On the evening of October 19, 1914, off the coast of Penas Bay in southern Chile, a large fleet of ships was slowly moving south along the coastline.

"General, your black tea."

"Thank you."

The rich aroma of Ceylon black tea with milk lifted the spirits of Major General Craddock, who was a little sleepy in the afternoon because of the warmth of the South Pacific.

But turning his head to look at the faintly visible coastline on the port side, Rear Admiral Craddock felt a little bored.

The 4th cruiser detachment was escorting the convoy from which the Anzac was transported to Europe. After five days of repairs in Valparaíso, Craddock led the fleet south off the coast of Chiloe Island in south-central Chile to join the huge fleet of 38 merchant ships and three escort ships that had departed from Sydney three weeks earlier, carrying 32,000 Anzac officers and men, as well as a large number of military horses and baggage.

Due to the rampant submarine attacks by the Germans in the eastern Mediterranean, and the possible desperate gamble of the German Mediterranean Fleet, even if the passage through the Suez Canal could be escorted by the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, the Mediterranean route would not be safe. If the African route around the Cape of Good Hope is taken, the presence of the German African Fleet in Walvis Bay is also a big deal for the Royal Navy.

And the Indian Ocean Fleet did not dare to easily draw its own considerable strength of the former dreadnought fleet in order to defend itself against the attack of the German Far East Fleet, otherwise those high-speed ships carrying out search missions in the Indian Ocean would probably become lambs sent into the mouth of the tiger.

In this way, taking the southwest Atlantic route became the best choice, and the 4th cruiser squadron naturally had to assume the responsibility of ensuring its safety.

Craddock was somewhat unimpressed by this, believing that the German African fleet would only operate along the coast of West Africa, and if they dared to penetrate deep into the Atlantic, they would immediately be strangled by their own 4th cruiser squadron and Stoddat's 5th cruiser squadron.

Therefore, in order to preserve its strength and keep itself a threat to the African routes, the German African fleet simply did not have the courage to expand its range of activities. Even if 1-2 light cruisers of the Germans dared to appear in the South-West Atlantic, the existing escort forces of the fleet would be quite enough to cope with it. In this way, it is completely unnecessary to provide full escort for the Anzac Corps.

And now, I have to accompany the slow-moving merchant ships here, carry out boring missions, and endure the annoying Rear Admiral William Bridges giving his opinion there over and over again.

If the Indian Ocean route was to be taken, the fleet would have stopped in the British Empire's colonies around the world. For now, however, the Chilean government can accept a visit from a fleet of the Royal Navy, but it is a complete nuisance for the more than 30,000 Anzac soldiers.

As a result, the fleet could not dock at Chilean ports and had to cross the Drake Strait directly to Port Stanley.

However, the Anzac commander apparently believed that the long sea voyages would cause trouble for the Anzac army leaders because they had been confined to the small space of the ship and had nowhere to vent their exuberant energy, which was neither good for discipline nor good health.

And a small Royal Navy logistics port on the desolate Falkland Islands could not meet the needs of more than 30,000 able-bodied boys to come ashore and relax.

Therefore, after the flotilla converged, the rear admiral Bridges kept suggesting to himself that the flotilla should dock in Argentine ports. On the whole, this advice is very reasonable. But even Chile refused to allow Anzac soldiers to go ashore, and the Argentines, who were closer to the Germans, would agree?

He is only a rear admiral of a cruiser detachment, not the ambassador of the British Empire to Argentina, and this kind of thing is not something that he can decide!

After Valparaiso learned of the Royal Navy's crushing defeat at the Battle of Ionia, Craddock felt that letting the 4th Cruiser Squadron go to South Africa and join the Far East Fleet in search of and intercept the Germans, and that Spee was the only thing he should do now.

This feeling was especially true after the commander of the escort formation, Colonel Silwell, handed over command to himself.

With the addition of one armored cruiser with a displacement of 15,000 tons and a 12-inch cannon and two cutting-edge light cruisers, the strength of the fleet under his command at this time could not be compared with Stoddat's 5th Cruiser Squadron, which was about to leave for South Africa and was scheduled to join the armored cruiser Shannon from the mainland.

Craddock believed that even if he directly faced Spee's Far Eastern Fleet, with 4 12-inch guns, he would have the strength to fight against it!

However, this vast sea force can now only move along the eastern coast of the South Atlantic at a speed of 10 knots, wasting lives on pointless escort missions in such a place where there is no enemy at all.

Craddock would never have imagined that when he was in a state of displeasure and boredom, two pairs of eyes in the sky were watching him.

"It's spectacular!" Lieutenant Gunther Plushov sighed heartily.

The sight of more than 40 ships sailing in formation on the sea was something he had never seen in his life. Even as a naval shore-based aviation pilot, Plushov had never seen such a large formation sailing on the surface of the sea.

After being assigned to the Subic Bay Naval Base as a reconnaissance pilot, Plushov thought that his military flying career would also be spent patrolling or doing school shooting for shore defense batteries.

I didn't expect that after being loaned to the Far East Fleet by His Excellency Vice Admiral Spee, I would have the opportunity to see such a spectacular scene from the air, and it is estimated that I will never see such a scene again except for the opportunity to participate in the parade of the Ocean Fleet as a pilot in my life.

"Hey, Jonah, did you take a picture?" Prushov excitedly shouted to his partner: "I'm afraid it's hard to see a second time in such a scene!" ”

"I'm afraid we're in trouble." Ensign Jonas Brenner, an observer and radioman in the back seat, was not happy at this time.

Plushov, who was piloting the plane, could only see the huge formation on the sea, while Brenner, who was observing with a telescope, saw a big trouble in the formation.

"What do you see?"

"There is a former dreadnought in the formation."

"Uh, looks like we're in trouble."

After following the fleet for nearly ten minutes and making sure that there were no bigger troubles around the fleet that it had not discovered, the small reconnaissance plane made a large circle and flew towards the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the northwest of the fleet.

"A former dreadnought?"

Unable to use radio to expose himself, Spee only received information from the returning Seagull crew more than an hour later.

It was determined that the cruiser detachment of the British was not coming at him, which made Speeze breathe a sigh of relief. But this intelligence put Spee in a dilemma.

The other side is also sailing south, aiming at either the Strait of Magellan or the Drake Passage. If you keep your current course and speed, you will definitely meet the other side at the southernmost tip of Chile.

It was a foolish decision to reduce the speed of the ship and let the opponent go first, and it was not impossible to increase the speed of the ship and go around in a big circle to get in front of the opponent, but increasing the speed of the cruise would increase unnecessary fuel consumption, because the British fleet could not go to the ports of Chile to dock for supplies.

Moreover, with about 40 merchant ships, such a large fleet is obviously transporting a large amount of military supplies, leaving such a fleet close at hand, the entire Far East Fleet of the Imperial Navy will be infamous for cowardice and cowardice, and this stain that cannot be washed away will also become a shame for a lifetime.

The problem is that there is a former dreadnought in the formation of the opposing side!

"Are you sure it's a former dreadnought?" Spee reconfirmed.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Lieutenant General." Second Lieutenant Brenner replied as he straightened his chest and allowed himself to stand more straight.

"The characteristics of the dreadnought in front of the enemy ship are obvious. Two twin large-caliber main gun turrets in the front and rear, four twin secondary main gun turrets on both sides of the middle of the hull, single column mast, three chimneys, similar in size to the Drake-class armored cruisers in the formation, but the ship shape is more stubby. ”

The size is similar to that of the Drake class, which means that the standard displacement of this ship will not be less than 14,000 tons, and the short ship shape, coupled with the twin large-caliber main turrets arranged in the front and rear, and the twin secondary main turrets arranged at the 4 corners, are indeed very much in line with the standards of the former dreadnought.

But the former dreadnoughts of such a configuration for the Royal Navy were of the Duncan class, and these ships, without exception, were far away in Europe and should not have appeared on the eastern coast of the South Pacific. And none of the former dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy was designed with 3 chimneys.

If not a ship of the Royal Navy, then where did she come from?

Japanese!

As the commander of the Far Eastern Fleet, Spee, who immediately thought of the Japanese Navy, as one of his imaginary enemies.

Except for them, no one in the Pacific will have such a large ship! And only they will cooperate with the actions of the British so actively!

The British must have made a deal with the Japanese, exchanging the interests of the Pacific region for the help of the Japanese navy.

Obviously, it was the colonies of the German Empire in the Pacific that were sacrificed in this deal!

But now is not the time to worry about the Empire's colonies in the Philippines, New Guinea, and the surrounding islands, and to deal with the enemies in front of you.

After targeting the Japanese, the identity of the ship was revealed.

It has 3 chimneys, is equipped with large-caliber naval guns and secondary main guns, and because it is a single mast, it can determine the identity of the other party - Kurama-class armored cruiser No. 2, Ibuki.

"The other side is the Ibuki armored cruiser of the Japanese Navy." Spee affirmed, and he was slightly relieved by the judgment. It's good if it's not a former dreadnought, at least you still have a chance to win.

Seeing that the young ensign on the opposite side was a little nervous, Spee laughed: "Don't be nervous, it's really hard to think that the Japanese Navy would appear here, and being able to observe the characteristics of enemy ships so clearly is already a very good task." ”

"Go back and get some rest, we have a battle to fight tonight."

According to the report of the observer of the reconnaissance aircraft, the 38 merchant ships were photographed in seven rows, forming a relatively neat rectangular formation, and the width of the entire formation was about half a nautical mile.

About 2 nautical miles in front of the formation was a compound formation of three armored cruisers and one light cruiser, with one light cruiser on each side of the formation patrolling at a distance of about 3 nautical miles, and the auxiliary cruiser leading in front of the merchant fleet.

In this way, when her own fleet is inserted diagonally from the right side of the British, the light cruisers on the left side of the formation will be stopped by the huge merchant fleet, and if she does not want to play a front turn in front of the entire Imperial fleet and be set on fire, she can only rush to the front of all ships at full speed to join the battle, which means that the British will have to reduce the number of ships that can be put into battle for a period of time.

Moreover, the own fleet, which has the advantage of speed, can choose when to catch up with the British and attack, and the British will be at a loss if they are attacked at 3 a.m.

There was a slight jolt in the hull, it was the Scharnhorst that was accelerating, but there were fewer people on the bridge. Although the sunset was still dazzling in the west, the interior of the battleship had become dim, all bright lighting sources that interfered with rest had been extinguished, and the dark red night navigation lights reminded the officers and men of the ship that the night had arrived early.

All but the necessary duty officers were ordered to climb into bed, and whether you can sleep or not, you must close your eyes and recharge for the next battle.

However, the 53-year-old commander of the Far East Fleet really couldn't close his eyes and couldn't think about anything, so he could only stay in the chart room and deduce the fleet's route on the chart over and over again.

Although the order has been given, whether this battle will go according to his own vision in the end, and whether there is anything that can be improved in his plan. The presence of the Ibuki was too much for Spee to take lightly, and the four 305mm guns were a real threat to any ship of the Far East Fleet.

"The initiative is on our side, and the British will be caught off guard by us." Colonel Schultz said, "You should now go and rest, Your Excellency. ”

"Felix, you're the captain of the Scharnhorst." Instead of responding to Schultz's kindness, Spee asked, "What do you think about fighting Ibuki?" ”

"I think the distance should be brought closer to 5,000 yards."

"5000 yards?" This distance was much more than Spee's expectations, and he considered engaging at a distance of 10,000 yards, and closing this distance would increase the threat of the four 203mm secondary guns on the side of the Ibuki.

"If it were daytime, I would choose to engage from a distance of 15,000 yards." Colonel Schultz proudly replied: "At this distance, the Japanese artillery skills are not at all a concern. ”

Schultz's self-confidence is confident, the Scharnhorst has visited Japan, and he himself has communicated with the Japanese Navy. The Japanese gunnery was still the same as that of the British, and the hit rate at a distance of 15,000 yards was enough to make the Japanese naval gunners desperate.

Self-confidence is contagious, and Schultz's strong self-confidence finally made Spee smile: "So what about you choosing 5000 yards now?" ”

"It's hard to see the impact point at night, and it's the same as friend and foe, and our fire control advantage is not as great as it is during the day. So we should take advantage of our rate of fire and quickly take out the Ibuki trumpet at close range. ”

"The Ibuki also has 4 203-mm guns on the side of the ship, and our rate of fire advantage is not obvious."

"Yes, so I suggest that the Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau, the Gathering Fire and the Ferdinand deal with the Drake, and the Monmers."

Leave an armored cruiser alone?

"Why?" Spee became serious.

"Since the distance has been shortened and the risk has been raised, it is natural that the most threatening threat should be taken out as quickly as possible, and at this distance, the 8-inch armor of the Ibuki-class cannot withstand the attack of 240 mm naval guns.

On the other hand, our opponents, except for the Ibuki, the other two armored cruisers did not pose much threat to us, the Drake class only had 2 234mm main guns, the rest were 152mm secondary guns, and the Monmouth class only had 152mm naval guns, so it was difficult for such firepower to cause any serious damage to the 180mm armor belt of the Scharnhorst-class and the Ferdinand.

As long as the Japanese are dealt with, and the remaining British, we will be able to tear them apart as we did the French in the first place. ”

What's more......" Schultz showed a big smile: "We can't waste too much time on those escort ships, if those merchant ships scatter and escape, our six ships can't take care of them." ”

"Good! That's it! ”

In the South Atlantic in October, the late night sea breeze still makes people shiver. On the light cruiser USS Glasgow, the bridge watchman, Major Thomas, wrapped his coat again, but it was of little use. The Glasgow's seafaring bridge is an open bridge, and the winds pouring in from both sides take away all the temperature from the bridge.

The South Atlantic Ocean was beautiful in the middle of the night, with a starry clear night sky and a sparkling sea, but Major Thomas just wanted to get back to his warm bed.

I took out my pocket watch, and at 2 o'clock in the morning, I had to blow the cold wind here for another 3 hours. Thomas involuntarily shrunk his neck, although he didn't need coffee to dispel his sleepiness right now, and the chill on the bridge was enough for everyone to stay awake for 12 minutes, but in order to keep himself warmer, he still drank the steaming teapot in his hand.

"Report the bridge." The sound of the radio room came from the microphone.

"I'm Major Thomas, the Duty Officer, what's the matter?" Thomas reluctantly stepped in.

"Report to Major, there seems to be something wrong with the radio."

"Debriefing."

"There has been a murmur on the radio, and the radio may have been interfered with." The voice on the other side of the microphone sounded a little nervous: "Do you need to notify Captain Lucas?" ”

Normally, the presence of a strong signal source nearby that could interfere with one's own radio would make the entire fleet nervous, but on the east coast of the South Atlantic, Major Thomas was a little hesitant.

"We're close to the Chilean coast, will it be a signal from the shore?"

"I'm sorry, Major, but I'm not sure where I am."

"Keep tuned and report back to me every ten minutes." After a moment's hesitation, Thomas decided not to disturb Captain Lucas in his sleep for the time being.

Besides, what enemies can there be here?

"Three o'clock! Distance 8000! Large Ship Shadow! ”

What the?

The shouts from the microphone made Major Thomas in a trance, who was playing a prank here?

When he realized that the sound was coming from the microphone leading to the lookout post, Major Thomas felt for a moment the blood rush up all over his body, and even in the cold bridge of the seafaring ship, he felt hot and wanted to take off his clothes.

"Lookout, check again!"

Major Thomas, who almost pounced, grabbed the horn of the microphone and throated it.

"Three o'clock! Distance 8000! Plural large ship shadows! The type of ship is unknown! The course is unknown! Speed...... No less than 18 knots! ”

The voice in the microphone completely dismissed Major Thomas's luck.

"Pull the alarm! The whole ship is in combat mode! Turn off the lights of the whole ship and accelerate to 25 knots! Immediately notify the enemy ship of the attack on the Cape of Good Hope! ”

Plural large ship shadows, the speed is not less than 18 knots, the port lights are not turned on when sailing at night, and no lighting sources can be seen, this cannot be a civilian ship, and the other party has absolutely bad intentions! The Glasgow must rush to the front and take the main round!

Major Thomas's orders at this point showed his military qualities as an officer in the Royal Navy, but things did not go as smoothly as he had imagined.

Because of the escort of merchant ships, the Glasgow was only 11 knots at this time, nearly half of the boilers were not working, and it took at least 40 minutes to accelerate to the maximum speed!

To add insult to injury, there was a report from the radio room: "Radio interference, no way to notify the flagship!" ”

Damn it! This is definitely the enemy! It was a premeditated sneak attack!

"Use the light signal! Turn on the searchlights! Fire at unidentified targets! ”

The searchlights on the Glasgow didn't really shine that far, and Major Thomas just wanted to attract the enemy's attention by exposing himself, and firing would also alert the entire fleet to the enemy attack.

If this was an encounter, Major Thomas's heroic decision could have made a huge difference. However, the enemy on the opposite side is a cunning hunter who has been hiding in the darkness for a long time.

Aerial reconnaissance during the day had given the Far Eastern Fleet a general idea of the formation of the fleet, and the collision-proof lights and lighting sources on the bridge during the night voyage helped the Germans to find out the ship's position.

Due to the inaccurate judgment of the course, the lookout post on the Glasgow made an error in judging the speed of the Far East Fleet.

Although the sea voyage was long and due to the adsorption of parasites on the bottom of the ship and the failure to clean and maintain the power system, the speed of the ships of the Far Eastern Fleet decreased to a certain extent.

However, because only more readily available coal was used when sailing at economic speeds, the heavy oil boilers of the three armored cruisers were in good condition. Coal-fired boilers are also kerosene mixed burning, which can be supported by spraying heavy oil, and the accumulation of coal ash in coal-fired boilers is not as serious as in history.

So at this time the Far Eastern Fleet was sailing at a speed of more than 21 knots! Spee, who had already made up his mind, was not at all prepared to pay attention to the light cruiser, which was still slowly accelerating.

The sound of the Glasgow's guns woke up the entire fleet, and the main forces of the armored cruisers in front also began to adjust their course and regroup.

But compared to the quick response of Major Thomas, the large number of reservists on the old Drake-class and Monmouth-class armored cruisers who were replenished after the war were obviously not of such a high quality. Not only did the portlights and lighting sources not turn off, but they also looked extremely rusty and chaotic when regrouping.

In just 30 minutes, the Far East Fleet was 5,000 yards to the right of the British, and at this time Craddock had completed the reformation of the four ships, and only had time for the formation to turn off the light source and give the order to "follow the flagship Cape of Good Hope, each ship will engage the enemy separately" with the light signal, and the light of the searchlight shone on the Cape of Good Hope. Then, a huge orange-red ball of fire shone on the huge shadow of the ship in the darkness!

The muzzle flame that exploded in the darkness of the night was as obvious as the most magnificent fireworks, but in Craddock's eyes, it was simply the lava tumbling in hell.

The three cannon flames of the first 1 and the second 2 have not yet dissipated, and less than 1 second later, the cannon flames burst out again from the shadow of the ship 5,000 yards away!

A battleship with 6 guns of 9 inches or higher is firing a half-salvo! This could only be a Ron-class heavy cruiser for the Germans!

And the cannon flames that burst out on the 2 battleships after the Ron-class made Craddock's hands and feet cold.

Scharnhorst! Gneisenau! The main force of the German Far East Fleet!

The cunning Spee did not enter the Indian Ocean! He ran to the east coast of the South Pacific! The entire Royal Navy was deceived by him!

While Craddock was still shocked by the appearance of the German Far East Fleet, there was a violent shaking from behind the starboard side of the Cape of Good Hope! Close-up! Before Craddock could react, 1 second later, 3 columns of water rose into the sky less than 100 yards in front of the bow!

The splash of water slammed down on the foredeck of the Cape of Good Hope like a torrential rain, and the massive hull of the Cape of Good Hope burst through the sea, shattering the ripples of the shells on the surface.

At this moment, everyone on the bridge fell into an ice cave, and the trajectory of the Cape of Good Hope was between the landing points of 3 shells!

Fork bomb!

In the first round and a half, the salvo was fired in close range, and in the second round and a half, there was a straddle shot! And at this time, the Cape of Good Hope still had no shot!

"Fight back! Fight back now! Craddock, who was firmly grasped by fear, trembled, but his excellent military qualities made him not completely swallowed by fear: "The enemy is Ron-class!" As long as we hold her back, we still have a chance to win! ”

At this time, all of Kraddock's hopes were pinned on the four 12-inch naval guns aboard the armored cruiser Ibuki. Although the Drake class is old, the 6-inch armor can still hold up for a while in the face of the Germans' 9.4-inch naval guns, and although the firepower is not as good as the Ron class, the 2 9.2-inch main guns and 8 6-inch secondary guns on the side are also enough threats at a distance of 5,000 yards!

Of course, the weak 4-inch armor of the Monmers in the rear could not stop the shells of the Scharnhorst, but similarly, the armor of the Scharnhorst-class could not stop the 12-inch shells of the Ibuki!

And the Ibuki's 7-inch-thick main armor belt also convinced Craddock that the ship's strong and sharp Ibuki was good enough to deal with the Scharnhorst-class.

As long as Ibuki can take out 1 Scharnhorst as soon as possible, then the balance of victory will still tilt in his favor!

However, Craddock's vision will only come to naught here. The officers and men of the reservists on the two old armored cruisers rarely had the opportunity to even conduct gunnery training, let alone night battles.

Before the Cape of Good Hope could fire the first shot back, 15 seconds later, the Ferdinand's third half-salvo had already hit! Three shells crossed a distance of 5,000 yards in less than 6 seconds, and one of them hit the hull in the middle of the Cape of Good Hope's side of the ship!

The third round of half a salvo hits!

The thin 5-inch armor of the Cape of Good Hope's gun was torn apart like paper paste by 240 mm hard hat hood armor-piercing shells, and the two gun chambers arranged above and below were twisted into a ball of scrap metal!

This hit was almost a declaration to Craddock that it was a fool's dream to drag the Ferdinand with such an old battleship!

And in the rear, where Craddock could not see, the Ibuki trumpet, on which he had high hopes, was also struggling to support at this time.

As the most powerful armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy before the Kongo cruiser entered service, the Ibuki officers and men were far from being trained by the reservists on the Cape of Good Hope, and the Japanese, who valued night fighting, were able to fight back faster than the British.

The four 203-mm guns on the side of the Ibuki returned fire as soon as the Scharnhorst opened fire, and the four 305-mm guns soon joined the roar.

The flash of muzzle flames, which were larger and more powerful than the Germans, in the dark night invigorated all those in the entire fleet who could see it!

However, there was no unified fire control, and the Ibuki, which used a horizontal convergence rangefinder, did not have the same hit rate as the Germans.

The Scharnhorst and Gnaisenau fired on the Ibuki, causing the jets of water to splash around the Ibuki almost uninterrupted. The Scharnhorst's fifth half-salvo and the Gneisenau's seventh-and-a-half salvo were hits, and then the 16 240-mm guns that switched to effective firing fired every 15 seconds made the Ibuki completely overwhelmed by a rain of bullets.

The Ibuki's reassuring 178 mm main armor belt performed better than the Cape of Good Hope in the face of the 212 kg hard hat armor-piercing shells with a muzzle velocity of 800 m/s fired by the SKL/45 240 mm 45 x diameter (British Standard 42) naval guns built by Skoda.

Because the confidence of the Japanese brought by the roar of the 305-mm naval guns disappeared after only 3 minutes.

Two shells from the 12th salvo from Scharnhorst slammed into the foredeck of the Ibuki, and one hit the frontal armor of the forward main turret, and the sound of the bell-like crash resounded throughout the deck, and Captain Kato Kanji Osa, who was standing in the command tower, even saw the sparks flying in all directions like fireworks sticks on the front of the turret.

Although the 229 mm frontal armor blocked the 212 kg of APCBC, the shell left a deep gouge mark on the armor, and the scattered fragments left mottled marks on both barrels.

The other shot landed on the vertical hull under the side of the forward main turret, and the shell easily passed through the unarmored sidewall and crashed into the turret seat of the Ibuki located below deck, where it got stuck on the armor and exploded without fully penetrating the 178 mm gun mount armor.

Although the shell did not penetrate into the well of the seat and cause more damage, the impact and explosion made a huge gap in the turret seat of the Ibuki, and the deformed seat completely stuck the turret, and in fact, the front main gun of the Ibuki could no longer fire.

The turret was even more in a mess, the shock caused by the impact and explosion made the officers and soldiers in the turret completely lose their combat effectiveness, except for a few unlucky people who were directly shocked to death when they hit the body against the armor wall, the rest of the people were also wounded, almost everyone fell into a ball in the narrow space, and then hit the head on the hard steel and broke the blood flow, and the huge echo generated in the turret also made the eardrum perforation of the crew members temporarily deaf.

Half of the most threatening 305-mm naval guns in the escort formation have been scrapped!

At the rear of the formation, the Melbourne was in the worst condition, the shortest serving light cruiser in the entire formation, and like its sister ship Sydney, which had sunk in the Helgoland Bay, it was helpless against the ferocious fire of the two German light cruisers.

If it weren't for the fact that the Fort Col and the Emden, which were engaged with the Melbourne, were equipped with old Krupp 150 mm 45 times diameter (42.4 British) naval guns, and the main armor belt on the outside of the core compartment of the Chatham-class light cruiser was as thick as 76 mm at its thickest point, I am afraid that at least three 45.5 kg shells would have penetrated the boiler room of the Melbourne at this time, and this duel between the light cruisers would have ended.

However, there was a very special exception in this battle in which the German Far East Fleet had the upper hand, and the Monmouth, which was in second place in the formation, had the upper hand in the battle at this time!

As the worst armored cruiser on the battlefield, the officers and men on the Monmouth were already desperately thinking about facing the Scharnhorst-class, which was not at all in the same order of magnitude as themselves, and the old ship under their feet could support it for a few minutes. However, within minutes of the beginning of the engagement, the officers and men of the Monmouth found that the Germans on the opposite side were fighting in full swing, but not a single column of water had exploded around them.

After experiencing a brief "Die! I'm not dead? The Germans aren't beating us! After the transformation of the hell-to-heaven state of mind, the Monmouth, which seemed to have been forgotten by the Germans, became the best performing warship on the British side.

Under the illumination of the searchlight, the figure of the German ship 5,000 yards away was unusually clear. Because they were not attacked, the Monmouth's gunners were able to fire without interference, and the Monmouth's nine 6-inch guns made up for the lack of training of the reservists by virtue of their projection capacity.

In just 10 minutes, the Monmouth fired more than 500 shells at the Scharnhorst, and even though none of the gunners on the Munmers had no experience in night fighting, and even some of them were only trained to use shore guns to hit floating targets on the sea, the Scharnhorst was hit seven times in such a head-to-face attack.

However, the British Mark VIII 6-inch 45-gauge naval gun, with a muzzle velocity of 773 m/s, and a 45.4 kg hood tip usually shelled the Scharnhorst's 180 mm main armor belt, the 150 mm upper armor belt said that it was almost no threat, and only 2 shells hit the superstructure, causing a small fire after damaging several compartments.

In the face of such a painless attack, the Scharnhorst continued to bleed the Ibuki's scarred hull with its eight 240mm guns as if the Monmouth did not exist.

Although the Ibuki also hit four 203-mm shells and several 76.2-mm shells from the German ship during the engagement, the 113-kilogram armor-piercing shells with a muzzle velocity of 756 m/s fired from the 203-mm 45-diameter guns of the Type 41 caused the bow officer compartment of the Gneisenau to be hit and flooded, the 150-mm armor plates of the upper armor belt to crack, the adjacent gun frame and the auxiliary gun chamber to be damaged, the crew members to be killed, and the 150 mm gun in the gun chamber to be damaged and unusable.

That's all.

Compared to their opponents' less than 5% hits, the two Scharnhorst-class ships hit 58 240mm shells and more 150mm shells from the Ibuki in just 10 minutes after entering the effective firing, with a hit rate of more than 12%!

Even if the 5,000-yard engagement distance prevents a straight trajectory from threatening core areas like the power bay and ammunition depot, that many hits would be enough to put the Ibuki Trumpet's life on the line.

In the early morning of October 20, 1914, before the hands passed 3 o'clock, the most splendid scene of this battle appeared.

The Scharnhorst had three hits in a salvo, followed by four shells from Gneisenau that also hit Ibuki.

Five of the seven shells hit the middle of the Ibuki's already blazing hull, one tearing through the 152 mm frontal armor of the front secondary main gun turret, and two shells in the turret were detonated, and the explosion lifted the roof of the turret, and the flames rose into the sky; Two shots pierced the 178 mm main armor belt, and due to the close proximity of the hit, the nearby armor cracked and formed a 7-meter-long rift, and the starboard side of the Ibuki began to enter the water rapidly; One shot hit the secondary gun chamber of the 76.2 mm gun shaft, which was protected by the upper armor belt, and the secondary explosion caused by the pending shells stored here turned the entire area into disarray.

The shell that hit the hull on the side of the rear secondary main turret killed the Ibuki, and after penetrating the 127 mm upper armor belt, it smashed into the shaft of the secondary main turret protected by only 50 mm of turret mount armor, and the explosion shook the fire door of the ammunition hoisting shaft, and the fire quickly spread downward.

At this time, the starboard side of the Ibuki was unrecognizable, and the huge damage made it difficult to sustain the damage pipe, and the hull that was tilted to the right side of the water had to be injected with water to balance the ship. In the midst of the confusion, the starboard side of the Ibuki, which had not filled the ammunition depot of the secondary main gun, burst into a dazzling light in the night!

The rising fireball tumbled and rushed to a height of tens of meters, and was clearly visible dozens of nautical miles away, and the second-level main gun turret of hundreds of tons was lifted into the air, and then smashed into the sea from a height of more than ten meters, splashing a huge splash.

The huge hull, which was short in two, bounced high and then slowly fell. Thousands of tons of steel lapped against the water, making a tooth-aching squeezing sound.

Looking at the rapidly sinking Ibuki trumpet, Spee took a deep breath and then hummed it violently. With the sinking of the Ibuki, the biggest threat has disappeared, and the nerves that have been tense can be relaxed a little.

"Well, now is not the time to cheer." Spee stopped the cheers on the bridge, but the smile on his lips couldn't be hidden: "A clown has been bouncing over there for a long time, it's time to shut him up." ”

With the Scharnhorst turning its muzzle, the Monmouth's good fortune came to an end.

The shells of the 240-mm guns looked at the Monmouth's thin 4-inch armor as if it were nothing, and in just three minutes, the Monmouth's forward main turret was destroyed; After 5 minutes, half of the guns on the side were lost; Eleven minutes later, a shot hit the waterline of the APCBC and smashed into the boiler compartment of the Monmouth.

White steam poured out of the breach enveloped the Monmouth, making the massive hull feel like it was in a sauna. However, the crew of the Monmouth was in purgatory. Hot, high-pressure steam filled the deck, and the person who was sprayed was silent after a terrible scream. A large number of sailors who had been working on deck were forced to jump into the sea by the hot steam, but their scalded skin deteriorated rapidly in the sea, and few people could actually survive to be rescued.

The hull of the ship, which was seriously tilted due to the flooding, could no longer continue shooting, but even if it had completely lost its combat effectiveness at this time, the officers and men of the Monmouth did not lower the battle flag, and as long as they were still floating on the sea, this flag would not be lowered!

Looking at the Monmouth, which was lying on the surface like a dead fish, Spee ordered a ceasefire.

Not far away, the battle between the Ferdinand and the Cape of Good Hope had already been decided.

The Ferdinand was hit by 2 234 mm shells and three 152 mm shells, and although the British Mark X 234 mm 47 x diameter naval gun was old, the 172 kg armor-piercing shell with a muzzle velocity of 838 m/s still penetrated the Ferdinand's 150 mm main armor belt, causing water to enter the port side; The other shot penetrated the 80 mm upper armor belt, resulting in the complete destruction of a 150 mm secondary gun.

One 152-mm shell hit the hangar on the side of the chimney, lifting the hangar into the sky along with the Seagull reconnaissance aircraft parked inside, while the remaining two were blocked by the side armor belt, leaving only two unsightly charred black.

The Cape of Good Hope had been completely transformed into a flaming torch, and the arrival of the Scharnhorst was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Pulled into the 1,000-yard distance, the Scharnhorst completely deprived the Cape of Good Hope of its last bit of life with only five salvos, and 11 240-millimeter shells that hit the waterline tore the Cape of Good Hope to pieces, and a large amount of water caused the Cape of Good Hope to quickly capsize.

Behind the Scharnhorst, the sound of artillery also gradually stopped.

Although the main armor belt of the Melbourne blocked the concentrated fire of the Fort Col and Emden, the other parts of the hull were riddled with holes, and the Melbourne, which was completely incapacitated, was forced to abandon the ship.

The Glasgow, which managed to speed up to 25 knots, was intercepted by the light cruiser Rostock.

Although collectively known as the City class light cruiser by the Germans, unlike the Melbourne and Brisbane, which belonged to the Chatham-class light cruisers, the Glasgow, which belonged to the Bristol class, although it was not much different in terms of firepower, speed and appearance, did not have the 76 mm side main armor belt like the Melbourne. Nominally called light cruisers, in essence they still belong to the category of protective cruisers.

Faced with a cutting-edge light cruiser that joined the German Navy only nine months ago and is equipped with the new Skoda SKL/50 150mm 50 times diameter (British standard 47.7) naval gun, the Glasgow did not even last as long as the Melbourne.

With the Brisbane coming from the other side and the Otranto, which was still attacking the German ships despite being auxiliary cruisers, were sunk by the Gneisenau, Fort Col, and Emden, the 4th Cruiser Squadron of the British Royal Navy and the Australia-Japan Combined Escort Fleet completely disappeared under the sea surface on the east coast of the South Pacific.

However, tonight's slaughter has just begun, even if the heroic escort ships hold on to resistance for 50 minutes, but the maximum speed of 38 transport ships full of Anzac soldiers is only 12 knots, even if the formation has been disbanded and scattered, but where can they escape in less than an hour?

When 3 light cruisers caught up with the convoy at a speed of more than 26 knots, a massacre began!

In order to intercept as many merchant ships as possible, the Germans no longer carried out unified fire control, as long as the searchlight illuminated the target, each turret could attack at will.

Knowing that their 150-mm naval guns were too ineffective against merchant ships, the 3 light cruisers did not waste valuable armor-piercing shells, but chose to attack the merchant ship's waterline with the usual shells.

The usual shells with explosives inside would tear a huge hole in the waterline without the armor of the merchant ships, and although such an inlet would not directly kill the huge merchant ships, it would be enough to slow them down, and the next step would be torpedo execution at a distance of 1,000 yards.

3 light cruisers slaughtered like wolves rushing into a flock.

The brittle hull of a transport ship hit by a normal bullet instantly turns into scattered fragments, and the canned Anzac soldiers stuffed into the crowded space of the ship are instantly torn into broken sacks by the flying shrapnel.

The torpedo launched at close range dragged a snow-white track that caused the soldiers on the ship to jump into the sea in horror to escape, but the waves generated by the explosion of the warhead of the torpedo fired at such a close range of hundreds of kilograms of high-energy explosives would slap the soldiers who could not swim far into the water.

The slaughter culminated in the scarnation with the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Ferdinand, which followed in a lion-like manner.

Even with normal shells, the 212 kg shells fired by three heavy cruisers could easily smash deep into the hull of a merchant ship and explode inside, causing even more damage.

Each 212-kilogram explosion tore the Anzac soldiers in the cabin to shreds, and then carried countless stumps and severed arms to break through the brittle hull and become debris scattered in the sky, and then crackled back to the surface of the sea into a rain of blood!

These defenseless transports became the largest iron coffins in history.

Even if the people on board managed to escape the cabin and jump out of the shell-ridden sea, their fate would not change, and the temperature of the South Pacific Ocean in the middle of the night in October would have taken their lives.

Lit merchant ships lit up the night sky, jumping flames stained the sea red, and the cries of countless unjust souls echoed between the sea and the sky.

The carnage lasted a full three hours, and when the morning sun shone again on the South Pacific, countless Anzac corpses floated on the beautiful and calm sea, their pale faces reflected red, and the waves caressed their charred bodies.

Two days later, 27 transport ships were sunk, the 5th Cruiser Squadron was completely destroyed, and the joint Australian-Japanese escort fleet was sunk, and the report of the death of about 3,800 naval officers and men, 700 sailors, and 20,000 Anzac soldiers, including Rear Admiral Craddock, Rear Admiral Bridges, Colonel Silwell, and Kanji Kato, was handed over to the desk at 10 Downing Street in London.

Prime Minister Asquith sat at his desk and trembled for a while before he calmed down, and then there was a long silence. It wasn't until the people next to him were worried about whether the prime minister was angry and fainted and wanted to come forward to check that they heard the prime minister grit his teeth and say: "This damn butcher!" ”