At the beginning of the night, the deeper and deeper canopy of the sky is dotted with clouds, which look like a folded flannel cloth. On the undulating seas www.biquge.info the stiff lines and concise contours of combat ships dragged out long white wakes. As the majestic flagship signaled a light that represented a specific meaning, the formation of 22 ships quickly changed formation. Viewed from the air, the adjustment process is like a giant octopus spreading its tentacles in the water - most of the ships are in groups of twos and twos, heading in different directions in an orderly manner, thus forming a nearly 180-degree fan that continues to extend and expand, and the rest of the ships are the heads of the octopus, which follow the action as part of the whole, and the work of detecting the enemy situation is mainly handed over to the tentacles ahead......

One of the tentacles of this large octopus is the German Navy's 1932 torpedo boat destroyer T-802 "Heinz Buch" and 1930 torpedo boat destroyer T-727 "Otto Styra". In fact, the torpedo boat destroyer of the class of 1932 was indeed an alternative among the destroyers of the German Navy, its displacement was almost twice that of ordinary destroyers, and it was equipped with four twin 127-mm naval guns and four triple-mounted 533-mm torpedo tubes. The reason why the Germans designed such a large destroyer, some people think that it is an outdated attempt to lead the concept of destroyers, and some people think that it is a bold exploration of the concept of modern destroyers, and regardless of whether it is right or wrong, this kind of powerful and seaworthy ship has shown excellent practicality on the battlefield, so it has been highly praised by German naval officers and sailors, but it is regrettable that at the outbreak of the war, only 3 destroyers of this class were in service, if there are 20, 30 or even 40 in service, The Allied Navy would have had much easier combat operations in Britain and even in the Azores.

At the beginning of the war, the "Heinz Butch", which participated in the mine-laying blockade of the east coast of Britain, is now the command ship of Christian von Oldenburg, the little prince of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, and it is equipped with the MC-IIB short-wave pulse radar used by large ships, and the effective detection radius is 40% larger than that of the German-made Lorentz-I shipboard pulse detector used by wingmen, which means that it can detect enemy ship tracks one step ahead, of course, The premise is that enemy ships will enter the sea area where they search and monitor at night.

At the end of the dinner, Christian, dressed in neat military uniform, and his lieutenant toured the ship's battle positions, and at the end of the day, they stopped on the aft deck, where the admiral, who came into a royal family and was called the "Oldenburg Twin Eagles" along with his brother August, gazed at the vast expanse of the sea.

After a long time, the young adjutant asked curiously: "Your Highness, did you say that the enemy's capital ship will go from Texel to Flores tonight?" ”

Instead of answering directly, Christian asked rhetorically: "Do you hope that the enemy will come, or will it not come?" ”

The adjutant replied, almost without thinking, "Of course I hope they come!" Looking at this situation, His Majesty Joachim I is going to crush the opponent with a night lightning battle, and if the enemy can reduce two more capital ships, then the situation of the enemy in the Azores battlefield will be completely reversed! ”

Christian calmly took out his jacket pocket, took out a delicately packaged cigar, opened it without hurry, pulled out the torpedo-shaped cigar smoke, took out the cigar cutter from the other pocket, skillfully trimmed it to a standard state, put away the cigar cutter, took out the lighter, covered his hands to block the wind, lit the lighter.

Suddenly, an aroma diametrically opposed to the smell of gunpowder finally spread.

The middle-aged royal general recalled in a low and slow tone: "Nineteen years ago, in the summer of the greatest naval battle in history, Jutland became known to the world. Looking back on that naval battle, most people relish the magnificent fleet artillery battle, but do not notice the many desperate battles between the light ships of both sides. Under the cover of night, the flares and artillery flames jumped ahead, and the torpedo tracks were silently approaching, and death could come at any time, instantly taking the lives of the entire ship. I was in my early twenties, watching my companions sail away in high-speed warships, knowing that many of them would not return, and all hopes of glory and victory were overshadowed by the harsh reality......"

The adjutant listened silently, as if he had comprehended something, but felt that something deeper was elusive for a while.

After a pause, Christian continued: "If we encounter the enemy fleet tonight, no matter which side of victory it is, both sides will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, and you and I may be on the list of the dead. ”

The young adjutant turned his head to look at his idol with a look of incomprehension in his eyes. Has the hero of the world, who twice sailed in a high-speed warship in the Second Battle of Flanders, risked his way through a hail of bullets to attack enemy ships, and won himself a great feat, has lost his most precious fearlessness in the long years?

Orr, Christian exhaled a long breath and suddenly quickened the speed of his speech: "Whether they come today or not, this collision of wills is destined to appear, because this is his favorite way to win, and in the war script he composed, there will inevitably be such a climax, and since he has come here, he is the unique master of the battlefield battle." ”

"You mean ......," the adjutant stopped. Since they know each other, why bother to say it so bluntly.

Christian continued to smoke his cigar and his tone changed again: "But then again, this kind of brutal battle is indeed an excellent way to demoralize the enemy, and as Marshal Schell said in his Memoirs of Jutland, a benevolent commander is not a qualified commander. When you are on the battlefield, it is best to look at all casualties and losses as simple figures, so that you can make objective and correct decisions. ”

The adjutant was stunned: "I always thought that sentence was addressed to Count von Ingnoel, who was the commander of the High Seas Fleet at the time and later inexplicably removed from his post. ”

Christian shrugged: "Maybe it's a pun!" ”

The Allied Navy's improvised fast fleet spread a wide net west of Texel and southeast of Flores Island overnight, but the US-British joint combat fleet, which had changed generals, did not bury its head in it. British Admiral Chatfield, who took over the command, was convinced of his own judgment, and if he sent ships to help Flores at this time, he would inevitably be intercepted and killed by a strong enemy in the middle of the road, and because of the limited information at hand, he could not be sure whether the cunning opponent would send out the main force or select an elite army to go to the next city in the form of a night lightning battle, and different arrangements were needed for different situations. The 24 capital warships that attacked the Azores in a mighty way, plus the five capital ships and four quasi-capital ships that successively reinforced the front line, most of the essence of the US and British navies were damaged, and so far only 9 of them were able to set sail at any time, of which a total of 7 were deployed in the Texel Sea, namely the South Dakota-class battleship "Indiana", the Colorado-class battleships "Colorado" and "Washington", the New Mexico-class battleships "New Mexico" and "Mississippi", and the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships Queen Elizabeth", and the only battlecruiser "Howe" that was still operational on the American and British sides. What is embarrassing is that the most critical reason why there are two ships left in the Colorado-class and New Mexico-class is that they are slow to sail, and several important naval battles have dragged on in the rear, and with their unsatisfactory maneuverability, many tactics cannot be used at all.

If the time is rewind by a week, Hart's task force and Bullock's main aircraft carrier are still there, Chatfield will definitely plan and send fast ships to engage the enemy head-on, and at the same time support the main fleet and aircraft carrier formation in the rear, so that no matter whether it is a night battle or a day battle, he will not suffer a loss, but now he has to worry about losing the opponent in the night battle, and he is also worried that his own ships will be bombed by enemy carrier-based aircraft in turn during the day. Therefore, he decided to avoid the enemy's attack, and on the one hand, he sent several light ships to the waters west of Texel to conduct fire reconnaissance and tactical containment, and on the other hand, he assigned the "Howe" to lead seven light and heavy cruisers to set off to the east to launch an artillery operation on the island of San Miguel after midnight.

The U.S. and British ships moved in groups, but the Allied submarines that were on alert and surveillance in the waters off Texel Island were unaware -- in fact, most of their regular cruising routes and surveillance contact points were already known to the adversary, so it was not difficult for Chatfield to map out a safe and concealed route for the artillery fleet sortie.

The straight-line distance from Texel to San Miguel was about 90 nautical miles, and Chatfield's artillery fleet nearly doubled its range around the path, but fortunately, the British Admiral-class battle cruisers were powerful, and the Parsons steam turbines were efficient and reliable, and they could run all night at a speed of nearly 30 knots, and the shelling fleet hurried all the way, and finally arrived in the sea north of San Miguel at about 1 a.m. The new radar detector on board the ship sounded a rapid siren, and it was not long before Allied sentry ships and seaplanes arrived in droves. Even so, the U.S. and British artillery fleets obeyed Chatfield's orders and forcibly broke through the obstruction of the Allied alert ships and continued to approach São Miguel Island. At 1:20 a.m., the "Howe" fired 62 shells at the central area of São Miguel Island with the maximum elevation angle of its main guns, and the accompanying light and heavy cruisers dropped 744 rounds of ammunition at the northern tip of São Miguel Island.

On the other hand, the American and British destroyers sent to the waters west of Texel Island to carry out combat reconnaissance did not engage in an exchange of fire with the Allied ships, and most of the destroyers did not even see the shadow of the enemy ships.

(End of chapter)