The clouds are low, giving a strong sense of oppression.

On the undulating sea, three dark shadows of the ship moved forward quickly and calmly.

At night, the Black Vulture Cross flag flutters proudly in the wind.

On one of the largest warships, the officers were lying in front of the charts discussing something.

"Guys, we've left the North Sea and entered the Atlantic!"

The lieutenant general, who was over half a hundred years old, spoke as he gestured with a compass, his round head with very short hair, and the signature goatee looked longer than his hair.

"It's time for the fishing area!"

The words of a general next to him made everyone smile, but the lieutenant general was still thinking intently.

"The fleet turns 15 degrees to the left and heads 5 degrees south-west of the course!"

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander!"

The officers carried out their orders very carefully.

It took a long time for the lieutenant general to straighten up.

At present, his position in the German Navy is not particularly prominent, and there are also Admiralty Tirpitz, Minister of Naval Staff, Field Marshal Bohr, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Marshal Miller, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Field Marshal Ingnoor, Commander of the High Seas Fleet, Prince Heydrich, Deputy Commander of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Schell, and other senior admirals, but his ability, his wit and courage are absolutely among the best among the German admirals.

He is Franz. Rhett. Feng. Hipper, a naval commander who was highly admired and admired by both the Lord of the Navy and the Prince of East Prussia. In a naval battle with the British Grand Fleet in early September, he led the Battlecruisers in a desperate attempt to delay the last few of Jerrid's battleships that attempted to escape, and finally he was forced to stop the pursuit after his battlecruisers had suffered heavy losses.

At this time, the battle patrol under Hipper's original command was lying on the slipway for repairs, and he was temporarily transferred to this battleship and became the commander of the first raid formation in the Atlantic.

After rounding the northern tip of the British Isles, the Hipper formation began cruising near one of Britain's major Atlantic routes.

As the war entered October, life became more difficult for the British.

The English Channel is still blocked by a large number of mines, and the German Navy uses the port of Calais as a forward base to work hard to clear mines, while the British Navy uses the port of Plymouth as a base to constantly replenish the mines in the strait, and the navies of the two countries often have small-scale contacts in the strait.

The successful blockade of much of the English Channel was perhaps the only thing the British were thankful for, as the British navy's superiority in the oceans was no longer evident after the recall of most of the colonial legions and fleets, and the German overseas fleet became more active, constantly attacking British transport ships and even swaggering to shell some of the weakly defended British colonial ports. From time to time, there were encounters between the German Overseas Fleet and the British Overseas Fleet, between the British Overseas Fleet and the German armed transport fleet, between the German Overseas Fleet and the British armed transport fleet, and between the armed transport fleets of the two countries.

On the other hand, the Germans' control of the North Sea became more and more secure, and after October, every neutral freighter from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden was inspected or expelled by the German navy, and the sea lines that had been cut off by the British fleet had been restored to 50 percent of their pre-war levels, and German freighters joined the convoy escorted by cruisers and destroyers every week. In addition to guarding the seaports, Britain's limited submarine force had to take on the task of harassing German shipping routes, and the losses of transport ships in both countries increased every week, although the losses of the German fleets were insignificant compared to those of Britain, which was more dependent on sea transport.

In the North Sea, where German surface ships were infested, German submarines were already struggling to find suitable prey, so most of them were sent to the Atlantic to tightly seal British transport lines there. Although the British Navy organized an armed convoy escorted by warships, this could hardly prevent German submarines from devouring their ships, and gradually the British Isles were reduced to the point where they had to rely on neutral transports to survive. For the German Navy, it is impossible to check the true identity of the transport ships flying the flag of a neutral country and whether the cargo loaded on them violates the neutrality regulations, but it is not allowed to rashly launch torpedoes at a cargo ship of a neutral country, which is the purpose of the current German Navy to form an Atlantic raid formation.

In addition to the raid formation led by Hipper, three other raid formations of similar size have also been formed, and they will take turns to raid the British transport lines in the Atlantic Ocean from October, while the main force of the Anglo-French combined fleet stays in Plymouth Harbor for most of the time, and they rarely venture into the Atlantic, after all, there are countless German submarines lurking here.

In fact, even in the event of an encounter with the British and French fleets, the German raiding fleet had nothing to fear. Taking Hipper's three-ship formation as an example, Hipper's flagship is the King-class battleship "Elector", which has just been commissioned in early September, and this class of battleship belongs to the improved version of the Caesar-class, with a standard displacement of 25,000 tons, a maximum speed of 19.5 knots, and five twin 50-fold diameter 12-inch guns, the main turret is arranged in front of 2 in 1 in the rear, and all guns can be fired at one side at the same time. On the whole, this type of battleship was superior to the Caesar-class battleships, which were known for their outstanding seafaring performance, strong protection and firepower.

Immediately following the "Elector" was the Ostfreeland-class battleship "Oldenburg", which belonged to the Nassau-class improved version, and its seafaring performance and firepower were greatly improved compared with the Nassau-class. It has a standard displacement of 22,000 tons, a maximum speed of 19.5 knots, and has six twin 50-diameter 12-inch guns, with the main turret arranged in the front 1 in 4 (2 in the front and 2 in the rear) and 1 in the rear.

The last one in the formation was the cruiser "Frenburg", which was a fast cruiser with a displacement of 7,000 tons and a maximum speed of 25 knots in the rear, and the two 150 mm single turrets on the aft deck were removed, and a seaplane boom was installed, which could carry two "Exocet III" seaplanes for calibration/attack, and this time it also carried 10 aviation torpedoes and 20 50KG aerial bombs with the ship.

After entering the Atlantic, the Hippert formation made contact with the German submarine forces lurking nearby, and once the submarine found the target, it would immediately notify the Hippert formation by radio, and nearby submarines would also come to assist when the Hipper formation moved.

In such a situation, even if it ran into a British fleet, the German raid formation had nothing to worry about.

Hipper's luck was that he spotted a lone freighter just before dawn.

"Those who dare to sail with lights on in the Atlantic, you don't need to look to know that it is a ship flying the flag of a neutral country, and most likely it is flying the flag of the United States!" Hipper held up his binoculars and observed the ignorant figure of the ship in the distance, and said to the officer next to him.

"Your Excellency, that ship looks like it's over 10,000 tons!" The officer on the left said with satisfaction.

The officer on the right seemed to be more interested in what was on the ship, "Let me guess what it holds!" Could it be a whole shipload of munitions? ”

Hipper finally put down the telescope in his hand, "We'll find out soon!" The 'Flensburg' was ordered to follow us up, and the 'Oldenburg' to keep an eye on the surrounding sea. The signalman is ready to send a signal for the other party to stop the ship for inspection! ”

As they expected, the one in front of them was the 12,000-ton cargo ship "Mrs. Smith" to the United States.

"Hey, guys, look what that's on!" The sailors shouted from the lookout of the freighter to the bottom.

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and two shadows of a large and a small boat appeared on the sea in the distance, and the signal light on the big ship was still signaling to this side.

"John, go wake up the captain! It looks like the British warship is coming to check! The first officer on duty said very calmly.

A few minutes later, the captain of the "Mrs. Smith" came out of the cabin sleepily, and took a cigar from his pocket and lit it.

"Captain, it's a warship!" The first mate pointed to the shadows of the two ships that were getting closer.

The captain raised his binoculars and looked at them, and quickly put them down, "Hmm! The one in front looks like a battleship, it's really big! ”

"But last month we only ran into two cruisers!"

"Who knows what the British think, probably they can't beat the Germans, so they have to come here to show off! Hum! Our American warships will not be worse than them at all! ”

"Captain, they signaled again for us to stop the ship for inspection!" The first mate looked depressed, "Our speed has dropped to 3 knots, what do they want?" Haven't we all been like this before? What a damn one! Could it be that the British are really going to come on board to inspect this time? ”

The ship had been flying between New York and Liverpool since its launch at the beginning of the year, and after the outbreak of the European War, British warships became more active on this route. However, for neutral freighters heading to British ports, the British have always only routinely confirmed the identity of the other party, and rarely come on board to inspect the goods. Therefore, the first mate had only asked the freighter to slow down and did not stop completely.

The captain raised his binoculars again, and he carefully read the signal from the warship, "Hell! Stop the boat for inspection! We're going to waste a lot of time again! ”

When the silhouette of the opposing ship could be seen from a distance, the Germans were a little excited to find that it was a new freighter; When the flag on the mast of the other side could be seen from a distance, the Germans were disappointed to find that it was a steamer flying the American Stars and Stripes; When the movements of the opposing sailors could be seen from a distance, the Germans were surprised to see that the men above were waving to them.

In the end, the American freighter obediently stopped, and the cruiser "Frenberg" approached first.

When the heavily armed German sailors boarded the ship, the sailors on board greeted them warmly in English.

It seemed that there were no Englishmen on it, because these people could not even distinguish the uniforms of the British and German navies, so when the sailors on the ship found that there was a cold muzzle in front of them, and behind them were faces that were even colder than the muzzle, and their faces were written all over their faces.

The sailors on the deck looked at each other, and no country would regard the muzzle of their guns as a symbol of friendship, so they all consciously raised their hands, a gesture that should be common everywhere in the world.

"What's going on here?" The American captain walked up to the Germans and spread his hands with a puzzled look.

The German officer, who was standing at the front, walked up to him and replied in fluent English, "Mr. Captain, the signal we just sent is very clear, please cooperate with our inspection!" ”

"My ship is full of Americans, how can your soldiers point guns at my sailors, it's very rude, knowing that we are trading with your country at the risk of being sunk by those damned German submarines!" The American captain shouted at a very fast pace, regardless of whether the other party could adapt to this American way of speaking.

The German officer did not answer, but pointed to the mast of the battleship next to him, on which the Black Vulture Crusader flag was clearly flying high. The rough black muzzles of the battleship were all pointed here, and there was no indication that it was an act of salute.

The American looked at it for a moment, then remembered what the black vulture meant. He had never expected to encounter this country's warship here, not to mention that the flag was inconspicuous in the night.

"German naval flag! My God! I remember that we were in the Atlantic, did we accidentally intrude into your territorial waters? ”

The German officer shook his head, "As long as you and your crew cooperate with our inspection, we promise not to hurt you!" ”

While the Americans were still wondering, German sailors had already rushed into the cabin below to inspect the cargo on board.

"Mr. Officer, I have to remind you once again that this is an American ship, a neutral American ship! I, and every one of my sailors, am Americans! The American stared into the eyes of the German officer and spoke quickly in an aggravated tone. Seeing that the Germans did not react, he slowed down and spoke again.

"We have long declared the Atlantic a war zone, and we, the German Navy, have the right to inspect any ship passing here to ensure that no cargo in violation of the rules of neutrality flows into Britain, which is at war with us! According to the Convention on the Rights and Duties of Neutrals in Naval Warfare, adopted by the Hague Conference of 1907, and the London Declaration of 1909, the delivery of any weapons, ammunition and military equipment by a neutral State to a belligerent State is a violation of the Neutrality Act, and we have the right to seize and dispose of the ship, including sinking it, and you and your sailors to be sent home! Seeing the Americans' madness, the German officer explained very calmly in English.

"To hell with ****** neutrality regulations! This is my ship, and I'm a U.S. citizen! You can't do this, even ****** British don't dare to inspect our ships, how dare you! The Americans shouted hysterically.

The German officer still maintained a gentlemanly attitude, ignoring the American monkey in front of him, who was almost about to go up and down.

"Hell! This is the Atlantic Ocean, who is in charge here! When we came last month, it was full of British warships, and now the Germans and battleships have somehow escaped! I don't ****** understand! The Americans shouted in foul language, without the manners of a captain of a ship.

The German officer looked at this clown-like American with contempt, and still said calmly: "Mr. Captain, it is my great honor to inform you that here, now our German Navy has the final say!" ”