Chapter 149: Shocked, I found out when patrolling at sea
In fact, Joseph's guess was not entirely wrong. This was indeed a new battleship built by Germany undergoing secret sea trials. However, this battleship was not left to the Germans.
After the visit of Warevsky, the director of the Political Propaganda Department of the Soviet Navy, the battleship Peter the Great, which was jointly built by the Soviet Union and Germany, went through a lot of preparation work before the sea trial, including boiler test firing, turbine starting and debugging, and transmission system adjustment.
Even adding fuel and lubricant took a while.
It was not until more than a month later that Stalin, who received the news, sent the first batch of receiving personnel, accompanied by a guidance team sent by the German Navy, to conduct this secret sea trial together.
It is said to be a guide. In fact, it is the first time for the crew of the German Navy to come into contact with this kind of main warship with a design speed of up to 31.5 knots. Moreover, during the sea trial, a large number of daily items that the crew needed to bring were not installed on the ship, including
There are no items such as tables in the conference room.
What Reinhardt means is that all daily necessities will be left to the Soviets to arrange according to their own preferences. As a result, the weight of the Peter the Great during sea trials was further reduced, which was conducive to increasing the stable speed. This also
Not counting the increase in top speed, it’s already impressive!
In this way, it is actually equivalent to the crew of the German Navy taking the opportunity to become familiar with the operating procedures of this type of high-speed battleship, and collecting verification data by the way.
For the Soviet Union, the leader of the team was naturally Walevsky, who had been warmly entertained by Reinhardt in Germany. He was a high-ranking figure in the Soviet Navy, but he was also a complete layman.
On the German side, they sent Rear Admiral Lutjens, who served in the torpedo boat force in World War I and is now the director of the German Naval Personnel Bureau.
Let this general who commanded the battleship Scharnhorst in history and used the extreme speed of 32 knots at the time to get past the British HMS Reputation, lead the team to the battleship Peter the Great, which was upgraded to the speed of Scharnhorst.
When it comes to training, everyone can make the most of their talents.
"General Lütjens," Warevsky, who knew nothing about the performance of battleships, followed Lütjens after boarding the ship, and did not greet him in his proficient German until the sea trials began: "Today's
The weather is nice."
The problem is, Germans don’t like greetings about the weather. Looking at this idiot who confused British habits with German habits, Lütjens really had the urge to throw him into the sea.
But this layman is still the person in charge sent by the Soviet Union. He can't even beat him or scold him. When faced with his nonsense, he has to pretend to give serious answers.
However, Lütjens then thought about Reinhardt's repeated instructions to him, trying to ignore the Soviet representative who was supposed to be the protagonist, and to concentrate on leading the team for sea trials. So, he had to force a smile and said: "Well, yes
,The weather is nice...How about I have someone take you around the ship?"
"Oh" Warevsky responded knowingly.
Just when Lütjens thought he could get rid of this layman, a captain's report disrupted the originally peaceful sea trial: "A small formation was spotted ahead! They are approaching us!"
"There are warships from other countries! Warships from other countries!" Warevsky shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Don't worry, Representative Warevsky. From this distance, even if they fire at us, they will definitely miss." Lütyans comforted with a smile.
Turning around, Lütjens immediately issued another order that frightened Walevsky: "Give me my order. This ship does not have to retreat. Let them continue to approach."
Anyway, the Soviet Navy's St. Andre flag was flying, and a circle of red marks was specially painted on the ship's body, indicating that it was a Soviet warship. Regardless of whether the other party believed it or not, on the surface, it didn't seem to be doing anything about Germany.
Why should we avoid it? Wouldn't it be better to have a conflict? It would be better to let them see the "Soviet version of the new battleship" and divert some attention from the German Navy.
"In! In!" Warevsky was still screaming.
"I know!" Lutjens said impatiently.
........
"It's getting better and better! It's getting better and better!" Warevsky was still shouting.
"Shut up!" Lutjens went crazy and shouted directly without caring about the identity of the other party's representative.
He couldn't figure out how a dignified minister of the Soviet Navy could be so timid. Doesn't the Soviet government like to appoint tougher officials?
Besides, this is just a chance encounter at sea. Although the attitude of European countries towards the Soviet Union is not very good, they will not blatantly open fire on this Soviet warship. At most, the other party will follow it and take a few photos, or show off.
Where does the danger come from when you use force? Are you afraid of being like this?
Since it was a joint Soviet-German sea trial, there was also a group of crew members sent by the Soviet government to take over the Peter the Great. Like Walevsky, they were not calm at all at the moment and formed a conflict with their German colleagues.
sharp contrast.
In the telescope, Lütjens, who had clearly seen the Royal Union Jack flag of the other party, frowned slightly. After confirming that the other party should also clearly see the St. Andre flag of the Soviet Navy hanging on his side, he whispered to the ship's engineer.
In a few words, he said calmly in front of Warevsky: "Get ready to return, and the whole ship will speed up."
.....................
"General! The other party is starting to leave at a faster speed!" Joseph's major staff officer reported nervously.
"Why are you panicking?" Joseph sneered: "Have you forgotten that what our Kent-class heavy cruiser is most proud of is its speed?"
"Command, the entire formation immediately speeds up and catches up with the Soviet warship ahead."
"Order, prepare the main gun. Don't let up without my order!"
"Also, order the guys from the propaganda department on our flagship to prepare their cameras and catch up later, take the photos and take them back to the country. This is important information!"
After a few orders, Joseph had clearly displayed his plan for the formation's next move in front of everyone.
Boldly approach, respond vigilantly, and collect intelligence. Everyone believes that this lucky little formation will have the opportunity to send back an important piece of intelligence to the country today!
As the Kent-class heavy cruiser HMS Suffolk under Joseph's feet began to increase speed, the entire small formation of Royal Navy warships immediately increased their power to the highest level.
Under the full speed pursuit of the British formation, the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. The outline of the Peter the Great gradually became clearer under the cameras of the British Propaganda Department.
It seems that in less than 10 minutes, this British formation will catch up with the Peter the Great on its side.
As if his brain exploded with a bang, Walevsky held the armrest tightly and stared at everything that happened in front of him.
Not only him, but almost all the Soviet crew members who came to take over the Peter the Great felt heavy at the moment.
As the direct superior of these Soviet crewmen, Walevsky's heart had fallen to freezing point.
He even clearly remembered how his Soviet crew members cheered for the Peter the Great's astonishing speed a few hours ago.
At that time, everyone's eyes were shining and they were cheering. For these Soviet crew members who set foot on this new high-speed battleship for the first time, they were like children who got a beautiful toy they had never seen before, and they were full of excitement.
Joy from within.
However, I didn't expect that only a few hours later, things would reach this point.
Britain, why did they encounter Britain, the country least friendly to the Soviet Union in the world?
If this British fleet is allowed to catch up and take photos at close range, then every Soviet officer present may be cut into pieces by the disgraced Stalin and thrown into prison after returning home. Like this
Warevsky has seen too many things...
The only hope is to avoid it immediately! Stay away from this Royal Navy formation completely!
But everyone knows that the encounter between the two sides is inevitable. In 10 minutes at most, the British formation will drive next to them!
Warevsky sighed, turned around and wanted to leave the command tower. He didn't want to watch the British formation approach him step by step.
He could only wait helplessly for the tragedy to happen, which was too cruel for him.
However, Warevsky's feet stopped at the moment he was about to step back.
He suddenly found that Lütjens, who was standing next to him and had just given the order to retreat, had no expression of worry at all on his face, and seemed to be mumbling in a nervous voice: "This is their full speed! This is theirs."
Full speed!”
Warevsky's heartbeat was speeding up, and a premonition drove him to quickly look at the other German crew members on the ship.
In sight, the German crew members at various positions did not panic at all, and were ready to prepare. This was in serious contrast to the Soviet exchange personnel who were exploding.
An elderly engineer was walking respectfully towards Lütjens. His face was calm and calm, as if he had foreseen the "serious" emergency situation.
