When the scene of the four ships "Catherine", "Regent of Louisport", "Rhineland" and "Thuringia" besieging the "Centurion" appeared in this sea of chaos that was invaded by rainstorms, in order to better observe the changes in the battle situation, Natsuki put on a poncho and carried binoculars, and went to the observation platform on the upper part of the battle bridge with several other officers. The Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info this observatory has a long shape that looks like a chopstick box attached to a cylinder. From both ends of the observatory, the bow, stern and the entire broadside of the ship can be seen from both ends, and the sea behind can be easily observed, but it has no protection other than a waist-length parapet, not even shelter from the wind and rain. In daily exercises, officers strategize on the observation platform for the sake of visual convenience, but in actual combat, this place may be attacked by shrapnel at any time, and it is not a safe and reliable command position.

The fierce wind swept the bean-sized raindrops on his face, and it was not easy to keep his eyes open, and it was even more difficult to discern the battle situation from the flickering sea, but Natsuki was not a fledgling in the navy. For ten years, he grew from a naval cadet to a professional officer, and it was this arduous military career at sea that gave him the opportunity to be truly reborn. On the bridge observation platform of the temporary flagship, he stood proudly with a tenacious posture, sometimes visually observing the overall situation of this naval battle, sometimes with a telescope to observe the details of the battle everywhere, and soon formed a three-dimensional map of the battlefield situation in his mind: the number of battleships in Jellico's main formation was significantly less than that of the German fleet, but each of his super dreadnoughts was a very difficult hard bone to gnaw. If this night's naval battle was compared to a feast, the Betty Cruiser was a plate of delicious, easy-to-digest caviar that was just right for a pre-dinner appetizer; Bernie's old dreadnought formation is a crucian carp with tender flesh but many spines that take a bit of work to solve; Jericho's workhorse is undoubtedly the main meal of this feast, a fragrant roast lamb chop, sprinkled with cumin and pepper, choking, burning hands, and the meat is tight and hard, so you must use it with both hands and mouth, and spare no effort to have the opportunity to enjoy this nutritious, chewy delicacy.

In Natsuki's eyes, the British Empire's unrivaled fleet has become a delicacy for the German Navy, but the process of naval battle is far more full of twists and turns and suspense than eating a big meal. Jericho, who had always been cautious, personally led his flagship "Iron Duke" and a George V-class battleship into the array of the German fleet, and almost sank the "Catherine", the first-class capital ship of the German Navy. Now, three or four minutes have passed since four German dreadnoughts besieged a George V-class at close range, and at least ten large-caliber shells and an incalculable number of secondary shells have hit directly, but it is still rushing to the left and right, and it still looks like it is still in combat.

In accordance with the previous battle order, the two old dreadnoughts attached to the 3rd Battleship Detachment had passed through the sea in front and behind the "King" respectively, and Lance's sword was proudly unsheathed, and Natsuki's camera immediately began to maneuver - the front searchlight gave the "Caesar" a right turn command, and the ship turned right, and then sent a light signal to the "King Albert" to the searchlight, so that it could follow the ship to maneuver; The starboard signal light was used to issue orders to the "Helgoland", "Oldenburg", "Westphalia" and other ships that were carrying out the interspersed attack, asking them to maintain their formation and continue to move forward, and if necessary, not hesitate to use ramming tactics to pin down the British capital ships on the opposite side.

In this era when communication technology is not sufficiently developed, it is extremely difficult for Natsuki's tactical micro-manipulation to be used in practice, and how to accurately distinguish the light signal is a headache, but fortunately, the high seas fleet has sufficient preparation time before the start of the war, and the arrival of this rain storm also forces the two fleets to fight in a very small sea area, and the communication troops are still able to identify the corresponding colored signal lights - the signal transmitter only needs to place a red or green pale piece of paper in front of the searchlight, plus an appropriate pre-war drill, which should be able to achieve the desired effect.

Under Natsuki's gaze, the "Caesar" in front and the "King Albert" in the rear turned right one after another, and after the temporary flagship turned, he ordered to send a signal to the "Regent of Louitold", disarming the previous order to maintain the array, and let it use fullboard fire to deal with the "Centurion" who had turned to evacuate, and at this time the "Rhineland" and "Thuringia" were simply two escort ships that were slightly smaller in size, and they accompanied the "Centurion" on the left and right, The fierce artillery fire continued to bombard this scarred but still fighting the British battleship.

Almost just a blink of an eye, the majestic "Centurion" is already flickering with flames and thick smoke, the five main turrets seem to have three dumb fires, and there is not much left of the ship's secondary guns.

On the other side of the battlefield, under the light of gunfire, flares and searchlights, the British dreadnoughts with four super-dreadnoughts were already visible, and although these capital ships did not follow the flagship and pierce the opposing array, they also put heavy pressure on the German fleet in the course of the engagement. Their artillery fire paralyzed the command and communication system of the "King Albert", and the German fleet could not concentrate on the "Iron Duke" and "Centurion" who were forcibly interspersed. While the "Centurion" was besieged by German battleships, the British fleet concentrated its artillery fire on the "Regent Louispold" and "Rhineland". As a result, the former suffered two large-caliber armor-piercing shells, a large crack was torn open in the starboard armor belt, and it was barely out of danger after emergency damage and balanced water injection, while the latter's luck was not too bad, the British heavy shells only penetrated two coal bunkers, and the fire caused by the explosion was quickly extinguished.

At first glance, the German fleet was heading due south, while the British fleet was sailing from southwest to northeast; after more than 10 minutes of fighting, the British fleet was already behind the German fleet's route, and the "Centurion," which had been hit by the German fleet's artillery fire, made a continuous turn to avoid colliding with the "Rhineland" in an unfavorable position. The "Centurion", which was in a bad situation, was still struggling to support, and the British flagship "Iron Duke", which led the assault, was missing at this time.

In any battle, the commanders of the warring parties want to seize the opportunity to defeat the enemy in the ever-changing battlefield, but not everyone can really see the situation on the battlefield. In the waters of Jutland, which has been deep at night, the sea breeze is strong, the rain is unabated, and the bright searchlight columns seem to shoot into the infinite deep space, and what can be seen is often only the raindrops and twisted and tumbling waves, whenever the cannon flame dies, the figure of the enemy warship always disappears in the vast darkness in an instant, but these steel giants on the sea do not have the ability to jump at will, their whereabouts are traceable, and their speed and course are usually slow and gradual.

From a certain point of view, the commanders of both sides are like playing a blind game.

After a staggered steering adjustment, the 13 dreadnoughts of the German fleet formed an irregular spoon shape, the "Caesar", "King", "King Albert" and "Helgoland", "Oldenburg", and "Westphalia" formed the outflanking force on the left flank of the front, the "Regent of Louisport", "Catherine" and "Rhineland", and "Thuringia", two new and old, four dreadnoughts, attacked the "Centurion" in the middle, while "Posen", "Nassau", and "Osterfriedland" stormed the "Centurion" in the middle"These three wounded old dreadnoughts form a relatively weak right flank. Inadvertently, the German Navy's dreadnought group put on the Carthaginian formation most admired by Alfred von Schlieffen, the former chief of staff of the German Army, and if the British fleet attacked the middle of the German fleet in order to rescue the "Centurion", they would inevitably be attacked by the German ship group on three sides, and the particularly powerful left flank would cut off their retreat!

Natsuki knew his opponent's movements, what he observed and what he learned from his own ships were one-sided, fragmentary, and sometimes contradictory. Only by sorting out the correct clues and clues and finding the best time to attack can we take the lead in such a complicated naval battle, and simply waiting for the opportunity to act will inevitably lead to an unfavorable situation of passivity everywhere.

On the rain-covered sea, Natsuki ordered the communications crew to send a tactical telegram to the "Caesar" and "King Albert" ships "Cease fire and conceal, move closer to me", and on the other hand, he ordered the crew to turn off all external light sources except for the bow and stern navigation lights, and the "King", like a steel fortress, quietly moved forward in the inky darkness, and the two looming signal lights were like bait used by deep-sea monsters to attract prey. In a short time, cold lamps of the same luster appeared in front of the bow and behind the stern, and the dull rumbling sound of the wind and rain was behind the sound of the wind and rain - in order to maintain a high degree of tactical coordination, the three German capital ships did not hesitate to risk a collision to reduce the distance to an astonishing degree.

At this time, on the starboard side of the "King", "Helgoland", "Oldenburg", and "Westphalia" maintained an array of heads-up, and the front main guns continued to bombard the British fleet, and the rear main guns frequently fired at the "Centurion" a kilometer away, so it appeared majestic and imposing. In front of their powerful triple guns, the guns of the British fleet on the opposite side actually thinned out, and the continuous flashing cannon flames like a storm soon left only a few orange points of light, and the shells fell weakly on the sea near or far, completely devoid of the previous deterrent power.

Natsuki was so aware of this unusual change that he ordered the communications crew to send a telegram to General Reims' "Helgoland", telling it to turn off its lights and cease fire and turn to the sea in front of the right, and then issued a brief command to "Caesar" and "King Albert" with a low-power, low-light signal lamp, "Turn 90 degrees to the right with me".

With the near-synchronous turn of the ships, the dim signal lights that had previously swayed in the bow and stern directions were changed to the two sides of the "King", and the distance increased slightly, but the three cutting-edge dreadnoughts still maintained a very compact formation. They quickly passed behind the Reims formation, and the surrounding sea was unusually quiet, except for the sound of light and flames from the siege of the "Centurion". Obviously, the commanders of both sides are prepared to take the other by surprise, but the end result is likely to be a surprise for themselves.

(End of chapter)