Chapter 825 Trap 2

Of course, this is just an estimate. In fact, the battleship may be faster or slower. And what the British missed is that because these two warships fought in the Indian Ocean and used the Port of Fao as their home port, in later generations of Iraq, water was more expensive than fuel! It’s not easy to get coal, but it’s so convenient to get heavy oil! Therefore, the fuel capacity of Su Xiong's two battleships is as follows: 2,400 tons of coal and 3,000 tons of fuel reserves! Under the same weight, the endurance of fuel is naturally much higher than that of coal, so when calculating the range. The British made larger errors.

Of course, the tactical mistakes are very serious, but the British guessed one thing correctly, that is, the German fleet must constantly replenish fuel. While maintaining the most basic fuel reserves, the two warships must It will take about 18 days to rendezvous with the camouflaged supply ship. It is not easy to find two fast battleships, because these two battleships run too fast! Running 40 kilometers an hour when necessary is the same as playing. Moreover, the codes used by the Germans have never been decipherable by the British. Even Room 40 of the British Navy, which is responsible for intelligence interpretation, admitted at the Admiralty that it is almost impossible to decipher the coded communications between German warships! After all, the Enig cipher machine was invincible at the beginning of the second battle, and even more so in the first battle. In other words, it is impossible to determine the location of the German warships by intercepting the coded communications between the German Souchon fleet and the raiding ships! But it is a pity that there are also younger brothers in the British Navy! After analyzing a large amount of intelligence, they gradually discovered a problem, that is, the German fleet's operations in the Indian Ocean actually relied on two sets of codes! Although the German battleships and camouflaged assault ships used unbreakable codes, the camouflaged supply ships that provided supplies to the German naval battleships used ordinary simple replacement codes! In other words, this set of codes can be deciphered! And why does this problem occur? The British were also puzzled at first! But as more and more intelligence was collected, the British finally understood the reason! Because it is Americans who provide supplies to the German fleet! That’s right, they’re Americans! German transport ships on the ocean were either "sold" to neutral countries or wiped out by the Royal Navy. Then there are still ships that replenish the two warships so frequently? Even if you have a boat, where will you find supplies? Replenish thousands of tons of coal, fuel, food, water, etc. at a time. And judging from the current relationship between Germany and the United States and the Allied Powers, there are too many reasons for the United States to help Germany! The United States, Britain and Japan had enmity as early as 1898, and now Japan has occupied the islands that Germany originally ceded to the United States. As long as the United States wants these islands, it can only count on Germany to agree. The British are now thinking about when the United States will return to seize them personally. So I even made a special plan for combating the United States... So it's really normal for Americans to secretly help the Germans with supplies! Some people may ask, why do German warships not obtain supplies through capture? In fact, Su Xiong's fleet was sometimes captured, but if the quality of coal used by the captured ships was too low, the Germans were still unwilling to use it. After all, these low-quality coal-fired output does not have much power, but there is too much coal ash. This coal ash directly affects the efficiency of the boiler. Shoveling the ash is a troublesome task. Moreover, Su Xiong Fleet prefers heavy oil to coal, but 1 During the war, most of the ships were coal-fired…. What's more, the coaling operation is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. If there is a disguised supply ship, Su Xiong is not willing to do it. After all, most of the supply ships are to replenish fuel. This thing can be connected to a pipe, which is easy and convenient. fast! Well, Su Xiong is also used to the current treatment! The Enig cipher machine is one of the most important technical equipment of the German military.

Naturally, Germany cannot easily hand over this kind of thing to the Americans, who can only be regarded as half allies. Therefore, the communication between the American camouflaged supply ships and the German warships is through another set of simple passwords. However, for the British Empire In other words, as long as it is a simple password and not mechanical encryption, it will be too easy! After all, this set of things has been used for hundreds of years. Although it has been continuously improved, it essentially changes the soup without changing the medicine!

Then the British discovered the breakthrough point of the whole thing, which was to start with camouflaged transport ships to lure the German fleet into the predetermined waters! Of course, intercepting telegrams, deciphering codes, and confirming the communication frequency bands of both parties are only the early steps in designing this trap. If they want to really implement this plan, the British will also need to capture an American disguised supply ship, and then use it to Catch your opponents for bait! Then the question now becomes, how to seize a camouflaged supply ship, and it is much easier to achieve this goal. First of all, the radio communications of the camouflaged supply ships can be deciphered, and their approximate range of activities can be determined. And the most important thing is that they are not very fast and have almost no weapons. As long as it can be discovered, sinking it is basically no problem. And there cannot be only one of these supply ships. In fact, according to the British intelligence, after the German Navy launched the attack, they discovered at least 6 camouflaged supply ships suspected to be American in the Indian Ocean west of India. Because there may be things missed when supplying, and after all, it is a long distance from the United States to the Indian Ocean. In order to ensure the smooth flow of the entire supply chain, it is not excessive for the Americans to send double-digit ships! And the more targets there are, the more likely they are to be captured. However, the prudence and wisdom of the British are reflected here! They did not randomly select one and take action, because the destruction or capture of a single camouflaged supply ship would have limited impact on the German fleet. After all, the Germans and Americans also knew how to arrange backup options. And if you capture a ship that has already been supplied, it is really useless. Because no supply ship will only provide supplies to the fleet once! In other words, even if the Germans are attracted to take the bait, they can only find ships that have not yet provided supplies to the German fleet! Therefore, the British have not taken any action, waiting for the opportunity to prepare to deal with the Su Xiong fleet in one fell swoop! "Do we have any idea of ​​our plan?" Thomas asked curiously. "Generally speaking, the plan has reached the final step. We have even selected the battlefield. Now there is only one step left. Your fleet can go to the preset battlefield after resting." Rear Admiral Cook smiled. said. The second update~~~! Please subscribe and reward~~~! ! !