Battle of the Third Reich

"The last batch of supplies is on board. This is the cargo list, Captain." Lieutenant Colonel Winsbach handed an envelope to the captain.

"The cabins of the mission personnel are all allocated." Admiral Christian von Hertz opened the envelope and pulled out the documents inside.

"It's all arranged, Captain." The first officer took a cup of coffee from the serviceman.

"How about the fuel replenishment." Von Hertz tucked the document back into the envelope and inserted it into the inner pocket of the uniform.

"It will take another three hours. The oil tanks 1 to 3 have been filled. The fresh water has been replenished and the food supply is almost completed. The Deutsche Bank office in Saigon Port has just sent twenty baskets of fresh fish. It has been sent to the ice storage." The first officer picked up silver tweezers, picked up two pieces of sugar cubes and put them into the cup.

"Is the weather forecast for today and tomorrow delivered?"

"It has been delivered. The weather in most parts of the South China Sea is clear, northwest winds are 4-5, and there are light waves in the Taiwan Strait. It will be sunny tomorrow in Shanghai and the temperature is expected to be around 15 degrees Celsius." Winsbach stirred the silver spoon.

"Very well, we should be able to arrive in Shanghai on time. Berlin is already a little dissatisfied."

"It's all the blame on the British bureaucracy." The first officer took a sip of coffee and shook his head.

"Yeah, **** bureaucracy." Von Hertz grinned.

"I'll leave it to you here. I'll take a look on the deck."

"No problem, sir."

"The captain has left the bridge!" The star officer declared loudly that the captain entered the doorway between the rear spiral stairs.

[Prince Eugen] The heavy cruiser finally arrived at Haiphong Port within the stipulated time limit. Along with it, there was a fleet of transport ships that had been waiting for everyone.

When the heavy cruiser passed through the Suez Canal, the accompanying destroyer collided with a barge of the Port Authority, and the fleet was delayed there for three days. The inefficiency of the British bureaucratic system made the Germans suffer a lot. von Hertz at the time wished to reverse the muzzle and flatten the administration building in Alexandria.

It doesn’t matter much if they are put in peacetime. The problem is that they have official duties. They must rush to Saigon, French Indochina before mid-November, as a carrier of the German special envoy, to start a state visit to Japan.

The original special mission was planning to take a French cruise to Japan, but the Japanese side believed that this was not of sufficient grade and showed the intimacy of the relationship between Germany and Japan. The Japanese government proposed that out of respect for Marshal Blumberg, and in order to reflect the strong friendship between Japan and Germany, they were willing to send the Japanese navy battleship [MU] as a carrier for the German mission.

It’s just that the Japanese have such a small abacus that they can see through at a glance, not to mention Xu Jun, even if it is changed to Hitler, it is impossible to agree.

So Xu Jun ordered the Naval Command, immediately dispatching the [Prince Eugen], who was carrying out his mission in the Mediterranean, carrying two German destroyers, and hurried to French Indochina to shoulder the glorious mission of transporting the German special envoy.

In the order, Commander-in-Chief Marshal Rydell also emphasized that this is an important foreign task. It must display the majesty of the Third Reich. Officers and soldiers should always remember that they represent the Great German Empire. Do not let the glorious Imperial Navy The flag was ashamed and failed the trust of the head of empire in the navy.

[Prince Eugen] The order was received on November 2nd, which happened to be the day when the Italian navy surrendered. When she arrived at the Strait of Malacca, it was already the early morning of November 9th. The visit date determined by the delegation was less than three days.

After arriving in Malacca, German talents found that they were not the most unlucky. It is said that the transport convoy on the berth of the outer port had been blocked here for a full week.

[Prince Eugen] stopped overnight in Singapore and hurriedly replenished some food and fresh water. He set sail at noon on November 10 and sailed directly to the Haiphong port of French Indochina.

Because the Franco-Siam war was underway at the time, this small German fleet also assumed the **** mission of the transport convoy. This was a brand new experience for the German heavy patrol who was good at breaking engagements.

The voyage along the way was very calm. The convoy met the fifth fleet of the Japanese navy and the French Far East Fleet closely following the Japanese near Jinoujiao. Zhanpo paid tribute to each other, and the navies of Japan and France also paid tribute to Zippo, and at the same time sounded siren to salute the German ship.

Von Hertz did not yet know the terrible situation of the Fifth Fleet in the afternoon. He was still wondering how the Japanese navy fleet looked a little bit suspicious, and even more strange why the Japanese squadron followed a whole fleet of French ships.

Then Hertz found the answer to the problem off the coast of Saigon Port. She found the heavy cruiser [Guying] being watched by a group of destroyers. At that time, the hapless warship still had smoke on the deck.

A part of the transport ships in the convoy broke up with the [Prince Eugen] here, turned around and sailed to the north of Saigon Port. The remaining ships turned to the northeast, preparing to sail along the coastline and into the calm Beibu Gulf.

On the way, [Prince Eugen] also rescued three French naval pilots, who were paddling a small rubber lifeboat at that time, and had completely lost their way. After arriving in Haiphong, the Germans handed them over to the French port, and received sincere thanks from the commander of the French garrison in Haiphong.

[Prince Eugen] became the first German naval warship to reach the Far East after the First World War. The Black Hawk flag of the German Navy has disappeared here for 26 years. At that time, the Far East led by Admiral von Spey The fleet has long been turned into iron filings on the seafloor, but the magnificent journey of this small fleet has inspired generations of German naval officers and soldiers. Now, among the officers and soldiers on the [Prince Eugen], there are many soldiers of the East Asian squadron. Descendants.

Along with the [Prince Eugen] arriving in Haiphong, there are two more German destroyers of the 1936A type. This type of destroyer called the [Narvik] type is an improved version of the early 1936 destroyer. The bow has been redesigned. And weapons, equipped with a new dual 150mm main gun and torpedo launcher.

Destroyer ships Z23 and Z24. These two destroyers have not been in service with the Navy for more than two months at this time. From the officers and men to the ships, they are new and worrying. But they have successfully completed the voyage test for them. These sailors have accumulated valuable experience in this intercontinental voyage. This is also the intention of the Navy Command to send these two new ships to the Far East.

There are many similarities between the styles of the German destroyer and the French destroyer. Both sides made this ship similar to a light cruiser. The German navy’s destroyer fleet was very active during the European campaign, sinking hundreds of thousands of tons. The transport ship, with a solid record, finally wiped out the stains left on them by the fiasco in Narvik.

"The headquarters sent a notice that the marshal will board the ship in half an hour, captain." The three officers quickly ran to the captain who was walking on the rear deck.

"Immediately let people clean the deck, and everything must be cleaned up." von Hertz ordered to the sailor next to him.

"Is the military band and honor guard ready?"

"Already prepared."

"Let them be on the deck within five minutes."

"Observe, sir."

"Let the gunner check the salute again. No, it's still you who went for a run."

"Okay, sir."

"What do you think of me? Is it decent?" The captain displayed his navy dress.

"Very powerful and decent, Captain." The third officer nodded.

"Very well, go ahead and execute the order. If you see Winsbach, let him come to see me immediately." von Hertz pulled out his white gloves from his pocket and put them on carefully.

"Observe, Captain, I will immediately notify the lieutenant colonel." The third officer saluted von Hertz, turned around, and ran away.

PS: Asian plots are indeed prone to taboos, and the information is also very messy. It’s very difficult to write, but it has a lot to do with the development of the plot.

I will do my best to write this story a little more exciting.