sneak attack
As the time entered mid-January, Europe gradually ushered in the coldest time of the year, and the temperature in the North Sea, which has always been known for its strong winds and waves, brought people a colder feeling than on land.
"Damn the weather." Auston tightened his coat, then glanced at the three giant ships that were breaking the waves not far away, and said to himself, "The general really chose a good day, It's such a cold day for us to come out and train..."
"Hey, Auston." Just as Auston was shivering in the cold wind, the most beautiful voice for him came from behind him, "It's time, I'll take over."
"God." Auston let out a sigh of relief, and dragged his numb body down from the post. "Ian, if you don't come again, I think I'll freeze to death here."
"Yeah, this kind of weather is terrible," Ian said, "but there's no way, we have to hurry up and get familiar with this new ship."
"That's right." Auston nodded, "The Germans have made us suffer a few small losses in the North Sea because they have new battleships. Now we also have new battleships, we must give some color to the Germans as soon as possible. !"
Meanwhile, inside the bridge.
"Admiral Cunningham, the emergency telegram from the Admiralty." A signal soldier hurried to Cunningham's side with a document.
Hearing this, Cunningham took his eyes away from the distance, took the document and read it.
The telegram was not long, only a few sentences, but Cunningham was excited after reading it.
"Admiral Cunningham, the position of the German High Seas Fleet has been confirmed, and the French Navy will try its best to hold them back. There are only three heavy cruisers left in the port of Den Helder, and the 'bird repelling' plan can be implemented!"
Yes, the real reason why Cunningham led the fleet to sail this time was not training, but a sneak attack on Den Helder, an important base of the Axis powers in the Netherlands.
In order to paralyze the German army, the Royal Navy not only included the battleship "King George V" and the aircraft carrier "Glorious", two new ships that had not yet fully formed combat effectiveness Training the fleet", even in order to beware of German spies among the common soldiers, even the shells were half-blank.
And now all these efforts have finally paid off. The German High Seas Fleet has really come out in full force for the decisive battle, leaving only three heavy cruisers to guard the home!
"Messengers, inform the entire fleet!" Cunningham clenched his fists. "All turned to the southeast, and the fleet speed increased to 28 knots! The aircraft carrier 'Glorious' released a reconnaissance plane, and the carrier-based fighters, bombers, and torpedo attack aircraft began to refuel. Fuel-loaded ammunition. The battlecruisers 'Prestige', 'Retaliation', and 'King George V' all replaced training ammunition with live ammunition, and the fleet was renamed 'HMS-TF4 Task Force Strike Fleet' , the fleet has entered a state of combat readiness!"
"Ah?" The messenger was stunned when he heard this long series of battle orders.
"Didn't you hear it? Do you need me to repeat it, soldier?" Cunningham glared at the messenger and said.
"Oh...oh! Good general." The messenger came back to his senses, picked up the microphone in front of him, and quickly conveyed Cunningham's order.
As the orders arrived in various cabins of each ship, the originally "leisure" sailors became busy all of a sudden. Although they did not understand why this low-combat training fleet suddenly entered a combat state, as a member of the Royal Navy Soldiers, the pride and glory engraved in their bones still drive them to operate their responsible parts quickly and efficiently, and let the naval guns rise to face the unknown enemy.
"Good day, gentlemen." After the fleet completed the turn and the speed gradually increased, Cunningham walked over to the messenger's seat, grabbed the radio microphone, and said to the entire fleet, "I must be curious, why? What if we, who were training step-by-step, suddenly turned into a fighting state?"
"For this question, I would like to apologize to all of you first. In fact, our voyage this time is not for running-in training, but to find an opportunity to destroy the Germans' important naval base in the Netherlands - Den Helder, which was originally a fleet. We should have told you before we set off, but for various reasons, we deceived everyone and concealed the truth—this is really not what a gentleman should do, and I hope this incident did not damage my image in everyone's mind."
(Everyone laughed in cooperation with Cunningham's humor)
"Okay, then let's talk about why we go to the trouble of attacking - this is not what a gentleman should do - the German base. Everyone knows that the second battle of Jutland was because of our command. Mistakes and misjudgments of the strength of the German High Seas Fleet resulted in the loss of the battleships Vengeance, Royal Oak, Rage and almost all of the treaty heavy cruisers and thousands of excellent naval officers and men, although this did not hurt The foundation of the Royal Navy, but it allowed the German fleet to break through the blockade and go out to the North Sea - this sea that belongs to us."
"The cabinet held an emergency meeting immediately after the naval battle. While we deeply reflected on the mistakes we made, we also discovered the problem, that is, German warships are all cutting-edge ships, while all our warships are World War I or naval holidays. period. In response to this problem, we accelerated the construction of this battleship under me and the aircraft carrier 'Glorious', and these two types of battleships will add several more in the next year! So the only one we are facing now The question is how to reduce the threat of the Germans to the North Sea this year."
"We are here today to solve this problem! As long as we successfully destroy Den Helder - the only German base in the North Sea that can supply the entire High Seas Fleet at once - they will have to reduce the number of sailings until they successfully repair it. Base or build a new one!"
"Guys, for the army that fought hard in Belgium, for the glory of the Royal Navy, we must succeed in this operation! England hopes that everyone will do their best!"
"For the glory of the Royal Navy!" the soldiers shouted.
On the other side, the Axis Naval Base in Den Helder.
There are only three heavy cruisers and more than ten escort destroyers moored in the huge naval port at the moment, which makes Den Helder seem a bit empty.
"Woo~~~" The battle alarm suddenly rang through the entire base, frightening the commander of the base, Vice Admiral Erich Zger of the German Navy.
"What's going on? What's going on?" Ciger dropped the pen in his hand, stood up and ran out of the door quickly, shouting angrily, "Who raised the alarm? Who is raising the alarm without my order?"
"General!" A naval major rushed over, "The base's HNA reconnaissance plane reported that the British fleet was found 70 kilometers northwest of the base!"
"Fleet? The British fleet?!"
"Yes, there are definitely two battlecruisers 'Prestige' and 'Counterattack', a new aircraft carrier, and a battleship with ten barrels that we have never seen before!"
"God!" Zig opened his mouth in surprise.