The red sun rises in the east, the morning glow dances, and on the vast blue sea, an extremely large fleet is splitting the waves and sailing forward. The gray-black steel hull is as majestic as a mountain, and the towering mast chimneys are dense like a forest. Looking around from the fleet, I only felt that all I could see was a floating island palace made of gods; Whether it is an open and flat deck or a thick and strong gun group, the outstanding heroic posture it shows makes the heart of any navy person stir and boil blood!

Atop one of the unprecedentedly large ships, the gray-haired Scheer was proudly surveying the group of ships he commanded. At the time of the last battle, he was still the commander of the detachment and led his troops to participate in the epic naval battle in the North Sea, and he still remembers the almost endless brilliant column on both sides; Today, however, the lineup of the German Navy has made a earth-shaking leap compared to that year. In addition to the 18 battleships with huge guns, there were 10 slender and tall heavy aircraft carriers, 38 cruisers of various types, and as many as 120 destroyers, and the number of auxiliary ships was twice as large as in the last battle. After a long wait for the Navy holiday, Scheer, as the commander-in-chief of the fleet, finally ushered in this opportunity to strike again; And this war will become a unique stage for him to release his decades of accumulation vividly on the eve of retirement!

Since the German military had been planning for this war for a long time, it began to recall the soldiers on leave half a month before the start of the war, and carried out all-round maintenance and replenishment of the battleships; As a result, the naval fleet, which had far fewer servants than the army, was able to declare a sortie at the first moment of war. When the Berlin government issued a declaration of war against Britain, the main force of the huge German High Seas Fleet was immediately launched on May 11. and from Wilhelmshaven along the Norwegian waterway north. Make your way to its most important port base in the North Atlantic: the fortress of Ralfordvik in the southwest of Iceland. Compared to the months spent waiting for a new ship to enter service in the last war. This time the operation of the High Seas Fleet was undoubtedly much faster; Because the German navy today had developed a huge advantage in the formation and quality of the British home fleet, there was no longer any need to make the same safe choice as it had been in the last war.

At this moment, what caught Scheer's eyes was this magnificent and magnificent bloody scene. Eight King-class and four Bavaria-class battleships, which had been modernized, were formed into a separate task force to deal with the battle in bad weather when aircraft carrier-based aircraft could not take off; They have all replaced new shells with longer hoods and better structural strength, and further thickened the already strong and solid horizontal armor, and under the guidance of the new fire control system, they are fully capable of fighting the new British and American capital ships. Due to Germany's superior ship power system and the drag reduction means of fluid that can be called against the sky, the maximum speed of these old ships has been increased from 25 knots to more than 28 knots without suspense. This means that not only will they be on the right battlefield at the right time, but they will also guarantee a successful capture of most targets when chasing enemy ships.

In addition to these 12 old and sturdy battleships, the other 6 new capital ships have always accompanied the aircraft carrier formation and become the latter's full-time bodyguards. They are all lightnings that can reach speeds of more than 32 knots at full load displacement, and can keep up with them even when the aircraft carrier is at full speed. And compared to "Bismarck", "Tirpitz", "Moltke", "Long", "Frederick? Karl: "These five 38,000-ton ships similar to treaty ships, and the "Kaiser Wilhelm", which is now raising the command flag of Scheer's marshal, is the focus of attention of the entire fleet: it is 278 meters long and 39 meters wide, and its size as a battleship is even larger than that of the entire fleet of aircraft carriers that are extremely interested in deck area. On its deck, there are three giant main turrets that have never been seen before; The dimensions of its triple 500 mm L45 turret. It is more than two turns larger than the quadruple 430 mm L42 turret of the Bismarck class!

Although the battleship has withdrawn from the core stage of the German Navy, the 64,000-ton capital ship, codenamed H-44, was built more to attract troops and release smoke grenades. But when it was completed and put into service, it was still well received by generals and sailors. For no other reason, this giant ship named after Kaiser Wilhelm the Great is too large and beautiful. Seeing its majestic hull and majestic cannons, people can't help but feel a strong sense of national honor and pride, and this giant ship is undoubtedly more able to hit the most sensitive sensory nerves in people's hearts than the heretical aircraft carrier with an empty upper deck. Under the handsome appearance, this type of battleship undoubtedly has extremely terrifying combat effectiveness; Its 2-ton 500-millimeter bomb has the power to split mountains and seas, and no British and American capital ship can resist its frontal thunder bombardment!

With these 18 elite capital ships led by the USS Wilhelm the Great, even if the Atlantic Ocean is always raging with storms and vicious waves, Schell is fully confident that he will fight the combined British and American fleet. In fact, such an extreme situation is undoubtedly unlikely. When the weather is good, the air force leading the naval battle can be deployed in large numbers, and the 10 heavy fleet aircraft carriers that are currently breaking the waves are the core of this operation. Among them, the five aircraft carriers "Zeppelin", "Ekner", "Richthofen", "Strassel", and "Sedlitz" were built during the treaty period, and they belong to the same class and have a standard displacement of 31,000 tons and more than 100 aircraft, while the five ships "Hindenburg", "Ludendorff", "Ingnorr", "Moltke Jr.", and "Mackensen" are improved versions that were started after the treaty, and their standard displacement has been increased to 35,000 tons, and the hangar capacity and armor protection have also been further improved compared with the Zeppelin class. The 1,100 carrier-based aircraft carried on these 10 heavy armored aircraft carriers are also the core capital of Scheer's attack on the ocean; If the battle situation is smooth, then this imperial immortal sword in his hand will give a fatal blow to the British and American fleets!

Compared with the lack of auxiliary ships during the last war, the High Seas Fleet, which was conceived during the treaty, has also accumulated an extremely rich family foundation today. The 22 heavy cruisers and 16 anti-aircraft light cruisers were all capable of their own combat missions, and all the destroyers were excellent ships with a standard displacement of more than 2,100 tons and ocean-going combat capabilities, which were completely different from the low-freeboard torpedo boats that could only operate in the North Sea. Underwater, the 186 "Sea Wolves" have already quietly sailed out of the North Sea, and with their newly installed search radar and wolf pack tactics, they are also an indispensable force in the German naval strategy.

After nearly four days of sailing, the main force of the German High Seas Fleet arrived at the military port of Trafford in the early hours of 15 May. Due to its proximity to the North Pole, 120,000 German naval officers and sailors wore winter coats to protect them from the cold. In 1919, under the coercion and inducement of Germany, the Danish government leased this deep-water port to Germany because of the moisture of ocean currents, which did not freeze all year round, thus greatly improving the inherent geographical disadvantage of the German navy. After more than ten years of construction, Trafford Vik has now become a large port comparable to the port of Kiel, and its heavy oil and various supplies are innumerable; As long as the ships were not seriously damaged, all German ships except the Wilhelm the Great could be repaired through the 40,000-ton dry dock in the port of Guò.

During the voyage, the fleet did not encounter a single British ship, and the destroyer fleet on guard on the perimeter did not hear any anomalous sonar bands. According to the high-altitude photographs taken back by long-range reconnaissance planes taking off from the German mainland, the main force of the British fleet was always concentrated in Auburn Port, west of Scotland, and there was no major movement; It seems that the British fleet was also somewhat unconfident in a decisive battle with the superior German navy, and was prepared to wait for the American Atlantic Fleet to come to the aid before taking further action. Schell also expected this situation: after all, the straight-line distance from Iceland to the British Atlantic route was also 800 nautical miles, and it could not be reached in two days under the cruising situation, and the German navy's move to Iceland was not an imminent threat to Britain.

In the dark cold wind, Scheer, who was a little old but still full of energy, gave the order for a quick replenishment. The distance from Wilhelmshaven is 1,300 nautical miles, which is not a problem for cruisers and above, but for destroyers it must be replenished. Even if they were designed with the needs of ocean-going operations in mind, the destroyers had a range of only 6,000 nautical miles; Without sufficient fuel, it will be difficult for them to dare to sail at full speed in a high load in battle.

At the same time, Schell sent a secret telegram to Rear Admiral Dönitz, the commander of the submarine force, instructing him to organize a sea wolf force that had already begun to hunt in the Atlantic, and to give as much attention as possible to the several seas that the American fleet might pass through. Although the High Seas Fleet was not afraid of the combined naval forces of Britain and the United States because of its absolute superiority in air power, this did not mean that Schell would sit idly by and watch the American fleet sail directly to England without taking any action. From any point of view, it is better to divide the fleets of these two countries, after all, the sum of the aircraft carriers of the other side is likely to be no less than their own, and the new Glorious Essex class of the British and American countries is certainly among them.

To Scheer's surprise, the first telegram he received was not about the war at sea, but a telegram from the General Staff that encouraged the whole army based on the progress of the terrain. (To be continued......)