The previous chapter was erroneous. The Moltke battle fleet stayed in the Faroe Islands waters with the Fonk battle fleet. The Moltkes were severely damaged by torpedoes in the previous naval battles and should return to the local area with the main fleet for overhaul. It has been revised.

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Located in the south of Stremer Island, the Port of Thors is a medium-sized harbor with a population of over 10,000 and good geographical conditions. It faces north and south and is embedded in the shoreline. The harbor is like a kettle with a large belly and a thin mouth. It relies on a huge breakwater with arms-shaped waves to resist the wind and waves from the sea. On the night of November 25, 1914, when the large torpedo boat of the German High Seas Fleet V-188 encountered the British fleet in the southern waters of the Faroe Islands and was quickly sunk, the three German dreadnoughts, "Regent of Louisport", "Westphalia", and "Thuringen" were docked at the dock on the east side of the Port of Thors, and there were also a German light cruiser, three large torpedo boats, and six transport ships were parked in the port.

German Rear Admiral Felix Fonk commanded the combat fleet on his ship "Regent of Louisport", while Xia Shu was planning on the shore of the Faroe Islands War Zone Command. Although the telegram sent by v-188 was incomplete, it at least gave his commanders the most basic understanding of the coming British fleet, knowing that the other party has at least one battle patrol and three front dreadnoughts. These keywords obviously point out the situation: the core main force of the British fleet that appeared in the southern waters of the Faroe Islands was from the Clyde military port in northwest Scotland.

The support fleet was launched, and when the Battle of the Faroe Islands was in full swing, a German submarine had seen this British fleet consisting of a tireless class battlecruiser, three Edward VII-class former dreadnoughts and dozens of light ships, but even if they were running at full speed, they could not catch up with the battle. Later, the British main fleet collapsed and only a few ships were lucky enough to evacuate. This British support fleet did not appear on the battlefield, and probably chose to preserve its strength when the overall situation was decided.

As we all know, the British Navy's tireless class battle patrol has beautiful paper data and is simply vulnerable in fleet combat. In addition, the prototype ship Wudi Class with close performance, the six ships built and served have sunk five of them one after another. The last one was funded by the Australian government, one of the members of the Commonwealth, and the ownership belongs to the Australian Navy's "Australia".

As for the top and powerful Edward VII class in the pre-Fearless era, it has become an "outdated ship" since its birth. In the first Battle of Flanders, the British Straits Fleet beat the former dreadnought by two main dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers of the German Navy. The comprehensive gap between the new and old warships on the tactical level is as Sir John Fisher, the founder of the British Dreadnought Fleet, said, "crossed an era."

Various accidental factors that may arise in complex environments have many uncertainties in night wars, such as land wars and naval wars. Therefore, when discussing countermeasures with Nakashu, Fonke proposed to leave three dreadnoughts in the port of Thors. Their eastern docks bend on a huge breakwater of more than 1,000 meters long and more than 100 meters wide, which is an ideal shooting bunker for long-distance artillery battles and close-range fighting. The light cruiser "Cologne" moved from the west berth to the entrance of the channel, and with the cooperation of three large torpedo boats, guarding the lightning-proof and anti-submarine net outside the channel, blocking the possible torpedo attacks by British lightning strike ships.

In addition, the east of the Port of Thors faces Noor Island, and the straight-line distance between the two is only five kilometers. This island, about seven kilometers long from north to south and one to two kilometers wide from east to west, is like the second natural barrier outside the breakwater. The German Navy has deployed radio-equipped observation posts on the island. Whether the British fleet enters the narrow waters between Stremer and Noor Island, or chooses shooting positions east of Noor Island, their positions will be exposed to the eyes of German lookouts on the island without any cover.

General Fonke's suggestion seemed to be sufficient, but Natsuki's opinion was completely opposite to him. After the German fleet entered the port of Thors, the communications department on the ship detected a strong radio signal, which was most likely a British intelligence officer lurking here was sending information about the German fleet to the British Navy. The British fleet that appeared on the sea near Soud Island should know that its opponent had three dreadnoughts and a battle cruiser.

The British fleet, which was in a away game, would definitely not have any advantage, so they were likely to learn from the tactical strategies adopted by the Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War, first use lightning strike ships to launch strong attacks on the German main warships in Thors Port, and then use large warships to cover light ships to forcibly lay mines outside Thors Port, blocking Fonk's combat fleet in Thors Port, and then covering the British landing forces to land at a location far from Thors Port.

After listening to Xia Shu's analysis, Fonke did not make any noise for a long time. The German Navy did not deploy minesweeping ships in the Faroe Islands. If these three dreadnoughts were really blocked by the British with mines at Thors Port, it would be possible that the Russians would repeat the mistakes of the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War. After thinking through these, he decisively adopted Xia Shu's suggestion and immediately led the combat fleet to leave Thors Port, and acted on the camera in the open water northeast of Noel Island with the previous battle patrol "Moltke" and the light patrol "Rostock" who left the port.

After Fonke's fleet quietly left, the combat power in the port of Tols was only the light cruiser "Cologne" and three large torpedo boats. Standing on the hillside overlooking the harbor, the sharp sea breeze blew, and Xia Shu's thoughts were surprisingly calm. The upcoming battle seemed to be just a squadron-level confrontation. It was a simple appearance that the maritime war between Britain and Germany had actually reached a crucial turning point. The strategic significance of the Faroe Islands was more than the Pacific War in history.

If the German Navy firmly occupied this strategic commanding heights, it would be a very fatal scourge to the British Navy. On the other hand, if the British seized the Faroe Islands from the German Navy, or if both sides occupied several islands, the North Sea cage that the German Navy had finally kicked open would be ruthlessly closed again. Since the German local voyage to the Faroe Islands was more than three times that of the British, the war of attrition surrounding the Faroe Islands was obviously more unfavorable to them.

Therefore, if there is a battle tonight, there will be no mistakes.

As midnight approached, the large torpedo boat V-188, which was sent to reconnaissance, had been lost for more than three hours, and more than 80 officers and soldiers on the boat were unknown. According to normal speed calculations, the British fleet heading north should have arrived at the sea near Thors Harbor, but they were still hiding in the darkness and did not appear again. The British acts were for tactical reasons, but their delays seemed to only increase the difficulty of combat for themselves. The Faroe Islands War Zone Command dispatched. The two German submarines "stained" by the British blood, the U-37 and U-90, arrived at the Stremer-Nor Waterway. They each looked for hidden locations and lurked quietly near Thors Harbor; the old battleship "Brunswick" drove into Thors Harbor from the Servog Port on Vog Island, accompanied by two large 1898-grade torpedo boats.

Just after midnight, a team of light surface ships quietly entered the Stremer-Nor waterway and headed towards Thors Harbor in the dark. Compared with the maritime raid in Lushun ten years ago, the Thors Harbor was in dark that night, and there was no sign of course along the coast, which caused great trouble to the British lightning strike ships intended to launch a night attack. Moreover, the Germans' vigilance was far from comparable to the Tsarist Russian navy.

At 00:24, the leading British destroyer was suddenly bombarded, and the flames of the artillery instantly pointed out the location of these British ships. The British officers and soldiers thought they were ambushed by the German fleet, and they were frightened one by one. They were worried that the fierce artillery fire that struck the head and the lightning-striking ships would all be sent to the bottom of the sea. However, time passed by minute by minute, and no more artillery flames appeared on the dark sea surface, as if the shells just now were just their illusion...

In this suffocatingly strange atmosphere, the commander of the British lightning strike fleet was under unprecedented psychological pressure. At this time, any decision was directly related to the fate of all lightning strike ships and hundreds of officers and soldiers, and the indirect impact was even more immeasurable. Since the whereabouts of the fleet had been exposed, he simply put his heart on and asked the lead ship to turn on the searchlight.

Except for a submarine that quickly dived underwater, there was nothing above the dark sea.

The group of British lightning strike ships rushed to Thors Harbour several kilometers away.

Despite turning on the searchlight, they still took a lot of trouble to determine the location of the Port of Thors. At this time, the British Task Force 7, which was flagship "Britania", had already arrived about 15 kilometers south of the Port of Thors. The main guns of four large warships raised their guns one after another, and three destroyers carrying mines followed the group of lightning strike ships and entered the Stremer-Nor waterway. If the German combat fleet was lined up in front, they were no different from the powder barrels placed next to the stove.

But the German dreadnoughts and battlecruisers did not appear in this relatively narrow waterway.

British lightning strike ships, which had long lost their initiative, had to continue to advance towards Thors Harbor. The tall breakwater blocked their sight, making it impossible for them to determine whether there were German large warships in the port before they approached. When they were only three or four kilometers away from the port, the other party's searchlight suddenly lit up, and the strong column of light made these British lightning strike ships have nowhere to hide. Then, a precise fire caused the leading British destroyer to suffer. It was hit by a large caliber shell and turned into a pile of floating scrap iron in a blink of an eye.
Chapter completed!