Chapter 228: The Waves

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In the waters northeast of the British Isles, known as the North Sea—this was the only route for the German Navy to enter the Atlantic, and also the main defensive line for the British Royal Navy’s blockade of Germany. At this very moment, the sharp bow of a new German destroyer was cutting through the sea surface like a knife. The white waves churned and spread out to the sides, gradually receding and disappearing. Facing a strong wind and the rising and falling waves, it sped across the boundless sea.

And to the side and rear of this destroyer, another warship could be faintly seen, forging through the waves. On the masts of the two warships, signal lamps flickered back and forth, rhythmic and mysterious. Even farther away, another warship was sailing in formation. Soldiers on its deck were wiping the pale yellow wooden deck with rags, humming out-of-tune songs.

One warship after another formed a massive fleet. Several destroyers were lined up, followed by cruisers, and behind the cruisers were two enormous aircraft carriers. The waves cut by the bows of the entire fleet stretched for several thousand meters, a truly spectacular sight.

“Helmsman, hold your course! Signal the fleet flagship, the carrier Imperator! Report that all is normal. The rest can be left to the fleet’s reconnaissance planes!” a German naval officer in the command cabin, wearing a black double-breasted officer’s tunic and crisp white officer’s trousers, said, holding a pair of binoculars longer than the army model and looking out at the sea from the wildly shaking destroyer. “Southwest, approximately 36 degrees! Maintain course! First Mate, go and check our new equipment. See how that thing is working.”

“Yes, Captain! A message from the carrier Imperator. The Second Fleet of the High Seas Fleet and the supply ships have already entered the North Sea. This is British territory now. The flagship has ordered us to increase our vigilance and to watch for any British ships that may appear nearby,” the first mate said, taking a folder from a cadet and looking at the telegram inside.

“Adjust course! Correct to the south by 15 degrees. Ready ammunition for all guns! Condition Two alert! Hoist the naval battle ensign. All non-commissioned officers are to be at their posts in five minutes and are not to leave without permission!” the captain issued a series of orders, and the entire destroyer was filled with a flurry of activity.

On the 88mm main gun at the bow of the destroyer, the canvas cover had been torn off by the sailors. The dark gun barrel pointed menacingly at the distant sea horizon. The German Navy’s red battle flag with its Iron Cross was hoisted to the top of the mast. The mechanical roar of acceleration, the black smoke spewing from the ship’s central funnel—the rumbling sound was truly unsettling.

The 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns began to slowly point to the sky. The torpedoes were also ready. This destroyer was now like a prickly little hedgehog, the atmosphere filled with tension.

On the flagship of the fleet, the aircraft carrier Imperator, the fleet commander, Günther Lütjens, frowned as he received an encrypted, urgent telegram from Germany. On the paper was written a short piece of intelligence: “The main body of the British Royal Navy’s Home Fleet is of unknown whereabouts. If intercepted, returning to the naval port of Kiel is the priority option. Do not be rash.”

“Why are we only getting this news now? We’re already in the North Sea…” Günther Lütjens was clearly a little dissatisfied with the speed of the navy’s intelligence transmission. He casually handed the document to the commander of the air group and, at the same time, gave an order. “Immediately send out all reconnaissance planes to scout the nearby sea. The fleet is to cancel radio silence. Send a telegram to Admiral Raeder, tell him the rendezvous plan is canceled, and my fleet is retreating to the naval port of Kiel.”

He glanced at his first mate. “The course is to be adjusted to due north. After launching the planes, adjust to northwest. Relay this order.”

The alarm bells began to ring on the aircraft carrier as well. The ground crew pushed the two-seater reconnaissance Fw-190s from the hangar onto the elevators. The technicians were urgently unfolding the planes’ folded wings. Several pilots and navigators had already put on their parachute packs and were discussing the details of the reconnaissance mission with their commanders and intelligence analysts.

“I understand. After takeoff, I will immediately search to the north to ensure the safety of the route back to Kiel… If I encounter enemy reconnaissance planes, I will try to avoid contact,” a pilot said, pointing at the sea chart. “After my fuel is exhausted, I should rendezvous with the fleet in this vicinity, right?”

“Yes. If you encounter enemy aircraft and cannot evade them, then shoot them down,” an officer said, pointing at the sea chart and adding, “Mark the location where you shoot down the enemy plane as accurately as possible, but you must first ensure that the position of the enemy fleet is transmitted back.”

“Yes, understood,” the several pilots and navigators said with a nod. They wished each other luck and then went their separate ways to their respective reconnaissance planes.

From the bridge, Günther Lütjens watched the carrier-based reconnaissance planes take off one after another. He then turned his gaze away and ordered, “Signal all warships equipped with radar to turn on their radar and search the nearby sea.”

And to the northwest of Lütjens’s fleet, about 40 kilometers away, a vast, seemingly endless fleet was sailing in formation. The huge mechanical roar, combined with the sound of the waves crashing against the hulls, formed a magnificent symphony. The main body of the British Royal Navy’s Home Fleet was advancing at full speed.

After rendezvousing with several battleships that had come from the British mainland, the British fleet had amassed a full five battleships and four aircraft carriers. Including the massive escort fleet, this fleet could be considered one of the largest naval fleets in the world at this stage.

After some discussion, the British naval commanders felt that splitting the German High Seas Fleet and annihilating half of it would be a bit of an underutilization of their strength. So they deliberately slowed their speed, wanting to trap the entire combined German High Seas Fleet after it had rendezvoused and, in one fell swoop, end Germany’s ridiculous dream of Atlantic hegemony in the North Sea.

So now, they had set up an encirclement on the western sea of Denmark, deploying a large number of high-speed destroyers and cruisers on the perimeter in an attempt to slow the German navy’s escape speed. Once the main German fleet was tied down, the battleships and heavy cruisers cruising not far away would come over and sink the entangled German warships. In short, after 1919, the long-dormant ocean navies had, at this moment, once again become the vanguards of war.

“Report, Captain! A message from the fleet command ship, the Imperator: Deploy the radar system fully, maintain a sea watch, combat begins! Course change, turn to due north, proceed at the fleet’s maximum speed.” Almost at the same time as the Royal Navy began to accelerate, on almost all the warships of the German Navy, the first mates were reporting General Lütjens’s order to their captains.

“Radar on!” a technician in front of a massive radar search screen shouted, staring at the dense small bright spots. “Vision is clear, radar is working normally. I can see every ship in the fleet.”

The German escort destroyers and cruisers were a hive of activity. The sailors on the aircraft carriers were not idle either. They were below deck, preparing ammunition for the fighter planes. Ten fighters were being armed with torpedoes, ready to take off for combat at any moment.

An aviation command officer, holding a telegram, rushed up from the command room below to the bridge where Lütjens was and handed him a piece of paper. “General! A reconnaissance plane that just took off has spotted a British reconnaissance plane in the clouds nearby. We have definitely been tailed.”

“Scramble all the torpedo-armed fighters. We can’t just be sitting ducks,” Lütjens said fiercely. “Ready bombs for the Stuka dive bombers! We must launch 40 fighters before we change course.”

The commander of the air group nodded and ran out. Lütjens’s first mate picked up the intercom and commanded loudly, “Sound the battle alarm!”

“Wooo… wooo…” The shrill sound of the alarm echoed through the warship. In all the compartments and corridors, the red battle alarm lights flashed with a heart-pounding glow. Two fighter planes flew into the sky. Radio silence was broken, and the airwaves were filled with pilots’ reports and various commands from the ships’ command systems.

“A perimeter destroyer has spotted an enemy warship, should be a destroyer, to our direct north, at a distance of about 27 nautical miles,” an officer reported loudly.

“A message from reconnaissance plane 04. They have spotted a battleship and are being driven off by British air force fighters. They are currently engaged,” another officer in charge of the radio reported loudly.

“How many fighters have taken off?” a liaison officer asked loudly, holding a telephone receiver. “It’s too noisy, I can’t hear clearly! Is it ten, or twenty? Speak clearly! I can’t hear!” Everyone on the bridge was responsible for their own problem, and for a time, it was filled with the sounds of various contacts and confirmations.

“The submarine force, why is there no intelligence feedback?” Lütjens asked his first mate with a frown.

“I hear the army is about to begin its operations on the Western Front, so Dönitz’s side has gathered the submarines in the ocean, preparing to inflict the heaviest possible blow on the British at the first opportunity. So intelligence gathering has been postponed,” the first mate replied.

Lütjens nodded, then said, “Record this matter. It is to be sent to the Führer.”

The first mate was taken aback for a moment, then stood at attention and replied, “Yes, sir. I understand.”

The current situation of the entire German fleet was very bad. In terms of the fleet’s anti-surface combat capability, the entire fleet could be said to be extremely weak. The largest caliber naval gun was only 150mm, about the same as a British destroyer.

Therefore, apart from their anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities, German destroyers could only be considered large gunboats in Britain. And German cruisers were barely large British destroyers. This meant the German fleet lacked the ability for “close-quarters combat” in a gun duel and was more like an archer in an online game, relying on powerful long-range attack capabilities to take out its opponents.

In theory, the combat model provided by Akado, who had mastered the future model of naval warfare, was undoubtedly advanced. But the German navy was unable to improve its own combat command level for a time. So the current German navy still lacked the courage to truly take that step forward.