On the battleship 'Caesar', the flagship of the Combined Fleet, the commander, Admiral Hipper, was already resting. The German Navy's 'New Caesar-class' battleships were rebuilt and converted from the 'Lion-class' battleships, which had already completed half of their hulls.

The British Navy's warship design has always focused on enjoyment. The captain's cabin not only has a nice lounge, but also an office. This is undoubtedly very good on a battleship.

Admiral Hipper, too, was very satisfied with this. However, after the continuation of the construction of the 'Caesar-class' battleships, the German Navy no longer started to build battleships, which made Admiral Hipper, who had been on the capital ship for most of his life, very reluctant. However, they also know that the German Navy will build more aircraft carriers in the future, and that is because aircraft carriers are the mainstream of the future, which will help the German Navy win the next more fierce naval battle. Therefore, not only did they not prevent aircraft carriers from replacing capital ships and becoming the main force of the Navy, but they pushed as much as they could. However, Admiral Hipper and others still hoped that the huge main fleet of the German Navy would be able to contribute its own strength in future naval battles.

"Bang bang bang!" There was a knock on the hatch.

Admiral Hipper rolled out of bed at once, quickly put on his pants, put on his clothes, and opened the hatch.

"What's going on? Brigadier. Admiral Hipper asked.

"General, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has gone out of the Adriatic Sea and into the Mediterranean. However, instead of sailing west, they went east. "Commodore Barrod, the captain of the battleship 'Caesar', reported.

"Huh?" Admiral Hipper was stunned for a moment, and he also felt it, this question was probably more troublesome.

Admiral Hipper and Brigadier General Barrod quickly went to the Command Tower. Chief of Staff of the Home Fleet Richter? Vice Admiral Field, Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Vice Admiral Maugough, Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Raeder, Commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, Vice Admiral Ingel, Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Ruitt, have all arrived. Obviously, this unusual move of the Austro-Hungarian Navy caused a big problem in the plans of the German Navy.

"Your Excellency, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has abandoned its westward advance. It is clear that they did not want to enter the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar and chose to go the other way. Now it seems that they wanted to force their way into the Suez Canal and then enter the Indian Ocean through the canal. "Richter? Lieutenant General Field said.

Admiral Hipper nodded: "This is undoubtedly a very tricky issue. Once the Austro-Hungarian navy enters the Indian Ocean, it will be even more difficult for us to catch them. Once in the Indian Ocean, they can enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Cape of Good Hope, or they can detour through Australia into the Western Pacific Ocean, and then bypass South America into the Atlantic. This will make our pursuit extremely problematic. ”

Originally, Admiral Hipper thought that this naval battle, although there were some dangers. But with the strength of the combined fleet of the German Navy, it was completely enough to crush the Austro-Hungarian Navy. So, there will be no problem for them to win. At most, there will be some casualties. But now it seems that the Austro-Hungarian Navy is not ready to sit idly by, knowing that they are inferior to the German Navy, they will not stupidly come to die, but choose a detour to try to get rid of the pursuit of the German Navy.

"Your Excellency, Commander, may you order our garrison in the Suez Canal to intercept the Austro-Hungarian Navy?" Lieutenant General Ingnoll asked.

Admiral Hippel shook his head: "We are in the Suez Canal, and there is only one regiment of security forces. They had only a dozen 75-mm field guns. Let them use those field guns against the Austro-Hungarian Navy? That's obviously impossible. ”

"If we had known, we should not have rushed to Gibraltar too soon. If we had stayed in the eastern Mediterranean, we would have been able to hold off the Austro-Hungarian navy. Even in the northern part of the Red Sea, at the southern end of the Suez Canal, using the terrain, the Austro-Hungarian Navy could be intercepted. Lieutenant General Ingnoll sighed.

Although, the Indian Ocean Fleet was inferior in strength to the Austro-Hungarian Navy. However, the Red Sea was narrow, and the Suez Canal was only able to allow the capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy to pass through. As long as they deploy a few capital ships at the mouth of the canal, they can block it tightly. The Austro-Hungarian navy, which entered the Red Sea through the canal, would only be blocked there by them.

It's just that it's too late to say that.

"The move of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was indeed unexpected. They actually gave up the shortest distance into the Atlantic, and chose to give up the first time to join the US Navy, but chose to take a long detour. Now, we have no other choice but to pursue it. Fortunately, the capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were not too fast. In particular, their 'Combined Forces-class' battleships have a maximum speed of only 20 knots. Until now, it is already God blessed to be able to ensure a speed of more than eighteen knots. On the other hand, our warships are all cutting-edge warships. Even if you increase the speed to 23 or 24 knots, you will have no problem at all. In this way, we will be able to close the distance between them by 5 knots per hour. At the end of the day, it is more than 200 kilometers. That way, we'll be able to catch up with them in a week at most! From the border of the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the Suez Canal, it is almost two thousand kilometers. We're enough to cut the distance in half. If you're lucky, you'll be able to catch up with the Austro-Hungarian Navy just after passing through the Red Sea! Admiral Hippel said.

It's the dumbest way, but it's also the most effective. The German Navy was able to pursue the Austro-Hungarian Navy only with the help of the speed advantage of the battleships.

The other generals nodded their heads again and again, approving of this plan.

"Order our base in Egypt to prepare sufficient supplies. When the time comes, we need to make a resupply. In addition, in the Indian Ocean Fleet, a batch of supplies was prepared, sent to the Gulf of Aden by transport ships, and hidden. If we haven't fought a decisive battle with the Austro-Hungarian navy by then, we can resupply the fleet again. Admiral Hipper ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." Lieutenant General Ingnoll nodded.

"Besides, we must not be able to lose the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Especially before they enter the Indian Ocean, if they haven't caught up with them, they can't be missed. Otherwise, when they enter the Indian Ocean and we lose them even more, it will be even more difficult to intercept them! Admiral Hipper's face was serious.