Imperial Overlord

At three o'clock in the morning, the German fleet began to turn according to the original plan. The British cruiser HMS Norfolk lost her target, and the British Navy was once again lost in confusion.

You know, this time, they mobilized seven battleships, two battlecruisers, and five aircraft carriers to form an unprecedentedly huge siege fleet.

And the German fleet has only two battleships, one battlecruiser, and one aircraft carrier...

Even if only the British mainland fleet in the North Sea is counted, the actual combat effectiveness of the two sides is similar. The British have a clear advantage in the number of battleships, and the Germans are only stronger than their opponents in carrier-based aircraft.

Things seem to be developing in a direction that is beneficial to the British. Although the German fleet has temporarily got rid of the contact with the British ships, with this turn, the German fleet is further away from the mainland.

Moreover, at 3:27 in the morning, 17 minutes later, the cruiser Suffolk once again found the German fleet that had completed its turn.

This time, the cruiser Suffolk had better luck, he found two German battleships, the battleship Tirpitz at the end of the fleet, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen!

However, because of the distance, the other party still could not identify what class the two German warships belonged to. Because of the distance, Norfolk regarded the two warships as Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen.

At exactly 3:30, the cruiser Suffolk sent a message to the cruiser Norfolk, which had lost its target, reporting what had happened to him and the German fleet.

A few minutes later, the cruiser Norfolk adjusted her course and then accelerated towards the German fleet's position, ready to resume contact with the German fleet.

At 3:36, the British cruiser HMS Suffolk sent a telegram to the local naval command, reporting the size of the German fleet she had seen, and the current course and position of the German fleet.

On the local side, Dudley Pound, who was in command, was suddenly confused by this new news. How big is the German fleet?

Originally, he speculated that the German fleet had only two battleships, a smaller cruiser in the lead, probably Prinz Eugen, and the main battleship Bismarck should follow.

But now, the German fleet after the turn, after being discovered by the Suffolk, is obviously a small formation.

That is, the German battleships in front were larger, while the ones that followed were slightly smaller. This also means that the German fleet has at least three battleships!

According to Dudley Pound's speculation, the large battleship in the middle cannot be the Gneisenau battlecruiser that the Suffolk cruiser speculated!

The simple reason is that Germany doesn't have that many small cruisers, so splurge like this! Even the battleship Bismarck, the German Navy will almost only use one cruiser to **** it!

To equip Gneisenau with a fleet of two cruisers is a luxury! The battlecruiser Scharnhorsent, the same class as Gneisenau, went out to sea without even a single cruiser!

With such speculation, Dudley Pound is almost certain that the larger battleship in the center is a German battleship!

Have to admire the experience of General Dudley Pound. He had guessed, relying only on uncertain speculation, that what the cruiser Suffolk had found was a German battleship.

However, even if he guessed the general situation, there is still one thing that cannot be accurately deduced how many battleships the Germans dispatched?

If this fleet, Germany dispatched two battleships, then the series of arrangements he made before would not be enough.

There were only three battleships in the battleship fleet that surrounded the enemy ships. And of these three battleships, two are old ships built in 1917.

Relying on such a lineup, it is really unclear who will win and who will lose in a decisive battle with two German battleships and a heavy cruiser.

In the case of an absolute advantage, Dudley Pound's most taboo is the uncertainty of victory!

Once there is a problem, letting the German fleet take advantage of it will make the whole situation fall into a passive state.

"Damn it, how many battleships did the Germans dispatch?" an officer complained not far away, saying what Dudley Pound wanted to say.

Dudley Pound thought about it and made some minor adjustments. He ordered Rampage to cancel the mission and change course to join the other two British battleships Nelson and Rodney heading north.

He hoped that such a change would slightly strengthen the battleship squadron and avoid the situation where the fleet would not have enough combat power after it collided with the German fleet.

He then adjusted the distance between the two battleship fleets, hoping to echo each other and avoid being overrun by the German fleet.

Immediately afterwards, he ordered the cruiser HMS Dorset to continue northwards to join the two cruisers that first spotted the German fleet, confirming the actual size of the German fleet.

By the time these orders were all issued, it was close to 4 a.m. Although the sky was still shrouded in darkness on the icy North Atlantic Ocean, it was not far from dawn.

Lütjens also felt the pressure mount as the British mainland was in chaos to confirm the size of the German fleet.

The cruiser Prinz Eugen had just tapped Morse code with directional lights, and came with unfortunate news: its radar had spotted a British warship trailing the fleet on its flank.

At the same time, in the northeast direction of the fleet, another British warship was speeding up. Obviously, the other party had discovered the German fleet and was calling for more British warships to come.

If two British warships were kept nearby, it would be impossible to keep the German fleet's route and location a secret.

Then, Lütjens, or in other words, the result that all the high-ranking German naval officers including Raedl did not want to see, is in front of the German fleet!

In this case, his fleet could only meet with the British fleet in a certain sea area, and then a decisive battle would take place.

The British fleet would use double or even triple the strength to annihilate his fleet and leave with victory.

The German Navy, almost after this decisive battle, ended its World War II journey ahead of schedule. For the rest of the war, regardless of Germany's victory or defeat, the navy could only sit on the sidelines and watch everything happen helplessly.

Being out early is not what Lütjens wants, nor does he want to become a sinner for the entire navy, or even Germany.

So he could only look at Haines, the naval aviation commander who had just woken up, and asked, "If dawn comes, can you find a way to drive these **** enemy cruisers away?"

Hines looked excited, because after waiting all night, how could he not be excited now that he had a chance to play?

He nodded and said, "As long as my attack plane takes off, I can kill these cruisers!"

In Hines' view, two British cruisers are really not a threat in front of 28 Stuka-type attack aircraft! Even if the two cruisers could not be sunk, it would be more than enough to drive them away.

After hearing Hines' answer, Lütjens felt a little relieved. Still, he decided to change course and try maneuvering to get rid of the trailing British cruisers.

So, at 4:11 in the morning, Lütjens once again ordered the fleet to correct its course ten degrees north, hoping to get rid of the British cruiser to the south.

His steering did pay off, and the cruiser Suffolk also lost its target a few minutes later.

The Suffolk, which was following the flank, sent a telegram of the missing target at 4:16 in the morning, and the cruiser Norfolk could only slow down because it could not confirm the position of the German fleet.

The two cruisers slowed down, which showed on Prinz Eugen's radar, and then Lütjens got a report, and he felt a lot less pressure on his shoulders.

However, because the formation speed could not reach the maximum speed of a single ship such as 30 knots, the German fleet was soon discovered by the British cruiser.

After such an entanglement, the time has reached 4:47. Because the British cruisers frequently lost the position of the German fleet, they could only pull the distance between the two sides a little further to ensure that they could maintain contact.

The captain on the bridge of the cruiser Norfolk, who was following behind the German fleet, did not suddenly remember until 5:20 that his position seemed very bad!

Before long~www.wuxiaspot.com~ the sun will rise in the east, and the sea in the west is still in total darkness.

The sun will completely reveal the position of the two British cruisers, and will illuminate the outlines of the two cruisers clearly.

Over time, as long as they avoided the harsh sunlight, German warships could take aim and fire at British cruisers...

"Damn! If we keep going like this, we will be sunk by the Germans!" the depressed British captain frowned and muttered.

His thoughts also made Suffolk hesitate, and the two cruisers decided to speed up, one left and one right, and scattered to the sides of the German fleet to find a better position.

At this time, the British cruiser HMS Dorset was speeding up to the south. In the south of Iceland, a small fleet composed of the British aircraft carrier Dreadnought was also quietly approaching.

Because the speed and course of the German warships were determined, the surrounding British fleet took a shortcut, so it was gradually drawing the distance between it and the German fleet——

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