Chapter 657 Give them a big surprise!
Everyone in the General Staff suddenly stood up, and three pieces of information arriving in almost the same second made everyone feel as if they were in a deep fog and had a sense of unreality.
"Skagrak's gold."
Li Mo couldn't help but think of this name, which is a name that every BB fan in later generations is familiar with. When the author writes that crazy text in his memory, he may not have thought that on the other end of time and space, a person not only brought a different Skagrak, but also really brought gold!
After five years of secret planning, spending tens of millions of money and sacrificing as many as 131 intelligence officers and latent soldiers, the best part of the wealth of the Romanov dynasty was stuffed into a train and disappeared from the sight of the world.
The train was specially built in Switzerland before the war, with two fronts and bullet-proof armor on the side. But who can guarantee that they can come back safely? Even in the General Staff at this moment, the people who planned the Qiming operation did not know where the train would go, how it would come back, or that they would never come back like the tsar's treasure that disappeared in history.
Russia is too big, and the inefficient railway network means that even if everything goes well, it will take half a month for them to enter the protection of the Xinhua army, during which no one can know whether there will be an accident.
Such a major thing can't be controlled by hand. That kind of anxiety and waiting are unimaginable to ordinary people, just like the Skagrak Strait at the other end of the gold at this moment. Although Li Mo knew that Wu Yingke had boarded the battleship Bavaria as an observer, he was beside Scheer, and he was still in the whole fleet. In the name of observation research, more than a dozen non-commissioned officers with cameras were arranged to record the whole process of naval battles, but after all, the German high seas fleet is not his own fleet, and Scheer will not allow any radio signals to appear around before the war, and will never send back real-time war reports.
Skagrak's gold is his enlightenment in the BB era, just because of the author's last words.
"The era of radar, carrier-borne aviation has arrived. The huge steel fortress once symbolized the highest achievement of industrial civilization, but today it is replaced by small electronic integration blocks and buttons. Today, with the high development of science and technology, the human spirit has gradually lost its sustenance. It is said that Delan left many regrets in that era. What is left for this era is infinite imagination.
I'm back. Whether it's the original time and space or not, I have made up for the regret of the BB era for this country, and now I have brought it into the aviation era. Although this is progress, few people know that in fact, he is still a multi-turret admirer in his bones, so he came in the aircraft carrier era. After that, he gritted his teeth and built four battleships that would be delivered one after another at the end of the year.
From the day he came back, he pinched his fingers and imagined this haunting naval battle, but when it really came, he found that he could only look at the list written on the blackboard.
Britain, a total of 30 capital ships, all 127 warships!
2 Giant-class battleships, Giant, Hercules.
Three St. Vincent-class battleships, Collinswood, St. Vincent, Avant-garde.
4 Orion-class battleships, Conqueror, Monarch, Orion, Thor.
Four King George V-class battleships, George V, Captain Hundred, Darren, and Ajax.
4 Iron Duke-class battleships, Iron Duke, Marlborough, Benbow, Queen of India.
4 Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, Queen Elizabeth, War-weary, Baham, Warrior.
Two new Avenger-class battleships, the Avenger and Lamy, the last four have been put into the water, but they have not been delivered in time.
Three Lion-class battlecruisers, Lion, Princess, Queen Mary.
4 Tiger-class battlecruisers, Tiger, Leopard, Black Prince, and Manglind.
Germany, 26 capital ships, all 101 warships!
4 Class battleships, Class Battleships, West [***], Rhineland, Posen.
4 Helgoland-class battleships, Helgoland, Ostfriedsland, Thuringen, Oldenburg.
5 Caesar-class battleships, Kaiser, Frederick the Great, Catherine, King Albert, Regent Louis-Told.
4 King-class battleships, King, Emperor Candidate, Governor, Crown Prince.
Four Bavarian-class battleships, Bagoria, Baden, Saxony, Württemberg, the fifth Westphalia were not delivered in time.
5 battleship cruisers, von der Tann, Mauch-class Maauch, Sedlitz-class Sedlitz, Dflinger-class Dflinger, Luzov.
This is a series of scalping numbers, and because of its own appearance, Germany has been able to narrow the number of war patrols, but it needs to face four new Tiger-class battlecruisers second only to the prestige and Hood-class ships that can be delivered soon.
In addition to the war patrol, Bavaria will be the most expected of the Queen and the Avengers. Countless BB fans in later generations said that if the German Bavarian-class battleship catches up with Delan, the result will be another situation.
Really?
Li Mo actually has no way to answer. Although he has helped Germany give birth to the Bavarian class, which is considered to be the best in history of World War I, even now second only to the Guam class, the battleship is always a weapon, and its power depends on commanding his brain!
Will Hipper continue to seduce the enemy? Does Scheer dare to participate in the decisive battle? Does David Betty continue to make bold, or does Jellico continue to make mistakes? If there is a way, he will definitely rush over.
"Is there our warship nearby?" Li Mo crossed his fingers and put them on the table.
"The vulture monitors the northern Russian channel 430 nautical miles away."
"It's too far away." Li Mo had to stretch out lazily: "I'll go back first. Let me know as soon as I have the result." Although he is very anxious, the only thing he can do now is to wait for the collision of two steel fleets made of countless gold in the Skagrak Strait!
=========In the morning of May 16th, Germany.
"Report, U23 report, two battleships, two cruisers and several destroyers were found to be heading southeast." The staff member marked the position on the chart according to the telegram and turned to look at Lieutenant General Reinhartcher.
"Keep moving forward!"
Scheer held the armrest and leaned forward slightly without any pause.
Wu Yingke stepped back two steps to the chart. The long and narrow Delan Peninsula made him frown slightly, and the curved Skagrak Strait was a curse. If Germany had not tried its best to open the Kiel Canal, perhaps the country would not have a navy at the beginning of the war.
After drilling out of the Kiel Canal, Scheer had two options, going north to the Skakrak Strait, attacking the British navy along the north of the British Isles, or simply going south into the English Channel.
But no matter which one, the prospect is not good.
The British fleet in Scapa Bay is eyeing. Whether it goes north or south, it has to face the enemy's snipers. If it runs too far, it is impossible to even go home.
For today, the Germans have not changed the old password that had been leaked for a long time, and did not change it quietly until before departure, because Germany needs to use the old password as bait, but in fact, Wu Yingke knows that the efficiency of the British intelligence service is not low.
However, he did not remind him, nor could he remind him. Although the emperor never said that he would control the Atlantic Ocean in the future, a strong German navy was not in the best interest.
Wu Yingke quietly glanced at Scheer. There is no doubt that the British mainland fleet is waiting for him somewhere in the North Sea. Whether it is the international situation or the strategic requirement to defeat Germany as soon as possible, Jellico must have turned red, drooling like a grinning dog. Britain can accept part of the loss, because he There are at least 12 capital ships under construction on the dock road. Recently, five French battleships have been towed back to more than half of them, but Germany has only left the fifth Bavarian-class battleship and the third Dflinger-class battlecruiser Hindenburg in the dock because of too much ground consumption, so even if the whole army destroys him. It will definitely drag Scheer to hell together.
Similarly, Scheer is not willing to wait. The high seas fleet, which has been built by the whole country and even affects important army resources, can't do nothing. When the Far East allies crazily win one naval battle after another and sink hundreds of enemy ships, if they continue to hide-and-seek, even if they win in the end. The German navy will also be ridiculed!
So Wilhelm II was already very angry, and Tirpitz did not want to play hide-and-seek anymore. They needed a brilliant victory and told the countries within the alliance that the German navy was equally powerful.
"Report, U66 reported that they found that eight battleships were moving northeastward under the escort of several cruisers and destroyers."
"Keep moving forward!"
Scheer glanced at Wu Yingke, who was standing by the porthole, but nothing had changed.
"Report, General Hipper reported that he is releasing the seaplane."
Seaplane.
Wu Yingke wiped a smile on the corners of his mouth. Compared with the domestic first equipped with heavy aircraft carriers, whether it is Germany or the United Kingdom, they are too weak in aviation power. It's not that they don't want to, but that the technical barriers have not been broken through. More importantly, they lack a leader with a vision to penetrate the future like the emperor. Guide and promoter.
"Wu, I heard that you commanded the naval battle between Osman and Italy before? It was a beautiful battle.
"Thank you for your praise." Wu Yingke looked at Scheer with a smile. This matter could not be hidden from the Germans, so he nodded generously and said, "I relied on the advantage of equipment and launched the offensive unexpectedly, but now in this situation," Wu Yingke glanced at the foggy sea outside the window, and the warships of the Hamp next to him, and smiled bitterly said, "It's not suitable. "."
"I know." Scheer nodded. What he wanted to carry out was a big war, which was very different from the naval battle, so he immediately turned his head and said to the officers, "Let General Hiffel speed up. Go to the sea between England and Norway. There are many ships swaying there. Let him go there to take a small look and scratch their squeaks.
Tell him to keep using the old password to send signals all the way. As long as the British are attracted, we will give them a big surprise.
"Yes, I also believe that there will be a big surprise!"
In the words, a golden sun suddenly jumped out of the sea, surrounded by fog, and Helgoland Island appeared in the distance like a giant beast. The vanguard of the five battlecruisers led by Hipel spewed thick smoke and accelerated to the north.
========White Hall, in the British Naval Command Building, people are one after another.
The Grand Fleet has set out secretly. Just like the Battle of Trafalgar a hundred years ago, it will determine the fate of Britain and even the whole world in the next ten hours.
At this moment, the whole building seemed to be a little strange. The fingers on the typewriter were careless, and the secretary slowed down. A pen was dripping ink, and many people were even absent-minded.
Has the German navy departed?
Many people know that it will be today, but today is a vague concept, early morning, noon, or evening? Why don't you just release fake news from Germany at this time?!
The intelligence needs to be confirmed again!
"Oliver, has the plane left yet?" Lieutenant General Redrick Hamilton raised his head and looked at his naval intelligence chief, his blue eyes full of expectation.
"Yes, it has already departed. It is expected to arrive over Kiel and Wilhelmshaven for reconnaissance in an hour." Oliver continued, "In addition, Room 40 is monitoring the call number of the German Navy."
Room 40!
Lt. Gen. Redrick Hamilton turned his head and looked at the end of the corridor.
In front of an office in a secluded place in the corner of the corridor, two guards guarded the door with guns, with 40 words written above their heads.
"Room 40."
This is what everyone calls this mysterious office, but in fact it has another name, the Royal Naval Intelligence Service, Radio Monitoring and Cryptography Office.
In the room, Larson and Melkin, cryptograph experts from the people, were studying a cryptographic telegram, because they found that the telegram was completely different from what had been intercepted before, which shocked them. Isan error? By chance, or did Germany find the problem and change the password?!
After accidentally obtaining the German password manual from Russia, the British navy regarded it as a top secret. Over the years, it has deciphered countless secondary information, but it has not made any obvious reaction except for occasionally notifying the important troops.
Because this thing is too important, once the Germans know that the password is changed, it is equivalent to years of hard work.
But now, a new signal that appeared in the Kiel Canal early this morning made the two of them a little worried. Could it be that Germany changed the password book at the most critical moment?! If that's the case, it's terrible. It shows that Germany actually knew about the password leak before. They deliberately continued to make mistakes until the most critical time!
What is the most critical time?
Today!
"Mel, do you want to report it?"
"It needs to be reported, but we need the same signal as the second one, otherwise no one will believe it."
"But."
When the two folk code decipherers muttered, Captain Jackson suddenly walked into the room with a cold face and saw that the immediate boss, Larson and Melkin looked bad, because this guy was a bureaucrat. He despised all folk scholars and decoding experts, and even accused them of reporting randomly.
Jackson didn't want to look at these guys who didn't know anything at all. He asked directly, "Where is the German fleet flagship call code now?"
"In the jasper anchorage."
"Very good."
Jackson turned around and was ready to leave. He didn't want to stay with these guys who didn't know anything, but when he was about to step out of the door, Melkin suddenly gritted his teeth and stopped him.
"What's the matter?"
Melkin glanced at Larson beside him, pulled out the new telegram from the table, and bravely reported, "Captain, this is a telegram we intercepted early this morning. When we just analyzed it, we found that it used a different password and could not be cracked, and."
"Different passwords?!" Although Captain Jackson doesn't like these non-professionals, it doesn't mean that he doesn't know important surnames. He immediately asked, "How many are there?"
"One."
"One?! It's ridiculous. Do you think it's enough for such a large fleet and hundreds of warships to move out with one signal? This may be a new toy from a radio enthusiast, or a conspiracy by Germany to deceive us to send a fleet to check, or a clutter at all!" Second Lieutenant Jackson said coldly, "Next time, please confirm and tell me that I'm very busy."
"Okay, Captain."
Looking at Jackson's angry back, Melkin and Larson looked at each other and shook their heads with a wry smile. A signal can't be used as a basis. Maybe they are really too suspicious, but if Germany really uses the new password, what should they do?!
Second Lieutenant Jackson sat in the office and repeatedly looked at the new telegram Melkin said. Although he had just denied everything, he was still ready to look again, trying to find suspicious points from the messy text, but after only a few glances, the door of the office was hurriedly knocked open.
"Jackson, Director Oliver and Lieutenant General Redrick Hamilton are waiting for your answer." The person in charge of Room 40, Colonel Ewing, came in.
Jackson finally looked at the new telegram that had not been analyzed, pressed it under a thick document, and reported, "It has been confirmed that the call code of the German flagship is still in the jasper anchorage."
"Okay."
Colonel Ewing turned around quickly. He needed to report the news immediately and then send it to Lieutenant General Jelico, who was waiting anxiously. Of course, he did not know that there were only a few warships left in the jasper anchorage in Wilhelmshaven, Germany at this moment.
The Rhine purchased from Xinhua stopped in the corner, and the flagship flag on the mast was particularly eye-catching. German destroyers and submarines patrolling on the Baltic Sea were calling out to it one after another.
(to be continued)