The Japanese were really slippery. In fact, on the day of the agreed supply, Kitahara Kazuo rushed to the periphery of the supply area early and released the seaplane to investigate the surrounding sea area. After roughly 4 hours of confirmation that there were no unknown ships, he was finally relieved! However, what he could not imagine was that there were indeed no unknown ships in this sea area, but underwater, at least four American submarines had used this time to come from various places! They naturally could not catch up with a cruiser, but this did not prevent them from searching for this sea area through the smoke pillar!

For safety, the Japanese chose a sea area where almost no merchant ships passed by. This is beneficial to avoid being discovered, but at the same time, there are problems. The reason is very simple. Americans also know that there are few merchant ships passing by in this sea area. So good. Now the problem is, if there are smoke pillars, then there is no doubt that this will be a Japanese warship! And to be honest, even for aviation reconnaissance, it is difficult to spot a submarine with only the hull command tower on the vast sea! But the smoke pillars of the warships are very simple. After all, the cruiser Kasuki is mixed with kerosene... The smoke is a bit heavy when burning coal!

Kasumi also carried at least 4 seaplanes, but after a long period of use, one of them was already lost in the artillery battle. This plane was destroyed when Kasumi attacked a difficult armed merchant ship, and the other one was also damaged. Today, two seaplanes took turns to investigate for 4 hours, the pilot and the plane said they could not stand it at all. So Kasumi began to wait patiently for the arrival of the supply ship, and as agreed, a radio signal was issued every half an hour so that the other party could find it conveniently! However, this time, the signal was followed not by the transport ship that sent supplies to Kasumi, but by the god of death!

"We have a Japanese signal!" An American officer threw away his headphones, and several of them came to the chart and began to write and draw. A few minutes later, a dazzling red dot was marked on the chart. At this time, the Louisiana armored cruiser was in the southwest of the target, with a distance of about 15 nautical miles!

"Very good, it almost coincides with the information from the submarine force before. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be a Japanese armored cruiser." Fletcher Jr. said.

"Aren't we waiting for Colonel Hawke's fleet to arrive?" asked an officer. According to previous estimates, there might be two Japanese armored cruisers here, so after the Navy headquarters agreed to allocate a team of destroyers, it also expressed its willingness to provide a large warship. Unfortunately, the number of large warships in the United States is rare and the mobilization schedule may be relatively slow, so it was rejected by Fletcher Jr. The US Navy also gave him the right to be arbitrary on the plane, asking him to bite one and then follow the other with a destroyer.

"No need, order the warships to add to the highest voyage immediately. We rush forward and kill them!" Little Fletcher replied very simply!

So, the St. Louisiana rushed up with a flight of 30 knots. Before leaving, they released two seaplanes, one of which was responsible for reconnaissance and the other was responsible for guiding the artillery attack!

"The fleet entered the first-level combat readiness state! We may be about to take on the battle in 20 minutes!" Fletcher Jr.'s words sounded again in the command tower. The effective combat distance of the American new 1O-inch 145 naval gun is more than 16 kilometers. In fact, it is not bad compared to the combat distance of the main gun of the battleship. Moreover, it uses heavy bombs weighing 27kg, and its power is also very good. The 8-inch hardened armor equipped by the Germans for the Kasumi cannot guarantee the safety of this warship! Even if it is one-on-two, Fletcher Jr. believes that with the help of 1O destroyers, (6 of which are reinforcements, and the other 4 are following the Louisiana.) The US Navy still has the hope of winning a complete victory!

"Damn it, there is only one ship! The British deceived us! There is only one ship! What about two ships that promised?" When the American pilot saw the Kasuki armored cruiser sailing alone on the sea, the pilot's words were even full of frustration. To be honest, the Americans really wanted to kill two ships at the same time this time!

However, when Kitahara Ichio was also shocked when he saw the seaplane in the air. Soon, when smoke pillars appeared in the distance where the water and sky were connected, Kitahara Ichio finally realized that the last moment had come. For the broken battleship, if it comes into contact with the opponent's fleet, it would definitely be a life-and-death life!

"Use all communication frequency bands to send the telegram at maximum power, just say that we were ambushed by the American fleet. The Americans may have mastered our passwords and contact information." Kitahara Kazuo took a deep breath and continued: "After completing the telegram, destroy all documents, we cannot let the Americans get any information from us! Our destiny is to perish in battle!"

People are more likely to know themselves. Even though the Kasumi armored cruiser has created its own glory during its long service period, it is too old to face new opponents, it has no chance of winning! Even because of the long-term battle, it now has insufficient ammunition.

"The Japanese fleet is evading, but it's too slow, probably not even 20 kilograms." An officer put down the telescope in his hand and said jokingly.

"Yes, this warship is too old. When I was studying at the Naval Academy, we regarded it and its brothers as the most powerful enemies of the US Navy, but now? Haha, we can easily get rid of them with second-class battleships! Okay, don't talk nonsense, send them to the bottom of the sea quickly! Then, the rest of today is to celebrate our victory!" Fletcher Jr. said.

Half an hour later, the Kasuki armored cruiser entered the range of the main gun of Louisiana! As the bomb lifting machine sent heavy shells and spray bags into the barrel, four huge turrets aimed at the Japanese armored cruiser in the distance. The combined image rangefinder located at the top of the mast steadily locked the target in the middle. After magnification of 26 times, the fire control personnel could clearly see the Japanese armored cruiser!

"Fire!" With the issuance of the shooting order, eight thick and long cannons protruded into balls of orange fireballs, and the roar of artillery fire resounded throughout the battlefield. In the first half of the round of shooting, a ton of shells roared towards the target. Twenty seconds later, water columns rose up around the battleship!
Chapter completed!