The sky is blue, the white clouds are flying, and on the vast ocean, the two fleets are sailing forward at a small angle in the rolling waves. On the side of the battleship, a large snow-white spray was stirred, like frost and silver, magnificent and extraordinary.

"General, we really met the German fleet!" On the heavy cruiser Exeter, Lieutenant Colonel Haig put down the telescope barrel in his hand in a daze, but instead of the excitement and joy of the target, he was filled with mixed emotions of shock and fear. At present, the visibility on the sea surface is quite good, and the surface target can be clearly seen 22km away with an optical rangefinder, and according to the report of the lookout, the German fleet in front of it has a total of 3 heavy cruisers and 9 destroyers, which is 3 times the number of its own fleet!

If it were just a Z-destroyer, Haig wouldn't have any worries. This is because the cruiser's gun superiority over destroyers is also qualitatively improved: a cruiser armed with a 6-inch (152 mm) cannon can easily destroy any destroyer from a distance of 10 km, while the latter needs to be shortened to within 7 km to give its 5-inch (127 mm) guns a chance to be effective. Although for a cutting-edge destroyer with a speed of more than 35 knots, a distance of 3,000 meters is only a matter of a few minutes, the cruiser's speed of 32 knots is not a decoration; As long as the latter wants to keep a distance, it will be difficult for the destroyer to make an effective catch-up. Considering the difference in tonnage, shell power, and armor defenses between the two sides, it would be an extremely difficult challenge for the destroyers to defeat the cruisers, even if they had a clear numerical advantage.

However, at this time, there were still 3 K-class cruisers in the German fleet, which made Haig's heart cold by half, and it was difficult to give birth to the idea of fighting to the death with the other party. This class of battleships is equipped with 6 210 mm main guns, which is at the same firepower level as the two heavy cruisers of Exeter and York in the current British fleet, and is significantly better than the two light cruisers of Orion and Ajax equipped with 8 152 mm guns. With these 3 K-class heavy cruisers alone, their overall strength is much better than that of 4 British cruisers, plus 9 super destroyers like wolves, Haig feels that his fleet is too inferior and has no hope of winning the battle.

"Immediately send a telegram that we have met a large number of German cruisers and destroyers, and their aircraft carriers must be not far from this sea area!" In contrast to Haig's apprehension, Fleet Commander Harwood was thrilled at the moment; The interception route chosen by his blessed soul really caught a fat big fish and collided directly with so many German warships! Although there was no trace of the injured German aircraft carrier mentioned in the intelligence on the sea in front of him, judging from the appearance of so many German light ships, the enemy aircraft carrier must be near here, and it is very likely that there is more than one!

"The fleet turned left 2 compass points, the speed was increased to 27 knots, each ship entered the first level of combat readiness, and the lookout reported the distance of the enemy ship every half a minute!" Harwood gave a loud order, and he strode out of the bridge of the navigation ship and headed straight for the Battle Command Tower below. For cruisers and warships of the higher ranks, the command tower is the only place for senior officers to command operations: not only because it has a convenient internal communication system to communicate with key parts such as the power room, steering engine room, and fire control center, but also because it has an armored defense, which can provide the internal command staff with a much higher safety guarantee than on the navigation bridge. Although the British Navy abandoned the traditional design of the heavy armor command tower after World War I for the sake of weight reduction, it was clear that it would not be worth the loss to completely abandon the protection of the command staff. Today, the 1928-tonne, 8,390-ton Heavy Cruiser Exeter is protected by 1-inch (25.4 mm) steel plates around the conning tower. For this thickness, all the senior officers, including Harwood, have long since gone from anger to numbness in the past time of service: after all, no matter how thin the armor is, it is better than nothing, and at least it can withstand the attack of shrapnel in artillery battles.

Seeing that Harwood had put on a posture of going to a bloody battle with the German fleet, Haig couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Our fleet is at a clear disadvantage in terms of lineup, and it is too risky to meet the enemy in this way. As he was hesitating to make a suggestion to the commander, Haig suddenly noticed that Harwood's eyes had turned to him at some point; He reflexively met Hawood's eyes, and immediately felt a fierce sense of urgency.

"Lieutenant Colonel, are you scared and timid about the next battle?" Harwood spoke coldly, and there was no longer the warmth and easy-going warmth of the usual spring breeze. It was the first time that Haig had been so mercilessly and harshly reprimanded by Harwood, and for a moment he was stunned and did not defend himself. Harwood snorted coldly, his eyes swept over all the officers in the command tower, and said in a cold voice: "And you, all of you have been frightened into doves by the appearance of the Germans, in fact, the enemy in front of us is far less powerful than you think!" The standard row of the K-class cruiser is only 6,000 tons, and it is only by clever means that it can barely cram six 8.3-inch cannons, not to mention that this kind of gun is still an old antique in service more than 30 years ago, and its 42 times the caliber barrel length is destined to be far less powerful than our 8-inch 50-diameter main gun. In less than 15 minutes, we will be able to beat this deformed warship to shreds, and their weak armor will not be able to withstand the blow of 8-inch shells! As for the group of destroyers that are like flies, we can easily eliminate them. ”

Haig bowed his head silently, but there was still a hint of worry in his eyes. The main gun indicators of the K-class cruisers really ranked at the bottom of the heavy cruiser family, but the caliber of 210 mm was there; In order to pursue performance indicators such as speed, its own cruisers have long lost the armor thickness and defensive area of the previous years, and they are also terrified in the face of this gun at this time. In the final analysis, the battle between the heavy cruisers was that two eggs were smashing each other with hammers, and it was almost entirely a matter of luck who fell first - and at this time the German heavy cruisers had one more ship than the British, which was obviously extremely unfavorable for the artillery battle of the British fleet!

"Now we can only hope for God's blessing." Haig muttered.

"Boom!" The turbulent sea suddenly exploded with a loud sound like a landslide and a crack, Rao is Harwood and the others were already very familiar with the roar of this cannon, and at this moment they were still shocked by it and produced a slight tinnitus. Orange-red and gorgeous neon waves of light gushed out from the high muzzle of the cannon, and in the blink of an eye, a brilliant cloud more than ten meters long was formed; Six 116.1kg semi-armor-piercing projectiles (SAPC) spun wildly under the propulsion of the propellant pack, broke through the wind and groaned, and slammed towards the German battleship 21km away with the momentum of a heavenly fire meteor!

About 50 seconds later, six columns of rushing water nearly 20 meters high exploded on the surface of the sea thousands of meters away from the German heavy cruiser Königsberg. Although its height and thickness are far less imposing than those of large-caliber shells when they enter the water, they are still full of deterrence in the confrontation of inferior warships. This is the strongest strike firepower at sea after the capital ship in the 15-year naval holiday, and even in the post-treaty era, no new cruisers of the Great Powers have guns with a caliber of more than 203 mm.

"The British are really impatient, do they think that an effective strike can be achieved at this distance?" In the armored commander tower of the Königsberg, German Commodore Müller said with a sneer on his face. Due to the velocity of the shells, the effective range of the 8-inch class gun was around 18 km; In the face of an enemy 20 km away, even if the fire control system can keep up, the dispersion error of the shells themselves is enough to make the otherwise rigorous firing parameters messy. Seeing the bright yellow light on the British battleships in the distance again, Miller pursed his lips and said, "Order, increase the speed of the fleet to 22 knots, and wait until the other side is close to 18km before firing." The destroyer fleet is on standby for the time being, and when we beat the Brits out of high speed with our cannons, we will kill them with a torpedo salvo! ”

Under Miller's orders, the speed of the German fleet also began to steadily climb. However, compared to their British counterparts in the distance, their speed seemed to be very slow, and they did not have the momentum of light ships chasing the wind and lightning. In fact, this maneuver was the result of Miller's careful consideration: the main task of the German fleet at present was to escort the wounded ships back to their homeland, so all ships, including light warships, had to ensure that they had sufficient fuel. If the German warships and the British were to compete at high speeds now, the consumption of oil would have increased dramatically exponentially.

In addition, the current rough sea conditions did not allow these German light warships to engage in artillery warfare at high speeds. The freeboard height of the K-class heavy cruiser is not as high as that of the British heavy cruiser, and the ability to resist the waves on the bow is inherently weaker; If she were to sail at high speed in the waves, the main turret in front of her would inevitably become a curtain hole in the waves, rendering all three guns unable to fire. It was clearly more advantageous for the German fleet to retain half of the main artillery fire than to hand over the initiative in the battle to the enemy.

The water splashed, the waves swayed, and the 2 British heavy cruisers fired several more salvos. Due to the distance, all of these shells were lost without exception. Seeing that the outline of the British battleship in the telescope was getting clearer and clearer, Miller couldn't help but grasp the lens barrel with both hands, and said with a cold eye: "Come on, British, let the 210mm cannon of the Blucher [Note] complete its revenge battle today!" ”

Note: This is the large German cruiser Blucher during World War I. Armed with 12 210mm SK/L45 guns, the ship was sunk by the British Navy in the Battle of Dogger Sandbank in 1915. (To be continued.) )