"It was reported that the seaplanes of the reconnaissance fleet had spotted a large number of British warships in the sea area of 1347. The opponent has 18 former dreadnought battleships, including the Lord Nelson, Edward VII, and Duncan classes, and all 9 battle cruisers, and more than 50 light auxiliary warships, with a speed of 10, and a course due north! ”

In the command tower of the Frederick the Great, Admiral Ingnoll was staring intently at the white telegraph page in front of him, and a kind face like a tanuki was now full of shock and joy. After more than a week of dormancy, the Saxons finally made their voices heard, and as soon as they came up, they threw a jaw-dropping amount of money at the table! Even though it was still close to 100 nautical miles away from the other side, Ingnorr, who had been in charge of the main force of the High Seas Fleet for many years, could still clearly feel the majestic sound of the opponent's ship group roaring and swooping like an ancient beast; This is the origin of a young warrior who aspires to become the new master of the sea, and the power of the Mighty Supreme who has occupied the throne for three hundred years!

"The British have mobilized all the Channel Fleet, and it seems that they are really going to fight to the death with our Germany." Hearing the herald report the name of the ship that had thundered all the German sailors ten years ago, Ingnoll instantly understood the British calculations. In order to counter their own behavior of pulling the former dreadnoughts of the Baltic Fleet to the North Sea to help, the British, not to be outdone, also sent their secondary warships to the edge of the battlefield. Even if the British Grand Fleet has not yet appeared, the current North Sea has gathered nearly 70 capital warships, which is an absolutely jaw-dropping and terrifying number!

"Signal to the Cormorant. Let it send seaplanes to scout Scarpa Bay. Ingnoll calmed down his slightly restless feelings. Calmly gave the order. The Strait Fleet appeared at this time. An unprecedented operation was already foreshadowed for the British Home Fleet; And before facing the enemy, you should do your best to collect information about battlefield intelligence. Jellicoe was worried about being robbed by the German fleet, and Ingnoll needed to do everything to prevent unexpected unfavorable variables; If it encounters a head-on salvo from the British Grand Fleet, even the German battleship will be turned into a pile of broken and twisted scrap metal in the face of this tsunami of explosives. The two Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts, which were sunk one after the other in the decisive battle in the Mediterranean, are the best example of this.

A few minutes later, a seaplane was dropped from the Cormorant in the main squadron of the High Seas Fleet. It staggered out of the water and flew leisurely in the direction of Scarpa Bay. This time, however, God did not care for the Germans anymore. Scapa Bay, located in the far north of Scotland, was originally a place of harsh weather conditions, with more than 200 days a year in windy, rainy and foggy weather, and only a small part of the clear weather was available for aircraft to approach and reconnoitre. In fact, the climate in the North Sea is also unpredictable, with frequent storms and visibility of less than 6,000 meters. The good weather in this part of the sea where the German fleet was now located was already the result of the special favor of the goddess of luck.

It took more than half an hour. The seaplane flew back crookedly, and the huge pontoons slammed into the sea. Rushed up two huge waves. It wasn't long before Ingnorl learned what had happened. Less than 30 nautical miles, the plane entered a stormy area of natural ramp; The black clouds converged, the vicious waves rolled, and the huge air currents directly blew away a large piece of wooden skin on the wings, and the German pilots, who had lost their balance, had no choice but to turn around and return.

There was nothing Ingnoll could do about the situation. The shape of the battlefield is changing rapidly, and no one can guarantee that all the Yiqiē will be performed according to the pre-arranged script; Even the Schlieffen Plan, which was drawn up after seven years of exhaustion by the German General Staff, was subject to many variables in practice. All he can do now is rely on his own judgment to respond.

After careful deliberation, Ingnoll gave his orders. The cruising fleet collectively turned six compass points to the left and headed southwest to support the Hipper fleet. After all, the reconnaissance detachment only had 7 battle cruisers, which was obviously not enough to defeat the two British ship groups that came in the group; However, the division of forces in battle is a big taboo for the high seas fleet, and the fleet must be used as a whole in order to play its greatest role. Although the location of the British Grand Fleet is unknown, Ingnoll already has preparations and premonitions for a decisive battle with it; At some point, these pillars that support the empire on which the sun never sets will finally appear!

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The sea breeze was inspiring, the waves were surging and the surging waves were piled up one after another on the side of the battleship, stirring up a large spray of water. 50 nautical miles away from the main force of the High Seas Fleet, the main force of the German reconnaissance fleet is chopping through the waves and moving forward.

On the flagship De Fringel, Hipper, glittering in the center of his head, was looking at the sea around him with a solemn face. The sea breeze was howling and blowing, and the black clouds were gathering rapidly. After a short time, the blue sky, which had been clear and clear, had become completely gloomy, and the waves of nearly two meters high were surging and rolling, and the splashes of water had easily jumped onto the aft deck of those torpedo boats of 4 or 500 tons. A seaplane with the 065 logo painted on its wings was rising and falling in the rising waves, and the cockpit and telegraph compartment were already filled with seawater; It took a lot of effort for the jib crane of the mothership of the American Eagle to finally hook the hanging device on the top of the aircraft and recover it with great difficulty to the top of the open deck.

"The weather in the North Sea is really fickle, and relying only on this kind of gadget made of wood cannot carry out real-time and effective detection." Hipper spoke with some regret, a hint of unwillingness in his eyes. Not long after Ingnoll had given the order to keep himself on the reconnaissance of the British fleet, the wind and waves and dark clouds replaced the original microwave suspension; Not only were the newly taken seaplanes forced to return home, but even the sea eagles that had dispersed were almost gone. In the current situation, it is clear that it is already unrealistic to send another aircraft to reconnoitre. The next reconnaissance mission will only rely on his battle patrol to be on the front line!

"General, the 2nd Reconnaissance Detachment has sent another telegram that the British cruiser Melbourne with a displacement of 5,400 tons has been sunk: but the 2nd ship of the Magdeburg class, the Breslau, has also suffered heavy damage, with nearly 100 officers and men killed and wounded, and most of the deck guns have been lost, and they have again called us to support it." An adjutant hurried up to the bridge with a telegram in hand and reported to Hipper, who was looking down at the waves in the navigation room.

Hipper snorted and said with a slight anger: "Damn Berdick, does he want to get the Shining Medal for sinking the British battleship so much?" Twenty minutes earlier, at 7:45 a.m., I had already sent a telegram to him, and that a huge British fleet, including nine British battle cruisers, had appeared in Sea Area 1347, which was less than 40 nautical miles away from him! With a little defensive advantage over light cruisers, he actually dared to do such nonsense! Immediately send a telegram to report that the bull was now worse at sea sight distance, so that he immediately moved closer to the battle patrol team; If those British super dreadnought cruisers with a regular speed of 27 knots appeared in front of him, he didn't even know how to die! ”

"General, if the Second Reconnaissance Fleet is withdrawn like this, won't our army's previous strikes against British cruisers be wasted?" Seeing Hipper's order, a staff officer next to him couldn't help but speak, "Maybe we should let General Berdick continue to fight, entangle the British, and wait for reinforcements from the main force of the battle patrol." At present, we are only 18 nautical miles from the place of engagement, and it only takes 40 minutes to reach support at full speed. ”

Hipper did not speak, but looked at a major officer in his forties; The major understood, and then smiled at the staff officer and said, "Gunther, you are too worried. At the moment, we have discovered the location of the main British fleet by guò seaplanes; The British, on the other hand, knew nothing about the situation on the battlefield, and they saw only our light cruisers in their field of vision, but they did not know at all the exact location of our battle cruisers and the main forces of the High Seas Fleet. This kind of situation in which one's own side is in the open and the enemy is in the dark is absolutely unacceptable to every commander who commands a large fleet to engage in a confrontation. Therefore, for the sole purpose of detecting the location of our fleet, after the retreat of Admiral Burdick's cruisers, the British cruisers on the avant-garde mission would surely chase after them and continue their combat reconnaissance, even at the risk of a head-on collision with the enemy's main force. ”

The young second lieutenant's staff officer, Gunther, knew that he had not thought it through, and was silent. Hipper glanced around and said lightly, "Erich has already explained the reason to you. The order was given, the fleet accelerated to 22 knots, and the seaplane carrier USS American Eagle remained in the rear on standby. All we need to do now is to prepare to blow up the British light cruisers that are following us like rabbits. The main force of the High Seas Fleet 50 nautical miles behind us is our best backing! ”

With the issuance of Hipper's order, the main forces of the German reconnaissance fleet began to pick up; Thick black smoke poured out from the chimneys of various thicknesses, and the speed of the battleship's advance suddenly became faster. In less than half an hour, the lookouts on the mainmast saw the light cruisers approaching their group. The British light cruiser did not leave there, but followed closely behind the German cruiser to reconnoitre, intending to find out where the main German fleet was. For these crazy sweats who dared to come from the tail, Hipperle just smiled coldly; The huge main guns began to turn, and the killing intent contained in them was already almost ready to erupt! (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the return of 1m and zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~~