"Can you talk about your plan first?" Major General Coul asked back.

"My plan? It's very simple. From the current perspective, the Suxiong fleet only has one port in the entire Indian Ocean to support the maintenance and repair of these two fast battleships, namely the Basra-Fao Port. The Germans are very smart. They set up a mine array at the Hormuz Sea Hero, making it impossible for our fleet to enter the port to blockade. If possible, I hope we can set up a minefield outside the Hormuz Sea Hero to prevent the German fleet from returning. If we are lucky, it is not impossible to solve these two battleships with mines." Since the mouse only has one cave, it's better to block it directly. It's simple and affordable.

"This is probably difficult to achieve now. Our mines in the Indian Ocean are basically used to implement defense and mine laying in our own ports. The artillery range of battleships is more than 15 kilometers. So in order to ensure the safety of the port, we must force the opponent to retreat to the periphery as much as possible. Moreover, even if there are mines now, it is very slow and dangerous to lay a tight minefield. The Germans in the Hormuz Sea Heroes not only have mines but also submarines."

"They also have minesweepers, and they go out to sea to patrol every day. Even if we can set up a minefield, when the German fleet comes back, it is unknown how much the minefield can be left. And we also created a ship with the bow filled with cement and logs, and directly used impact to clear mines. Of course, this is a response in an emergency. But from the perspective of the effect, it is good." Major General Cook said.

"If this plan is not successful, then we can only search for targets in the Indian Ocean, which is almost an impossible task for my fleet." Thinking of the vast Indian Ocean, when looking at the double-digit warship in his hand, Thomas couldn't help but feel a little numb!

This is almost impossible to find! Even on a sunny day, how far can you see when standing at the top of the mast? It’s 40 kilometers long? Then draw a circle with a radius of 40 kilometers. How big is the coverage? Yes, maybe the attacked merchant ship or camouflage reconnaissance ship can find the target, but after repeated multiple times at this era, when will it be reached by Thomas, and whether it can be reached is also a question!

Even if you are lucky, all this was done. The camouflaged reconnaissance ship discovered the opponent without disturbing the Germans. Then after some twists and turns, the telegram was sent to Thomas. But don't forget that once it is at night, the information obtained during the day will be invalidated immediately! God knows where the German warships ran away this night!

So during World War I, an attack ship would run at sea for more than a year, and no one could catch it. It might be that the attack ship had already run to the Pacific Ocean, and three British ships were still looking for people in the Atlantic Ocean. Well, generally speaking, those who happen to this situation are camouflage cruisers, which are well hidden. Generally, regular cruisers were killed less than a year after the war started. The only long-lived Konisberg nested at a certain estuary and spent hundreds of days against the British, which is an exception.

But now, the Suxiong fleet is obviously another extreme. If the camouflage attack ship is hidden, then the Suxiong fleet is too powerful! So what if it is discovered before Thomas comes? Everyone stand up and meet each other and destroy your grudges! You can't kill you! Even through the information provided by other camouflage attack ships, the Suxiong fleet may take the initiative to trouble the British navy! This is how the British Former Fearless did two fast battleships. At that time, this Former Fearless was chasing a German camouflage attack ship.

"IMHO, if we use conventional methods, it will be difficult for us to catch these two fast warships." Thomas said helplessly.

"So, we have never planned to search these two big guys in a normal way. Before you come, even before you decide to send your fleet to set off, the Royal Navy had already considered this issue and took action. Now, all you and your fleet need to do is rest and make sure that the fleet can attack the opponent in the best condition!" Major General Cook smiled mysteriously, and his expression wrapped around me made Major General Thomas feel a little confused!

It is indeed difficult to search for camouflage cruisers in the vast Indian Ocean, but if you think that the Royal British Navy cannot find an opponent, you can only say that the Tusen is broken! A country that has stood tall at the peak of the world for hundreds of years is terrible, and a navy that has ruled the oceans of the world for more than 200 years is even more terrible! The British's technical background provides them with the possibility of completing such a task, and the brains of the British Royal elites provide ideas for completing this task!

"We never thought of having Thomas carry 10 warships to conduct a meaningless armed parade on the vast Indian Ocean, nor did we think of sending many camouflage attack ships to search the German fleet, because the former is useless and the latter is too inefficient! How could the British Empire Navy do such a thing? What we thought was how to let the Germans take the bait themselves!" Lieutenant General Oliver, the chief of staff of the British Royal Navy, wrote in his diary!

Before the Thomas fleet arrived in the Indian Ocean, the Suxiong fleet was indeed invincible in the Indian Ocean, but it was not without weaknesses. The huge consumption was one of the biggest weaknesses of the German fleet. The camouflaged attack ship could rely on spoils to maintain combat, and by seizing coal, food and fresh water, it supported the warships to cross the ocean for hundreds of days. For example, the famous German attack ship Wolf in the historical world, when sailing at a speed of 8 knots a day, the daily coal burning consumption was only 35 tons! Relying on the thousands of tons of coal it carried and seized coal, the attack ship sailed on the ocean for 452 days!

However, as a warship, the daily consumption is very amazing. For example, the Emden light cruiser, such a ship consumes 2 tons of coal per hour when sailing at a speed of 12 knots, but if it sails at a speed of 23 knots, it consumes 15.7 tons of coal per hour! And this is just a 3,000-ton boat, while the Wolf is a large ship with a registered tonnage of 5,800 tons and can carry nearly 6,000 tons of coal! The warship is equipped with less and consumes more, so the endurance inside and outside is not bad!

This is even more true as a large warship! According to the British information, the maximum fuel load capacity of these two German fast battleships should be 3,700 tons of coal and about 1,200 tons of fuel. According to the British calculations, if the warship sails at a speed of 14 knots, the endurance should be 6,100 nautical miles! In other words, the fuel is only enough for this warship to sail for about 436 hours. It only takes 18 days!
Chapter completed!