Just when the anti-Danish coalition was progressing well on land, above the sea, the fleet of the anti-Danish coalition was not idle. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 According to the previously agreed strategy, Lübeck was more conservative for the time being, and the fleet of Hamburg and the fleet of East Friesland would lure the Danish fleet into a decisive battle.

The specific method was that the Hamburg fleet set out from the port of Hamburg with great fanfare and made a gesture to reinforce Lübeck. Moreover, in order to allow the Danes to accurately obtain the whereabouts of the Hamburg fleet, the Hamburg fleet deliberately leaned on the west coast of Denmark and slowly moved north, luring the Danish fleet to intercept it.

At the same time, 40 ships of the East Friesian Lambert will be cruising in the sea more than 30 kilometers away from the Hamburg fleet. As soon as it was discovered that the Hamburg fleet and the Danish interceptor fleet were engaged, they immediately went around to the flank of the Danish fleet and cut off its retreat. Of course, the East Friesian fleet would not immediately enter the battle, but would wait until the two fleets were in a pot of porridge and the Danish fleet could not easily evacuate, and then rush out, attack the flanks and rear of the Danish fleet, and intercept any fleeing Danish ships.

However, beyond 20 kilometers, the telescope will not be able to see ships in the distance. For more than 30 kilometers, it is almost impossible to see even the mast on the opposite side. But Marin came up with a solution, which was to have the Hamburg warship set up a beacon on the roof of the shipyard to report to the East Friesian fleet.

Even because of the curved surface of the Earth, the telescope could not see the Hamburg fleet at a distance of 30 kilometers. But as long as the beacon fire wolf smoke is lit, the wolf smoke goes straight to the sky, and in the distance, it can still be seen with a telescope.

For this purpose, the Hamburg parliament specially purchased a batch of wolf dung and fuel that burned in a concentrated manner, which was particularly smoky, and used it to send signals. After testing, the excavation effect is good.

Moreover, the fleets of both Hamburg and Lübeck have been instructed by the Marin banner. Now the command of the fleet in Hamburg is convenient, and it is enough for the herald to stand in the bow of the ship and wave a large flag. Even if you think about the sound of artillery, you can accurately transmit orders on the battlefield.

In fact, the flag technique also needs to be combined with a telescope to be most effective. Because, in the case of hundreds of ships, the flag on the first ship is definitely invisible to the naked eye by the people on the last ship. In the absence of binoculars, the warships of Hamburg and Lübeck could only rely on the relay of flags to convey naval battle instructions. But in any case, the coalition fleet that uses the flag language is much stronger than the Danish navy, which does not know the flag language. In particular, Marin's fleet, each warship is equipped with a telescope, and the flag is very easy to convey.

……

The information that the Hamburg fleet was sailing along the west coast of Denmark with great fanfare was reported to the Danish intercepting fleet. As a close confidant of Admiral Thomason and the commander of the Danish fleet, Alkinson, who commanded 120 ships, was not incompetent. At the age of 40, he is also an experienced naval commander. This time, Thomas sent him to lead the 120 Danish ships in order to completely crush the Hamburg fleet. As long as the Hamburg fleet is defeated and Lübeck is unable to stand alone, it will be easy to deal with. And, in any case, 120 ships against 90 ships is still very advantageous.

Although it is said that whether it is the navy of Denmark or Hamburg, the strategy of "hiding troops in the people" is popular. It is to draw large merchant ships and elite sailors from merchant ships in wartime to join the navy and participate in battles.

However, Denmark and Hamburg are different. Denmark controlled the vast Kalmar Union, from Denmark to Norway and even to the Faroe Islands and Iceland. In order to control these territories, Denmark has long maintained a fleet of 50 warships, regularly patrolling the waters under its control and cleaning up pirates.

Hamburg, on the other hand, was a small power with only one main city and a secondary port (Cuxport), and although there were many merchant ships, it did not retain a standing fleet. It was only in wartime that large ships and skilled sailors were drawn from merchant ships to war.

Therefore, in terms of combat readiness, the combat readiness of the Hamburg Navy is inferior to that of the Danish Navy. More precisely, the Hamburg admirals were mostly part-time. The Danish Navy, on the other hand, has 50 ships with a total of 5,000 people who are full-time.

This time to besiege the Hamburg fleet, the Danes sent 3,000 of the 5,000 full-time sailors to participate in the battle. Most of Hamburg's more than 9,000 sailors were drawn from merchant sailors. Experienced in real naval battles, no more than 500 people. Even, these 500 people were hired by Hamburg from pirates at the expense of the pirates......

Therefore, whether it is in terms of the number of warships or the quality of sailors, Denmark is completely Hamburg. It's just that no one has thought about the fleet of the East Friesian Lamber.

Because, Europeans are also very conservative in this era. They value tradition very much, and no one pays attention to such a traditional naval weakness as the East Friesian Lamber. What's more, the last time the Danes besieged the port of Emden, they didn't see a single warship sent by the East Friesian Lamber. Therefore, it is normal for European countries to ignore the maritime power of the East Friesian Lamber. At this time, only Spain, which sold 17 large and small Clark galleons to Marin, knew that Marin still had some strength in his hands......

Although Alkinson vaguely felt that something was wrong with Hamburg's approach, out of confidence in the Danish Navy's combat effectiveness, he still decisively led a huge fleet of 120 warships to bypass the northern tip of Jutland and go south along the west coast of Jutland to intercept 90 warships in Hamburg......

A few days later, on the very day that Marin crossed the Elbe with his army, the Danish interception fleet and the Hamburg fleet finally met in the sea 30 kilometers northwest of the port of Esbjerg on the west coast of Jutland......

"Quick, light the beacon smoke!" Commander-in-Chief of the Hamburg Fleet Rolf ordered loudly. When the flag whisperer on the side heard the order, he immediately climbed to the top of the ship and began to wave the two flags in his hand vigorously to convey Rolf's order.

Subsequently, the roofs of several large ships with relatively high towers in the Hamburg fleet were quickly lit with smoke. Because of the addition of wolf dung and smoking wet wood, the smoke was very loud and went straight into the sky......

And 30 kilometers west of the Hamburg fleet, Vihari, the aide-de-camp of the East Friesian naval commander-in-chief Kidd, who had been observing with a telescope on the roof of the flagship Hoffmann 1, quickly observed the wolf smoke, and then he shouted:

"Lord Kidd, the people of Hamburg have lit a cigarette! The Hamburgers have lit a cigarette! ”

Kidd was taking a nap in the captain's quarters at this time, it was February, and the sea was windy and cold. So, he gave the lieutenant the burden of standing on the roof of the ship to blow the wind and observe. As for himself, he hid in the captain's room to avoid the wind. But upon hearing Vihari's shouts, Kidd immediately rushed out and ordered loudly:

"Bannerman, let all the captains come out and wait for orders!"

At this time, most of the captains stayed in the captain's cabin to avoid the wind. But now that the war is about to start, these guys are naturally going to come out and command.

The flag bearer waved the flag in his hand vigorously, and then the lieutenants of the captain, who were in charge of the observation, began to call their captains out.

When the captains came out dressed and dressed, Kidd gave the order again;

"Tell them that all the ships will start sailing north for 1 hour, and then eastward, outflanking the Danish fleet!"

When the flag soldier heard the command, he immediately began to wave the flag vigorously and pass on the order......

At this time, the Danish fleet and the Hamburg fleet had just met each other, and there was no real fight yet. That's why Kidd ordered the fleet to go north first and then east.

Because, if the 40 ships of East Friesland had gone early and were discovered by the Danish fleet, the other side would probably choose to meet the 40 ships of their own side first, rather than the fleet of Hamburg. After all, persimmons must be picked soft pinch.

Although, the East Friesian fleet had a lot of artillery and advanced tactical ideas. But those admirals are not confident enough...... After all, there is no precedent for the use of artillery to defeat a conventional navy. Therefore, the officers and men under Marin are not very confident. If it is discovered by the Danish Navy early, causing the Danish Navy to rush to the East Friesian Navy first, it is easy to collapse due to the lack of confidence in the hearts of the officers.

Therefore, these young soldiers who have not experienced a naval battle are better off waiting until the Danish fleet and the Hamburg fleet are in a pot of porridge, and then suddenly appear and attack the Danish flank.

Moreover, in order to scare the Danes, Marin also instructed Kidd to play the banner of Lübeck when entering the battlefield. This was because, according to common sense, Lübeck's fleet should have been blocked by the Danish fleet left behind. If the Danish fleet attacking the Hamburg fleet found 40 Lübeck ships behind it, one might wonder if the fleet guarding the Øresund was defeated. Otherwise, how could there be Lübeck's fleet behind us?

In this way, if the Danish sailors suspected that the defending fleet might be defeated, they would lose confidence, and the Danish navy's military spirit would easily be shaken and collapsed. When the time comes, it will be easier for the East Friesian fleet and the Hamburg fleet to defeat the Danish fleet......