In the first half of the twentieth century, the two wars that swept the world, as the traditional maritime hegemon for more than 200 years, the British really suffered enough from submarines and **, but the irony is that the world's first ** was invented by the British themselves, and maintained a leading edge in technology for a long time; The British also moved much earlier than their opponents in the construction and use of submarines, having built the first electric submarine in the modern sense in 1866, and by the time the Germans set out to build their first military submarine, the British Navy already had 40 submarines in its combat and reconnaissance sequence! However, when the First World War broke out, the British suddenly saw that the quantity and quality of German submarines, especially the tactics, had improved by leaps and bounds! During the grueling four years of war, people only knew about the Kaiser's terrible underwater fleet, but they forgot that the British Navy also had a sizable number of submarines.

Nowadays, the new deal is replacing the old policy, and the new is replacing the old, but the British are still suffering from old wounds.

An unidentified submarine is still a very serious problem for self-protection in the face of a fleet with a complete range of ships and a large number of anti-submarine ships, not to mention how to carry out an attack, but the long list of names such as "Prestige", "Ark Royal", and "Radiance" really caused the British to suffer from the problem of "cup bow and snake shadow". After the alarm sounded, a large number of well-trained escort destroyers responded in a timely manner, and they bombarded the suspicious submarine with deep water ** to save its life only by desperately escaping to the deep sea, as for the main ships of the fleet, during this period, they made a big detour in the sea, which consumed fuel and caused a big delay in action.

The "accidental" episode did not end there, although it was not yet certain whether the unidentified submarine had peeked into the true face of the fleet, and the fleet command immediately held an emergency meeting, and most of them agreed to slow down the fleet's voyage, raise anti-submarine alert, and strengthen the protection of the accompanying aircraft carriers -- the "Fury," "Brave," and "Victory." At this time, excluding the "Glorious" in service in the Mediterranean Fleet and the "Eagle" which was recently repaired, these three aircraft carriers, both old and new, were the last mobile air force of the British Navy. Although their ground combat indicators were stronger than those of the German Navy, which had only one regular aircraft carrier and two merchant ships converted into quasi-aircraft carriers, they took into account the difficult task of the British Navy in maintaining sea lanes and carrying out blockades. And the more serious the situation in Asia, these aircraft carriers are far from enough.

It is worth mentioning that the aircraft carrier "Victory", which is of the same class as the Tejli, is a new ship that has just been completed not long ago, and due to the situation, the British Navy has to train its crew and pilots while improving the ship's equipment in the final stage, so that the ship will be officially put into service. It has been equipped with a squadron of carrier-based fighters of the "Pipe Nose Weed" type, "Skuas" fighter-bombers, and "Big Mackerel" ** bombers, and has initially formed combat effectiveness. The aircraft carrier of this class is not outstanding in terms of aircraft-carrying capacity, but it has very good strike resistance, which is quite similar to the German aircraft carrier design idea.

For the next two hours, the huge mixed fleet traveled uneventful, but only two-thirds of the distance it had traveled. Faced with this situation, the commander of the fleet, John . Lieutenant General Tovey elongated his face. Seeing that it was only an hour before dawn, the wind and rain on the sea still showed no signs of abating, and light signals came from the aircraft carrier: the wind and waves were strong. Are carrier-based aircraft raised to the deck and ready for sortie as planned?

Tovey stared ahead for a moment, but couldn't see through the darkness to see the world in front of the ship. Judging by the degree of shaking, the current sea conditions are not very treacherous. But the endless wind and waves do have a certain impact on the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft, and even if carrier-based aircraft can take off, bad weather will greatly reduce their combat capability. What's more, aviation ** are still very sensitive guys, and too large waves are likely to cause them to explode prematurely or deviate from their targets.

That's often the case, no matter how bad the weather is, what should be born will happen, and this is especially true of war.

Thinking that he would run into the German fleet in about two hours, Tovey, who was quite experienced in combat, was not as nervous as a fledgling midshipman, his heart was beating wildly, and his palms were sweaty. The psychology is not calm, a little nervous, a little apprehensive, as well as the consideration and worry of various possible situations, the mood is complicated and the mouth is full of bitterness. "General, coffee!"

The staff officer brought a cup of fragrant hot coffee at the right time, and at this most sleepy moment before dawn, the people on duty all night were in need of a ** "stimulus". Tovey thanked him with great gratitude, and as soon as his coffee cup touched his lips, he saw another staff officer strolling into the command room with a folder in his hand.

"A secret call from London!" The staff officer reported clearly.

Tovey had no choice but to put the coffee cup back down. Take the folder from the other person's hand. Sometimes. The public reading of the telegram by a staff officer can have a very positive effect. Sometimes it's not. The specific decision is naturally made by the presiding officer at the venue.

Tovey hurriedly scanned the paper on which the telegram was copied. The expression remained calm. But there are some things in his eyes that are not easy to be presented.

In this command room. Almost everyone was curious about the content of the telegram. But Tovey quickly closed the folder. With one hand, he handed it back to the staff officer. Not a word. It means to put away the book. Because of the so-called "senior staff committee" to the group of old men. It would have been a reluctant and wise move for the group to know that not long ago, several freighters belonging to the convoy had been sunk by German submarines on the way. It is inevitable that there will be a very serious discussion about the German submarine threat. But what kind of substantive results can be derived from such discussions? On the battlefield where the situation is changing rapidly. Time is of the essence. Time is of the essence. Time is everything. For Tovey's move, he also looked at each other. But see that this vice admiral always turned his back to them. The staff officer who came to deliver the telegram also quickly withdrew from the command room. I had to pretend that nothing happened.

The commander of the fleet is, after all, the commander of the fleet. On his flagship. No one can really be above it and at the mercy of it!

But. At this time, Tovey didn't have much to think about these old men. One British merchant ship after another was sunk in that uncertain sea. Fast warships, submarines. This was what the Germans were best at. What's next?

A good commander needs patience. To be for the earth is to keep your mind fresh until all the mysteries are revealed. Instead of falling into a mood of impetuousness for quick success!

Before I knew it, the coffee in the cup had cooled, and the officers in the command room still looked busy and busy, but the atmosphere was strangely dull, and no one spoke loudly. No one walked around at will, and the senior staff officers who returned to the command room after the break were also rarely silent......

Before you know it, the sea is no longer pitch black, the dull gray light replaces the endless darkness, and people are gradually able to see the turrets and decks in front of the portholes, the sailors on duty in the rain, and the thick barrels of guns pointing into the distance......

"General, we just intercepted the telegram from the Water God!" The staff officer in charge of communications hurried into the command room.

"What's the situation?" Tovey turned his head sideways. There was some unnatural twitching at the corners of the mouth.

The staff officer replied: "They detected by radar that the German battleship, which was previously suspected to be damaged, had moved about 40 nautical miles east from the position of 10** last night!" ”

Hearing the news, the senior officers at the venue unanimously made a move: raised their hands to look at their watches. It was already 5 o'clock in the morning.

"40 nautical miles?" Tovey seemed to be trying to verify the accuracy of this number, and as if he wanted to express his "little" surprise in his heart. It doesn't take much analysis to read the events reflected in this figure - the German battleship was heading toward the coast of France at an average degree of less than 6 nautical miles per hour!

The veterans were still very calm at this time, and no one blurted out questions such as "that Scharnhorst-class battleship was really damaged", but between the eyebrows, some people were full of expectations, some really entered into deep thinking, in short, there was no complete indifference in the audience.

"Gentlemen!" Tovey suddenly turned around, looked at the old men of the "Senior Staff Committee" and said loudly: "Now there are two possibilities, first. The German battleship really broke down, and secondly, the German battleship didn't really break down! We also have two options, first, take the initiative to attack, and second, not to take the initiative to attack! ”

I probably didn't expect that this fleet commander, who was not absolutely trusted by the top management, would suddenly throw out such a seemingly boring but very sharp question, and the implication of this sentence was to ask: Do we fight or not?

Whether to fight or not may be a sentence, but to say this sentence is not something that can be done in a moment's whim. While thinking deeply, you also have to carry a heavy burden. The veterans who had been in a hundred battles or had a lot of experience were silent for a while, and the strange silence continued, which made the younger officers in the command room feel what a real "suffocating atmosphere" was.

Tovey turned his head to look at the staff officer major, who was standing not far to his right, and the tall officer seemed to be prepared, for he had just written with a pencil on his book with a cowhide cover, and then said without thinking:

"We should still be about 120 nautical miles away from the three identified German warships, which is already within the normal range of carrier-based aircraft! And those German battleships were about 250 nautical miles from the coast of France and would soon enter the radius of the Luftwaffe's ground operations! ”

At this time. Tovey looked at these so-called "senior staff officers" with a provocative look. When discussing the combat plan. These people are more positive than the other, and when it comes to tactics, they are also set in a set. But when it came time to really see the red, he became surprisingly "humble" again.

Patience for a long time, previously very positive Joe. General Parkin finally couldn't help it, and his loud voice broke the fateful silence: "I suggest sending a few seaplanes to reconnoiter first, it won't take too much time!" We can make the next decision based on the reports of the reconnaissance aircraft! ”

On the surface, seaplanes are slightly safer than carrier-based aircraft in such weather, at least they will not sink as soon as they touch the water, but landing on the undulating sea is not an easy job, more importantly, the seaplanes currently in service with the British Navy are still dominated by walruses and swordfish, which are backward models, once they encounter German combat aircraft, they not only have no power to parry, but it is quite good to be able to escape!

Although Tovey was a little hesitant to send such a group of old men to "assist" him, he was not the kind of person with little courage, and after showing a little bit of the courage and determination necessary for an admiral, he gave a new order:

"The cruiser and the aircraft carrier Glorious each sent four reconnaissance planes to conduct sector reconnaissance, the first goal was to confirm the specific position of the fleeing German ship, and the second goal was to observe the situation in the sea around the German ship!"

After receiving the order, the ships quickly took action, and in a short time, four walrus-type seaplanes left the cruiser carrying them through the ejection trajectory, and these seaplanes that looked a little clumsy on the appearance were equipped with high-power telegraphs, and were equipped with special observers and radio communicators, although the degree was slow and the firepower was weak, but the flight stability was relatively ideal, and it was very suitable for carrying out maritime reconnaissance, search and rescue, and low-intensity patrol missions.

More than 10 minutes later, the first carrier-based plane of the "Pipe Nose Herb" type also took off in the rain, and in just three minutes, the four "Pipe Nose Herbs" were like brave swifts that did not look back into the vast rain curtain.

At this time, what was left for Tovey and the British fleet was not only waiting, but also endless expectations.

"It's here again!"

On the light cruiser "Shuishen," which continued to sail at a high altitude of more than 30 knots, the radar monitors sounded the alarm again, but there was more emotion and helplessness in this alert than surprise. In this vast sea, the British crew was not keen on such a game of cat and mouse, because they played the role of rats, and one was in danger of being eaten by a cat if he was not careful. And the cat, armed with 8 203-mm naval guns, fired a volley of shells from the edge of the radar detection in the cold, sometimes far away from the target, sometimes so close that the British broke out in a cold sweat; Or rush over with the greatest sailing, forcing the British sailors to use their sucking strength - and the highest voyage of the Hydra-class light cruisers also happens to be

In this game, you chase me and escape, you withdraw and I play, the two cruisers played at sea all night, and the British crew was tired, and they felt that their opponents were probably tired of this kind of trick, at this time, what everyone wanted to do most should be to return to their respective ships and sleep peacefully!

While the British officers and men on the cruiser "Aquashen" were wondering what trick the German cruiser was going to do this time, they did not at all anticipate the great threat that was quietly approaching. In the absence of a warning response from the radar, it was the sailors on the lookout who were the first to see the planes flying close to the sea -- in this stormy weather, they were stunned to fly at such a dangerous height, and what made them feel even more damp and hot was that a few white marks on the sea surface were rushing towards them......