The Rise of the Empire

"We seem to be being targeted. Two British warships appeared behind us. Judging from the ship shape, they seem to be armored cruisers." In the somewhat shaky captain's room, Rear Admiral Su Xiong looked at the intelligence sent by Redel. Lost in thought.

After two days of sailing, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau had successfully broken out of the North Sea and entered the Norwegian Sea. At this moment, they were turning northwest, planning to sail from between the Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands. across into the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, the British Grand Fleet was gathering on the mainland and did not go north. The battlecruiser formation did have the potential to threaten itself. The four battlecruisers directly under Betty were not in the North Sea, but in Liverpool, which made Major General Su Xiong slightly uneasy.

"Captain von Legster suggested that we kill the two guys behind." An officer said.

"What's the reason?" Su Xiong said nothing, but looked at the officer.

"If we maintain the current speed, we will not be able to get rid of the two warships behind us. He suspects that the British may be planning to use a battlecruiser formation to intercept us. This can be illustrated by the fact that the two warships behind us are always in contact." the officer said.

"The British did not declare war. Besides, if they wanted to, they could have done it in the North Sea long ago." Redl shook his head and said. "Before we enter the Indian Ocean, we cannot expose our identity and warship performance." Redl emphasized the word performance very seriously.

Everyone here immediately understood what Redl meant. So far, the German fleet has been successful in keeping the speed of the battleships secret. Except for some officers on these battleships who know the exact speed of the battleships, the average sailor does not know, and If the Su Xiong fleet is exposed, once the British are prepared, both themselves and the High Seas Fleet will encounter additional difficulties in their operations.

"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 will be more difficult to do it in the Atlantic Ocean. We don't have to deal with them, but we also need to cause some trouble for them." Su Xiong After a short thought, it was decided to increase the speed of the fleet to 20 knots. This speed is almost the speed of conventional battleships and will not expose the top speed.

In high sea conditions, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which have a heavy load displacement of nearly 30,000 tons, can ensure stable navigation. The battleships with strengthened bow structures and thin armor can sail safely. , but for the British cruiser behind, this speed is a bit difficult.

Eight nautical miles behind the German fleet are two armored cruisers, the Black Prince and the Crécy. These two armored cruisers have been in service for nearly eight years. The steam engines and boiler pipelines have become somewhat aged, and the speed of 23 knots has become a theoretical figure. It is good to be able to run 21 knots under normal sea conditions, but now, under high sea conditions, the two warships can run out of 18 knots. Oh my god.

As the German warships increased their speed, the two British warships also began to speed up, but unfortunately, the increasing wind and waves made the British efforts in vain! Dong-dong, the sound of a heavy hammer hitting the hull continued to be heard, and the huge warship swayed on the sea like a pendulum.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the front main gun of the Cressy has been flooded. We cannot continue to accelerate." An officer walked up to Fleet Commander Goodnow and said anxiously.

"Our mission does not require naval guns. Keep an eye on them and keep reporting their positions." Goodnow answered without hesitation, but just before he finished speaking,

The hull suddenly shook violently, and the violent vibration caused many people in the command tower to fall to the ground. Along with the sound of heavy objects falling, anyone familiar with the navy knew that something was wrong somewhere on the battleship.

"It's the bow. Our bow is damaged." A few minutes later, Goodnow received depressing news. "Send a report, saying that our warship has been damaged and cannot continue to perform tracking missions, and inform the Navy Department of the opponent's last position." Looking at the getting smaller and smaller shadow of the ship in the distance, Goodnow couldn't help but sigh.

What Su Xiong and others didn't 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 the two warships, but not because they saw through the Germans. conspiracy, but thinking, how great it would be if we could "buy" these two battleships! Add two more battleships, and then gain access to German battleship technical information. The person who proposed this plan was the current Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill!

"The value of these two battleships is comparable to one of our battleship squadrons. Even if they cannot join the grand fleet in a short time, we can still obtain the German battleship speed, firepower and defense data from them. This can also make up for the shortage of our capital ships. . And all we need to pay is only 4.2 million pounds!" Churchill said at the meeting.

The British did so. The British ambassador to Argentina submitted a diplomatic note hoping to purchase these two warships, but the Argentines refused. And as a result, some people have the wrong idea. If it doesn't work, should they hold it back first and then buy it later?

However, this idea was a bit too much after all, and the British government did not give a direct reply. The navy's approach was very simple. It would first send a ship to follow, and then wait until the government agreed, then send the main fleet to follow, and then impound the ship.

But how to say it? In the end, the British were a little behind. Two battleships sailed ahead of schedule, which bankrupted the entire plan. If it had been two days later, I am afraid that behind Su Xiong would be Betty's four battlecruisers. Tiger, lion, Queen Mary. In this situation, it may be very difficult to get rid of it. If the British really want to be strong, they can only have a 2-on-3 game...

But now, with the Su Xiong fleet sailing ahead of schedule, the British's wishful thinking has been completely shattered. Betty's battlecruiser formation is not in place at all. It is still on the west coast of England and failed to keep up with the opponent in the first time. Only Goode Nuo's two armored cruisers reluctantly followed their opponents.

Although in theory the British can still go north to intercept their opponents, this is all based on Goodman's stable tracking. But now, even this possibility has disappeared. Goodman's fleet cannot survive under high sea conditions. If you can't catch up with your opponent, you can tolerate the flooding of the artillery, and you don't need to deal with damage anyway, but if the bow of the ship is seriously damaged and flooded, there's nothing you can do... If I ran further, the ship would sink without anyone following me...

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

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