Chapter 2179 Outpost Operation II
"Is there any action by the German fleet?" In the conference room of the Iron Duke, the flagship of the Grand Fleet in the Bay of Forth, Jericho asked Lieutenant General Duff who was reporting.
"The German fleet has returned to the bases in the Baltic Sea, and the gun replacement work has also begun. Our intelligence personnel can see a large number of artillery transport ships coming and going in and out of major ports. The required cranes and personnel have also been in place. Now the port of Kiel There are many scaffoldings in important ports such as Danzig Port and Danzig Port. The Germans did a very good job of security this time. They even emptied the civilians within a radius of 5 kilometers in the port area, and they have also completed control at other commanding heights. Many of our personnel were arrested. They also erected wooden screens on some key berths to block prying eyes," Lieutenant General Duff said.
"That means that the German fleet should not be able to leave the port now?" Jericho asked.
"No, the capital ships of the German fleet still have time to go to sea, but it seems that they should be training gunnery. In addition, the Germans have also transferred large floating docks from other places to maintain the warships. It seems that they are in a hurry." Da The lieutenant general said.
"If I remember correctly, just yesterday, Earl Spey's fleet had crossed the Strait of Gibraltar under the cover of the German Air Force? Entered the Atlantic Ocean?" Jericho asked.
"That's right, our defenders in Gibraltar reported that during the battle, the battleship of the German Navy seemed to have struck a mine, but then, according to other sources, the German fleet sailed at a speed of more than 22 knots throughout the entire process. Yes, even if the mine strikes, it is estimated that the problem is not serious. A simple repair in the French port will do." Lieutenant General Duff said.
Although generally speaking, sea mines do a lot of damage to warships, but in fact there are always some special cases, and they can be used when necessary. For example, the battlecruiser Goeben in history only went through a simple pontoon repair after hitting a mine. It was repaired in the dock more than a year after the mine was hit, and it was repaired in the dock of the Russian Sevastopol Fortress. ….
"Well, it seems that the last moment is coming. Even if you count the simple maintenance of warships, the German fleet will not be resupplied in France for more than a week. We have to speed up preparations these days. From now on, we will sleep Keep one eye open!" Jericho said.
"It will take three days for the fleet to complete all maintenance. Before the Spey fleet returns to its voyage, we have enough time." Lieutenant General Duff said.
"Well, after completing the necessary maintenance, the main force of the Grand Fleet returned to Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands. We waited for the Germans to come to our door!" Jericho said. "By the way, quickly deploy our newly arrived air force to the airport in the Orkney Islands. We want the boys to familiarize themselves with the local conditions in advance." Finally, Jericho added.
However, what Jericho did not expect was that at this time, in the distant Baltic Sea, the High Seas Fleet had already sailed from Kiel Port, Danzig Port, Konigsberg and other places, and the entire fleet would be assembled off the coast of Kiel Port. The action is about to begin! And just before going to sea, Ruprecht made a final calculation on Jericho! By letting the Spey fleet rush out of the Mediterranean at this time, it is to convince Jericho that the two Allied fleets are about to converge, and the German fleet needs to recover, and various capital ships conduct gunnery training, and the mobilization of large floating docks is also for Get British spies used to German warships coming in and out of port.
And now, when the German fleet is really about to assemble and start operations, Ruprecht has added the last insurance! Before the departure of the fleet, the German military implemented large-scale communication interference in all port areas, and at the same time cut off all non-military telephone lines! In this case, even if the British spies got the news,
They will be very slow to send the information out, and if they wait until 6 hours to send it out, considering the turnaround time of the intelligence, then it will be of no value, because the large fleet is too late to rescue them in Orkney and the design. The airport of the Deland Islands!
"Contact General Halder for the last time and ask about the situation of the aviation unit." In the command tower of the Bavaria, the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, Crown Prince Ruprecht sent the last telegram before sailing.
"General Halder said that everything was safe. At the same time, the weather department said that at the scheduled time, the visibility over the combat area was good." An officer said.
"The cover fleet we deployed in the Skagerrak Strait sent a signal that all passing ships have been controlled, and every ship above has our boarding team members." Admiral Scheer said. Four hours before the fleet's departure, several German destroyers and auxiliary cruiser squads began cruising in the Skagerrak Strait. Their task is to control all merchant ships from various countries they encounter, and prevent them from contacting the High Seas Fleet or sending telegrams, and from the current point of view, the situation is not bad.
"Very good, we have a very good start, I hope everything goes well!" Then, under the leadership of the Hipper Fleet, a light cruiser squadron and 3 destroyer squadrons, the huge high seas fleet for the first time The whole crew was dispatched. They set off from the sea off the Port of Kiel, circumnavigated the whole of Denmark, then entered the North Sea through the Skagerrak Strait, then turned to the northwest, and approached the target area at a speed of more than 23 knots. At the midpoint of the connecting line of the Orkney Islands, the two fleets separated. Ruprecht led 12 Bavarian-class battleships and auxiliary warships to attack the Orkney Islands, while Hipper led the remaining fleet to attack the Shetland Islands. It takes about 20 hours for the fleet to sail to the target area.
This time the weather once again sided with the Germans. The fleet sailed in the morning. However, relying on bad weather could completely avoid aerial detection, and civilian ships that might leak along the way were also controlled. As for submarines? In bad weather, it is also difficult to find a well-lit fleet. What's more, at this time, the British submarines are either used to block the English Channel or return to Hong Kong for maintenance like the Grand Fleet.
"The fleet has entered the North Sea, and the radio listening stations and jamming stations we set up in the strait have not received any abnormal radio signals." Admiral Scheer said. The so-called don't be afraid of ten thousand, just in case, what if there is really a British submarine in this strait, and it happens to encounter the main force of the German fleet? Therefore, the cautious Ruprecht added another safety guarantee, that is, deployed multiple radio monitoring ships and jamming ships in the strait to interfere with all non-German frequency bands! And judging from the current situation, this step seems redundant, because there are no strange signals.
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