"Isn't there any news from Major General Trubridge yet?"

On the Agamemnon, the flagship of the Anglo-French combined fleet, Admiral Milne had some vague anxiety. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info It has been more than two hours since the Second Cruiser of the Channel Fleet sent a telegram saying that it had suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Croatian-Slovenian light cruiser and had disengaged, and had not received a new message from Rear Admiral Trubridge.

It was not known what had happened to the Second Cruiser, but Milne had a hunch that it must be bad. And the performance of the Croats was completely beyond Milne's expectations, it was not a big problem to suffer in the case of a numerical disadvantage, what really worried Milne was the amazing long-range artillery combat ability displayed by the Croats' light cruisers, if it was not completely suppressed in the long-range artillery battle, Trubridge would have paid a heavy price for the Croats even if they were defeated.

Milne did not believe that the Croats had surpassed the Royal Navy in terms of training, so it was clear that the Croats had an advantage in equipment, and he did know such a piece of equipment that could greatly improve the accuracy of shelling. As early as 1908, the Royal Navy was testing equipment that could more accurately calculate the firing distance to replace the old Vickers clock, and two years earlier, when he was still the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, the Royal Navy finally decided to use the Dreyer fire control calculation console, which can indeed greatly improve the calculation of the target's trajectory and firing distance.

However, it was never expected that the Croats, no, it should have been the Germans, would actually put similar equipment on a light cruiser! It is important to know that until the start of the war, the Royal Navy had been official, except for several sets of Dreyer fire consoles that had been installed for testing

Only 5 sets of equipment were ordered for installation on the Iron Duke-class superdreadnoughts and the Tiger battlecruisers. After the start of the war, although additional orders were placed for other super dreadnoughts, none of the equipment in the new order has been installed so far! Not to mention the former dreadnoughts under your command!

If the light cruisers of the Germans were equipped with fire control calculators, then their battleships must have all been equipped with the same, if not better, equipment!

The visibility of the previous naval battle in the Gulf of Helgoland was low, and the light ships of the Royal Navy, which were able to give full play to the advantages of the continuous aiming and firing method of small and medium-caliber naval guns at a distance of 6,000 yards, were still on par with the Germans, so it was not clear that the Germans had an advantage in this regard.

But in this calm and well-visible Mediterranean, even light cruisers can perform so amazingly at a distance of 12,000 yards, which means that the German battleships are likely to choose to open fire at a distance of 20,000 yards! Because the Royal Navy was equipped with the Dreyer MK-III fire console at a distance of 24,400 yards, the German equipment must have similar performance.

And this realization made Admiral Milne extremely headache, his former dreadnoughts were not guaranteed at all at 15,000 yards away, and in order to avoid the Germans from giving full play to the advantages of long-distance artillery battles, they had to close the distance as much as possible to improve the hit rate, and they could have used the absolute superiority of 16 battleships in numbers to steadily solve the situation of the Germans becoming had to rush forward against the German fire, which was bound to increase their own losses.

As long as these three dreadnoughts can be completely annihilated, some losses are not unacceptable, but what is even worse is that it is already 15:30, and it will be completely dark in another four hours at most. With the two sides sailing at similar speeds, it was difficult to close the distance, and the Germans only had to drag for hours before disappearing into the night. The Germans, frightened by their 16 battleships, would definitely flee back to the Adriatic Sea at full speed, and their operation would be half a failure.

If you find the German dreadnoughts, you must entangle them as much as you can, close the distance, and finish them out before it gets dark!

"Hopefully Trubridge can hold on for a little longer." Milne thought worriedly.

Although he did not receive a telegram from Trubridge, Milne believed that the second cruiser flotilla of the Channel Fleet had most likely encountered the German dreadnoughts. Trubridge could think of the reasons for the withdrawal of the Croats' light cruisers from the battle, and so could Milne.

Therefore, having received a telegram from Trubridge two hours earlier, Milne ordered the whole fleet to speed to the position of the second cruiser flotilla of the Channel Fleet.

Milne did not believe that the heavily damaged armored cruiser could escape from the Germans' guns, and could only hope that Trubridge would hold on a little longer, so that the German dreadnoughts had not gone far by the time he arrived. Apparently, he was not aware of the fact that his fleet had already been discovered by German reconnaissance aircraft at an altitude of 4000 meters.

The Germans did not go far, and by this time Didrichs had already continued to the south with the fleet, and took the initiative to seek a decisive battle with the main force of the combined Anglo-French fleet.

Milne was worried that the Germans would run, and Didrichs was equally worried that the British would run. If the British perceived that this was a trap and decisively returned with the main fleet, then they would have lost all their efforts. A cruiser fleet that had completely annihilated the British might be able to boast in the propaganda of another glorious victory for the German Navy, but such a victory would have no effect on the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The large fleet is still plagued by the location of the Adriatic Sea, the British Royal Navy can still maintain a presence and exert influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the countries bordering the Eastern Mediterranean will continue to wait and see. What's more, there will be no second chance for the same opportunity, and if the German Navy wants to make any big moves, Britain and France, which have been fooled once, will definitely come with 30 battleships to watch!

In four hours it will be dark, and anything can happen for more than ten hours until dawn tomorrow. Although the British tradition was to "fight when they see the enemy", they still had the French in their fleet. If the French were unwilling to accompany the British to continue fighting, then the British would not have been foolish enough to jump into the trap with only 8 ex-dreadnoughts.

Therefore, after killing the three armored cruisers of the British in only 24 minutes, and leaving all the finishing work of the battlefield to the Croatian light cruisers, Didrichs took the fleet south without stopping.

If you find a British battleship, you must entangle them as much as you can, close the distance, and inflict heavy damage on them before it gets dark!

At this moment, Didrichs made almost the same decision as Milne.

At 16:41, both sides almost simultaneously discovered a dense column of smoke like dark clouds on the horizon! Both fleets, which were already in a hurry to fight, maintained a speed of 18 knots and rushed towards the opponent!

For the former dreadnoughts in the two fleets, the speed of 18 knots was close to full speed, although it was not as fast as the destroyers were moving at full speed, but the majestic bow of the battleship crashed into the sea, the snow-white water splashed in front of the bow and kept tumbling, and the scene of the two fleets approaching with nearly 30 large warships dragging dark clouds covering the sky and the sun was full of indomitable momentum!

"3 dreadnoughts! 10 quasi-dreadnoughts! It's a trap! "Milne, who had finally seen the German fleet at a distance of 25,000 yards, was dizzy, and he finally understood that there had been no news from the Second Cruiser of the Channel Fleet.

"Inform the fleet! Keep moving! We only have a chance to win if we close the distance! However, Milne only made a decision for a moment, and Milne showed his determination and determination as an Admiral of the Royal Navy.

It was too late to turn and disengage, the Germans continued to approach, and at this time the steering would not only lose speed, but also the battleship would need a huge maneuver space, and when the Germans approached a distance of 20,000 yards, they could calmly fire at themselves who had neither speed nor could fight back!

Running away without a fight is not the style of the Royal Navy! And defeat here, then the Entente will lose the Eastern Mediterranean, such a result is unacceptable to the Royal Navy! The plans you want to defeat are bankrupt, so let's fight a decisive battle! No matter how painful the price is, as long as the 13 battleships of the Germans can be defeated here, then the victory still belongs to the Royal Navy!

"Don't return fire even if the Germans fire! You have to keep moving! Be sure to close the distance to within 10,000 yards! Notice Lord Nelson! Gather fire with this ship, the enemy's third dreadnought! HMS New Zealand and HMS Commonwealth set fire to the enemy's first quasi-dreadnought! The rest of the ships attack the corresponding enemy ships in turn! ”

"22,000 yards!"

"20,000 yards!"

"18,000 yards!" The captain's distance report after another made the atmosphere in the bridge of the Agamemnon even more tense, and everyone, including Milne, waited for the German shells to whizz.

"16,000 yards!"

"14,000 yards!"

The Germans did not open fire?

"The British didn't shoot?" On the bridge of the Tyrol, the German naval officers and sailors looked equally solemn.

The two battlefleets were firing a single shot at a distance of 14,000 yards, and this eerie calm only made the heart crunch. This means that once the two fleets that have been suppressing the desire to attack start a war, they will directly enter the white heat, as if a volcano erupts, and the sky will collapse in an instant!

Only Didrichs was in high spirits: "Do you want to decide the winner from close quarters?" As you wish! ”

If the British did not turn around and run away regardless of losses, then they simply could not leave their entire fleet behind, and even sinking 1-2 ex-dreadnoughts would not help. But now, the British have made up their minds to fight a decisive battle with themselves, even if their judgment of closing the distance is extremely correct, and the advantage of long-range artillery battles on their side will be negated, but Didrichs still can't ask for it!

"12,000 yards!"

"10,000 yards!"

"Slow down to 13 knots! Half a salvo! Get ready to fire! ”

In the Mediterranean, a battlefield with calm waves and good visibility, the two battlefleets, under the leadership of the commanders of both sides, directly entered the situation of close bayonets!

The two sides were 9400 yards apart, and the German battleships fired the first round and a half salvo!