Early in the morning, the main fleet of the Central Powers returned to its anchorage in the south of the island of São Miguel with an aura of victory, and the support fleet from Europe had already been incorporated into the so-called "Grand European Fleet", but not all of them were joined - the "Admiral Scheer", which had almost sunk, returned to Europe under the escort of two destroyers, and two cruisers and four destroyers were reinforced by the "Frederick Caesar" group. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The convoy regrouped and turned around again and, at its current speed, would arrive in San Miguel the next morning.

Upon arrival in the waters off São Miguel, the damaged ship broke away from the formation and sailed into Punta Delgada, the only seaport on the island of São Miguel. As long as the raw materials and accessories are sufficient, the docks and floating docks there can carry out repairs or minor modifications of all kinds of ships, even such giants as the "Hesse".

Today, there are about 110,000 Allied troops stationed on Sao Miguel, down from 140,000 at its peak. Looking at the "Hesse," which had been ravaged by enemy planes in the naval battle, docked at the pier in a dismal manner beyond recognition, the officers and men of the defending troops present could not hide their surprise and loss. Looking at it like this, it will inevitably have to stay in the dock for many months, and if the supplies of materials and equipment are not available, it is not surprising that it will be cultivated for more than half a year, and it will definitely not be able to count on it in the near future. Although our aircraft carriers sank 4 enemy aircraft carriers and damaged 3 during the battle, almost destroying the enemy's naval forces in the Azores, the aircraft carriers had an inherent weakness that could not function at night and in bad weather, so such a victory was not enough to completely relieve the dangerous situation of the Allied forces in the Azores.

Of the remaining ships of the support fleet, the dreadnoughts "Elector" and "Karl the Great" were the only battleships. In the last war, they were undoubtedly the top combat power, but with the passage of time, they looked a little thin in the face of the new battleships with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons and equipped with 15- or 16-inch naval guns. However, in the first battle of the United States and Britain's advance fleet, the play of these two dreadnoughts still allowed people of insight to see the significant effect of technical modification and tactical deployment in enhancing the potential of warships, and in the eyes of ordinary people, the play of the "Hesse" was the decisive factor in that victory.

In any case, such a remarkable victory set the stage for the arrival of the King of Ireland. In accordance with the will of the German General Staff, the Allied forces stationed in the Azores were placed under a unified Theater Command, with His Majesty King Joachim I of Ireland as Commander-in-Chief.

Unlike the almost suspenseful situation on the battlefield of Britain, the battle of the Azores has been a dramatic affair since the opening of the world. Precisely because of the stalemate in the war and the fact that the Azores occupy a vital position on the strategic map of the Allies, a large number of excellent commanders have gathered here, and the experienced and daring Admiral Beinke needless to say, the commander of the aircraft carrier group, Eberhardt Schimmert, the commander of the Atlantic Fleet, von Oldenburg, the commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Fleet, Max Bastian, the commander of the 2nd Reconnaissance Fleet, William Machar, and the newly promoted commander of the 2nd Atlantic Fleet, Gunther Lütjans, These are all well-known figures, as well as the super-aces of yesteryear, such as the commander of the Atlantic submarine fleet, de la Perle, the famous expert in military engineering and ballistics, Hank Widfer, who is in charge of the coastal defense of the island of São Miguel, and so on.

The first thing Natsuki did after officially becoming commander-in-chief of the Azores theater and commander of the Allied fleet was to convene a combat meeting of all the generals. He summed up the next step in the deployment of Allied forces in the Azores in a succinct phrase: "active defensive warfare."

Active defensive warfare, as the name suggests, defense is the core positioning of operations. The "Frederick Caesar" ship group and the support fleet were used as bait to inflict heavy damage on the US and British aircraft carrier formations, and the overall operational situation has undergone major changes, but the quantitative changes have not yet reached the level of triggering qualitative changes; the US and British forces occupy two-thirds of the islands in the Azores, with more than 250,000 troops stationed in the Azores and nearly 1,000 combat aircraft, and the fleet size has a clear advantage over the Allies. With the strength of the Allied forces deployed in the Azores, it is completely impractical to launch a counterattack on the islands controlled by American and British troops, but it is not advisable to sit back and wait for the opponent to attack. Based on the objective situation that the capital ships, light ships, and even submarines of the Allied Navy were all inferior, and only aircraft carriers and carrier-based aviation were superior, Natsuki decided to take the initiative to attack the enemy's supply lines and lure the enemy's detachment into his own aircraft carrier ambush circle. During this period, the Allies will send a large number of land-based aviation units to São Miguel Island, and continue to bomb the islands occupied by the United States and Britain, destroy their military installations, weaken their combat potential, and then seize the air supremacy of the Azores, and gradually push the American and British troops stationed there into a desperate situation.

All the officers present at the meeting unanimously agreed with Natsuki's active defensive battle, and the admirals even asked for help, hoping to play an important role in the next operation.

Before accepting William's invitation to go back to the mountain, Natsuki not only studied the opponents on the battlefield in detail, but also carefully paid attention to the performance of his colleagues, and for those generals he was not familiar with, he also asked the intelligence department to collect information in conjunction with the Royal Military College, and organize and evaluate them in a professional way, so as to achieve a target, and strive to make every decision based on objective analysis, rather than relying on luck and courage.

Von Oldenburg, Wilhelm Marchar, and Gunther Lütjans were the leaders of the younger generation of the German Navy, and they were all capable of serving as commanders of assault ship formations. Von Oldenburg, a member of the royal family, was arrogant and radical; William Marchar and Gunther Ruetjens came from civilian families, had excellent grades in military schools, highly rated positions, calm in the face of problems, and thoughtful thinking, but their actual combat performance as detachment commanders was far from the same, the former was criticized and discredited in support operations on the Cohen Peninsula without a fight, and the latter led the battle patrol group to sink 14 enemy ships in the middle of the Azores campaign, becoming one of the few bright spots of the Allied army at that stage.

Natsuki's strategy was not to choose one of the three, but to choose two of the three, that is, to attack at the same time with two raid ship formations. Although General von Oldenburg privately expressed to Natsuki his strong desire to lead the army into battle, after weighing it, Natsuki chose Mashal and Lütjens as the vanguard of the battle.

A few days later, in the sea southwest of Flores Island.

"Maintain a speed of 24 knots and turn left at 5 degrees to a compass point!"

As soon as he spoke, William Marchar's wrinkled jaw shook very rhythmically like a marionette. After giving the order, he habitually lifted his binoculars and looked at the angle where the battleship was about to turn, where there was nothing but waves like fish scales.

"Turn left at 5 degrees and keep the speed of 24!" Captain Captain Anderick conveyed the commander's order as soon as possible.

After a dozen seconds, the "De Fllinger" began to turn its bow, and then the sister ship "Lützov", which followed behind, adjusted its course in the same attitude, and then two light cruisers like tails.

Since becoming commander of the 2nd Reconnaissance Fleet, Machar has praised the grace of the sister ships countless times in his heart. Although the Deflinger class is only a thing of the past in the eyes of ordinary people, Marchar has never despised it. The slender shape of the ships gives them a lightness that does not match their size, and the simple lines are both beautiful and practical, and in the eyes of the soldiers, their majestic main guns are the most attractive place. Viewed from the main bridge, the four front guns are always pointing majestically forward, and when they rotate with the large, thick, and comfortably shaped turret, it makes you feel a kind of pre-battle excitement.

Under the bright sunshine, the warm sea breeze blows by. If it is not a combat mission, the crew can completely pull up a hammock on the deck to bask in the sun and take a nap, which is definitely the most pleasant thing on the way to the sea, but this is the control area of the US and British navies, and there may be US and British ships or fighters passing by at any time, and it is close to the detection range of the US-made shore-based radar, and there is a danger of falling into a bitter battle if they are not careful.

It was precisely in consideration of the technical needs of concealment that Machar did not send a maritime reconnaissance plane or use a shipborne radar, but led this attack ship formation to cruise in this sea area based on experience. A short time later, the bell of the intercom telephone on the bridge of the battle ship rang.

"The command sent a telegram that, according to reliable information, a supply convoy will depart from Flores Island tomorrow and return to North America, but the specific time, route and escort force are unknown, and we are ordered to act at the opportune opportunity. In addition, judging from the aerial reconnaissance situation this morning, the enemy's main fleet is still on standby in the waters of Texel. ”

After listening to the report forwarded by the staff officer, Machar seemed to be very satisfied and nodded: "Very good, continue to be vigilant!" ”

Captain Captain Andrike reminded: "Although the enemy's main fleet has not moved, we may still encounter a strong opponent in this sea, and the most important thing to watch out for is the two Wyoming-class ships that have recently been transferred from North America, their overall performance is certainly not as good as our Derflinger-class, and once encountered, we are not sure to deal with them quickly, and if they are incorporated into the escort fleet, the situation will be more tricky." ”

Martial glanced at him, "I have a strange feeling that I might run into them in this fight, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. ”

(End of chapter)