Flags were hunting, waves were flying, and the 18 British destroyers galloped towards the German fleet 16 km away, like a herd of wild horses. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Their bow was raised high in the sprint, as if it was about to break free from the water and fly through the air, and the icy water kept lapping and rushing up the low side of the ship, but at this time none of the British sailors who were stuck in the open gun position had any intention of dodging and retreating.

Next to this group of destroyers, which were advancing at a high speed of 35 knots, four Southampton-class light cruisers also followed closely as fire support. Although their top speed was only 32 knots, so that the distance between them and the destroyers next to them was gradually increasing, because their mission was to provide long-range fire support to the destroyers, and not to charge themselves with torpedoes, they were within an acceptable range even if they were five or six kilometers behind. This class of ships is a product of the British after the signing of the First London Naval Treaty: with a standard displacement of 9,100 tons, it is equipped with four triple 152 mm L50 main guns and four twin 102 mm L45 secondary guns, with balanced protection and excellent ocean-going navigation capabilities.

Originally, Forbes took all 5 ships of the same class with him on this trip, but the Southampton was attacked by German submarines before it could be successfully launched, and it sank in a flash, so at this time, only the remaining 4 sisters could fight and kill the enemy, trying their best to delay the collapse of Britain, a world empire that was already dying.

"Boom!" The waves were like tilting, the sky shook and the earth shook, and the sea exploded again like a giant arm of the titan to the earth-shattering water column; The rolling waves collapsed and rushed after rising to a height of 100 meters, as if thousands of snow lions and white dragons rushed into the sky and the ground, roaring and dancing. The 450-mm guns of the German battleships had shifted their aim and thundered at the British cruisers; The power of the giant shells crashing into the water continued to surge as the distance between the two sides narrowed, and by the time it reached 14,000 meters, it was almost like a mountain and a sea.

The British sailors looked from the deck and saw the snow foaming and silver waves in front of them; The sound of a huge explosion was like a roar of the ocean, sweeping thousands of miles, and the sound of firing from the 152-mm guns that his own warship was proud of was so faint that it was like the whispering of mosquitoes!

"God bless, God bless ......" On the cruiser Birmingham, British Rear Admiral Heath clutched the silver cross and prayed. His voice trembled a little, and his face lost its color from the surging waves of the sea not far away. Hiss, who had participated in the Battle of Jutland, could see at a glance that the power of the main guns of today's German battleships was not even in the same order of magnitude as the predecessors of 24 years ago.

However, he and the light patrol detachment had to dance this waltz on the tip of the knife, because there were still eight German super-destroyers waiting in the way of the lightning strike of their own destroyer. The latter was armed with 8 fully enclosed 128mm guns, and its tonnage and firepower could be divided into the category of pocket cruisers, and in a frontal melee, it undoubtedly had an overwhelming advantage over its own small destroyers with only 4 120mm guns!

The only thing that made Hiss happy was that his cruiser fleet was frequently maneuvering in small areas, which significantly increased the difficulty of the German battleships to hit. Every time the German ship's main gun fired, it had to re-weigh the new maneuver parameters of the British ship, which was a big challenge for the gunners officers, and the British ship's 152mm guns due to their fast rate of fire and high fire density, even if they faced the same fire control pressure, could effectively cover the current German destroyers about 10 km away.

In the past ten minutes, the British cruiser fleet has not been hit by a single shot. However, Heath also understands that this will not last forever. As the distance closes, sooner or later the German battleship cannons will hit themselves. Therefore, now the task of the British cruiser was clear: it was necessary to crush the German frigate destroyer with rapid-fire fire before it suffered a fatal blow from the enemy battleship, and then pull the smoke and flee for its life.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The thunder and thunder were combined, the purple light was sprayed vertically and horizontally, and the British cruiser continued to bloom with colorful and brilliant red fireworks. Dozens of 152-millimeter cannons poured ammunition at a rate of about 10 seconds per round, and a large number of projectiles weighing more than 50 kg flew towards the German destroyer like a storm. The German Z-drivers were navigating through the jungle, and they could only rely on changing tracks to avoid the rain of bullets.

For these warships of more than 3,000 tons, they were in an even more dangerous situation than the British cruisers that were firing at them at this time. Because the light armor of the Z-type superdrive can only withstand the fire of destroyers, it can never withstand cruiser-class shells, and the firepower density formed by the 4 British cruisers is undoubtedly much higher than that of the 2 German battleships that bombarded them!

With a loud roar, the hull of the German destroyer Z-27 suddenly trembled heavily, and the blazing light burst violently from her bow, and thousands of steel fragments flew into the sky and danced violently. However, this blow was only the beginning of the blow she suffered. In the next two minutes, five shells hit the Z-27's hull one after another: one of them broke through the 60 mm 20-degree inward inclined armor defense and completely destroyed the main generator room; The other shot pierced the tail steering room with the same protection, and the warship lost control directly. The British destroyer group, which was in the sprint, was excited to see the German ship heading straight for itself, and its fate was already predictable!

However, the excitement of the British sailors did not last long. As if in retaliation, one of the galloping British destroyers was hit by a single salvo from the Z-25 six kilometers away; The 128mm shell easily tore through the hull of the anti-aircraft gun ammunition, and the explosion tore a large part of the hull, and she soon lost her high speed as she surged into the water. The grinding nature of the light ships in close combat began to manifest, and both sides were trying to pour artillery fire to break the fragile stalemate balance on the current sea; As long as one side can take the lead in breaking the tipping point, the situation on the battlefield will change abruptly.

The cannonballs in the air were roaring in dense rain, and the waves of fire and light were blooming one after another, and bursts of thunder exploded. The sea surface is full of water columns, and most of them are caused by 102~152 mm shells fired by light warships. The German destroyer Z-27 was paralyzed on the sea by the British light cruiser, and the firepower of the whole ship was lost, and sinking was inevitable; Another Z-22 was heavily damaged, the hull was badly flooded, and it was forced to pull smoke out of the battle.

The British also had one destroyer sunk by the German fleet's 128-mm gun swarm, and one was evacuated in a big way. The Birmingham light patrol suffered two large-caliber misses, lost part of the crew and 1.5 knots, and its combat effectiveness remained basically intact. Judging from the battle losses on the current scene, the British, who fought more and fought less, undoubtedly took advantage: the German armored superdrive was no match for the British regular light cruisers, and the latter had three times the tonnage and firepower advantage enough to crush the enemy in an artillery battle.

Above the Birmingham, however, Rear Admiral Heath's mood became more agitated than ever.