April 23, London.

A motorcycle roared through the streets, swaying a beautiful tail-swinging brake with a "squeak" sound, and parked in front of the Admiralty Office Building.

The telegram from the driver's hand was soon sent to the commander of the British native fleet, Admiral Forbes.

Sir Pound, the First Minister of the Admiralty, followed into the war room, and the two walked to the chart on the western wall of the office.

Admiral Forbes pointed at the chart with a pencil and said, "The telegram came from the port of Gdynia, where all four German high seas battleships were parked have left the port."

Sir Pound continued: "I have a telegram forwarded by MI6. Their intelligence department in Sweden found that the German fleet was sailing in the Malmö waters and had entered the Katgart Strait. In addition, the ships that had passed through the strait yesterday, the main forces of the German high seas fleet had all attacked, hoping to break through our blockade and enter the Atlantic Ocean."

Admiral Forbes Qinghuang's face was full of worries. Yesterday morning, the German high seas fleet, the armored ships of Admiral Luzov and Admiral Scher, as well as the heavy cruisers of Admiral Hippel and Blüchel, had entered the Katgat Strait, and the specific whereabouts were unknown.

Today, four more battleships of the German Navy entered the Katgat Strait. It is obvious that the German Navy wanted to carry out an unprecedented major operation, and the Italian Navy was fighting in the North Atlantic.

Admiral Forbes told Sir Pound about his worries, who were equally worried.

"The main force of our local fleet has been attracted by the Italian fleet. With our existing forces, it may be difficult to block them. Do you have any suggestions?"

"We now have only the USS Kewei aircraft carrier, the three main battleships, Nelson and the Prince of Wales battleships, can be used. The Prince of Wales was just completed at the end of last month. The commissioning and training have not been completed yet. The combat effectiveness is limited.

Moreover, there are at least four possibilities for the German marching routes, including Pentland Bay, Fair Island, the east or west side of the Faroe Islands, and the detour of Iceland to the north through the Danish Strait into the Atlantic Ocean. The sea areas involved in these four routes are thousands of kilometers wide. We do not have the ability to blockade and can only monitor them."

Admiral Forbes' pencil in his hand drew points on the chart one by one, pointing the possible route of the German Navy to Sir Pound one by one.

"I know it is impossible to block them with our existing forces, and we can only deal with them according to the plan we have planned. But no matter what, we must find them first. Send all warships, submarines and reconnaissance aircraft that can be dispatched, and at all costs, we must find them." Sir Pound's tone was unquestionable.

Admiral Forbes had no objection.

The news of the main attack of the German High Seas Fleet was soon sent to No. 10 Downing Street, and Sir Pound himself delivered it.

"This is an action that concerns the fate of the British Empire, as important as the Battle of Jutland in the summer of 1916. Tell Admiral Forbes that I firmly believe that with the strength of the Royal Navy and his command art, it can severely damage or even wipe out the German high seas fleet. I am waiting for you to give me good news for victory." Churchill said.

Churchill's attention made the British war machine run with all its strength.

First, the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk were sent to the Denmark Strait, followed by three light cruisers, Aristius, Birmingham and Manchester, were sent to patrol the waters between the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

The British Royal Navy was facing a great enemy. Chen Dao and Lütjens ended a short and leisurely journey.

At dawn on April 24, after two days of voyage, the fleet commanded by Chen Dao and Lütjens quietly sailed into the heavily guarded Colesfjord.

The Korsfjord is located in the southern part of the port of Bergen, Norway. At this time, it was filled with thick fog, providing the best concealment for the arrival of the four warships.

On the shore around the fjord, the Luftwaffe deployed three air defense battalions, with a total of 36 88mm anti-aircraft guns, seventy-two Bofos 40mm anti-aircraft guns and seventy-two Gatling 20mm anti-aircraft guns.

Anti-aircraft gunners stared at the air with fierce eyes, and any enemy planes trying to break into the sky above the fjord would be torn to pieces without mercy.

During one day, radio waves intertwined and shuttled through the atmosphere, and three telegrams were sent to Chen Dao and Lütjens by correspondents one after another.

The first telegram came from the Port of Bergen not far to the north. The squadron has been replenished twice and can attack at any time;

The second telegram came from the Navy Command. The Italian fleet and Shane ships were constantly harassing the main force of the British Royal Navy in the North Atlantic and distributed some forces to intercept the opponent's transport ships. The opponent's main force was temporarily unable to return to aid, and the number of main ships in the local fleet of the British Royal Navy has not changed significantly.

The third telegram is the most critical. There will still be heavy fog in the next two days, which can cover the operations of the high seas fleet.

"Call the crew to rest for a while, and we will wait for the darkness to take action." Lütjens said.

"Is there any news about General Dunitz?" Chen Dao asked.

Lütjens was about to speak when a harsh sirens suddenly came out outside the bridge.

"Bang bang..." The dense sound of anti-aircraft guns fired in the thick fog. The two of them looked up and could vaguely see the flames shining on the shore through the thick fog.

"In this kind of weather, will the British reconnaissance planes come out to investigate?" Chen Dao looked up at the air and raised his ears at the same time.

There was indeed a faint roar of the plane engine outside, but there was no trace of the plane. The thick fog and dark clouds were so annoying.

Five or six minutes later, the fjord returned to peace. Chen Dao soon learned that a British reconnaissance plane that rushed into the mist was shot down and crashed on the hillside on the east side of the fjord.

Lütjens's face was still thoughtful.

"It seems that the British already know our existence, otherwise the reconnaissance plane would not have risked its life to fly here."

Lütjens's speculation was very accurate. Admiral Forbes soon received a reconnaissance report in the British Admiralty building.

"This is a reconnaissance report sent by the K176 reconnaissance aircraft. Four German Navy warships were found in the Colesfjord south of Bergen, one of which was an aircraft carrier. It should be the target we are looking for." A captain and staff officer handed the telegram to Admiral Forbes.

"Order k176 to continue the investigation. It is best to take photos and come back." Admiral Forbes said.

"We have lost contact with k176. The information just now was the last news he sent back." The captain adviser replied.

Admiral Forbes silently looked up at the night outside the window, and then said, "After dawn, add reconnaissance planes to patrol the coast on the west side of the Port of Bergen, and the scope of reconnaissance should be as large as possible."

At 8:50 that evening, Chen Dao and Lütjens woke up after taking a nap in their respective cabins and rushed to the bridge one after another.

The speaker on Prince Eugen immediately sent a broadcast, asking all crew members to take their seats. The ship immediately set sail.

The crew members who were sleeping and dozing jumped out of their beds and rushed to their respective posts. The various departments of the entire warship were running in an orderly manner like a machine.

The beams of password sounds and signal lights flew around the deck.

The thick anchor chains retracted into the hull one by one, dragging the wet iron anchor out of the sea water.

The propeller rotated rapidly, stirring the sea water, pushing the huge hull to move slowly, and followed the Bismarck into thick fog.

When they rushed out of the Colesfjord and headed north, passing through the sea outside the Port of Bergen, a group of huge black shadows joined the fleet and accompanied Prince Eugen to continue to sail north.

The overnight navigation was not unimpeded. The escorted destroyers found suspected submarine targets around the fleet from time to time and launched an attack.

The sound of the deep water bomb sounded intermittently all night and it didn't stop until dawn.

In the early morning of April 25, a British reconnaissance plane rushed out of the rolling clouds and rushed towards the fleet, following the German high seas fleet with extremely poor visibility.

The anti-aircraft gunners of the High Seas Fleet did not let go of this "good scheming" that automatically acted as a target aircraft. Raindrop-like shells flew into the sky, and large patches of gray smoke appeared in the white mist, surrounding the reconnaissance aircraft.

The twenty-mm anti-aircraft shells dragged the light to approach the enemy plane little by little, and soon had a series of close contacts with the reconnaissance plane, allowing the "kind-hearted man" to fall into the arms of the sea.

When General Forbes received a report from the reconnaissance plane for his life and sent it to fly over the former battlefield again, he saw only endless dark clouds and thick fog, as well as the vast sea. The main force of the German High Seas Fleet had long disappeared.

Although he lost his goal, Admiral Forbes was not discouraged.

In Scapa Bay, the local fleet attacked quickly.

Sir Somerville served as commander, the battleship Nelson served as flagship, the battleship Prince of Wales, the aircraft carrier of the USS Fear, sailed west under the escort of four cruisers and seven destroyers.

In the bridge of the Nelson, Sir Somerville quickly outlined the nearby chart in his mind.

According to Admiral Forbes' speculation, the German high seas fleet sailed north along the west coast of Norway. The biggest possibility was to detour north of Iceland and enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Denmark Strait.

His current mission is to lead his troops to attack Iceland and the southern waters, waiting for an opportunity to intercept the German high seas fleet.

Since the German fleet has come out, don't think about going back. The time to avenge the Mediterranean fleet and the H fleet has come.

Somerville rushed to the Denmark Strait with a lot of ambitions, but the German high seas fleet encountered a little trouble.

After a day of sailing, in the early morning of April 26, the German high seas fleet entered the Arctic Circle and turned to the northern coast of Iceland to drive westward.

At this time, in the Icelandic waters, dark clouds seemed to be pressing on the sea at zero distance, and the storm carried raindrops and snowflakes to the sea from the sky.

Sleet crackled on the glass of the Prince Eugen bridge, and the 212-meter narrow hull bumped and rolled on the gray sea, splitting huge waves and bypassing dangerous pieces of ice floating.

Looking around, the visibility at this time is only more than one nautical mile at most, absolutely no more than two nautical miles.

On the bridge, Chen Dao and Lütjens, Captain Brinkmann, the captain of Prince Eugen, formed a circle, and while moving sine waves along the ship, he was holding a cigar in his mouth to study the enemy situation.

"The radar shows that there is an English ship about sixteen nautical miles west of us, and another one at 18 nautical miles, which must be the British patrol ship." Colonel Brinkman guessed.

"They are definitely not the main battleships. Can you find a way to kill them?" Chen Dao asked.

"The visibility is too poor, and it is unlikely to be blindly fired by fire control radar alone. I have sent the Luzov and Admiral Scher to chase them, but there is little hope." Lütjens said.

On the sea surface of the German High Seas Fleet in the west, the British Royal Navy's heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk are patrolling side by side.

This is already the northern entrance to the Denmark Strait in northwest Iceland.

To the west of the strait are rolling icebergs, and to the east are vast fog.

On the Norfolk bridge, the lookouts sat on their posts, staring at the thick fog in the east at the same time.

The radar room sent a report that a fleet was approaching in the east, and the captain immediately ordered all the lookouts to concentrate on observing the east.

The surging waves hit the bridge glass from time to time, blocking the lookouts, but they could not extinguish the survival of the lookouts in their hearts.

The captain had already told the main force of the German high seas fleet to attack this time, two of which were equipped with powerful fifteen-inch naval guns, which could hit them from as far as fifteen nautical miles.

With the Norfolk's body of more than 10,000 tons, you can take all the crew to the embrace of the Sea King Poseidon with two or three rounds.

What's more, the radar room has found the other party's traces, and the lives of nearly 700 people on the ship are all in the hands of their watchers.

The lookouts soon received the command from the captain, and two enemy ships were approaching quickly, asking them to cheer up and find each other.

The captain directed the ship to swim in the thick fog and floes, and tried his best to avoid encounters with the other party.

The visibility is too low. Both sides can detect the other party's existence with the radar, but cannot see the other party's figure.

In hide and seek, time passes by hour and hour quickly.

As the sun sets, the western sea surface is covered with a layer of sunset afterglow, while the thick fog on the eastern sea surface turns into a thin mist.

In the northeast, at the junction of sea and sky, two vague black dots quickly approached Norfolk.

"Two enemy ships were found on the port side, heading 220 degrees and a distance of about ten nautical miles."

A horrified voice shouted, all the lookout hands quickly looked to the port side.

"Release smoke, fill the rudder with the right, turn around and retreat." The captain quickly gave the order.

The Norfolk's hull turned beautifully and sailed south of the Denmark Strait. All that remained on the sea was a cloud of smoke and a row of white water columns.

A moment later, the Suffolk also found traces of the German ship.

The radio waves then flew away from Suffolk, drilled into the British Admiralty building, and also drilled into the communication room of Prince Eugen.

Upon receiving the report, a small cheer sounded in the British Admiralty building.

There was a solemn atmosphere on Prince Eugen. Although he could not decipher the other party's code, he thought with his heels that Chen Dao and Lütjens also knew that the other party was reporting the position of the German high seas fleet.

"As sure, as we do wargame, the battle will happen when we pass through the Denmark Strait, about the time..."

"The British certainly don't want to fight us in the dark, nor do we want to. I judge that the battle will start in the early morning of tomorrow and we have one night to deploy," said Lütjens.
Chapter completed!