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April 12, 1918, Outer Harbour of Lübeck, Germany.

Under the warm spring sun, more than a dozen warships, large and small, were moored in the calm harbor. The docks were busy, and the two large Austrian warships were making final preparations for their departure.

Since the beginning of the war, the outer harbor north of the North Sea Shipyard in Lübeck has been designated as a military exclusion zone, loaned to the Austrians, and has become the seat of the Austro-Hungarian naval detachment, although the defense of the port is still the responsibility of the German Naval Fortress Command. Under the watchful eye of the port guards, more than a dozen trucks carrying supplies sailed up to the supply dock, where two large warships, with their simple lines and complete armament, were docked one after the other. A number of sailors and porters carried boxes, baskets and barrels of various sizes to the warship under the supervision of officers.

Cranes on the docks are rattling, and even the small cranes on warships that are used to recover seaplanes and dinghies are busy.

Several black Mercedes cars were parked not far from the boarding gangway, and Admiral Willenic got out of the cars and was greeted by several of his subordinate officers who were already waiting at the docks.

"How's the preparation going?" The admiral asked first.

"Three hours to go, General!" The ship's quartermaster stood on his legs and reported without squinting.

"Very well, this time we are going to pull out all of us, maybe we won't be back here until the war is over." Willenic looked around the docks and said, "I've been here for almost four years, and I seem to have some feelings. "The relocation of the newly formed fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy to Saint-Nazaire, France, has long been rumored within the Navy. Since the beginning of the war, in order to make up for the lack of escort and reconnaissance forces of large warships, the Austrian Navy has ordered four "Novara-class" light cruisers from the North Sea Shipyard and joined the Atlantic Fleet. Subsequently, the Austro-Hungarian Navy also ordered six destroyers of the "Uranus" class of the modified design of the German 1916 large torpedo boats to join the Atlantic detachment.

So far, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has a total of 14 warships in Lübeck, but if you add some auxiliary ships, it is already a fleet of considerable size, and it should surpass any of the "South American powers" in terms of strength. It wasn't an easy process, and fortunately, they weren't doing it alone. The German cruiser fleet under the command of Admiral Sorochin was to begin operations after they had departed. According to the plan, the two Israeli fleets will meet tomorrow afternoon outside the exit of the Skagerrak Strait.

Willenic needed to bring four fast tankers with him in order to support future operations deep into the Atlantic, and Sorochin's task was not easy, as he had to protect 10 supply tankers as they moved to Saint-Nazaire.

Near noon, the warship finally finished resupplying, and slowly sailed into the channel under the tow of two tugboats.

At 12 o'clock sharp, the "Grand Duke Friedrich" was hung with the admiral flag of the fleet commander Willennik, and a signal flag was raised on the signal mast, giving the order to the battleships waiting outside the harbor: "Sail as planned!" ”

The destroyers, led by Sirius and Aquila, began to anchor, and the anchor chain brought a large white splash of water, after which smoke rose from the chimney, and the warship began to move slowly on the water, and then gradually accelerated. Behind the destroyer fleet were two cruisers of the "Pula" class, followed by two battlecruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, "Radetzky" and "Archduke Franz", followed by Admiral Wilennik's flagship and "Archduke Maximilian", and at the end were four fast tankers and two light cruisers "Split" and "Kotor".

Two hours later, the fleet sailed out of Mecklenburg Bay and into the Baltic Sea.

According to intelligence, Britain has deployed about 40 or so submarines in the North Sea to monitor the movements of the German Navy's surface ship forces. No, the British never entered the Skagerrak Strait. In the past, there were occasional Russian submarines that could roam the Baltic Sea, but now that the Russians had withdrawn from the war and sailors had come ashore, they had become the most relied upon land armed forces of the Soviet power.

In order to take care of the speed of several tankers, the fleet sailed at a cruising speed of 15 knots, and it is expected that it will not be able to sail through the Skagerrak Strait until tomorrow morning. The sun shines through the clouds on the deep blue calm sea, and the weather has become very hot, and now the cool sea breeze sweeps over the battleship, making it feel refreshing.

The flagship raised the signal flag, which changed formation, and after sailing out of the Mecklenburg Strait, the fleet formed a double column and began to turn in the direction of Copenhagen.

As soon as it was normal, Willenic disembarked from the bridge and returned to the aft cabin to rest, perhaps because he had been too tired for the past few days, or because he had returned to the sea he was familiar with, and the admiral soon fell asleep.

When he woke up again, it was nearly dusk, the fleet had begun to approach the Øresund, and the monotonous sea was full of merchant ships. The fleet's actions could not escape the eyes of the all-pervasive British spies, and in fact the German-Austrian navy was more like a provocation when drawing up the battle plan, and they had no intention of avoiding the British reconnaissance.

Now the British simply had no way to take Sorochin's fleet, and the five newly commissioned battlecruisers of the "Mackensen" class were not at all inferior to the British "Queen" class battlecruisers in attack and defense, and much faster than the "Queen" class. But in the other battlecruiser sections, the Germans were much stronger than the British, and with the Austro-Hungarian fleet under the command of Admiral Wilennik, Sorochin had no reason to fear his opponent if he encountered Betty's fleet.

But if it comes into contact with the Jellico fleet, this fleet is enough to get rid of the opponent with its high speed.

This wasn't the first time the Commander had seen his new ship, but it still made him proud of its prowess.

Admiral Willenic returned to the bridge of the "Archduke Friedrich", and Captain Kubert was standing outside the bridge, looking at the sea with a telescope. The Admiral greeted Kubert and surveyed his ship.

In the setting sun, the entire surface of the battleship glowed with a faint golden light, looking down on the whole ship from the bridge, the largest tonnage warship of the empire was quite graceful and smooth, and the four 380 mm main turrets showed the unparalleled deterrent power of the sea supremacy. Looking at the whole world, it is rare for a warship that represents the pinnacle of human industrial technology to find a few opponents on a par with it. Standing on it, no matter who you are, you will have a kind of self-sacrificing pride from the bottom of your heart.

At present, the war on land has come to an end, and the originally tight supply of materials in the country has become slightly better. How to end the war as much as possible, both the top leaders and the people of Germany and Austria pinned their hopes on the navy.

"Perhaps, it's time to get the Brit and have a good fight!" Willenic thought, his thoughts echoing those of Sorochin, who had just left Wilhelmshaven with his fleet. (The novel "Under the Double Eagles" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! )

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