our pursuit this way!"

Captain Ethan thought that the high-speed battlecruisers would eventually catch up with them.

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

It wasn't until more than two hours later that General Winter, who had been deep in thought while staring at the nautical chart, gradually came to his senses.

He slumped weakly into a chair, clutching his forehead in anguish. "No, Ethan, we were wrong, terribly wrong."

"What?" Ethan, who was calculating distance and direction, looked up and looked at General Winter in confusion.

General Winter covered his face with his hands and rubbed them a few times, seemingly trying to clear his head.

"You think we're the ones chasing down the French aircraft carrier?" General Winter shook his head slightly, hoping he was wrong.

"Isn't that right?" Ethan spread his hands on the nautical chart. "They're running away!"

“No!” General Winter sighed. “Quite the opposite, they are the ones hunting us, Ethan, we’re finished!”

“This…” Ethan stared at General Winter in disbelief:

"That's impossible, General."

“They are aircraft carriers, they don’t have many guns, while we have battleships, and battlecruisers.”

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

General Winter interrupted Captain Ethan:
"None of these will be of any use."

"Don't you understand? We can never catch up with them, even though battlecruisers are 11.5 knots faster than them."

"If we can't catch up, our artillery is just scrap metal, and the thick side armor won't do us any good!"

(End of this chapter)