The black clouds were swelling, the wind was waving, the vast North Sea was storming, and the surging waves were rolling up three meters high... A huge fleet with a good lineup was stomping against the wind and waves, sailing forward towards the deep ocean in the northwest. The deep blue waves kept hitting the side of the warship's bow, gushing out thousands of tiny waves, and white foam was rising.

The waves were blowing, sweeping towards the sailing warships, like an avalanche of ice peaks; in the face of the great power of nature, even the most powerful war weapons created by humans were as small as a boat in the torrent. The main hull swayed left and right, leaned forward and backward, and the bow of the ship kept appearing in the snow waves and silver waves that were blown by the blow. The heavy and powerful front main turret was cleaned by sea water and shining. The silhouette of the two sides also closed the rotating window early, fearing that the water waves would flow backward from this freeboard that was only 3 meters above sea level.

The wide and majestic battle cruisers are like this, and the situation of the slender and light cruisers and torpedo boats is even worse than that of the battle cruiser. Although the light cruisers have freeboards that are not inferior to the battle cruiser, the height of the stable heart is much worse than that of the large main battleships. It is immediately difficult to navigate under such harsh sea conditions. Due to the lack of resilience brought by the low stability heart, the warships are almost always swaying inclined under the impact of the waves.

The state is that even if you occasionally have to straighten the hull, it is fleeting. The torpedo boats weighing hundreds of tons can only insist on not being defeated by this raging storm. The soldiers on the ship are like they are in a roller coaster, and can only hold on to the fixed objects beside them so that they will not be thrown away everywhere. Even though they have been through the waves for a long time, they can't help but feel dizzy at this moment. Such sea conditions are almost impossible to encounter in the previous North Sea and in the Baltic Sea!

This fleet is the most powerful fast strike force in the world. The German reconnaissance fleet commanded by Lieutenant General Franz Hippel.

More than two months ago, this fleet fought an unprecedentedly fierce bombardment battle with their destined enemy, the British Rapid Fleet, on the North Sea; and after winning, these battle patrols resolutely joined the battle between the main force of the High Seas Fleet and the main force of the British local fleet, and endured a large amount of artillery fire from the opponent. Although they did not suffer any irreparable losses in the end, the degree of damage to each ship was far greater than the battleships in the fleet. After all, the number and firepower projection of the British warships were there, and even the lightest damaged Blüchel was hit with 22 large-caliber shells of the battleship level. The explosion power of the large-charged shells in the British Navy is definitely strong enough to have a strong destructive power!

Because all the battle patrols were covered with bruises and the main force of the high seas fleet was obviously inseparable from these eye-eared and dogs, the German Navy's plan to attack again was greatly delayed. In the following time, the German battleships that had been repaired successively did not make any major moves except for going to the Baltic Sea to swim around and scaring the Russian Navy to stay in the Gulf of Finland. It was not until November 7, two and a half months later that the most damaged Luzov once again slashed the waves on the sea in a new posture that the fleet's plan to attack was put on the agenda again and was implemented after the following three days.

It is completely different from the previous situation. The main mission of the current High Seas Fleet is no longer to fight head-on with the British fleet, but to cooperate with submarines hunting on the Atlantic Ocean. It completely tightens the current twisted rope that is placed on the British maritime transportation line. After all, the main force of the British local fleet has been defeated in the North Sea Battle, and the remaining power is completely insufficient to compete with the German high seas Fleet. It is precisely because the British realized this that they decisively gave up the Scarpa Bay base in northeastern Scotland and transferred the anchorage of the local fleet to Ortebe in western Scotland to avoid a direct showdown with the German main force.

For the German Navy, this is undoubtedly a completely novel and arduous task. For a long time, the strategic techniques they studied were all about how to fight the British Navy in a decisive battle. They never thought of winning such a big victory, nor did they plan the road they would take later. However, this did not prevent them from adapting to the right strategy that suits the current environment. In fact, the German Navy has fully grasped the current initiative in the battlefield and is waiting to transform the advantages they have obtained into a victory!

With the participation of Qing and Britain, the German Navy quickly formulated an action strategy for the subsequent war. The main fleet will take the Shetland Islands 200 kilometers northeast of Scotland before the island of Fair, thus eliminating all the remaining forces of Britain in the North Sea and creating an absolutely safe rear environment for German warships to safely enter the Atlantic from North Scotland. At the same time, the engineering team vigorously launched the construction of the port of Fair Island and built it into an outpost for German naval ships to provide fuel and living supplies for German naval ships. Compared with Wilhelmshaven, the German local Wilhelmshaven entered the Atlantic Ocean for nearly 450 nautical miles from Fair Island, which is 900 nautical miles round trip; for those German torpedo boats that can only drive over 2,000 nautical miles under low speed cruise, this is undoubtedly a prerequisite for them to enter the Atlantic with the main ship.

On November 12, the main force of the German High Seas Fleet gathered in the Shetland Islands and launched the first large-scale operation after the self-decisive battle. Faced with this behavior of the High Seas Fleet, the British local fleet was almost helpless: they sent surface fleets to stop the Germans were undoubtedly suicide, and using submarines to attack a complete fleet with a large number of light ship guards is also an unrealistic move. Because even if the submarine successfully arrives at the destination and discovers the target, the enemy escort warships that scatter around will force the submarines to choose to dive far from the target, so that they cannot get the opportunity to attack and even escape unscathed.

Under the absolute fire suppression of the German fleet of more than 200 large-caliber naval guns, the target beachhead was instantly bombarded into the surface of the moon; the marines in small boats rushed up and quickly occupied the landing area. The main force of the high seas fleet that completed the mission of the landing troops did not choose to continue waiting in place. After leaving a squadron composed of light ships that were most unsuitable for long-distance voyages to guard the landing ground and continued to provide shore fire support for the army, the main fleet that completed the sea coal-added line went westward and launched a maritime raid battle that all German naval officers and soldiers were looking forward to.

In order to cope with the threat of the remaining forces of the British local fleet and increase the hunting efficiency, the entire high seas fleet was naturally divided into two parts by commander Ingnoll. The reconnaissance fleet led by Hippel, as a hawk who carried out hunting, searched for targets at sea through seaplanes, while Ingnoll took the main fleet group to hang behind Hippel, maintaining the distance between the two fleets. Ingnoll's intention was obvious. With the 6 battle patrols, 8 light patrols and 32 torpedo boats of the Hippel fleet, it was enough to sweep all the British fleets discovered by the reconnaissance aircraft; and if the British local fleet had any ideas about the German reconnaissance fleet, the 22 dreadnoughts, 8 light patrols and 32 torpedo boats of the High Seas fleet, will directly teach the other side how to be a human being.

"In less than an hour, we will sail out of this storm area." In the sailing room of the USS De Flinger, Major Redell, who was nearly 40 years old, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said. The sea conditions on the Atlantic Ocean were indeed very different from those familiar to the Doger Sands and the Baltic Sea. After crossing North Scotland, the reconnaissance fleet encountered three thunderstorms within two days; the first two times were avoided by the fleet, but this time it was impossible to avoid it, so he could only choose to face it. Even on this warship with a full load displacement of 27,500 tons, Redell clearly felt the terrifying power released by the sea when it was angry, let alone other warships in the fleet!

"After leaving the storm area, each ship immediately counts the fuel remaining and reports it to the flagship, and the torpedo boats give priority to coal supply." The bald lieutenant general Hippel spoke lightly, and his words also showed a little relief. This fierce and violent storm was indeed a big test for the German warships with limited navigation, and the fuel consumption of warships was several times higher than usual. In order to hunt in the Atlantic Ocean for as long as possible, the German Navy specially prepared up to five coal-carrying ships to follow Hippel fleet. The expedition of the Russian Baltic Fleet 9 years ago was indeed an unsatisfactory trip to population, but the rich experience of maritime coal replenishment was carried forward by the German Navy, which had learned a lot, and applied it to the current water surface breaking battle.

The wind and rain were sobbing and the waves became smaller. The German sailors who were scattered in the torpedo boats finally got the breath they had long been looking forward to. The sun shone through the dispersed clouds, and a calm blue was restored to the sea of ​​sky. The German sailors walked onto the deck with glory and smiles, and their faces also had a hint of vicissitudes and roughness that only those who had been galloping in the blue water for many years would have. With the waving of the signal flag, the torpedo boats slowly leaned on the coal ships that were pressed down on the freeboard; the sailors carried bags of coal into the coal bin on the boat through the wooden boards built between the ship's side.

The machinery roared and the water waves were pleasant. While the torpedo boats were replenishing coal, each battle patrol also released seaplanes according to the plan. For a moment, the air was full of gasoline engines. Under the proposal of Qingying, the battle patrols of these reconnaissance fleets installed booms and seaplanes in the middle or tail of the hull during the repair process; and these improved seaplanes were equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, which made the German surface fleet's reconnaissance range in the Atlantic breaking battles unprecedentedly. (To be continued...)

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Chapter completed!