My Italy

The clear blue water, bright sunshine, and cool southwesterly wind make the Coral Sea the most suitable place for vacation. This was too comfortable for the officers and men of the Pacific Combined Fleet who had been in the tropics for more than three months. Without the storms and the scorching heat, the trip south felt like a vacation.

At this time, the fleet was sailing alone in the endless sea, and there was no trace of its ships.

It is rare for officers and soldiers to relax, but for the fleet commander Count Spey, there is no relaxation mood.

At this moment, he was on the flagship Scharnhorst armored cruiser, looking at the chart in front of him. On the table where the nautical charts are placed, there are also tools such as rulers, compasses, and compasses.

"Report, the Pierre sent a telegram that they have passed through Mare Island and are about to enter the South Fiji Sea."

Spey immediately took out a pencil and marked its position on the chart. I saw an outlined mark on the chart showing Mare Island, which is the southernmost island of the Royalt Islands. When he leads the fleet past the island, he will be closer to his target.

Yes, the Pacific Combined Fleet led by Count Spee is composed of warships from Germany, Italy and Austria in Southeast Asia and the Far East. The fleet consisted of the armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenno, the light cruisers Nuremberg, Emden, Karlsruhe, Pierre (Italian), Rubell (Italian), Sørensen (Austria), fast supply ship Torrio (Italy).

The fleet had been raised three days before the war broke out. In terms of appearance, this fleet is worthy of its name as the Pacific Combined Fleet. But this is already a warship that the three countries of Germany, Italy and Austria can use here, so if it doesn't live up to its name, it doesn't live up to its name.

After the three countries formed their fleets, they gave Commander Pace the task of heading to Italian East Africa, where he would join the Italian East African Fleet to contain the Allied maritime power in the Indian Ocean.

Obviously, for the alliance camp, the colonies in Southeast Asia were initially planned to be abandoned, so Lieutenant General Spey was asked to lead the warships to evacuate. (Ashamed of the people in Southeast Asia who support his rule)

However, Lieutenant General Spey did not intend to do this. He believed that retreating with the navy in this way would affect the public sentiment of the colonies and would be detrimental to future return after victory. So he planned to do something, and he had to make Yingfa remember the painful things.

So he hid with the fleet that had gathered before the war.

That's right, just hiding. Si Pei hid near an uninhabited desert island in Indonesia's Maluku Islands, far away from the shipping lanes, for more than three months.

For more than three months, the fleets formed by Britain and France searched for this small fleet of the alliance camp all over the world. Britain and France understand very well that although this fleet is not strong, its location is too important. If the other party makes trouble in Southeast Asia, they will have a headache.

After waiting for more than three months, Vice Admiral Spey thought it was time. He wanted to take the fleet out to let the British know that their fleet would not just leave in despair. And the target he chose was the Australian continent in the southern hemisphere.

Count Spey set out from the Lugu Islands with his fleet. First, it went east through the north of the Bismarck Islands, then southeast through the Nauru Sea, and then entered the Fiji Sea. There were no ships at all along the way, only a few isolated islands appeared in the vast sea, so there was no need to worry about the whereabouts being leaked.

If Lieutenant General Spey is more courageous, he can also replenish supplies and fuel at the British and French supply bases. Don't think this is a joke. There are no high-power radio stations in the desolate Southwest Pacific, and news is often conveyed by ships. And this is basically a few months or even a year, and it is very normal for the news to lag behind.

Historically, the Emden received supplies at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, because the British army on the island did not know that the war had broken out.

Australia and New Zealand were the pastures of the British at this time. The vast land, sparse population, and extremely suitable climate made Australia and New Zealand famous for their animal husbandry. In addition, Australia and New Zealand are also good places for British soldiers because of their large number of cowboys. Since the outbreak of the war, Australia and New Zealand have provided 80,000 troops to the British, and the five currently formed Australian and New Zealand divisions have arrived in Egypt.

Not to mention that Spey is a famous general, when he expressed his thoughts, the fleet officers were shocked because no one had thought of it. After careful analysis of the results, the success rate is still very high. The only key point was to be surprised, so the Pacific Combined Fleet set out from the Maluku Islands in a concealed manner and made a large circle eastward. At this moment, they are still 2,400 kilometers away from Sydney, and there is still a long way to go.

While Spey was sailing south with the fleet, the atmosphere in the northern waters of the Maluku Islands was quite tense. Battleships and other ships were constantly patrolling the sea. Every island, whether occupied or unoccupied, was The quilt will be patrolled by it. Especially for uninhabited islands, people have to be sent to the islands for inspection.

This kind of unscrupulous behavior is obviously looking for something. As the ruler of the islands, the Dutch government seemed not to know and allowed these ships to patrol here. It's not that the Dutch don't know, it's that they don't dare to care about it at all. In the competition between the two camps, with the Dutch's small body, they will be injured or die if they touch each other. What can they do? They can only pretend not to see it. .

For example, the huge Southeast Asian fleet was parked outside the port of Morotai and was responsible for hunting down the Allied fleet.

The fleet has an overwhelming advantage over the Spey fleet. It has four pre-dreadnought-class battleships, Duncan, Albemarle, Exmouth, Russell, six armored cruisers, Drake, Cape of Good Hope, King Alfred, Leviathan, Monmouth, Axis, and a dozen other small and medium-sized warships.

If they were to catch him, Count Spey would not be able to defeat him even if God himself came to him. As for the reason why the British fleet mobilized so many troops, it was because the Southeast Ocean was Britain's busy trade route. If it was attacked by Pace, then it would be bad.

Now the British also have a headache besides the Spey fleet, and that is Italian East Africa. It was also a fatal location. Whether taking the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope, Italian East Africa was a threat. That place contained many British warships. Otherwise, who would be able to bear those Italian warships' sudden attacks from time to time?

It's not that I haven't thought about conquering East Africa, but it's not easy. Italy operated in East Africa for more than two decades and built considerable fortifications. Moreover, the Italians are still equipped with four 305mm coastal defense guns in the two major ports, Massawa and Mogadishu, which is simply crazy to the extreme. So the Italians in East Africa are miserable to watch but not easy to deal with.

In line with the principle of picking the weakest persimmons, the British Navy intends to deal with easier problems first.

The Spey fleet is an easy target. As the fleet commander, Major General Craddock has been looking for his enemy for more than three months. As early as the outbreak of the war, the British Navy discovered that the Allied camp's warships in Southeast Asia were missing. At that time, it was thought that these warships were going to attack the waterway. The British Navy was very nervous at that time and sent warships to continuously search for their whereabouts. As a result, after three months of searching, there was no news at all from the other party, as if there were no such warships.

Some people said that these warships encountered a storm and were submerged, while others said that these warships should have escaped. Someone else said...

No matter what others say, for Craddock, he does not believe these words. The enemy must still be there, just hiding. Huangtian paid off, and after unremitting efforts, there was finally news. Some people said that they had seen a fleet of warships here for more than three months, and they pointed out that it was the warships led by Spey.

After receiving the news, Major General Craddock immediately brought his fleet here to search. Not only that, he also came with three airships, vowing to find the Alliance camp fleet hiding here.

"Report, there is news."

A communications officer ran in with a telegram.

"what news."

When asked by Major General Craddock, the officer immediately said. "The destroyer USS Stubborn Stone just sent news that they found traces of a large number of people living on an uninhabited island 20 nautical miles west of Obi Island. By examining the abandoned objects left behind, we can be sure that it is The Allied fleet has been looking for, and comparing other traces, they should have left seven to ten days ago."

Upon hearing this, Major General Craddock slammed the table, angry that the other party ran away early. "Immediately send a telegram to surrounding cities and warships, telling them to be careful of a small fleet of the Allied Powers."

At this moment, Major General Craddock wanted to know where the other party had gone. He stared at the hanging chart and began to think.

Never mind why a major general like Craddock brought so many battleships, this is a fateful showdown.