In the vast sea, if you want to gallop across the sea, most of the time you have to rely on the courage to ride the wind and waves and the speed that overwhelms your opponent. Therefore, when various countries are desperately trying to develop representative combat ships with large ships and huge guns, more cruisers and battle cruisers are launched at the same time, forming the backbone of the naval fleets of various countries.

For the oceans, battleships are very small. So even if you have a large number of warships, it will be a drop in the bucket in the face of the vastness and vastness of the ocean. So allowing warships to patrol more seas at higher speeds and control larger areas with fewer ships has always been the dream of the maritime empire.

Driven by this great dream, the world's naval powers are scrambling to explore high-speed warships, and have developed generation after generation of "the strongest warships in history". At least among the warships of the British Navy, warships such as the Hood are warships with very high-speed maneuverability and first-class firepower.

After the order for the assault was issued, the British fleet, the slower battleships King George V and Howe, were immediately thrown away, after all, the battlecruiser Hood had a limit speed of up to 30 knots, so now it could easily soar to a terrible 26 knots.

The top speed of the King George V-class battleship was only 28 knots, so it could only be driven to about 24 knots during the pursuit, after all, no madman would want to let the battleship's power boiler run at full load without approaching the enemy, which would cause the terrible consequences of overheating the power plant.

Cruisers and destroyers generally had a higher speed, but according to the fleet's assignments, many ships were left behind to accompany the battleship forces, and only a few ships followed the Hood and the Prestige.

So after an hour of intense sailing, the British fleet had gradually pulled away, forming two fleets in front and rear in a straight line. At this time, the British fleet was only 79 kilometers away from the position of the German Navy's high seas fleet.

It's just that the two sides are now chasing and fleeing, so this seemingly not far distance is actually very far away. Because the German Navy generally did not have a long age, it did not suffer much in terms of speed.

At this moment, Lu Tejans was nervously looking at the chart, estimating the location and time of the possible encounter between the two sides. Around him was a huge fleet of German naval ships, and even with such a large fleet, the speed of the ship was still not slow.

It should be said that they are not slow, they have almost run out of the extreme speed of fleet formation sailing in this world, and the entire aircraft carrier fleet is chopping waves at a speed of 23 knots, as an aircraft carrier formation, this speed can be said to be a world record level.

Now the problem was a bit strict for the German naval fleet, and from 7 p.m. on the first day to 5 a.m. the next day, the British Navy had at least 10 hours to shorten the distance, and it seemed that the German Navy was doomed.

The two fleets thus played a speed race in the vast sea, and at 8:03 p.m. Lütjans ordered the fleet to adjust its course and deviate some angles from the open sea, in an attempt to avoid the British fleet.

However, soon the British fleet adjusted its course as if it had long eyes, cut into the course of the German fleet, and even shortened the distance by 1 kilometer. At this time, Lütjans could only rely on his own judgment to determine the position of the British Navy's fleet.

"Oh no! I always feel like there's a problem!" said Ruttyans, walking around the chart table, clapping his hands with a sudden realization: "I know! I know where their eyes are!"

He walked to the chart, pointed to the surroundings and said to the first mate: "They are using submarines to follow us! Although the speed of the submarines is not enough, they will not be able to keep up with us for long, but they are following us on the surface of the sea on the adventure! Our radar system is black, and no one notices anything wrong!"

"Order the special units of naval aviation to take off urgently at night!" Lu Teyans slammed the table: "It's time for them to see our preparations!

"Yes!" a liaison officer of the aviation Corps saluted and walked out.

Soon, the German aircraft carrier, guided by several searchlights, took off two helicopters, which carried a depth charge, and a high-powered searchlight, which was a special weapon that the aircraft carrier had only recently been equipped with, and a secret weapon for search and rescue and night anti-submarine warfare.

The planes soon got the news, and the two British submarines following the outer perimeter of the fleet were forced to dive and flee for their lives, and the submarine eyeline arranged in advance by the British was left behind by the German fleet, but this was already after 11 o'clock in the night.

At 0:00 p.m., Lütjans received a telegram that disgusted him as if he had swallowed ten flies. The telegram had been sent by a German submarine that had spotted the British fleet in the waters off Denmark, the fleet that had gone north to Norway, and now the fleet with two old battleships was lying in the waters near Wilhelmshaven, waiting for the German fleet to escape.

As a result, Lütjans, who had been prepared to risk another change of course, could not make up his mind again, and he did not dare to venture back to the port of Wilhelm, so he did not dare to change course again and let the fleet move towards the coastline - now there were only two options, one was to risk fleeing to the Netherlands, and the other was to venture further into the North Sea.

The escape to Holland seemed like a foolish one, but when Ruetjens thought about it, he knew that it was also dangerous. The Dutch port is usually used for supplies, but if you escape and then be blocked by the British Navy to fight at close range, it will really be a disaster. If the British were to exchange a few battleships for the entire High Seas Fleet, the Royal Navy would be willing to do it.

Moreover, if you keep the course and continue to escape to the depths of the North Sea, you can still estimate the time of the fleet's encounter, but if you turn a right angle and flee to the Netherlands, in case the British pursuing fleet takes a shortcut and catches up...... Between 2 and 4 a.m., the two sides met and went to war, and the German navy probably had nothing left.

It is not safe to flee to the ocean, at least until dawn before you can return fire, and in the current situation, it is estimated that it is almost ten minutes of dawn when the British Navy opens fire. At that time, it's really hard to say who will take advantage of it. Moreover, Lütjans had to be constantly vigilant against the third British fleet led by the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which disappeared in the North Sea.

"You can really play any way with a thick family!" Lu Teyans couldn't help but say with envy. It is no wonder that Lütjans is very envious, because even under the crushing defeats, the British Navy did not move, and even laid out three fleets to lay a net, and the two sides did not seem to be an order of magnitude opponent in terms of the number of fleets.

"Keep going!Keep heading north!" Lutjens finally gritted his back teeth and gave the order with the greatest courage in his life. At this moment, he seemed to see a hallucination, in which he commanded a huge and beautiful battleship, entered the North Sea in the bitter cold wind, and completed his own tragic battle.

"A year ago! I would have dared to run away in front of the British navy, or I would have fled back to Holland. However, the Führer told me a truth--an army that does not dare to show its sword will always have only one possibility of defeat! This time I choose to show my sword! As the front-line commander of the Imperial Navy, I want to show my sword today!" said Lu Teyans calmly while standing on the bridge.

This is his choice, this is the choice of the High Seas Fleet of the Third Reich under his leadership, this road is bumpy, the slightest wrong step is the end of no return, and it is also an opportunity for the German Navy, a chance to soar.

This is a big gamble, if the German Navy can take off carrier-based aircraft after dawn, then the British Navy will lose eighty percent, and this defeat seems to be more painful than the previous ones, and it is possible that it will really collapse.

And if the German Navy were caught up before dawn, there would be almost no ships in the entire fleet that could compete with the Hood Prestige, and it would be completely annihilated in two hours at most.

A fair battle, with the winner taking control of the North Atlantic and becoming the most powerful new hegemon in Europe's seas, and the loser losing sea power, facing a brutal blockade and possibly losing the fate of the country.

At the time when Lütjans made this decision, Vice Admiral Holland, the commander-in-chief of the British fleet, was also facing an important choice, and at this moment full of uncertainties, both German Admiral Lütjans and British Vice Admiral Holland made the most important decision of their lives.

The submarines that realized the ambush were all expelled by the German Navy, and Vice Admiral Holland was now as blind as Lütjens. Without the support of intelligence, he can now only rely on guessing to judge the movements of the German navy, which makes it quite difficult for the pursuing British navy.

"Order the fleet to keep course unchanged!" Vice Admiral Holland finally gave the order to pursue according to the present route, but at the same time he gave another crucial order: "Order the two battleships that have been dragged behind to sail off the coast of Holland, and if the Germans escape into Holland, we will rush directly into the harbor and sink them!"

For the British Navy, this decision was undoubtedly the safest, the only two options available to the Germans were blocked by Holland's fleet, and now Holland was sure that Germany could not run this time, and must fight him with dignity.

But the variable of this speed race has not changed, and this variable is the time of the engagement, and whether the Germans can delay the start of the battle until after dawn is still unknown.