At noon, the German fleet slowed down. As he felt that he had escaped danger, General Sorochin ordered the fleet to slow down temporarily and prepare to refuel the destroyer.

The destroyer approached the tanker, and then drove side by side at the slowest speed of 4 knots. Three arm-thick oil pipes were pulled onto the destroyer along the cables connected between the two ships, and then stuck on the pipe interface on the deck leading to the front oil storage tank.

The shriveled oil pipeline swelled and began to replenish fuel on the destroyers. Since they had sailed about 1,800 nautical miles, the destroyers had consumed more than half of the fuel.

The problem is that the German and Austrian fleet was parked on the route of the US fleet at this time.

The American cruisers "Chatanu" and "Potter" and "McDogel" destroyers were rushing forward about 15 nautical miles in front of the flagship. Since it was already noon, the crew started to have lunch, and the watchmen who were on guard were also changing shifts. In the foremast observation tower of the "Chatanu", the new substitute observer, Patrick, with a bearded face, sat on the swivel chair on duty, put his eyes on the high-powered monocular telescope like a small cannon, began to slowly turn the telescope, and scan the sea antenna in the distance.

The masttop observation tower is located at the highest point of the battleship, but it can only accommodate three observers to work at the same time, only equipped with a high-power telescope, and the other two used handheld binoculars to scan the sea back and forth. After a while, Patrick felt as if he had seen something..., and he looked carefully for a while... On the water antenna, several vague things were slowly floating into the air.

"168 degrees on the starboard side, smoke columns were found!"

At this time, Colonel House, the captain of the "Chatanu", was having lunch. The navigator was on duty. Major Luen, the navigator. Since the masttop watchman reported that only three smoke columns were found, Major Luen did not think they would be German ships, because according to the notice, there were more than 20 warships in the German fleet entering the North Atlantic. If they were discovered, a large smoke column would definitely appear on the sea.

As the German destroyers were refueling, the speed of the entire German-Austrian fleet was reduced to the lowest level. Only light blue smoke was emitted from the chimney. When the sea breeze was blown, it would dissipate. There was basically no smoke in the distance. Only the three cruisers patrolling outside were discovered because they had always maintained their speed.

Major Lun thought that it might be several neutral merchant ships, but he still ordered the destroyer "Port" to check it out. The "Chatanu" sent a signal to the "Port", and soon the destroyer accelerated and flew towards the target at a speed of 27 knots.

The smoke columns on the sea became clearer and clearer, and the observers on the bridge could see some traces. At this time, Patrick reported again: "Sir, those smoke columns are coming towards us!"

"Can you tell which ship it is?" Luen asked.

"I can't see clearly, sir," Patrick replied, "but I think they are warships, now turning in our direction, and at a very fast speed!"

Lun was hesitating whether to sound the battle alarm. The Porter destroyer located about four miles ahead suddenly flashed with light signals, and the situation immediately became clear.

"Discover - discover - enemy - ship - team!" The signal read the signal sent by "Potter" word by word. The destroyer in front drew a big circle on the sea surface and began to turn around and run back. Then the lookout hand reported loudly, "The signal flag raised on the 'Potter' and found the enemy ship!"

Major Luen immediately ordered: "Roll the battle alarm!"

Woo... Woo... A shrill alarm sounded on the sea, and soon Captain House's figure appeared on the bridge, "What's going on?" the colonel asked panting.

"The enemy's fleet was discovered!" Major Luen said, but he could not figure out the specific situation yet.

At this time, the outline of the warship could be distinguished under the three smoke columns on the sea, and the three cruisers were sailing in the direction they were in at high speed.

"The left full rudder!" Colonel House issued a quick order, and he was unwilling to fight against the dominant enemy. Then, he received a telegram from the "Potter": he found that the enemy fleet was about 20 to 30!

"Send a message to the Admiralty immediately." Captain House glanced at the telegram and handed it back to the communications officer.

"Express: The German battlecruiser fleet was discovered, with a location of 26 degrees west longitude and 51 degrees north latitude, and heading southeast." With the news of "beep...dick..." from the telegraph room of the "Chatanu", the news of the German fleet was immediately transmitted to the Admiralty in London or Washington.

Then, in the Admiral Brandt, the commander of the Operations Office in London, was on duty, and a low-level officer came to report to him: "General, the special telegram I just received."

Major General Brandt read the telegram and said, "It's great, the Americans discovered the whereabouts of the German fleet, their location..." He pointed to the chart and said, "It's here."

Everyone in the war room became excited, and everyone was excited, as if they had won a battle.

"Notify General Betty and General Chalmos about the current location of the enemy fleet, and report this situation immediately to the Secretary of the Navy," said Major General Brandt.

"Don't you inform General Jelico?" asked Colonel Justin.

"Notify." The face of the Admiral became a little gloomy. The German fleet bombarded Newcastle and Middlesbrough. The British local fleet had another brief maritime battle with the German high seas in the west of the Dogersha. Several battleships on both sides were severely damaged. After about two hours of artillery battle, the two sides returned. Due to Jeliko's cautious personality, the British fleet did not dare to pursue the main force of the German fleet that had completed the attack on the British coast.

Although the cabinet concealed the truth from the people during the war, the attacks on the two major cities on the British coast caused an uproar in the country, and the people all pointed their finger at the Admiralty.

"Betty's fleet is currently on the west side of Ireland and is moving northward, so..." Colonel Justin gestured on the chart with two fingers of his split, "Maybe they need more than a day to meet the German fleet, and we need to send nearby cruisers to stare at them first."

"Well, how many cruisers are there in this sea area?"

"...It should be five, and there are three a little further away." Colonel Justin said.

"Order them to rush over and track the enemy," Major General Brandt said, and then sighed. "It is difficult for Chalmos' fleet to arrive at the battlefield before the enemy enters Biscay Bay. The speed of the 'revenge' class is too slow. If Marshal Fischer is still in the position of the Minister of the Navy, he would never allow the cabinet to cut the budget of this class of warships. Now the consequences have emerged. The battleships we built after the 'Queen' class lag behind the 'Queen' class in terms of speed and defense due to the limitations of the naval budget."

"What are you worried about?" Colonel Justin asked.

"The situation is not very optimistic. Even if Betty catches up with the German fleet, we still have no chance of winning. Although there are five Queen Elizabeth-class supporters, our damn battle patrols have major flaws in their design." Major General Brandt said with a serious expression. "The results of the latest battle at Doger Sands also show that our large fleet has no advantage when facing the German High Seas Fleet, and Poseidon's trident has been lost in our hands."

"We can only do our best and we will try our best to preserve our honor!" said Colonel Justin.

The communication officer sent another telegram: "Sir, this is the position, course and speed of the German fleet. The American cruiser had a brief exchange of fire with the German fleet, and then they retreated and have lost their target position at present."

Soon, the Secretary of the Navy Churchill and the Chief of Staff of the Navy, General Oliver, also came to the combat room. The atmosphere here changed significantly, and there was anger and confidence everywhere. Except for the Major General Brandt who seemed a little worried, everyone was extremely excited.
Chapter completed!