At 11 a.m. on January 16, 1940, the British Home Fleet pulled anchor from Port Eyre. More than 50 gray-and-white painted warships sailed into www.biquge.info the open sea, showing the world the last cards of the former superpower. 24,000 Royal Navy officers and men were full of war spirit and fury, vowing to tear the German fleet that attacked Scarpa Bay to shreds.

Due to propaganda, the British authorities tried their best to downplay the performance and overall combat effectiveness of the German Navy, and blamed the passive situation of the British Navy in the previous period on the other side's sneak attack. And the majority of British naval officers and sailors were also subconsciously willing to believe that the victory of the Germans was won by a sneak attack, so that they had the same psychological advantage as ever over the defeated German generals. Now the old men have attacked in a big way, and they will not make the grave mistake of being torpedoed one by one when the warship was parked in the harbor; In a dignified battle, the Germanic barbarians will only be beaten by the Royal Navy!

Compared with the optimism of the grassroots sailors, Admiral Forbes, who was in charge of the Rodney, was uneasy. If the Battle of Scapa Bay does not represent anything, then the successive destruction of the Harwood Squadron and the aircraft carrier Fury has proved that the German Navy has a strong power in the field of artillery warfare and aviation strikes, and it is a fierce opponent that he must not underestimate!

Forbes boarded the bridge and quietly looked around the ship under his command in the bitter cold wind. Four battleships, led by the Rodney, lined up in a column, followed by the 21,600-ton "Eagle" old aircraft carrier. Five Southampton-class light cruisers and 20 destroyers were located in front of and on either side of the main battleship, like loyal light cavalry protecting the noble prince in the center.

In order to make this fleet look more like the core and main force of the British home fleet, and also to keep these precious large ships as much as possible, the frigates brought out by Forbes this time are the best of the home fleet, and their oldest ships are no more than 4 years old. For the escort combination of K-class cruisers + Z-class destroyers of the German fleet, Forbes believes that this group of warships under his command is fully capable of fighting with it.

At this time, in the rear sea area that Forbes could not see, the fast fleet led by the Hood was also slowly following. In addition to the once world's largest capital ship, under the command of Vice Admiral John Tovey were two regular fleet aircraft carriers, the "Ark Royal" and the "Glorious", as well as five heavy cruisers and 15 destroyers. The intention of the British fleet in this distribution of forces was clear: in the event of fine weather, it would mainly rely on aircraft carriers to dispatch carrier-based aircraft, together with land-based air forces on the Shetland Islands, to carry out heavy strikes against the enemy; If the weather was bad and the aircraft were not suitable for sortie, the Hood would rush forward at high speed with five heavy cruisers and use large-caliber naval guns to wipe out the stubborn enemy.

These 15 destroyers are also heavily mine-mounted G and H models, all equipped with two 5-pack 533 mm torpedo tubes, and they are regarded as an effective presence to make up for the lack of gunpower of the fast fleet ships and deal with the German super battleships in the event of a surprise attack.

All the more than 50 warships of these two fleets are all the mobile forces that Britain can squeeze out in the three oceans at present. As soon as he thought of this, Forbes suddenly understood the heavy burden on the shoulders of Jericho, the commander of the Grand Fleet. The difference is that Jericho was a strong soldier at that time, and his comprehensive strength was much stronger than the other party; And the trump card in his hand is a pile of rags that should have been thrown into the garbage heap a long time ago, and compared with the same type of warships of the Germans, it is completely the difference between a pauper and a king.

Forbes gave a low wry smile and comforted himself with British humor, at least, he didn't have to worry about whether the battlefleet turned left or right. Now there are only 4 ships in total, and even if you turn around after seeing the enemy, you will have time to set up a battle formation!

Despite the anxiety of the British top brass about the situation in Norway, Forbes's fleet could not rush to the operational seas at full speed as the bigwigs were counting on. The destroyer's range is only about 4,000 nautical miles, and its endurance at high speed is less than 1,000 nautical miles.

Therefore, Forbes ordered the fleet to maintain a cruising speed of 14 knots and move unhurriedly towards the Faro waterway. Considering that German submarines would also frequent this area when entering the Atlantic, the British fleet also had to take the "Z" anti-submarine route, which further delayed the arrival in the theater of operations. Forbes expects that the British fleet will not be able to complete the 500-nautical-mile straight line on the map until the early morning of the 18th.

Early the next morning, the British fleet had sailed out of the Faroe Channel and reached the southwest of Shetland Peninsula. The sea visibility is very much in line with the daily life of the North Sea, and under a veil of fog, the lookouts can only faintly see the water less than 5 kilometers away. Suddenly, the Rodney's radio room received a garbled message, and tracing the strength and direction of the signal, the British sailors discovered that the signal was coming from the area where their fleet was located!

"Damn, we were spotted by a German submarine! The ships were ordered to keep a close eye on the water and take care to avoid torpedo attacks! Admiral Forbes reacted immediately and yelled at the adjutant beside him. After several months of fighting, the British had discovered the horror anomaly of the German torpedo: not only was it faster than lightning, but it also sailed with less than half the traces of a normal torpedo, and the slightest mistake on the part of a warship or merchant ship would be almost immediately shattered. All these characteristics show that German torpedoes have broken through the industry problem of pure oxygen combustion, and Forbes is not only horrified, but also vigilant and fearful of these super torpedoes has reached an unprecedented situation.

However, Forbes' order was still given a beat too late. The German captain in the sea was clearly a veteran, maneuvering into a suitable attack position before radioing the situation. Four 533-mm torpedoes swooped down on the British fleet from the right front like thunderous swords, and were not detected by British sailors until 2 kilometers away. The light cruiser Southampton, which bore the brunt of the attack, began to turn sharply, but the incoming torpedoes still seemed to be impossible to dodge. The British sailors on the deck turned pale, but they did not dare to make up their minds to abandon the ship and jump into the water, now it is January, the temperature of the North Sea will definitely not exceed 5 degrees, and it is also a life for them to escape for their lives!

"Boom!" Suddenly, as if thousands of spring thunders exploded in the sky, a wall of surging water hundreds of meters high suddenly surged up in front of the starboard side of the Southampton, and the red purple and orange light waves were like the scorching sun in the sky, even under the sweep of the monstrous water waves, it still bloomed dazzling and dazzling. Forbes's cheek muscles twitched, and his teeth were already biting painfully: in order to get to Bergen quickly, the Z-shaped route of the fleet was not very good, but he didn't expect that this little flaw was caught by the German submarine, and he lost 1 valuable sub-capital ship! Judging from past experience, it would be a problem for this large light patrol company with a standard displacement of 9,100 tons to return to Scarpa Bay nearby! (To be continued.) )