stonecrandall Chapter 586
Chapter 586
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“Is the information true?”
In the capital of the British Empire, in the foggy city.
When the first telegram from the Apollo arrived, the British Empire Intelligence Department immediately took it seriously.
They did not dare to delay and immediately found Prime Minister Lloyd George with the latest information to report to him.
“We are waiting for the second telegram. If nothing goes wrong, it will only take more than an hour for the Apollo to determine the enemy’s destination based on their course. Our warships will be able to land one step ahead and intercept them in front of the enemy, so that they will not escape!”
Prime Minister Lloyd George nodded. The disastrous defeat of the British Empire and Gaul in Europe completely shrunk their sphere of influence from Europe. At this time, they were already in a very passive defensive situation strategically. On the surface, they were blocking Hans’ coastline and trying to strangle Hans’ navy.
But in fact, this was Hans putting pressure on the British Empire. Once Hans’ navy broke through their blockade, the British Empire would be in danger!
“How is the navy preparing?”
Thinking of this, Prime Minister Lloyd George turned around and looked at the Minister of the Navy.
The battle at sea will ultimately be decided by the navy, so at this time they can only pin their hopes on the Royal Navy!
“The Royal Navy’s Home Fleet is ready. Currently, there are 7 battleships carrying out missions in the North Sea, and 8 battleships are on standby in the Spaka Gulf, ready to be deployed at any time!”
“Very good, in that case, let the warships in the North Sea region move closer to the German army and make sure to block the German army’s way!”
“”Yes, Prime Minister!”
After the Navy Minister made his statement, he immediately ordered the navy in the northern Spacca Bay to leave the port and prepare to go north to meet the enemy.
However, the current intelligence is still unclear. They don’t know how many warships the enemy has dispatched. Although the Apollo has discovered the whereabouts of the enemy, it has not determined the specific number of the enemy and the types of warships.
So, after thinking about it, the Navy Minister, whose sun never sets, decided to send some destroyers and cruisers to investigate the situation.
Using the seaplanes on the cruisers, they can determine the number and type of the enemy, and then make the next decision based on the strength of the enemy!
The Royal Navy is very powerful at this time. Even if it is restricted by the Naval Treaty of the City of Mist, their scale is still huge.
Because the Naval Treaty of the City of Mist mainly restricts the tonnage and caliber of the main battleships, that is, the battleships and cruisers, the restrictions on small warships such as destroyers are not large.
Therefore, all countries have developed a lot of destroyers, which are used as cannon fodder, following the main battleships to do some miscellaneous and charging work.
In 1924, the British Empire once owned 474 destroyers, which was the largest in the world in terms of quantity and size. Most of these destroyers were built during World War I, and their main purpose was to escort merchant ships and transport ships to prevent merchant ships from being attacked by German submarines.
Among this batch of destroyers, in addition to those built by the British Empire itself, there were also some destroyers purchased from the United States, but in small numbers, and they were gradually disbanded after 1924.
In 1926, with the increasing tension in the European situation, the British Empire began to gradually increase its military spending, and the navy received a large military grant, so they did not rush to cut off these destroyers that were previously regarded as backward warships. Instead, they continued to maintain these warships and began to develop and build new destroyers at the same time.
This move now seems very wise. With the outbreak of World War II, German submarines began to appear and disappear again in the Atlantic Ocean, which put great pressure on the maritime security of the British side. These submarines were numerous, widely distributed, and elusive, making them difficult to track. The British side had to dispatch a large number of destroyers and cruisers to deal with them.
At this time, there were about 100 British destroyers on duty in the North Sea. After receiving the order from the Minister of the Navy, several destroyers in the waters closest to the German fleet immediately opened their horsepower and rushed towards the German fleet.
Although the destroyers could not beat the main fleet, their high speed gave them excellent life-saving capabilities, and it was impossible for the enemy’s main fleet to besiege them all because of the appearance of a destroyer.
So the British destroyers were not afraid at all!
At nine o’clock in the morning on January 2, 1928, the Lennon, an S-class destroyer of the British Navy, discovered the black smoke coming out of the German fleet while it was sailing, thus determining the position of the German army.
Although the German fleet was not using coal at this time, but fuel oil, the black smoke situation was much better than during the First World War.
However, they used cheap heavy oil, which is of poor quality and contains a lot of oil residue. It is better when sailing at high speed, as the heavy oil burns more fully. If their speed decreases, the heavy oil will emit black smoke due to incomplete combustion.
This situation also appeared in warships of various countries in later generations. The most famous one is the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier of the Russian Bear. The old steam turbine of this aircraft carrier often malfunctioned, resulting in frequent black smoke, making people think that the aircraft carrier was on fire!
After discovering the long trail of black smoke, the captain of the destroyer Lennon immediately suspected that it was a German fleet, so he sent a telegram to the Navy Headquarters in Fog City and ordered the destroyers to approach it without hesitation, intending to spy on the Germans at close range.
As a result, not long after the Lennon sailed and just saw the tail of the German fleet, a slender, snow-white, long forecastle and high freeboard large warship appeared in front of them.
“Yes, it is the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen!”
The officers and soldiers on the British destroyer were terrified. The destroyer was most afraid of encountering the enemy’s cruiser, because the cruiser had a large tonnage, thick armor, and fierce firepower. They could neither beat it nor run away, and they didn’t even have the strength to fight back!
“Captain, what should we do?”
Seeing the slender white hull of the Prince Eugen breaking through the waves, the soldiers on the British destroyer were terrified.
At this time, they had completely forgotten about completing the mission. What they were thinking about the most was how to save their lives!
“”Turn around, turn around now!”
The captain shouted, and rushed over to control the rudder, making an emergency drift at a small angle on the sea, intending to turn around 180 degrees on the spot and escape from the scene of the crime.
They were all experienced soldiers. Just by seeing the graceful posture of Prince Eugen sailing through the waves, they knew that the speed of this battleship was extremely fast. If they didn’t run for their lives, they would definitely be caught up and sunk by Prince Eugen!
“Want to run? No way!”
On the Prinz Eugen, the German captain sneered, he was determined to get this prey!