At this time, the ranks of the Chinese sailors began to disband, and then the battleship unraveled and lifted the mighty battleship, gently swaying its huge body, turning the bow of the ship, and slowly sailing out into the sea. Soldiers and dock workers gathered at the gate, watching it go out to sea to the sound of a military band.

At this time, on a shore, a man dressed as a common man was leisurely fishing. Not far away, British soldiers and coast guards patrol back and forth with loaded guns, their alert eyes on the sea. They are faithfully defending their homeland. The angler sat still, munching on his dinner with relish, changing the bait, and occasionally catching a fish. The sun is sinking in the west, and the day is coming to an end. He jerked his head to the south, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, he saw some indistinct black outlines appear on the sea. He quickly grabbed the binoculars hanging around his neck and held them up to look out to sea. After looking at it for a while, he put down his binoculars and rested his eyes and continued to observe. Then he saw a huge black silhouette, and he quickly recognized the identity of the giant ship from the flag fluttering on the high mast and the majestic main turret. The battleship was accompanied by twenty merchant ships. So, he quickly put away his fishing rod, picked up his fishing gear, hurried along the pier to the shore, passed the sentry of the British soldiers, entered a street, passed the post office, and disappeared into the flow of people.

A few minutes later, an elderly Englishman walked briskly into the post office. I wrote a short message in the newspaper and handed it to the help desk. One of the girls inside looked and saw that the address was an ordinary London firm. The message simply reads: "The price of porcelain and wheat has risen by at least twenty percent." And so on very simple words. The woman, apparently faithful to her duty, gave a glance to a white policeman stationed there, who approached and began to question her.

"What kind of business is this?" The policeman asked.

"It's a small grocery importer...... replied.

"What's in your message?"

In order to reassure the police, the Englishman handed over the message in his hand directly. After carefully examining the contents, the policeman looked at the note to the light, took out a magnifying glass and looked at it carefully for a while, and only after making sure that there was no problem did he agree to pat it, and nodded apologetically and said, "Sir, please understand that this is a measure that has to be taken in order to keep the security of our country from being violated. ”。

"I can understand this, you don't have to feel anything embarrassed about it......" the Englishman replied kindly.

After the telegram had been taken, the Englishman left the post office, and after turning into an alley, he found a corner and sat down. At this time, beads of sweat were already oozing from his forehead, and he took out his handkerchief and wiped it and looked at the watch on his wrist, a trace of anxiety flashed in his eyes.

"Hopefully those guys will take it seriously.

He muttered to himself.

In a telegraph office in Berlin, a machine copied a telegram. A receiver was about to treat it as a normal telegram handle, while an overseer noticed the address.

"Wait a minute!." As she spoke, she quickly searched for a form in the folder.

Moments later, the telegram was delivered to the German Admiralty. The telegram was immediately delivered in layers and finally into the hands of a rear admiral. At this moment, the hour hand is pointing to Q o'clock in the morning, and the date on the calendar board is the flying day in July of the year QQ. After verifying the location of the report, the rear admiral quickly opened the codebook, looked at the chart on the wall next to him, and said to his colleague with some excitement: "Great! The Chinese battleships have returned home! Now leaving the UK and heading south! He pointed to the charts and said, "Here it is." ”。

"Aren't they escorting the British's merchant ships? …。 One of his colleagues said, "The British won't agree to let them go home." It can't be a mistake, right? ”。

"No, it's already confirmed, it's ......one of the Republican-class battleships of the Chinese Navy," said the rear admiral, checking the codebook, "and with it twenty Chinese merchant ships." ”。

"It's really a big deal......"

"We're going to have to get this information in there right away. …”

The rear admiral found Admiral Scheer in the war room. After listening to the report, Scheer slowly pointed from one point to another on the chart with a pencil, and frowned: "The Chinese have gone out again, and for them, it is a rather bad time to return to China." ”。 ,

"Well, I heard that the political situation in China has not been very stable, and some provinces have actually escaped the control of the Beijing government. At this time, the Chinese battleship returned to China, and it is likely that there was some kind of emergency in China...... "Rear Admiral said.

"But we have only found one Chinese battleship showing signs of returning home, which may not prove that all Chinese battleships will return home. The British couldn't have let these "Eastern bodyguards, just walk away...... before their new battleships were launched," Scheer said.

"But we should also note that our enemies will never come to us without asking for trouble when it is most convenient for us to strike. You know, we have to pay close attention to their every move. The British convoy was here and here, and here and all over the Atlantic. Our "York," has not yet completed the final training and cannot be counted on her. Because no matter how you look at it, you can't call her a combat ship now. "The Scharnhorst, in fact, is in the same situation as her. The only possibility that the Chinese battleships came out at this time to join their merchant ships was to escort them to China......," said the rear admiral, "and I think soon we will receive news of the departure of the other Chinese battleships." ”。

"It's just speculation for us, but nothing is more dangerous than the battleships that the Yankees have built for Chinese...... "and we can't take any chances." ”。

"You're right, General.

Admiral Upper walked in front and went straight back to his office.

"Either way, it's always right for us to be prepared for this first." Scheer looked at the chart, "Kaiser Wilhelm, the ship has completed its training, and if all those Chinese battleships really leave, or one or two, we have a chance to bring the British and Yankees to the bottom again." ”。

Just as Scheer finished speaking, another German naval officer walked in quickly, and Scheer noticed that his face was also full of excitement, and he had a vague premonition in his heart.

"What happened? Colonel Raeder? …”

"Two Chinese battleships left Scapa Bay at nine o'clock this morning, accompanied by fifty merchant ships......" Raeder suppressed his excitement and said, "Our intelligence officers have analyzed them and believe that they must have returned home......

Scheer took a look at the telegram and looked at it, a look of disbelief on his face.

"How is this possible?." He said to himself.

Hearing his words, the war room became silent for a while, and everyone focused their eyes on Scheer.

"Send a telegram to Lut and Hipper, asking them to prepare for battle. Scheer hesitated for a moment and ordered in a deep voice.

A short time later, on the battleship "Wilhelm the Great ...", a German naval officer walked into the cabin of Admiral Lut. Admiral Lut was napping in his armchair with his head resting on his hands. "Sir, telegram ......," said the officer respectfully.

Ruth immediately woke up. He glanced at the telegram with loose eyes, and then his brow tightened.

"Call the captain right away."

After a while, the captain arrived. "The Admiralty has telegraphed, it's our turn to strike. I asked the warships to be ready for battle immediately. ”。

"Yes, sir......" said the captain.

"Wilhelm the Great." At this time, it was in a state of secondary readiness. Through the thick fog on the deck, you can faintly see the crew shrouded in fog on the gun emplacement. Half of the occupants below deck were sleeping or napping. At this moment, the loudspeaker suddenly gave a loud command to the anchor crew and the crew of the fully furloughed ship to be in place. People rushed out of the cabins, and the entire warship immediately got busy in an orderly manner.

At night, on the streets of Berlin, a cyclist is hurrying through the streets of Berlin. A letter was sent to the Admiralty, as before, and as before, the letter was immediately delivered to the Rear Admiral. It was an ordinary-looking letter. The Rear Admiral, however, read it very carefully and repeatedly, and consulted the codebook from time to time. After a while, he hurried to Admiral Scheer to report the information he had just received.

"Your Excellency, important information has been received about the Chinese Battlefleet.".

"Oh?".

"Your Excellency, this is the report that our intelligence officer at the Vickers shipyard sent four days ago. The letter has just been received because it has to be transited through Switzerland and Portugal ......",

"I didn't know you had eyes and ears at Vickers Shipyard. …”

"Only a very small number of people know about him. Your Excellency, we do not receive much information from him. As you can imagine, he can't just take risks. However, he is a good person, and his information is always accurate. ”。

"What does his intel say? …”

"Your Excellency, he said that not long ago, three Chinese battleships had secretly visited here for repairs in preparation for an ocean-going voyage, and their destination was the Pacific Ocean. He said that his information was extremely reliable and had been obtained from shipyard workers. …”

"Is your "dude" reliable? ”。

"He's one of our best tipsters, Your Excellency. Never fooled us. …”

"Don't believe it easily."

"I can bet you on his behalf."

"Maybe. However, you are betting on your status and reputation in the Navy. I would like to point out that this matter is not only about your position and honor, but also about the success or failure of our cause and the security of our country. You tell me? …”

The rear admiral hesitated a little and replied: "I do not change my opinion. Your Excellency, I believe in this "man, the intelligence ......"

"Well, I believe your intelligence is true. However, even if there is any major incident in China, it is unlikely that the Chinese will drive all six battleships back to China, right? ”

"Perhaps only three, Your Excellen......cy," reminded Colonel Raeder, "the three Chinese battleships that the informant saw were probably the three of which we already knew whereabouts, for Chinese could not have given up the safety of their allies who had provided them with such zero benefits." …”

"However, I would like to draw attention to the fact that there is another enemy Chinese......" said the rear admiral.

"You mean,......... Japanese? Scheer asked thoughtfully.

"Yes," replied the rear admiral...... "according to our intelligence, the two capital ships of the Japanese Navy, the Fuso, and the Yamashiro, are located in the port of Luda, China. And the political situation in China is once again in a violent upheaval, which is also related to the Japanese. ”。

"It's possible, and it's quite likely......" Scheer paced back and forth in the room, one of the habits he had developed on the warship.

"For us, this is an opportunity to change the fate of our great country......" Schell said to himself, pausing at the phone table.

There was a telephone line that led from the Admiralty to the distance, across the land to the coast. Then, from underwater, through a rainy bay, it winds its way to Wilhelmshaven, where it joins a water drum. When the flagship of the fleet was tied to the water drum, he pulled the telephone line onto the ship and connected it to the telephone switchboard installed in the compartment below the waterline.

In the night fog, the signal lights of Wilhelmshaven began to flicker continuously, calling and answering back and forth. Suddenly there was the sound of leather boots "clicking...", and a shrill telephone rang in the darkness. A voice came from the pipe: "Captain, the flagship has sent a signal."

The loudspeaker in the cabin sounded the scream of Sergeant Fan's whistle, followed by an order: "Call the port duty officer." Olive crew will meet on the foredeck within 10 minutes. Call the staff on duty,...,............ "The cabin is full of canvas hammocks. People woke up from their sleep and got out of bed one by one.

"What's going on? Someone asked.

"God knows! Ask the fleet commander! Another said, "I'll have to anchor anyway." ”。

"Peace be upon you!." One interjected in a slightly resentful voice.

"What are you doing?" Someone asked, "Aren't you picking out an evening dress?" ”

"Haha, he wants to travel to sunny Greece. Someone laughed.

At this time, the sailors, who had completed their preparations, pushed through the crowd and shouted, "Hey, make way for the man who is going to work!" "These people" clicked. He creeted down the narrow aisle of the giant ship and ascended the ladder to the deck. All around is full of people who are busy in an orderly manner. Some sailors came to the foredeck from the bright lights. It was still dark at the moment, and they flocked to the foredeck and began to lift anchor, just as the wind howled and made people unsteady on their feet.

In a dark cabin, the telephone rang. The lights came on immediately. The ringing kept going on until the shaggy man got up to answer the phone. ,

"I'm Chief Engineer."

"Chief Engineer, please have enough steam ...... in ten minutes," he said loudly on the phone.

"Okay, I'll go to ...... right away" The chief engineer rolled over and got out of bed to get his uniform.

At this time, the clock hanging in the brightly lit engine room of the German warship pointed to 4:05. The windlass began to turn, and the anchor chains twisted up section after section, and the password was passed back and forth; The valve opened, steam entered the turbine, the propeller turned in the bird-black water, and the directional signal light was still signaling.

Scarpa's Bay, United Kingdom.

"I'm curious now to know what kind of expression the Japanese will have when they see our six battlecruisers. …”

In the "Republic. In an officer's cabin on the battleship, Shen Honglie poured Xu Zhenpeng a glass of red wine and said with a smile.

"The promises he made back then have all come true...... Xu Zhenpeng took the wine glass, drank it all, and shook his head with a wry smile, "I still feel like I'm in a dream." ”。

"I still remember the grand occasion when the second ship of Dingzhen returned to China..."Xu Zhenpeng recalled the past, and the corners of his eyes began to moisten, "But I didn't expect that I would be defeated by the hands of the Kou." Haiquan is difficult to ask again. In the battle of the four people's resistance, our navy did not dare to confront the Koukou head-on, and now...,......."

"Now that we have 12 huge ships of more than 50,000 tons, I don't believe that the Kou will dare to attack us with impunity like last time...... Shen Honglie said.

"It is true that we have surpassed the Japanese Navy in numbers with this huge ship, but we must not take it lightly." Xu Zhenpeng said, "You know, these six ships were driven back as training ships at the request of Yang Hanzhi. ”。

"For the domestic navy, it is a training ship, but for our group, it is not a training ship. Shen Honglie smiled disapprehantly, "It's just that I can't think of what he wants these battle cruisers to do now." After all, the battle on our side is not over yet. …”

"The Germans won't be able to hold out for long...... Xu Zhenpeng said, "and when those battlecruisers come back, the Germans will collapse if they don't get it." ”。

"Not necessarily, I heard that Germany has launched a new ship, and the caliber of the main gun has reached milk millimeters, no matter the speed of firepower, it can fight our ship head-on. Shen Honglie said, "Then we will have another tough battle to fight.n151."

n151.”。

"You're right, but the German Navy is still one layer worse than ours, we now have twelve giant ships, Britain, France and the United States are also racing against time to build their own new giant ships, these new ships are estimated to be completed and put into service next year, and the Germans can't compare with ......it in any way."