What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 256 No Way Out
Startled by the Carl, the Dubre did not dare to pursue. At 3 a.m., it received instructions to accelerate to 28 knots and prepare to engage the battleship formation.

At 6:10 a.m., an unidentified target was spotted 90 kilometers north of Natal.

But the radar echoes were very strange, so the Dubrev slowed down and prepared to wait for the other side to come to them.

There was a light rain around 5 o'clock, and the visibility was quite good after the rain stopped. Around 7 o'clock, the Dubrev saw a cloud of smoke rising on the distant horizon.

Optical observation methods could not detect any warship features. Only radar, due to the closer distance, could finally distinguish three definite targets. The intervals were very short; otherwise, the three plumes of smoke would have been indistinguishable.

The Dubreuil radioed four times to inquire, but received no response.

A Lynx MK4 shipborne helicopter bravely took off and conducted aerial photography, but to no avail.

After much hesitation, the Dubreuil decided to approach the three plumes of smoke.

……

Bismarck.

"It's already seven in the morning, you should get up, Commander."

Tang Wen groggily opened his eyes and saw the ship girl standing by the bed had rolled over to the other side, curled up in a ball hugging the blanket, and replied in a muffled voice:

"Don't call me, let's talk when we encounter the Dubre."

After saying that, Tang Wen put his hand on his forehead, which was not only cold but also covered with a fine layer of cold sweat.

Over the past few days, he has come to a conclusion: although ship girls look beautiful and feel soft to the touch, they are definitely not human.

During this period, he had to constantly appear on the scene during the day to summarize publicly available media information and adjust the combat plan, and at night he had to go on board the ship for actual combat. It was a complete exhaustion of both his body and mind, and he felt like his body was no longer his own.

Noticing this, the ship girl recalled the etiquette she had learned from watching TV dramas and called out in a gentle voice:

"It's okay, it's already very good."

Tang Wen: I'm asleep, I can't hear you.

Before he could even rest and recover, a system notification appeared in his mind: the Bismarck squadron had entered the radar field of view of the Dubreuil.

[Our battleships have been detected*3]

In World of Warships, the radar's effective range is forcibly reduced to within 10 kilometers for the sake of game mechanics, and is also limited to a few tens of seconds. The radar on the Dubrai is already considered a super cheat, making the entire map transparent.

That's cheating! That's cheating!

With consumables and fuel no longer restricted, the Bismarck-class ships reached a top speed of 37 knots, while the two Scharnhorst-class ships reached a top speed of 39 knots.

Only the Tirpitz squadron, in order to take care of the two slowest heavy cruisers, had fallen hundreds of kilometers behind and was trailing at the very back, silently following at a speed of 30 knots.

Tang Wen looked out the porthole and saw only a white mist.

The white mist generated by the strange smoke skill seemed to be just simple water mist, making the inside and outside of the warship somewhat damp. However, it did not affect the interior of the warship, but it did obscure the view of the command tower.

Only by switching to a third-person perspective can you see three plumes of thick smoke billowing forward on the sea, as spectacular as the long plumes of smoke trailed by an extremely magnified train.

A message appeared before my eyes:

[Under the influence of smoke, radar cannot accurately lock on, optical coordinates cannot be confirmed, and the error margin of incoming artillery shells increases by 15%]

It was a pleasant surprise; the smoke really worked.

In fact, modern electronic detection devices are greatly affected by the weather. High-speed smoke generators essentially envelop warships in a vortex of water vapor, which can indeed greatly interfere with radar.

As for the Dubre...

Tang Wen thought for a moment and decided to ignore the little thing.

He had just listened to the radio and learned that the US had even sent out three Iowa-level officers, so of course he had to go and meet them.

The Caribbean islands and reefs in the Panama direction are too numerous and confusing; it would be better to head northeast and enter the central Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic Task Force departed from Florida in the east, while the European fleet came from the west. The middle of the Atlantic was precisely the intersection of the three fleets, and the nearest land was nearly 2000 kilometers away, making it ideal for maneuvering and then disappearing. The Carl sped along, already 900 kilometers ahead, when Tang Wen gave the order for Bismarck to lead it north at high speed to find the Atlantic Task Force.

The Carl, out of sight, roamed the vast ocean, its position difficult even for satellites to pinpoint.

The Dubre? Let them eat cigarettes.

After this series of arrangements, there is a high probability that we will encounter the Atlantic Fleet around 13 p.m. tomorrow, and there is also a possibility that we will encounter a fleet from Europe at the same time.

There are 29 hours left.

Tang Wen informed the captains of the plan, and then promptly went to sleep.

Just as he was about to lie down, a voice made him shudder:
"How late do you want to rest? Should I prepare lunch or dinner?"

Tang Wen tried to make his voice calm:

"Afternoon tea, please. Whatever you like is fine. Please close the door behind you, thank you."

"Yes, I prepared some oysters, they're all very plump."

As soon as the door closed, Tang Wen sat up abruptly.

No, we have to find a way to get Jean Bart out of the way, otherwise he'll die of exhaustion before he's even shot down by the 510 cannon.

……

At 10:00 AM, both the Atlantic Battleship Squadron and the Tri-Nation Combined Fleet received a reply from the Dubreuil.

Dalton looked serious, and his heart began to pound with anxiety.

When the Dubreuil attempted to approach within 5 kilometers of the smoke, it finally received a clear radio signal instructing them to keep their distance, confirming that it was indeed a battleship from the Second Fleet advancing forward.

Strangely, the three battleships were completely shrouded in billowing smoke, with zero visibility to the naked eye and significant radar obstruction.

The Dubreuil attempted to lock on with radar, only to find to its dismay that it was futile.

Moreover, these three battleships and three clouds of smoke were moving at a high speed of 37. After a brief contact, the Dubre could not catch up at all and was left far behind.

Their only value was confirming the position of the forward battle fleet, allowing reconnaissance satellites to take a few more photos.

They didn't even bother to pay attention to the Second Communications Fleet, and just continued on their way at high speed.

It wasn't until 14 p.m. that satellite photos, as well as photos taken by the Dubrev, were relayed from the mainland, allowing everyone to see the trails of smoke rolling forward.

Dalton used the positions of several photographs to outline the Second Fleet's course, extending it upwards, before snapping his pen aside:

"Damn it, they're really heading for the East Coast."

Edwin: "Should we turn back the George? They haven't gone far."

"No, we cannot guarantee that the last three warships will not split up; that is quite possible."

And have you considered that since there are battleships, who can guarantee there won't be submarines?

Everyone broke out in a cold sweat instantly. With this strange smoke technology and high-speed thruster, who could know if their submarine had any other mysterious methods?

Edwin's face turned pale: "We've encountered an adversary with unknown levels of technology. We need the assistance of technical experts to at least figure out what technology they're using."

"Look at the information from the Dubrev; that smoke can interfere with radar, and missiles will only concentrate on the smoke and miss the warship! Are we going to have close-range gun battles?"

"But we have nowhere to retreat!"

Dalton looked at the chart and said firmly:

"The Atlantic Ocean is vast, but our homeland is right behind us!"

"Tell all captains to prepare for contact tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)