Chen Xiaojiang now has only two choices. First, let the battleships disperse immediately, which has a high chance of avoiding the ** launched by British destroyers. However, it is not easy to gather the fleet again in a short time. It is definitely not as good as intercepting the British battleships, and can only be intercepted by the cruiser behind them. Second, continue to complete the steering, so that they can catch up with the British battleships, but they are not sure to avoid them. There are very likely several battleships hit by the **. Among the 6 battleships brought by Chen Xiaojiang, two of them were built by themselves, and the other four were also considered newer battleships. Therefore, no matter which one was lost, it would be a major loss for the People's Army Navy. Moreover, if you don't get it well, it is not unsolvable.

No matter which choice is, there are great risks, so Chen Xiaojiang was a little hesitant for a while, but he also knew that he could never hesitate at this time, and whether good or bad, he had to make a choice.

At this time, a staff officer suggested: "Let the Red Tu and Jueying attack attack to intercept enemy destroyers. The firepower of these two warships is very strong. When they attack, they will definitely be able to intercept enemy destroyers. Even if 1 or 2 are missed, it will not pose a threat to us."

Another adviser said: "But in this way, these two armored cruisers may be sunk by enemy destroyers."

The previous adviser said: "That's better than a battleship being sunk. The two evils can only be taken as light when they meet."

When Chen Xiaojiang heard this, he couldn't help but have a flash of inspiration in his mind. He looked at the current state of the fleets of both sides. At this time, the British fleet had completed the last 45 degrees of steering and returned to a straight-line driving state from south to north. Now the People's Army Fleet is traveling from west to east, with a speed of about 19 knots; the fleets of both sides are horizontal and vertical, just vertical, and they are just perpendicular to each other, but the route of the British fleet sailing is about 3,000 meters behind the People's Army Fleet and can pass directly. Now there are about 2,000 meters away from the People's Army Fleet. At the speed of the British fleet, it can reach the battle line of the People's Army Fleet in about 5-6 minutes. However, since the British fleet has 10 warships, and the expansion length is more than 3,000 meters, it will take at least 10 minutes for the entire fleet to cross the People's Army Fleet.

At this time, Gan Jiang had just completed the steering, and Mo Xie had only turned 90 degrees. Both warships obviously had no time to intercept the British fleet. The destroyers of both sides had already launched a fierce battle about 3,000 meters southwest of the People's Army Fleet. However, the few destroyers of the People's Army were unable to intercept the destroyers of the British fleet. 4 or 5 destroyers had broken through the interception of the People's Army destroyers and turned to the battleships that were moving in sequence.

So Chen Xiaojiang immediately ordered Moye to stop turning and accelerate in the current direction. At the same time, Ganjiang also immediately turned 90 degrees and followed Moye. The Chidun and Jueying immediately turned 90 degrees in advance, and then followed Ganjiang and Moye. After completing these actions, the four warships will travel in a direction parallel to the British fleet and the same course, with a lateral distance of about 4,000 meters, and can engage in battle lines.

Of course, since the People's Army has a small number of warships and two armored cruisers, it is obviously not the opponent of the British fleet to fight the battle line. However, the maximum speed of the Ganjiang and Moye is 20 knots, which can reach more than 22 knots under strong pressure and ventilation; while the maximum speed of the Chidun and Jueying is also more than 22 knots, so it is more than 3 knots faster than the British fleet. You can take advantage of the speed to throw the British fleet away and look for opportunities, or turn to intercept the British fleet, or join with the People's Army's subsequent cruiser detachments and destroyers, and then fight with the British fleet.

The four battleships left behind, Weiyang, Feiyang, Boyang and Fuyang, immediately dispersed on the spot to avoid **. They cooperated with the destroyers to first annihilate the British destroyer fleet, then reorganize the team, rushed back and cooperated to intercept the British fleet in advance, attack the British fleet forward and back, and at the same time, they could also attract the main force of the Expeditionary Fleet to rescue, which could also introduce all the Expeditionary Fleet into the Taiwan Strait.

Sure enough, after Chen Xiaojiang gave the order, Mo Xie immediately stopped steering and drove northward in a straight line. Gan Jiang also immediately turned 90 degrees and followed behind Mo Xie. It turned out that the Red Tu, the last Red Tu in the fleet, also immediately turned and accelerated to catch up with Gan Jiang and Mo Xie. Because the four warships reacted extremely well, after completing the steering action, they were still more than 1,000 meters ahead of the British fleet.

Soon, the computer of the Kunming ship simulated the result of running at such a distance. The four warships led by Chen Xiaojiang can throw the British fleet down 4-5,000 meters in about 30 minutes. At that time, the People's Army's subsequent cruiser teams and destroyer teams could almost meet with them, so there was much more choice.

After getting this result, Chen Xiaojiang also breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had tried his best, he finally resolved the British fleet's plan. He ordered the fleet to accelerate.

After crossing the People's Army fleet that was entangled with destroyers, the British fleet found that the People's Army had four warships turned one step ahead of schedule and were more than 1,000 meters ahead of the fleet. Martinez was once again amazed at the keen battlefield observation and judgment of the enemy's chief general. If the enemy's formation was 2 or 3 minutes later, then the first one should be his own fleet. It seems that it is not easy to implement a combat plan that circumvents behind the People's Army fleet.

However, now it is only the last step away from success, and the British fleet's speed has reached 19 knots. If you compete for speed, Martinez believes that the British fleet still has a chance. In addition, the distance between the two sides is no more than 5,000 meters, which is a range that can be fought. Moreover, the other side has only 4 warships, two of which are armored cruisers. If you really want to fight on the battlefield, the British fleet will have a great advantage.

In fact, when I crossed the People's Army fleet just now, the British fleet could shoot the battleships left by the People's Army, but at this time the battleships left by the People's Army had been dispersed and had a melee with the British destroyers, which was difficult to aim, and if they were not done properly, they would be injured by accident. Therefore, the British fleet gave up attacking the battleships left by the People's Army and implemented the original plan wholeheartedly.

Of course, at this time, the British fleet can shoot at the People's Army's withdrawal warships, and the People's Army's warships can also fight back. Moreover, due to the angle, only the first four warships of the British fleet can use front and rear main guns at the same time, and the six warships behind can only use front and rear main guns, while the four warships of the People's Army can use front and rear main guns. In this way, the British fleet can invest 24 305mm guns and 2 233mm guns; the People's Army's fleet has 16 280mm guns and 16 200mm guns. The actual gap is not as large as the number of warships.

So both sides opened fire almost at the same time and fired at the other side. At a distance of 5,000 meters, British warships also had a very high hit rate, so the advantage of the People's Army's high hit rate was greatly weakened.

Both sides carried out 4 and 5 rounds of fire in a row, and both hit each other. The People's Army hit a total of 15 guns, and it also got 11 guns. However, both sides were mainly battleships, so they could still withstand it. However, at this time, the longitudinal distance between the two sides further increased to 2,000 meters. Only the first two warships of the British fleet could use the front and rear main guns, and the firepower was also weakened a lot.

Of course, weakening of firepower is not the most deadly for the British fleet. This is the same for both sides, but the speed gap is the factor that completely loses the chance of victory. Martinez has discovered that the opponent's speed is almost 3 knots ahead of him, so it is basically possible to declare bankruptcy to implement the combat plan behind the People's Army fleet.

And at this moment, the observation deck of the USS Kewei discovered the People's Army's follow-up warships, at least 10, with a distance of about 15,000 meters. Martines completely gave up. Although the People's Army's follow-up warships are unlikely to have battleships, the number of advantages cannot be underestimated. Moreover, in addition to the battleships, the British fleet now has two 10,000-ton armored cruisers, without small and medium-sized warships escorting. If the opponent dispatches small cruisers, or destroyers approaches, it will be a great threat. Moreover, at this time, the main force of the Expeditionary Fleet has approached the battlefield, at least the goal of dragging the People's Army fleet has reached. Of course, there is no need to force it on. Therefore, Martines decisively ordered the entire fleet to turn around and retreat.

The British fleet gave up the combat plan to circumvent the People's Army Fleet, and Chen Xiaojiang was completely relieved, but he could not relax at this time, because there were 4 battleships behind him. If the British fleet retreated and did his four battleships, it still failed. Therefore, Chen Xiaojiang also ordered the fleet to turn around and chase the British fleet. If the British fleet attacked the remaining four battleships, he would give them a front and back attack.

Seeing that the People's Army fleet turned around and followed him, Martinez certainly knew that the other party was afraid that the four remaining battleships they had left were attacked. In fact, Martinez had no intention of tangling with the People's Army fleet at this time. As long as he successfully joined the main force of the Expeditionary Fleet, he ordered the fleet to slightly deviate from the battlefield where the destroyers had just fought, so as to show that he would not attack the four remaining battleships of the People's Army. At the same time, he also recruited his own destroyers, and at least add a few escort warships to himself.

In the destroyer battle just now, five British destroyers were sunk, but four of them were sunk by battleships. Although the British destroyers fired a total of 15 rounds, because the People's Army's battleships were scattered very much, they were avoided by the People's Army's battleships and were not damaged. Two People's Army's destroyers were sunk.
Chapter completed!