Chapter 724: A Chance to Come Back

"Your Excellency, Commander, we can't go on like this. We have already lost five battleships. If this continues, we will lose all of our battleships soon. We will lose this battle!" Yamashita Major General Gentaro looked anxious.

At this moment in the naval battle, there is no doubt that the battleships of the combined fleet of the island nation's navy are not the opponents of the German expeditionary fleet. Even, under the attack of the German expeditionary fleet, they didn't even have the power to fight back. This battle has been fought until now, and the warships of the island nation's navy have been sunk, and the warships of the German expeditionary fleet have not suffered much loss in combat effectiveness. It can be seen that the island navy is completely at a disadvantage in this battle.

General Ijuin Goro nodded: "Compared with the Germans, our strength is still far behind! The former dreadnoughts have always been unable to fight against dreadnoughts."

General Ijiin Goro was very helpless about this. When Western powers no longer use the former dreadnoughts in large-scale naval battles, the navy of the island country still uses the former dreadnoughts as the main force on the spot. It can be seen how big the gap between the two sides is. Under such circumstances, the difficulty of defeating the German expeditionary fleet can be imagined.

This is mainly because the national power of the island countries is too weak, and they simply do not have enough financial and material resources to support the development of the navy. After all, every dreadnought ship needs a lot of money to accumulate. Without money, what do you use to build battleships?

Originally, the island country wanted to take advantage of this world war to make a fortune. Another island country in time and space, relying on the world war, made a lot of war fortune. Not only did they repay all their debts, but they also reaped great benefits. This has greatly developed the economic and military strength of the island country. However, this space-time is different. It has only been a year since the war broke out. Although Germany has not yet destroyed Britain, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the British are just the last struggle. It is impossible for them to last long. Soon, the war was over. All countries in the world will have no chance to make war fortunes.

What's more, the island country is now involved in the war because of its own greed and ambition. The German Expeditionary Fleet destroyed several coastal cities of the island nation, which already cost them a very heavy price. If the island countries cannot truly appropriate the colonies in Southeast Asia as their own, they will lose more than they gain in this war.

"Yamashita-kun, let our cruiser formation get ready!" Admiral Ijuin Goro ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." Major Gentaro Yamashita nodded.

According to the combined fleet's combat plan, when the capital ships cannot compete with the German expeditionary fleet, they can only adopt risky tactics. That is to use the cruiser formation to eliminate the small and medium-sized warships of the German Navy, and then use the destroyer formation to launch a lightning strike. Use torpedoes to severely damage and even sink German Navy battlecruisers. In this case, they have a chance of winning.

However, no one can say clearly whether such a tactic will be successful. After all, although the cruisers and destroyers of the island navy's combined fleet have a great advantage in number. But in terms of performance, there is no advantage at all. Of course, the armored cruisers that the German expeditionary fleet did not have were a great advantage they had.

After receiving the order, the cruiser formation of the island navy immediately took action. 8 armored cruisers and 13 cruisers circled to the left of the German expeditionary fleet.

The actions of the island nation's navy immediately alerted the German expeditionary fleet.

"What do the islanders want to do? Are they attacking us from both sides?" Major General Mao Fu said with a frown.

"It doesn't look like it! No matter how stupid the islanders are, they should know that the main guns of their armored cruisers and protected cruisers can't penetrate the armor of our battleships at all." Lieutenant General Spee said.

Even the main guns of the battleships of the island navy cannot penetrate the armor of the battlecruisers of the German expeditionary fleet, let alone those armored cruisers and protected cruisers. The main guns of the armored cruisers of the island navy, except for the "Kasuga" which has a single 254mm gun and a 203mm twin main gun, the rest are two twin 203mm main guns. Such a main gun naturally cannot pose much threat to the armored cruisers of the German expeditionary fleet. As for those protected cruisers, except for the 'Kasagi-class' protected cruisers equipped with two 203mm single-mounted guns, the rest are equipped with 152mm naval guns. threaten.

"No matter what the islanders are planning, as long as they are sunk, we have no threat!" Lieutenant General Spee said.

"Order our cruisers to prepare for battle. All the secondary guns of the capital ship are ready to provide fire support for the cruiser. When necessary, a main gun can be dispatched from the capital ship to support them!" Lieutenant General Spee ordered.

"Yes, General!" Major General Mao Fu nodded.

After all, the German expeditionary fleet has only ten light cruisers in total, two of which are protecting the transport fleet, and only eight are capable of combat. Compared with the 8 armored cruisers and 13 protected cruisers of the island navy, the German Navy is far behind in terms of cruisers. The only advantage is probably that you can use capital ships.

The main guns of the battlecruisers of the German expeditionary fleet can easily pose a fatal threat to these armored cruisers and protected cruisers of the island navy. Its large number of 150mm secondary guns and 120mm rapid-fire guns can also cause fatal damage to those armored cruisers and protected cruisers. Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible for the island navy to use these cruisers to threaten the battlecruisers of the German Navy.

"Bless God Amaterasu! We must kill the German cruisers and destroyers. In that case, we will be able to defeat them with lightning strikes!" Major Gentaro Yamashita kept praying to God Amaterasu, praying to bring them good luck.

When the capital ship was unable to deal with the German expeditionary fleet, using a destroyer to launch a lightning strike became their only chance to come back. However, the German Expeditionary Fleet also has a lot of destroyers, although the number is smaller than that of the island navy combined fleet. But it is still completely possible to provide protection for the battlecruisers of the German expeditionary fleet. Therefore, the joint fleet of the island nation's navy must first find a way to deal with the cruisers and destroyers of the German expeditionary fleet.