At four o'clock and eight o'clock, the "Hefei", which sailed at the front, that is, the flagship of the sixth task force, reached the sea about 12 nautical miles from the British coastline, which was the farthest distance that the British coastal radar provided by the intelligence department of the Tang Empire at that time could detect, Gu Zhenyun also ordered the fleet to turn at this time, and its course was adjusted from 330 degrees to 150 degrees, that is, the fleet turned 180 degrees to the left and headed towards the French coast across the strait.

It was also this turn that finally made the Sixth Task Force "harvest". At that time, Task Force 6 was about 40 nautical miles away from the area of engagement outside Portsmouth Harbour, which was already more than the radar detection range on the battleship. When the fleet turns to the left, its turning radius is about 3 nautical miles, which means that the fleet must sail about 6 nautical miles southwest to turn around. As a result, by 4:21, that is, the fleet had basically completed its turn, and when it came to a new course of 150 degrees, the radar on the last battleship, the battleship "Matsue", suddenly discovered two targets in the southwest direction of the fleet.

This situation was immediately reported to the "Hefei". When Gu Zhenyun received the news, he was also taken aback, could it be that the British Home Fleet had already passed through the strait, and had already discovered the Sixth Task Force and was killing them? I apologize here, Gu Zhenyun has been muttering, it stands to reason that the Third Task Force is patrolling the southern waters of the Strait of Dover, so they should have encountered the Third Task Force a long time ago. However, the fleet had already sailed around the southern part of the strait, but still no trace of the third task force had been found, which made Gu Zhenyun feel extremely strange.

Soon, Gu Zhenyun decided that the two battleships were not British warships. Most likely the fleet of the 3rd Task Force. First of all, Gu Zhenyun did not know at that time that the British fleet had passed through the Strait of Dover and had already fought with the Third Task Force. Secondly, he did not know the exact location of the 3rd Task Force. It was for these two reasons that Gu Zhenyun believed that the patrol area of the Third Task Force was to the southwest of him, and the Sixth Task Force inadvertently rushed to the front. Considering this, Gu Zhenyun was also a little worried, not because he couldn't meet with the Third Task Force, but because he was worried that if the British fleet came from the north at this time, the Sixth Task Force would be the first to be hit, rather than being fought by the more powerful Third Task Force in front. Therefore, he immediately ordered a telegram to be sent asking for the identity of the two battleships, and two destroyers were sent to "pick up".

The telegram was sent three times. By 4:28 a.m., the two battleships were only 15 nautical miles away from the Sixth Task Force, and the radar operators had already judged that they were two battleships with a speed of 12 knots and a course of 40 degrees. However, at that time, the radar could only judge the size of the battleship, and use the Doppler effect to measure the speed and course of the battleship, but it could not judge the model of the battleship!

The other party never replied to the telegram, which made Gu Zhenyun feel a little annoyed. The communications staff of the fleet not only used the internal channel of the fleet, but also used the common channel of the Imperial Navy to send telegrams, and as long as the radio stations on the two warships continued to work, they would certainly be able to receive the telegrams sent by the "Hefei". The prerequisite, of course, is that they are two warships of the Imperial Navy. It was precisely because the other party did not call back that Gu Zhenyun had a lot of doubts, and he even thought that the British fleet had passed through the Strait of Dover and defeated the Third Task Force, which were two warships that had escaped the blow and were fleeing for their lives. But the problem is that if it is a warship of the Imperial Navy, it should also flee to the southwest of the strait, not towards the Strait of Dover!

Five minutes later, just after half past four, the destroyers sent out arrived in the sea about five nautical miles northeast of the two warships, and the lookout could already see the outlines of the two warships clearly. Then, a destroyer fired a flare. In the bright light, the lookout of the destroyer immediately judged the model of the two battleships, which were not the "New Provincial Capital" class battleships of the Imperial Navy, but the "Queen Elizabeth" class battleships of the British Navy!

This is exactly what the "War Weyer" and "Warrior" were the first to withdraw from the battle and flee to Eastbourne after being torpedoed. After the two battleships withdrew from the battle, the officers and men of the battleships kept trying to plug the holes left by the torpedoes in the hull, and even the captain went to participate in the damage management and repair work. Because of this, the two battleships were able to barely maintain a speed of 12 knots and slowly sail towards Eastbourne. What's more, at that time, the main power compartment on the "War Wey" was no longer functioning properly, and two of the three large diesel engines on the "Warrior" were also damaged. In addition, the captains of both warships believed that they had successfully withdrawn from the battle, so they ordered the radar on the ships to be turned off, as well as most of the power-consuming equipment such as radios, and only one radio station for communication with the ship's flagship and one radio station for communication with the port of Eastbourne was kept working. In other words, when the two battleships headed towards the sea area where the Sixth Task Force was located, they were not able to detect the danger ahead at all, and it was not until the lights popped up over the battleship that the British officers and men on the battleship realized that two destroyers of unknown origin had appeared in front of them!

It can be regarded as the bad luck of these two battleships, at this time, the captains who are a little vigilant should give the order of combat mobilization and let the battleship enter the combat state. However, the captains of both battleships believed that it was the destroyer from Eastbourne that the flagship of the fleet had come from Eastbourne to meet them. At that time, only the communications officer on board the "Warrior" sent an inquiry signal to the two destroyers using the British Navy's common channel, but did not receive any reply.

At 4:40 a.m., the "Warrior" had already sent three telegrams of inquiry, but the other party still did not answer, but quickly turned and opened the distance. At this time, the communications officer on the "Warrior" became suspicious and immediately reported the information to the captain. By the time the captain returned to the commander's bridge at 4:45, it was too late for the "Warrior" to turn, and by this time the "War Weathiness" was not aware of the danger at all!

Gu Zhenyun was also a little incredulous after receiving the telegram sent back by the destroyer, it turned out to be two battleships of the British Navy! In his opinion, the situation is already very, is it the British division of troops? Or were these two battleships just a decoy? Or has the 3rd Task Force been completely annihilated, and the British Home Fleet has set a trap for the 6th Task Force? Of course, Gu Zhenyun also considered that it was also possible that the Third Task Force defeated the British Home Fleet, and the two battleships were wounded and left the battlefield and were returning in the direction of the strait, perhaps to return to the North Sea waters.

Although there were so many questions, Gu Zhenyun did not hesitate again. He also knew that the radar on the warships of the Imperial Sea was better than that used by the British Navy, and the detection range was longer. In addition, the speed of the "new provincial capital" class is faster, and even if this is a trap, then the other warships of the British Navy will be spotted as long as they get close, and even if they can't beat them, they will be able to escape. Therefore, at 4:35, that is, two minutes after the destroyer in front sent back the report, Gu Zhenyun gave the battle order for four battleships, namely the "Hefei". "Fuzhou". "Nanjing" and "Matsue" opened a battle queue, and the destroyers in front immediately withdrew. The cruisers and destroyers were all withdrawn, and the order of engagement was quickly arranged, with the "Hefei" and "Fuzhou" concentrating their firepower on the battleship in front, the "Warrior," and the "Nanjing" and "Songjiang" concentrating their firepower on the battleship behind, the "war-weary."

At 4:46 a.m., the four battleships had completed their turning, and other preparations for battle, and turned their guns toward the enemy ships. Next, within a minute, the four battleships fired the first salvo each. At this time, the "Warrior" and "Songjiang" and "Nanjing" were only about 11 nautical miles, and the "War Wey" was only about 12 nautical miles away from the "Nanjing" and "Songjiang".

The salvo of the four "New Provincial Capital" class battleships was the best battle alarm for the British officers and men, and about a minute after the muzzle flash, a dull sound of shelling came, and the battle alarm also sounded on the British battleship, but it was too late. Less than ten seconds after the sound of shelling arrived, the first shells also fell. Although the first salvo of the four battleships did not hit the target, the huge armor-piercing shells exploded dozens of meters high on the sea surface. By this time, the captains of the two British warships had not figured out how the enemy ships had come out, but one thing was clear: it was impossible for them to return to Eastbourne, because Task Force 6 was in the way of their route to Eastbourne.

After being shelled, "Warrior" Hao first began to turn. The battleship did not sail in the direction of the British mainland, but turned southeast and headed in the direction of the French mainland. As for why the "Warrior" turned to the southeast at that time, since the captain of the ship was killed in battle, and most of the battleship's staff officers were also killed, so it cannot be confirmed. However, considering the situation at that time, if the "Warrior" had turned northeast, it was very likely that it would have been forced into a dead end by the Sixth Task Force and eventually either sunk or hit a reef in shallow water and sank. Therefore, the captain of the "Warrior" may have wanted to avoid the enemy's edge first, and then look for an opportunity to escape. There is also the possibility of leaving the battlefield southwest for the Channel Islands, or making a big circle back to the ports in the south-west of the British mainland. In any case, the "Warrior" turned to the southeast, and finally was exposed to the guns of the Sixth Task Force, and it was impossible to successfully escape.

Two minutes after the Warrior turned, the Warweary made the same turn. At that time, the "war-weary" was in the right rear of the "Warrior", so after the two battleships turned, the "Warrior" blocked the front of the "war-weary", so that the radars on the "Nanjing" and "Songjiang" could not detect the "war-weary" and could not continue to shell the "war-weary". Probably for this reason, the captain of the "War Weathiness" gave the same turning order.

The Warweary was given a rare respite and preparation, but it was a disaster for the Warrior. When the "Nanjing" and "Songjiang" could not continue to shell the "war-weary", they could only fire shells at the "Warrior". That is, when the battle began, the "Warrior" had to face the blows of four battleships alone. At this time, there were only three turrets on the "Warrior", that is, six main guns could be used, but the opponent had a full thirty main guns, and the difference in firepower was nine times! In this case, no matter how brave the performance of the "Warrior" is, I am afraid it will not make much difference.

The same "war-weary" was only temporarily out of danger. For the British naval officers who died on the ship, their captain only gave them less than half an hour to live. To put it bluntly, even if the four main gun turrets on the "War Weathiness" were able to work normally, and all eight main guns could be put into battle, it would be impossible to defeat the four more powerful "New Provincial Capital" class battleships. Therefore, the evasive actions of the "war weariness" are not very significant.

At that time, Gu Zhenyun also found that the speed of the British battleships could only reach 12 knots, and in order to avoid missing the enemy, he also ordered the fleet to reduce the speed to 12 knots, and adjusted the course to 135 degrees, slowly approaching the two British battleships at an angle of about 10 degrees. Maybe in other aspects, Gu Zhenyun's ability is not as good as Chang Jianxin, but in terms of commanding artillery battles, this kind of tactical ability, Gu Zhenyun is no worse than any fleet commander of the Imperial Navy at that time, because he started from the gunnery officer of the cruiser, and he has commanded artillery battles for more than ten years, and his proficiency in fleet artillery battles is definitely not under the constant recommendation!

The Warrior and the War-Weary could not escape their destruction, and the Warrior's last-minute turn brought only one result, which was to leave the French coastline with Task Force 6. As a result, when the "Gold Coast" left the battlefield alone and fled towards Eastbourne, and the "Wuhan" and "Nanchang" pursued them fiercely, they were not able to encounter the 6th Task Force, otherwise, at that time, the 3rd Task Force and the 6th Task Force would have successfully rendezvous!