Far away on the sea more than 200 nautical miles, the huge German high seas fleet also marched forward in a clear and orderly navigation queue, with the exception of the "Bismarck" at the tail of the queue and the two large torpedo boats escorting it -- in order to allow the carrier-based aircraft to successfully take off and land on the 133-meter-long and 21-meter-wide flight deck, the "Bismarck" had to turn to the windward position again and again. Fortunately www.biquge.info with an all-oiled boiler and a comprehensive maintenance of the entire power system, the old ship, which had been traveling in overseas colonies for many years, regained its speed in service and could keep up with the pace of the High Seas Fleet.

At a normal flight speed of 130 kilometers per hour, the Hubert D two-wing two-seat reconnaissance plane was able to carry out a vigilant search of the fan-shaped waters 20 nautical miles in front of the fleet in just 40 minutes, while Natsuki's request was that as long as the weather conditions permitted, at least two reconnaissance planes should fly in the airspace near the fleet at the same time, one responsible for the sea in front and the other responsible for the flanks, so as to ensure that the concealed whereabouts of the German main fleet would not be broken by British ships or neutral ships.

In order to make the British Navy think that the shelling of Grimsby was just a provocation by the German Navy to show its "existential significance", the Fleet Operations Staff led by Natsuki made sufficient preparations in advance: two weeks ago, a large number of naval infantry were dispatched under the pretext of the exercise to carry out a carpet sweep and a tight garrison on the coast of Wilhelmshaven and the nearby islands; From the day of the war, a new communication codebook was introduced, and a large number of fake radio stations continued to communicate frequently with the original frequencies and password rules. (In the history of World War I, in late August 1914, the Russian Navy sank the German light cruiser Magdeburg in the Gulf of Finland, and Russian divers accidentally found a German Navy code book and flag book in the wreck of the German warship and provided it to the British, allowing the British Admiralty to easily decipher the German Navy's radio code.) With this advantage, the British fleet had an advantage in the Battle of the Gulf of Helgoland, the Battle of Dogle Sandbank, and the Battle of Jutland. ）

At the outbreak of the war, the German Navy's "von der Tann" battlecruiser was stranded in the Mediterranean, and the German Navy could only put into operation a maximum of five battlecruisers in the North Sea, including the relatively small tonnage "Blucher", while the British Home Fleet had a total of 6 battlecruisers, including two Indefatigable battlecruisers owned by Australia and New Zealand but under the unified command of the British Navy, whose tonnage and firepower were stronger than those of the German battlecruisers of the same period. If the two cruisers were to fight each other directly, the British would undoubtedly be on the stronger side, plus Davy, the commander of the British battle cruisers. Betty was an adventurous young general, and it was inevitable that she would pounce on the German cruisers.

Based on these arrangements and considerations, Natsuki asked Hipper to command the cruiser fleet to invade the British coast single-handedly, provoke it in the most intolerable way of the opponent, lure the Betty fleet to chase after and intercept it, and then, with the strength of the entire German High Seas Fleet, encircled and annihilated Betty's fleet in the middle of the North Sea!

Over time, double-encrypted telegrams were sent to the command center of the German High Seas Fleet, the flagship Frederick the Great. This is the most ferocious firepower, the strongest defense, the most complete communication facilities of the German Navy, and it is also the main warship with the highest cost per ship, and these "high" performance indicators have brought an unprecedented sense of honor to the officers and men of the ship, and they are full of courage and conviction in defeating the seemingly powerful British fleet.

"Hipper's fleet has successfully repelled the British group of high-speed mine-striking boats, sinking more than 30 enemy boats, and there are no casualties on our own side."

When the contents of this telegram were read, Feng. Admiral Ingnoll spoke calmly, without any sense of surprise, but he did not necessarily know what a long and thoughtful preparation Natsuki had made for this result, which would definitely disappoint the British navy's top brass. In recent years, the British Navy has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the field of high-speed torpedo boats, and the direct cost alone is enough to build1. 5 20,000-ton dreadnoughts, or two or three maritime reconnaissance squadrons equipped with large airships.

The tonnage of the high-speed torpedo boats in service in Britain is usually only 5-6 tons, while the smallest cruiser of the Hipper's fleet has 3,500 tons, and the largest "Seydlitz" is a behemoth of more than 20,000 tons. Most of them were participating in naval battles for the first time, and the rigorous training on weekdays ensured the combat strength of the fleet, but after all, the opponent was the unique British Royal Navy, and some tension was inevitable.

A few minutes later, the communications officer gave Feng again. Ingnoll sent a telegram, which he quickly glanced at and read out without hesitation: "The U-44 of the 7th Submarine Squadron has seen the rapid mobile force of the British Navy in Forth Bay, and it consists of three Invincible or Indefatigable class (these two types of battlecruisers are relatively similar in tonnage and appearance), three Lion class (in fact, there are only two Lion class ships in the Lion class and the Grand Princess, and the Queen Mary should be regarded as an improved version of the Lion class), 11 small cruisers, and 26 destroyers, after this fleet has left the Forth Bay anchorage, Heading southeast at a speed of about 24 knots - Betty really wanted to take the return route of our artillery fleet. ”

At the end, the commander of the fleet looked around at the crowd and said in a raised voice, "Guys, the fish has been hooked, this is a shark with sharp teeth, and it will take some effort to eat this delicious shark fin." ”

The officers laughed good-naturedly.

Feng. Ingnoll changed his tone and said in a frustrated tone: "Many people regard the British navy as an inviolable knight, and feel that it is incomparably powerful, incomparably proud, and has traditions that other navies do not have, and victory is the inevitable meaning of its existence...... Compared with the British Navy, we do still have a certain gap, some aspects must be equalized through the accumulation of time, and we also have our advantages - we do not have a proud history of dominating the seas for 300 years, nor do we have the pride and complacency that arises from it; We have not let the world become a classic, nor will we rest on our laurels in the victories that have passed. At this moment, we were the unfavourable side, and some saw our confrontation with the British navy as a battle between peasants and knights. Although the peasant wore shiny armor, held a sharp spear, and had his own tricks, none of this was enough to change the nature of the peasant. Well, ladies and gentlemen, let the whole world see how the Germanic peasant, with his industrious, solid, and brave spirit, overthrew the pretentious and arrogant British knights! ”

A wise fleet commander should know how to adjust the mentality of his subordinates at critical moments, while a competent fleet chief of staff should calmly think about the overall tactics and find the key breakthrough opportunities from the chaotic and complex information - in Natsuki's view, the British home fleet at this time is not a high-spirited knight, but an indignant and angry avenger. It can be seen from the reconnaissance report sent back by the German submarine force that although the British home fleet has not been able to mobilize all the capital ships (some have been sent overseas but not recalled in time, some have been docked for inspection and modification, and some have temporary mechanical failures), the overall strength of the British fleet is still much higher than that of the German fleet with all its troops in battle. However, the faster British cruiser fleet set off from the closer Forth of Forth and the slower battlefleet set off from Scapa Bay in the northern North Sea. Once the British Navy lost the "fast heavy cavalry" force with the battlecruisers as the main force, the tactical options of the home fleet would be greatly reduced, and the German Navy could use the speed advantage of the battlecruisers to offset or even reverse the overall strength gap between the two sides.

Throughout the ages, the military commander who can lead the enemy by the nose is the real war artist. Natsuki waited impatiently for his staff officers to calculate the expected route and meeting point of the four fleets of the enemy and us, if Betty's battle patrol formation went straight to Helgoland Bay, where Hipper's return voyage must pass, in more than 7 hours, the main force of the High Seas Fleet and the Hipper's reconnaissance fleet would be able to jointly ambush Betty's fleet in the central part of the North Sea, about 160 nautical miles away from Helgoland Bay, while the British main fleet would need at least 5 hours to arrive even if it was reinforced at full speed. With the strength of Betty's fleet it was simply impossible to hold out for so long in front of the entire German High Seas Fleet.

Looking at the imaginary and real lines on the combat chart, Natsuki calmly thought about the various situations that might arise next. An ambush did not mean a smooth annihilation, especially against the Betty's fleet, which had high speed and flexibility, and it was nearly dusk after 7 hours, and if the battle was not finished before dark, the chances of the British ships slipping away would be greatly increased. In order to ensure thoroughness, Natsuki insisted on assigning six torpedo boat carriers with a maximum speed of only 18 knots and the modified aircraft carrier "Bismarck", which was not in very good condition, into the main fleet, and the accompanying large torpedo boats also abandoned the excess load except for coal, ammunition and fumes, and the cruisers with the best performance, the Magdeburg-class and Karlsruhe-class, were fully loaded with high-performance mines at the risk of being killed in battle!

The will can change fate, but it cannot control it. When the sun sets, there will always be one side that will be favored by history.

Hopefully, the winner is the side that is more deserving of the victory.

Natsuki closed his eyes lightly, and his thoughts of memories were already flying......

(End of chapter)