Under the scorching summer sun, in the south-central waters of the North Sea in Europe, a huge group of ships seem to come to cool off in groups, cruising leisurely on this breezy and rippling sea. However, on their flagpoles fluttered a black cross, a red crested black eagle with a black line on a white background, which was the battle flag of the Second German Reich.www.biquge.info

Only in a state of engagement will the ship hoist the battle flag in a prominent position.

The ships have a uniform battle flag, and the officers and men have standard attire, but these dozens of ships, large and small, are very different from the fleets that people usually remember, their largest is majestic and equipped with thousands of people, like a floating steel castle, and the smallest is light and dexterous, carrying only one person, as if they are dancing elves on the sea. Some of them have cannon barrels like forests, like tomahawks, and some have groups of booms, like docks, with different outlines, different styles, and different uses, giving people a sense of complexity and redundancy, rather than a little concise and concise sharpness.

On the battleship "King", flying the flag of the German vice admiral, the four large and solid main turrets pointed to the left and right sides respectively, the turret vents and escape doors were open, and the German sailors in summer clothes gathered in the shade, or smoked and chatted, or closed their eyes to recuperate. Because it was completed in less than four months and only served for dozens of days, the hull was painted and maintained in bright colors, the oak deck was still smooth and smooth, and every weapon and equipment was shiny, and the officers and men naturally felt comfortable and full of emotions to be able to serve on such a new warship with first-class performance.

Behind the two knapsack front guns stands a rather modern tower bridge, which is covered with 13 on the main body. 8-inch Krupp armor, such a strong defense withstood the most heavyweight test in the Battle of Jutland. Due to the rush of time, the shipyard workers did not have time to repair the craters left by the shells on the outer wall of the bridge, and the shallow traces just set off the strength of the German protection.

In order to resist the scorching heat of Liege, the sailors put up a snow-white shade cloth on the observation platform at the top of the bridge, and the officers on duty observed the sea under this shade. At this time, more than an hour had passed since the visit of the small British plane, and there was still no counterattacker in sight, and the long wait wore down people's patience, and this seemingly negative way of waiting for war also made the officers speculate.

"We've been in ambush here for half a day, and the British may have figured out our situation and are sending their entire home fleet to encircle us."

It was a high-faced, wide-faced captain who said this, and his tone was not apprehensive, but merely an inference about a matter.

Standing beside him, the naval lieutenant was young and handsome, with a new stubble on his chin that was evenly matched like the texture of a Turkish tapestry, and he held up a pair of bulky binoculars, and said calmly: "This is a battle that the British cannot afford to lose, they will definitely go all out, and we have chosen a position that makes them very miserable." ”

"Are you saying that small torpedo boats can't go so far, and large ships have to bear the psychological pressure of defending the coastline, and it's difficult to let go of fighting us?" The captain replied as he nodded, apparently thinking that such a deployment was well thought out.

"The risks are equal." The major put down his binoculars and touched the stubble on his chin with his hand, "If the British had a cool enough head, they could have sent a large number of light ships and submarines not to the main fleet." We don't have a good way to do it with submarines. ”

Another captain of the Navy present took over the conversation: "Uh-huh, that's right! Our submarines are playing an important tactical role, and the enemy's submarines are more than ours, and their performance is not falling behind, and it will not be easy for us to win this battle if we can use them well. ”

The major turned his head to look at the captain, who was more than ten years younger than himself, he had not had much contact with him, but he had already heard of the other party's name. Some people privately call him "Joachim's bulldog", the meaning is self-explanatory, but no matter how unpleasant his performance is, the Iron Cross on his chest is a coveted honor for every German soldier, but in peacetime, such military medals are rarely awarded, and from the time Germany declared war on France, the war began only ten days, and the number of recipients of this honor has just exceeded double digits.

As the most active staff officer in the Fleet Command, Captain Golder relied on more than just a close connection with a member of the royal family. Even before Admiral Ingnoll and Prince Joachim became Commander of the High Seas Fleet and Chief of Staff of the Fleet respectively, he was already a recognized star of hope in the Fleet Command, and he was a master of argumentation, and was praised by his superiors for his meticulous thinking and keen insight.

"However, submarines have two major drawbacks: one is that they are slow, and the other is that the means of attack are too limited, so they are not very suitable for fleet engagement." Captain Gord stretched out two fingers and said unhurriedly, "If the British Navy does not attack us before the sun goes down, then we will withdraw at full speed, and the British submarines departing from the coastal waters of the mainland will definitely not be able to catch up." ”

"If we encounter a British submarine during the day, they have to use a periscope to observe before firing a torpedo, and we can take precautions as long as we are vigilant."

The Major had intended to complete what Golder had not finished, but Captain Golder smiled slyly at himself.

"There's a little secret here...... Sitting on an airplane or airship, looking down from a not very high altitude, a submarine close to the surface will show a blurred shadow, and the better the weather, the easier it will be to recognize. ”

In addition to aircraft carriers and seaplane carriers, the only aircraft carried by the German Navy were cruisers, and the officers who served on such a capital battleship as the "King" obviously had little opportunity to fly, let alone know this technical secret. The major was reluctant to put his surprise on his face, and he was silent for a moment, and then looked up at the planes circling nearby, and could understand why the fleet commander could stay in the sea so calmly.

Captain Gord looked proud, although he was not the decision-maker of the fleet, but as an important member of the staff team, he was able to easily access the tactical content that ordinary officers did not know, and when it was irrelevant to the overall situation, he greatly satisfied the vanity that everyone had.

At this moment, the captain of the navy, who had a high forehead and a wide face, reminded: "Pick up the telescope and look to the southwest, the signal light of one of our planes is on...... Did you spot an enemy ship? ”

All the idle talk ended here, and the officers on the bridge turned their attention to the southwest. The aircraft that gave the light signal had wheel mounts instead of pontoons, which meant that it was a reconnaissance aircraft that took off from the "Bismarck". At the outbreak of the war, Germany, Great Britain, and France each had their own strengths in aviation technology, and in the naval field, the Germans were clearly ahead of their opponents in the use of technology. Although the "Bismarck" is only a modified aircraft carrier with a very small number of aircraft, its effectiveness has already exceeded that of the three British seaplane carriers combined when carrying out the fleet's reconnaissance and alert mission, and at present the German carrier-based aircraft are small in size and light in load, and are not suitable for carrying bulky radio equipment; once a breakthrough in communication technology is made, the reconnaissance efficiency will be even higher.

Among the officers on duty, the major was the most proficient in light code communication, and he quickly said, "Hmm...... Don't worry, there is only one British destroyer, which should have come to fight the outpost. ”

Then, the major walked up to the microphone, bowed slightly, and turned his mouth to the mouth of the tube: "This is the alert observatory, our reconnaissance plane has reported that a British destroyer has been found 30 nautical miles southwest, please report this situation to the commander and the chief of staff of the fleet immediately." ”

The British destroyer that appeared in the waters near the German mixed fleet at this time was the "Purple Fox" with the false name of "30-knot destroyer." According to the British Navy's deployment, it was on guard at a distance of 60 nautical miles, and even at full speed, it would not be its turn to take the lead, and it was only by replacing the protective cruiser "Hittis", which was older than itself and had power failures, that it became the closest British battleship to the German fleet - "one", to be exact. The British Admiralty gave a general range of targets, including the Purple Fox, and ships close to this range were called to conduct combat reconnaissance, and the captain with a white goatee, Major Larris, chose the right path for himself, but it was also a path of death.

The German mixed fleet, which had remained silent on the radio, was deployed with a slightly slower flag signal, and the light cruisers Berlin and Danzig were sent to meet them. Under the guidance of their own reconnaissance planes, the two German cruisers determined the position of the British battleship while they were still within direct sight distance, and decided to adopt the tactic of splitting up and trapping.

From the appearance of German planes, the British naval officers and men on the "Purple Fox" were very unhappy, but in order to reconnoiter the position and strength of the German fleet, they bravely continued to advance, until they found themselves about to be caught in the middle of two German cruisers, and Major Laris, who had participated in many colonial military operations and was over the age of retirement, gave the order to turn, but the "Purple Fox" with aging equipment ran at a high speed for seven hours, and the overwhelmed steam pipes broke down one after another, and the speed was only about 16 knots. The two German light cruisers, built in 1904, were not in the best condition, but they were still taking advantage of the advantage of waiting for work to shorten the distance between the two sides. Not long after, the two planes that took off from the "Bismarck" also joined forces to drop 24 7s on the "Purple Fox". A 5-kilogram bomb, the explosive power of which is equivalent to a 75-millimeter shell, can pose a direct threat to a light ship like the "Purple Fox", which has basically no protective capability. Although none of the bombs dropped by the two German planes directly hit the Purple Fox, the British destroyer had several sailors wounded by shrapnel, and once it was in engagement, it would have to use three 77mm guns against the two German cruisers with 20 102mm guns, which was a very unfair battle in terms of tonnage, speed and firepower.

When the two German cruisers approached the range of the ship's guns, the crew of the "Purple Fox" miraculously repaired the power failure, and the British destroyer's speed was restored to more than 22 knots, and the distance between the two sides was stabilized. Seeing that they would not be able to catch up with their prey for a while, the two German cruisers fired a few shots and turned back. Major Laris's sailors were relieved to see this, but their commander made a decision that excites them and contradicts them: turn around!

(End of chapter)