When the Hipper reconnaissance detachment received the news that the "Invincible" had been severely damaged, the majestic "Frederick the Great," the general flagship of the German High Seas Fleet, was leading the German dreadnought group at high speed to the north, and the 2nd battleship detachment composed of 15 former dreadnoughts was still trying to follow up, but the distance between the two was still widening, and the support fleet with six torpedo boat carriers and the aviation "Bismarck" as the core was already far behind. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The sun is gradually sinking in the west, and the cumulus clouds on the horizon are dyed with orange-red glow, and the strange form leaves people with infinite space for reverie. On the sea, the majestic body of the battleship dragged a long silhouette, except for the flagship, the signal line of each battleship was smooth, such a scene was commonplace when the fleet returned from training, but this time, the direction of the fleet was the battlefield.

On the high observation and command platform, the German officers led by Admiral von Ingnoll collectively entered a state of imminent battle with grim expressions and few words. According to the contents of Hipper's telegram and the reconnaissance report of the carrier-based aircraft, if the two fleets with the battlecruisers as the core continue to maintain their current course, the dreadnought group of the high seas fleet will be able to join the battle group within half an hour, and the smoke clouds looming in the northern sky are the most direct evidence.

"We entered the battlefield at full speed in a single-line battle column, acting on camera depending on the response of the enemy fleet."

Ingnoll spoke in the direction of two officers, Colonel Hoffert, who was responsible for conveying the orders of the fleet commander during the war, and Joachim, the chief of staff of the fleet command. When the special royal had no objection, Admiral Fang nodded to Colonel Hofert, signaling that he could carry out the order.

Soon, two signal flags appeared on the signal line of the "Frederick the Great", representing the tactical instructions of "all columns fighting in a single column" and "all marching at full speed".

The fleet is moving at full speed, and the speed of the fleet naturally depends on the slowest warship -- the design speed is not the only measure, and the maximum speed that the ship can actually achieve has a great relationship with the condition of the ship and the state of the sea. For example, a ship with a maximum speed of 25 knots at the beginning of completion, after a long period of sea voyage, the power system has a large mechanical loss, and a large number of shellfish are adsorbed at the bottom of the ship, and it can only run at a speed of 20 knots or less without repairing and cleaning up. Of the 14 German dreadnoughts, the Nassau class was designed to be the slowest at a top speed of 21 knots in the no-load test, and after more than five years of service, the maximum speed during sailing training was usually only 18 knots, while two months before the war, the four Nassau-class ships were overhauled, including a thorough cleaning of the boiler and the replacement of consumable parts, and a speed of 20 knots could be maintained in a short time if strong ventilation and emergency measures such as sprinkling water in the furnace were adopted.

Seeing the flagship's new instructions, the officers and men of all ships realized that the battle was approaching, and only a few minutes later, the 14 dreadnoughts were adjusted to a standard single-line battle column, and the black smoke coming out of the chimneys of each battleship became a little thicker, especially the four Nassau-class ships attached to the rear of the fleet, which was almost like a tactical smokescreen. Wherever the fleet passed, a large cloud of smoke filled the sea for a long time, and even had a certain impact on the navigation of subsequent ships, but this was the most typical and magnificent scene in the era of giant ships and cannons!

The majestic German High Seas Fleet rushed to the battlefield like an array of armored infantry, and the two battle cruiser formations with the advantage of attack power and mobility were like elite cavalry units, and the role in the army gave them a haughty and aggressive character, and similar technical characteristics made it difficult for them to take advantage of the face-to-face encounter, so they devoted themselves to this unprecedented fierce sea fight!

Hipper's flagship, the Moltke-class improved version of the "Seydlitz", was attacked intensively by two British battlecruisers at the beginning of the artillery battle, from 18,000 meters to 13,000 meters, with its 12-inch main guns and 5. The 9-inch secondary gun had repeatedly hit the British flagship "Lion", causing the opponent to catch fire three times and be shrouded in billowing smoke for a long time, but he himself had also received three rounds of 13. Armor-piercing shells of 5-inch caliber and at least 5 near-miss rounds. At the top of the waterline on its broadside amidships, an imperial armor-piercing bullet left a shocking charred black crater, and around this crater, an irregular tear half a meter long from top to bottom was clearly visible. The German Krupp cannon is world-famous, and the steel it refines also has the best quality, which is enough to be proud of the British with the strongest shipbuilding industry, but no matter how good the armor can not defy the laws of physics, the 280 mm thick Krupp steel in the face of the bombardment of 343 mm caliber armor-piercing shells, only such a degree of damage is not easy, in addition to the armor itself, the British armor-piercing projectile fuse is too sensitive is also the key factor that does not form penetration.

On the deck of the "Seydlitz", blazing smoke billowed from the wreckage of the No. 3 secondary turret. Hit by the British ship's main guns, the dozens of tons of twin auxiliary turrets were like exploded matchboxes, the thick steel plates showed a surprisingly twisted shape, and the two slender 150 mm secondary guns became incomplete, and the gunners who had been holding on here had all been killed, and the fire threatened the auxiliary gun ammunition depot below the deck along the canisters, and the crew had to fill the ammunition depot with water, which avoided more serious losses.

……

"It is reported that the fire on the rear bridge has been brought under control, and the No. 3 main turret is expected to be back in combat in ten minutes."

"It is reported that the ammunition room of the No. 7 auxiliary gun has been contacted, there are no casualties there, the fire compartment has been closed, and other facilities are normal, and in case of distress, water can be filled into the ammunition room at any time."

"It is reported that the damage management team has entered the No. 14 waterproof compartment and started to repair the outer support wall, and it is expected that the drainage will begin in half an hour, and there is no leakage in the No. 9 and No. 17 waterproof compartments."

One report after another, in the battle bridge of the "Seydlitz", Rear Admiral von Hipper, wearing a short-brimmed flat-capped military hat and a double-breasted short-laced military uniform, stood in front of the port side observation window with perseverance. In order to protect the combat commander to the greatest extent, the combat bridge of this battle patrol is equivalent to a large can with an 11-inch armored outer wall, and the air enters and exits through the exhaust channel equipped with filtration facilities.

In sight, the flagship-flying British Battle Cruiser had the typical lead-gray livery, and the bow waves formed irregular ripples on the side of the ship, which experienced naval personnel used to infer the ship's speed and course changes. At this moment, the British mobile fleet led by David Betty was still sailing from northwest to southeast, and the intention to cut off the return of the German reconnaissance fleet was still very obvious, but it was clear that winning this naval battle was not as easy as they had originally expected. The German reconnaissance fleet led by the "Seydlitz" was moving almost in a parallel direction to the British mobile fleet, and the slight angular deviation caused the straight-line distance between the two sides to be closer and closer at the speed that Hipper had envisioned - as the commander of the "decoy fleet", he knew the whole plan of the German navy and lured the fierce enemy into the guns of the high seas fleet in a way that he believed was both subordinate to the general situation and capable of using his own abilities.

The lead-gray battleship in his sight, the front and rear decks suddenly flashed with fire, and Hippert stared, a trace of worry flashed in his small but deep eyes. In addition to the "Invincible", which has lost its combat effectiveness, there are exactly five battle cruisers on both sides, although they are not the only factors that affect the situation of the war, there are still a large number of light cruisers and destroyers waiting for the opportunity on the British fleet's side, and the German fleet also has a few cutting-edge light cruisers accompanying it, and the battle positions of the two sides still provide rare conditions for this knightly duel, and with the withdrawal of the "Invincible", the battle situation of the two fleets has undergone some changes, and Hipper did not hesitate to arrange his own battle cruisers to carry out one-on-one shooting, David Beatty, on the other hand, insisted that the "Lion" and "Royal Princess" concentrate their fire on the "Cedritz", allowing the "Blucher", which had the weakest defense on the German side, to calmly bombard the "New Zealand" with its eight 11-inch naval guns......

Boom!

The violent shaking of the hull confirmed Hipper's fears, but fortunately, the overly sensitive fuse of the British armor-piercing shell saved the "Seydlitz" from heavy damage again - if this one weighed 635 kilograms13. The 5-British armor-piercing projectile played a role according to the theoretical design, it should be able to penetrate the frontal armor of the German battlecruiser's 280 mm thick main turret or 210 mm thick frontal inclined armor, destroy the turret and even penetrate the ammunition depot under the shell, causing a fatal explosion, but now, it only bloomed extremely brilliant "fireworks" on the surface of the No. 1 turret of the "Seydlitz", and the blazing flames expanded rapidly with the momentum of devouring everything, and countless shrapnel dragged the gray-black smoke to extend in all directions, The scene was terrifying, but it was only momentarily sharp, and the smoke of the flames cleared, and the main body of the twin main turret was intact, the shells only left a rough pit in the inclined armor between the vertical and the top, and ripped off the rivets of some of the armor plate seams, and the two 12-inch guns with a diameter of 50 times looked undamaged.

The No. 1 main turret was only about ten meters away from the battle bridge, and the shock caused by the impact of the explosion was extremely strong, but what was a little surprising was that the seemingly thin Hipper actually maintained his standing posture very steadily, and quickly commanded in his calm tone: "Find out the damage as soon as possible!" The rest of the gun emplacements keep firing! ”

The officers' hearing was more or less affected by the explosion, and Hippel repeated his command aloud so that it could be conveyed as quickly as possible. At this moment, the outer wall of the battle bridge seemed to have been struck with a hammer, and two crunching sounds sounded in succession, and those who did not know the reason were inevitably taken aback, while Hipper looked at the observation window with indifferent eyes. Each German patrol used 150 mm, 88 mm and 37 mm secondary guns to block long, medium and short range fire coverage, while the British stubbornly stuck to their 102 mm secondary guns. With a combat distance of more than 10,000 meters, even if this secondary gun can hit the "Seydlitz", it poses very little threat to it. This shows how important the design factor is in naval warfare, the historical original German high seas ship group is famous for its excellent defense, but they have a weakness - the inclined armor between the vertical armor of the turret front and the horizontal armor at the top, the German designers originally intended to use the inclined plane to make the flat-fired shells ricochet, so there is no need for too thick armor to reduce the overall weight of the turret, but the distance of the exchange of fire in actual combat is far beyond their imagination, The shells that fell from 10,000 meters away could be smashed vertically on this inclined plane. Due to the preference of German warships for this turret design, the main turrets of all battlecruisers in the Battle of Jutland were almost completely destroyed, and it was only because of the excellent protection design and strict turret management regulations that the British Navy did not suffer from frequent ammunition explosions.

Keen on the expansion of the number of warships, but lacking in the prediction of the future trend of warship development, this was once the most fatal shortcoming of the Second Reich Navy, in fact, without the need for huge investment of resources or disruptive technological revolution, a just right wisdom can properly fill this hidden danger......

(End of chapter)