Time flies, months have passed in the blink of an eye, the cold winter has quietly passed, and the spring of 1916 has arrived. On this day, the weather was beautiful and the sun was shining, and the garden of Duck Castle was in full bloom. Scrooge walked slowly along the path full of poppies, listening to Greystone tell him about the latest developments.

"It is now almost certain that the Germans will not be able to take Verdun. Although they had recently regained air supremacy with fighter jets using the propeller coordination machine guns we had supplied, the French were now firmly established in Verdun. Dad, you know, in the current war, the defending side will always have some advantage. And now the French have invested no less troops in Verdun than the Germans. So the Germans continued their offensive, but I and Donald believed that the danger of Verdun was over. ”

"How's the situation going on the shipbuilding side lately?" Scrooge asked.

"Because the intensity of the war continues to rise recently, the demand for various materials in Britain and France has increased significantly, so the shipbuilding business is still rising, but Dad, even with the back of the Battle of Verdun. The upward trend of shipbuilding orders has also begun to slow down. Saturation may come soon, damn the Germans, they are too inefficient at sinking ships at sea. Dad, since the last incident with the Anne, they've been getting less and less efficient. So much so that now the British no longer use escort formations in order to improve the efficiency of the port, but their efficiency is still not very good. Greystone said, sounding more dissatisfied with the inefficiency of the German Navy than the admirals of the German Navy.

"How's the propaganda going in Germany?" Scrooge asked.

"Recently, the attention of the Germans has been completely focused on Verdun, and now is not the time to launch such propaganda." Gladstone replied, "However, if the Germans could be made to think that it was impossible for the army to break through Verdun, it might be possible to turn their attention to the navy." Gladstone replied.

"Radio stations in England and France have been doing this all along. It seems that they have been broadcasting to Germany all the time, declaring that they are constantly defeating the Germans in Verdun. But the Germans don't seem to believe it. ”

"That's because the German Army is still on the offensive and they haven't given up their attempt to take Verdun." Greystone replied, "When the German Army is convinced that the capture of Verdun is an impossible task, and the offensive is stopped, then our propaganda program can begin." ”

"And how long do you think the German Army can continue to attack?" Scrooge asked.

"Of course, I hope that the longer the better, but the recent losses of the German Army are too great, and such an offensive will continue for another month or two at most, and it is estimated that it will have to be stopped." Gladstone replied.

Historically, the Battle of Verdun was fought for almost a whole year, but in this time and space, the situation has changed somewhat, because of some technological advances, so that both the French and German armies have more firepower than they originally had in history. For example, in the original history, the attacking German army used 1,400 cannons, but in this time and space, the German army invested 2,000 cannons at the beginning of the campaign. It also included a number of large-caliber railway guns. And the French are not ambiguous, although the number of artillery is only half of that of the Germans, but most of their artillery has been fortified, and the firepower is not much stronger than the original historical French army. At the same time, in terms of light weapons, because of the influence of the MacDonald Infantry Weapons Company, in this time and space, the level of light weapons in World War I is about to catch up with World War II. Heavy machine guns, light machine guns, submachine guns, and so on. And the result of all this is naturally that the killing efficiency of both sides has been greatly improved, and in the current months of fighting, the losses of both sides have approached the level of the entire battle in the original history.

"You're right, with such a high loss, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Germans to continue to hold on." "At that point, they're probably going to have to move their navy." ”

At this moment, Scrooge saw Greystone's secretary running over, and saw Greystone talking to Smith, so he stopped in the distance

"Maybe there's something, you go check it out." Scrooge said.

"Okay Dad." Greystone waved his hand at the secretary, who stepped forward.

"Any news?" Gladstone asked.

"Mr. MacDonald, I just got the news that the Germans removed their Chief of Staff yesterday and now General Hindenburg is the new Chief of Staff of the German Army." The secretary replied.

"It seems that in the first battle of Verdun, the Germans could no longer hold on." Scrooge smiled and said, "The relevant publicity can begin." ”

……

"Marshal, do you also think that the Navy must be dispatched?" Wilhelm II asked a general holding a marshal's scepter.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the article in the Bavarian newspaper is out of place, but there is nothing wrong with what he says. It is true that it is now impossible for Germany to achieve a total victory, and it is time for us to seek peace. But you also know, Your Majesty, that if we sue for peace now, the French and the British will put forward humiliating conditions that are utterly unacceptable to us. So if we need a decent peace, we must throw all our forces into war...... The High Seas Fleet, naturally, should not be an exception. ”

"But I asked Scheer on. General, he told me, although our fleet is not inferior to the British in the performance of a single ship, and may even have a certain advantage, but the number of our battleships is much smaller than that of the British, we have only 21 new battleships (3 more than in history), while the British have 36 in the large fleet (3 more than in history), and with such a numerical superiority, our fleet cannot defeat the British fleet. Emperor Wilhelm II said.

"Your Majesty, it's not like the weaker side is incapable of making a difference. For example, in the Second Anglo-American War, the American fleet was hardly worth mentioning compared to the British fleet, and the strength of their fleet was even more different from that of the British fleet. But the U.S. Navy did quite well in that war. Your Majesty, now, every day large quantities of supplies are being sent from all over the world to England and France, and it is with the support of these supplies that the French can continue to fight with us. And you should also know that if we allow them to get these supplies, we will inevitably be overwhelmed by the enemy's unparalleled material power in the end. Therefore, even at the risk of total annihilation, the Navy must strike to change this situation. Your Majesty, think about it,...... the field marshal smiled, "if the navy's search for those ships had stopped at the port of Kiel and waited until we were defeated, how different would they be from being sunk by the British?" It might as well have been sunk by the British, at least in the process, they have killed and wounded the British. ”

Emperor Wilhelm II was silent for a moment, and then said: "Field Marshal Hindenburg, I agree with you that our fleet cannot stay in a military port forever. ”

……

On April 22, 1916, a British spy ventured to send out this message over the radio: "The German fleet in the port of Kiel is out en masse. After this message was sent, the British spy service lost contact with the spy. But this was enough to attract the attention of the British. If the battleships and battlecruisers of the German High Seas Fleet were allowed to break through into the Atlantic, even if the British were able to find and annihilate them one by one in the end, they would be able to make the route to Britain extremely dangerous for at least a few months, and the sea transport might even be cut off completely before they were mostly wiped out. Therefore, the British Admiralty immediately issued a warning to the home fleet: "The German High Seas Fleet has been dispatched and is ready for battle." ”

The Admiralty's warning was sent to the fleet at 12 noon, and the commander of the fleet, Field Marshal Jericho, immediately ordered the fleet to be ready for a sortie by dawn tomorrow.

It was not an easy task to get the 36 battleships of the entire Grand Fleet ready for an attack in just a few hours, and the whole of Scapa Bay was immediately busy, all the sailors who were not on the warship were urgently recalled, and the supplies necessary for navigation and combat were constantly sent to the battleship. The staff officers were busy, and the mechanics were all hurrying to make the final inspection of the battleship.

And in Rosyth, where the British battle cruiser detachment was stationed, Marshal Betty's battle cruisers were also preparing for the impending collision. Because his battlecruiser had recently been on a voyage, Betty's fleet was basically ready to sail. At 9 o'clock in the evening of the same day, Marshal Betty left the port with a detachment of battle cruisers.

Although the battlecruiser had the same firepower as the battleship, the armor was too weak, so the British did not think that this kind of warship could be incorporated into the battle line and used as a real battleship. However, their high speed makes them very suitable for the advance of the main fleet, reconnaissance at sea, and the dispersal of enemy fleets. It is believed that the Germans will also send their battle cruisers as the vanguard of the main fleet. So Betty's fleet had to depart early. His task was twofold: to destroy the avant-garde fleet of the Germans and to find the main fleet of the Germans.