On January 9, after receiving the telegram from Bai Zhizhan, Zhou Yongtao brought more than a dozen Fleet Command staff to the Front Command in advance.

Although the fleet will take a few days to arrive, Bai Zhizhan decided to establish a temporary command center.

The first task given to Zhou Yongtao was to analyze what tactics the Bran fleet led by Cunningham would use after entering the Fanyan Ocean after entering the Fanyan Ocean.

Just like in the past, Zhou Yongtao did not disappoint Bai Zhizhan.

Because I had already received the news, before coming here, Zhou Yongtao had organized the staff officers to analyze the situation of the war and conducted several deductions.

The final conclusion was that Cunningham didn't have many options.

The key is that three fleet aircraft carriers are indeed not enough to see.

According to the latest information, the Royal Navy of Bran was dispatched by the "Ark of Royal", the "Glory" and the "Great" to "Queen".

The intelligence is very reliable because besides the already old "Furious", the Royal Bran Navy has only these three fleet aircraft carriers.

Two other "Glorious" class ships are still under construction, and the "Kewei" was officially put into service in November last year.

If you want to say it, the Royal Bran Navy is the main force.

Even so, these three fleet aircraft carriers can only carry more than 120 carrier-based aircraft, and even if they are overloaded, they will not exceed 150 aircraft.

This number is not as good as the two fleet aircraft carriers of the 11th Special Mixed Fleet.

If the performance of carrier-based aircraft is included, the gap will be even more obvious.

There is also information that the Royal Bran Navy obtained not the legendary "sea fire" or the "sea hurricane", but the "wildcat" of the Newland Federation, that is, F4F.

These fighters were assisted by Newland Federal, replacing the "Tube Swallow" fighter, which had already lagged behind.

In addition, torpedoes and bombers may still be old "swordfish" and "skua".

Although the intelligence is not very accurate, or there is no relevant information, it can at most receive federal assistance from Newland and replace it with carrier-based attack aircraft and bombers from the Newland Navy.

Because the new carrier-based aircraft of the Newland Navy has not yet been mass-produced, what can be provided are old aircraft.

The Bran aircraft carrier may be mainly fighter jets and does not carry many attack aircraft and bombers.

According to data provided by the Sixth Bureau, Newland Federal aid to the Kingdom of Bran has reached 300 F4Fs, and the last batch of 100 are likely to be F4F-4 models.

Even if the three aircraft carriers are equipped with F4F-4 fighter jets and SBD, the Bran Fleet's aviation combat capabilities are also very average.

Looking for the 11th Special Fleet to fight to the decisive battle?

Even if Cunningham does not lack courage, he will not do stupid things that are brave but not resourceful.

According to Zhou Yongtao's analysis, the tactic that Cunningham is most likely to use is to take the fleet into the Andaman Sea or ambush near the Andaman Islands. If he can grasp the whereabouts of the 11th Special Mixed Fleet, he may also dispatch carrier-based aircraft to bomb the airports in the southern part of the Kingdom of Deman, eliminating the threat from the land direction, and at the same time restraining the imperial army from the side to alleviate the pressure on the defenders of the Lion Spring City.

What I want to say is mainly to guard the route to Shiquan City, so that the defenders of Shiquan City believe that the Kingdom and the Royal Navy did not give up on them.

As long as you stick to it, you will definitely be able to defeat a strong enemy!

Fundamentally, it is actually the Army Aviation Base in Songkhla.

The dozens of long-range fighters and bombers deployed there not only pose a threat to the routes in the Throat Channel, but also the number one enemy of the Bran Fleet.

Even if it is just a reconnaissance mission, it is enough to keep Cunningham feeling like a hint of mind.

Zhou Yongtao also concluded from this that as long as Cunningham leads the fleet to the Northeast Fanyan Ocean, he will dispatch carrier-based aircraft to attack Songkhla just like he did when dealing with the Raleigh fleet.

However, there is another possibility.

On standby in the Gret Strait between the Nikba Islands and Sumatra, keep it as hidden as possible, and wait for the 11th Special Fleet to go to the trap.

However, we need to take the initiative to give up Shiquan City.

The reason is also very simple. Unless you go to another strait, the 11th special fleet would have to capture the Shiquan City before entering the Fanyan Ocean.

This also decided that Cunningham would not go to the Gret Strait to wait for the rabbit.

If the Bran army voluntarily gave up the city of Lion Spring, wouldn’t it mean to tell the Empire Fleet that there was an ambush ahead?

As for letting the fleet go to the west of Sumatra, across the second largest island around the Yanhai, to deal with the Imperial fleet operating near the Lion Spring City, it is simply impossible.

The reason is: it's too far.

From the Mindawei Islands to the west of Sumatra Island to the Shiquan City, the shortest distance exceeds 600 kilometers, and the combat radius of Bran carrier-based aircraft is only 500 kilometers.

The key is that the Bran fleet is in the west of Sumatra and cannot block the Throat Channel.

This means that after destroying the air force in Lion Spring City, the Imperial fleet can forcibly break through and enter the Fanyan Ocean without being blocked.

Obviously, in the decisive battle with the Imperial Fleet on the vast Fanyan Ocean, the chances of winning of the Bran Fleet are even slim.

Whether from a tactical or strategic perspective, the Royal Bran Navy had to do its best to block the Imperial fleet and avoid a frontal fleet decisive battle.

With Cunningham's mind and eyes, it is impossible not to see this.

If he wants to say it, he would stay as far as possible within the cover of the shore-based aviation force, and use military bases throughout the Northern Fanyan Ocean to fight against the Imperial Fleet. Whether it is delaying time or fighting the Imperial Fleet and being covered by the shore-based aviation force, the Bran Fleet is more confident of winning.

Cunningham is not a brave and unscrupulous man, and he will never attack the enemy's strengths with his own shortcomings.

Here, Zhou Yongtao proposed the third possibility.

Block the Throat Channel.

To be precise, it blocked the eastern end of the Throat Channel, the narrowest Lion Spring Strait, forcing the Imperial fleet to enter the Fanyan Ocean through other straits.

Blocking the Shiquan City Strait is not difficult, all you need is water mines.

After recapturing Lion Spring City, the Bran Royal Navy did not intend to continue to expand eastward. It has always regarded Lion Spring City as a frontier fortress in the East, and has reserved enough mines here, many of which were stocks produced in the last war but were not used.

Don’t forget that when the Watchmen Strait was blocked, the Alliance Group used tens of thousands of mines.

Because the Lion Spring Strait is narrower than the Watcher Strait and the water depth is much shallower, theoretically, thousands of mines can be blocked.

Before the outbreak of the war, there were no less than 30,000 mines stored in Shiquan City.

According to the strategic deployment of the Royal Bran Navy, if necessary, these mines must be used to block all the straits connecting the Eastern Ocean and the Fanyan Ocean!

Even if most of the mines are damaged due to poor preservation, the rest is more than enough to block the Lion Spring Strait.

If so, the 11th Special Mixed Fleet had to go south and go to Fanyan Ocean from Xunfeng Strait or Longyan Strait.

At that time, Cunningham only needs to take the fleet to the waters south of Java Island, and he will be able to surprise him when the Imperial fleet passes through the strait.

The Bran fleet operates in the waters south of Java and can also receive cover and support from shore-based air forces deployed in Austria.

Not to mention anything else, remote patrol aircraft deployed in Darwin Port, Derby and Hedland Port can help a lot.

To sum up, it's just one thing.

As the Bran fleet arrives, the combat operations to attack Lion Spring City will inevitably be affected, and adjustments to the combat plan are required.
Chapter completed!