Against the backdrop of the slanting sun, the figure of the British ship finally appeared in the western sea. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoIt was a light cruiser with three chimneys, that is, an "enemy sentinel ship" reported by German reconnaissance aircraft. Now that the German lookouts had seen its outline, the British officers and men above must have been aware of their situation, and they did not turn around or avoid the enemy's edge, but headed head-on towards the German fleet until they were within range of the German dreadnoughts.

Knowing clearly that the main British fleet was coming, the Germans, of course, did not need to massively expend ammunition on this "inconspicuous" target. to about 1. At a distance of 50,000 meters, the "King", "Caesar", "Elector", and "Oldenburg" in the fleet battleline opened fire one after another, and the alternating shooting was steady and slow, which was the warm-up before the arrival of the big war.

Protected from enemy fire, the fleet command team headed by Admiral Scheer continued to stay on the open-air bridge observation deck. For them, every roar of the heavy artillery is like beating a huge war drum, and there is no need to deliberately agitate, and the blood is already surging.

While the long-range shelling was carried out, a maritime reconnaissance aircraft constantly hovered over the target to correct the impact point for the German fleet. With a special viewing angle, pilots can judge the impact point more accurately than long-distance optical observation, but previous combat experience has shown that aircraft lacking radio equipment are only suitable for attacking and calibrating individual targets. Therefore, the German Navy tried to modify the two-seat water reconnaissance aircraft, eliminating the co-pilot, and adding a short-wave radio station to the co-pilot's cabin, which could achieve one-way radio communication. In this way, the pilot is not only responsible for piloting, but also needs to act as a telegrapher, and the aircraft will not have the ability to defend itself in this situation, but its use has been welcomed by many ship commanders.

The shelling lasted for a cup of coffee from hot to cool, the heavy shells fired by the German battleships began to cause close damage to the target, and the four large torpedo boats were already pressing forward with great momentum, and the German fleet also carried out blocking interference with the detected radio wave frequency, and the British light cruiser saw that the situation was not good, and turned around and retreated at full speed. By this time, the watchmen of the German flagship "King" were already in the northwest to see a large column of smoke, and a few minutes later, the triangular masts of large British ships could be seen on the surface of the sea - the old rivals had finally met again since the Battle of Jutland!

After getting the affirmation from Natsuki's gaze, Scheer decisively ordered: the battlefleet met the enemy in a diagonal stepped battle.

With the lead ship "King" as the reference point, the three dreadnoughts quickly and accurately adjusted their positions, and sixteen large torpedo boats were divided into two teams, each holding one side of the battle line.

With the help of repeated reconnaissance by carrier-based aircraft, the German fleet had already understood the situation of the opponent clearly before the main British fleet appeared. Five capital battleships, nineteen destroyers, and fifteen torpedo boats, even if they were in disarray, were much larger than the German main fleet under the command of Scher.

Despite the fact that each side had light ships to assist in the battle, there was no doubt that the outcome of the naval battle would be decided between the nine capital ships.

Four German battleships versus five British battleships, in terms of construction costs, the total price of the two sides was equal, and after the naval battles of Jutland and Flanders, people no longer questioned the strength of the "Wilhelm fleet", not only the internal public opinion of the Allies, but even the public opinion of some neutral countries also hyped it up, and even had a tendency to push it to the altar.

In terms of actual combat, both sides have the ability to win, and the key lies in their respective performances - the British fleet has better firepower output, but armor-piercing shells are too sensitive to inflict a fatal blow on the opponent; The German fleet had the upper hand in both the rate of fire and the speed of the voyage, and there were also key advantages in the protection of the battleships and the quality of the shells.

Soon after the two battlefleets came into each other's sights, a number of planes appeared over the sea, and the German generals and staff officers who were waiting on the bridge of the "King" for the countdown to the battle invariably noticed that not all of these planes were their own carrier-based aircraft, but at least two of them were British planes.

The standard paint and the original color are clear at a glance.

At the beginning, the fleets of the two sides faced each other, and the distance between the two quickly narrowed, and the ranging figures from the shooting command room made people's emotions tense a little. By the time both sides could see the silhouettes of each other's ships through telescopes, the two fleets adjusted their course so that the upcoming artillery battle would unfold on the starboard side.

As if intending to compete with the opponent for endurance, the two fleets entered 2. After the 10,000-meter limit range, they did not rush to fire, but each other's muzzles were firmly focused on each other.

The battle is the first to unfold between the aircraft of both sides. Undisguised German reconnaissance planes attacked British planes with machine guns in an attempt to expel them from the area and prevent them from firing at the British fleet. The planes of the two sides came and went back and forth more than a dozen times, but none of them were shot down.

When Natsuki heard the 19,000-kilometer ranging data reported from the shooting command room, there was a scene of fire dancing on the sea in the distance. Fortunately, the sun was not yet close to the surface of the sea, otherwise the setting sun would have diluted the fire of the British fleet and blinded the Germans' eyes, affecting their accuracy.

The flickering flickering flicker, and the starboard side of the five British battleships was enveloped in a hazy gray smoke. It took more than twenty seconds for Natsuki to hear the scream of a heavy shell, which he had become accustomed to, and he didn't even need to cover his ears, and looked at the sea casually.

With a huge explosion, the shells fired by the British battleship fell on the starboard sea one after another, and the waves of water that stirred up went straight to 100 meters, and the upper part of these water columns was normal water white, and the lower part was yellow-green, which was a typical scene of picric acid explosive explosion!

"Twenty rounds." Captain Gord whispered behind Natsuki, which was exactly half of the salvo firepower of the five British battleships.

Natsuki squinted at the two twin main turrets on the foredeck of the "King", the four 12-inch naval guns held their muzzles high, and the chambers were already filled with armor-piercing shells......

Scheer stood there motionless, and his composure was exactly what von Ingnoll did not possess.

"Eighteen thousand kilometers away from the enemy's lead ship!"

The voice of the shooting commander was carried down the microphone to the observation platform, and at the same time, the officers in the navigation room began to calculate the firing parameters of the main gun according to the latest ranging figures.

Scheer still didn't make a sound, and from Natsuki's position, he could see that his eyes were slightly wide, and the expression on his face was as resolute as iron.

The German fleet was slow to open fire, and the British on the opposite side did not hesitate, and the starboard side of the five British battleships flickered and smoke rose. Twenty seconds later, the heavy shells still burst through the air with a piercing screech, and the landing point was much closer than the previous one, and the impact point of the bullets basically covered the starboard side of the four German battleships, and the "King" was obviously the most.

"Twenty rounds." Captain Golder soon reported the same number.

Natsuki didn't count, he paid little attention to the small details of the battlefield, which were exactly what some career officers were keen on.

After the loud explosion rang out, Sher said in a fit of rage, "Order...... Each ship attacks the enemy ship in order...... Free Fire! ”

After the order was given, the "King" opened fire first with the interest rate of the flagship. The captain, Commodore Paul Beanke, unsurprisingly, chose to fire alternately, with a deafening roar from half of the main guns, smoke and the smell of battle in the air.

In the case of two fleets moving in opposite directions, the sequential attack meant that the "King" concentrated its fire on the enemy's lead ships, and the "Caesar", "Elector", and "Oldenburg" dealt with the second, third, and fourth ships of the British fleet from the front to the rear, respectively, and none of the battleships dispersed their fire to attack the fifth ship at the end of the British fleet. In the era of naval warfare, when optical instruments were used for observation and shooting, the greatest advantage of this tactic was that each ship could clearly identify the impact point of its own gunfire and try to weaken the enemy's attack with an attack.

In the rumbling of cannons, people's attention is highly concentrated, and the flow of time becomes fast. In the blink of an eye, the first round of shelling of the four German dreadnoughts turned into a clear column of water in the distant sea, and their deviation from the target compared to the British fleet's initial firing did not have a significant advantage as rumored, but as soon as these water columns fell, the German fleet began the second round of fire very compactly. As a result, after just a few rounds of shelling, the number of shells dropped by the German fleet easily surpassed that of the British fleet, and this was on the premise that the "Oldenburg" did not give full play to the power of the triple main gun. At this time, neither side had a hit, and the German officers and men were already in a psychological tailwind position, and the pressure on the British officers and soldiers can be imagined.

At 15,000 kilometers, the "Caesar" became the first capital ship to form a straddle fire on the target in this naval battle, and when the impact point was very close to the enemy ship, the "Oldenburg" fired a salvo of the whole ship, and the terrifying firepower of 12 11-inch guns had already made the British dreadnought group suffer enough in the Battle of Jutland, and this time it was the turn of the "St. Vincent" to be tested.

In the firing command room of the "Oldenburg", the calm and capable firing commander did not pay attention to the situation on the entire sea surface. His task is to constantly correct the impact point of the ship's main guns until the shells accurately hit the target. In addition to the sophisticated optical instruments, he can also rely on the calibration information of the carrier-based aircraft -- the ship's radio department has directly set up a signal receiver similar to a radio in the shooting command room, and is equipped with a radio operator, so that the shooting commander can know the pilot's feedback at the first time.

"Shortened, the elevation angle was increased to 14 degrees 12 minutes and 35 seconds, the firing azimuth was adjusted to 034 degrees 29 minutes 07 seconds, and the armor-piercing projectile salvo was ready for ......"

After reporting the new firing yuan, the shooting commander stared at the firing controller, and when all the main guns were adjusted according to the instructions, he firmly gave the order to fire.

Seconds later, the German battleship's 12 11-inch guns roared in unison again. After about 20 seconds, a new column of water was seen rising from the sea in the distance, and this time there was a different light in the gap than when the enemy ship fired, and soon a thick black smoke ball appeared.

(End of chapter)