The sun was shining, the waves were blowing, and a fleet flying the St. George's cross flag was speeding east. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoUnlike the fleets that hunted down the German pocket cruisers, the current fleet had a vast line-up: a full 3 squadrons of 24 destroyers were on guard in front and to the left and right, and 4 cruisers were behind them. And in the middle of the fleet, a giant ship with a total length of 242 meters is flying the commander flag of the vice admiral: the three majestic and solemn twin 381 mm main gun turrets clearly show the world her identity - the prestige!

With the sound of hurried footsteps, an adjutant walked briskly into the navigation control tower. He held a telegram page with the fragrance of ink in his hand, and after receiving the nod of the fleet commander Holland, he opened his mouth and read: "I have just received news from the destroyer Anvi: she has been attacked by a large number of German warships in the patrol area 100 nautical miles southwest of Bergen, and the other side has 4 aircraft carriers and 13~15 cruisers and destroyers. The German ship headed southeast, at a speed of no less than 26 knots, and at the moment she was out of contact with the German fleet. ”

"What?" Hearing the adjutant's report, the seven or eight staff officers in the command tower instantly surrounded them, staring at the newly printed message, their faces full of disbelief and shock. After a few breaths, they turned their eyes to the chart hanging on the bulkhead, and for a moment the command tower quickly fell into oppressive silence, leaving only the sound of everyone's heavy and painful breathing lingering in their ears.

"Could it be that the reconnaissance of the Anvi was wrong, after all, there is a white fog in the Norwegian waterways today that is not weaker than that of the North Sea......" Seeing that the command room was terrifyingly quiet for a while, a lieutenant staff officer who had just been transferred to the prestige last month couldn't help but speak. Normally, due to light, vision, distance, and the personal qualities of the lookout, it is normal for reconnaissance to make mistakes on the sea: even experienced veterans may have a huge deviation in the judgment of the battleship's class, not to mention the possibility of camouflage work such as camouflage painting and exterior modification. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for the commander of the fleet to keep a copy of the suspicion of the military newspaper of the front, otherwise wait for some red deer on the front line to pit the whole fleet to death!

Hearing the words of this young staff officer, Vice Admiral Holland glanced at him gloomily: this young officer is really too young, too simple, and his understanding of naval warfare is still in a state of paper talk. If it had been yesterday, Holland himself would have frowned after receiving this report, but more than an hour ago, two destroyers including the Ashanti had just been sunk by the Germans, which is enough to prove that the Norwegian waterways have lost the tranquility of the past few days, and the long-lost German aircraft carrier fleet is very likely to have arrived in this sea area. At this juncture, the telegram from the Anvy is quite credible. Moreover, even if there were discrepancies in the telegram about the size and number of ships of the Germans, the fact that the Antway was attacked by several enemy ships speaks for itself: in the battle plan drawn up by the British Navy, there were more than two detachments, and only the fleet commanded by Holland. Now that the Avi is under attack, is it not the main force of the German fleet or whom?

"The Germans have already entered the North Sea...... "Holland whispered, his eyes rediscovering his shock and remorse. Two weeks earlier, Holland, who had been searching for German pocket battleships in the North Atlantic, had been ordered by the Admiralty in London to return to the waters off Faroe north of Scotland and form a new battle group with several other search fleets to patrol east of the Shetland Islands. As for the abnormal situation of transferring such a large number of warships from the Atlantic, which was in need of them to sweep and clear, London also explained in a secret telegram: the German fleet with 1 aircraft carrier and 2 heavy cruisers and serious damage was very likely to choose to return to the mainland, and Holland's task was to restrain this force and eliminate the main force of the other side in the middle of the return voyage.

Upon receiving this order, Holland immediately threw himself into the effort to intercept the German fleet with 100% enthusiasm. Not to mention the heavy losses inflicted on British shipping lines in the North Atlantic, the tragedy that occurred in Scapa Bay on 3 September alone was enough to make him hate the German aircraft carrier fleet to the core, and almost crave flesh. Under Holland's command, the British Navy deployed three search nets with destroyers and torpedo boats in the waters bordering western Norway with the North Sea, and they were far more closely guarded than at any time since the beginning of the war.

However, the itinerary of the German fleet was not what Holland expected. Because Fang Yan took the fleet to Murmansk, which was 1,200 nautical miles from Iceland, for a round of replenishment, Holan had a serious deviation in his prediction of the return date of the German fleet: the British fleet had been in vain for seven or eight days at the exit of the North Sea, but nothing had been found. Under the shroud of this unfavorable beginning, the enthusiasm of ordinary British officers and soldiers was quickly eroded, and the intensity of patrols inevitably decreased. By the time the British officers and men were suspicious of the orders of their superiors and had not taken them seriously, the German fleet moved quickly south from the north and pierced Holland's search system under the cover of sea fog.

"General, let's catch up immediately! The area patrolled by the Avi was already our last search net, and there were no other ships behind her, and only we could stop the German fleet. At present, our fleet is only 60 nautical miles from the destroyer Anvi, and if the Germans flee southeast at 15 knots, we are expected to make contact with the enemy by 4 p.m. With the 15-inch cannon of the Prestige, all the German aircraft carriers that appeared were sent to the bottom of the sea! Captain Jerome, the captain of the Prestige, was glaring and pleaded loudly.

Jerome was confident about the condition of his ship: the Prestige was built in 1916, but after two major refits, it was no match for the power it had been when it was first built. Especially after the completion of the second reform in February 1939, its fire control performance has made a qualitative leap with the reconstruction of the upper bridge: even against a high-speed moving target 20,000 meters away, Colonel Jerome is sure that he can kill with 6 main guns in one shot!

"I'm afraid that the situation reported by the Anvy is true, and the speed of the German fleet exceeds 26 knots." Huo Lan spoke slowly, his expression full of unresolvable heaviness. Fearing the threat of German land-based aviation and S-torpedo boats, and also to avoid being detected by the Germans, the main fleet commanded by Holland had been cruising in the north-central part of the North Sea; This certainly had the effect of concealing the people's eyes, but it also made it impossible to meet the German fleet heading south from the Norwegian waterway head-on, and could only cut in or pursue it from the flanks.

Originally, with the Prestige reaching a maximum speed of 30.75 knots, it would not be a problem to lead a group of junior brothers to invade like fire, but now that the German fleet has been discovered in a position that is not only quite south, but also may have a mysterious high speed, this makes it difficult for the Prestige to enter the battlefield. The Northern Hemisphere is now on the eve of winter, with just over nine hours of daylight per day in the area around 60 degrees north latitude; If it had not been able to catch up during the day, the German fleet would have already run back to the coastal waters of Jutland by the early morning of the next day!

Despite this concern, Horan gave the order to pursue. In any case, he must fulfill his duty first, and as for the final result, he can only wait for the destiny of heaven. In order to avoid losing the target as much as possible, Holland not only scattered the destroyers of his fleet as a reconnaissance tentacle, but also sternly urged the Anvi and nearby ships to bite the German fleet and report its navigation and direction to the flagship.

Holland's strict orders had a certain effect. In total, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., three British ships spotted the advancing German fleet. However, as soon as they emerged from the fog, they were bombarded by the guns of the German battleships, two of which were quick to retreat like the Avi, and one of the torpedo boats that were smashed into a colander by the 128-mm guns of the German ships. After these contacts, detailed telegrams about the German fleet were sent to Holland one after another. Although there are slight discrepancies in the reports of the ships, two points can already be concluded: the other side is indeed the main force of the German aircraft carrier group, and its speed is definitely more than 25 knots.

"Hell, didn't those Admiralty guys say that at least 1 aircraft carrier and 2 cruisers in the German fleet were seriously wounded and dying, and the speed was desperately no more than 14 knots?" After receiving the fourth telegram, Horan couldn't help but throw it to the ground and roared loudly. One or two reconnaissances may be wrong, but if all four ships in a row send out a report that the opposing fleet is fast, it is absolutely certain. As soon as he thought of this, Holland felt a little resentful in his remorse and self-blame: if the Admiralty had not given this information about the cheat, then he would definitely not deploy the main force of the fleet on the flanks, and even if he took some danger, he would have to carry out a frontal attack!

"This piece of information given to us by the Admiralty should be at least partially accurate. Otherwise, if the German fleet had not had obvious limits on speed, then their current position should not have been the Norwegian waterways on their way back, but the continued hunting of our merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Colonel Jerome slowly tapped on the table, and suddenly his eyes flashed, and he said, "Perhaps, those German battleships that were seriously damaged sank in the middle of the process due to the failure of the management?" In order to salvage those ships, the German fleet spent several more days on the road, so it sailed to the North Sea today. If you think about it this way, everything can be explained. (To be continued.) )