The wind roared, the waves danced, and the aircraft carrier Blücher sailed through the raging waves, and the hull of the ship continued to crash into the sky. As the waves rolled up, the entire aircraft carrier also fluctuated violently; From a distance, it seems that a flat boat rises and falls with the waves in the wind and waves, which makes people tremble.

"Damn the North Atlantic, the wind and waves here are always so elusive!" Bo Mei spoke with a gloomy expression, his words full of anger at the current state of the sea. According to the meteorological information of the German Navy, this area is most likely to experience cloudy weather with less wind and waves in late autumn; However, when the own fleet sailed into it, there were violent waves here, which directly made the reconnaissance plan of the aircraft carrier aircraft come to naught. Since the storm was not caused by the cloud and rain area, it was difficult for the German fleet to get rid of the influence of the storm and wave by sailing: after all, no one could judge the specific range of the wind and wave in vain, and rushing around like a headless fly was a taboo in the nautical field!

In order not to complicate the incident, the German fleet, which had spent an extra day on refueling, continued to sail as originally planned. At the same time, the German fleet encountered another unfavorable situation associated with the rough sea conditions, and that was the further reduction of the speed of the Blucher. For the damage management team members on the warship, the only way to deal with the ship's flooding is to take a temporary way of curing headaches, that is, plugging the leak with wooden corks and other items. As for the complete repair of the crack, it is necessary to enter the dry dock and be solved by a professional construction team.

Once the warship sails too fast or encounters violent waves, the gaps that have been temporarily blocked by the soldiers in charge of damage are very likely to collapse again due to the increase in external pressure, causing a new round of water ingress and damage. In order to avoid this from happening on the Blucher, the speed of the German fleet had to be drastically reduced from 16 knots to 11 knots. This slowed them down, adding a lot of uncertainty and danger to the entire voyage.

A few steps away, Fang Yanxing's eyes also showed a solemn look, but he was not as worried and angry as Bo Mei, but still seemed calm and calm. Compared with the historical situation when Bismarck died alone, the current situation of the German fleet is not much better; Taking a step back, if it is really impossible to do anything, it is a big deal for him to abandon this wounded light aircraft carrier, and then use the advantages of high speed and aviation to carry out a general liquidation of the British fleet that came to encircle and suppress. Even with the loss of this part of the aircraft, the air power of the German aircraft carrier fleet is still the best in the world; In the face of the British warships with weak air defense and poor armor, it was only a matter of time before they could be wiped out!

"Jonas, our radar is working properly, right?" Bo Mei tapped his fingers lightly on the hard tabletop and asked in a calm voice. Fang Yan nodded and said, "Although the Zeppelin's radar is temporarily closed for maintenance now, there will always be two large sea detection radars in the fleet in working condition. As long as the radar makes a discovery, the flagship can get a report at the first time. ”

Speaking of this, Fang Yan suddenly remembered the scene when the fleet was attacked by a British submarine two days ago, and then added: "However, after returning to Germany, we still need to further strengthen the fleet's radar and sonar systems. For those submarines that are half-floating on the surface and lurking in the water, we still lack perfect detection methods. The number of British submarines is not much smaller than ours, so this enemy should not be ignored by us. ”

"Now the British can only rely on submarines as a weapon to pose a threat to the German fleet." Hoffman, the captain of the Zeppelin, took Fang Yan's words, and his words were full of contempt and contempt for the British Navy, a long-cherished enemy. Today, in the field of front-line warships, the newly born German Navy has an overwhelming performance advantage over the British fleet; Even the number of warships that the latter was most proud of, and which had played the role of the reich's supernatural pillar for the past two hundred years, had shrunk dramatically by the debacle at Scapa Bay, and could no longer maintain its oppression and intimidation against the German navy. In Hoffman's mind, the British Navy today is a dead leaf in late autumn: as soon as it is blown by the wind, it will immediately fall from the branches and turn into mud on the ground!

Seeing Hoffman's inexplicably confident look, Fang Yan couldn't help frowning slightly. It is true that the current situation facing the German Navy has indeed changed dramatically from the historical plane, but this does not mean that the British Navy has completely become a lamb to the slaughter, and can only be trampled and ravaged by Germany. In fact, this army still has a number of excellent sailors and generals, especially the latter's on-the-spot command, which will play a significant role in influencing and advancing the entire battle situation. Even with a good hand, Fang Yan never despised the enemy of Britain tactically. What's more, Roosevelt, the imperialist, always wanted to extend the tentacles of American power into Europe, and Britain, with this golden thigh, must be worthy of Germany's full effort!

While thinking about it, Fang Yan suddenly saw a set of signal flags hanging above the bridge of the heavy aircraft carrier "Strassel" in front of him; The bitter wind screamed and howled, blowing those colorful flags into the hunt. Fang Yan's eyes froze, and an ominous premonition inexplicably appeared in his heart. After two minutes of waiting, a communications officer's report came from a microphone in the command room: The carrier-based radar of the aircraft carrier Strassel had found four targets 25 km north-west due west, and it was preliminarily determined that they were two large and medium-sized ships. The ships are heading eastward at a speed of about 16 knots and are expected to be in the visual range of their fleet in 20 minutes.

"4 large and medium-sized ships, 16 knots, this must be a British warship!" Bo Mei's face changed suddenly, and a gentle face was full of shock and solemnity at the moment. At present, there are only three pocket cruisers that have escaped from the German aircraft carrier group and are scattered throughout the Atlantic Ocean in the northern and southern hemispheres. Therefore, in any respect, these ships, which were significantly faster than ordinary merchant ships, should be Allied naval warships. Thinking of the telegram sent by the British submarine a few days ago, Bomay confirmed his suspicion: this detachment must have come to kill him after receiving the telegram!

It's just that the luck of this group of British people is too good, right? It is unbelievable that the position of the German fleet was accurately captured directly on the vast sea without sending any reconnaissance aircraft to locate it! You know, even if the German fleet was looking for the British convoy before, it needed to rely on carrier-based aircraft to provide preliminary reconnaissance to be effective, and the British convoy was more than one. At this thought, Bomay couldn't help but doubt the accuracy of this report, could it be that the radar of the aircraft carrier Straser was malfunctioning?

"General, the Hippert aircraft carrier also signaled almost the same flag as the Strassel." After a while, the communications officer reported through the microphone again. Bo Mei slowly spat out a syllable of "understand", and there was no doubt about the relevant information in his heart. Although he still couldn't figure out how the fleet was here, Bome knew that there was only one thing he had to do at the moment, and that was how to deal with this unexpected situation.

Seeing Bo Mei's gaze turn towards him, Fang Yan thought quickly in his mind for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "This battle is inevitable. The slow speed of the Blucher now makes it impossible for us to carry out a wide evasion as we did before; If the enemy fleet continues to maintain its current speed and course, then our fleet will inevitably come into their field of vision. In my opinion, instead of reluctantly evading and delaying the detection of enemy warships, it is better to take the initiative with frigates and keep them out of the threat zone of our aircraft carriers. At the same time, this way of meeting the enemy also helps us to hide the true size of the fleet. With the exception of the Blucher, the other four carriers were able to move in at high speed, and they were completely able to avoid any contact with the incoming enemy warships. ”

"If there are British battle cruisers among the incoming warships, then our frigates can also attract them in another direction, thus ensuring the safety of the aircraft carrier." Speaking of this, Fang Yan suddenly felt that the meaning he expressed might cause misunderstanding, and hurriedly added, "Of course, our frigates are not so easy to be left behind. They also have high speeds, and with the help of smoke, they can escape most enemies. ”

Bo Mei nodded, agreeing with Fang Yan's opinion in his heart. Judging by the current situation, it is the best option for the main forces of the frigate and the aircraft carrier to part ways. Although if he did so, Commander Bomay, who was in charge of the Zeppelin, was suspected of abandoning his subordinates and running away alone, the aircraft carrier itself was not a product of surface artillery warfare, and the forcible behavior would inevitably suffer heavy blows. Therefore, it is understandable that the flagship retreated before the battle broke out.

With the order of the flagship, the formation of the German fleet began to change. The four aircraft carriers, including the Zeppelin, turned their rudder sharply to the right, and at the same time, their speed also increased on the basis of the original 11 knots; Three K-class heavy cruisers with nine Z-class superpilots turned to the northwest and headed head-on at the enemy ships under radar guidance. The Blucher slowed eastward under the protection of the last destroyer, in order to stay as far away as possible from the front-line theater of operations.

On those 12 frigates, all the German naval officers and men were eager to try and gear up. Since the beginning of the war, the vast majority of them have not been in battle: watching the frequent take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft on aircraft carriers on weekdays, these officers and men have long been itching, and they only hate that there is no stage where they can play their bright. Now, the officers and men on these escort warships have finally waited for this opportunity. The approaching points of light on the radar are a perfect litmus test for them to prove their worth! (To be continued.) )