At 6 a.m. on September 8, 1914, 30 nautical miles northwest of Helgoland, a sizable fleet was quietly moving forward in the morning fog of the dawn of Helgoland Bay.

Brigadier Tyrit stood on the bridge of the new flagship, the Limsen, which had been replaced only a month earlier, and was very excited. His fleet was already fully deployed, with 16 of the latest L-class destroyers and 13 D-class destroyers, as well as 1 light cruiser and 1 reconnaissance cruiser, and it was easy to eat the Germans' outer patrols.

And even if all the light ships in the Helgoland defense circle of the Germans poured out, they did not have to worry at all. Behind him, an even larger support fleet was hiding in the fog.

Since the meeting four days ago was unable to attend the meeting because the commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Jericho, led the fleet to go to sea for training, his request for the main force of the Grand Fleet to be backed up was rejected by the First Sea Lord, Field Marshal Fischer, and the chief of staff, Vice Admiral Steddy.

Although Vice Admiral Sterdy eventually agreed to send a second battle cruiser detachment consisting of 2 Invincible-class battlecruisers and 4 destroyers, and 5 Cressey-class armored cruisers and a 7th cruiser detachment, including his former flagship protective cruiser USS Purple Quartz, as support.

However, this kind of support does not reassure Tierit, the armored cruisers of the 7th Cruiser Squadron are all old-fashioned things, and these tattered estimates at a speed of 12 knots will not be able to reach the battlefield when the battle is over. Although the Invincible-class battlecruisers had strong firepower, they might not be able to retreat with only 2 ships deep into the German defense zone.

So at 3:30 p.m., the shadow of the ship that suddenly appeared behind him scared Tirit fiercely, and when he ran into a warship that was not in the predetermined plan in this enemy waters, Tyrit's first reaction was the enemy. Had it not been for the light identification signal immediately sent from the opposite side, Territ would have almost given the order to open fire.

However, a false alarm was followed by ecstasy, and the news brought by the opposite side made Territ overjoyed! Commodore Goodenough's 1st Light Cruiser, the main cruiser of the Grand Fleet, which had been rejected, came to support! What's more, behind him were the 3 battle cruisers of the First Battle Cruiser led by Rear Admiral Betty!

Naturally, Tyrit did not know that Jericho was returning to the Scapa Bay base, and after learning of this risky plan, the cautious admiral offered to send two of the most elite high-speed fleets in the Grand Fleet to support. However, the arrival of such a strong backup swept away Tillit's uneasiness.

Now, just wait for Commodore Case's submarine to be in place. Today, I will give the Germans a crushing defeat to wash away the humiliation they brought to themselves!

"Ah~ Night patrols are really exhausting." At the lookout post of the German Navy destroyer Z-49, Sergeant Helm yawned and complained. Since 4 a.m., when people are sleepy, Helm has been on this high lookout post for two hours. The fleet was on its way back from a night patrol mission, and it was inevitable that drowsiness would rise when the spirit was relaxed.

At this time, the sea was full of fog, and the heavy water vapor had already made his military uniform a little damp, and on the highest lookout post of the whole ship, the oncoming sea breeze blew on his body and made Helm shiver a little cold, if it weren't for this, maybe Helm would have dozed off at the highest place on the whole ship now.

"Did you see the Ariadne?" Suddenly, the voice of the captain of the ship, Major Booth, sounded in the microphone, which made Helm feel excited, and his drowsiness instantly disappeared a lot.

"Report, the lookout post has found nothing." Helm replied to the microphone while scanning with his eyes, the surroundings were foggy, the visibility was only about 1000 yards, Helm's heart that had suddenly accelerated calmed down a little, although he was startled by His Excellency the Major and didn't think about opening his mouth to answer, but he didn't lie, he really couldn't see anything now.

"We're almost at the rendezvous point, keep an eye on it."

"Yes, Captain!" Helm replied loudly, and then pulled himself together and continued to look around the sea, Helm didn't want to cause the Z-49 to collide with the Ariadne who had come to pick it up.

In the face of a destroyer lead ship with a displacement twice as large as the Z-49, it is definitely the Z-49 that suffers when it collides with each other. And now at the highest point of the ship, the only way to get back to the bridge is to climb down from the mast that doesn't look very strong, and if it collides, Helm is afraid that he will be thrown out.

However, the thick fog still covered the surface of the sea, and everything seemed very calm, and Helm, who was a little relaxed, opened his mouth and yawned, then lowered his head and pressed his temples hard, and the moment he looked up from the sea, a small white spray less than 100 yards away from Z-49 made his blood rush to his head.

"Starboard! There are submarines! Helm shouted into the microphone, it was the trace of the periscope pulled out of the sea! Moreover, the submarine that is still diving underwater after entering the outer defense circle of the Gulf of Helgoland will definitely not be its own people!

A terrible alarm sounded on the Z-49, the gunners turned the muzzle of the gun frantically, and the sea breeze slapped on Helm's face became stronger, which was that the Z-49 was accelerating. However, it was too late, and Helm saw two white tracks on the surface of the sea swooping down on the Z-49.

"Starboard, torpedo!" Unable to shout to the microphone, Helm leaned on the edge of the lookout fence, leaned out, and shouted into the deck! The sudden **** almost made Helm, who had most of his chest poked out, out, and Z-49 was making a sharp turn to the left.

But the left full rudder of the Z-49, which had previously maintained a patrol speed of 14 knots, was obviously not enough for her to avoid the impending danger, and the two white tracks were about to hit the hull and stern of the Z-49 respectively, Helm crouched down, firmly grasped the fence of the lookout post with both hands, lowered his head deeply, and retracted between the two arms, waiting for the impending explosion: "Oh God! ”

When Helm opened his closed eyes and found that the explosion did not come as expected, he straightened up slightly, tilted his head, and cast his gaze to starboard to find that there was nothing on the sea. For a moment, Helm was even dazzled by the scene just now, and when his brain reacted, Helm turned his head, and two white tracks appeared on the port side of the sea, farther and farther away from the Z-49.

"Walked through! The torpedo passed through! They are deeply wrong! Helm shouted excitedly!

The excitement and fear of the rest of the life filled the chests of all the officers and men on the Z-49, and the ship's three 88-mm naval guns and three 37-mm rapid-fire guns fired wildly at the place where the periscope appeared just now, and the continuous splashing of water broke the calm of the sea.

Although it seemed to be overwhelming, Major Booth knew that such a bombardment was useless, and that the gunners were merely venting their emotions.

"Tell Z-37, Z-57, and Z-59 to surround them!" Major Booth roared, and he was also frightened just now: "Send a report!" Call the Ariadne and join us! Inform Rear Admiral Maas that we are being attacked by a submarine! ”

Although there was no way to determine the location of the British submarine, the submarine with a low speed could not run far underwater, and the four destroyers were scattered, and they used depth charges to plow the periscope of the place where the periscope had appeared before with depth charges in a zigzag course.

Don't know the depth of the other party? It doesn't matter, the depth of the submarine is about 40 meters, the depth is 30 meters, if you are lucky, no matter what depth the other party dives, the shock wave of 160 kilograms of ******* explosives exploding underwater can shock the other party.

Even if she misses, the sound of the depth charge exploding underwater can force the submarine to maneuver constantly, eventually causing her to run out of power and float, and then she can be beaten with naval guns.

"30 meters deep!" On the stern deck of the Z-49, several sailors were busy with 15 cylinders that looked like gasoline drums on the rails at the end of the deck.

"Ready! Put! "With the command, a cylindrical depth charge rolled from the slide into the sea. After a while, a thick column of water rose 20 meters from the stern of the ship.

Not far away, the same column of water appeared on the surface of the sea with a deafening sound, and a loud sound spread through the thick fog curtain over the Gulf of Helgoland.

The four destroyers continued to drop depth charges, but as expected, there was no oil or debris floating on the surface, which made Captain Booth a little agitated. In this damn fog, the navy's reconnaissance airship didn't take off at all, and the other surface ships would not have time to support it for a while, and it was still too difficult to catch this fish that dared to break into the Helgoland Bay with just four destroyers.

The distance between the four destroyers that were scattered began to widen farther and farther away, and the shadows of the ships gradually disappeared in the dense fog. Just when Major Booth was worried that the formation was too scattered and was about to gather the remaining 3 ships after the depth charges were dropped, a shout came from the lookout post again: "The shadow of the ship has been found on the starboard side!" ”

"Z-37: They're back so soon?" Major Booth was a little confused, but his confusion didn't last long before it turned into horror.

More than a dozen orange-red fires pierced through the dense fog, and rumbling cannon fires rang out one after another not far away, and Z-49 was immediately surrounded by water columns!

"150 mm class naval guns! This is not our ship! It's the cruiser of the British! Booth shouted in horror, and there were occasional few very prominent roars in the distance from the continuous cannon fire, and several of the water columns around Z-49 were even larger. It is impossible for a light cruiser of the German Navy armed with 150-mm naval guns to appear in the outer patrol circle! The escort and reception of the patrol are also done by the destroyer lead ship that serves as the flagship of the destroyer, and it is impossible for these ships to be equipped with naval guns of this class!

"Left full rudder! Notify Z-37, Z-57, Z-59 to turn around immediately! Inform Wilhelmshaven! The British have come in! (To be continued.) )