Seven Seas Beacon Fire

As for the new armor-piercing projectile, Li Che had already been paying attention to it before. To be precise, several months ago, when he first started dealing with the Navy, after learning about the current situation of the armor-piercing projectiles used by the Navy, Li Che provided a lot of resources and assistance to this new armor-piercing projectile in the past few months.

These new armor-piercing projectiles are improved hard-capped armor-piercing projectiles similar to the Britons' Green Boy. There are many factors that determine the performance of a projectile, which can be mainly divided into projectile strength, capping, explosive charge and fuse. If these four elements can be present at the same time, then it will naturally become a so-called "improved hard-capped armor-piercing projectile".

If a projectile possesses only three of these four essential elements, it is usually sufficient to be considered a world-class armor-piercing projectile.

Therefore, given the current inability to widely deploy and replace these new armor-piercing shells, and the relatively insufficient power of the older armor-piercing shells, sending the Ming army's super-dreadnoughts to deal with the poorly protected Federation dreadnoughts is more likely to yield results quickly.

"What do you all think of Commander Liu's 'exchange of pieces' tactical concept?" Li Che looked around and asked.

“A very good idea.” At this moment, Xu Yueming, who had been taking notes as the meeting minutes, spoke up somewhat abruptly: “Our army has a higher level of training, so compared to the Federation army, we should be the side that can achieve hits earlier and achieve results faster. If our dreadnoughts twist a bit more, then these dreadnoughts may be able to withstand the enemy’s super dreadnought guns for a longer time.”

Chapter 147 Exchanging Pieces (3)

After Xu Yueming finished speaking, he noticed that the generals' eyes were all on him. He then realized that his unconscious, offhand remark was quite inappropriate. After all, in such a meeting, a mere lieutenant like him had no right to speak casually.

Li Che also cast a glance at him. He greatly admired Xu Yueming's abilities, but the kid's emotional intelligence did seem a bit low. Moreover, before this, the kid often got carried away when he was focused on doing something, and now he was probably taking meeting notes while thinking about the enemy and friendly forces at sea, and then casually spouting his own opinions.

It seems that many geniuses have this characteristic. Li Che certainly didn't think this was the behavior of a "bookworm." He just marveled that focus was indeed one of the essential elements for geniuses.

This kid is just a little too focused today.

"Well said, but raise your hand before speaking next time." Li Che gently brushed aside Xu Yueming's earlier actions, after all, he was his advisor, and in this situation, he naturally had to cover for him.

“Since the young man has his own insights, Your Highness might as well let him say a few more words. I think what he said earlier makes a lot of sense. Given that the firepower of our ships is not enough to achieve decisive results, we should rely more on the tactical maneuverability of the ships to play a greater role at the campaign level. The value of this is no less than that of cannonballs. I think we should let this young man say a few more words. Now we need to pool our wisdom.”

Sa Dingming knew Xu Yueming; this young man seemed to be highly valued by the Crown Prince, so he called on Xu Yueming to continue speaking.

If the person present at this time were a normal junior officer, they would at least decline the offer in this situation, and would at least say "How dare I?"

But Xu Yueming was not polite at all. Since the Commander-in-Chief told him to speak, he would speak.

"My view mainly stems from the characteristics of our warships. Both our and the Federation's battleships place great emphasis on protection. In this respect, compared to the Royal Victoria Navy, the Gallic Navy, the Syracuse Navy, and the Ursus Navy, our and the Federation's emphasis on warship protection is basically on par with the Leitanian Navy. It can be said that it occupies a core position in the design elements of warships."

However, in terms of the protection strategy of warships, we and the Federal Navy have a fairly typical difference. In the era of dreadnoughts, most of our and the Federal Navy's dreadnoughts basically had 11-12 inch main armor belts, and the height of the main armor belts was generally good. At this stage, judging from open source data, there was not much difference between the armor protection of our army and the Federal army.

After entering the era of super-dreadnoughts, the evolution of protection for our and the Federation's warships has undergone fundamental differences. Based on our existing open-source data and the divers' investigation of the Federation battlecruisers sunk in the Battle of the Sulu Sea, we can conclude that the Federation's super-dreadnoughts began to adopt key protection designs at least from the Nevada class onwards.

The Federation refers to this protection approach as "All or Nothing." According to speculation from relevant technical departments and in conjunction with the Federation's own open-source reports, the thickness of the main side armor belt of the Federation Navy's standard battleships is already an astonishing 13 to 14 inches. The thickness of the turrets and gun mounts may be even greater, possibly exceeding 15 inches. Unlike the armored boxes with robust protection, the Federation Navy's capital ships have absolutely no protection in the 'Nothing' section at the bow and stern, lacking even the most basic secondary waterline armor.

Therefore, I believe that when our dreadnoughts are truly facing the Federation's super-dreadnoughts, we might consider using semi-armor-piercing shells instead of the original armor-piercing shells. After all, given the protection level of the Federation's standard battleships, 280mm naval guns simply cannot penetrate any part at normal engagement range—the Federation's armor boxes are very standard, with the main side armor belts topped by the main horizontal armor, leaving no protective gaps. Therefore, instead of hoping to penetrate, we should rely on the faster rate of fire of our 280mm naval guns to try to damage the bow and stern of these Federation capital ships with the sheer volume of fire.

Referring to the loss of HMS Lützow, the second Derfflinger-class battlecruiser of the Leitanian High Seas Fleet, during the Battle of Jutland, not a single shell fired by the Royal Victoria Navy actually penetrated the 300mm main armor belt of the Derfflinger-class battlecruiser during the entire battle. However, the Lützow still sank due to excessive flooding of non-critical protected areas caused by too many shells hitting its bow during the engagement.

Since such a situation has occurred before, it demonstrates that using this method to confront warships more powerful than oneself is feasible.

After presenting his arguments, Xu Yueming put forward a bold idea—that is, to some extent, to return to the tactics of the pre-fearless era and use the number of shots to try to increase the winning rate.

“After saying all that, the Royal Navy of Victoria had an absolute numerical advantage at Jutland, and even so, they only buried Lützow with sheer projectile power. Our dreadnoughts don’t have that numerical advantage. We might have to fight against the enemy’s super-dreadnoughts with 12 guns with our eight-gun dreadnoughts. Where will we get the projectile power?” Someone objected to this “outdated” tactic.

"Sir, I'm introducing this tactic not because I believe it can actually allow a dreadnought to defeat a super-dreadnought. In my view, it's simply about damaging the enemy's non-critical protected areas as much as possible when it's impossible to penetrate their main armor."

Even if these dreadnoughts are ultimately forced to withdraw during the battle, they will still disrupt the enemy's buoyancy reserves and reduce their speed. If the battle situation is unfavorable and we need to withdraw, the Federation's most powerful capital ships will be unable to pursue due to their slow speed. If the battle situation is favorable and we need to pursue and expand our gains, these slowed capital ships will be unable to escape.

Xu Yueming responded to the major general who had questioned him with very clear and explicit logic: "What I said above was merely a suggestion regarding the Dreadnought."

"So that means you also have your opinions on the super-dreadnought?" Sa Dingming continued to ask.

"I do have some personal, albeit superficial, opinions," Xu Yueming said frankly. "Although our battleships also have the idea of ​​strengthening the protection of key parts, there is a significant difference in the style of protection design compared to the Federation. I think the biggest difference is that, compared to the Federation Navy's battleships using the top horizontal armor of the armor box as the main horizontal protection, we prefer to use the top of the dome armor as the main horizontal protection."

The armored dome is a design style that our battleships have consistently adhered to since the pre-dreadnought era. In contrast to European battleships, which generally reduce the thickness of their armored domes to only one inch, and whose main function is reduced to blocking some shrapnel and preventing flooding, our main battleships have always maintained an armored dome of at least 70 mm. Therefore, although the main armor belt of our super-dreadnought battleships, whether it is 300 mm for the Kaiyuan or 320 mm for the Dingyuan, is thinner than that of the standard battleships of the Federation, we actually have a stronger ability to engage in combat within 10,000 meters.

Therefore, I believe that although our artillery is superior and the Federation's artillery is more widely dispersed, we should leverage our defensive advantages and have the determination and courage to engage the enemy within 10,000 meters!

"A technical officer is giving orders here today."

While Xu Yueming and Sa Dingming were talking, Li Che heard a faint mutter coming from behind him. He didn't even look in that direction because he could tell from the sentence that the speaker was a typical fleet faction member in the navy. Xu Yueming, who always talked about data, was at the bottom of the hierarchy of contempt in the eyes of these traditional fleet faction members.

After all, in the eyes of traditional fleet officers, all they need is operational skills related to commanding operations. They don't have much value in understanding the performance of the warships they command, whether their armor is thin or thick, or whether their firepower is strong or weak.

"The Navy's equipment is becoming increasingly complex. Many subsystems on warships are now inoperable for non-professionals. In the future, warships will only have more and more sophisticated equipment, and there will be more and more technical officers. I don't want to hear any more discrimination against technical officers from any of you. What I want to say is that no matter what happens in the future, an excellent officer in the Navy must be an excellent technical officer."

Li Che's attitude expressed his support and affection for Xu Yueming, which can be seen as an endorsement of the technical officer.

“Let’s leave the discussion about large surface warships here,” Sa Dingming said. “Now that we’ve finalized what we’ve discussed, the only remaining focus is when we’ll engage the Federation. Our original plan was to deploy two cruiser squadrons in southern Taiwan, and have these cruisers establish a reconnaissance zone stretching from the Bashi Channel to the northern part of Yanping Island. Within this area, our cruiser force can maintain the highest reconnaissance efficiency.”

However, as everyone knows, the Federal Army has launched several large-scale artillery bombardments on ports in southern Taiwan recently, and our daytime counterattacks have not been very effective. "Sa Dingming clenched his fists as he spoke, because the Federalists' artillery bombardments have been very arrogant lately, so the Navy plans to teach them a lesson without deploying its main warships.

Therefore, the navy once planned to organize a group of submarines to teach the Federation navy a lesson when they came to bombard them during the day. However, the number of escorting destroyers brought by the Federation was much higher than the Tang navy had expected, and the thermal torpedoes equipped by the Tang army left obvious trails after being launched.

Of the submarines that launched or attempted to attack, all but one were caught in the anti-submarine attack by the destroyer, and two of them were lost, with no survivors among the naval personnel on board.

After all, the water depth in coastal areas is not great. Compared to deep water areas, submarine operations on the continental shelf are inherently more dangerous and easier to detect (otherwise, the Union would not have canceled the Seawolf-class submarines after the end of the Cold War and instead built the Virginia-class nuclear submarines, which are smaller and more suitable for shallow water operations). Not to mention the thermal torpedoes with such large wakes that they are clearly visible from a distance on the sea surface.

It was after these failed attempts that the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty realized that it would be difficult to stop the Federal Army's artillery bombardment in southern Taiwan unless the main fleet was deployed.

However, the order to deploy the main fleet was not so easy to issue, because the two cruiser squadrons that were originally intended to be deployed here for reconnaissance missions were still in ports on the mainland. If they could not be stationed in southern Taiwan, then there would be a problem with the frequency of reconnaissance.

Sa Dingming originally wanted to raise the difficulties in this regard and brainstorm ideas, but after listening to Sa Dingming's words, Xu Yueming said: "Reporting to the commander, I think we can solve this problem by changing the carrier. If it is just a reconnaissance mission, we don't necessarily need various cruisers. We can use airplanes and airships to carry out reconnaissance."

Xu Yueming's suggestion left many people present looking at each other in bewilderment. In fact, aerial reconnaissance was not a new concept. The Leitanian High Seas Fleet had maintained a rigid airship force in the North Sea and used these airships as a reconnaissance force to make up for the Leitanian Navy's lack of cruisers.

In a sense, the Leitanian navy at that time was the same as the Tang Dynasty navy at this moment.

Compared to the early stages of the war, when the Leitanian High Seas Fleet didn't have many options in this regard, although most of the aircraft in the sky are now either "flying wooden frames" or "flying aluminum alloy ovens," at least the selection of aircraft models is much richer now.

Xu Yueming's idea was to choose the most technologically advanced and largest four-engine heavy bomber currently available. These horizontal bombers usually carry batches of 50-kilogram bombs, but now the bombs can be removed and replaced with additional fuel tanks. The range of this bomber is sufficient to cover the entire Bashi Channel. Although it is still not very far from the destination, if it is stationed in Tainan, it will be no problem to guard at least one strait.

These planes are tantamount to planting a "real eye" in the strait.

Chapter 148 Exchange of Sons (4) Exemplary Example

"Is that an airplane overhead?"

On the open flybridge on the side of the bridge of the USS Washington, McGiffin looked up. He had only come out of the bridge to get some fresh air and have a smoke, but he vaguely heard an annoying buzzing sound coming from somewhere.

McGiffin was no stranger to this sound, because when he was not highly regarded, he was in charge of the coastal defense forces and airship forces of the Federal Navy on the west coast. Having dealt with those airships frequently, McGiffin was very familiar with the noise caused by the gasoline internal combustion engine driving the propeller.

Are there airships?

But when he looked up at the sky, he didn't see the cigar-shaped figure floating in the sky at first. He looked down at the time on his wristwatch and was sure that this was not the patrol time of the Federal Navy's airship force deployed on the front line.

When he looked up at the sky again, accompanied by increasingly loud noise, a flying "taxi" appeared in the sky through the clouds. Even without binoculars, one could clearly see the pair of engine nacelles and the two pairs of propellers on the left and right wings that were pulling forward and pushing backward on the wings of this large biplane.

"Yes, sir, that's an airplane, and a Tang army airplane at that, but the paint scheme seems to still be in the Ming army's style."

An officer next to McGiffin had already begun observing the aircraft through binoculars. Through the binoculars, he could see the flying dragon emblem of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy Air Force on the aircraft's wings, and the Chinese characters "Great Tang Royal Navy" were simply written in handwriting on the fuselage.

Clearly, after the establishment of the Tang (Eastern Tang) Empire, the new Tang army largely inherited the legacy of the original Ming army.

"This plane is huge!" McGiffin exclaimed sincerely. At present, the Federation's military aviation industry is not very developed. Although the Wright brothers flew the world's first airplane, in terms of the military application of aircraft, the Federation was just picking up the scraps left by European countries during this world war.

From fighter jets to bombers, European countries basically used whatever they had in common. For example, they used the British Camel for fighter jets, and for bombers, they used the British Handley Page O/100 and later the larger Handley Page O/400 bombers.

However, the Federation was not very interested in bombers. The reason for this was very simple: the Federation possessed unparalleled airships. Although the Zeppelins of Leitania had made a name for themselves in the early stages of the war, after the Britons developed incendiary bombs that were effective against hydrogen, the Zeppelins became like sitting ducks on the battlefield.

However, the Federation is different. The Federation possesses the world's richest helium resources, so it can manufacture large airships that are safer and more reliable than those of the Leitanians. These helium-powered airships are far more difficult to shoot down by modern aircraft with machine guns, and they have a greater load capacity, a stronger and safer structure compared to airplanes.

So for McGiffin and the officers and soldiers of the Colombian Federal Navy, encountering airships at sea was not unusual, but encountering airplanes was quite rare.

After all, their closest distance to Taiwan is now more than 300 kilometers, which is greater than the combat radius of most aircraft in this era.

However, the "Dapeng" heavy bomber equipped by the Tang army was an anomaly among them. The Ming army, the predecessor of the Tang army, first came into contact with heavy bombers during the World War II when they encountered the Ursus army.

When it comes to giant aircraft, the Ursusians seem to have an extraordinary talent for it. As early as 913, the Ursusians designed the world's first four-engine aircraft, the "Ilya Muromets" bomber, and the designer of this aircraft was Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, who would later become famous for designing helicopters.

Not to mention at the beginning of the second decade of the 10th century, even from the perspective of the end of this world war, the specifications of the "Ilya Muromets" were astonishing—this top-of-the-line bomber of its time could carry 800 kilograms of bombs and had a range of 540 kilometers, which was quite remarkable for an aircraft with a takeoff weight of 7 tons.

Incidentally, Tsar Nicholas II called this behemoth, which was over 17 meters long and had a wingspan of 25 meters, a "spaceship" and ordered an attempt to equip it with a 76mm cannon. Of course, these unrealistic ideas were never implemented.

Although the Ursus people did not have a smooth navy in terms of shipbuilding and their army had problems with equipment production, the Ursus army did produce some advanced weapons with world-class technology in the field of small arms and aviation.

The "Ilya Muromets" bomber was definitely one of them. This heavy bomber also prompted the Ming army to equip itself with heavy bombers. After all, Dongda was also a country lacking helium. If hydrogen were used to make airships for bombing, the Zeppelin airships of the Leitanians had already shown everyone the results.

The final product of the heavy bomber developed by the Ming Dynasty itself was this uniquely shaped four-engine heavy bomber. When manufacturing this bomber, the Chang'an Aviation Design Bureau took many measures to reduce drag, one of which was to connect the two engines in series, with one propeller pulling in front and the other pushing behind. As for how much drag reduction this would actually have, at least the idea was there in the design concept.

The range of the "Dapeng" is not much different from that of most heavy bombers of this era. However, the Navy's "Dapeng" has a fuel inlet that can be called the world's first "auxiliary fuel tank". A large fuel tank can be conveniently added to the place where bombs were originally hung, which greatly increases the range of the entire aircraft. The maximum range has been increased to nearly 1000 kilometers, making it the world's longest-range large aircraft.

Seeing the planes overhead circle the fleet before turning back, McGiffin said to the officer beside him, "That plane must have flown back to report our position."

"General, do you mean that plane was sent to spy on our movements?"

“Whether they came specifically to scout us or just happened to run into us, the pilot on this plane will definitely report our position and course to their superiors. This time they will definitely know we are coming very soon.” McGiffin shook his head, but he was not too discouraged: “However, after the previous shelling, it is normal for the enemy to be on high alert. It is wishful thinking to achieve the same surprise attack effect as the previous two times. Notify the fleet to speed up. We need to get to Kaohsiung as soon as possible.”

"Sir, we are already at a speed of 18 knots. If we increase the speed any further, we will reach the maximum speed of our battleships, which will consume a lot of fuel."

"Don't worry about fuel consumption. The bigwigs in the country must find a way to solve this problem for us. As long as we haven't taken over the ports in southern Taiwan, our enemy could attack Manila from the south whenever our fleet departs from Manila for Dongdu. Kaohsiung is the enemy's last major port in southern Taiwan. Everyone, please put in extra effort, especially the lads in the boiler room."

Most of the capital ships in the Federation Navy still use coal-fired boilers. Therefore, when it is necessary to maintain such a high speed, the speed of the warship is not determined by the operating condition of the steam turbine and the state of the boiler, but by the speed at which the boiler crew, shirtless and working hard in the boiler room at nearly 50 degrees Celsius, shovel coal into the furnace.

Watching the officers quickly leave to carry out their orders, McGiffin turned his gaze back to the direction where the plane had disappeared. What had just happened should have been a minor incident, but for some reason, McGiffin felt a sense of unease.

-------------------------------------

"They found the location of the Federal Navy so easily?"

On the bridge of the battleship Dingyuan, Liu Duncheng looked at the telegram from Taiwan with some surprise. Although he thought that Xu Yueming, who was valued by His Highness the Crown Prince, should be quite capable, he did not expect that this kid could bring about such an immediate effect.

When this kid first proposed setting up a series of shore-based air force bases and organizing large fixed-wing aircraft to carry out maritime reconnaissance missions, the task of commanding this part of the naval air force was directly handed over to him.

Naval aviation is naturally not highly valued in the current navy, and has always been neglected. Putting a young officer like Xu Yueming in command of such a unit is not so much about having high expectations for him, but simply because the Grand Prince wanted to see what kind of chemical reaction could be generated.

So Xu Yueming set off for Taiwan. It has only been less than a week since he arrived in Taiwan, but he has already organized his air force to capture the Federal Navy fleet.

It seems this chemical reaction is happening way too fast, almost like an iodine clock reaction.

"The kid said in the telegram that because the radio communication range that the aircraft could carry was limited, the position information was only sent out after the crew had flown back for quite some time. After that, it's unclear whether the movement of the Federal Navy fleet changed, and the location of the Federal Navy fleet may also have been somewhat inaccurate..."

Liu Duncheng interrupted the staff officer: "The flaws don't overshadow the merits. In any case, we now know that the Federal Navy fleet has left Manila, so we can head to Manila now."

"Go directly to Manila?" The staff officer beside him widened his eyes, because it seemed that the original battle plan should have been to operate in the Bashi Channel area. The objective of the battle plan was to cut off the Federation's supply line from Yingzhou to Manila in the Bashi Channel, forcing the Federation Navy to engage in a fleet battle. Could it be that the general was going to change his mind at the last minute?

"Of course, our previous battle plan was not based on the premise that we could obtain information about the movements of the Federal Navy fleet so quickly. That's why we were to operate in the Bashi Channel area to force the Federals to come and fight us. But now we know that the main force of the Colombian Navy has left Manila. They have been bombing our port for so many days. Don't you want to bomb them back?"

These words were quite tempting. Several of Liu Duncheng's advisors had expressions on their faces that said, "What should we do? What he said makes so much sense!"

"Operation plans are meant to be constantly modified and changed based on the actual situation. How can you say that once an operation plan is drafted, not a single word can be changed? Moreover, after we finish shelling Manila, we can head directly north. We can search and advance along the way, all the way to the Bashi Channel."

After Liu Duncheng finished speaking, his gaze drifted to the porthole of the Dingyuan battleship. The Ming Dynasty Royal Navy's dreadnought fleet had also arrived at Hong Kong Island to rendezvous. At this time, the main force of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy's Dragon Flag Ocean Fleet was finally assembled - except for the oldest existing dreadnought, all the other dreadnoughts and super-dreadnought battleships had been assembled.

"That's right. The most important thing in an operational plan is not the specific execution process, but whether the operational decision itself has a clear objective. That is the most important element."

The familiar voice startled Liu Duncheng for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to the direction from which the voice came, and a familiar figure stood in front of him.

"Your Highness? Why are you still on the ship? We're about to depart!" Liu Duncheng suddenly became anxious, almost losing his prosthetic leg in the process. He limped over to Li Che in a few quick steps. "Your Highness just criticized His Majesty's idea of ​​personally leading the expedition as somewhat rash. Why are you acting so recklessly now, just like His Majesty?"

"I think I'm quite composed. After all, I chose the best armored ship in our army. If you, Commander, feel that I'm not suitable for this ship, I can go to the Jingyuan."

That's bullshit! The Zhiyuan-class battlecruiser's armor was good compared to other battlecruisers, but can it compare to the Dingyuan?

“I am different from my grandfather. The country would definitely fall into turmoil if my grandfather were gone, but it would be no big deal if I were gone.”

Li Che first smiled easily, then his smile faded as he turned to Liu Duncheng:

"Grandpa insisted on leading the expedition in person not only because he couldn't stay idle, but more so because he had to set an example in the current situation. For the sake of the overall situation, it was not suitable for Grandpa to set such an example, so I was the most suitable person to do it."

"An example?" Liu Duncheng was stunned. He didn't quite understand the intricacies of the situation, but Li Che's face regained a smile. He then turned to face all the officers and soldiers on the bridge:

"The so-called role model is that when our country is invaded by foreign enemies again in the future, and our nation faces a critical moment of survival, people at that time will be able to remember what I have done today, and use this to demand that the emperor at that time offer up his own flesh and blood to fight for the people. This is the greatest significance."

Chapter 149 The Collision of a Million Tons of Steel (1)

Standing on the navigation bridge of the Dingyuan battleship, looking up at the two triple gun turrets and the majestic hull cutting through the waves, creating countless white sprays in the azure sea, you will truly feel as if you have become one with the 30,000 tons of steel.

It's like the lines spoken by the protagonist when the Gipsy Danger Jaeger is first deployed on screen in another world; at that moment, you feel like you're invincible.

The naval legacy left by the Ming Dynasty was restored to its former glory after the Tang Dynasty flag was raised again. The once mighty Dragon Flag Ocean Fleet, consisting of a total of 8 battlecruisers and 17 battleships, reappeared on the sea.

These 25 capital ships include 12 super-dreadnoughts and 13 dreadnoughts, making them even larger than the Leitanian High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland. Unlike previous ocean-going fleets, this fleet quietly departed from Hong Kong Island in the early morning.

For the sake of secrecy in this operation, the fleet's assembly point was previously set up on Hong Kong Island, a small fishing village that has no chance of developing into a metropolis in another world—at least not at present.

Because this place has long existed as a military port, it is naturally better in terms of concealment than military ports like Leizhou Port, where the waterways are mixed with civilian ports. After the fleet departs from the port, the outside world has no way of knowing the fleet's movements in the port for a short period of time - unless the fleet collides with other civilian ships at sea.

However, even at a formation speed of only 18 knots after departing from Hong Kong Island, the fleet could reach Manila within 40 hours. Therefore, even if news of the fleet's departure spreads and is learned by spies in the Federation or other Western countries in the Tang Dynasty, it would take far longer than 40 hours to relay the news back to the Federation Navy's Pacific Fleet.

The biggest risk during the entire fleet operation was being discovered by the Federation's own surface ships, submarines, or airships. After all, once these Federation naval combat units discovered the Tang fleet, they could immediately send a telegram to Magiffen.

For the Tang army, destroying Manila was important, but engaging in a decisive battle with the federal army around Manila was not very advantageous.

Anyone who has played Red Alert or watched videos by 08 or Blue Sky knows that in games like Red Alert, both players' tanks like to "pinch each other's heads and then sway left and right" in open areas to win before trying to attack the enemy's base. If the difference in troop strength between the two sides is not large and the enemy's tanks are holed up in their base, they generally will not take the initiative to attack.

Because whether it's a bunker, a solar tower, or even those scattered 100-dollar "good brothers," they will distract your firepower and deal damage to you. In war, many inconspicuous things are often the most important to pay attention to.