Chapter 438:
The two choices of exchanging bait and encounter gave Admiral Reinhard a headache. After thinking for a long time, Admiral Reinhard finally chose the first option, which was to kill as much as possible the main force of the Royal Navy's home fleet.
If it were a head-on confrontation, the High Seas Fleet wouldn't have much chance of winning. Therefore, Reinhard planned a strategy to use a small part of the High Seas Fleet to induce part of the Royal Navy to dispatch, and use the gourd baby to save Grandpa to defeat the Royal Navy's home fleet one by one.
As long as the time is right, the entire High Seas Fleet will be dispatched to fight the Royal Navy to the death. By that time, part of the Royal Navy's main force had been sunk, and the High Seas Fleet had a greater chance of winning.
We have to admit that while the wheel of history is moving slowly, it has also affected all the characters of this era.
Even though the current development of World War I is completely different from history, most of the Allied Powers have already withdrawn from the war, and only Germany and Austria-Hungary are still holding on.
But Admiral Reinhard still chose the same method as in history, using strategies to defeat the Royal Navy one by one as much as possible.
The one responsible for serving as the decoy was the battlecruiser detachment led by General Hull Howe, which consisted of four battlecruisers, eight cruisers and four submarines.
But on the surface, this fleet only has four battlecruisers and eight cruisers. Four submarines are hidden under the sea, ready to support the fleet at any time, or to deal a fatal blow to the enemy's main warships.
The ratio of warships in a battlecruiser is also carefully considered. If there are too many, it will attract the enemy's main force, but if there are too few, the effect will not be achieved.
On the afternoon of May 17, 1916, this battlecruiser detachment set out from the port with great fanfare, completely different from the low profile of the German Navy in the past.
In direct contrast to this high-profile fleet, the main force of the High Seas Fleet also set sail more than three hours later, but maintained strict radio silence throughout the process, and only communicated with flags between warships.
In Wilhelmshaven, the soldiers at the port still used the call sign of the High Seas Fleet's flagship Friedrich der Grosse, creating the illusion to the outside world that the main fleet, including the flagship, was still in the port.
Although it is a good day today, Admiral Reinhard's face has never looked good, and the worry on his face can be seen at any time.
"Your Majesty General, are those cunning British guys really going to be fooled?" Admiral Reinhard's main assistant and Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet asked with a worried look.
"Perhaps only God knows. You know, if we encounter a British reconnaissance plane, maybe we are the prey of the British." Admiral Reinhard sighed and said to his chief of staff helplessly .
At present, German aircraft cannot fly as far as British aircraft. In addition, the performance of German aircraft lags far behind British aircraft, resulting in Germany having no initiative in the sky.
Once the British reconnaissance aircraft discovered the main force of the High Seas Fleet, what awaited Admiral Reinhard was the encirclement and siege of the main force of the Royal Fleet.
If we really wait until that time, I am afraid that Admiral Reinhard will only have the determination to die and exchange as much of the main force of the British fleet as possible.
After hearing Admiral Reinhard's answer, the anxiety in the Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet not only did not calm down, but even became more and more intense.
"Well, maybe we have to leave it to fate. May God bless us and Germany." The fleet chief of staff sighed and prayed to the sky.
Although technology has developed to this day, many people have become atheists, or worship God less crazily.
But thousands of years of worship of God have led Europeans to have a habit of involuntarily praying for God’s blessing when everything is powerless.
Although God has never been efficacious, at least Europeans can find some spiritual comfort from prayer, or at least they can deceive themselves.
Admiral Reinhard's strategy is a gamble with the entire High Seas Fleet as a bet. If the gamble succeeds, Germany will get a slight turn. If the bet fails, if it falls into a more doomed situation, it will be even more impossible to make a comeback in the war.
As Reinhard and the chief of staff prayed, as expected, a British reconnaissance plane discovered the German battlecruisers at the forefront.
It is difficult to see the German fleet in the Atlantic because the German fleet generally adopted turtle tactics before.
The discovery of the German fleet this time attracted great attention from the British scouts. After counting the number of the German fleet, the scouts decided to return immediately and report the findings to the headquarters.
The main force of the German fleet, which was dozens of nautical miles away, was not discovered by British aircraft. This was good news for the Germans.
But the bad news is that the commander of the British Atlantic Fleet, General Jericho, attached great importance to this intelligence. He decided to lay out a dragnet to lure the German battlecruiser fleet deep into the fleet and completely eliminate it.
At 8:30 in the evening, General Jericho personally led a huge main warship group consisting of 24 battleships, 2 super-dreadnoughts, 3 battlecruisers, 17 cruisers, 44 destroyers and several small warships, and slowly left. of Scapa Flow.
On the other side, a decoy fleet consisting of two battleships, two battlecruisers and seven cruisers also set out from another port and headed for the location where the enemy troops were found as reported by the Air Force.
A German submarine hidden outside a British port reported the dispatch of the British fleet to headquarters, and the British Air Force also had information about the German battlecruiser detachment.
This led to a strange phenomenon. Both sides thought that their seduction tactics were successful, but they did not know that the other side's fleet had already been dispatched.
This was not a war in which the commanders of both sides expected to achieve small-scale defeat through decoys. This was a large-scale naval battle involving almost the main forces of the navies of both sides. The first thing they encountered were the decoys of both sides, two small fleets.
In order to lure the German fleet to take the bait, the British deliberately dispatched only two battleships and two battlecruisers as the main warships.
The German fleet has four battlecruisers as its main warships, and there is one more cruiser.
The British officers boldly concluded that the Germans would not miss such an opportunity.
After the decoy fleets of both sides met, the most comical scene in this naval battle occurred.
Under the orders of their respective commanders, the two fleets hurriedly engaged in a small-scale naval battle and pretended to be defeated and retreated.
The commanders on both sides saw that this was okay, but in order to prevent the prey from escaping, they had to catch up and provoke.
The two decoy fleets were in a stalemate for more than half an hour, but did not cause too many casualties to the enemy.
After all, everyone is a decoy fleet, and their main function is to lure the enemy to pursue them so that they can realize their plan to surround the enemy.
If the firepower is too strong and causes too much damage to the enemy, then the lure plan will naturally not succeed.
The two decoy fleets were in a stalemate for a long time, and even in the end, they had sold each other out.
But the enemy was stunned and refused to take the bait. Although he had no intention of retreating, he was stunned and refused to take a step forward.
At first, the commanders of both sides didn't pay attention, just thinking it was the other side's caution. But when one's own side had already made frequent flaws, and even barely stood still and allowed the opponent to destroy it, the enemy made no move to pursue it, which made people a little surprised.
The commanders on both sides couldn't help but have a terrible idea in their minds. Could the other party be the bait?
After having this idea, the commanders of the two fleets looked at the enemy more and more dissatisfied, and even had good explanations for some of the enemy's strange moves.
Of course, after having such an idea, the first reaction of the commanders on both sides was to immediately report it to the main force of the navy.
If the other party is really a bait, it also means that the other party's main warship must be nearby.
Facing a large-scale naval battle that may break out at any time, the British Empire, which may have sufficient advantages, has to be cautious.
Although the commanders of both sides immediately reported their doubts to the main fleet, the bad news is that the two decoy fleets were in a stalemate for too long, long enough for the main fleet to outflank the enemy.
By the time the main forces of the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy received this news, the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy were about to meet.
If this were a car on land, the U-turn would probably be quick. But it is a pity that this is a warship on the sea, and it is a fleet group composed of many very large warships.
It is simply impossible for such a complete warship to complete a U-turn without enough time.
About 20 minutes later, the Royal Fleet and the High Seas Fleet could already see the outlines of each other's warships. This also shocked the hearts of Commander-in-Chief Jericho of the Royal Fleet and Commander-in-Chief Reinhard of the High Seas Fleet.
The result that Admiral Reinhard least wanted to see happened. The main forces of the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy met. This head-on confrontation that Admiral Reinhard did not want to see was about to take place.
"Set up your formation and attack immediately!"
This was the immediate order issued by the commanders of both sides.
In less than a few minutes, the enemy will be within range of our own fleet. But this also means that you will also enter the enemy's range.
For naval battles, whoever can respond the fastest and take the lead may gain certain advantages in naval battles.
Admiral Reinhard also understood that he had no way out now. But there is good news. The High Seas Fleet dispatched more than ten submarines this time, and these submarines did not seem to be discovered by the British fleet.
If these submarines can be used to launch sneak attacks during the most intense naval battle, they may be able to play a vital role.
Therefore, Admiral Reinhard did not summon the submarines to move, but let them lurk underwater, waiting for the best opportunity to attack.
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(End of chapter)