Chapter 716 Combined Fleet

"Ijuin-kun, I wish you victory!" Admiral Yatsushiro Rokuro said to the commander of the joint fleet, Admiral Ijuin Goro, on the pier of Yokosuka Naval Port.

"Mr. Ijuin, God Amaterasu will bless you, and we will definitely defeat the Germans!" Admiral Hayao Shimamura, the head of the naval command, also said.

General Ijuin Goro nodded: "I will do my best to defeat the Germans! Otherwise, we will fight to the death."

Both General Yatsushiro Rokuro and General Hayao Shimamura knew that General Ijuin Goro would surely die this time unless he could defeat the Germans. Either die on the battlefield, or commit seppuku after losing the battle. However, in order to defeat the powerful German fleet, it is not so difficult for the navy of the island country!

"When I lead the fleet to a decisive battle with the Germans, don't forget to continue searching for the German transport fleet. If we can destroy the German transport fleet, even if we fail, the Germans will have to retreat. Even , We still have a slight chance of winning. In this case, it will bring the empire a long period of recuperation." General Ijuin Goro said. His words seemed to be confessing his last words.

"Okay, we will do our best!" General Yatsushiro Rokuro said.

Admiral Ijuin Goro smiled gratifiedly, bowed heavily to the two, and then turned and boarded the battlecruiser "King Kong", the flagship of the United Fleet.

The joint fleet of the island nation's navy undoubtedly assembled the elite of the entire island nation's navy. All battleships are assembled here. In addition to the four cutting-edge 'King Kong-class' battlecruisers, there are two 'Kawachi-class' battleships, two 'Satsuma-class' battleships, two 'Katori-class' battleships, and the 'Iwami' battleship,' Hizen' battleship, two 'Sagami-class' battleships, 'Tango' battleship, three 'Shikishima-class' battleships and 'Fuji' battleship.

These battleships totaled nineteen. However, the two "Sagami-class" battleships are equipped with two twin 254mm main guns, which can only be regarded as armored cruisers in other countries. However, the navy of the island country lacks capital ships, so these two armored cruisers are also counted as first-class warships and used as capital ships.

Other battleships, except for the four "King Kong-class" battleships, only two "Hanoi-class" battleships can be regarded as quasi-dreadnought ships, and the others can only be regarded as pre-dreadnought ships.

This makes the Japanese navy have many capital ships, but most of them are former dreadnoughts with poor combat effectiveness. Once you encounter the most powerful battlecruiser of the German Navy, you can imagine what the consequences will be like.

In addition to these battleships, the combined fleet of the island navy also assembled a large number of cruisers. Armored cruisers include two "Asama-class" armored cruisers, "Yakumo" armored cruiser, "Azuma" armored cruiser, two "Izumo-class" armored cruisers and two "Kasuga-class" armored cruisers. The protected cruisers include two "Suma-class" cruisers, two "Kasaki-class" cruisers, two "New Advanced" cruisers, "Otowa" cruiser, "Tone" cruiser, and three "Chikuma-class" cruisers. There are also two cruisers that captured the Russian Navy during the Russo-Japanese War, namely the cruiser "Tsugar" and the cruiser "Soya", a total of eight armored cruisers and 13 protected cruisers.

In terms of destroyers, the United Fleet also assembled the most cutting-edge destroyers of the Japanese navy, including thirty-two "Kamikaze-class" destroyers and seven "Spring Rain-class" destroyers, for a total of thirty-nine ships.

It can be said that the combined fleet of the island nation's navy far exceeds the German Navy's expeditionary fleet in terms of the number of warships. Whether it is a battleship, a cruiser, or a destroyer, the combined fleet of the island nation's navy has an absolute advantage. However, in terms of combat power, the navy of the island country has no advantage. Especially for the capital ships of both sides, the German expeditionary fleet can completely beat the 19 battleships of the island navy with nine capital ships. Even relying on the advantages in performance, it is not difficult to sink all the battleships of the island navy.

"We have so many warships. Although the German expeditionary fleet is very strong, it is not that we have no chance of defeating them. I hope God Amaterasu can bless us and defeat the Germans in one fell swoop!" On the bridge of the battlecruiser ', watching the huge fleet coming out of the Yokosuka Naval Port, I felt confident.

"Is the battle plan drawn up?" General Ijuin Goro asked.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the combat staff have submitted two combat reports." The secretary handed the two documents to General Ijuin Goro.

General Ijuin Goro immediately returned to his office and began to read.

The first battle plan was unremarkable, and the main purpose was to confront the German naval expeditionary fleet and besiege the German expeditionary fleet with a numerical advantage. However, the probability of winning this battle plan does not exceed 30%.

The second battle plan focuses on using the advantages of the combined fleet of the island nation's navy in terms of the number of cruisers and destroyers, and first eliminates these small and medium-sized warships of the German expeditionary fleet, and then launches a lightning strike against the capital ships of the German navy and sinks them with torpedoes. The capital ship of the German Navy.

This battle plan immediately caught the eyes of General Ijuin Goro. If you fight recklessly, the joint fleet of the island nation's navy has almost no chance of winning. The German Navy Expeditionary Fleet will take advantage of the performance of the battleships to sink the battleships of the United Fleet little by little. The only chance to come back is to launch a lightning strike. The main guns of the battleships of the combined fleet of the Japanese navy may not be able to penetrate the armor of the battleships of the German expeditionary fleet. However, torpedoes can sink it. This allows the combined fleet of the island nation's navy to have the strength to deal with the German expeditionary fleet. If you are lucky, you may not be able to defeat the German expeditionary fleet.

"How can we get rid of the light warships of the German expeditionary fleet? If we can successfully get rid of those destroyers and cruisers, using a large number of destroyers to launch lightning strikes should be able to achieve good results." Admiral Ijuin Goro murmured Said. Now, he has begun to actively use his brain to find a way to defeat the German expeditionary fleet.

After leaving the Yokosuka Naval Port, the island nation's combined naval fleet entered Sagami Bay from the Uraga Channel and began sailing south, preparing for a decisive battle with the German expeditionary fleet.