Chapter 963: A Blockade in Name only 1
Yamagata Aritomo is one of the few big bosses in Japan. To say that his hands and eyes are all in the sky is putting it mildly! He can get even the information within the Navy! As he said, this time, the British did find the Japanese Navy. They have begun to urge the Japanese Navy to fulfill their previous agreement and send capital ships to the battlefield.
Although the main force of the German High Seas Fleet did not cause trouble to the British during this period, the British were also quite uncomfortable. The British senior officials finally adopted Jericho's suggestion. The main force of the German High Seas Fleet was deployed in the Firth of Forth to ensure the safety of the English Channel and the The security of the British offshore waters. In this case, the German fleet naturally did not dare to confront the Grand Fleet, but the blockade from the Shetland Islands to the Norwegian coast was completely ruined!
While the prince led his 6 Bavarian and British fast fleets to fight in full swing on the Dogger Sands, Hipper's battlecruiser formation, with more than n number of subordinates, directly attacked the 10th light cruiser formation that was performing the blockade mission. A relatively clean and thorough cleaning was carried out. After this battle, the number of British auxiliary cruisers that could be used for blockade dropped by nearly half!
And this is just the beginning. The heroic Royal Navy officers and soldiers were not intimidated by Hipper's bloody butcher knife! On the third day after the German battlecruiser detachment withdrew, they continued their "North Sea Urban Management" business. However, what the British did not expect was that there were still German battlecruisers who dared to stay on the North Sea blockade. In one night During the time, two camouflaged cruisers mysteriously disappeared! One of them sent a vague telegram before sinking!
Sink two auxiliary cruisers in one night? The British staff officer was not a vegetarian. After deducing the sunken location of the two auxiliary cruisers based on the intelligence, he believed that it was not easy to find out because the locations of the two sunken ships were very far apart and the time interval was only one hour. This The time is a bit too short. If it was done by a submarine, then there must be at least 10 or more submarines in this sea area for such a coincidence to happen. This is a matter of probability. For a submarine to ambush an auxiliary cruiser, it almost depends on luck. ah.
Of course, there may also be suspicions of German auxiliary cruisers, but no matter what, the British Royal Navy cannot sit idly by and ignore it. After suffering heavy losses, it should become more courageous as it fights. Therefore, the Royal Navy once again dispatched 6 auxiliary cruisers and some Ships with anti-submarine capabilities came to reinforce the entire blockade, and by this time, the inventory in the hands of the British 10th Cruiser Squadron was almost exhausted! If it is lost again, then it will have to be rebuilt.
However, it was precisely because of this somewhat hasty action that the British blockade finally fell into pieces! In one night, the battlecruiser Seydlitz, dormant in the North Sea, killed 6 auxiliary cruisers and small boats in a row! There is no need for the Seydlitz battlecruiser to look for it. The British have no idea what kind of opponent they are going to encounter. They have not implemented a blackout at all, and for anti-submarine purposes, they have to look after each other. Most of them are two ships together. action! At night in the North Sea, the British auxiliary cruiser that did not implement light control was tantamount to selling out in the eyes of the Germans!
Each firefight was very brief. When the British saw this "large cruise ship" that was more than 200 meters long, they naturally went over to check the water meter.
Disguise cannot be seen from a distance, and by the time you can see it clearly, it is already too late! Not to mention the powerful heavy artillery that can penetrate the Queen's armor, the firepower poured out by the 8 secondary guns on the side and the 88mm anti-mine cannon is not something that the auxiliary cruiser can withstand. The battle generally lasts no more than 15 minutes, and the Germans Naturally, they would not be responsible for providing assistance to the people who fell into the water on the auxiliary cruiser. After the British broke the "rules" with a disguised submarine hunting ship, the last bit of "trust" between the two sides disappeared. For this kind of irregular confrontation ship, the German warships just kill and don't bury them!
And suddenly such a big thing happened, the British Royal Navy was shocked. Jericho also withered after receiving the report the next day. This is not over yet! Although the Seydlitz killed quickly, it also left a criminal record. The British finally realized that there was still a German fleet hanging around the North Sea blockade. And it's probably a big ship, and then Jericho becomes depressed. What should we do about this? Not only did his fast fleet suffer heavy losses, but all those who survived were injured and needed to lie in the dock for repairs ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months. Where do you find fast battleships to hunt these things down now?
"Don't we still have two Queen-class fast battleships?" When Jericho reported this problem to Fisher, the latter asked. Then Jericho looked at the other party with a rather strange look. On second thought, after all, Fisher has worked in the first-line fleet. After more than ten years as a civilian official, has his tactical level dropped below the passing line? "The two injured Queen-class fast battleships will need at least 2 and a half months for repairs, while the other two battleships must maintain pressure on the Su Xiong fleet in the Indian Ocean before new forces can take over,"
Being away from the front line for a long time has indeed caused Fisher's level to decline, but the most important issue is that the maintenance of the North Sea blockade is too important to the Allies. Germany with or without foreign aid is definitely a different concept. Some time ago , Germany, with its supplies blocked, can beat Britain, France and Russia quite miserably. If the North Sea blockade collapses, even if it is only for a period of time, with the influx of large amounts of supplies, Germany's war potential will inevitably explode! This is something the UK absolutely does not want to see! So Fisher wanted to get rid of this German battlecruiser hanging near the blockade as soon as possible!
However, everything needs to consider objective reality, not just what you think. Now the British really cannot spare a warship that can handle a fast battlecruiser.
"Think of a way, this problem must be solved." Fisher said.
"How am I going to solve this problem?" Jericho muttered in his heart, but then, he still sent a battleship squadron to try to kill the Seydlitz. The North Sea is only that big, so it's still possible to find it. Then the British watched the Seydlitz enter the depths of the Norwegian Sea with a burst of small guns... There is no way, the speed is different by more than 5 knots! There's no way to catch up.
This is not the worst. Two weeks later, when a British battleship once again encountered a German battleship near the North Sea blockade, the two British battleships were surprised to find that their opponents were actually two German battlecruisers!
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