On the sea covered with thick fog, the sea giants of the German Second Empire, Caesar, Helgolan and Nassau-class dreadnoughts were arranged in compact columns. Strict exercises were the secret to maintaining tactical formations in harsh sea conditions. In this regard, their performance was no less than the Royal Navy, known for its glorious traditions and first-class qualities.

The sudden sound of cannons instantly drove away the sleepy people. The officers and soldiers who were temporarily resting quickly returned to their posts, while senior officers gathered on the bridge. During the implementation of sea supply by large torpedo boats, this huge German expeditionary fleet basically sailed westward at a speed of about 4 knots. The distance of fifty or sixty nautical miles per day was just an inconspicuous short line in the vast Norwegian Sea, but it could keep these ships at their most basic power. Once unexpected situations occur, they can restore the navigation speed required for combat in the shortest possible time.

At the beginning, the ships of the German fleet remained silent in radio, and the messages could only be transmitted by flags or lights. As a result, the people on the main warship heard the rumbling cannons one after another, but did not know what was going on. Even so, the surrounding German warships did not send random signals to inquire about the situation, nor did they send radio signals without authorization. After about five or six minutes, the reports finally arrived one after another.

"An old-fashioned first-class cruiser broke into our escort formation?"

Schell looked at the officers beside him. The expressions of everyone were like the sky after a heavy rain. The clouds and mist was dissipated in a blink of an eye. The escort formation had 18 large torpedo boats. They might not be the opponent of British cruisers when fighting alone, but they could definitely overturn the opponent when attacking in groups. Moreover, the two old battleships and 12 old cruisers that transported the landing troops had certain combat power. In addition, there were two tiger king-class dreadnought "Border Governor" who were mixed into the flock and the Nassau-class dreadnought "Westphalia". If such a force was still advantageous for a mere first-class cruiser, it would be speechless.

What the fleet commanders really care about is not the progress of the battle, but what else is behind this British cruiser? Is it a lone ranger, a fleet escort or a powerful whistle to a combat fleet?

Colonel von Trotta was the first to speak as usual: "There is a 90% chance...it is escorting a fleet, and the British rely on the northern route to import Swedish iron ore, bearings and balls."

"I agree." Lieutenant Colonel von Lefcoff rarely agreed with Colonel Trotta's opinion so simply, and then made a suggestion: "After solving it, we can search in the direction it comes and sink the British transport ships in one breath."

"Even if the British sent battleships to escort, it would be easy to clean up the entire transport fleet. The most troublesome problem now is that this battle exposed our whereabouts. The British cruiser probably sent a telegram to London." As soon as Colonel Trotta finished speaking, a communication officer hurried to the bridge and reported the news of the intercepting of the enemy's communication telegram to Schell. Although the content of the telegram has not been deciphered, the radio wave source determined by radio direction finding technology is in the nearby waters!

The captain of the "King" and Paul Bainke, who had just been promoted to the rank of Rear General, interjected from the side: "For so long we have left Keel, the British spies should have noticed our abnormal movements. Even if this British cruiser only sees the torpedo boats of our escort formation, it is enough for the British Admiral to guess where we are. From now on, we should abandon all unrealistic fantasies of luck, be prepared to fight a tough battle with the enemy, completely defeat the British Navy with the fourth victory, and let our fleet shine brightly again before the end of this war!"

Bainke's mentality is not an isolated case. After the news of the German capturing Paris came, many officers in the fleet felt that the war was not far away. Some people thought that the final stage should be preserved to avoid unnecessary losses. Some people believed that the morale of the Entente Team was almost collapsed, and they should take the opportunity to beat the dogs in the water, so that the British Navy completely lost the opportunity to turn over and win more military honors for themselves.

If the officers had different thoughts, it would inevitably have an adverse impact on the combat status of the fleet. Natsuki and Scher both noticed this. They were already preparing to use the short rest period of their stay in the Norwegian Sea to adjust the beloved of the officers and soldiers. The sudden intrusion of the British cruiser just provided an opportunity.

"The battle won't end so soon, there will be opportunities in the future." Xia Shu said in a very pertinent tone. With his amazing performances throughout the past, his status in the minds of the officers is already very comparable, so there is no need to explain it.

"Since the British Navy has known our movements and intentions, then we now..." Colonel Trotta sent the question to Xia Shu with an omitted sentence. Although no word directly expressed his position, his tone and previous expressions tended to withdraw early.

Xia Shu held her hands behind her back and said in a pretentious manner: "They know that our movements are good, but they may not guess thoroughly about our intentions. Will our main fleet enter the North Atlantic? How will the two squadrons currently operating in the North Atlantic move? They cannot know these simply through intelligence, and we can adjust the combat plan according to the actual situation. This is the advantage of taking the initiative. Now the British main fleet may go north to fight, or may go to the Scarglake Strait to wait for us to return. They must choose one clearly, such as buying the size at the gambling table. Large is big, small is small, and once betting, there is no change."

"In my opinion, the British fleet will definitely head north, wait for us to enter the Atlantic Ocean, and then follow our voyage, and finally choose a position that is more favorable to them to fight us." said Lieutenant Colonel Lefcoff, a senior fleet officer, and said, "If the main fleets of both sides eventually break out in the Irish waters, our prospects for victory may be less optimistic."

Lieutenant Colonel's statement was always straightforward and his words sounded a little harsh, but Natsuki was not the kind of person who was arrogant. He nodded to Lieutenant Colonel: "Yes, we should avoid fighting the British fleet in the Irish waters. To be precise, we should end the duel with the British main fleet before entering the Atlantic."

Colonel Trota seemed to have found a logical contradiction in Natsuki's preface and asked weakly: "But if the British Navy chose His Highness the second possibility you mentioned before to go to the Scarglake Strait for us to return, then should we continue to Ireland or turn south?"

"The initiative is in our hands." Natsuki replied with a polite expression. "If they really go to the Scarglake Strait, we can let them travel thousands of miles, and we wait for it."

The German officials gathered on the bridge were talking, and the communication officer just now appeared again. He reported that the communication department on the ship had interfered with the previous communication frequency of the British ship, and had just received a telegram sent by the enemy through another frequency. Judging from the encoding rules, it should be a new telegram with different content from the previous telegram.

During the Battle of Jutland, the German Navy retrieved the communication password book from the captured British ships. Although the British Navy quickly replaced the new communication password, through research and analysis of the original password, the German Navy was able to partially decipher the opponent's new password.

Scher glanced at the document sent by the communications officer, which contained the deciphered telegram fragments. The scattered words could not even be filled with a single sentence, but the smart commander was still able to capture some sensitive information from it.

"The captain of this British cruiser believes he met the main force of the German High Seas Fleet."

Despite anticipation of this situation, hearing it speak out from Schell, the officers on the bridge all changed into grim expressions.

Before Scher could say the second sentence, a loud noise suddenly came from the sea. Although there was no way to see what happened, the officers with experience and knowledge on the bridge could infer from the momentum that it was either the shells that caused a small explosion on the ship or the torpedo that exerted their power. The key was which side of the ship was injured.

After only a dozen seconds, another extremely clear loud noise came from the rumbling artillery fire, which sounded like the continuation of the explosion just now, but in fact there was a significant difference.

After a moment of silence, Xia Shu looked at Sher and directly ordered the communications officer: "Restore short-wave radio communication and ask the command ships of each formation to report the real-time situation."

In theory, short-wave radio stations and ultra-short waves were suitable for medium- and short-range radio communications, but in the early 20th century, short-wave technology was not yet mature, and medium-wave and long-wave radio stations were mainly used for the army. Although these radio stations have the advantages of stable communication effects and strong anti-interference, they also have the inherent shortcomings of bulky transmitting equipment and huge antenna architecture. Before the outbreak of World War I, radio technology in the United States and Britain were in the world's leading position, and German radio technology started a little later. The radio equipment used by the army was mainly provided by Radio Telegraph Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Telephone Group), a joint venture between Siemens and General Electric. However, under the stimulation of the war, German radio technology quickly moved towards practicality.
Chapter completed!