Russia was preparing to launch a new offensive on the Eastern Front, and the German High Command was also planning their next move. Unlike the Allied camp, which was at the intersection of troubles, the current shape of Germany was very good: whether it was in the vast land of France, the vast Russian plain, or the turbulent North Sea of Britain, the Iron Cross was hunting and flying with unprecedented pride. The prowess of the Germanic chariot far surpassed that of any other dynasty in history; And the most commendable thing is that the acceleration of this empire's rapid advance is still climbing straight up in a momentum like a rainbow. If there is no earth-shattering accident, the extremely prosperous world empire that Wilhelm II dreamed of will become a reality under his rule!

The Charlottenburg Palace in late September is less prosperous and enthusiastic than summer, but more festive and fruitful. Judging from the current battlefield situation, it is unimaginable for Germany to lose this war. In the emperor's study, which had been decorated with a new atmosphere, Kaiser Wilhelm II sat on his throne with a spring breeze on his face, and in front of him, Tirpitz, Secretary of State for the Navy, and Prussian Minister of War Falkenhein were reporting to him on the state of war.

“…… In the month from August 15 to September 15, the Imperial submarine and surface assault ship forces sank a total of 147 Allied merchant ships, with a total tonnage of more than 680,000 tons, of which 50,000 tons in the Far East and 80,000 tons in the Indian Ocean, respectively, and the Allied shipping in the South China Sea and the Arabian Sea was disrupted. If it weren't for those American merchant ships who could die for money. If we continue to insist on sending strategic supplies to the UK, our submarines will suffocate the British Isles within three months. ”

Tirpitz was the first to speak, reporting to William the Navy's main achievements over the past month. Since the surface capital ships of the High Seas Fleet had been badly wounded in the battle of August 24, almost all of them were being repaired in dry dock at this moment; Therefore, the main combat force at sea against the Entente fell on the submarine forces. Unlike the situation in the other plane, the German Navy has paid enough attention and financial investment to this weapon since the end of the 19th century, which makes the German submarine force, which has historically dominated the world, even more terrifying. At present, the number of submarines put on the North Sea and Atlantic theaters alone has reached 120, and the worst performance is the medium submarine with a displacement of 540 tons on the water and equipped with four 450 mm torpedo tubes; German submarines of all types have a cruising range of 7,000 to 12,000 nautical miles and a torpedo capacity of 10 to 14 torpedoes. The power of these underwater wolves can only be described as terrifying!

Therefore. Even though the submarine had many congenital defects, such as narrow vision and slow speed, the Germans still set off a terrifying engulfing hurricane in the Atlantic. As a large number of British and French merchant ships loaded with ore, rubber, grain, munitions, and other materials were sunk one after another, prices on the British Isles skyrocketed, and the various daily necessities that people could buy in the market were drastically reduced. The British people, who have enjoyed countless years of happiness, have finally tasted the taste of hunger. And due to the large reduction of raw material inputs. There has also been a widespread shutdown of military factories in Britain. This not only greatly reduced the production of artillery, guns and ammunition and other army weapons, but even affected the construction of unfinished naval capital ships. According to the British Admiralty's own estimates, if the situation is allowed to develop. Even if the German High Seas Fleet had been in seclusion in the harbor ever since, the British warplanes would have collapsed within a year!

Faced with this critical situation, the British thought of the convoy strategy that the Spaniards had used to deal with pirates. To their despair, however, the convoy of transport ships had done little to reduce their losses after being formed.

According to the original plan of the British, Guò was to reduce the mathematical expectation of the attack on merchant ships to reduce the losses. Due to the congenital defect of the submarine's narrow field of vision, they all acted alone to expand the search area; Once a merchant ship is assembled into a fleet, the probability of a unit of merchant ships being attacked will be greatly reduced. If the 20 merchant ships were dispersed and acted alone, 9 to 10 German submarines would have discovered the target and 6 to 7 would have attacked; And if these 20 merchant ships were to be formed into a fleet, only one German submarine would find the target, and it was not known whether there would be a chance to attack, let alone escort ships in the transport fleet.

However, this escort system, which was invincible in history, was completely restored to its original form under the role of Qingying. At the same time that the British merchant ships were concentrating on sailing, the German submarines were also being broken into pieces: one submarine, after spotting the British convoy, was not busy attacking, but hoisted behind the convoy and radioed nearby friendly submarines to come for reinforcements. Wait until there are 3 to 5 submarines gathered nearby, and then cooperate with each other to attack the convoy from all directions. As time passed, German submarines gathered like a swarm of sharks smelling of blood, and the mathematical expectations of the British were evaporated in the face of these large numbers of German submarines. If the convoy is found not far from its destination, then the forbearance is over; And if they were targeted by German submarines from the beginning, the next thing to greet the Allied sailors would be a hellish journey!

For the act of plagiarizing Dönitz's painstaking patents for more than ten years, Qingying, who has done countless similar things, no longer has any guilt. The only thing that Qingying regrets is that it is not yet possible to equip the wolves with radar, so that they cannot carry out the deadliest night raids like the sea wolves of the Third Reich in history. However, the wolf pack tactics of World War I had an advantage over World War II was that the anti-submarine technology of various countries was still in an extremely primitive state, and British escort ships were almost helpless against submarines submerged, which undoubtedly greatly improved the survival chances of German submarines. After more than four months of war, the German submarine force lost only 8 ships, and they sank more than 2 million tons of Allied ships.

If it were not for the fact that the main surface fleet had decided the situation at sea in one fell swoop, it would not have been known whether the German Navy would have pinned all its hopes on these little things. However, the submarine force has become almost the most scorching branch of the entire German armed forces. Although the cannon giant ship is a man's long-standing passion and blood, it is also a legendary romance that makes countless aspiring warriors fascinated by it!

"Alfred, do these American merchant ships carrying goods to Britain have to rely on our surface fleet to solve them?" William quickly calmed down after a brief moment of euphoria and asked Tirpitz.

"No wiser than Caesar. Because of the neutrality of the US government, and the fact that some of these merchant ships were going to transport goods to Germany through the Norwegian waterways, it was clear that our submarines could not fire torpedoes at these ships flying the Stars and Stripes. And if the inspection is carried out in accordance with international law, it will carry a huge risk in the North Atlantic, where the activity of British escort warships is rampant. In fact, the impudent British had already secretly loaded a group of merchant ships with cannons and cruised the Atlantic under American flags; As soon as our submarines surfaced to inspect these 'American merchant ships', they would fire heavily at us with hidden cannons. ”

Tirpitz replied respectfully, but there was no anger in his words at this deceitful behavior of the British Navy: "Up to now, we have sunk three submarines by the British by such despicable means, and the Naval Operations Department has issued an order to all submarines to prohibit the conduct of aboard inspections in the Atlantic. Therefore, only the presence of our main fleet in the Atlantic Ocean can fundamentally cut off the connection between American merchant ships and the British mainland and completely isolate the island. ”

"What about the situation of the High Seas Fleet, when will they be able to strike the ocean again, and has the Admiralty developed a new combat strategy?" William continued to ask.

Tirpitz smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the maintenance of the ships of the High Seas Fleet is expected to be completed by November, and we only need to wait for the ships to complete the repair, and then gather the whole army to press near Fair Island again, and then we can grasp the absolute initiative in the war." Scapa Bay was only 80 nautical miles from Fair Island in a straight line, and it was impossible for the British fleet to sit still in this harbor under the blockade of our main fleet; Unable to confront us head-on, the only option available to the British was to abandon the port and camp farther west. ”

William's eyes flashed, and he intercepted: "In this way, the entire North Sea will be controlled by our German Navy, and the High Seas Fleet will also be able to use Fair Island and the surrounding Scottish islands as a forward base to attack the depths of the Atlantic." At that time, our fleet will not only be able to intercept British convoys, intercept American smuggling merchant ships, but also go directly to shell British core shipbuilding bases on the west coast; As long as they destroy a few of their Vengeance-class or even Admiral-class super-battleships under construction, the Imperial Navy will no longer have any chance of being overtaken by the British. In this way, we were able to tighten the ropes around the necks of the Englishmen through guò, so that they would bend their knees completely in extreme suffocation. And if the British Home Fleet can't hold back and attack, we will be able to win the European war in one battle! (To be continued......)