Even when surrounded by dogs, a tiger is still a tiger.

After breaking away from formation and completing the turn, it took the two battlecruisers less than ten minutes to turn four enemy ships into floating campfires.

One of the light cruisers also sank quickly after a violent explosion.

Do not forget that battlecruisers were born to be the nemesis of small and medium-sized battleships.

Although according to the vision of Marshal Fisher, the father of the battle cruiser, this kind of battleship with battleship firepower and cruiser speed is a veritable capital ship, but actual combat has long proved that the battle cruiser is the most suitable for outposts, performing reconnaissance and patrol missions in front of the capital ship, relying on fast enough speed and more ferocious firepower to deal with enemy cruisers and avoid premature exposure of their own capital ships.

It is precisely in this way that battlecruisers are inherently capable of crushing small and medium-sized warships.

Even if the two "Jihe" were heavily damaged, several of the main guns could not fire, and the cruisers of the combined fleet could also be tortured with secondary guns.

The 150-mm armor-piercing shells fired by the secondary guns were more than enough for light cruisers.

In addition, two battle cruisers broke away from formation and deflected enemy fire, creating better chances for the four friendly ships to escape.

However, this situation did not last long.

After four enemy ships were hit by bullets and caught fire, five "Queen Isa" class ships of the fast combat detachment immediately turned their guns and hit two "Jihe" class ships.

It took nearly ten minutes for the lookout of the fast combat detachment to see the other four battle cruisers that were rapidly approaching.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was less than ten kilometers.

Although according to He Yongxing's order, the four battleships remained "silent" and did not fire at the enemy ships, but after the distance was shortened, there was still the fire of the enemy ships in the distance, and under the clear night sky, the tall figures of the four battlecruisers were still faintly recognizable.

Critically, four battleships have been sailing at high speed.

In dark environments with insufficient light, the human eye is very sensitive to fast-moving objects, even from a distance.

At this time, the "Jihe" and "Guijiang" had basically lost their combat effectiveness after being hit by several 15-inch shells in succession.

Although the two battleships were still stubbornly afloat, the main guns were paralyzed, and there were not even a few 150-mm secondary guns left in the gun shafts.

The speed of the two battleships has already dropped below 20 knots.

Relying on this speed, the two battleships could not break through anyway.

Unless a miracle happens, it's only a matter of time before it's sunk.

It was precisely in this way that after observing that the two "Jihe" class ships had slowed down, the five fast battleships immediately turned their guns and opened fire on the other four battleships.

Entering the direct range of the main guns, plus the secondary guns, the guns of the five fast battleships became very ferocious, and the accuracy was greatly improved.

For four battlecruisers, it was by no means a good thing.

The first unlucky ones were the "Beihe" and "Nanjiang" that rushed to the front.

Because the course was relative, in the first few minutes, the four fast battleships behind were dealing with these two battle cruisers, and only the "Queen Isa" led the group to shell the "Luhe" and "Yuejiang" behind the shelling. Probably not identifying the flagship, or for some other reason, the Queen Isa was simply pinning down the two ships, using staggered firing tactics to fire at both cruisers at the same time.

Perhaps, at the beginning of the engagement, Betty mistook the object and thought that the "Beihe" was the flagship, and did not set his sights on the "Luhe", which also carried the commander's flag.

Of course, it is also possible that the 400-mm guns of the "North River" class are fearful.

If anything, only the 400-mm armor-piercing shells of the "Beihe" and "Nanjiang" can pose a mortal threat to the "Queen Isa" class at this distance. The 350-mm guns of the "Luhe" and "Yuejiang" were not fatal, even if they posed some threat.

That's a matter of minutes.

At 7:22 a.m., three red signal flares rose into the night sky from the bow of the "Beihe".

This is a means of communication that will only be used after the radio station is completely damaged and the mast or lookout is destroyed, which means that the ship has completely lost its combat capability.

It's just that the officers and men of the "North River" are still fighting, firing at enemy ships with anti-aircraft guns.

The "Nanjiang" was still behind the butt of the "Beihe", all eight main guns were dumb, and only a few secondary guns were still firing at the enemy ships.

At 7:25 a.m., the "Luhe" overtook the "Beihe" and "Nanjiang" from the west.

Although the distance of about 2,000 meters was separated, it could be clearly seen that there were many officers and men on the decks of the two warships, all of whom were struggling to put out the fire, no one jumped into the sea to escape, and no one even evacuated and rescued the wounded.

Perhaps, the officers and men of the two battleships just did not want to drag down the friendly ships.

If they jump into the sea to escape, if they actively rescue the wounded, they will definitely need the support and assistance of friendly ships, and they will have to let friendly ships slow down and lean over.

At this moment, it was surprisingly quiet inside the bridge of the commander's ship.

The young staff officers bowed their heads, and the senior staff officers were all restraining the impulsive thoughts generated by the ideological struggle.

Do you want to go, or do you want to stay!?

Leave, you can save two warships and more than 2,000 officers and men, and keep the seeds of the revival of the Imperial Navy!

Stay, be able to fulfill the promise of the soldier, and do not have to spend the rest of your life in guilt, let alone face the difficulties and dangers that follow.

Fortunately, it was not the turn of the staff officers of the detachment command to make this decision.

At 7:27 a.m., just after the "Luhe" had overtaken the front, a battleship exploded violently in the southwest direction.

It's not an enemy ship, it's the "Katsurae" that broke away from the formation before.

It happened so suddenly that the officers and men on the "Guijiang" not only did not have time to send a telegram, but they were not even able to fire a red signal flare in time.

Within three minutes, before 7:30, the battleship with a standard displacement of more than 30,000 tons disappeared from the sea.

At this time, the exact time was 7:29 a.m., and an explosion occurred on the "Jihe" not far in front of the "Guijiang."

This time, the telegraph soldiers on the "Jihe" sounded the alarm.

It was not the enemy's capital ships that sank the "Guijiang" and attacked the "Jihe", but light cruisers, using heavy torpedoes.

After the alarm was sounded, the "Jihe" fired three red signal flares.

Because it has been completely paralyzed, this incapacitated battleship, in addition to sinking itself, can only be slaughtered by enemy ships.

It's just that the last acting captain of the "Jihe" chose a more heroic and gorgeous martyrdom method.

At 7:35 a.m., after the lifeboat carrying the wounded had left, the third acting captain of the "Jihe" and Captain She Haibing of the Marine Engineering Department personally detonated the front main gun ammunition depot and entered himself and several hundred officers and men who were unwilling to leave on the martyr's roll with dozens of tons of shells and propellants.

This earth-shattering explosion brought a not-so-complete, but extremely tragic end to this warship, which had served in the Imperial Navy for six years, participated in hundreds of battles, made more than 10 military exploits, sank and damaged many enemy ships, and made great contributions to the Imperial Navy.

It's a gorgeous exclamation point, but it's actually more appropriate.

This earth-shattering bombing also saved two other friendly ships and more than 2,000 Imperial Navy officers!