Chapter 2186 Final Preparations
It can be said that the "North Sea Outpost" military operation commanded by Ruprecht reminded Jericho of something like a wake-up call. To a certain extent, the British have saved some situations, but unfortunately, from an overall perspective, the British have lost too many things this time, although Jericho still has the last Phoenix machine hidden in his hands. The Royal Naval Air Force and the land-based air force assigned to the Grand Fleet have lost the ability to launch threatening attacks against the High Seas Fleet in the Norwegian Sea. In other words, in the future, the British land-based air force will have They can only carry out reconnaissance missions. In the decisive battle, the British can only rely on the large fleet to fight out!
"From now on, the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet will be just a plane fleet." On the way back to Kiel Port, Ruprecht said confidently while looking at the attack assessment from the navy. Several large-scale maps of British aviation bases are hung on the walls of the control tower, with ground facilities and aircraft clearly marked on them. The attack results are written next to it, making the picture very intuitive. This would allow the German naval brass to determine the fate of the British Air Force in Orkney and Shetland.
"The British didn't dare to chase after them in the end. It's such a pity." Admiral Scheer said with some regret after looking at the main force of the High Seas Fleet on the sea and the German Air Force hovering in the sky. If the British fleet dared to pursue them at this time, the German High Seas Fleet would really dare to stop and wait for the British to come and fight!
"If they follow us, we can end the war in one afternoon. But if this is the case, then Jericho and others will be too disappointed." Ruprecht said disapprovingly.
"Your Majesty the Crown Prince, if nothing else happens, we will use a week to complete all preparations after we return. Then we will adjust the status of the fleet, and we will be ready for the decisive battle in up to 12 days. And now Earl Spee's fleet It has arrived in France and has merged with the American fleet commanded by Sims. Is it now time to launch the second step of the decisive battle?" Admiral Scheer asked.
The attack on the British naval air base was named Outpost. As the name suggests, it was the first step before the decisive battle. Before the decisive battle between the two sides, the German Navy had additional deployments, which was to use submarines to enter parts of the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea for surveillance. Focus on monitoring various waterways and radio communications. Although the so-called submarine ambush tactics in World War 1 had very low results, they were somewhat useful for reconnaissance. In places where German land-based aviation forces could not reach, using submarines for surveillance was the only way. Nearly a hundred submarines will be deployed to the target area in the subsequent period. This is undoubtedly a quite large project!
These submarines will be deployed from the Firth of Forth all the way north to the areas around the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and then continue north into the Norwegian Sea to carry out reconnaissance missions within the range of possible interceptions by the British fleet. The entire mission cycle lasted nearly a month, and in order to ensure the consumption of the submarine force, the German Navy also specially arranged 12 supply submarines called "transporters" to provide fuel and food for these submarines performing missions. (Similar to the cow submarine in World War 2.)
This information will eventually be received by naval radio stations deployed in Norway and Germany, and then summarized at the German Naval General Staff in Kiel Port, and then transferred to the main force of the High Seas Fleet operating abroad. Of course, it can also be directly It was sent to the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, but unfortunately, the accompanying staff officers of the High Seas Fleet were unable to process so much information and filter out useful information from a large amount of useless information and false alarms. Therefore, in general, the submarine deployment and control operation code-named "Spectator" is very difficult.
“Let’s postpone the execution for 5 days.
Be more prepared. Ruprecht thought for a while and said. The submarine force cannot rush directly from Kiel Port to the Orkney Islands at a speed of about 25 knots like the surface fleet. In fact, even in the second battle, considering the vast majority of When sailing on the surface part of the time, the speed of the submarine is still not high. Take the U47 submarine that entered Scapa Flow and sank the battleship Royal Oak noted in history as an example. Let’s not consider what it did to avoid being discovered by the air force during the attack. The decision to hide during the day was simply calculated based on the return voyage. The German Navy submarine also took 3 days!
If we look at the current technical level, in order to ensure the concealed deployment of a large number of submarines, the German Navy will need about a week to complete the deployment! After all, a considerable number of submarines perform missions in the Norwegian Sea! According to the Crown Prince's plan, it is best to complete the deployment 3 to 4 days before the decisive battle. This time will put the submarine force in the best condition, and at the same time, the last period of time can also allow the submarine force to adapt to the local sea conditions!
"As you wish, Your Highness." Admiral Scheer could only execute Ruprecht's order. Now the rest is simple. The fleet goes back, replenishes its status, and then determines the time of the general attack based on the situation of the Spey fleet. The initiative is completely in the hands of the German Navy. As long as the Spey fleet embarks on its return journey, regardless of whether the British Navy If they are willing, they all must fight!
At the same time, on the far west coast of France, the German Navy finally merged with the U.S. Navy. In order to maintain confidentiality, the U.S. Navy did not enter any French ports. They were stationed in a heavily guarded harbor, where the USS Independence aircraft carrier would It will receive certain maintenance and upkeep, and will conduct pre-war tactical training under the cover of the German Navy and American destroyers. It is not a secret that the German fleet goes to France. Therefore, all German warships take turns entering French ports for maintenance and repair. Yes, repair. The mine network deployed by the British in the Strait of Gibraltar is not useless. One of the mines was sent to the United Nations. The fast battleship Power caused some damage, so it needed to go into port specifically for repairs.
During the last period of rest before the war, Earl Spee and others were not idle. After handing over the fleet to Earl Luckner, Earl Spee, Earl Suchon, and Redel came to the U.S. Naval Independence On the USS aircraft carrier, on the aircraft carrier's island, the Count, accompanied by Americans, watched the training of the U.S. Naval Aviation while discussing future cooperation with Sims.
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