Chapter 1000: Key Intelligence
Hipper was very bold, when the fleet departed, after refueling near Norway. Hipper did not choose to detour through the Danish Channel into the Atlantic, but chose to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the Shetland Islands and Iceland directly, so that the Germans saved thousands of nautical miles, and under the bad weather and the high seas fleet in the North Sea, the British sent a large number of destroyers and sentinel ships to the North Sea to monitor the main force of the high seas fleet, and the Hipper's fleet passed through the British blockade line without danger. British spies deployed in Germany also did not notice the departure of the three Bismarck-class battleships, as three Bismarck-class battleships were moored at the berth in Wilhelmshamn instead of three disguised ships converted from merchant ships.
After crossing the blockade line, Hipper did not delay time, but immediately went to the agreed place with the Chinese Navy for replenishment at sea, where the five supply ships of the Chinese fleet would provide the German fleet with a total of about 3,500 tons of fuel oil and 1,800 tons of coal. The entire replenishment work at sea will last about 8 hours. To Hipper's surprise, he saw an old friend here. Vice Admiral Sa Zhenbing of the Huaxia Navy! This made Hipper feel very uneasy...... Even if this cooperation is more important, Huaxia will not send a vice admiral over to be responsible for refueling its own fleet, right? Something must be ......... in it.
Although Sa Zhenbing is inferior to Yang Yonglin, Liu Buchan, Lin Yongsheng, and Deng Shichang, the veterans of the Chinese Navy, in terms of qualifications and military achievements, his ability is undeniable, and he has also performed very well in commanding small fleets in previous naval battles, and even if his qualifications are poor, he is also the same "senior" as Scheer, and he has been a general since the beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War. Older than Hipper.
Sa Zhenbing's arrival was not even known to the German Navy Headquarters, and after the Chinese naval officer who came to contact us informed Hipper of the news in the officer's cafeteria, he even wondered if the other party intended to deceive him. But after thinking about it, the other party did not have this motive and did not have this possibility, after all, Huaxia's fleet was now supplying the German fleet, and when the other party suggested that he go to Huaxia's supply ship to meet with Sa Zhenbing. After a short period of consideration, Hipper decided to go up and take a look, maybe the Chinese officer would lead himself with some unexpected benefits?
When Sa Zhenbing came to his room, a Huaxia naval officer closed the door, and only Sa Zhenbing and Hipper were left in the whole room. On the wall of the room hung a large European chart with strange symbols. In the middle of the room was a table and two chairs with some tea and desserts. Other than that, there wasn't even a single pen or paper in the whole room. Obviously, the other party's purpose is definitely not to chat and drink tea with himself, the point is ......... in this chart.
"Thanks to the help provided by the Chinese government to the German government, the right wing between your country and our country will be stronger after a series of events. Whether it was the various supplies that your country provided to our country during the war or this operation at sea, I and the German Navy will take it to heart. Hipper said as he glanced at the charts on the wall. Obvious pun intended.
"It's just an ordinary picture, it doesn't make any sense, I'm just drawing some of it! And what I'm talking about is just what I've seen along the way. Well, that's it. Sa Zhenbing looked at the other party and said with a smile. General Magifin used to fight alongside us, and we used to be enemies between us. His level is quite high even in the world navy. Your plans are not seamless, and Majifen is ready. Even if the Entente cannot decipher your code. ”
Click. Hipper, who had just picked up the cup and was about to take a sip of coffee, shook his hand, and the delicate teacup fell on the table, spilling the coffee on the floor. For the first time, Hipper felt fear, even when he was being pursued by the overwhelming Berty fleet, he had never been so frightened as he was today. Because this sortie on the German Navy can be regarded as a lone army, without backup, if it cannot meet with the Allied Navy, his fleet, which does not have much advantage in speed, is likely to be completely wiped out after being discovered! Bismarck-class battleships are indeed powerful, but no matter how strong they are, can you hold off more than 4 times as many enemy forces? …………。
Hipper knew very well that the German Navy Headquarters did not tell the Huaxia government the specific details of Operation Thunder Thurbrus, and what Huaxia knew could be summed up in one sentence, providing the German Navy with XXXX tons of marine heavy oil and XXXX tons of coal in the specified sea area, and that's it. As for the specific ships involved in the operation and where they were headed, the Germans did not even mention it, after all, this was the top secret of the German High Seas Fleet, and even if the relations between the two governments were good, they would definitely not have no reservations about each other. What's more, the differences between the two sides on the Russian issue have always existed, and now they are only being suppressed temporarily!
Hippert didn't speak, but stared at Sa Zhenbing, he wondered if Sa Zhenbing really knew about Thunder Thorbrus's plan, or if he wanted to get some information from him. If the latter is the case, Hipper will have to consider whether he should take some extraordinary measures if necessary. The Germans are betting on the fortunes of their country, and there must not be the slightest slack or fluke at this critical moment. Even if the other side is an ally.
"Majifen has expanded the range of alert, and the entire coastal waters of Portugal are under the surveillance of Allied destroyers, submarines and aircraft, and although your air campaign has dealt a heavy blow to the Allied air forces in Portugal, the other side still has the ability to provide early warning for itself by strengthening the sea and underwater cordon. This is especially true in the direction of Gibraltar, where you want access to the Mediterranean, or the Italian Navy wants to access the Atlantic...... It is impossible to escape the eyes of the Americans. See what I mean? Sa Zhenbing said calmly, as if the two sides were not discussing a big war and catching up with old friends! …。
"Naturally, I do not doubt that your fleet has the ability to reach the Mediterranean safely, and presumably your air force is ready to respond. And the combined Mediterranean Fleet of the Allies will have an overwhelming advantage. If your goal is to gain Portugal, then it doesn't matter, but if your goal is to inflict heavy damage on the American fleet, I am afraid that it will not be achieved. When he found out that the situation was not good, he would naturally withdraw to France under the cover of the air force and wait for new warships to join him. In half a year at most, the Entente fleet can at least level the disadvantage. The war will continue. Looking at the silent Hipper, Sa Zhenbing continued, and after finishing speaking, he didn't ask, but poured a cup of black tea and sat aside and tasted it slowly.
Hipper listened quietly as the other man finished speaking, and at the same time looked at the chart. It is true that, as Sa Zhenbing said, if nothing else, his final actions will indeed be exposed. And nine out of ten Majifen will retreat to France if they are defeated. If this is the result, this action will be completely meaningless. And after the high seas fleet is seriously weakened, once the British Admiral-class battleships enter service, then the high seas fleet will most likely lose its bases in Norway. Thus being re-sealed in the North Sea. So-called advantages can also eventually disappear over time.........
What Sa Zhenbing said makes a lot of sense. Both Hipper and Schell have thought about this problem, but there has never been a particularly good solution. One can only pin hope on suppressing the reconnaissance of the other side as much as possible through the air force. But for now. Although it can effectively limit the opponent's aerial reconnaissance, it is still not effective against destroyers on the sea, and in the face of those maneuverable and nimble guys, the aircraft with a short range and too bad hits are really weak. Sa Zhenbing just completely removed the trace of luck in Hipper's heart at this time. The other party had good intentions, but Sa Zhenbing only reminded the other party but did not say a solution.
"If the decisive battle doesn't work, wouldn't it be better to take one section each?" After carefully studying the map, a bold idea came out of my head, if Sa Zhenbing's map is correct, it means that the Allied air force deployment is a strong at both ends, but weak in the middle, the main force of the British, French and American air forces is deployed in the east of Britain and France to resist the German and Austrian air forces, while most of the remaining are deployed in Portugal to assist in the defense of the Portuguese troops. And this has led to the emptiness of the deployment of the air force on the west coast of France, in fact, think about it, when there is no enemy on the back, who will put a large number of troops behind them? And more critically. For the sake of homeland defense, the British withdrew the ground attack planes that were originally attached to the European continent back to their homeland. In addition, the west coast of France is a non-critical location, so there are very few units on the entire west coast that can carry out sea attack missions! Even if there were other units, as long as the German fleet was farther away from the opponent, it would be out of the opponent's attack range..........
"Your submarines have been rampant on the west coast of France lately, and your bombers seem to have moved to the north of Spain, why is that?" Looking at Hipper, who was deep in thought, Sa Zhenbing said something quite incomprehensible, and after Hippert heard it, it was absolutely incredible, although there were some German submarines on the west coast of France, they were definitely not rampant, and as for the bomber force moving north, it was nonsense, the air forces of the two sides were fighting life and death in the Portuguese area, how could there be time to care about the situation in the north? What is this? But soon, Hipper's thought about it and felt that something was wrong, Sa Zhenbing definitely didn't know the specific deployment of the Allied Air Force, but he definitely wouldn't talk nonsense!
"Didn't you suggest that I increase the power of the Bay of Biscayne and force the other side to take a detour?" After thinking about the world for a quarter of an hour, Hipper finally thought he understood something.
Thank you for the tips of hukaikaka and zhouyu1976~~. It's been a thousand chapters~~~ It's not easy to stick to the side position until now~~~. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. )。