Who killed 'the generator' (4)?

  The British, on the other hand, were full of confidence. The commander of the reinforcement fleet, Tom, was a former naval staff officer who was known for being meticulous and cautious in his planning. He also had a stubborn personality that was typical of the British. Moreover, he was short in stature, earning him the nickname "Big Thumb Tom" in the navy. However, he had no experience leading a fleet in battle at sea, having always worked as a staff officer in the naval command center. In this position, he performed his duties diligently and showed rare wisdom for a British person. Nevertheless, this also meant that he needed to carefully consider all aspects of a situation before making a decision, which was not a problem in his previous role but would be a liability in battle where quick decisions were necessary. A commander needed rich experience to make swift judgments on the ever-changing battlefield. Tom did not possess this quality yet, and the sailors in the fleet were unaware of this fact; they had not been given a good commander. Thus, the fate of the reinforcement fleet was sealed: total annihilation.

  Before setting sail, Tom had already received a warning that, according to the latest intelligence analysis, the unknown German submarine that had performed well in the Battle of Norway was on the move and might be operating in waters near the English Channel. He was asked to try to capture it if possible, or at least take some prisoners from it, while ensuring his own safety; if he sank it, he would have to submit a detailed report. The British Admiralty was eager to know more about this mysterious submarine, as most of the spies they had sent out previously had been caught by German counter-intelligence, and several high-level moles had lost contact for some time, presumably because the Germans had discovered their true identities.

  Tom shook his head as he read the telegram from the British Admiralty, forwarded by the local fleet. The mysterious submarine was known to be difficult to detect, and its attack method seemed different from that of German submarines. While German submarines usually attacked at night on the surface, this one could hide underwater during the day and attack without extending its periscope for a long time to track and locate its target. Moreover, it seemed to make less noise, as British sonar operators had never detected it before an attack. However, Tom believed that his colleagues were too careless and underestimated the power of German submarines. Although the submarine was described as terrifying in intelligence reports, Tom suspected that the British Admiralty's brains had been waterlogged. Britain was the best shipbuilding country in the world, and its submarines, although inferior to Germany's, were not so bad. It was impossible for Germany to build such a terrible submarine, and this must be an exaggeration by incompetent people trying to shift the blame. Nevertheless, Tom ordered his fleet to sail at the highest possible speed without affecting sonar operations and set up many observation posts on deck to monitor sea and air conditions, as German Stuka dive bombers were also not to be underestimated.

  The Chief of Staff, R?der, came to Admiral Lütjens who was standing on the navigation bridge staring at the sea: "Sir, the last submarine patrol line has sent a telegram, the British fleet has passed their observation line."

  "The British are approaching our ambush area, aren't they?" Lütjens turned his gaze away from the sea and towards his chief of staff.

  "Yes, I think we should form up now." "What about the 8th Submarine Squadron?" "They are following behind the British. Our air force planes will arrive above us in another 10 minutes," said the Chief of Staff.

  "Alright, let our brave little guys get moving, they must have been holding back for a long time. Cline, isn't that right?"

  "Yes, our little boys have been bursting for a long time." Captain Klein of the German High Seas Fleet flagship replied loudly.

  Lütjens took a deep breath to suppress his excitement, thinking that he might become the first German naval officer to wipe out the shame of Jutland.

  "How much longer will the British be here?" asked Lieutenant Uhren. "Report, 20 minutes,"

  Lüttjens pulled out his pocket watch, looked at the time and said: "At 1400 German Summer Time, we will launch the attack. Each ship will act according to Plan No. 1. Let's begin!!!!!!"

  "The flagship has sent an order, we are to act according to plan number one." The first officer of the battleship 'Munich' (formerly British battleship 'Warrior', which was captured by Germany in Norway and quickly repaired, thus joining the German Navy's combat sequence - I previously referred to it as General Betty mistakenly) said, holding a megaphone.

  "Understood," said Captain Rogge of the battleship 'Munich'.

  It had finally begun, and Rogge felt his blood boiling up, with a sensation like an electric shock running from his spine to his whole body, and all the hairs on his body stood up. He was originally just the commander of a destroyer, and like Riedel, the commander of the German intercept fleet, he was rapidly promoted for performing well in the Norwegian campaign. He made a name for himself in the Battle of Narvik, while Rogge fought selflessly in the Oslofjord, destroying seven Norwegian shore batteries one after another, and coordinating with the "Blücher" to repeatedly repel several threatening counterattacks by the Norwegian army during the cover of the landing of ground troops. He was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel, and awarded an Iron Cross First Class medal. What made him most happy was that he had been promoted from destroyer commander to battleship commander, which was what he had always dreamed of, although this battleship was a bit old and had been captured from the British. But it was better than nothing. He would definitely use this captured British battleship to give the British Navy a very deep memory.

  Rogers put on his own hat and said to First Mate Joseph: "Now pass the word throughout the ship. Go to first-level combat readiness."

  Joseph gave a smart salute and shouted loudly: "Yes sir!"

  Rogg gave a dashing military salute to everyone on the bridge: "To wipe out the shame of our Jutland Sea Battle, for our Navy, for the revival of our German nation, I ask you to do your best to complete our mission!"

  "For Germany, for the resurgence of the German people, we will do our utmost to complete our mission!" The German naval officer shouted excitedly on the bridge.

  Rog walked out onto the open deck outside the command bridge of the flagship, where the alarm sirens were blaring loudly. Groups of sailors rushed out from various cabins and ran to their battle stations. As he looked around, the sailors on other ships in the Pacific Fleet were also rushing to their posts in an orderly manner.

  "Captain, engine room reports that the engines are ready for orders," said Second Lieutenant Wurmheiler to Rog. "Two-thirds ahead on both engines, right rudder 25 degrees, proceed along the designated course to take up battle formation." "Aye, Captain." "Joseph, go and direct the navigation, keep an eye on the distance from other ships." "Aye, Captain," Joseph replied as he climbed up the ladder to the bridge.

  Rogge looked around and saw the sister ships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst to his port quarter, already slowly getting underway. They were followed by the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. Ahead of him were the battleships Lützow and Scheer, while Blücher was leading the destroyer flotilla hastening up from the south. His own ship had the largest caliber guns in the fleet.

  The British reinforcement fleet was unaware of the Germans' actions, only discovering a few German submarines on their way. However, those German submarines were far away from them and showed no signs of attack. Tom ordered that if the German submarines did not show any signs of attack, they should be ignored. He believed that those German submarines could only bully unarmed merchant ships and British-converted fishing trawlers, and would only dare to surface at night to attack. They never dared to attack the British fleet during the day, these cowardly and despicable German pigs, who could only breathe the polluted air underwater, staring with their blood-red eyes through the periscope on the sea surface for those completely defenseless merchant ships, and didn't have the guts to touch his heavily armed fleet.

  Little did Tom know, the German submarine he had been looking down on had actually been tracking his fleet for a long time and its sonar had already locked onto them. However, since they were not yet in the ambush area of the German High Seas Fleet, no attack was launched.

  Zhou Tianlei, Muller and the officers and men on the submarine were waiting patiently for the best opportunity under the cool breeze blown by the air conditioner. Zhou Tianlei and Muller each held a cup of coffee, sitting in their chairs, savoring it leisurely. The submarine's main engine was very quiet due to the vibration-reducing pad, humming softly. The sailors were all seated at their posts, doing their work with precision.

  At this time, British reconnaissance planes flying from the mainland saw that the German intercept fleet's flagship 'Brüchel', 'K?ln' and 'Leipzig' two light cruisers and 2 destroyers were heading towards the northeast sea area. (The German aircraft covering them in the air had already returned to their base, just to lure the enemy deeper) The reconnaissance planes quickly passed this intelligence on to the British reinforcement fleet and the British fighter group that was about to merge with them.

  The British reinforcement fleet was overjoyed and worried after receiving the telegram. They were glad to have finally caught up with the German raider, but were worried that the British convoy and rescue ships had not been found according to intelligence reports. It was possible that they had already been sent to the bottom of the sea by the German raider. The commander of the British reinforcement fleet, Tom, was furious. How dare the Germans be so arrogant as to give themselves airs in the English Channel? They didn't put the British Empire's navy in their eyes. He vowed to send the German raider to the bottom of the sea and avenge the dead British compatriots.

  But what he didn't know was that the German High Seas Fleet and the 8th U-boat Flotilla led by Zhou Tianlei had already booked him in advance on their own merit books.