The ubiquitous British spies had already spread the news that the German battlecruiser was dispatched.

In London, the Navy Intelligence Director was reporting the situation to more than a dozen people of different identities, including the Navy Minister in casual clothes, the Minister of Transportation and the Official in charge of supplies, as well as members of the Navy Command in naval uniforms. Admiral Fisher chose to resign because he strongly opposed Navy Minister Churchill's Dardanell Strait combat plan, and Rei replaced him as Commander of the Ocean Fleet at Admiral Jelico.

The Navy Intelligence Director stood in front of a huge nautical chart and explained the current situation to everyone sitting. The expressions of the people present seemed a little serious. The maritime attack they were worried about since the war finally appeared.

"The Germans dispatched four battlecruisers, and there may be follow-up operations. Two battlecruisers stranded in Germany by the Austro-Hungarian Empire also participated in the operation." The Navy Intelligence Director introduced.

"So, are they six?" Navy Secretary Churchill frowned after listening to the report. The Germans' actions this time were unusual.

"Yes, Your Excellency," said the Director of Intelligence.

"It's also possible that they just stayed in the port for a long time and ran around the North Sea." said Lieutenant General Betty, the commander of the cruiser fleet. "Just drive them back."

"They are not scary to operate in the North Sea. The problem is that if they run out of our warning circle." Admiral Jelico is more worried about this situation. It is easy to say in the North Sea. It is too difficult to find those boats in the vast North Atlantic Ocean.

"Intensify maritime patrols, they must not be allowed to run to the high seas. Once they are discovered, they must have all their strength to annihilate them!" Churchill said. Several powerful surface ships pose a much greater threat to maritime transportation lines than submarines, and they can even cut off transportation on several routes.

The order was quickly issued to the fleets.

The Devon docked at the dock of the Faroe Islands, and it was undergoing coal replenishment. As a territory of the kingdom of Denmark, the belligerent countries could use the port facilities here, but in fact, the ports of these neutral countries could only be used by the British Empire and their allies.

A carriage pulled Bell, the commander of the British fleet, and parked at the dock. The Brigadier general got off the carriage and boarded his flagship. Inside the commander's tower, he said to Captain Colonel McCall: "Immediately recruit all the sailors who came ashore to return, and the fleet set out in 3 hours!"

Order Rochet was entering the headquarters with a plate of drinks. He couldn't help but look bitter when he heard the brigade general's speech, "It's over, it's been his turn for three days of vacation." He said in his heart. If he had known this, he wouldn't have agreed to change the holiday with him. This time he would have lost a lot.

On July 21, a patrol fleet consisting of the armored cruiser "Devon", the reconnaissance cruiser "Blanche", and the two destroyers "Mosquito", and the Lizard" left the Faroe Islands and headed to Norwegian waters for cruise.

Colonel McCall is a tall and thin middle-aged man with a clean face. He was standing outside the command room on the third floor of the bridge, holding the telescope in his hand and staring at the sea in front. The midsummer sun shines on the sea, and the sea water is azure blue. A group of seagulls are chasing the white trails with waves behind the Blanche in front.

Brigadier General Bell came out next to him, as if explaining to him why the warship suddenly received an order to be dispatched, and it was like talking to himself, "The German battle cruiser fleet has been dispatched, and it may be that it wants to break out of the blockade circle we set up, so the Navy ordered all cruisers and destroyers on the front line of the North Sea to be dispatched."

"Maybe it was another in vain for fuel patrol. Since the war began, the Germans seemed to have never had such a plan, General." Colonel McCall said lightly, and the bureaucrats in the Admiralty always liked to make big fuss.

"I hope, I don't want to meet them." Brigadier General Bell frowned, as if he realized something. Compared with the German battle patrol, there were no British warships in this area that were their opponents. In the north of the Shetland Islands, perhaps only two old "solemn" class front dreadnoughts could compete with their opponents, but the two old ships with only 17 knots would never be reinforced in an emergency.

What if they are?

"The Admiralty will immediately dispatch a large number of main ships to encircle them, and the Germans do not have the courage to do so." He subconsciously comforted himself.

The problem is that there is an Austrian behind the Germans who are instigating them.

Meanwhile, in southern Norway, a formation composed of the Radetsky and the Grand Duke of Franz was sailing towards the Skaglak Strait at a speed of 12 knots, as if it was preparing to return to the Baltic Sea through this strait.

On the bridge of the flagship "Radetsky", Major General Cromwell was leisurely leaning his body against the railings, squinting his eyes to admire the Nordic coast with a very Nordic scenery. The coast in the distance is a steep green cliff, and the sunny sea is calm. Of course, the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean are much larger than those in the Mediterranean even in such a clear day.

"I wonder how long will this bad weather last?"

Captain Colonel Clemens frowned and looked at the blue sky with some white clouds floating above his head. For an attack fleet, the clear weather was indeed a "bad weather". The expected stormy weather did not appear, and the entire battlecruiser had no choice but to turn around to the Scarglake Strait.

This was an expected action to confuse the British and thus make them think that the fleet had returned.

During the day, the entire fleet will inevitably encounter some merchant ships on the busy Nordic routes, and they will be discovered even if there are no British patrol ships here.

Now the three battlecruisers are about thirty nautical miles apart, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy is at the end.

Perhaps Clemens' prayer played a role, and the weather in the North Sea was indeed unpredictable. In the afternoon, the originally hot sunlight was blocked by large clouds, and the sky began to become gloomy. After a while, it started to rain in the sky, and the sea was filled with a layer of white rain fog.

"Order, the fleet begins to turn!" After receiving a telegram from the German Navy Command, Major General Cromwell issued an order to turn the fleet.

As the order was issued, the fleet accelerated, and the two warships drew a semicircular arc on the sea surface. Huge waves were stirred up on both sides of the bow, and two arc-shaped white marks were left behind, spreading far to both sides. At the same time, the other two German battle patrol formations were also doing the same thing. They would use the cover of rain, fog and night to pass through the British blockade circle and enter the vast North Atlantic Ocean.

Now, the Austro-Hungarian Navy formation has become avant-garde.

By midnight, the fleet at 22 knots of high-speed route had already crossed the blockade set up by the British between the Shetland Islands and Bergen, Norway, and continued north along the route about 70 nautical miles from the Norwegian coast.

No accident happened. On such a dark rainy night with low visibility, perhaps only when you meet the oncoming British patrol ships, you can find each other.

Everything went well, and the fleet continued to move northward silently with radio. According to the plan, they would sail on the Norwegian sea for three days before entering the North Atlantic through the Danish Strait.
Chapter completed!