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Part One Twenty Years Chapter 12 The Fall of the Stars and Stripes (7)

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    (Talking about the plan of this book, I plan to end the Battle of Orkney in two sections, and then there will be only a gorgeous Berlin Mutiny. As for the armistice, the role of the protagonist, Little Brandeis, World War II, Catherine, etc.  , I will mention them one by one in the epilogue. The epilogue is about 50,000 to 60,000 words, so it is not considered a bad ending)

    "("King of the North Atlantic" Section 8, American Tragedy[2])

    As the Americans arrived at the battlefield, the North Sea, which had been lonely for a while, became lively again. All kinds of rumors and telegrams were flying all over the sky. The Grand Fleet, Ocean Fleet, Fast Fleet, First Reconnaissance Group and the American battleship squadron were all talking about each other.  Without knowing it in advance, they teamed up to stage a dazzling chaos.

    Yes, this is a complete chaos.  Throughout the history of dreadnought naval battles, there seems to be no more chaotic naval battle than the Mars-on-Earth-style initial battle between Germany and the U.S. Navy. Even the battle of Ustica Island in the Mediterranean Sea, which is known for its "chaos," cannot compare.

    At 14:40, the American battleship squadron, which cut into the northern edge of the Firth of Forth at high speed and headed southwest, unexpectedly saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky on the starboard side of the fleet near the coastline of the Scottish Peninsula.

    Americans are puzzled by the plumes of smoke rising below the sea level.  Judging from the height of the smoke column, it is definitely not the effect that the soot of a warship can produce. It is more like the explosion of an ammunition depot of the navy and army on the coast or the fire of a battleship. It can be judged from the position of the smoke column that at sea,  It is unlikely that there will be an ammunition depot in a place where there is not even a decent harbor on the map, let alone large warships in that shallow sea.

    Many years later, Americans learned from the British Empire's declassified Orkney Islands naval battle data that it was the Royal Navy's HMS Indomitable battle cruiser. This old battlecruiser was seriously injured and billowing with smoke in Seydlitz, Germany.  Under unrelenting pursuit by the two battle cruisers No. 1 and Moltke, they had to run aground towards the country's coastline.

    At the time, Americans had no way of verifying this discovery.  The U.S. battleship squadron, which lacked the support of light cruisers and destroyers, lacked the necessary means to detect the battlefield, so it could only retain the strong curiosity of the cowboys and continue their thrilling journey.

    Of course, discovering that plume of smoke was not in vain. It served as a wake-up call to the Americans and warned the intrepid rookies who had not fired a single shot since the Spanish-American War about the situation. This is the most terrifying battlefield, and the opponents are also  Not a target ship.

    Four minutes later, that is, 14:44.  The guilty Americans broke the battlefield radio silence in advance as planned, called the British Admiralty in London and the Grand Fleet flagship Revenge on the Firth of Forth battlefield, waiting for the moment when the 'master' showed his sword.

    The telegram has been sent.  The enthusiasm and ambition of the cowboys were barely brewed, but the targets of their calls and conquests invariably remained silent.

    ¡°We estimate that the scheduled battlefield is only fifteen minutes away. In other words, the majestic main guns of our American fleet will be put to use in at most fifteen minutes. But at this time, we lost contact with the British.

    "At first we thought there was something wrong with the Nevada's radio.  Although telegraph operators and maintenance technicians rejected this statement, fleet headquarters could not find a more convincing point of view.  It seems now.  This statement is laughable, absurd and disastrous.  However, in the Orkney Islands, where there is a lack of battlefield intelligence, we cannot think of other possibilities. Is it difficult for us to believe that the British Admiralty has been captured by Irish thugs or the German army? The Royal Navy was completely destroyed in the Battle of the Orkney Islands, and not even one of its ships was  Can¡¯t even get the flagship radio?

    The telegraph operators and maintenance technicians worked in the telegraph room and on the wireless antenna for nearly fifteen minutes. We also waited in the conning tower of the Nevada for nearly fifteen minutes until my chief of staff reported that it was now three o'clock in the afternoon.  all.  I just realized something was wrong.

    I couldn't imagine how bad the actual situation was, so that the radio systems of the British Admiralty and the Grand Fleet flagship were paralyzed or out of control at the same time. I only knew that I would go all the way across the North Atlantic to the North Sea despite bearing the infamy of undeclared war.  Our behavior was extremely unprofessional.  There is no doubt about it.  We underestimated the Ocean Fleet and Heidi Silem, and plunged into the unfathomable Firth of Forth with almost no battlefield intelligence or battlefield support.  We should have been the icing on the cake, but now, the American fleet is likely to become the most generous and generous fool in this century, even sacrificing achievements even though it is thousands of miles away!  ¡¯

    In the personal memoir "My World War 1917" by Rear Admiral Rodman, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. battleship squadron at the time, this commander with mixed reputations described the situation before the Stars and Stripes flagship encountered the Germans.

    In response to the unclear battlefield situation, loss of contact with the British, and lack of investigation methods, Rear Admiral Rodman subsequently took a series of measures, such as ordering the reduction of the U.S. battleship fleet.Speed ??up and let the lookouts closely monitor the North Sea. The fleet is ready to release seaplanes at any time. The Nevada hoists the steam boat to detect the smoke column that has moved to the north side, and urgently contacts the Navy of the country.

    After a series of measures were implemented, the Americans still felt uneasy. They held their breath and looked at the violent North Sea with horrified eyes, fearing that the Germans would jump out on the corpse of the Royal Navy and harvest the American battleship squadron with only four battleships.

    It was in this atmosphere that the highly focused lookout reported that he had spotted two or three lifeboats rowing towards this side on the wave crest in front of the port side of the fleet.

    It no longer matters whether they are friends or foes. What matters is that this is a sea far away from the coastline. There are no other steam-powered or sail-powered ships nearby. The Americans have an obligation to rescue those poor people.

    After an inconvenient dispute, Major General Rodman, who was in a state of panic and desperation, sent another steam boat to pick up the opponent in a humanitarian spirit.

    God will compensate Major General Rodman for his chivalry. Those small sampans on the sea were captured by three Mackensens from the first team of the German 1st Reconnaissance Group at around 12:53 during the Battle of Orkney Islands.  The remnants of the battlecruiser that sank the British battleship Bellerophon.

    There is no communication barrier between Americans and their cousins. With the help of their American cousins, the survivors of the Bellerophon who refused to be captured by the German destroyer boarded the gangway of the USS Nevada one after another.

    The helpless Major General Rodman rushed from the command tower with great expectations, trying to get some good news from the British sailors, but what greeted him was a thunderbolt on a sunny day:

    ¡®General, Bellerophon has sunk, Canada has sunk, Neptune has also sunk, the First Battle Fleet is finished!  ¡¯

    Ten minutes later, another steam boat that was sent out also turned back. The sailors pointed to the north in horror and stammered:

    "General, that is a seriously injured British Invincible-class battle cruiser. It ran aground in the shallow waters of the coastline"

    Including the three battleships mentioned in the previous telegram from the British Admiralty, the British have lost (destroyed) at least seven battleships. The Americans finally understood the reason why the Grand Fleet lost contact.

    The Americans were really panicked, but on the other side, the German fleet, which was pursuing victory, was already distracted and unwilling to fight.

    Although the main fleet of the Ocean Fleet bit the battleship Revenge, it failed to retain the other two Revenge-class and two Iron Duke-class battleships of the Fourth Battle Fleet, allowing the main fleet of the Grand Fleet to retain its last vestige of vitality.  Lieutenant General Biharnik and his First Reconnaissance Group, who charted a route across the British Fast Fleet in the North Sea, gave up their plan to pursue the British Fast Fleet early. This move was mentioned countless times later by us, who are armchair strategists.  It became an eternal regret in the naval battle of Orkney Islands.

    In fact, even if the First Reconnaissance Group breaks through West Lem and pursues the order for half an hour, they may not be able to stop the British who set off nearly fifty minutes earlier than the First Reconnaissance Group. However, standing at the commanding heights of history, we are used to condescendingly  Looking at past history, the bankrupt German navy and army landing plan on the British Isles (also known as Project Sea Lion) and the German-British war patrol and counterattack that lasted from June to October were attributed to "incompleteness"  The Battle of Orkney.

    At the end of the Battle of the Orkney Islands, the only thing worth mentioning was the ¡®disabled squadron¡¯ consisting of four battleships that had lost speed.

    At 15:27, the ¡®Disability Squadron¡¯, protected by a destroyer squadron of eight medium-sized destroyers, slowly sailed towards the scheduled rendezvous point of the Ocean Fleet.  This was originally a relaxed and heroic triumphal journey after a glorious victory. However, in the northern part of the Firth of Forth, they unexpectedly encountered several plumes of smoke rising from below the sea level.

    ¡®Although the position and course are wrong, the only fleet that can appear on the northeast side at this time is the first reconnaissance group.  The captain of the battleship Bavaria looked at the fleet that was approaching from the northeast and said doubtfully: "The First Reconnaissance Group did not rush to the rendezvous point, but instead turned around and returned to the battlefield. General Bihanik, what are you talking about?"  nerve?  ¡¯¡± (To be continued.)
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