On the evening of the second day of departure from Kiel, Scheer's main fleet continued north along the Norwegian coastline, and the communications officer of the flagship "King" delivered a wireless telegram to the fleet commanders as usual. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Near dinner, a double-encrypted telegram made a splash on the bridge like stones thrown into calm water -- the message showed that when the Hipper reconnaissance fleet sailed to the waters southwest of Bergen, Norway, the battlecruiser "De Fllinger" had a serious mechanical failure in the transmission of the engine of the first turbine, and the ship had to stop at the same place for emergency repairs, with the light cruiser "Augsburg" accompanying him, and Hipper led the remaining three battle cruisers and two light cruisers to continue sailing to the northwestto enter the Norwegian Sea between Svalbard, Iceland and Scandinavia.

Bergen is the seaport of southeastern Norway and the second largest port in the Nordic country, and although there are many towns further north, they are increasingly sparsely populated due to their remote location and harsh climate. Bergen is roughly at the same latitude as the Shetland Islands in the northernmost part of Britain, and the nearby waters are not considered a dangerous war zone, and the situation is not optimistic if a German capital ship such as the "De Fllinger" is stranded for a long time.

Because of its excellent performance in naval battles, this German battle cruiser with a displacement of more than 30,000 tons was even called a "super battleship" by the consistently rigorous New York Times. If the "De Fllinger" at the beginning of the war was just a beautiful guy with a new blade for the German reconnaissance fleet, then after being sharpened by the war, people found that it was a peerless sword with extremely sharp edges. Under the leadership of the "Sedlitz," all the officers and men of the reconnaissance fleet fought bravely in the rain of gunpowder and shells, and constantly won the victories they dreamed of, and the toughness and domineering spirit of the "Sedlinger" also made it a spiritual pillar in the hearts of the officers and men, and even after the "Sedlitz" repaired its damage and returned to the combat sequence, it still maintained an unshakable absolute position in the reconnaissance fleet.

The active capital ships of the German Navy are all fired under or under the auspices of Natsuki, who is familiar with the structure and performance of these ships that ordinary people cannot match. From the earliest Nassau class, all dreadnoughts and battlecruisers were equipped with advanced steam turbines, but due to Germany's strategic situation and resource situation, only battlecruisers were equipped with oil-fired boilers, which gave them more powerful power output, and the "De Fllinger" sprint speed of up to 27 knots became the most of the navy's capital ships of its time. It is equipped with two Hubert steam turbines, using four-shaft propulsion, the transmission failure of one turbine may cause the two output shafts to be unable to operate, its impact on the warship is not as simple as halving the speed, even if the rudder angle to maintain a forward attitude, the tactical engine power is close to zero, not suitable for the enemy at all.

Aside from the previous minor problems that can be ignored for the time being, this is the first trouble that may affect the progress of the main story during the execution of the "Ballista Project". Far from home, the German fleet needed to compensate for its weaknesses in a surprising way, and Hipper's reconnaissance fleet had always been the best tactical surprise soldier. As long as the "De Fllinger" is present, the strength of the reconnaissance fleet is comparable to that of the British dreadnought fleet, and if this "super battleship" leaves the field ahead of schedule, the remaining three German battle cruisers -- "Seydlitz," "Moltke," and "Goeben" -- will still be a sharp naval combat force, but the tactical options will certainly be much reduced.

Out of the need to maintain radio silence, the Hipper reconnaissance fleet did not directly shoot a telegram, but ejected a maritime reconnaissance plane, and asked it to find a German auxiliary vessel that was deployed in the nearby sea area in advance, and relay the content of the telegram that needed to be sent to it, and then sail to the Norwegian coast to send the telegram again, so that even if the British Navy noticed this communication radio source and used radio lateral technology to determine its position, it would think that it was a ground station near Bergen that was communicating with the outside world. Such sophisticated means could avoid leaking the whereabouts of the German fleet to a certain extent, but it also caused a great delay in the efficiency of communications -- when the "King" received this news about the breakdown of the "De Fllinger", it had already been almost a day since it had separated from the reconnaissance fleet.

Seeing that the main fleet was only more than 100 nautical miles away from the initial position where the "De Fllinger" was stationed, Natsuki suggested that Scheer continue to maintain radio silence and at the same time send a maritime reconnaissance plane to investigate. Because of the poor condition of the ships, the German Navy's earliest aircraft carrier "Bismarck" and those high-speed torpedo boat carriers converted from old cruisers did not accompany the fleet this time, they were sent to the Flanders waters to assist in the operation, incidentally played a role in confusing the British Navy, but this did not mean that Scher's main fleet lost two major winning weapons. Nearly three months have passed since the end of the Battle of Jutland, and the aircraft carrier refit project of the old armored cruiser "Prince Heinrich" and the transoceanic cruise ships "Göttingen" and "Kassel" has been completed by mid-October, and the expanded carrier-based aircraft unit has achieved satisfactory results with the help of ground platforms and the flight deck of the "Bismarck." However, all the modifications and design of the aircraft carriers were kept in a high state of secrecy, and the outside world did not know about them, and they were able to become the second tactical force of the main German fleet.

While Scheer's main fleet was still assembling in the Bay of Kiel, the "Prince Heinrich" had quietly sailed away from Danzig and sailed swiftly into Danish waters under the protection of four large torpedo boats. In the state of an armored cruiser, its standard displacement is nearly 2,000 tons less than that of the "Bismarck", but the length and width of the hull are only half a meter and 0.8 meters less than the latter, because it was built and put into service two years later, its maximum speed is one section higher than that of the "Bismarck", and its endurance has increased by 30 percent; more importantly, the "Prince Heinrich" has been incorporated into the reconnaissance fleet after its service, and most of the time it has been active in the local waters, and the hull has been well maintained, and it has maintained a relatively ideal state with a 12-year age, which is more than that of the "Bismarck" It is more suitable for long-distance sailing operations.

At this time, the "Prince Heinrich" was catching up in the rear, and the two auxiliary aircraft carriers converted from the cruise ship were scheduled to depart from Germany in two days, and the aerial reconnaissance of the Scheer fleet was temporarily carried out by the water reconnaissance planes carried by the light cruisers. Receiving the flag signal from the "King", the light cruiser "Fort Col" of the outpost formation quickly ejected and took off a "Junkers 3-C". Stimulated by the Battle of Jutland, the enthusiasm of all German strata in the struggle for maritime supremacy was unprecedentedly high, and the enthusiasm of Kaiser Wilhelm II was of the most practical value. Since the Reichstag would remain in recess for the duration of the war, the distribution of the additional war appropriations was largely up to the monarch, who, according to his personal wishes, allocated a considerable part of the first five billion marks to the German Navy for the construction of new warships and for the ordering of large quantities of carrier-based aircraft, seaplanes, and naval combat vehicles. In August, Hubert Aviation delivered 15 Junkers 3-Cs to the German Navy under the contract, and by September and October, the number of contract deliveries increased to 40 aircraft per month, and Hubert Aviation's production line was running at full capacity and barely completed 70 percent of the contract, even so, the German Navy's water reconnaissance aircraft force was nearly doubled. In view of the positive role of carrier-based water reconnaissance aircraft in naval warfare and the simplicity and practicality of ejection technology, the German Navy not only equipped all light cruisers with seaplane catapults, but also a small number of large torpedo boats of the 1913 class were also equipped with such equipment behind the bridge. During the "intermission" in mid-to-late September and throughout October, the German Navy used these light ships with seaplanes to carry out reconnaissance, patrols, and alerts, and repeatedly harassed the British coast, gradually changing its strategic initiative in the North Sea to control.

More than three hours later, the Junkers-3C, which had taken off from the Fort Cole, finally returned safely at night, and the news from the pilots was mixed: thanks to the efforts of the ship's engineers and crew, the engine failure of the "De Fllinger" was finally apparent, and as long as the specified parts were obtained, it could be repaired without calling at the port.

The shortest voyage from Wilhelmshaven, which is relatively close, to the Bergen Sea is about 450 nautical miles, and it can be reached in about 18 hours by transporting spare parts by light cruisers or large torpedo boats. At the same time, the suppliers of these materials also have to meet the orders of the German Army, and the contradiction between supply and demand is prominent. There have been cases before that the repair of the main battleship has been delayed due to a lack of spare parts, and all this is obviously not something that can be solved by one person's foresight.

What if that happens......

Thinking of this, Natsuki frowned rarely.

The fleet commander and the chief of staff of the fleet were silent, and the staff officers did not rashly express their opinions, and the atmosphere in the bridge of the "King" was very dull. At this moment, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the open hatch, which was quite reckless on the bridge of the flagship, which emphasized a calm mind, and as soon as this guy walked in, he actually shouted: "Paris! Paris! We have taken Paris! ”

As soon as these words came out, no one pursued the communication officer's disrespectful performance, and all eyes were instantly focused on him.

The cheerful communications officer delivered a small telegram to Scher, and the commander of the High Seas Fleet glanced at it, and his normally calm face appeared with pleasure, and he immediately announced in a loud voice: "Gentlemen, this is the military announcement that we have just received - our army has taken Paris today, and the French defenders have been completely routed!" ”

(End of chapter)