Guided by seaplanes, the first wave of "Thunder" high-speed boats, which had been ordered to attack, soon found the British fast fleet on the sea. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThe so-called fast, absolute speed is just over 20 knots, which is simply not worth mentioning in front of the "sea assassins" who have a top speed of more than 40 knots.

Seeing that this British fleet consisted of a number of battle cruisers, mounted cruisers, and more than 20 light ships, with a majestic momentum and a strict formation, many German sailors still beat drums in their hearts. Before they set out, they had received incomplete information about the battle from their officers, and it was not clear how much the British fleet would affect their main fleet and the overall situation of the naval battle. However, since they chose to join the high-speed warship unit, they were ready for adventure, these young Germans were thrill-seeking, hungry for honor, but not everyone was indifferent to life. The sea in front of them had a clear view and good sea conditions, and the British fleet could calmly organize its fire, weaving a dense network of defensive fire on the offensive path of the German torpedo boats.

In the face of a strong enemy, this group of German naval combat elites finally went on the offensive without hesitation. The 23 "Thunderbolts" were divided into two groups, and under the leadership of the command boats, one group launched a surprise attack from the front of the British fleet, and the other group moved to the east side of the sea, that is, the left flank of the British fleet, and went around a long road to the rear of the British fleet.

Against the high-speed battleships of the Germans, the long-range shooting of large-caliber guns is tantamount to a rifle hitting flies, whether it can hit or not depends on luck, and saving ammunition is obviously not in the priority category of the British commander, the three battlecruisers opened fire early, and the 12-inch main guns fired alternately at a faster speed, which not only warmed up for the subsequent battle, but also deterred the enemy in front of them.

Soon after the rumbling of the cannon sounded, four gray planes appeared in the direction of the German high-speed torpedo boats, and their flight attitude gave the impression of overfed seagulls, slow, clumsy, and lazy, and it was a little difficult to catch up with the high-speed warships speeding on the water. I saw them fly slowly towards the British fleet, circling calmly, unhurriedly turning to the starboard side of the British fleet, lowering their altitude, and then gently swinging their wings, and pressing towards the British fleet with strange steps.

In the face of these ground-to-air German carrier-based aircraft, the British fleet opened fire. The officers and men of the three large battlecruisers had not personally experienced the Battle of Jutland, but they must have heard from their companions about the battle of Betty's fleet, and knew that the torpedoes dropped by German planes were not powerful enough to pose much threat to the new battleships, but they were enough to penetrate the weak armor of battlecruisers and ordinary cruisers, and were a great trouble to be prevented.

The main guns fired howitzer shotguns, the secondary guns fired ordinary singles, machine guns and machine guns fired continuously, and the fierce artillery fire of the British fleet stained the sea red. It wasn't long before they shot down a German plane, the first of its kind. However, the other three German planes did not give up the attack, and they flew between the shells and the columns of water stirred up by the shells, and bravely flew only a few hundred meters from the British fleet before dropping torpedoes.

Seeing the white wake of torpedoes on the sea, many British sailors panicked, and they turned their weapons that had been firing at the German planes to the surface of the sea, trying to blow them up before the torpedoes approached.

While the British fleet was busy dealing with the torpedo attacks of German aircraft, the 12 "Thunders" that attacked directly in front of the British fleet shot straight at them like prismatic arrows, and they soared to a speed of nearly 40 knots on the sea, and many British battleships exposed their long broadside sides in front of them because of the turn. Unfortunately, the German pilots were obviously lacking in timing, and if they had launched an attack a few minutes late, they would have been able to achieve a better cover and containment effect.

Avoiding the three torpedoes dropped by the German carrier-based aircraft, the British fleet immediately turned its attention to the rapidly approaching German high-speed torpedo boats, and the dense artillery fire caused a strange forest to grow on the flat sea, and the large and small water columns were like strange white plants, covering the German torpedo boats.

Under such heavy bombardment, some German battleships began to withdraw from the attack with damage, while the rest of the battleships continued to advance under artillery fire, while carefully avoiding their comrades who had stalled and exited. When they were still six or seven kilometers away from the British fleet, a dense rain of bullets suddenly fell on the surface of the sea -- three British battle cruisers and two armored cruisers adjusted to the position of full-board salvo, and the main and auxiliary guns on the ships were once again in a state of frantic firing, and the traditional killing weapon against cluster targets was used: shrapnels.

In the blink of an eye, two "Thunder" ships were damaged one after another, and one of them even had a terrible explosion. Four torpedoes, more than 200 kilograms of high explosives, the astonishing power instantly crushed the small battleship into powder, and in such a situation, the two crew members must have no bones left.

The density and intensity of the British fleet's firepower seemed to exceed the Germans' expectations, and in the next few minutes, three more Thunderbolts were damaged. As a result, before they could reach the torpedo range, more than half of the "Thunder" warships had already been lost, and even the command boat had unfortunately been defeated.

In the case of any other country's torpedo boat troops, they would have had no faith to move forward after such a heavy blow, but the German soldiers were the best soldiers in the world because of their incredible tenacity and endurance, which was especially evident in the Prussian and Second Reichs, and many of them fought to the last before the war exhausted people's enthusiasm and shattered their faith......

Good organization, long-term running-in, and strong will, these factors allowed the remaining five German high-speed battleships to work closely together as a team, and the ships sailing in the forward position automatically took over the command boats, and the young sergeant Youssef Hegg decided to adjust the offensive strategy in order to avoid the annihilation of himself and his companions, he turned on the guiding signal light at the stern, and then steered the boat to the left, avoiding the area where the British fleet was most firepowered. Heading at full speed for several kilometers to the northwest, Hegg observed the enemy situation, and the intensity of the British fleet's artillery fire did not decrease, but the adjustment and observation speed of the large-caliber naval guns obviously could not keep up with the high-speed moving target. In this case, Hegg steered the boat to the right and sped around the tail of the British fleet with four high-speed warships behind him. For the rest of the day, Hegg and his companions were not in a hurry to attack, but kept fine-tuning their course, keeping in touch as far away as they were, waiting for another group of high-speed torpedo boats to attack.

The five German high-speed warships in front of them were four or five thousand meters away, and with their astonishing sprint speed, once they turned and rushed in, they could enter the torpedo range in only two minutes, and the British officers and men did not dare to slack off, and continued to bombard them with fierce and dense artillery fire, but in the following time, they never scored new hits, and the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, and this stalemate between the two sides was like walking on the tip of a knife, and each of them took huge risks.

Seeing that the attack of the friendly and neighboring boat groups was unfavorable, another group of German high-speed warships composed of 11 "Thunder" also temporarily adjusted their combat strategy, and they turned halfway and killed the middle of the British fleet at full speed. Faced with a new threat, three British battle cruisers and two armored cruisers had to turn most of their main guns in the other direction, blocking the attackers with shrapnel grenades. Worse still, in the age of artificial machinery, heavy turrets turn slowly, and it takes a long time to determine new sighting parameters, and when they are all ready, this group of "thunders" rushed closer.

As soon as the firepower of the British fleet weakened, the five "Thunder" battleships dancing on the tip of the knife turned decisively, and they rushed into torpedo range in desperation, firing torpedoes one after another at a distance of 2,000 to 1,600 meters.

Each "Thunder" carried four light torpedoes, and a dense white track appeared on the sea. At this time, the British ships were able to avoid all of these light torpedoes by maneuvering quickly in a wide area, while the threat on the other side was increasing dramatically over time. As a result, these British battleships turned and opened fire at the same time, and almost every ship gun was firing, but with the rapid movement of the ships themselves, not only could not guarantee the accuracy of the shooting, but also accidentally damaged friendly ships.

On the sea, the thrilling struggle for life and death was still going on, and in the sky, two gray planes loaded with torpedoes flew towards the battlefield, and in the distant sea, three large torpedo boats were speeding towards the battlefield with more than 20 high-speed warships......

A moment later, the torpedoes fired by the five "Thunderbolts" risked their lives to reach the sea where the British fleet was located, and most of the British ships had avoided it, but the armored cruiser "Roxboroughshire" and its two escort destroyers were still caught in it. Still not able to escape the fate of being hit, a torpedo hit its starboard side in the front, and the explosion tore a large hole in the armor belt of the waterline, and even if there was no danger of sinking, the combat capability was bound to be greatly affected.

Due to the dispersion of the British fleet, the 11 "Thunder" on the other side suffered much less resistance, and 7 of them eventually came into torpedo range and had a chance to advance to a more threatening position - 5 "Thunder" threw torpedoes at a distance of about 1500 meters, 1 approached 1000 meters, and 1 bravely rushed to a position about 800 meters away from a British battle cruiser, but before it could fire the torpedo, it was hit by artillery fire, which instantly caused a violent explosion.

In the face of the dense attack of torpedoes on the sea, the British fleet once again danced a collective dance, the captains of the capital ships tried to find a safe track for the battleship through their own judgment, and the officers of the escort ships had to show the courage of self-sacrifice, and they closely guarded the close side of the capital ship, ready to "block the gun" at any time.

On the sea, the thrilling life-and-death struggle was still going on, and in the sky, two gray planes carrying torpedoes flew toward the battlefield, and in the distant sea, three large German torpedo boats were speeding towards with more than 20 high-speed warships -- including those who were wounded and withdrew from the battle, only 9 of the 23 "Thunder" ships that had been involved in the first wave of attacks were able to return home, and the loss rate was as high as 60 percent.

(End of chapter)