"Sir, is it necessary for us to work so hard for the British?"

Admiral Rame did not answer this question directly, but stared into the eyes of the questioning officer for a few seconds, and then turned his gaze to the foredeck of the battleship. The two round turrets like steel fortresses exude a domineering aura in the sun, and the two thick straight barrels protruding from the turrets give people confidence.

The "Lone Pull", the "Ocean" and the "Paris" are the masterpieces of French shipbuilders and the symbol of the revival of the French Navy in the mind of Admiral Lame. In the Mediterranean, as the newest dreadnought-class battleship, they have few rivals, and with excellent port facilities, the French Navy seems to have seen the glory of the Napoleonic era again.

The Franco-Prussian War, the nightmare of France for many years, every Frenchman is waiting for a shame. At that time, the French Navy had no way of reversing the defeat of the war on land; Now, when the more powerful Prussian armies invaded again, this time their target would be all of France, and the French navy would have to resort to the Austro-Hungarian navy in the Mediterranean to vent its anger.

Although no one said it, many French admirals breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts in the hope of repairing the Prussian fleet at sea to vent their depression for many years.

Admiral Ramey glanced up at the clear sky, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was still like this, how strong could the German fleet be without the protection of aircraft. The incompetent British were only frightened by the German planes, and every time he heard the British describe the horrors of a naval battle with the Germans, Lamet scoffed. He had studied every naval battle between Britain and Germany after the start of the war, and the German strategy was almost perfect, and the aircraft played an important role in this, but this did not prove that the German navy was invincible. The German fleet now in the Atlantic consisted of only two battleships and a handful of aircraft, and Lame was convinced that this was the opportunity he had been looking for.

"The army can't defeat the Germans, so let's do it for them!"

Although this sentence made everyone feel excited, there was a faint sense of helplessness, and the course of the war made Lame gradually pessimistic. The situation on the battlefields of France deteriorated, the British army could only hold on to the British Isles, and Russia had almost withdrawn from the war. Not only the German Eastern Front Army was withdrawn from the Russian battlefield, but even the German-Turkish coalition army also transferred a large number of troops fighting against Russia to the Egyptian front, and the main naval forces of Britain and France in the Mediterranean were basically transferred to defend the British mainland, and the German-Turkish coalition forces were already inexorably approaching the Suez Canal. Once the Suez Canal fell into the hands of the Allies, the Allies' maritime transport would be greatly affected, and ships from Asia to Europe would return to the distant route around the Cape of Good Hope.

No one wanted to mention defeat, but the shadow of the Franco-Prussian War had begun to creep over the hearts of the French people.

The German Army's record has become a myth of invincibility, and after the events in the Bay of Helgoland, the German Navy has gradually become another myth of invincibility.

If the myth is not broken, the people will lose the confidence to hold on.

From these lines, Lame may have a chance to be a brilliant thinker, but he certainly won't be a good strategist and commander. The French lacked outstanding admirals, and even Lord Fisher believed that with the quality and ability of Admiral Lame, he could not even mix with a general in the British Navy.

Lame only saw what victory could bring, but ignored the consequences of his own defeat.

The consequences of his defeat were exactly what the Germans wanted.

Amid the rumbling sound of cannons, Vice Admiral Hipper stood silently beside the nautical chart and pondered. The purpose of the German Atlantic Raid Formation was to completely strangle the supplies of the British Isles. As some British generals had predicted, the Germans did not intend to put them in British ports, even if there were no ships carrying prohibited supplies. The German Navy did not mind using these means without giving some neutral countries a pretext to enter the war.

As the first raid formation to enter the Atlantic, Hipper's fleet had another optional mission: to teach the British and French fleets who dared to come and drive the raid formations a profound lesson, and to create an environment for the other raid formations to hunt freely in the Atlantic.

Since the other party is out of port, how can Lieutenant General Hippel give up this opportunity.

"3 French battleships, 5 French cruisers, it's getting more and more interesting!"

Colonel Bent, commander of the garrison of the fortress of Seysfjörður, was very incomprehensible that the German fleet seemed to have been bombarding the small fishing village near the harbor with no shells since the morning, and had no intention of attacking the fort or breaking into the harbor. The 10-minute salvo looked very slow, with less than four hundred shells fired throughout the morning, and it looked even more leisurely than shooting practice. However, during the continuous shelling, the residents and sailors in the harbor became more and more panicked, and many cargo ships even unloaded their goods and transported them far away from the harbor, and the residents of the harbor fled the area.

At noon, the German fleet suddenly stopped shelling, and two battleships and one cruiser turned in an orderly way and headed south.

Confused, Colonel Bent relayed the information back home.

Admiral Lame was even more depressed by this information, and if the German fleet was hidden in the vast sea, how could he find them, he could only hope that the Germans would not flee back to the North Sea in panic after getting the news of his departure.

"Continue to the port of Seysfjörður!"

In the vast sea, there are still many cargo ships that are lucky or not at all to get the latest news between the British Isles and the Americas.

"This is all low-quality corn, how can you ship this stuff to Europe?"

On the deck of the American freighter "Cotton and Beauty", Clemens, a German officer, was shouting loudly to the American captain.

The American looked innocent, he had thought that the sun was about to go down, and that as soon as it was dark his ship would go on with its lights out, and then it would be difficult for the Germans to find themselves, and if they were lucky, his ship would reach Scotland by tomorrow night.

Unfortunately, the "Cotton and Beauty" had to stop for inspection at the request of the German fleet.

The American captain was glad that he had only a few dozen boxes of medicine hidden on his ship. In fact, medicine was something between military and non-military supplies, and he had always been cautious in choosing this kind of cargo, which was of slightly smaller interest than munitions, so he had no intention of returning after hearing of the presence of German warships in the area. As he had expected, the Germans did not object to the discovery of the drug, but for some reason they were dissatisfied with the quality of the corn.

"Mr. Officer, I am only the captain of this ship, I only know what cargo is on board, and as for the quality of the goods, this is really not something I should ask about!" The American said and handed over a box of fine cigars, although the quality of the corn was a little worse, but the British were still buying it at a high price.

Clemensho accepted the box of cigars without refusing, "Thank you, Captain, for the gift, I think our commander will be very happy!" So I decided not to embarrass you, dump all your cargo into the sea, and you can go home! ”

"This ...... Mr. Officer, I am not the owner of the ship, and I have no authority to handle the cargo in this way! ”

Clemens stared coldly at the American captain, a look that was more chilling than an angry eye.

"Mr. Captain, your country's 'Mrs. Smith' has been sunk by us, and Captain Mr. Wright and all his sailors are guests on our warship, do you want to be with them too?"

"Captain Wright...... Yes! Yes! The captain of the freighter seemed to know Wright, "He's all right!" ”

"He was so nice, he and his people were very well received! If you pour corn into the sea and give medicine to our country, I can suggest to our commander that Wright and his men be handed over to you to bring back to the United States. By the way, there were also the American passengers on the cruise ship 'Newfoundland', who seemed to have a problem with the British sailors! Clemens's tone sounded much softer than at first, but the rifle in the German sailor's hand seemed to tell the American captain that everything was non-negotiable.

"Uh...... Well, Mr. Officer, I accept your country's offer that medicine can be given to you, but it takes a long time for the corn to be poured into the sea, can I bring it back to the United States to dispose of? I promise I won't ship these things to the UK again! The American captain motioned to his sailors to bring several crates of wine, "These are my gifts to your Commander, you see......"

"Good, you know more than those Americans before!" Clemens almost couldn't help laughing, Hipper originally just wanted to hand over the captured Americans in the formation to this ship to bring back to the United States to solve the current demographic crisis, if this ship hid prohibited materials, throw them all into the sea.

Medicines are more and more supplies for the warring countries, and cigars and wine in the Americas are also good things, which can be regarded as an additional gain for the Hippert formation.

"Mr. Captain, I can remember the name of your ship, and if the medicines, liquor, and cigars you have given us are of any fault, ......unless you and your ship have been hiding in the United States and do not come out," Clemens winked at the American, and smiled smugly. After defeating the British Navy, it was only a matter of time before they dominated the oceans, and it would be difficult for the current American Navy or the Japanese Navy alone to compete with the German Navy.

"Yes, yes!" The American captain was glad that he had managed to save a shipload of corn.

After Clemens sent the cigars and wine to Hipper's command room, and gave a detailed report on what had just happened, Hipper shook his head, "The British are already stockpiling all kinds of food, and even the Americans buy corn in large quantities, at least they have the foresight to know that we will soon blockade the entire British Isles!" ”

After handing over all the medicines and picking up the Americans who had been seized by the Hipper formation, the "Cotton and the Beauty" quickly sailed away from this place of right and wrong, and by the way, the situation was conveyed to the American mainland, and the American government quickly forwarded this information to the British Admiralty. With the mentality of letting the French fleet fight for itself and the Germans, the British Admiralty informed Admiral Lame of this information as quickly as possible.

After the departure of the "Cotton and Beauty", the German admirals who received the cigars and the German sailors who received the good wine did not forget to wave goodbye to the Americans.

Cigarettes and alcohol can be left to celebrate the victory with the Submarine Force and the partners of the 2nd Assault Formation. As for medicines, they can be used on some poor Frenchmen.

Before dark, all 27 of Dönitz's submarines were concentrated, and they were to deploy about 100 nautical miles south of the port of Seysisfjörður, where a huge submarine trap awaited the ignorant French.

Without aircraft, the German Navy was not useless, and the French would soon understand this.

In the history of another world, if the submarines and mine traps set up by the German Navy had worked, perhaps the outcome of the war would not have been the same.

After nightfall, the Hipper formation began to carry out strict light and radio control, and it never hurt to be cautious, regardless of whether the British were able to track the position of the fleet by radio.

"Sir, our submarine is ahead! Is the commander of the submarine forces invited to come up? ”

After the adjutant reported, Hipperle held up his binoculars and looked at the sea ahead.

"How wonderful!" Hipper's admiration for the creation of the twenty-seven submarines were all floating on the surface, and in the darkness they lit their heading lights to inform Hipper's formation of their position. On the black sea, those flickering lights are like fireflies on the grass, and together with the stars in the sky, the sea surface is dotted with a carpet of precious stones.

It took a while for Hipper to come to his senses in this dreamy sight, "Well, order the fleet to anchor and invite Major Dönitz to come up for a cup of coffee!" The French won't be here until at least tomorrow morning! ”

About half an hour later, Dönitz, dressed in a brand new naval lieutenant's uniform, arrived in Hipper's reception room. At this time, the uniforms of submarine sailors and officers were not much different from the navy, only in details such as the cockade, but the blue Max medal hanging from Dönitz's collar impressed all the officers on the battleship.

"Your Excellency, it is a great honor to meet you!"

"I'm the same, I didn't expect the commander of our submarine formation to be so young!"

Hippert and Dönitz sat down face to face, and the adjutant brought in the coffee and left, leaving the two admirals, old and young, in the reception room.

Hipper was amazed at Dönitz's age, and Dönitz was thrilled to meet the famous admiral.

"Yesterday's battle to hunt down the British flotilla, thanks to your submarine forces, otherwise it would have been difficult for us to catch up with the British before they fled into port!" Hipper praised without credit.

Dönitz didn't have much joy on his face, "It is an honor for Dönitz and the Second Submarine Formation to be able to fight side by side with Your Excellency!" ”

After a brief pleasantry, Hipper got to business, "For tomorrow's battle plan, Major, I'd like to hear your opinion!" ”

After a moment's thought, Dönitz gave his own advice: "If the French happen to pass through our ambush circle, then let my submarine force take the lead, and when the French fleet is damaged, the general will join the battle with your fleet; If the French deviate from our ambush circle, then ask your fleet to exchange fire with the French and lure the French into our ambush circle. ”

Seeing that Hipper did not react immediately, Dönitz added: "Whatever the tactic, your fleet is the protagonist!" ”

Hipper shook his head, "No, Mr. Major. I'm not worried about who will be the protagonist, the victory of a battle is the result of everyone's joint efforts, and there is no difference between the protagonist and the supporting role. I think the French will definitely get into our ambush circle, because this is the only way to get to Port Seysfjörður from the south, and then we can take them by surprise! ”

"General, but the French may not go straight to the port of Seysfjörður, especially if your fleet is not there! They might just be tracking your fleet across the Atlantic! Dönitz was a little puzzled, and in his opinion it was the best way to get the French into a submarine ambush.

"But what if the French have always thought that we are still outside the port of Seysfjörður?"

"You mean ......"

"Yes, General Klaus's second raid formation will be able to reach that port at dawn tomorrow and, as we did before, continue to shell the port!"

At dawn, the port of Seysfjörður.

"Hell! The German fleet is here again! Colonel Bent stood in one of the fort's batteries, looking out of the observation hole at the two German battleships and a cruiser in the distant sea.

Soon after, the roar of the cannon came as expected, and the rate of fire was still a slow salvo of ten minutes!

At this distance, Bent could only see the vague outlines of the German battleships, and Bent and his soldiers did not consider whether this batch of German battleships was yesterday's batch or not.

Radio signals were once again busy across the Atlantic.

After receiving the news, Admiral Ramei couldn't help but be overjoyed. The entire French fleet rushed at a speed of 20 knots to the port of Seysésfjörður, where the French decided to create a 20th-century Battle of Trafalgar, the victor of which, naturally, was the glorious French Navy.

The French battleships were not as powerful as the British, but they were no less powerful in speed. Therefore, Fisher's cruiser was still more than 50 nautical miles behind the French fleet at this time after a day's pursuit.

Ramet did not intend to waste two hours waiting for the British cruisers, and he decided to take the honor of victory in its entirety to the French Navy.