Since establishing military prestige in the bloody battle of Verdun in 1914, Crown Prince William Lissus has gradually become the supreme commander of the German military power. In the mid-to-late 1920s, he entered middle age. With the continuous accumulation of life experience, he became less impetuous and more steady. This military empire with increasing national strength also entered a period of stable political system and stable people's hearts. Therefore, the German Emperor William II, who was 70 years old, paid less attention and interference in military affairs, and William Lissus' rule was only one position away from the rule of this country. On the question of whether to appoint Schell as commander of the Allied Fleet, William II only asked a few questions and agreed with the Crown Prince's opinion.

Therefore, Marshal Reinhardt Schell, who was still 70 years old, became the first general to serve as the commander-in-chief of the High Seas Fleet and the commander of the Allies as the highest commander of the German Admiralty. After being appointed, he did not spend time back to Kiel for deployment, but set out directly for the Port of Brest in northwestern France.

When France was defeated and surrendered in 1915, the shipbuilding facilities of Brest Port were far inferior to those of Hamburg, Bremen, Danze, and other ports with shipbuilding as their pillars. However, it is located in the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, adjacent to the western entrance of the English Channel, facing the vast Atlantic Ocean. It has a unique geographical location and the port is vast and deep, with excellent conditions. In order to make it a strategic stronghold for the German Navy to move towards the far sea, the German government forced France to sign a separate lease agreement to lease the port to Germany for unconditional use, with a lease period of 99 years. Immediately afterwards, the German Parliament passed a budget of 3 billion marks, specifically for the transformation and expansion of Brest Port. By the end of the expansion project in 1925, the entire port was

The mouth has become a new face, with brand new docks, cranes, huge warehouses, channel fences, together with coastal defense fortresses, radar base stations, and military airports, forming a strict and complete defense system. It is no exaggeration to say that Brest has become a large military base comparable to Kill Port and Wilhelmshaven. Moreover, German capital controls more than 80% of the shipbuilding facilities here. Ship engineers, technicians and even ordinary shipbuilders from Germany have surpassed French residents who are engaged in the shipbuilding industry in the local area, and together with their families and traders who are seeking profits, there are more and more Germans living in Brest, so that this French port is nicknamed "the German military port located on the French coastline."

When Scher arrived at the port of Brest, two German-class battleships of the German Navy received repairs here. The repair of the Hesse was almost over. It was docked next to the dock. Workers were still assembling new air defense guns and supplies for maritime operations were loading ships one after another. The Prussia, which was severely damaged in the naval battle, was docked and overhauled, and the repair work was expected to last until October.

In addition to the Hesse and Prussia, there are three German cruisers and five destroyers participating in the Battle of Azores here for maintenance. In order to ensure the maintenance progress and quality of these German warships, the authorities recruited a group of skilled workers from the German shipyards and greatly increased the alert level of each shipyard. Reasonable engineering scheduling and the current abundant raw materials, these warships are not inferior to domestic shipyards in Brest, and they save the voyage of hundreds of kilometers between Germany and France, avoiding the risk of attacks or mines on the way.

Most of Europe, most of Africa and even the Near East, a considerable portion of the manpower and material resources in the Middle East are used by the military machines of the Allied Powers, but this does not help change the combat situation at sea in a short time. The German, Silesia and Hindenburg, which returned to Germany for maintenance, are expected to take at least three to four weeks to return to the team, which means that among the damaged ships in the early stage of the war, only the Hesse can

It was enough to return to the battlefield as soon as possible. During this period, the Allied fleet led by Bernke had to rely on the German-class battleship "Hannover" that fought with wounds, the Markensen-class battlecruiser "Herlingen", the "Bavaria", the "Baden", the "Deferringer", the "Luzov" that arrived later, and the three old-fashioned battle cruisers "Sedlitz", "Moltke" and "Gobon" belonging to the former Atlantic Squadron, which were affiliated with the former Atlantic Squadron, dealing with powerful opponents.

Among the German ships left behind in Europe, only two King-class battleships participating in the Battle of Gibraltar Fortress will follow the Hesse to support the Azore battlefield. The remaining two King-class, two Caesar-class and three Helgolan-class battleships that have been transferred from the reserve to active service are strategic forces that must remain in European waters to contain opponents and stabilize the situation. They must be transferred without any necessity. Moreover, with their performance and status, they will not play a big role in sending them to the Azores. As for Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, although the two countries agreed to participate in the war, they both insisted on one bottom line, that is, their fleets only operate east of Gibraltar and will never intervene in the Atlantic War.

Regarding the current bad battle situation, the top naval leaders repeatedly discussed, believing that the wise strategy was to decisively abandon the Azores front, gather troops, and rely on the "European barriers" to defend. However, the German Emperor and the Crown Prince hoped that the Allied fleet could rescue the Prince Heinrich, trapped in Floris, and thus complete a decent retreat. As a traditional German soldier, Scher knew the difficulties, he still decided to obey the holy will. After arriving in Brest, he resolutely mobilized the forces of all parties, trying to maximize the combat power.

Out of the need for military confidentiality, the German military made no secret of Schell's appointment as commander of the Allied Fleet. The civilians were ignorant of this, but among the senior military and political leaders, the news spread like wildfire, which quickly attracted the attention of the British side. In order to disrupt the deployment of the Allied Navy and delayed its plan to reinforce the Azores, the British Navy launched a bold night attack on the heavily guarded port of Brest. Three T-type submarines equipped with 150mm artillery outside the inlet channel.

It floated up on the side and fired 14 shells at the docks and shipbuilding areas 12 kilometers away. The power of these shells was not enough to sink warships of cruisers or above, but the fires they caused caused a lot of trouble to the Germans. Hundreds of tons of combat supplies in the port warehouse were burned down, a light cruiser was slightly damaged, and the "Hesse" that docked at the docks was almost affected. Some shipbuilding facilities in the shipyard responsible for repairing the "Prussia" were damaged, and more than a dozen shipbuilding workers unfortunately died.

When the attack on the port of Brest was attacked, Schell had already brought his temporary command to the Hesse and was preparing to lead a reinforcement fleet to set off for Azore two days later. Due to the accidental damage of some combat materials, he was not good to postpone the trip at this time, and it was not good to not postpone it, which led to a sudden and fainted at a combat meeting. After doctors' treatment, Marshal Schell's physical condition was no longer suitable for ocean-going navigation, and he could not withstand the intense stimulation of naval battles. The German General Staff had no choice but to change the commander at the last battle. However, the German Navy did not have a second Schell, and no one was confident to take over this worrying stall, because it might destroy the achievements and reputation he had accumulated in most of his life. The naval generals knew this.

The situation, which was originally not optimistic in the Atlantic Battle, was immediately covered with a shadow.

On July 28, 1933, on the 8th day after the US and British troops occupied Korwu Island, Lieutenant General von Oldenburg, the commander of the German Atlantic Squadron, led the fleet to break through on the rainy night. The "Prince Heinrich" interrupted the maintenance and forced its way out to sea. General Bainke also promptly led the Allied main fleet to head north to respond, but their actions failed to escape the eyes of the opponent. The main fleet of the United States and Britain were dispatched in full swing. The ships of both sides encountered the sea about 300 kilometers west of Texel Island, and then staged a Jutland-like naval battle. The Allied Fleets fought against the 59 of the US and British fleets with 51 combat ships. The number of ships between the two sides was close, but the strength was still quite different. One of the Allied Fleets had only 5 super-dreadnought ships, and the standard displacement of over 40,000 tons was only two, while the US and British fleets had 9 super-defying ships.

Five of the ships were the main battleships of more than 40,000 tons. German and Irish navy soldiers had to fight against the strong enemy with amazing courage and courage. The close-range torpedo attack in the night battle was regarded as the navy's bayonet battle. That night, the Allied fleet frequently used bayonets to fight against the enemy. On the battlefield where torpedoes flew across, no one expected that they would fall into the abyss or open the door to victory in the next second. As a result, luck did not go to either side that night. Two main battleships of the US and British fleets were severely damaged. Two cruisers and five destroyers sank. On the side of the Allied fleet, the agent flagship "Hannover" was hit by two torpedoes, and one of the "Bavaria" and "Luzov" were each hit by one. The latter was hit by heavy shells from the US and British fleets many times, and eventually lost their navigation ability. After all the crew members were evacuated, the destroyer was sunk by the own side.

After the cruel night war, the US and British fleet commanded by US Admiral Standley unyieldingly chased the Allied fleets under the command of Bainke. The "Hannover" entered too much water and its speed continued to decrease. If it weren't for its carrier-based aircraft and land-based fighter jets coming in the rain and launching a crazy attack on the US and British fleet, it might become another core battleship lost by the Allied navies in the Azores Sea.

Under extremely difficult circumstances, Bernke and von Oldenburg jointly completed the rescue of the "Prince Heinrich", but few people regarded this as a victory, with the "Hannover" severely damaged, and the "Bavaria" was damaged, and the "Luzov" battle was exchanged for the temporary safety of the "Prince Heinrich". In addition to playing a certain spiritual encouragement role, it is an action that is not worth the effort.
Chapter completed!