Chapter 360

The vast sea, want to gallop, most of the time rely on the courage to ride the wind and waves and the speed of overwhelming the opponent. Therefore, when all countries have spared no effort to develop the representative combat battleships of big ships and giant guns, more cruisers and battlecruisers have been launched at the same time, forming the backbone of the naval fleet of all countries.

For the ocean, warships are very small. So no matter how many warships you have, it's just a drop in the ocean. So it has been the dream of the ocean Empire to let warships patrol more sea areas at a higher speed and control more sea areas with a smaller number of warships.

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 British Navy's warships, the hood and other warships have very high-speed mobility and first-class firepower.

After the assault order was issued, the slower battleships in the British fleet, King George V and Howe, were immediately thrown away. After all, the cruiser hood has a maximum speed of 30 knots, so now it can easily speed up to the terrible 26 knots.

The highest speed of King George V class battleship is only 28 knots, so it can only drive to about 24 knots in pursuit. After all, no madman is willing to let the power boiler of battleship run with full load without approaching the enemy, which will cause the terrible consequences of power plant overheating.

Cruisers and destroyers generally have high speed, but according to the fleet's distribution order, many ships are left to sail with the battleship troops, and only a small number of ships follow the hood and prestige.

So after an hour of intense sailing, the British fleet has gradually opened up the distance, forming two fleets in a straight line. At this time, the British fleet was only 79 kilometers away from the German Navy's high seas fleet.

It's just that the two sides are chasing each other and fleeing each other, so this seemingly not far away distance is actually very far away. Because the German Navy's age is generally not long, so the speed is not much to lose.

At this moment, lutjans was nervously looking at the chart, estimating the location and time of possible encounter between the two sides. Around him is a huge fleet of German naval ships. Even such a huge fleet, its speed is still not slow.

It should be said that they are not slow. They have almost exceeded the limit speed of the fleet in the world. The whole carrier fleet is chopping the waves at the speed of 23 knots. As an aircraft carrier formation, this speed can be said to be the world record level.

Now the problem is a little serious for the German navy fleet. From 7 p.m. on the first day to 5 a.m. on the second day, the British navy has at least 10 hours to shorten the distance. It seems that the German Navy is doomed.

In this way, the two fleets played a speed race on the vast sea. At 8:03 PM, lutjans ordered the fleet to adjust its course, deviated some angles to the open sea, and tried to avoid the British fleet.

But soon, the British fleet adjusted its course as if it had eyes. It cut into the route of the German fleet and even shortened the distance of 1 km. At this time, lutjans could only rely on his own judgment to determine the position of the British navy fleet.

"No! I always think there's a problem! " As he walked around the chart table, lutjans suddenly realized with a clap of his hands: "I know! I know where their eyes are! "

He went to the front of the chart, pointed around and said to the chief mate, "they are following us with submarines! Although the speed of submarines is not enough, they can't follow us for long, but they are in the state of risking to float up and sail on the water! On the contrary, our radar system is dark under the light. No one finds anything wrong! "

"Order special units of naval aviation to take off at night!" Lutjans smashed the table: "it's time for them to see our preparations! Get rid of all the tails of these enemy submarines

"Yes A liaison officer of the air force walked out with a salute.

Soon, under the guidance of several searchlights on the German aircraft carrier, two helicopters soared into the air. These planes carried a deep-water bomb and a high-power searchlight. They were not only a special weapon recently equipped on the aircraft carrier, but also a secret weapon for search and rescue and anti submarine at night.

Soon after the news of these planes, two British submarines following the fleet were forced to dive for their lives, and the submarine eyeliner, which was arranged in advance by the British, was left behind by the German fleet, but it was already after 11 o'clock at night.

At 0 o'clock at night, lutjans received a telegram that made him sick as if he had swallowed ten flies. The telegram was sent by a German submarine. The submarine found the British fleet in the waters near Denmark, that is, the fleet going north to Norway. Now the fleet with two old battleships is lying in the waters near Port William. It is waiting for the high seas fleet that the German army fled to throw itself into the net.

As a result, lutjans, who was going to risk another change of course, could not make up his mind. He did not dare to risk going back to the port of William, so he did not dare to change the course again to make the fleet close to the coastline. Now there are only two ways, one is to risk escaping to Holland, the other is to risk continuing to go deep into the North Sea.

The road to Holland seemed safe, but lutjans knew that it was also dangerous. It's OK for the Dutch port to be used for supplies on weekdays. If it escapes and is blocked by the British navy, it will be doomed. If the British were to trade a few battleships for all the high seas fleet, the Royal Navy would be willing to do the deal. But if they turn a right angle to escape to Holland, in case the British pursuit fleet takes a shortcut and cuts a short side to catch up... Between 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning, the two sides encounter and go to war, the German navy may have nothing left. It's not safe to escape to the ocean. At least it will take until dawn to fight back. Now, it's estimated that it's almost ten minutes before dawn, when the British Navy launches its artillery. At that time, it's really hard to say who will take advantage. Moreover, lutjans had to be constantly alert to the third British fleet led by the Royal ark, which had disappeared in the North Sea“ I have a good family background. I can play any way I like Lutjans could not help saying this with admiration. It's not surprising that lutjans was envious, because even after repeated fiasco, the British navy had set up three fleets and laid a net. It seemed that the two sides were not equal in the number of fleets“ Keep the course! Keep going north! " Lutjans finally bit his back teeth and gave the order with the greatest courage of his life. At this moment, he seemed to see the illusion, in which he commanded a huge and beautiful battleship to enter the North Sea in the cold wind and complete his own tragic World War I“ A year ago! I only dare to run away in front of the British navy. Maybe I will go back to Holland. However, the head of state told me a truth - the army that dare not show its sword will never fail! This time I choose Liangjian! As the front-line commander of the Imperial Navy, I want to show my sword today Said lutjans calmly, standing on the bridge. This is his choice. This is the choice of the high seas fleet of the Third Reich led by him. This road is extremely bumpy. One wrong step is the end of doom, and it is also an opportunity for the German Navy, a chance for prosperity. This is a big gamble. If the German Navy can take off the carrier based aircraft after dawn, then the British navy will probably lose. Moreover, this defeat seems to be more painful than the previous ones, and it is likely to be a real setback. If the German Navy were overtaken before dawn, there would be few warships in the whole fleet that could compete with the prestige of the hood, and the whole fleet would be destroyed in two hours at most. It's a fair fight. The winner controls the North Atlantic and becomes the most powerful new overlord in Europe; The losers lose their sea power and face a cruel blockade. They may even lose their country's fate in the end. When lutjans made this decision, lieutenant general Holland, the commander-in-chief of the British fleet, was also facing an important choice. At this time full of variables, both German admiral lutjans and British Lieutenant General Holland made the most important decisions in their lives. The submarines that had been ambushed were expelled by the German Navy, and lieutenant general Holland was now as blind as lutjans. Without intelligence support, he can only judge the trend of the German Navy by guessing, which makes it quite difficult for the British navy to pursue“ Order the fleet to keep course Lieutenant general Holland finally gave the order to pursue according to the current route, but at the same time he gave another crucial order: "order two delayed battleships to sail off the Netherlands. If the Germans escape into the Netherlands, we will directly rush into the port and sink them! At all costs For the British navy, this decision is undoubtedly the safest. Holland's fleet has blocked Germany's only two choices. Now Holland can be sure that Germany can't run this time and must fight him openly. However, the variable of the speed race has not changed. This variable is the time of the battle. Whether the Germans can delay the start of the battle until after dawn is still unknown.