Chapter 972: Pursuit

On the battleship 'Caesar', the flagship of the United Fleet, the commander, Admiral Hipper, has already rested. This class of "New Kaiser-class" battleships of the German Navy was built and refitted on the "Lion-class" battleships that the British had already completed half of the hull.

The design of warships of the British Navy has always focused on enjoyment. The captain's cabin not only has a good-sized lounge, but also an office. This is undoubtedly very good on a battleship.

Admiral Hipper was also very satisfied with this. However, after the continued construction of the "Caesar-class" battleship, the German Navy no longer started building battleships. This made Admiral Hipper, who had spent most of his life on the battleship, very reluctant to part with it. However, they also know that the German Navy will build more aircraft carriers in the future, because aircraft carriers are the mainstream in the future, and will help the German Navy win the next more intense naval battle. Therefore, not only did they not prevent aircraft carriers from replacing capital ships and becoming the main force of the navy, but they pushed forward as much as possible. However, Admiral Hipper and others still hope that the huge main fleet owned by the German Navy can contribute its own strength in future naval battles.

"Bang bang!" There was a knock on the cabin door.

Admiral Hipper turned over from the bed at once, he quickly put on his pants and clothes, and opened the hatch.

"What happened? Brigadier General." Admiral Hipper asked.

"General, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has already left the Adriatic Sea and entered the Mediterranean Sea. However, they did not sail westward, but sailed eastward." Brigadier General Barold, the captain of the battleship 'Caesar' reported road.

"Huh?" Admiral Hipper was stunned for a moment, and he also felt that this question might be more troublesome.

Admiral Hipper and Brigadier General Barold quickly went to the command tower. Lieutenant General Richter Feld, Chief of Staff of the Local Fleet, Lieutenant General Mauf, Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Major General Raeder, Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Ingenor, Commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, and Major General Ruyter, Chief of Staff, have all arrived. Obviously, this abnormal behavior of the Austro-Hungarian Navy caused major problems in the German Navy's plan.

"Your Excellency, the Austro-Hungarian navy has given up its westward advance. Obviously, they did not want to enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, but chose other means. It now appears that they want to force their way into the Suez Canal and then pass through the Canal Entered the Indian Ocean." Lieutenant General Richter Feld said.

Admiral Hipper nodded: "This is undoubtedly a very difficult problem. Once the Austro-Hungarian Navy enters the Indian Ocean, it will be even more difficult for us to catch them. After they enter the Indian Ocean, they can pass through the Cape of Good Hope Entering the Atlantic Ocean, you can also bypass Australia to enter the Western Pacific Ocean, and then bypass South America to enter the Atlantic Ocean. This will cause great problems for our pursuit."

Originally, Admiral Hipper thought that this naval battle, although a little dangerous. But with the strength of the combined fleet of the German Navy, it is completely enough to crush the Austro-Hungarian Navy. So, they won't have any problem. At most, it will pay a certain amount of casualties. But now it seems that the Austro-Hungarian Navy is not going to sit still. Knowing that they are not as powerful as the German Navy, they will not come to die foolishly, but choose a detour in an attempt to get rid of the pursuit of the German Navy.

"Your Excellency, Commander, can you order our garrison at the Suez Canal to intercept the Austro-Hungarian Navy?" Lieutenant General Ingenor asked.

Admiral Hipper shook his head: "We are in the Suez Canal, and there is only one regiment of security forces. They only have a dozen 75mm field guns. Let them use those field guns to deal with the Austro-Hungarian Navy? Obviously It's impossible."

"If we had known earlier, we shouldn't have rushed to Gibraltar too early. If we stayed in the eastern Mediterranean waters, we could stop the Austro-Hungarian navy. We can even use the terrain to intercept the northern Red Sea and the southern end of the Suez Canal." The Austro-Hungarian Navy." Admiral Ingenuel sighed.

Although, the Indian Ocean Fleet is not as powerful as the Austro-Hungarian Navy. However, the Red Sea is narrow, and the Suez Canal can only allow a single battleship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy to pass through. As long as they deploy a few capital ships at the mouth of the canal, they can block it tightly. The Austro-Hungarian navy entered the Red Sea through the canal, only to be blocked there by them.

However, it is too late to say these now.

"The actions of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were indeed beyond our expectations. They actually gave up the shortest route into the Atlantic Ocean, chose to give up the first time to join the US Navy, but chose to take a long way. Now, we have no other Fortunately, the capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy are not too fast. In particular, their "United Force-class" battleships have a maximum speed of only 20 knots. So far in service, they can Guaranteeing a speed of more than 18 knots is already blessed by God. On the other hand, our warships are all cutting-edge warships. Even if the speed is increased to 23 or 24 knots, there is no problem at all. In this case, we We can close the distance of 5 knots with them every hour. In one day, it is more than 200 kilometers. In this way, we can catch up with them in a week at most! From the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea It is almost 2,000 kilometers from the border sea area to the Suez Canal. We are enough to shorten the distance to half. If we are lucky, we will be able to catch up with them when the Austro-Hungarian Navy just passed through the Red Sea!" Admiral Hipper said .

This is the most stupid way, but also the most effective way. The German navy could only pursue the Austro-Hungarian navy with the help of the speed advantage of the warships.

The other generals nodded again and again, approving the plan.

"Order our base in Egypt to prepare enough supplies. At that time, we need to carry out a supply. In addition, in the Indian Ocean Fleet, prepare a batch of supplies and use transport ships to send them to the Gulf of Aden and hide them. If the time comes If we have not fought a decisive battle with the Austro-Hungarian Navy, we can resupply the fleet." Admiral Hipper ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander." Lieutenant General Ingenuel nodded.

"In addition, we must not lose the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Especially before they enter the Indian Ocean, if we have not caught up with them, we must not lose it. Otherwise, we will wait until they enter the Indian Ocean, and We lost them even more, so it will be even more difficult to stop them!" Admiral Hipper looked serious.