"Sir, I just received a signal from the S-34 to rescue a British pilot on the sea, judging by the wreckage of the fallen plane, there should be only one pilot on board, and no radio equipment was found. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

In the navigation room on the lower bridge of the German High Seas Fleet's flagship "King", senior officers headed by Schell formed a circle around the combat chart table. Hearing the report of the communications officer, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief, in such a heavyweight naval battle, the accurate whereabouts and overall strength of the opponent's fleet is the key basis for formulating combat strategies, and keeping one's own fleet hidden from the opponent's sight is undoubtedly a considerable advantage at the tactical level.

"Sir, shall we invite that brave British pilot over for a cup of coffee?" Colonel von Trota, Chief of Operations of the High Seas Fleet, quipped.

Without raising his head, Scheer replied, "No need, the interrogation will be left to Captain Laupahi!" If he can't pry the mouths of the British, it's just a waste of time to come to us. ”

The name Laupach was not unfamiliar to most of the officers present, he was a hero of the Battle of Jutland, when he was the commander of the 1906 class large torpedo boat V-159 and sank the British destroyer "Allen River" in the battle, and then was sunk by the opponent during a torpedo attack on the British super-dreadnought, Laupach almost died, but he survived, returned to the team after two months of recuperation, and was appointed captain of the class of 1913 large torpedo boat S-34, He also served as the deputy commander of the 18th Lightning Strike Detachment. The reason why Scheer said this is because Laupach would certainly not be merciful to the Englishman who took away his four fingers.

Lieutenant Colonel von Lefetsov replied: "Yes, time is running out now, and if the British fleet sends several reconnaissance planes to reconnoiter in several directions at the same time, they will soon notice our direction." We're going to have to speed up if we want to surprise them. ”

With the big war approaching, Colonel Trota's state of mind was particularly relaxed, and he said to Lefetsov: "Don't worry, it's normal for planes to break down or lose their way in such weather conditions. I don't think that professor-level British fleet commander would have bet the fate of the entire fleet on an aircraft that had lost news. ”

Lefetsov retorted: "The planes we sent out are not lost, and we can't expect anything unfortunate to happen to the British, right?" ”

Natsuki on the side, quietly listening to the bickering of the two officers, the meaning of Lefetsov's words is to let the reconnaissance fleet use the speed of the voyage to kill the British by surprise, severely dampen the opponent's morale, and then let the main fleet appear, this strategy seems to be a copy of the Battle of Jutland, but this time the German reconnaissance fleet may be against the British capital ship group, and the advantage in speed is not enough to ensure that the German battle patrol retreats.

Colonel Trota's opinion was the opposite of that of Lefetsov, who felt that there was no need to rush into a firefight with the British fleet, and that there were still several hours before dark, and the German fleet could use the carrier-based aircraft to wear down the opponent's will, so that the enemy commander would lose his composure and become impetuous, and wait for an opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

If the weather is good, Natsuki will definitely adopt the strategy of Trota, but the heavens like to make it difficult, the fierce sea breeze is more and more violent, and the wind and waves on the sea are also higher and higher. As a top naval engineer of this era, he knew the extreme conditions of the operation of "Prince Heinrich" and the auxiliary aircraft carriers converted from two cruise ships, and the current wind and waves had seriously affected the safe take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft, and if this trend continued, the activities of naval aviation would soon have to be completely stopped. Considering the uncertainty of night battles, there was no need for the superior German fleet to take the same risks as the Battle of Jutland, either to settle the battle before dark, or to wait until the next day to see what was going on.

Seeing that the commander of the fleet and the chief of staff had not yet expressed his meaning, Lefetsov made it clear and said: "We are at the so-called 'commanding heights of naval warfare' of His Royal Highness the Prince, and most of the British fleet is still in the strait, so it is the right time to pounce on it. ”

Trotta glanced at Natsuki's location and didn't argue further. The commanding heights in this naval battle do not refer to the sea level, but to the tactical pattern on the operational charts. After discovering the whereabouts of the British fleet in the waters south of the Faroe Islands, the German fleet neither went east to bypass the Faroe Islands to take the initiative to meet it, nor did it stay in the waters north of the Faroe Islands and wait for the arrival of the British fleet, but sailed to the waters northwest of the Faroe Islands. This position was like a vantage point in air warfare, and when the enemy appeared, the German fleet was able to move quickly to seize the opportunity and, even if handled carefully, was able to avoid falling into passivity in most cases.

It was rare for Lefetsov to put gold on his face, and Natsuki smiled slightly: "The courage to lead the main fleet through the Faroese Islands through the narrow waterway shows that our opponent this time is a commander who is keen to take risks, and at the same time, we can also see the urgency of the British to defeat us." It stands to reason that we should pounce on the British fleet while it is still in formation, but I wonder if you have ever thought that an unusual opponent like Sir Jackson might make a deployment that we did not expect. ”

When everyone cast curious glances at Natsuki, he shrugged: "It's just a personal instinct on my part, and it's not necessarily correct. If we choose a cautious strategy, we risk missing the opportunity to make history. ”

Such an ambiguous answer will not only not solve the problem, but will also make the officers more entangled. Despite this, the officers did not show disdain in their eyes, and they knew very well that if it were not for the fact that the royal family in front of them, who was so red and purple in the eyes of the people, repeatedly broke the routine at critical moments, allowing the German fleet to seize the opportunity that was not a great opportunity to inflict heavy losses on the British Navy one after another, the German High Seas Fleet at this time might still be trapped in the nest of the British and unable to move!

Immediately afterwards, Natsuki turned to Scheer and said unhurriedly: "Objectively, what makes us stronger than the British fleet is the navy's carrier-based aircraft, observation and sighting equipment, and the firing control and command system, and the influence of the psychological state is difficult to quantify -- the British navy is in a desperate situation where it can no longer be defeated, and their officers and sailors may show amazing determination and will in this situation. In view of the fact that the current sea conditions are not conducive to continuous sorties by carrier-based aircraft and long-range aimed firing of naval guns, my personal proposition is to postpone the attack and wait for the weather to improve. ”

Scheer didn't make a sound, didn't make any obvious facial movements, just blinked a few times in a fast rhythm.

Through this subtle expression, Natsuki saw what Scheer was thinking, he originally hoped to use a quick and active assault to crush the remnants of the British fleet, so as to completely extinguish the hope of the British to turn the tables. Judging from the situation of aerial reconnaissance, as long as there are no accidents, the German fleet should have a greater chance of winning this battle.

At this time, Captain Gord said in a straight voice: "Perhaps the British have ambushed submarines in the waters north of Smeres Island and East Island -- the waters around the Faroe Islands are so large that the submarine forces can only exert greater combat effectiveness by concentrating their forces." What we really need to watch out for at this time is the British submarine! ”

On occasions of analyzing the operational situation and formulating tactics and strategies, Captain Gord's speeches always followed the lines of Prince Joachim, the chief of staff of the fleet, so that he was ridiculed as a "sound worm" by the more senior officers, but the officers did not ignore his views because of this. At the outbreak of the war, the size of the British submarine force was second only to that of the French Navy, and most of the submarines were superior to the French in actual combat performance. At Jutland and in the two Flanders naval battles, the surface ship forces of the British Navy suffered heavy losses, not only losing the strategic initiative in the North Sea, but also the maritime lifeline of the North Atlantic was also contained by the Germans. The strategic reversal gave the British submarine forces the opportunity to exert their might in the North Sea, having damaged the German Navy's main dreadnought, the Louisport Regent, during the Second Battle of Flanders, and in the North Atlantic, the British submarine forces were also trying to deal with the German Navy's surface assault ships and submarines. In September and October, British submarines attacked German submarines 11 times on the main route from North America to Britain, and won 7 victories, sinking a total of 6 German submarines, damaging and capturing 1, and losing only 4 submarines in battle.

After entering November, the performance of the British submarine force dropped significantly. On the one hand, the number of submarines in service has been reduced to 57 due to combat losses, the number of maintenance and repair in ports accounts for one-third, and only about 40 actually remain in combat positions. On the other hand, the main German fleet went north to the Norwegian Sea to cover the landing of marines in Ireland, and British submarines were concentrated in the Norwegian Sea and the waters of southwestern Ireland. Approaching the waters off the Faroe Islands, the German fleet intercepted several radio communications between British submarines and their bases, and although it is not possible to infer the number of British submarines from this, it is at least certain that the British submarine forces were deployed in advance in this area.

Judging by the silence of the officers, most of them were still inclined to attack the British fleet directly, which was also an inevitable manifestation of German thinking.

"I think if we attack now, we have a 90% chance of winning."

Natsuki's words seemed to be a compromise with mainstream opinion, but the officers who had worked with him for a little longer knew that this was just the beginning of the first depression and then the promotion, and then it must have been a turning point that people were unable to refute.

"But while winning, we could lose four or five capital ships. You should know that the main French fleet has been transferred from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Biscay, which is, after all, the fourth largest fleet in the world, and there is also the US Navy, which has not yet been involved in the war, and its total tonnage ranks third in the world, and under the stimulation of the war, the US Navy has ordered a large number of new ships, and with the support of a strong economy and industry, it will be at least double in size in less than two or three years. ”

Speaking of this, Natsuki paused for a moment to allow the officers to digest the intention of his words, and then said loudly: "Give full play to our technical and tactical advantages as much as possible and minimize the cost of winning the victory, this is the commanding heights in the true sense!" ”

(End of chapter)