The Rise of the Empire

After the Sulu Sea naval battle, the remaining warships of the US Far East Fleet were busy. It was so busy that they used civilian ships to escort the captured British and Japanese prisoners of war to Hawaii. So what are Shelley and Magiffen busy with during this time? The first is naturally ship repair. The opponent was so fierce that even the battleship that had escaped from death would inevitably be stripped of its skin.

Although Germany has a shipyard in the Far East that can repair warships, it lacks other materials and equipment. To put it bluntly, the maintenance equipment in Kaiser Wilhelm's land is more like a 4S shop in later generations to provide maintenance, rather than a car repair shop. repair. Scratching the bottom of the ship is okay, but if you want to repair the turret, replace the armor, etc., you should wash and sleep.

As a result, the remaining warships have been in a sub-healthy state. And because of the limited number of beds, warships need to come one by one. What is even more tragic is that the human resources of the Americans are not enough. The Japanese high-explosive bombs injured more than 30% of the surviving personnel. And counting the dead, missing, and wounded, the manpower that can be used on American warships is only about half of the standard configuration.

And it is hard to imagine how difficult it is to find a skilled boatman in such a remote place. The Germans are not obliged to help you find a boatman! As for replenishing ammunition or something, let alone. The Americans never thought that their fleet would be defeated so quickly. After the Sulu Sea naval battle, it took a full week for the U.S. Navy to gather all the supplies on the west coast and prepare for departure!

How long is a week? It is not a simple 7*24 hours for the army! Take the Japanese Navy as a comparison. Three days after the end of the Sulu Sea naval battle, the four Asama-class armored cruisers of the Japanese combined fleet have arrived in Hong Kong. Two of them entered the dock for maintenance and repairs, and the other two were simply replenished. On the fifth day, the two battleships Fuji and Yashima entered Nagasaki's dock for repairs and maintenance. On the seventh day, the four Asama-class armored cruisers were fully recovered and ready to attack Samoa at any time... ..

On the ninth day, Huashan Shiji and Togo Heihachiro had left the Ryukyu Islands, arrived in Hong Kong on the twelfth day, and then took 4 well-prepared cruisers to American Samoa! At this time, the prince had just talked to Roosevelt about the proposal for Germany to temporarily take over Samoa...  

Of course, the responsibility for all of this should be a matter of high-level U.S. officials. According to the memories of Scheer and others, the remnants of the U.S. Far East Fleet, such as Magiffin and Shelley, are still very conscientious. After the armored cruiser USS New York roughly completed the repairs, it immediately rushed to Morro Bay to rescue the US Marine Corps that had already landed. And killed 2 Japanese camouflaged reconnaissance ships on the way.

The Columbia went to American Samoa to help the local Americans transfer to the German territory. After all, Ma Jifen and others were also worried that the Japanese would make an inch and continue to attack south. And the other two warships? Well, didn't make it out of the shipyard until the Japanese took American Samoa.

As for the other Russian armored cruiser Bayan, since the end of the Sulu Sea naval battle, the Russians have received telegrams forwarded in the country, asking the armored cruiser to stay in the German port honestly and release it when necessary. Arming is all right, anyway, don't get involved with the Americans, the battle has ended like this, the Russians have obviously given up.

"We are trying our best to save the children and property of the United States with our broken fleet in the Far East, while the gangsters in Washington are arguing about some irrelevant things! Our number one enemy is Britain and Japan, and our number two enemy Those guys in the White House!" After the war, Brigadier General Shelley's article caused an uproar in the United States.

As a front-line naval officer, Shelley accused the U.S. Navy and the U.S. government of negligence in pre-war preparations, planning, strategy, and tactics, as well as their slow response and foresight after the Sulu Sea naval battle. Especially when it was exposed that the Germans were willing to help the U.S. government, but the U.S. government was hesitant, this article pushed the evidence and public opinion in the United States to the peak. And it further promotes the closer relationship between virtues. Of course, this is something for later, so I won’t mention it for the time being.

As a result, the only two large warships in the current US fleet became transport ships. What surprised Americans was not that the Japanese came, but that the Japanese came too fast! It's only been a few days! Magiffen had just withdrawn the first batch of US marines from the Philippines and rested overnight in a German port. As a result, as soon as he woke up the next day, Magiffen received a notification from the Germans that the Japanese fleet had appeared in the waters near Samoa. , The cruiser Columbia, which was performing a transportation mission, was sunk. In addition to the more than 600 officers and soldiers on it, more than 700 civilians were killed together...  

"The Japanese actually occupied American Samoa?" Magiffen looked surprised. "What the Germans didn't do, did the Japanese do it so easily?"

"It's not easy? Samoa is less than 3,000 square kilometers in total, and it is divided into two main islands and seven small islands, half of which belong to our Germany and half to your United States. How many people in your United States are there on the island? The Japanese army with 4 cruisers and a brigade directly pushed it, and the whole process lasted less than 2 hours! One and a half hours of it was personnel landing..." Scheer said, his tone was so logical... ....

"How could they move so fast? It's only a few days from Japan to Samoa?" Shelly also rushed over at this time, and he also didn't believe the information was true.

"You two! Are the British allies of the Japanese? The artillery specifications of the Japanese battleships are exactly the same as those of the British. The Japanese fleet does not need to go back to the mainland for repairs. The four Asama-class armored cruisers went directly to Hong Kong for repairs. of."

"You don't even know about the losses you caused to the four armored cruisers of the Japanese fleet in the Sulu Sea battle. To be honest, after supplementing the ignition coal and ammunition, you can overturn your remaining warships. With the help of the British , The recovery speed is naturally fast." Scheer said.

"Fuck, what do we do now?" After Scheer left, Shelley and Magiffin began to discuss the future of the US Far East Fleet.

The once powerful U.S. fleet can only mobilize three warships now, one is the USS New York armored cruiser, the other is performing evacuation missions outside, and the other is parked at the shipyard for maintenance. The Russian Bayan armored cruiser simply excused that the maintenance was not completed and was unwilling to attack. This matter has reached this level, and there is nothing to fight. A Japanese Asama-class armored cruiser can easily kill all the remaining three warships.

Thanks to book friends First Tank Guards Brigade, Sea Youbian for their rewards~~~, and book friends Qingfengbieye, Columbia Beach for their monthly support~~~! Ask for a subscription and a reward! ! ! !