"Haha! Sixteen inches! Then we'll have to keep our eyes open! Someone from the secondary gun position said to an lookout.

"You'd better keep your mouth shut for me!" The lookout said with some annoyance. At this moment, his binoculars were swaying back and forth with the swaying of the swivel chair. "As soon as the Germans show up, I'm sure I'll see them!"

At this time, the cruiser sailed through the English Channel with difficulty, braving the bitter cold wind and rolling waves, and continued to patrol.

"The guys at home are comfortable." One of the men on deck said, "They wouldn't have thought it would be so cold and so bumpy." ”

"Without us, they are not comfortable, the German artillery will wake them up! Ha ha! ”

"Twenty-eight hours have passed since our main fleet went to sea last night. Where can the Germans be? "I don't think it's likely to be here anyway."

"Yes, what do the Chinese say? Yes, the Germans have water in their brains. ”

Hearing this man's words, there was a burst of laughter from the deck, but it was quickly interrupted by the wind and waves.

"I don't know if the Germans' brains are in the water, I just know that our brains are about to get into the water." Someone let the sudden spray drench and said self-deprecatingly.

At this time on the cruiser "Nottingham", the lookouts were changing shifts. The new lookouts took the binoculars, sat in the swivel chairs of their office workers, and began to rock in the bitter sea breeze. Daniel is one of them. After a while, he felt as if he had seen something. He watched it carefully for a while. On the water antenna, there was a vague thing that was rapidly approaching.

"110 degrees on the starboard side! Discover the warship! ”

At this time, the outline of the target is getting larger and larger. The figures of the four large warships looked particularly powerful under the gray sky.

Hearing Daniel's shout, a dozen pairs of binoculars looked towards starboard side in unison.

Daniel

"Enemy ship spotted on the starboard side! More than six! Someone else noticed something new and screamed hoarsely.

At this moment, the figure of the battleship "Kaiser Wilhelm" was getting closer and closer.

The moment he saw the "Kaiser Wilhelm", Daniel's breath stopped.

At this time, the sea fog was still very strong, and it was difficult to see the situation on the German battleship, but Daniel seemed to feel that the main turret of the German battleship was turning, and the huge gun barrel was slowly pointing towards him.

Suddenly, a dark red glow flashed through the fog, followed by a thunderous roar.

The side of the "Nottingham" instantly rose high columns of water, and the sea water poured down like a waterfall, and Daniel and his companions staggered one by one, and before they could stand firm, the German battleships began to shoot again.

In the wheelhouse under the bridge, the helmsman was standing with the helmsman at his helm. Suddenly, a hurried rudder command came from the barrel above his head: "Left full rudder!" He immediately spun the wheel of the wheel, and "Nottingham" immediately changed course sharply. As the cruiser began a quick turn with an unprecedented movement, many people in the cabin were caught off guard and fell together.

"What's going on?" A sailor asked, frightened.

"What else could it be? We've got a German! Someone replied.

"Send a report to the Admiralty!" At this time, on the bridge of the cruiser "Edinburgh", the captain said in a trembling voice, "Urgent: the 'Wilhelm the Great' and 'Frederick the Great' have been discovered, heading south, and the longitude of the ship is ...... Latitude ......"

"I hope we don't get hit by them before the telegram is sent......" Someone said in the same trembling voice, looking at the flash of the muzzle flame of the German guns in the fog in the distance.

And just as he finished speaking, a huge fire suddenly flashed in the distance, followed by a deafening explosion.

"HMS Nottingham!' 'Nottingham' was hit! Someone shouted.

Looking at the "Nottingham", which had broken into two and quickly disappeared into the sea of fire, the bridge stopped and suddenly became a mess.

"Quick! There is fog on the port side! Let's take refuge in it! The captain said anxiously.

Under the captain's loud orders, the "Edinburgh" quickly sailed into a thick fog that looked like a thick wall. In an instant, a thick fog covered the bow and bridge of the ship to the stern of the ship. In just a dozen seconds, the cruiser was completely hidden in the thick fog. With the sharp turn of the warship, the stern of the ship set off a tumbling wake. There was no need for an order, and all the officers on duty remained silent at their posts.

At this time, in the dispatch room, with the "click-click-click" sound of the electric keys, the news of the discovery of the "Kaiser Wilhelm" and the main force of the German fleet arrived.

In the war room of the British Admiralty in London, an officer presented a letter to the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Frederick Brown? Vice Admiral Studi reported: "Sir, the radio is copying an express telegram. ”

"Send it over as soon as you're done!"

Vice Admiral and Second Sea Lord, Lord Hamilton, waited anxiously at the chart table. Although it was only a few minutes from the time the radio was copied to the time it was delivered, they felt as if they had been waiting for hours.

Soon, the telegram came, and the vice admiral glanced at the telegram, and his face immediately changed.

"The German fleet was discovered. ' The Edinburgh' spotted them in the Strait of Dover and is tracking them. The location is ...... longitude and ...... latitude. He pointed to the charts and said, "Here it is." ”

Hearing the words of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, some people in the combat command hall actually cheered, and many people had smiles on their faces. But when they heard the Chief of Staff of the Navy say in a deep voice, "The 'Nottingham' has been hit, it has sunk," the hall immediately fell silent again.

"So, they're right under our noses." The Second Sea Lord pointed to the position of the German fleet on the chart, "Their purpose is to cross the English Channel, isn't it?" ”

"I think it should be." The vice admiral's face was slightly gloomy.

"What are they trying to do?" Hamilton asked.

"I guess their target is the landing ground in Brest." Study frowned and said in a deep voice.

Hearing Studdy's answer, Hamilton's brow furrowed.

"It's not a good thing, our main fleet has already departed, and it's likely that we don't know about it yet." Hamilton looked carefully at the charts and asked the officers around him, "What other large warships can we use to intercept the Germans?" ”

Several officers hurriedly checked it and replied with some hesitation: "There are still two American battleships in Portsmouth. There were also two battleships in Cherbourg. ”

"Tell me their names." Hamilton was visibly unhappy with his answer, and immediately asked.

"The American battleships were 'Delaware' and 'North Dakota'." The officer replied, "The battleships are Katori and Kashima. ”

"They're all old-fashioned guys." Hamilton tapped his fingers on the table with some annoyance, and said to himself.

"Yes, the Delaware and North Dakota are both old ladies in terms of age, they are too old, and the 'William the Great' is almost their granddaughter." "Not to mention the two battleships. ”

"To ask them to intercept the new capital ships of the Germans is to send them to death." Hamilton said sarcastically, "Even if we had given such an order, I am afraid that I would not have complied with it." ”

"But we can't just let the Germans pass through the English Channel." Studdy's eyes were fixed on the position in the direction of Brest on the chart, "It is true that they went to intercept it to die, but if the German fleet reached the landing site, there would be an even more terrible massacre." And we may well lose the war. ”

Listening to Studdy's words, Hamilton's face also became extremely ugly.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to make sacrifices." "But what if I refuse to obey orders?" Hamilton said. ”

"They'll go." Study remembered what he had done since he entered the war, and couldn't help but be very annoyed, but his face was unusually calm at this time, "I'll let them go." ”

"As long as they can hold back the enemy, let our main fleet catch up." Hamilton knew that Study was thinking about them, and he didn't ask Study how to get him to go.

"Immediately send a telegram to Betty, tell him where the Germans are, and ask him to pull the Chinese battleship back immediately." Studdy said to an officer.

The officer took the order, and Studi thought for a moment, called another officer, whispered a few words in his ear, and the officer nodded, turned and walked away quickly.

Just then, another officer sent a telegram: "Sir, this is the position, course, and speed of the 'York' and 'Scharnhorst'. ”

"The battle cruisers of the Germans were also dispatched." "I think they were going to use this method to seduce Betty. ”

"Tell Betty to leave the German battlecruisers alone and go to the English Channel at once." Hamilton said anxiously.

Study nodded, and gave the order again, and the atmosphere in the hall changed significantly, and there was excitement and tension everywhere. Except for the two vice admirals, who were a little worried, the other officers were all very excited.

A series of radio signals are being sent outward:

"A signal to the 'Republic,' the commander of the Grand Fleet."

"Signal to the Delaware."

"Send a signal to the Monarch."

A short time later, the officer who had just received Studdy's orders returned, and reported to Study that his account had been done.

"You know, now that we've learned about the latest developments in the situation, we can explain to them later how urgent the situation was!" Study smiled self-deprecatingly and said to Hamilton.

Hamilton gave Study a knowing smile, "I'm sure they'll understand." He looked up at the clock on the wall, "I guess it won't be long before the prelude to the battle begins." ”

Battleship "Delaware", bridge.

Commander Tary, commander of the American fleet formation, Rear Admiral Simmons, and his staff officers are leaning over a chart. The naval officer was marking and drawing on the chart with a two-legged gauge and a ruler.

"Sir, our interception course is 310 degrees." The navigating officer looked up and said, "We now have the possibility of an encounter with the German cruiser at any moment. ”

"I really don't understand why the Germans would want to cross the English Channel." Rear Admiral Simmons said, "It's a few cruisers, but I don't want to engage them here, so you give me a calculation of the course and speed of the previous hour." ”

The navigator continued to draw with a ruler and a two-foot gauge so that the two routes intersected at another point. "The course is 125 degrees, the speed is 16 knots. In this way, we will meet them here. He then used a pencil to draw a black X on the intersection of the two routes as an important marker.

"Good. Captain, you can now report the situation to the entire crew. Rear Admiral Simmons instructed the ship's commander, Colonel Wheeler, "Inform the North Dakota of all this." ”

The captain made a gesture, and the sergeant on duty outside the war room blew the naval whistle into the loudspeaker. Then the captain began to speak: "I am the captain, and now I will give you some information ....... ”

In the overcrowded cabins below deck, the crew was resting leisurely. The clothes hanging there were swinging rhythmically back and forth with the swaying of the warship.

"Hey! Who knows where we're going? Someone said.

"You always want to know where we're going," replied someone elsewhere, "can't you just be honest for a while?" ”

"I know where we won't go." Another person said, "That's Italy, I really want to be a beautiful Italian girl!" ”

"The Chinese have already gone to Italy, and we will go soon."

At this time, they suddenly heard the naval whistle of the sergeant on duty and the voice of the captain:

"I'm the captain, so I'm going to give you some information. According to the intelligence we have received, the Germans have already made sorties, a fleet of large armored cruisers, and have already been discovered by us. Now, the cruiser 'Edinburgh' is tracking them, and our ship is on its way to intercept them, and according to the plan, we will meet them in two hours. Of course, we hope to get rid of them all with the cooperation of the North Dakota. Let each of us remember our responsibilities. For a while, you must all stick to your posts. Now, except for the staff on duty, they must seize the time to rest. This is our first battle since we came to Europe, and we wish all the best of luck. ”

The captain's speech quickly spread throughout all the ship's departments, including engine rooms, ammunition rooms, turrets, dining rooms, galleys, and storage rooms. "Good luck to all of us," the last words echoed through the watertight compartments. And for this sentence, everyone is very excited.

For an old battleship like the "Delaware" that performs some miscellaneous tasks, it can be said that it is quite difficult to encounter such a battle.

Of course, at this time, they don't know what awaits them.

On the dark bridge of the battleship Katori, several officers also received a telegram from the British Admiralty in London.

"Go and ask the captain to come up." Formation commander Takemoto said.

After a while, Captain Yamauchi came to the war room.

"There's a long message from the British Navy newspaper, and this is the first page." Takemoto handed him a thick telegram. While Captain Yamauchi was reading the message, someone sent the next two pages.

"That's exactly what we're looking forward to," said Captain Yamauchi, "and we should go right away, and we can't let the Americans get ahead of us." ”

"But don't you think it's strange? What did the Germans send cruisers to the English Channel for? Takemoto asked with a frown.

"The German attack ships were always like this, not acting according to common sense." Captain Yamauchi replied without hesitation, "They often do things that seem clever but are actually very stupid, and I don't think this time will be an exception. ”

"You mean, we should go?" Takemoto thought for a moment and asked.

"Of course we should go, we can't always let the Chinese be in the limelight." Yamauchi replied, "This is a good opportunity for us to show our strength." ”

"Chinese...... Hum! They left the aid of the Americans, nothing! Takemoto sneered.

The officers and men of the Navy have always been indignant at the six large Chinese battleships built by the Americans for the Chinese Navy, which have become the main force of the Allied Navy.

"When the war is over, the Chinese will not have the money to maintain the operating costs of these warships," Yamauchi said confidently, "and the Chinese will have to sell them to the Americans." ”

"Let's go now." Thinking of the honor of the Imperial Navy, Takemoto finally made up his mind and walked towards the road of death.

"We've crossed the Strait of Dover, sir."

Admiral Lut and Captain Frank stood on the bridge of the "Kaiser Wilhelm", looking into the distance in high spirits, and through the mist they could already see the sun beginning to show.

An officer in charge of communications came to report to them.

"Sir, the British cruiser is still regularly sending out reports every fifteen minutes, and it hasn't stopped."

"Can you guess the contents of those telegrams?"

"Sir, I think it's some report on our course and position."

"That's for sure." Admiral Lut smiled at Frank and asked, "Is there any other useful information?" ”

"I recognized it as 'Edinburgh' from its call sign. The one we destroyed was the Nottingham. ”

Listening to the communications officer's answer, a staff officer opened the identification manual and reported the data on the two British cruisers.

(To be continued)