At 9 a.m. on February 9, the combined fleet of the German Navy officially caught up with the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and the two huge fleets had become a parallel line.

Both sides knew that the fight was inevitable. Therefore, the commanders of both sides did not give any additional orders, but directly ordered to prepare for battle.

Preempting the T prefix and the like is just a waste of time. Although, the combined fleet of the German Navy, with the performance advantages of the battleship, could give it a try. But the size of the Austro-Hungarian navy was not small, and if that were to happen, I am afraid that even after dark, it would not be possible to kill them all. Once it gets dark, the Austro-Hungarian navy may be able to take advantage of the cover of night and escape into the vast Indian Ocean. At that time, it will probably not be so easy for the combined fleet of the German Navy to find out and solve the Austro-Hungarian Navy again.

In addition, Admiral Hipper and other German naval commanders also admired the Austro-Hungarian Navy's daring to confront the German Navy. Therefore, they hoped to defeat the Austro-Hungarian Navy in an upright way.

The combined fleet of the German Navy outnumbered the Austro-Hungarian Navy by six in terms of the number of capital ships. Coupled with the performance of their warships, they were much stronger than the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Therefore, the combined fleet of the German Navy completely had the absolute upper hand. If, in such a situation, none of them were able to defeat the Austro-Hungarian Navy, or if the price paid was relatively large, then the German naval commanders would be too incompetent.

The capital ships of both sides began to line up in a long battle line. Small and medium-sized warships began to withdraw, making room for the duel of capital ships.

"Four 'Caesar-class' battleships, four 'Austro-Hungarian-class' battleships against Austria-Hungary, four 'Brandenburg-class' battlecruisers, and 'Old Caesar-class' battlecruisers against Austria-Hungary. Four 'Helgoland-class' battleships against three Austro-Hungarian 'Old Moltke-class' battlecruisers and one 'Old Helgoland-class' battleship. The remaining three 'Moltke-class' battlecruisers, four 'Nassau-class' battlecruisers and three 'Blucher-class' battlecruisers, laid siege to the four 'Combined Forces' battlecruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire! Admiral Hipper ordered.

Although, Austria-Hungary had already renamed those capital ships that it had purchased from Germany. However, Admiral Hippert was still accustomed to calling them by their first names when they were serving in the German Navy. It's just that an old word has been added in front of it. It is precisely because of the warships sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy after the German Navy was decommissioned that they have become the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. This made the German Navy feel a little strange in this battle. After all, those capital ships were also built by Germany in the first place! And in the last world war, he made great contributions to Germany's defeat of the Royal Navy of the British Empire. Now they have become enemies, and they have to sink them in order for the Empire to win this war.

The four 'Combined Forces-class' battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy undoubtedly became the key targets of the German Navy. The 'Combined Forces' battleship, as the first class dreadnought of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was not very strong, and even at this time, it was already very bad. Although the number of main guns is large, there are four triple main guns. But it is a pity that all 45 times the caliber of 305 mm guns. The power of this main gun can no longer cause any fatal damage to those capital ships of the German Navy. Even, the thick armor in those important parts is simply not something that the 305 mm gun can penetrate.

If these four 'Combined Forces-class' battleships can be eliminated in the shortest possible time after the battle begins, then the German Navy's advantage in this battle will be further expanded.

Of course, in order to deal with these four 'combined forces-class' battleships, the combined fleet of the German Navy can be regarded as using the main force. The three Moltke-class battleships, the four Nassau-class battleships, and the three Blucher-class battleships were all powerful capital ships equipped with 50 times the caliber of 380 mm guns, and any armor-piercing projectile fired by the main gun could penetrate its armor as long as it hit the 'Combined Forces-class' battleship. Even the thickest conning tower armor.

The 'Combined Forces' battleship had 280 mm of waterline armor, 305 mm of turret frontal armor, and 356 mm of conning tower armor at its thickest part. It's just that these armors are still like paper paste in front of the new cap-piercing shells fired by the German Navy's large-caliber main guns. Armor-piercing shells fired by the German Navy could easily penetrate them.

"Close the distance, at a distance of 15 km, start fighting. And then to maintain this distance, it will not be possible for the Austro-Hungarian Navy to shorten the combat distance to less than 12 km! "Admiral Hipperl gave the order.

For the German Navy, the large-caliber main guns of their capital ships, which had a much longer effective range. And the lead ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy are generally a little smaller in caliber. At longer distances, not only the hit rate will drop a lot. Similarly, the power of the shells will be affected. So, to engage at this distance, it was clearly more beneficial for the German Navy.

In order to achieve victory at the lowest cost, Admiral Hipper also made the most advantageous choice for his side.

The battle line, formed by the capital ships of the German Navy, was already assigned to strike targets. The battle line began to turn in order to further close the distance between the two sides.

The huge main guns on the capital ship also began to rotate slowly under the action of the motors. Soon they will begin shelling, tearing the enemy on the opposite side to shreds with the shells they fire.

"Order the ships and get ready for battle! The sinister and cunning Germans, they really made our 'Combined Forces' battleships, which were at the end of the battle line, a key target. Tell the captains of the four 'Combined Forces' battleships that I don't expect them to have much success in this battle, but I hope they will hold out longer! "Anton? Admiral House ordered.

Obviously, Anton? Admiral House knew that the four 'Combined Forces-class' battleships were dead this time. But if they can delay longer, they may be able to buy more time for the other 12 capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. If we are lucky enough to inflict more casualties on the German Navy, maybe this naval battle will turn around.

At 9:25 a.m., the battle officially began. The combined capital ships of the two navies have a total tonnage of more than 1.5 million tons. Without a doubt, this is definitely the biggest steel collision ever.