Count Luckner's guess was correct. The Iranian fleet was indeed struggling due to the decline in material reserves. In his opinion, it was almost time to close the net. As long as he slowly tightened his pockets, he would surely be caught.

Opponent! Sumer and others did not think of using the last fuel to immediately go to the territory of the Allied Powers, then disarm and wait for the end of the war. He

They have been dealing with the opponent for several months under the pressure of half the German navy. They have achieved some results. They even sunk a battleship. But after all, they still have a trace of luck in their hearts. The vast sea area has always been a guerrilla war.

In paradise, neither Fletcher nor Cunningham believed that the Germans' investigative capabilities could be so powerful! They wanted to take a gamble!

A submarine is cruising on the sea at a low speed. In history, when the anti-submarine power was not very strong in the early stages of World War II, submarines spent most of their time sailing on the sea, and precious battery power was only used when attacking targets. Merely.

The underwater cruising speed of about 5 knots makes the submarine

Once it dives, its maneuverability is greatly reduced. The German submarine numbered U152 is charging the battery and turning on the radar to search the nearby sea area. Although it is dawn and the light conditions are not good, with the help of electromagnetic waves, he can still find the surrounding 15 nautical miles.

Large targets left and right.

"Beep, beep, beep" suddenly the radio lateral equipment sounded an alarm. This indicated that there was a radar with larger power working nearby. Captain Erlichtop quickly walked to the chart and compared the position of this signal with the

Check the positions of known warships on our side. The opponent's radar is very powerful. It is definitely not a small radar installed on a submarine. From the power point of view, it should be at the level of a battleship. There are no German navy battleships within a radius of 200 nautical miles.

The identity of the other party has been revealed.

Soon. As the distance gets closer, the other party's waveform and other data can be displayed on the oscilloscope. Skilled and experienced radar operators can distinguish the other party's radar model and even the working frequency band. "This should be an American radar."

Judging from the intensity and frequency, it shouldn’t be very far away from us, probably less than 20 nautical miles,” said an officer.

"There is no fleet here. The radar signal does not belong to us, so there is only one possibility." Captain Erlichtop said decisively: "Send a report to General Luckner immediately and tell them about our situation.

.We sail in the target direction, hoping that the opponent's speed will not be too fast."

More than half an hour later, the information about the U152 submarine was sent to Luckner's desk, and the staff immediately marked the opponent's position and track on the chart. "250 nautical miles away from us?! It seems like this time

We are very close to our opponent." Lucknar said to himself, looking at the blue dots representing enemy warships and the route outlined with dotted lines. During this period of hunting, Lucknar's fleet and

The opponent's distance is always between 250 nautical miles and 400 nautical miles.

In theory, when the two engines are 250 nautical miles apart, the German aircraft carrier fleet can already launch an attack, and the auxiliary fuel tank carried by the bf109 fighter is barely enough. But in fact, considering the lag of intelligence, generally speaking, the received

It had been several hours since the intelligence was received. The distance and relative position of the twin engines had changed a long time ago, but this time, Count Luckner was very lucky. The submarine on the frontline quickly sent the intelligence. It was very effective.

"We also have a camouflaged reconnaissance ship nearby, which should be called Greyhound. This is an 8,000-ton auxiliary ship with four Andora 196 seaplanes on it. Although there is no radar, it is relatively close to the target.

Large warships can also be spotted visually," said an officer.

"Okay then! Let the Greyhound do some reconnaissance. I hope they can find this fleet. In addition, from the direction, their course should be towards the purple target. This target is near Ascension Island, which is British territory. If

It makes sense for the other party to supply supplies there." Count Luckner said.

About an hour and a half after the U152 submarine discovered the target, the Greyhound camouflaged reconnaissance ship had released all four seaplanes to search the sea. Although the maximum speed of this type of aircraft is only 300km, it cannot be compared with fighter jets.

At least it was much faster than the ship. According to the information provided by the U152 submarine, the reconnaissance plane on the Greyhound quickly discovered the target!

An Andora 196 seaplane code-named Puppy 3 emerged from the clouds. The weather conditions today were not very good and the cloud height was very low. So the reconnaissance aircraft had to lower its altitude to search for the target. Maybe it was God's blessing.

Shortly after the plane emerged from the clouds, a slender figure appeared in the pilot's field of vision at 2 o'clock. Viewed from the air

, this large shuttle-like ship was sailing quickly in the southwest direction. The opponent was very fast, like a flying fish gliding on the sea. And as the distance got closer, he could find that there were other ships beside the battleship.

From the appearance, the two slender figures should be two destroyers and frigates. The two destroyers are on the left and right of the aircraft carrier, serving as escort missions.

"Something is wrong. Why is there only one main battleship? It is also a single aircraft carrier. I just don't know whether it is the Persian or the Darius." The pilot said, looking at the warship sailing quickly on the sea. When he thought of this

It may be the first time in several months that the German naval aviation has captured an opponent at visual distance. The pilot was a little excited. He carefully approached the target and faithfully recorded the opponent's trajectory, and then sent it to Gray via the radio.

The reconnaissance ship Dog was then forwarded to the main fleet by Greyhound.

Perhaps because it was too close, or because its frequent radio contacts were discovered by the other party, the aircraft carrier that was sailing southwest ejected four Seagull aircraft while sailing at high speed. When the Andora

While 196 seaplanes were staring at the aircraft carrier, four fighter jets suddenly emerged from the clouds and hit Germany.

A person was caught off guard. The maximum speed was only 300 kilometers. The heavy seaplane with almost no maneuverability was naturally no match. After a few short rounds of shooting, the plane and the pilot on it were torn into pieces. But even if

In this way, the battleship's position and course and other information have been sent to Count Luckner's desk.

"There is only one aircraft carrier? Something is wrong." The intelligence he had just received made Count Lucknar happy. He originally thought he could kill his opponent in one fell swoop. But what he didn't expect was that the opponent actually divided his forces! Could it be divided into two groups?

The fleet is looking for supply fleets to resupply? The Iranian fleet has a total of 5

Among them, the heavy cruiser Tabernacle was withdrawn from the battle because it was injured in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay. There was also a heavy cruiser Tehran and an aviation cruiser Qom. As well as two aircraft carriers Persia and

Darius. And now there is only one battleship here, so where are the other three?

"Did the opponent also realize the crisis of the situation and be forced to disband the formation?" Count Luckner muttered to himself. Soon Count Luckner realized that he might not be able to annihilate the opponent in one fell swoop.

A small fleet is sailing towards the supply point. While the other main forces

We don’t know where the ship is yet. The most conservative way is to track this small fleet and then destroy it. But what about the other enemy ships? Give up? At least as soon as your own capital ship takes action, your position will be exposed.

The opponent can completely run away in the opposite direction.

"It would have been nice if we had discovered our opponent two weeks ago." Count Luckner said with some regret. Two weeks ago, he had a total of 4 aircraft carriers under his command. If the opponent divided his forces at that time, then he would also

It can be split into two fleets to attack the opponent. But unfortunately, one of the aircraft carriers has something wrong with its power equipment.

The problem was that he was forced to return early. And the three aircraft carriers in his hand were too high to be low. If they were divided into two groups, if the aircraft carriers were 1 vs. 1, Count Luckner would not be sure to win. Although the armored aircraft carriers were not bomb-proof.

Question, but I am also afraid of torpedoes. If the attack fails and I get bitten by the opponent, it will be miserable!

The dismantling of the Iranian fleet was also Sumer's last suggestion. Adhering to the principle of never putting all eggs in one basket, Sumer made a compromise suggestion. Let the Darius contribute the remaining fuel

Take out part of it, leaving only the fuel to go to Ascension Island. If everything goes well, then this battleship can sail to Ascension Island.

Filled with nearly 3,500 tons of fuel. Then it will join the main fleet at the predetermined area. The fuel will be redistributed within the entire fleet. And if discovered by the Germans, if they are really outnumbered, they can enter Ascension Port and be directly attacked by the British.

The people were disarmed. Although they could no longer fight, they still retained one battleship.

After Sumer made this suggestion, Cunningham asked why a cruiser could not be sent to perform this task. Leaving two aircraft carriers would make the fleet more combat effective. Sumer's explanation was simple. If the other party found that there was only one aircraft carrier,

As for the cruiser, then

Simply dispatching two aviation cruisers can destroy it. The separated target must be strong enough to make the opponent take action. A heavy cruiser will die when facing two aviation cruisers. A single Koom will be killed in a 1 vs. 2 situation.

It’s hard to escape, but

An aircraft carrier is different. After all, they are professionals, and two aviation cruisers really can't defeat a regular fleet aircraft carrier. If the Germans want to deal with the Darius, then they must separate an aircraft carrier. And once there is a fight,

The consequences are unpredictable. Want

If it is stable, there must be at least 2 aircraft carriers. In this case, the remaining forces will not be enough to pose a serious threat to the remaining warships. This is a single-choice question. In any case, the opponent can only choose one side to attack and the other fleet.

You can take the opportunity to escape.

It has to be said that Sumer's arrangement made Count Lucknar very uncomfortable. It was obvious that he was aware of its profound meaning. Sumer could also think of Count Lucknar, but in the face of his opponent's actions, he still couldn't.

I really can't find any suitable way to deal with it. One of the enemy's main warships has been discovered, but I can't eat it happily, because as long as I take action, the other fleet will definitely be able to escape. The separation time of the other party should not be long.

, the enemy's main fleet should be in the dark sea area on the map.

"If the opponent's fleet has just dispersed, it means that the distance between the two enemy fleets is not far at this time. If we can concentrate our efforts on reconnaissance in this sea area, then there is a high possibility of discovering the opponent's main fleet.

." Earl Luckner said to his subordinates

The officer said. He is also betting now that the opponent has just taken action and the opponent's speed will not be very fast. Only 2 hours have passed so far. If calculated based on the economic speed of 15 knots, then it will only be 30 nautical miles and 54 kilometers.

distance. In this way, if false

If the opponent has just started taking action, then the possible location of the opponent's fleet will also be limited to a smaller area. At this time, he still has 3 aircraft carriers, 2 aviation cruisers, and 6 cruisers left.

There are 24 on 6 cruisers

With a seaplane and an aviation cruiser, there is no problem at all for the entire German fleet to release 40 reconnaissance aircraft in a wave, and it can also keep 3 aircraft carriers ready to attack at any time! Coupled with the help of submarines, the probability of finding the opponent's main fleet is

Still huge!

As a result, Luckner made an order that was difficult for the officers present to understand. He gave up the attack on the Darius and instead invested his reconnaissance force in the area where the opponent's main fleet might exist! Huaxia

There is an old saying that ten birds in the bush are worth less than one in the hand. But Earl Luckner did exactly the opposite. He gave up on what was easily available.

He couldn't get the target's attack, but chose to give it a try! He believed that he had covered the opponent, and now only the final step was to close the net! This unexpected situation just caused him to close the net in advance, and this situation also

It made him realize that the fleets of both sides were not far apart, so he dared to make a desperate move and concentrated his reconnaissance forces to conduct a dragnet search!

The entire German fleet took action quickly. An aviation cruiser quickly entered an upwind course to release fighter jets, while the other six heavy cruisers ejected seaplanes one after another. For a while, the roar of the aircraft engine resounded over the entire fleet, and planes took off one after another.

Then reconnaissance was carried out in the agreed direction. All reconnaissance aircraft formed a huge fan and flew towards the target sea area. The entire German fleet also followed closely and sailed towards the northeast.

The radio signals constantly sent out from the flagship Moltke aircraft carrier activated almost all the German fleets in this area. Submarines formed a thick warning network that shrank from all directions to the center. The camouflaged merchant ships nearby also gave up their camouflage.

, all seaplanes were released to search for targets, and the sea surface that was very calm an hour ago suddenly boiled. Months of entanglement are finally coming to an end. The outcome of the war will be known within a few hours!
Chapter completed!