Hearing that the target was ahead, Vice Admiral Thomas Hart, accompanied by his staff, boarded the open-air observation deck on the bridge of the USS Lexington. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe night was deep, the sea was very cool, and the oncoming sea breeze was mixed with a sour smell, which was exhaust from the chimneys of the light ships ahead, and the distant glimmer of light came from the light cruiser "Nashville" sent to reconnoiter the enemy, and its signal was like a lighthouse in the darkness, guiding the combat fleet to chase the Allied convoy in panic.

The officers who were already at the observatory spontaneously gave up their best position to Hart, and Colonel Garcia, who was in charge of the super-cruiser, quipped: "One heavy cruiser, one light cruiser, several destroyers and minesweepers...... With such a weak escort force, should we say that our enemies are too careless, or have they reached the point of exhaustion? What do you think, sir? ”

Hart held the armor railing with both hands: "There is also a possibility that the enemy deliberately lured us in. ”

By the time the Battle of the Azores had been fought, the Americans had fully understood the strength of their opponents, and Colonel Garcia's ridicule was a manifestation of the optimism of the Americans, without the intention of belittling the opponent. Hearing Lieutenant General Hart's speculation, the officers put away the smile they had just had.

Perhaps the enemy's main battleship was lurking in the deep darkness.

"If that's the case, wouldn't we be in a very dangerous situation now?" Colonel Garcia said.

Hart asked rhetorically, "Why else would we send out most of the fleet?" ”

The colonel nodded, if the target was just an ordinary escort fleet, it would be enough to quietly dispatch the "Lexington", and there was no need to make such a big move.

After a moment of silence, Hart said: "In the past two hours, the enemy's radio contact has been very frequent, and most of the content of the communication is beyond our decipherability, so everyone must be cautious in the future." ”

Colonel Garcia did not answer, but responded with a nod. Most people were full of longing for the prospect of war when they thought that the huge US-British joint formation was heading for the Azores, but after experiencing one brutal fierce battle after another, witnessing friendly ships burning and exploding one after another, and realizing that the mighty and majestic capital ships could also turn into a hell of death in an instant, many people truly realized the cruelty of war.

The lights in the distance still beat regularly, but it was no one who could tell whether it was the key to victory or the bait to fall into the abyss.

Hart's words are deep, but his true attitude is not so pessimistic. At this time, the "Lexington" was not alone, in addition to the accompanying cruisers and destroyers, there were two British battleships to provide direct support, which were the "War Weathiness" and "Barham", which also belonged to the Queen Elizabeth class. Construction of the battleships was scheduled to take 26-30 months in 1912-1913, but the harsh war situation greatly slowed their construction, but after the signing of the Armistice in London, they were able to continue and finally completed their service in 1917-1919. Influenced by advances in marine technology and adjustments in strategic thinking, the Queen Elizabeth class was built with a power output of 85,000 horsepower instead of the original 75,000 horsepower, and reached a top speed of 26 knots during sea trials, making it the fastest battleship at the time. By 1933, five Queen Elizabeth-class ships that had been technically modified at Canadian and American shipyards were still active in the British Navy. During the Battle of Texel, the United States and Britain sent three Queen Elizabeth-class and two Pennsylvania-class ships to attack the "Brandenburg" fortress outside Angra de Marshato. In the Battle of San Miguel, the British capital ship group was fiercely attacked by the opponent, and the queens showed considerable valor and repeatedly hit the enemy ships during long-range artillery bombardment.

At the edge of the Lexington's radar range, the lone Irish heavy cruiser was heading east at an unfast and slow speed, and this coquettish position was one of the reasons for the vigilance and apprehension of the American commander Thomas Hart.

At the moment of the great enemy, Rear Admiral von Heinke, commander of the Allied convoy, was not in the mood to blow the sea breeze on the observation platform, and he was sitting on pins and needles in the closed battle bridge of the "Ruger", constantly paying attention to intelligence information from all sides.

"Sir, we've just received the second coded telegram from the S-Fleet."

The ship's communications officer presented the message to the captain, Colonel Farrell, who glanced at it and handed it to von Heinck.

After reading the contents of the telegram, the German rear admiral with a heavy burden furrowed his brows into Sichuan characters: "Let's turn around and reconnoiter the enemy's situation?" What the hell? Is this S fleet our reinforcements, or is the enemy deciphering our communication code and deliberately luring us into a trap? ”

It was not difficult to solve the mystery, for Colonel Farrell had previously instructed his subordinates, and shortly after the telegram was sent by the communications officer, another officer came to report that the radio direction finding showed that the previous code signal was coming from the southeast, not from the northwest of the British fleet, consistent with the current radar findings.

At this moment, the orderly brought hot coffee, and the somewhat oppressive battle bridge was suddenly filled with a sweet and refreshing aroma. Rear Admiral von Heinke took a sip of the cup, his eyebrows stretched slightly, and then turned his head to look at the stuffy Irish colonel: "I heard that our crown prince personally went to Ireland to invite His Majesty Joachim I to take over the Confederate fleet, and most people thought that Crown Prince William's trip would be successful. ”

Colonel Farrell replied lightly: "I have never heard such rumors. ”

Von Heinck was bored by this answer, and he took a sip of his coffee, then suddenly stopped, and said with a serious face: "His Majesty Joachim is the god of naval warfare in our time, many people think so, and I am no exception. ”

"So, you hope that this S fleet is the reinforcement fleet led by His Majesty Joachim, and his arrival will lead the Allied fleet to quickly turn the tide of the war, and then drive the US-British forces out of the Azores." Farrell spoke the other man's heart.

Von Heinke nodded: "Although I know that this possibility is not too great, I still can't help but look forward to it in my heart, after all, our strategic situation in the Atlantic is obviously at a disadvantage, and if we lose again, the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

Farrell glanced in the direction of starboard, outside the porthole was endless darkness, and behind the darkness was the mysterious S-fleet, how much energy it contained, and the colonel's heart was also full of curiosity and anticipation.

"We might as well give it a try!" Farrell's mouth suddenly popped into his mouth.

"Oh?" It's not that von Heinke didn't hear the other party's words clearly, but he still hesitated in his heart.

Farrell did not repeat what he had just said, and remained as silent as usual, both because of his personality and because of his rational perception of his role.

In the current situation, the time to think about a cup of coffee seems too extravagant. Von Heinke had no choice but to make a choice based on his intuitive feelings. The Ruger turned, its speed increased to 28 knots, and the roar of its engines was distinctly clear before the silent dawn.

The crew did not know why their battleship turned around again, but everyone followed the order and stuck to their combat posts. Previously, it fought with two enemy ships in succession, and the "Ruger" was killed 2 people and injured 4 people, such losses were relatively slight in naval battles, and the damage to the hull was basically negligible, which meant that it was still in an ideal combat state at this time, and the high speed and basically undisturbed radar detection gave it the space to advance and retreat freely.

After narrowing the distance to the target, the radar screen of the "Luger" gradually showed clear spots of light, so as to judge that a fleet of more than 10 ships was coming from the northwest, and after further detection and identification, it was able to judge that three of them were large ships -- all of this real-time information was continuously sent out through coded telegrams, but it was still very unknown whether the S fleet could receive all these messages under the condition that the enemy fleet tracked the radio signals and took interfering measures.

In the process of gradually approaching the enemy fleet, the "Ruger" reconnected with the American light cruiser it had previously engaged. The two ships are already on par, but the US ship "Nashville" is no longer a down-and-out lone wolf, and behind it is a pack of vicious wolves with sharp teeth and hungry teeth. Sensing that the Irish heavy cruiser had turned back, it fearlessly approached it, firing a number of cannon-firing flares from a distance, so that the shadow of the "Ruger" was sometimes reflected on the sea, and sometimes hidden.

In order to avoid being entangled by enemy ships, the "Ruger" resolutely turned around and headed south at high speed. This little trick did not deceive the opponent, and the enemy fleet remained unmoved and continued to pursue in the direction of the retreat of the convoy, and only the "Nashville" tried to attack it from a distance.

The plan to lure the enemy did not work, and the "Ruger" had to turn east and maintain radar tracking of the enemy fleet. As time passed, it got closer and closer to the fleet heading to the southwest, and the size of the other side was clearly visible on the radar screen - three large warships, more than twenty light ships, the number of ships had a certain advantage over the enemy fleet that was pursuing the escort fleet, but it was not as large as expected. However, if this is a premeditated ambush to lure the enemy, there may be a backhand on your side?

Even with the position of Rear Admiral von Heinck, it was not enough to have access to a high-level strategic layout, so the crew of the "Ruger" was destined to remain in the valley. After another quarter of an hour or so, the fleet to the southwest was close enough to make contact with the Ruger by light signal.

"In the name of His Majesty the King of Ireland, I salute the valor of your ship!"

When the other party's first light signal was interpreted, the bridge of the "Luger" was boiling, the young officers were ecstatic, and some of the older officers were even more in tears.

As von Heinke said, that name stands for an undefeated legend.

The excitement calmed down, and the German rear admiral let out a long sigh of relief, turned to Colonel Farrell and said, "Fortunately, you said that you might as well give it a try, and then we made the right choice, otherwise we would regret it for the rest of our lives." ”

Farrell shrugged: "My advice is insignificant, it was you who made the crucial decision at a critical moment. ”

(End of chapter)