The use of shrapnel can be traced back to the beginning of the 18th century, and the incendiary shrapnel is to replace the solid shrapnel with chemical combustibles, its principle and structure are not complicated, and the difficulty lies in how to make the shrapnel explode at a distance that meets the tactical needs, so as to form an effective attack. After receiving the order of the German Navy www.biquge.info Krupp Military Industry secretly conducted research for more than two years, and at the end of 1913, it successfully developed an incendiary shrapnel with actual combat significance, which is commonly understood as "incendiary shrapnel". By the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, the Krupp factory had produced more than 2,000 rounds of incendiary shrapnel of 283 mm and 305 mm specifications for the German Navy, and the 14 German dreadnoughts participating in the Battle of Jutland were equipped with 12 rounds of each main gun, but they did not get a chance to show their skills.

The "King", "Caesar", and "Regent of Louitold" were equipped with 25 incendiary shrapnel shells for each main gun, while the "Braunschweig" and "Pomerania" were equipped with 15 rounds of each main gun. With a command from Reinhardt-Scher, five German battleships began firing such unconventional shells at the British group of mine-striking ships opposite. Although they can't sink ships directly, they can make the other party feel the burning pain deeply. The British battleships that were within the kill range of incendiary shrapnel were suddenly killed and wounded, the superstructure and deck gun emplacements became a sea of fire, the survivors were tired of extinguishing the fire, the ships were no longer combat-ready in a short time, and the detonated shells and propellants were also aggravating the injuries of the ships at any time.

The British light ship group that attacked in a straight line suffered purgatory, and the "Thunder" boat group that advanced to the center of the battlefield immediately split into two and each covered the enemy ship formation that was outflanking it. On the right flank of the German fleet, on the left flank of the British group, four German armored cruisers - "Longne", "York", "Prince Adalbert", "Friedrich Karl", adjusted their course in unison to keep the port side engaged. In the face of the approaching British ships, their 210 mm caliber main guns, known for their rate of fire, frequently spewed dazzling cannon flames, and the standard configuration of 150 mm and 88 mm caliber single secondary guns were also firing at full strength, large and small shells formed a barrier-like fire network on the sea beyond the torpedo range, and the two British torpedo boats that were the first to break into them were shot and caught fire one after another, and the destroyers and torpedo boats following behind saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly turned to avoid the area where the German armored cruiser formation intercepted the most dense firepower, As everyone knows, what awaits them will be a pit that will be shattered if they make a mistake -- an old destroyer with three chimneys has become the first martyr, it is sailing on the sea that has not been invaded by artillery fire, and suddenly there is a flash of flame under the bow, and the violent explosion instantly blows the entire bow to pieces, the huge steel plate is thrown to a height of tens of meters, and the small fragments are scattered to a range of several hundred meters, and the rest of the hull is like a carriage stuck in a mud pit, and its speed is greatly reduced in just a few seconds. And under the action of inertia, there was a violent tremor and deflection, and the passage of time did not allow it to gradually stabilize, and the hull quickly appeared longitudinally unbalanced. In less than two minutes, its propellers were raised high above the water, and the hull eventually sank almost perpendicular to the surface of the sea until it disappeared completely. In the process, only twenty or thirty crew members survived and escaped from the ship's cabin.

The misfortune of the British destroyer immediately alerted friendly ships, but an emergency turn did not necessarily mean escape from danger, and soon another destroyer and a torpedo boat were struck. The mines used by various countries during this period basically had the power to severely damage or even sink battleships in one fell swoop, let alone against ships of several hundred tons. Neither of the two British ships survived, a few of the destroyers survived, and the fragile torpedo boats were blown to pieces in an instant.

Unsure of the location and size of the minefield, the cost of two destroyers and a torpedo boat was enough to discourage the dozen or so British ships on this side, who braved the heavy shelling of four German armored cruisers to turn around, so that although they were able to avoid the deadly threat of mines, two more torpedo boats were soon damaged by artillery fire, and the one that lost power had to wait for the end of the journey under the guns of the Germans, and the other was not much luckier, dragging the billowing black smoke and trying to escape, It didn't go far before it was intercepted by a German high-speed warship, and a torpedo blew it off, allowing it to find a home at a depth of 67 meters.

On the left flank of the German fleet and on the right flank of the British group, the defensive line of eight large German torpedo boats looked much inferior to that of the four armored cruisers, because their combined naval guns were only 24, and all of them were weaker 105 mm or 88 mm calibers, but the five German battleships were moving to this side, and they could turn their guns at any time to reinforce the interception line, and the British mine-striking ships that chose this side to break through quickly ran into the same trouble as their companions. The anchor mines laid in advance by the Germans were below the surface of the sea, and a direct attack without reconnaissance could not avoid this mortal danger, three torpedo boats and a destroyer hit mines one after another, and four light ships with fragile structures and almost no protection were destroyed, and most of the remaining ships turned around and retreated, and three captains who were unwilling to fail tried to bypass the minefield, and they led their ships to make a larger detour and exchanged fire with the escort ships of the German auxiliary ships. However, when they rushed over to take out the German aircraft carriers and high-speed torpedo boat carriers with torpedoes, one of them triggered a mine and exploded and sank, and the other two turned around and withdrew for fear of being caught in a minefield, but they were soon attacked by two powerful German battle cruisers, and the result was one wounded and one sunk, and the end was equally dismal.

Destroyers of the thousand-ton class, with a draft of 3 as a rule. 5 to 4 meters, a small destroyer of 500 tons has a draft of about 3 meters, and a small and medium-sized torpedo boat of two or three hundred tons has a draft of 1. Above 5 meters, the draft of the German Thunder-class high-speed torpedo boats was only 0. 9 meters, "Lightning-14" has only 0. 7 meters, because of this significant gap, the German high-speed warships were able to pass through the minefield that the British light ships could not cross. On the left and right flanks of the front, they launched a bold assault on the retreating British destroyers and small and medium-sized torpedo boats.

In front of battleships, destroyers had the advantage of being flexible and maneuverable, but compared to high-speed torpedo boats, they became "stupid big guys" who turned slowly. These agile sea spirits come like the wind, firing torpedoes from 600 meters away in broad daylight, and occasionally taking advantage of the battlefield environment to rush to a distance of 500 meters or more. If they were attacked by only one or two torpedoes, unless the crew was negligent or their own power was damaged, the British light ships could easily avoid it, but in the face of a swarm of four, eight or even more torpedoes, it would be difficult for them to escape their fate.

Small-calibre guns that are often difficult to hit with these fast-moving, low-profile targets must be sunk or driven away before they can fire torpedoes. In view of the fact that these short-legged high-speed warships were mainly used for coastal defense, the British Navy equipped the ships of the main fleet with sufficient machine guns and machine guns, and by the outbreak of war, the vast majority of the old destroyers and torpedo boats incorporated into the Coast Defense Force were primitive equipment, and now they had to pay a heavy price for this kind of equipment - 3 destroyers, 5 small and medium-sized torpedo boats were sunk by the "Thunder", 2 protective cruisers were attacked by the "Lightning 14" and eventually sunk, and 22 "Thunder" sortiesOf the 17 "Lightning 14s", only 4 were lost, and the ratio of tonnage and personnel to battle losses reached an astonishing multiple.

Relying on a well-layered three-dimensional defense, the German fleet repelled the first attack of the British light ship group at a very small cost. When the smoke cleared, the sea was littered with the wreckage of British ships and the remains of the dead, four ships that had lost power or were sinking had been abandoned, and those who had fallen into the water were still struggling to survive. In this battle, which lasted less than two hours, the British Navy not only lost more than thirty destroyers and small and medium-sized torpedo boats, but also two armored cruisers were damaged in artillery battles, and one armored cruiser and four submarines were bombed by German carrier-based aircraft. It was a complete rout for the attackers, and when the news reached Naval Base Scappaflo Naval Base, the first reaction of the Admirals and Admirals was how to report the bad news to King George V, who had already been battered, while the British Navy's light ships deployed on the east coast of Britain continued to build, and a considerable number of high-speed torpedo boats were rushing to the war zone by means of resupply.

Upon learning that the German fleet had laid minefields in the operational area, the British admirals had a great disagreement on the issue of attack, and the Admiral Sir Wilson sent a telegram to Churchill from London, suggesting that the present offensive deployment should be cancelled so as not to sacrifice more officers and men in vain.

In the subsequent meeting with King George V, Churchill uncharacteristically sang an ode to his opponents, praising Prince Joachim as the brightest German general in a thousand years, and his outwitting characteristics are like the greatest naval commander in British history, Viscount Horatio Nelson, if he is allowed to continue his achievements, Germany will inevitably replace Britain as the new hegemon of the seas, and Germany, which rules the European continent and the world's oceans at the same time, will also become a powerful empire unparalleled in the world. He pointed out that the German fleet consisted of only 5 battleships and 2 battlecruisers, excluding the two old battleships, and that there were only 5 real capital ships.

"We have five first-class and five second-class battleships at Scappafollo, and 21 second-class battleships in the Channel Fleet, and I know that the Germans are eager to drain the last of our forces, and we have two options: to avoid the battle for the time being until we regroup our main fleet - which must be an extremely painful and humiliating process, and to strike bravely to strike a fatal blow to the enemy - which must require a strategy that is smarter than the enemy."

After a long silence, George V glanced at the admirals with his bloodshot eyes: "Even if we have the determination, the perseverance, and the clever enough strategy to give it a go, victory can certainly turn the situation around, but defeat will destroy in one day the control of the sea that our ancestors have worked so hard to defend and consolidate for hundreds of years." On the balance of the two, I would rather endure the humiliation for the time being, and always have the hope of regaining the initiative on the battlefield. ”

(End of chapter)