After the fleet sailed, Rogerstvinsky informed the whole fleet of the imminent entry into German territorial waters, and informed the whole fleet of the news of the Kiel Canal, and the whole fleet was suddenly jubilant, which at least avoided the constant shuttle of ships in the Skagerrak Strait, and God knows if the ships coming back and forth would be mixed with the Japanese mine-striking ships and then attack themselves.

But even so, after sailing out of Libaya, the whole fleet was still full of unease, and Rozhestvinsky was not a person who knew how to hide his fears, so his first order after the voyage was: "Do not undress when you sleep, take off all the main guns, load them with live ammunition, and aim at every ship that approaches." Because in his opinion, every ship has the possibility of being a Japanese lightning striker.

Such an order caused the whole fleet to be equally frightened and uneasy, and the commander's affection would infect his subordinates, and from this point of view, Rozhest Stevensky was indeed a bad commander.

In this case, fatigue and fear continue to accumulate, and it is understandable that the farce of history is being made. But fortunately, this time, their fear did not last as long as 5 days and 5 nights.

After a day and night of sailing, the 2nd Pacific Fleet approached German territorial waters, and the sky was overcast.

"Report! A ship shadow appears ahead! Oh, God! A big shadow! It's a battleship! The panicked shouts from the lookout made Rogerstwinsky's heart skip a beat, but fortunately he was not too frightened to think that this was the main fleet of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and that the only country that could have large warships in the Baltic Sea was Germany.

"Immediately order, the whole fleet is strictly forbidden to open fire! No, it's forbidden to even aim! All the gunners put their hands in my pockets! Roger Stevensky immediately ordered that he did not want to have any misunderstanding with the Germans, let alone a war with the German navy, and that he could not afford to refuse to open the Kiel Canal alone.

It's okay to aim at civilian ships with nervousness along the way. These people also dare to be angry, but if they aim at the German battleship and are understood by the Germans as a provocation, then they will have a lot of fun.

The shadow of the ship slowly approached, and at the sight of the German naval flag fluttering above, Roger Stevensky let out a long sigh of relief. Now the safety of his fleet is guaranteed.

Rozhest Stevensky recognized that the German Navy's newest battleship Wittelsbach class was approaching, four battleships with a larger tonnage than his flagship Duke Suvorov and equipped with six 283 mm naval guns, which looked more concise, crisp and elegant, showing the strength of the German Navy.

Since the German fleet was flying the flag of the rear admiral, the Russian fleet flying the flag of the vice admiral first fired a salute, and the Russians immediately returned the salute.

Then the Germans made a beautiful turn in front of the Russians, and the 180-degree sharp turn showed off the good handling and stability of the German ship in front of the Russians, and also showed the excellent ship handling skills of the German Navy. Let Roger Stevensky be amazed.

Of course, Roger Stevensky didn't know that the Germans had been practicing for a long time in this big turn, and Tirpitz was aiming for this effect. When the German fleet turned around and sailed in the same direction as the Russian fleet, the German battleship at the head sent a light signal and offered to send a liaison officer to the Russian fleet to guide the work.

Rogerst Winsky immediately agreed, and soon the Germans lowered a transport boat carrying a German lieutenant commander.

"Your Excellency, Commander of the Fleet. I was a liaison officer sent by the Imperial German Navy and a staff officer of the 2nd Battleship Squadron. Reinhart? Lieutenant Commander Scheer, I will be in charge of guiding your fleet, requesting boarding. The German lieutenant colonel, who had boarded the bridge of the Duke of Suvorov under the guidance of sailors, saluted Rozhest Stevensky and immediately explained his intentions.

"Welcome to my flagship, Duke Suvorov, I am the Imperial Russian Navy, the Second Pacific Fleet. Vice Admiral Roger Stevensky. Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask you to do your best to complete your work. Rogie Stevensky replied that the German officer in front of him did not have Feng in his name, indicating that he was not an aristocrat. A non-aristocratic lieutenant colonel is not worthy of being too polite as a noble lieutenant general.

However, Rogerst Winsky could still feel from the German lieutenant commander a temperament that was not found in the officers and men of his own fleet. Energetic and confident. With full enthusiasm to complete his mission, the spirit of the German Navy can be seen from this lieutenant colonel, and compared with the mental state of the officers and men in his fleet, Roger Stevensky is full of emotion.

However, soon this sentiment of Rogerstwinsky was no longer there, because the lieutenant colonel began to point fingers at his fleet: "Your Excellency, your Excellency, all the officers and men of your fleet are staying in their positions, and they have untied their gun jackets, and it is against international law to do so when they are in the waters of other countries, and this kind of behavior is also likely to cause misunderstanding between the two sides, please order your sailors to put on their gun jackets and leave their battle positions, and do not make any unsuitable moves." ”

Covered with a gunsuit? Leave your position? Leave the entire fleet defenseless? Such a request made Roger Stevensky, who had always been frightened, think too much and seemed a little hesitant. He was not afraid that the Germans would come to him for trouble, but what if, what if, all of a sudden, the crazy Japanese mine-strike ships came out and attacked him right under the noses of the Germans?

"Your Excellency! You are entering the territorial waters of the German Empire, please follow the instructions of the German Imperial Navy, and the German Imperial Navy will guarantee the safety of your navigation there. Seeing that Rozhestvinsky was still hesitating, Scheer said unceremoniously: "If Your Excellency does not give an order, please allow me to leave the ship, and your fleet will not be able to pass through the Guò Kiel Canal." ”

The German admiral's idea of ensuring his safety poked Rogerst Winsky into the question, and he was momentarily ashamed of his cowardice, but the attitude of the German lieutenant commander in front of him was so tough that he was very ashamed.

But looking at the four German battleships sailing in the same direction on the side of the side, Rogerstwinsky finally held back his temper and ordered to do as Scheer said.

Putting on a gun suit and leaving the battle position made the Russian sailors very nervous for a while, but in the company of the German battleships, the fear in the hearts of the Russians was slowly fading, after all, this was German territorial waters.

Fear is often self-scare, and when fear reaches a peak, it often does irrational things, and beyond this peak, the fear will slowly decline. The accompaniment of the Germans allowed the Russians to cross the top, so as not to do hysteria later.

The fleet sailed slowly, and as it reached the Gulf of Kiel, Rozhestwinsky noticed that two more battleships were sailing not far away, but one of the two battleships did not fly the German naval flag, while the other flying the naval flag sent a light message to the Russian fleet in greeting.

Rogerstwinsky gave the order to send a light signal in return, and on the other hand, he asked Scheer, who was standing next to him: "Is this your country's new battleship?" ”

The construction of the Braunschweig-class was not a secret at this time, so Scheer replied generously: "Yes, Your Excellency, these two ships are the Brunswick-class lead ship Braunschweig and the No. 2 ship Alsace, the Braunschweig has been completed, and it has joined the Imperial German Navy at the Kiel Naval Base, and the commissioning ceremony was just held yesterday, joining the second battleship fleet, and then it will be trained for 6 months in the Baltic Sea.

The outfitting of the Alsace has been completed, and now the final voyage tests and commissioning are underway, and it should be that the Alsace is being tested, and the first task of the Braunschweig is to be the companion ship of the Alsace test. Scheer explained.

"Put new battleships into service the day before the arrival of our fleet? And today they deliberately appeared in front of the fleet, are the Germans demonstrating? Roger Stevensky thought silently as he looked at the German battleships that were drifting away.

The superstructure of the new battleships of the Germans was exactly the same as the 4 battleships sailing next to them, and it is clear that the succession between them can be seen. The stern knapsack design used by the Germans on the armored cruiser was used on the battleship this time, providing a good firing range for the No. 2 turret while making the layout of the power compartment more convenient, and the six 11-inch naval guns had powerful firepower.

For a moment, Rogerst Winsky wavered a little at his own as the battleship beneath his feet was the best battleship in the world, as His Majesty the Tsar had put it, and this vacillation was again attributed to the effect that the Germans had deliberately demonstrated.

In fact, this was a wrongful treatment for the Germans, and after Jochen said that there was no need to open the eyes of the Russians with all his money, Tirpitz did not think of giving Roger Stevensky eye medicine. This time it was really a pure coincidence, the Braunschweig was built in Kiel, and after all the work was completed, the German Navy drove the Braunschweig back to the Kiel naval base on the same day after the commissioning ceremony at the Germania shipyard, so it was normal for the Russians to come out for a walk today.

Although it was not intentional, Tirpitz's original little ninety-nine was realized, thinking that he left for the Far East with all the main forces of the Baltic Fleet, and the huge fleet composed of the 4 battleships accompanying him and the 6 new battleships built by the Germans would become the most powerful military force in the Baltic Sea, and there was no navy in the entire Baltic Sea that could compete with it, and Rogerstvinsky still had a little melancholy.

However, this melancholy did not last long, and the entrance to the Kiel Canal was already in sight. (To be continued......)