"Shall we act as bait? Interesting! ”

Sailing on the German armored cruiser "Scharnhorst" in the middle of the Atlantic, Count Maximilian von Spee held a coded telegram, his face swept away with gloom, and a strange gleam flashed in his eyes. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Colonel Schulz, who stood beside the Earl, was the first captain of the "Scharnhorst" and an old colleague with whom Count Spee, who had worked with him for many years, and he also received encouraging information from this telegram, but as a veteran officer with a low-key personality and a cautious style, he did not miss a detail that should not be overlooked: "Sir, the order for inter-fleet operations should have been issued by the Naval Staff, but we received a telegram from the High Seas Fleet Command first. If the Navy Staff sends a telegram and we do not receive it, we will have to wait a few more hours at most, and if we still do not receive it by then, we may have to take the initiative to send a telegram to the Navy Staff to inquire. What do you think? ”

Count Spee lowered his head slightly and thought for a moment: "We are more than a thousand nautical miles away from the mainland, and it is normal for radio communication to be poor, and even if we do not receive a telegram from the naval staff, we should be improvised, and we must not see the danger and rush forward, what do you think?" ”

The Scharnhorst's mast was hung with the Vice-Admiral's flag, which meant that the fleet was under the direct command of Count Spee, and Schulz was tasked with assisting the fleet commander in managing the flagship's affairs, including wartime assistance, but had no decision-making power - unless the fleet commander was killed or he was directly appointed acting commander.

Schultz was not very surprised by Spee's answer, he nodded: "You are right, the current situation is very unfavorable for us, since the high seas fleet has adjusted its range, we naturally can no longer act according to the original plan." ”

When the two returned to the chart, Count Spee took out his old pipe and exhaled a smoke ring as he discussed the next voyage with Schultz. In front of them there was a huge chart on the big platform. The diagram is marked with pale lines and squares, each with a corresponding number. It is special in that it marks the time when different supply ships appeared in different seas - down to a specific day. When the fleet needs to be refueled with oil and supplies, it only needs to go to the predetermined sea area to find a supply ship at the time marked on the chart, rather than calling a supply ship by radio. This was also a strategy developed by the German Navy Staff in order to avoid the attack ship revealing its position.

Having decided to be the decoy, Schultz suggested: "We can find a secluded position for a day or two, temporarily out of the sight of the British, and when the High Seas Fleet enters the Atlantic, we will go out to the Celtic Sea and attack the enemy ships with great fanfare on the busy shipping routes to lure the British ships in." ”

Spee didn't know if he could do it, but stared at the chart in contemplation. Schultz straightened up and looked at the brave and courageous fleet commander. The 36-year naval career left a deep mark on his resolute face, and the gray temples made people feel the vicissitudes of time. Because he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to a German aristocratic family, Spee's words and deeds have always been so calm and generous, he has aspired to become a naval officer since he was a child, and graduated from the Naval Academy at the age of 17 and became a young officer candidate. He spent four years aboard the training ship Benita, where he was finally promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and then went to work on the gunboat "Seagull". At the age of 26, Spee went to a distant African colony as a port commander in the port of Cameroon, and returned to Germany two years later to serve as an instructor on the training ship Moltke; At the age of 31, Spee was promoted to captain, served as a deputy captain on the old cruiser "Bavaria", where he grew up to be a specialist in gunnery. At the age of 36, Speegh began serving as deputy commander and chief of staff of the 2nd Cruiser Detachment, and two years later was promoted to major. Beginning in 1901, Spee's military career began to accelerate, and he became the captain of the minesweeper Gannet, and a year later he was promoted to Minister of Coastal Defense, and over the next two years he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and colonel. After assuming the post of captain of the battleship "Badenburg", Spee was appointed chief of staff of the North Sea Fleet in 1908. In 1910, he was promoted to rear admiral while in office. In 1912, he was transferred to the commander of the German Pacific Fleet, which included the armored cruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" and the light cruisers "Emden", "Leipzig" and "Nuremberg", and was promoted to vice admiral in the same year.

This kind of experience is not particularly outstanding in today's German navy, but as the saying goes, the times make heroes, and the outbreak of war gave the young Count Speese a chance to show his talents. Although the German naval base in Jiaozhou Bay had a well-developed defense system, when the news of the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Ferdinand came, he realized that the Qingdao fortress would sooner or later fall into the hands of the enemy, so he led the main force of the fleet to leave Jiaozhou Bay early and go to the Pacific islands, which had more room for maneuver. After the outbreak of war, Count Spee decided to spread out the four light cruisers, using the German colonies in the South Pacific and the supply ships deployed at sea to carry out raids, and returned home with two armored cruisers himself, adding important weight to the high seas fleet against the British navy.

By 1914, the armored cruiser was still the main ship of many naval countries, but in the most competitive North Sea, the strong rise of the battlecruiser made this kind of fast battleship that was highly valued in the past withdraw from the core ranks, but the unprecedented tragic battle between the British and German navies made the capital ships of both sides appear alarming attrition, at the end of the Second Battle of Flanders, the two navies did not have an intact dreadnought and battlecruiser, and the old battleships and armored cruisers became the dominant force in the North Sea battlefieldAs recognized as the strongest patrol in the naval circles, the return of the two Scharnhorst-class ships is bound to bring a strong boost to the German navy, which occupies the initiative on the battlefield -- even if the main ships of the two navies are repaired and returned one after another, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not lose again in the next duel.

After a long while, Count Spee raised his head and said to Schultz: "I wonder how big a fish can be lured out with bait made of two Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers. ”

Schultz replied while thinking: "If the British Navy still has battle cruisers ready for battle, it is likely to send this kind of capital battleship that is faster than us and has stronger firepower than us, otherwise, at least three armored cruisers, and possibly one or two more dreadnoughts or former dreadnoughts, the key depends on what the senior admirals of the British Navy think." ”

"That's right, it's all about what the British think." Count Spee's head bowed slightly, and it was clear that he already had his own thoughts in his head.

"If we keep dodging, the British will think that we are just trying to slip back into the North Sea, in which case they won't really pay attention to us, and they will probably only send some minor ships to search for and stop us. If we were to be in the last place the English wanted us, and to strike them in their weakest parts, and make them feel that we had to be destroyed, we would have more troops to hunt us down. ”

Schultz felt very reasonable about Spee's analysis, and he continued: "Since we want to be bait, we must give full play to the bait. In today's situation, the 'Blucher' threatens Britain's northern route in the North Atlantic, and it is estimated that many British ships have switched to the central route of the Azores to Europe. What do you think...... Shall we stay around here, or will we make a U-turn and go to the Azores? ”

Count Spee did not answer directly, but asked rhetorically: "What do you think?" ”

"If the British were to lay a blockade in the northern seas and wait for us to send it to our door, then there would not be much difference between the two options, but I think it is likely that the British have already sent a fleet from Gibraltar to track us, in which case going to the Azores would have more room for manoeuvre than staying here, and the voyage would be perfectly in line with the new plans of the High Seas Fleet Command," Schultz analyzed. ”

The corners of Count Spee's eyebrows raised slightly: "Then we will go to the Azores!" ”

While the twin formation of the "Scharnhorst" and the "Gneisenau" drew a graceful arc on the sea, and the bow that had been pointing north turned to the Azores to the west, the four armored cruisers of the Anglo-French Mediterranean Fleet had been sailing from the port of Gibraltar for 20 hours, and they were heading northwest at a speed of 18 knots. In the chart room of the acting flagship, the Edgar Günay, the French officers drew the known, predetermined, and presumed tracks of the ships of both sides with colored lines, and represented the participants in the cat-and-mouse game with delicate lead molds.

"Report to the chief, our destroyer 'Commander Bory' has found an unidentified coal ship at 40 degrees 10 minutes north latitude and 18 degrees 02 minutes west longitude, and has fired a warning gun to ask the other side to stop the ship for inspection.

Listening to the report of the communications officer, Rear Admiral Senes's eyes lit up, and before he could speak, a navigator had already made corresponding marks on the chart, judging from the position of the German fleet found by the Italian cargo ships before, the Germans were still heading north, which meant that the Anglo-French combined Mediterranean fleet was currently heading correctly, but whether they could catch up with the two German armored cruisers depended on the speed of the opponent.

"Send a telegram to the 'Commander Borry', and if the Germans refuse to obey, then fire on it, and then send the marines on board, and be sure to catch the main officers on the ship, and pry out from them the information about the two Scharnhorst-class, the course, speed, destination, and the disposition of personnel and equipment, and the speed must be fast!"

Having instructed the communications officer, General Senes turned to his officers and said, "The defeat of the German Pacific Fleet, though not enough to save this disappointing war, will definitely help the French Navy to gain a more advantageous position in the future cooperation of the Allies." The British, who had the world's largest naval power, were beaten to the ground by the Germans in the North Sea, and we single-handedly suppressed the naval power of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, leaving them to hide behind the Channel and not dare to attack, no matter what the outcome of this war is, we can face the French tricolor with a clear conscience. ”

(End of chapter)