Gray clouds surged, winds howled, and deep blue waves continued to crash on the steel ship's side, stirring up thousands of silvery and white splashes. In the open ocean, a fleet with a strong lineup is slowly moving forward under a cloud of soot, and countless white wakes are rippling behind it; Together with the majestic hull and the thick and long jungle of heavy artillery, it constitutes the most exciting scene.

"What, the main force of the British Clippers has been dispatched, and the Tiger that has just been completed for a month is also among them?"

In the navigation room of the general flagship Frederick the Great, Ingnoor, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, who had been promoted to marshal, looked at the pages of the telegram in his hand in amazement, and the pleasant face that resembled a goat was already revealing a surprise that could not be concealed at this moment. In this report, which was returned by the De Verblinger, it was stated that the main force of the British Clippers, which consisted of 3 battle cruisers, 9 light cruisers and 3o destroyers, had been poured out; The other side is now in the area 8o nautical miles east-northeast of Hippel's team, as if looking for the German reconnaissance fleet detachment, if the two sides are all facing each other, it will only take less than an hour and a half to meet!

As for the situation of the remnants of the British fleet attacking again, Ingnorl was actually seven or eight points sure before that. Because with the dispersal of the reconnaissance fleet, it was tantamount to building a tight embankment stretching for hundreds of kilometers on the British North Atlantic route, and it was difficult for merchant ships to slip through this blockade. The submarines that had broken diplomatic relations in this area were also freed after the surface ships took over the mission here, and from there they moved to the area with the Bay of Biscay as the core, forming a more dense hunting wolf pack. After the addition of coal carriers. German warships, which had a weak endurance, made great strides in terms of self-sustainability. The cruising of German surface ships lasted for ten months; Unless the British can endure the scarcity of supplies for more than a month. Otherwise, they would have made a move in front of the German fleet, which had divided its forces. However, what Ingnorl didn't expect was that the British actually drove their brand-new Tiger out, knowing that it would take a month to complete the construction, at most the most preliminary sea trials would be completed!

Since the day Hipper ordered the reconnaissance fleet to be split up and lure the enemy, Ingnorr, who was hiding in the shadows, devoted all his energy to the prevention and monitoring of the main force of the British Navy. And now he had waited until his prey took the bait. The British wanted to use the newly completed Tiger to form a double advantage over the scattered German reconnaissance fleet on both capital ships and auxiliary ships, so as to quickly crush their opponents; Although the other party's idea was good, his other two sub-fleets and the main fleet with a magnificent lineup. How can they sit back and watch the other party realize this plan?

"Order, let Hipper send another plane to expand the reconnaissance, and the main force of the British Home Fleet is very likely to be behind their fast fleet! At the same time, the other two detachments were notified and told to immediately return to reunite the completed reconnaissance fleet. The main fleet turned two compass points to the left, sailed to 14 knots, and was ready to start a battle queue at any time. Ingnoll pondered for a moment, then gave the order to the adjutant in a flurry of words. He looked at the pocket watch in his hand, and the long and short hands were displayed at 8:11 in the morning. At present, the main force of the High Seas Fleet is 11o nautical miles away from the target, and he is directing the fleet to take a shortcut and outflank its rear; If 一 qiē顺lì. Then this battle will be settled once and for all before sunset today!

The only thing that made Ingnoll feel a little out of his control was the detachment under the command of Rear Admiral Millau. Due to the appearance of the British Clippers, the location was too far north. This makes it difficult for this fleet, which is currently hunting on the Morenson route west of Ireland, to go north in time to rush to the battlefield, even if it is quite reluctant. In the decisive naval battle, it has always been the lion fighting the rabbit with all his might; At present, the number of first-line capital ships on both sides is 28 to 19, and the two battle cruisers commanded by Milau are still a decisive weight on the balance of war!

Ingnoel, however, could not blame the general for anything. The details of the British Atlantic route were provided by Millau after interrogating the prisoners, and the detachment under his command was even more successful in the operation to break diplomatic relations: not only did he sink nearly 10,000 tons of Allied merchant ships in a week, but even captured an American merchant ship full of munitions, and the massive amount of arms loaded with arms made Moltke, the chief of the General Staff, excited to hear the news. What's more, the location of the British fleet is also a completely unpredictable variable, if the other side appears in the southwest of Ireland, then the northernmost 1st reconnaissance detachment is beyond the reach of the whip.

The sea breeze blows, and the turbines roar. In the nearly two hours that followed, Ingnoll received several more telegrams from the De Fringel, and as usual, the conscientious Hippers always concisely counted to him, the commander-in-chief, the enemy information observed by the reconnaissance plane, so that Ingnoll could also have an immersive insight into the situation ahead on the way to the front line. Although the main force of the British Grand Fleet is still not present, Ingnorl does not have too much of a rush to achieve results: in order to pursue range and airtime, the seaplanes currently equipped by the High Seas Fleet are only a little more than 1oo kilometers, and it will take a full hour and a half for Hipper to send planes to fly to the top of the British Clippers, let alone carry out a carpet search of a large area of the sea area behind it. According to Hipper's previous report, there has already been a failure of one aircraft's radio in flight, and now he can only use three seaplanes, so the efficiency is naturally not how fast.

"Your Excellency, something seems to be wrong." Just as Ingnoll was looking forward to Hipper's good news, Lieutenant General Scheer, who had been silent in front of the chart, suddenly spoke.

"What's wrong, Reinhardt?" Ingnoll turned around in some surprise, but what caught her eye was the solemn face of Scheer. For this cutting-edge general who has already been designated as his successor, Ingnoll has always relied heavily on his bravery and alertness, and at this moment, seeing the frown on that angular face, Ingnoll couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and there was no longer any relaxed look in his words.

"From the time we were now in the British Clippers, the fleet had made four major turns in less than two hours; So far, its location has not been much closer to ours. If this is just to avoid our aerial reconnaissance, the commander of the other side is inevitably too conservative! Scheer pointed to the empty area on the chart and said slowly, "Judging from this situation, this fleet, which has gathered all the remaining fast forces of Britain, may not have any intention of colliding with us at all?" ”

Ingnoor's heart suddenly froze. He walked briskly over to the chart, and began to recall carefully the report that Hipper had given him. Indeed, as Scheer said, the British Clippers not only turned frequently, but also sailed quite cautiously, and even made Z-shaped anti-submarine maneuvers along the way; It stands to reason that with the maneuverability of the British battle cruiser, a sneak attack by a small submarine can be avoided in most cases, but in fact, in order to pursue reconnaissance efficiency, the fast reconnaissance fleet under normal circumstances will not do this kind of time-consuming and laborious act!

But if the British were not here to fight, then what was their intention in going against the previous normal practice of shrinking into the harbor and sending the fleet out for cruise? If it was only for deterrent reasons, it was also difficult to use the newly completed Tiger to upset the balance and force the German reconnaissance fleet to abandon the division and reunite again. Not to mention whether the new battle cruiser, which the British Navy had high hopes for, could exert 5o% of its combat strength at present, sending this fleet alone to sea was itself an act of playing with fire when the German High Seas Fleet was pouring out and the whole army was shrouded in the fog of war. With Jericho's sophistication and prudence, how could he not be aware of the reason? For a moment there was silence in the navigation room, and both of them saw a new realm hidden beneath the surface.

"The 3rd reconnaissance detachment, the real target of the British is the 3rd reconnaissance detachment commanded by Milau!" I don't know how long it took, but Scheer, who was thinking hard, suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and shouted loudly. All the staff officers, including Ingnorr, were startled by the voice, and their faces were full of horror and shock.

Scheer, who had made a breakthrough in thinking, was already full of thoughts at this time, and countless chaotic clues were sorted out by him in an instant, and he said loudly: "The British must be well aware that their warships have many defects in shells and protection, and it is almost impossible to defeat the high seas fleet with aircraft as reconnaissance and early warning under normal circumstances, so they use their only remaining battle cruisers to attract our attention, so that we have inertial blind spots in the field of reconnaissance. If I am right, the British Grand Fleet is now running all its way west of Ireland to our 3rd Reconnaissance Detachment! ”

"But how do the British know where General Millau is now?" An adjutant was the first to recover from the shock and immediately grasped the key point. Scheer took a deep breath and gritted his teeth: "If the 3rd reconnaissance detachment is cruising freely in the ocean, then it is indeed difficult for the British to accurately locate their tracks. However, now that the northern seas have become hostile, and the distance from the battlefield is far away, Milau must return in a straight line. With a little deployment, the British will be able to block them in their path! ”

"Who would have thought that the British Grand Fleet, which was supposed to appear west of Scotland, would appear on the Merensen route 2oo nautical miles away? Milau, who was negligent in reconnaissance, would not have sent planes to reconnoiter the sea area in front of him, and by the time they appeared strange, they were already at the core of the British Grand Fleet! In the end, it was the busy Morenson route that was too far south to give the British such an opportunity. Jericho dared to divide his troops under such circumstances, it was really a good plan and a lot of courage! Scheer spoke slowly, his words already full of hatred.

"Report, there's an urgent call from the Lyzov!" At this moment, the voice of a staff officer suddenly came from outside the bridge. Although this voice was not loud, it made everyone's hearts in the navigation room suddenly hang! (To be continued......)

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