The ocean is vast and endless deep blue as far as the eye can see, and the warship sails through it, giving people the illusion that they are lost in a nightmare and can never get out of it. However, the sun, moon and stars in the sky are the best reference for ships in the ocean. Looking up at the sky through the ancient instrument of the sextant, even the youngest sailors can clearly feel the latitude and longitude of their warships on past voyages.

In the early morning of 16 October, the German ocean-going fleet had sailed to an area 150 nautical miles northeast of the Shetland Islands. The sea is filled with a faint white fog, and it is completely impossible to see beyond 10,000 meters. Unable to capture the exact position of the mothership at high altitude, the eagles painted with the Iron Cross logo rested in the hangars and decks, and only the mesh radars towering over the top of the bridge were still spinning dutifully.

"It looks like we're really getting close to the North Sea." Bo Mei smiled, but he didn't feel the slightest sense of loss because of the fog that appeared on the sea. The North Sea in the eastern part of the UK has long been known for its frequent sea fog, and the adjacent Norwegian Sea has also been affected to some extent; For Bo Mei, who already wanted to return to China to enjoy the fruits of victory, the familiar weather similar to Beihai in front of him also made him feel a little cordial. Moreover, the fog was not entirely unhelpful to the German fleet. Judging from the map, the entire body of water east of the Shetland Islands was within the combat radius of British land-based aviation, and the sea fog also made it impossible for the British ace force to be used, thus saving the German fleet from the threat from the air.

Seeing Bo Mei's optimistic expression, Fang Yan frowned imperceptibly. Since the fleet embarked on its return journey in the North Atlantic, the whole process has been hardly hindered by any British power, and even if they have the dual superiority of radar and aviation, the British reaction seems to be too weak. You must know that after the sinking of the Hood in history, the British Navy, which was slapped head-on, immediately roared and burst out, concentrated all the forces at its disposal, and spread a net to round up (cricket) Bismarck in the North Atlantic. Now that the British Navy had been beaten by itself, the losses suffered far exceeded the destruction of the Hood, and with the characteristics of the British, they should never have just broken their teeth and swallowed them in their stomachs. Not to mention the fact that they also knew that there was more than 1 damaged ship in the German fleet, and the maneuverability was significantly reduced compared to the beginning!

Will the British deploy forces in the North Sea to prevent their own return? This thought suddenly flashed in Fang Yan's heart. His mind raced, and it was difficult to give an affirmative answer for a while. Due to the fact that the German Navy sank a large number of British warships in battles such as the surprise attack on Scarpa Bay, the current British Navy has become extremely stretched in the dispatch of warships; If the British were to concentrate warships in the North Sea at this time, it would inevitably create a serious vacuum in their power in the North Atlantic, and worsen the situation on their sea transportation lines. However, the British also had a chance to turn the tables on their deaths: if they could intercept and sink a few German aircraft carriers, the British could re-stabilize the situation at sea and no longer be overwhelmed by the German Navy's air superiority.

"The radar room called the navigation room, 2 small targets were found in the southwest 229 directions, the course was due east, the speed was 15 knots, and the distance from the ship was 21km!" Just as his thoughts were turning, Fang Yan suddenly heard the clear voice of the radar soldier coming from the metal microphone in front of him. Fang Yan's heart was shocked, and then his face was full of solemn expression. Although there are many civilian ships that can sail at speeds of 15 knots, they are almost all large ships: according to physics, at the same speed, the power/tonnage ratio of large ships is much lower than that of small boats, and their economy is somehow much higher than the latter. The only way to make small boats high is military warships and racing boats that do not seek economy, the latter of which is obviously not possible in the waters far from land. Therefore, Fang Yan can already conclude that the target discovered by the current German fleet with radar will inevitably only be warships!

"The battleships that appeared in this direction were almost certainly British." Bo Mei said slowly. Although the waters sailing of the German fleet at this moment are very close to the Norwegian coast, the Norwegians, who are afraid that the gods will fight and harm themselves, will never send warships to this war zone belonging to the high seas to provoke right and wrong. And the position of the German battleships will not be so unrestrained, so the identity of these two warships can also be determined. However, after analyzing this result, Bomay's brow furrowed even more, because he found that he could not avoid the two British warships. If it was on the ocean, the German fleet would easily throw off the target with just one left turn of acceleration; At present, however, the German fleet is sailing in the Norwegian waterways, and 20 nautical miles to the left is the continental shelf of Norway. Even without taking into account the political question of invading the territorial waters of a neutral country, it was impossible for the German fleet to ram the land.

"Order the Z9 and Z10 ships to break away from the formation and go to intercept the target. The fleet has accelerated to 28 knots, and we are to rush through this sea area as fast as we can. Bo Mei did not hesitate too much, and immediately ordered. The officers and men of the Zeppelin's communications department then began to get busy, using the dual signals of flags and lights to convey the commander's will to the surrounding ships. A short time later, the two Z-destroyers on the right side of the fleet broke out of the group, and their bow stirred up a large splash of water, and they quickly broke the waves in the direction of the radar.

Seeing Bo Mei giving orders in the center of the navigation room, Fang Yan chose to remain silent this time. He knew that he still had a big gap with these long-standing generals in terms of regular fleet scheduling, and Bo Mei's control of the current situation was obviously stronger than his own. However, faintly, Fang Yan had a trace of worry in his heart: the British warship could still crash into itself at the entrance of the North Sea after losing its track for more than ten days, if it wasn't for the luck of the British, or their search in this area of water had reached an astonishing level!

Ten minutes later, the two German destroyers sent to stop the enemy unsurprisingly found the vague outline of the target in the mist. The German officers and men used their own light identification signals to send out a tentative sound, and the two ships 10,000 meters away were also very crisp, and immediately responded with the light of their guns. A short time later, a volley of shells rushed into the sea, making a large splash hundreds of meters off the starboard side of the German destroyer. To the surprise of the German officers and soldiers, the number of this wave of splashes was as high as 8 regiments, and the opponent's firepower did not seem to be slightly weaker than their own!

"This could never be two British light cruisers armed with 8 152mm guns. The radar waves reflected by their more than 170-meter-long hull will never be the size of a 100-meter-long spot like the one shown now! Faced with questions from the conning tower, the German radar soldier responded categorically. The relieved captain's mind raced, and the detailed information about the various types of British destroyers quickly flashed in his mind, and in a few breaths, the image in the captain's mind was fixed on the "Afridi" class destroyer launched by the British Navy in 1937.

In the 30s, Japan's "Blowing Snow", Italy's "Frescia", and France's super destroyers were launched into service one after another; In front of these large-tonnage and heavily armed counterparts, the British Navy's group of 13,400-ton ordinary destroyers fell into an embarrassing situation of absolute disadvantage. In order to avoid its own destroyers being hoisted, the British Navy was finally forced to abandon the past development idea of auxiliary ships of "insufficient quality and quantity" after the Z-type superdrive was also started in Germany, and decided to build a wave of large ships to reshape its maritime status. This was the birth of the Afridi-class destroyer. Compared with the destroyers of the past, the Afridi class has been greatly improved in tonnage and firepower: its standard displacement has not only reached 1960 tons, but the firepower has increased from 4~5 120mm guns to 8 in one fell swoop. Coupled with a maximum speed of more than 36 knots, this class of ships has been regarded by the British Navy as a reliable support for effective countering the cutting-edge destroyers of other countries.

"Hmph, it's just a manpower-fed main gun, and the whole ship's key points are running naked on paper. It can still be used to scare the indigenous people of Africa, and the only result of an artillery battle with us is to sink! The captain showed contempt in his eyes and said, "Order, the power compartment will reduce the speed to 24 knots, and let the people in the fire control room take good aim." As long as we keep the engagement distance within 5 kilometers, the battleship will not suffer any substantial damage! ”

"Boom!" The cannon fire roared, the red mangs burst out, and the four twin 128mm L42 guns arranged along the center line on the Z9 destroyer simultaneously let out a roar that shook the eardrums; Although its momentum is far less spectacular than that of battleships and cruisers, its essence has not diminished in the slightest. After firing, the gun under the turret quickly lifted the 39kg load, including ******, to the tail of the gun, which was then loaded into the chamber by a strong sailor. Due to the low weight of the shells, the entire reloading took less than 5 seconds. The gun lifter, which rotates with the tail of the gun, also greatly reduces the physical exertion of the soldier during the loading process, so that the gun can maintain a considerable rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute for a long time.

In addition to more mechanized reloading facilities, the Z-type superdrive, with a standard displacement of up to 3,050 tons, is also equipped with a fire control system that is far superior to that of ordinary destroyers. For artillery battles within 7 kilometers, the Z-type superdrive can be effectively competent. In fact, this is a pocket light cruiser with the name of a destroyer, and in the face of a destroyer of a lower level than herself, she will not have any possibility of defeat at all! (To be continued.) )