Facts have proved that all those who can survive the previous bloody battles and have a certain degree of achievement are definitely not mediocre people, otherwise he will be eliminated by the war. They may have repeatedly suffered defeats due to bad luck, but the tactical literacy and command art of these people are definitely not comparable to ordinary people. And Essen is such a person, although he has lost more than won many battles with the Chinese Navy in three major wars, but it is undeniable that he has experienced too many wars and has become more and more mature, and his command and tactical arrangements for the fleet can be described as exquisite, plus he has been in the Baltic Sea for 8 years, and he has already had a full understanding of this small sea area. And for this operation, he has also made complete preparations.

"I don't know if the intelligence provided by the British is accurate, and I don't know if our artillery fire will destroy a battleship that is being outfitted hidden somewhere. But what I know for sure is that I'll try to bring you all back safely. Before leaving, Essen said. Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, what Essen said was simply too cowardly, and he didn't think about what results he would get, and he thought about the way out first.

But if you look at the environment that Essen is facing, it will not be easy for Essen to really do this, and the German Navy has a total of 18 capital ships above the dreadnought, of which 12 are super dreadnought. And the Russian Navy has only 4 super dreadnoughts, 2 dreadnoughts can go to sea (the other has been converted into a training ship). The number is only one-third of the other. As for the auxiliary warships, the gap is even greater, don't look at the fact that the German light cruisers are scarce compared to the British, but they are still much larger than the Russians. The Russians have only built destroyers and mine-striking ships in recent years. Light cruisers are hardly built!

If we consider the speed at which the two sides will replenish their warships, the four Bismarck-class battleships will be commissioned one after another next year, and it would be good if the Izmail-class battleships that Essen is looking forward to will be able to enter service in the year after tomorrow! You know, Russia is now isolated only on the island of the world. While general supplies can be transported by rail, what about large equipment? Without foreign aid, although Russia can still replace it with its own equipment, the reliability and performance will be a little worse, and more importantly, the service life of these two warships will be greatly delayed in time!

Although the British repeatedly stated that the German Navy had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Jutland, although Admiralty intelligence indicated that the main German fleet had been stationed at Wilhelmshaven. But Essen was still very worried about the possible German high seas fleet, knowing that they only had to cross the Kiel Canal from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. The trip is very close. And more importantly. Since their own side can find clues about Germany's newly started warships, then the other side may also find out that they have dispatched a counter-espionage capability against Russia. Essen thought it was estimated by the lowest possible standard. That is, what Essen thinks about is what he will do if the High Seas Fleet is already waiting for him somewhere in the Baltic!

The small North Sea is one of those places where you can run into it when you go out. And the even narrower Baltic Sea belongs to the kind of place that you can definitely run into when you go out! As to whether it would be intercepted by the German fleet, Essen had almost no doubt that it would be! The only difference is that you can sink a worse battleship directly. If you run into a better battleship, you can turn your head and flash yourself. But obviously running is not so easy. The German Navy also had 4 fast battleships, and if they were slowed down, then the result would be a sinking battle. For this reason, Essen made a special plan, and the tactics of simple torpedo boat delay were no longer suitable for dealing with the German fleet, which had absolute superiority, so it had to find another way.

Smallness has the advantage of being small, and Essen has carried out an offensive mine-laying at the confluence of the Baltic and Baltic control areas. In addition, submarines were specially sent out to form a cordon for reconnaissance. Moreover, in order to prevent the other party from catching up, Essen created the concept of a submarine ambush area, and deployed a number of submarines on his retreat route to be on guard. Waiting for the other party to throw themselves into the net, of course. In the face of high-speed warships, the submarine has a short attack window, but Essen does not expect to destroy the opponent, as long as it can buy himself valuable time to retreat, or let the opponent retreat. And these submarine ambush circles and offensive mines were used by Essen as a safety rope, a guarantee for the Russian fleet to return home safely.

At the same time, in terms of the deployment of warships, Essen also carried out some planning, 4 super dreadnoughts were used to take the lead, and two dreadnoughts took on more like a vigilance mission. The reason is simple, the Russians have few family bases, and two outdated dreadnoughts will definitely not be able to defeat even the worst German dreadnoughts! The possibility of serious injury and slowing down is too great, although it is old, but the Russians obviously do not want to lose lightly, according to Essen's idea, if they can beat the other side, it doesn't matter if they have two less dreadnoughts, if they can't beat the other side, two more dreadnoughts can't be beaten either! And the Russians' auxiliary warships are really nervous, and the more important role of the 2 dreadnoughts is to fight trash fish!

And just when Essen confidently took the German Baltic Fleet and the whole family to set out together, Scheer also received a telegram from Tirpitz, looking at the posture of the Russians and the whole family, Scheer was also a little confused, when did the Russians who had been hiding in the port since the beginning of the war become so many? You can say something about the boat attack, and you can bear with it. What do you want to do with such a large fleet this time? Is there such an important target in the Baltic Sea that it is worth sending 4 super-dreadnoughts?

"Not at sea, but in the shipyard near the coast. Our battleships Bismarck and Bavaria were outfitted in the shipyards of Denzer and Volkne. If this is their goal, it is really possible to dispatch all the family funds at once. Major General von Ruyter on the side said in a word.

"The bottom of the kettle is drawn! Russians are not small. "As soon as I heard this. Scheer only felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet to his head. Then it turned into a cold sweat. The four Bismarck-class battleships that are about to be commissioned are the lifeblood of the German High Seas Fleet! I still expect to rely on these two battleships to punch Britain and kick Russia in the future! If this is built half-pulled and half-pulled and the Russians take off two ships, I'm afraid that Tirpitz will have the idea of committing suicide and apologizing from the beginning! The cost of a Bismarck-class battleship is as high as 3 million pounds! One battleship is 10 15-inch guns! The whole army is counting on the Prime Minister to beat the Queen! If something really happened, how would the German Navy fight in the back?

"You forced me to do this!" Originally, Scheer really did not take the Russians seriously, and at the same time, the army had not yet asked the high seas fleet to launch an offensive in the Baltic Sea to cover the army to open a second battlefield. Scheer was also happy to be idle, and devoted himself to dealing with the British Grand Fleet. It's like a person is concentrating on dealing with a lion, and there is a wolf behind him, although this wolf is dangerous, but it is far from the fatal Cheng dù, this person will deal with the lion first, and he doesn't plan to do anything to the wolf. As a result, the wolf struck first! And it bites directly on the neck, what do you think this person will do?

"How many warships do we have at our disposal?" Scheer asked. Although it took several months of repairs, the German High Seas Fleet was still unable to sail all of its parts due to severe damage and the temporary unavailability of some parts, but in general, most of the Super Dreadnoughts were almost repaired.

"4 King-class ships can attack, 2 Caesars, as well as the Seydlitz and Lütsov, can also attack." A staff officer said a moment later. "If I'm not mistaken, the Moltke and Goeben should have been repaired, the Caesar-class is a bit slow, let the four fast battleships and the King-class act together. This time we will not only organize the actions of the Russians, but also solve the Baltic problem once and for all. After a moment of contemplation, Scheer ordered, and this time Scheer brought almost all the dreadnoughts who could strike. 8 super dreadnoughts hit 6 ships, how to see how to have an advantage. Since the Russians want to sneak attack, let them plunge headlong into the trap they have set!

"Sue Paul, if the fleet of Essen reaches Denzer before us, then even if all the fleet is exhausted, they must be stopped. All destroyers and mine-striking ships in East Prussia can give it, I just want the result, not looking at the process! Finally, Scheer emphasized.

"If there's nothing to do, I'll go first. No matter how good the Russians are, they will not be able to eat our 4 fast battleships at once. If we suffer the same damage, we naturally have the advantage. Seeing that Scheer had already given the order, Hipper asked.

"Be careful, our first goal is to keep the shipyard safe, the second is to keep your fleet safe, and the third goal is to attack the Russians, as long as our 4 Bismarck-class battleships are completed. We can storm Riga! In the Baltic, time is on our side. "Scheer is also a seasoned veteran, so he still knows a lot about the shape of the Baltic Sea, and in this kind of narrow water, the possibility of capsizing in the gutter is even greater!

"Okay, I'll go and get ready to sail." Hipper nodded and left. In this way, the sneak attack originally planned by the Russians turned into a dead stumble that the main fleets of both sides saw only once. "Our counterintelligence work can be described as a tragedy." Essen's fears seemed to come true, but fortunately, he was used to it, and although he felt that the situation might leak, he still went to East Prussia without hesitation.

"It is impossible for the Russian Navy to stay in the harbor all the time, and sooner or later the Germans will turn back to clean up this backyard of the Baltic Sea, and it is better to try it when there is a condition than to be blocked at the doorstep by the opposing side's absolutely superior fleet. And this time it seems like a rare opportunity. In his diary, Essen wrote. Although he was quite apprehensive in his heart, he finally completed the journey, and the glory of the former St. Andrew's flag was gone, but Essen believed that he and the fleet could not lose the courage to fight a strong enemy!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward, as well as the book friend's noisy frog and the monthly pass support of the harmonious idea ~~~~. (To be continued......)