Chapter 754： Above the ocean

"We seem to be targeted. Two British warships appeared behind us. Judging from the ship type, it seems to be an armored cruiser." In the somewhat shaky captain's room, Major General Su Xiong looked at the information sent by Riddle Lost in contemplation.

After two days of sailing, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have successfully dashed out of the North Sea and entered the Norwegian Sea. At this moment, they are turning to the northwest, planning to travel from the Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands. Cross into the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, the British Great Fleet was gathering on the mainland, and did not go north. The battlecruiser formation does have the possibility of threatening itself. The 4 battlecruisers directly under Betty were not in the North Sea but in Liverpool, which made Major General Su Xiong a little uneasy.

"Captain Von Legst suggested that we take action to kill the two guys behind." An officer said.

"What's the reason?" Su Xiong did not speak, but looked at the officer.

"If we maintain the current speed, we can't get behind the two warships behind us. He suspects that the British may be planning to use battlecruiser formations to intercept us. The two warships behind us are always in contact to illustrate this point." The officer said.

"The British did not declare war. Besides, if they wanted to do it, they could have done it in the North Sea long ago." Raidel shook his head and said. "Before we entered the Indian Ocean, we could not reveal our identity and the performance of the warship." Ryder bit the word performance very seriously.

Everyone here immediately understood what Raidel meant. So far, the German fleet has been successful in keeping the speed of warships secret. Except for some officers on these warships who know the exact speed of warships, the sailors do not know it. If Su Xiong's fleet is exposed, then once the British are prepared, both themselves and the high seas fleet will encounter additional difficulties.

"That's right, if they wanted to do it, they would have done it long ago, but since they didn't do it in the North Sea, it would be more difficult to do it in the Atlantic Ocean. There is no need to deal with them, but we also need to trouble them." Su Xiong After a short period of thought, I decided to increase the speed of the fleet to 20 knots. This speed is almost the speed of a conventional battleship, and the speed will not be exposed.

In high sea conditions, the heavy-duty Scharnhorst and Gneisenau with a displacement of close to 30,000 tons can ensure stable navigation, strengthen the bow structure, and deploy thin-armored battleships to walk safely. , But for the British cruiser behind, this speed is a bit difficult.

8 nautical miles behind the German fleet are two armored cruisers, the Black Prince and the Kresi, which have been in service for nearly 8 years. The steam engine and boiler pipelines have been somewhat aging. The speed of 23 knots has become a theoretical figure. It is good to be able to run 21 knots in normal sea conditions, but now, in high sea conditions, two battleships can run 18 knots. God.

With the acceleration of the German warships, the two British warships also began to accelerate, but it is a pity that the increasing storms made the British's efforts vanish! Boom, the sound of hitting the hull like a heavy hammer kept coming, and the huge battleship swayed on the sea like a pendulum.

"Your Excellency Commander, the former main gun of the Crecy has been flooded, and we can no longer accelerate." An officer walked to the fleet commander Goodnow and said anxiously.

"Our mission does not require naval guns. Keep an eye on them, and then keep reporting their positions." Goodnor answered without hesitation, but before his words fell, the hull shook suddenly and vibrated violently. Many people in the commanding tower fell to the ground. With the sound of heavy objects falling, anyone familiar with the Navy knew that something went wrong with the battleship.

"It's the bow. Our bow was broken." A few minutes later, Goodnow received a discouraging news. "The report said that our warship was damaged and could not continue the tracking mission, and informed the Admiralty of the opponent's final position." Looking at the smaller and smaller ship shadows in the distance, Goodno could not help but sigh.

What Su Xiong and others did not expect was that at this time the British Admiralty was discussing what to do with these two warships. Yes, the British were indeed fighting against these two warships, but it was not because they saw through the Germans. The conspiracy, but thinking, if you can "buy" these two warships, it would be great! Add two capital ships, and then get technical information on the German warships. And the one who proposed this plan is the current Secretary of the Navy Churchill!

"The value of these two battleships is comparable to that of a battleship squadron of ours. Even if we cannot join the fleet in a short period of time, we can still obtain information on the speed, firepower and defense of the German warships. And to make up for the shortage of our battleships . And what we need to pay is only 4.2 million pounds!" Churchill said at the venue.

The British did so. The British ambassador to Argentina submitted a diplomatic note hoping to purchase the two warships, but the Argentine refused. As a result, some people have crooked ideas. If it doesn't work, they should hold them first and then buy?

However, this idea is a bit too much after all The British government did not respond directly, and the navy’s approach is very simple, first send ships to follow, and then wait until the government agrees, then send the main fleet to follow, and then The boat buckled down.

But how to say? In the end, the British were still short of the fire. The two battleships sailed ahead of schedule to bankrupt the entire plan. If two days later, Betty's four battlecruisers would probably be behind Su Xiong. The tiger, the lion, and the Queen Mary are now. In this case, it may be very difficult to get rid of it. If the British really want to be strong, they can only play 2 to 3...

But now, with the early departure of the Su Xiong fleet, the British wishful thinking has been completely broken. Betty’s battlecruiser formation has not been in place at all. He is still on the west coast of England and has not been able to keep up with the opponent in the first time. Only Goode Nuo's two armored cruisers barely followed their opponents.

Although in theory the British can still intercept their opponents northward, all of this is based on Goodnow's stable tracking. But now, even this possibility has disappeared. Goodman's fleet is fundamentally under high sea conditions. If you can't catch up with your opponent, the artillery can tolerate the water ingress, anyway, you don't need to hit the output, but if the bow is severely damaged, then there is no way... If he ran further, the ship sank without keeping up....

So, Su Xiong and the others did not realize that they had escaped a disaster!

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