Chapter 770： Blockade and antiblockade

Compared with the secretive blockade by the Germans with submarines, the British did much more convenient. The British fleet is deployed in the Orkney Islands. The distance between the Orkney and Shetland Islands and the Norwegian coast constitutes the entire entrance to the North Sea. Among them, the distance between Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands is about 67 kilometers. The straight-line distance between the Shetland Islands and the Norwegian coastline is about 167 kilometers. In theory, as long as the Royal Navy can control these two areas with a total length of less than 240 kilometers, it can completely cut off Germany's channels for obtaining supplies from the North Sea.

And the British actually did this. The distance between the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands is not a big deal for the large fleet. What is really difficult is the 167 kilometers wide sea area to the east. As for this area, it is indeed impossible for the British to use the large fleet to wander around all day long. After all, the large fleet must ensure that it conducts repressive cruises in the North Sea twice a week, and the millions of tons of warships are huge for a round trip. Consumption.

So the British used armored cruisers, light cruisers and auxiliary cruisers to carry out cruise blockade in this area, and divided 7 different cruise areas. In fact, although there is no guarantee that every ship will be inspected. But in general, most ships still need permission from the British to go out.

But in fact, the blockade is far from simple, because Norway itself is a neutral country, and historically Germany has indeed alleviated the shortage of resources by importing iron ore and other materials from Norway. The so-called, in order to ensure the blockade of Norway, the British also deployed a tenth cruiser formation in the vast Norwegian Sea to inspect merchant ships going to Norway. The British set quotas based on Norwegian imports during peacetime. "The materials needed by Norway are seized or forcibly bought.

And if you want to perform this task, you need to send a boarding team and armed personnel to board the ship. After all, they are merchant ships of a neutral country, so it's definitely impossible to shoot directly at any disagreement.

For these two blockades, the German High Seas Fleet has no immediate plans to dispatch a main fleet in a short period of time. After all, the British are very strict about the German ports in the North Sea. They also have submarines, and the Harwich fleet has arrived from time to time. Close reconnaissance, the German fleet is easy to go out, if it comes back, what if it is blocked by the opponent? Admiral Ball, like Jericho, belonged to someone who could lose the war in one afternoon...

For this situation, Prince Ruprecht and the German Admiralty also have plans, but there is still a time to wait. The seeds have been planted, just waiting for the flowers to bear fruit! Prior to this, the German High Seas Fleet decided to send submarines and auxiliary cruisers to break the relationship and hunt the British auxiliary cruisers when conditions permit.

"Wish our warriors all the best." An officer delivered the telegram he received to Major Nagel. At this time, the minor correction was sailing towards the northern exit of the North Sea with his attack ship, the Sea Wolf. At Ruprecht's strong request, the officer who had served on the light cruiser was arranged to attack the fleet in disguise. This famous assault captain in history is returning to his old career on this plane!

The prince is still very interesting. Under his care, an assault ship named Sea Wolf was completed before the war. Although the tonnage of this warship is not large, its displacement is only 6,500 tons. The appearance is not much different from ordinary merchant ships, but in fact, the firepower, speed and defense are completely designed in accordance with the standards of second-class protective cruisers in the pre-fearless period. Two 150mm guns are hidden under the false deck at the front and the back. There are also 4 other 150mm guns on the side of the hull, 4 105mm guns and other small caliber guns, and 4 500mm torpedo tubes. In this way, the unilateral firepower of this warship has reached the terrifying 7 150mm guns. And 2 105MM guns.

It is impossible for such a warship to be equipped with armor belts, but there is a layer of armor to protect the core compartment with a thickness of 3 inches to 2 inches, and the gun position also has a certain degree of protection. In theory, it can be combined with a light cruiser. The speed is also very good. Although it is still a steam engine, the kerosene mixed-burning boiler is still very powerful. The maximum speed is about 22 knots. In theory, except for the blue ribbon, most other civilian ships can run. Crush all the auxiliary cruisers modified by civilian ships of the Allies. As for being unable to defeat the light cruiser, there is no way... This thing is a bit cruel.

Every camouflage cruiser is very precious. After all, ships of more than 6,000 tons and hundreds of naval officers and men, and in order to ensure that Seawolf can safely enter the high seas, the German Navy even arranged three submarines to accompany this camouflage cruiser out of the North Sea, and it turns out that the auxiliary The coordination of cruisers and submarines is still very useful!

The first choice is to camouflage the assault ship with the flag of a neutral country, and even the appearance is very similar to that of a neutral country’s ship. The Germans must think twice about attacking a neutral country’s merchant ship with a submarine. Then the British will naturally not be able to bombard a suspicious ship. It. In order to confirm the identity of the other party, the British must board the ship for inspection.

If the opponent is an auxiliary cruiser for interception then Seawolf can even go away at high speed. However, if the opponent is a fast-running ship such as a light cruiser or an armored cruiser, it will be difficult to handle. It is almost certain to catch up. In this case, if the opponent is caught and then boarded, Your own battleship identity will be revealed in all likelihood. At this time, German battleships can only use torpedoes to fight to the death, and this is not something that no one has done. The German attack ship Leopard in World War I was because Desperately fight to lose myself....

But the situation is different now. The so-called open guns are easy to hide from the hidden arrows. In any case, when the opponent's armored cruiser approaches to board the ship, the speed will definitely drop, and if at this time, there are submarines in this sea area with the assault ship. If so, the situation is different. The camouflaged assault ship can even use itself as a decoy to create opportunities for submarine attacks. And this time, Major Nagel brought 3 submarines! Even if you really run into an armored cruiser, when the other party tries to approach, if the three submarines suddenly get into trouble, if this is still not hit, then it is really God who killed you and you have to do it...

As for how the submarine can keep up with the assault ship, naturally it is sailing on the water to keep up! It is actually very easy for a submarine to run at a high speed of 16 knots or more on the water. In a cruising state, the submarine and the camouflaged assault ship can go together. As for the submarine being found on the water, what should I do? The Germans also thought of a way.

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