Chapter 2211 Dark Night 1
"Even under the most optimistic scenario, we will still be hit hard, which is really powerless." Lieutenant General Duff said with a sigh.
"This is the best result. We have made the best planning. Let us leave the rest to our officers and soldiers and God in heaven." Jericho said with a smile.
Under the cover of night, everything went according to Jericho's plan. The Thomas fleet began to quietly leave its previous position to prepare to join the main fleet. At the same time, the target fleet as a bait also headed for its reserved position. Be prepared to engage in strategic deception.
What were the two Allied fleets doing at this time? Crown Prince Ruprecht, after sending a very important telegram to Count Spey, ordered the fleet to enter radio silence and blackout and continue sailing west. And Count Spee was pacing back and forth in the command tower of the flagship, considering whether to implement the plan he had been planning in his heart for a long time!
However, in the waters of Norway, in addition to some heavyweight players, there are also some seemingly insignificant guys who are also busy. These are the camouflaged reconnaissance ships and submarines deployed by the Germans here. Although there will always be some loopholes in an overly complex system, facts have proven that the system is much stronger than a single confrontation. Therefore, with the progress of human civilization, the advanced side will always have a more complete system!
As the fleets of both sides get closer and closer, and the time gradually approaches the critical time of the battle, the auxiliary forces deployed by the Germans in the Norwegian Sea area have further shrunk. Just near the battle area finally designated by the German Navy, at least 30 submarines are already in place. , and fulfill their responsibilities in the dark night!
"If I were still performing the task of breaking the sea in the Atlantic, then I could at least contribute another 20,000 tons." Standing on the deck of the U460 submarine, Dönitz breathed in the air with the smell of sea while watching Looking at the sea in the darkness in the distance. Night is a paradise for submarines. Under the conditions of World War I, they could operate unscrupulously at night. It was even possible to surface and use torpedoes to attack warships that were not well guarded!
In the dark night, it is naturally impossible for German submarines to rely only on vision and searchlights to search for targets. At night, they also use radio sideways to passively confirm targets. And now, behind Dönitz, several German naval officers and soldiers are erecting A huge antenna was built to receive radio signals from the British fleet.
"Oh God! Is the main force of the Grand Fleet next to us?" The radio operator exclaimed when the antenna had just received the first radio communication. He did not need to know the specific content of the telegram at all. He only needed to know the call sign and frequency band. And the transmission method is very similar to the Jericho flagship! In less than 2 minutes, after the radio operator confirmed again, Dönitz and others immediately climbed back into the submarine and made an emergency dive.
"Something is wrong." After repeatedly checking the radio lateral results, Dönitz felt a little confused. If the radio signal in the distance was really the British fleet, then according to the ranging results, the submarine U460 It is estimated to be less than 10 kilometers away from this flagship! What is this concept? The British fleet is more than 10 kilometers when fully deployed. Under normal circumstances, this place should be close to the inner circle of the British fleet. Not to mention that it is surrounded by warships above light cruisers, but there are at least some destroyers, right? But what now? No hair at all!
As for how Dönitz judged the situation outside? Naturally, you can't look for it with your eyes at night, nor can you just turn on the light. The former is unrealistic, and the latter is too dangerous. However, newer German submarines of this era were equipped with early passive sonar and listening devices. This thing has difficulty finding submarines in the water, but if there is a large-scale fleet maneuvering around,
Then you can definitely hear the noise like a wet market through the listening device. After all, it is the sound waves generated by the maneuvers of hundreds of warships! However, strangely, Dönitz found that the sea water was very quiet!
"Boss, how do we report?" the first mate asked. The main task of the submarine force this time is reconnaissance. Since it is discovered that something is wrong, it is natural to report to the top, but how to write the content of this report? Discovered the call sign of the British main fleet, but there was no ship around?
"This is a trap! This call sign is fake. The British fleet doesn't know where it is hiding now!" Dönitz said. "Send a telegram to the headquarters and say that we have discovered that the British may use other ships to camouflage the main force of the Grand Fleet by sending telegrams, and report their location."
"So what do we do now?" the first mate asked.
"Go up and follow the source of the telegram. If possible, let's get closer!" After much hesitation, Dönitz decided to take a risk, because he just inferred from common sense that there should be no British fleet around, but what if he guessed wrong? Sonar and hydrophones are actually not that reliable in this day and age! If you rush up to the surface rashly, you may risk your own life.
"Let's enter the semi-submersible state. Let's leak out the antenna. In this way, we can send or receive signals, and at the same time, we can dive quickly." An officer said.
"Then let's do this for now." Dönitz nodded in agreement. However, shortly after U460 resurfaced, Dönitz received a telegram, and the person who sent the telegram was the submarine U471. This submarine was also performing a reconnaissance mission and was only 6 kilometers away from him! The submarine also discovered this sudden radio signal source!
"This is a trap! The British are conducting radio deception! The main force of their large fleet is hidden!" After reading the telegram, Dönitz said decisively! Because the submarine U471 is too close to itself, if there is really a large fleet nearby, it will definitely not be indifferent to the two submarines transmitting signals in a semi-submersible state! The British's radio direction finding is also very powerful. It is certain that they can at least find their approximate position, and then use destroyers to drive them back underwater! They will never tolerate their location being exposed! So there is only one answer, this is a bait! A trap!
"Send a telegram to the headquarters immediately and report our judgment." Dönitz ordered. Of course, he still did not dare to be too public at this time. The reason is very simple. With the financial resources of the Grand Fleet, even if it is just a bait, it may Destroyers are arranged to provide protection, so at this time, it is better to keep a low profile. Dönitz decided to continue tracking the source of the signal and at the same time search the surrounding sea areas to see if there were other signal sources performing similar tasks!
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