On the destroyer "Toure", many sailors were already asleep. In his sleep, some people smiled, perhaps dreaming that they had torpedoed and sunk one British battleship after another, and gave a vicious breath to the dead companions in Helgoland Bay; There are also people who choke back tears, probably dreaming of sacrificing the familiar faces of their companions; Others, suddenly woke up from their dreams, covered their faces and wept silently.

The 87 German officers and sailors on board will always remember that their destroyer patrolled the harbor on the day the British attacked Helgoland Bay. The sea was so calm and the sailors chatted so happily that no one noticed that their destroyer sailed too far from the port. When they returned to the harbor, they were confronted with scenes that no one would ever forget—the dead silence of the harbor, the burning floats, the curling smoke, the disgusting smell of burning, the feeble German naval battle flag, the few masts on the water, the corpses and blood on the deck, on the docks, on the gun emplacements......

Some people regretted that they had not patrolled properly that day, and had allowed the British fleet to slip into the harbor; Some people feel guilty that they did not fight side by side with their comrades in the harbor that day, and even if they die together, they are happier than living in the world; More people think of revenge against the British.

On the bridge, the tobacco in the pipe was suddenly bright and dim, and the faint light of the fire reflected a face of vicissitudes. The middle-aged officer had been standing there for half an hour with a pipe in his mouth, and the sea breeze was gradually cooling, but there was no chill in his heart. In his heart, there is not a trace of guilt, nor a trace of remorse, his fate has been doomed since he entered the orphanage in London 40 years ago.

From a long and difficult childhood, he had no freedom, no thought, and the training he had been training day after day turned him into a machine, a machine for lurking inside the enemy.

At the age of 17, he and his companions arrived in a land of legendary savagery and violence, but after many years of life, he saw innocent, straightforward faces, and warriors more determined than the British. He joined the German Navy, and for the first time he was happy with his mission, although he could not choose, because in his opinion it was a force that would never pose a threat to his homeland, so that he would not send his German partners beside him into the abyss.

However, he was wrong, and the navy has grown stronger in the last 10 years, so powerful that the world panics and becomes a problem for his homeland.

He did not feel a trace of joy in victory at the sight of the tragic situation in the Bay of Hergoland, and he could not be rejoicing at all, even though the other side of the strait had already awarded him a medal of great honor. However, all this is not up to him, and his fate is closely tied to the country that raised him.

Originally, he could stay with his hard-working and brave sailors until the end of the war, and then quietly return to the other side of the strait to find a peaceful mountain village to spend the rest of his life, but fate played a big joke on him. Not only did the German Navy succeed in annihilating the main British fleet, but in recent battles due to combat losses and the transport of a large number of British prisoners and ships, the German High Seas Fleet was so short of destroyers that it had to draw some destroyers from other ports, including the "Toure". No one thought at all that the arrival of the "Toure", instead of alleviating the situation, would bring disaster to the fleet.

The middle-aged officer's eyes were still staring straight at the two aircraft carriers, and these two huge black shadows became a big stone pressing on his heart, making him feel suffocated. Why? Why had he never heard of such weapons, and if they hadn't appeared in front of him, he wouldn't have dared to imagine that there were such weapons anyway. Without these two aircraft carriers, the German Navy would have been a "living fleet", still suppressed by the navy of his homeland and unable to move in the harbor. From the battle of Pascalflo onwards, everything began to change because of them, his homeland lost its maritime superiority, then his home port was attacked, now the capital, and perhaps soon the boots of the German infantry would set foot on the soil of his homeland and slaughter his people, and everything would happen to him as if it were retribution.

He's a spy, he doesn't believe in retribution.

Give him a torpedo and he will not hesitate to rush up and die with the two German aircraft carriers, but looking at the vigilant German sailors on deck, he knows that is impossible.

It's been a long time since the flagship has sent a telegram, and he doesn't have to open the box under the bed that hides the demon, betraying these friendly companions again and again.

He's a spy, and he doesn't know what betrayal is.

The sea in the distance was still dark and calm, and perhaps the battleship flying the St. George's cross flag would appear in the next second, perhaps, never.

If there were an angel, if the angel's eyes could pierce the darkness, then it would see the flag that the spy was expecting fluttering in the wind on the sea not far behind the fleet.

At this time, Heydrich's battlefleet had just caught up with the seaplane carrier formation, the two seaplane carriers were like two dying sheep, more than a dozen British ships were circling around them like wild wolves, and their only sheepdog, the destroyer "Siegen", had done its best, and its fragments were scattered on the surrounding sea.

Seeing the German battlefleet, instead of fleeing, the wolves released their prey from their mouths and pounced on the German battleship.

Flares sneered into the air, illuminating the sea between the two fleets. The German battleships lowered their guns, and the first row of shells blasted a row of tall columns of water in front of the British cruisers and destroyers, but this wall of water did not slow down the wolves' onslaught.

The German battleships began to turn, and when the guns on the side of the ship were fired, the British battleships began to be hit by shells, and the explosions of shells hitting hard objects were incessant, but the red-eyed wolves still did not give up, they rushed to a distance of 2,000 yards and fired a row of torpedoes, and then reluctantly said goodbye to this world.

For the German naval officers and men, those British torpedoes were like arrows shot by the opposing assassins in the dark forest, and they didn't even have time to dodge, but when they heard a roar, the arrows had already sunk into their bodies, and only the feathers at the end of the arrows were still trembling. Every explosion of the battlefleet was a heart-wrenching affair, and the ships were the embodiment of the sweat and hope of the German people, and the loss of any sailor, despite the imminent victory, was a matter of regret.

However, the British wolves traded their lives for a distance that the German battleships could barely avoid, and torpedoes hit the huge battleships one after another. The armored battleship "Pomerania" was shot in the bow, and the enormous power of the 533-mm torpedo penetrated its waterline armor. As the ammunition depot under the main guns was detonated, the Pomerania once again transformed into a brilliant firework and disappeared into the sea with the ship's 743 crew members.

On board the "Frederick the Great", Prince Heydrich, who was in great annoyance, also fell to the ground due to the sudden shock. After a loud bang, the surroundings fell silent again, but the floor began to tilt slightly.

"Your Royal Highness, our starboard side was hit by a torpedo, a hole was torn open in the surface armor belt, the compartment and the watertight door successfully prevented more seawater from pouring in, the battleship is now in no danger of sinking, but the hull has been tilted 5 degrees to the right, we are filling the port side with water, and it will soon be back to normal. It is estimated that we will only be able to maintain a maximum speed of 15 knots! Heydrich's report was a great relief to Heydrich, and so far not a single German dreadnought had been sunk in battle, thanks in large part to Admiral Tirpitz, whose design concept of survivability first had well protected the battered ships.

"Very well, report the damage to other warships as soon as possible!" Heydrich got up and walked to the bridge, the whole sea was red with fire, the British battleships not far away were burning or sinking, and even the cruisers rushed to such a close distance to fire torpedoes, which made him feel a little admiration. The seaplane carrier in the distance has become two piles of burning floating objects, the sailors and pilots have abandoned the ship, and a dozen lifeboats are quietly floating on the water.

"Is it over?" Heydrich's eyes were already bloodshot with exhaustion, and he was about to close his eyes and rest for a while when an officer hurried from the telegraph room.

"Your Royal Highness, the Second Squadron has sent a telegram that a British destroyer has been spotted near them!"

"What?" Heydrich snatched the telegram with a strange look on his face, surprised, annoyed, and lamented.

"25 nautical miles!" He reluctantly lowered his hand, it was already 4 o'clock in the morning, and in this darkest hour before dawn, he had nothing to do but pray.

"Never underestimate the power of a group of dying and dying people to burst out!"

In the German aircraft carrier formation, the destroyer "Giessen" was in the front, and the "Toure" and "Freiburg" were in the rear, sandwiching the two aircraft carriers in a regular triangle.

When the Germans spotted the seven British destroyers, the two sides were 10 nautical miles away. Originally, in the dark, it was impossible to observe ships 10 nautical miles away with the naked eye, and the sound of the ships themselves at this distance was completely muffled by the sea breeze and waves, but a very fortuitous event changed the fate of the two fleets.

From the mouth of the Thames to the present day, the British destroyers had been at high speed for more than 12 hours, reaching a range of nearly 300 nautical miles, and had continued to advance at top speed for several hours after leaving Betty's main fleet, and the British sailors and the ships themselves were exhausted.

On board the British destroyer "Legion", the oil-fired steam boiler and the main engine were fighting for fate, and the sailors on duty were a little irritated by the noisy environment for several hours, and they eagerly awaited the arrival of the changing of the guard, so they did not check the operation of the parts as usual, nor did they notice that a drop of fuel was quietly leaking from the inside of a fuel pipe.

On the bridge, the officers diligently stared at the sea ahead, and according to their calculations, the German aircraft carrier formation was not far in front of them. Suddenly, there was a muffled sound inside the ship's hull, and then a huge flame erupted from the chimney, forming a huge spark over the battleship.

At this very moment, lookout sailors on German destroyers spotted the unidentified fleet. "Freiburg" sent out inquiries by signal light, but did not receive a reply. The commander of the aircraft carrier group, Brigadier General Rahn, began to have doubts, and he ordered the "Freiburg" to leave the formation alone to find out the identity of the fleet.

Ten minutes later, at a distance of 3 nautical miles from the other side, the "Freiburg" suddenly turned on its searchlights, and the hull of the British destroyer and the British naval flag were suddenly exposed to the lights.

At this moment, the sailors on both sides were overwhelmed with surprise. The "Freiburg" immediately turned off its searchlights and turned, and the British, faced with this sudden situation, did not shoot in a panic until half a minute later. The "Freiburg" returned fire while disengaging from contact with the British fleet at high speed. Due to the unknown situation, the British destroyers did not turn on their searchlights or fire flares, but left the destroyer "Legion", which had lost power, to continue the pursuit of the German fleet.

Commodore Rahn then reported the situation to Heydrich's flagship and ordered the Second Squadron to turn westward.

The "Toure" quickly turned with the formation, and the middle-aged officer who had been standing on the bridge was already missing.

"Where's the captain?" The first mate asked curiously, "I just saw him standing there!" ”

"Hurried to the cabin!" The second mate had just come out of the cabin, looking sleepy-eyed, "What's wrong?" ”

"Oh! The flagship sent a signal for us to pay attention to the vigilance, and the formation may turn again at any time! ”

The radio signal quietly came out of the "Toure" again, and after arriving at the intelligence department in London, England, the intelligence department relayed it to Betty, who conveyed the news of the German aircraft carrier formation to the British destroyers in front of her, and the six destroyers realized that they were rushing in the wrong direction, and at the same time sharply turned to a new course.

On the "Toure", the middle-aged officer walked to the command room with a tired face, but no one else noticed it in the dim light.

"Captain, you're here!" The first mate who was at the helm glanced at him and whispered.

"Hmmm! What's the situation? The middle-aged officer's tone was very calm.

"The flagship keeps us on guard, and there are signals to keep an eye out for turning!"

"Hmm!" In the darkness, the middle-aged officer gritted his teeth.

"Listen! It's the sound of an elevator on an aircraft carrier! It looks like they're raising the plane to the deck, too, it's going to be dawn soon! The second officer stood at the door of the command room and suddenly interjected, and it was still dark outside.

No one noticed that the middle-aged officer's face suddenly turned iron-blue.

"Look at the flagship lights! All turned, heading 45 degrees north-west! The first mate said as he quickly turned the rudder.

"Captain, how did you say the British chased here? We're going to make sure they don't come back, right? The second mate turned his head as he spoke, and the captain who was still beside him just now had disappeared again, "Captain? ”

The second mate suddenly had a sense of foreboding.

After a large circle of radio waves, the British destroyers slowed down a beat, and they reluctantly turned again.

About 10 minutes later, when the middle-aged officer came out again, this time exhausted and seemed to be about to collapse.

"Captain! You're nothing, right? Isn't it uncomfortable? The second mate asked with concern.

The middle-aged officer was just about to say something, but the first mate shouted again: "Flagship signal, all turn, course 20 degrees north-west!" ”

The middle-aged officer was a little crazy, he was about to leave, but this time he was discovered by the second officer.

"Captain, where are you going?"

"No, it's okay! I'm a little dizzy, I'll go back to the cabin to rest first, I'll leave it to you and the first mate here, you can handle the situation yourself, you don't need to ask me for instructions! I think I'll get better after a little rest! ”

The second officer did not speak, and watched the middle-aged officer leave.

The German aircraft carrier group turned again and again in the night, but they did not completely escape the pursuit of the British destroyers, who were searching the sea not far from them.

The middle-aged officer had just reached out to open the porthole, but his hand stopped in the air for a moment. Outside the window, the darkness faded imperceptibly, and no one could even see how darkness and light were transformed.

Everything on the sea appeared in front of people's eyes, and the Germans saw the British fleet that had been chasing them all night, and the British saw the German fleet that they had been chasing all night.

There was a sudden uproar on the deck of the aircraft carrier, and the aircraft engines rumbled. This sound was pleasant to every German sailor, except for this middle-aged officer.

The middle-aged officer's heart began to tremble, and he silently put away the transmitter and hurriedly stuffed it under the bed. Not far away, German planes began to fly off the deck, and the cheers of the sailors pierced his heart like sharp thorns.

The officers and men of the British destroyer looked at the German aircraft carriers that looked like mountains on the sea not far away, and the German planes that were slowly flying off the deck, they were no longer simple prey, they had already picked up the sharp sword in their hands.

The British sailors silently returned to their positions, the signal for the attack had already been raised on the mast of the destroyer, and they had no way to retreat but to strike desperately.

The three German destroyers all came to the rear of the aircraft carrier formation at this time, and they used their bodies to form the last line of defense, and the German sailors looked indifferently at the six British destroyers coming at full speed. The distance between the two fleets was no more than 5 nautical miles, and at this distance of 8,000 yards the guns of the destroyers began to fire one after another. The German sailors confidently filled the shells into the chambers of the rear main guns, and the German planes that constantly flew over their heads were the source of their confidence.

The first wave of 16 torpedo planes did not have time to assemble and launched an attack from the right side of the British fleet, although the British destroyers were small, fast and agile, the 16 torpedoes that fell one after another still made all the British panic, and the white water marks that were not yet completely clear appeared on the sea surface that were intertwined with each other, so that the British destroyers could not distinguish which torpedoes were in front and which were behind, so they had to exaggerate their bodies again and again to evade, Two British destroyers at a closer distance even had a slight collision on the side of the ship.

With a loud bang, a British destroyer was still hit by a torpedo impartially, the 1000-ton hull was extremely vulnerable in the face of the powerful power of the torpedo, the middle of the battleship jumped out of the sea in the harsh sound of steel breaking, and then smashed into two on the sea, the bow and stern were raised high at the same time, and the rapid sinking also brought many British sailors who had no time to escape into the cool underwater world.

The remaining five British destroyers, in order to avoid torpedo attacks, had deviated from the course of the German carrier group, and they drew white wave marks on the surface of the sea before re-aiming their bows at the German fleet.

On the decks of the Lisa and Super Duck Mama, the flight crew busily retreated to the take-off position one by one as the planes carrying the bombs began to turn their propellers, and light smoke erupted from the exhaust ports on both sides of the engines, which were soon dispersed by the sea breeze.

In the command room of the "Toure", the middle-aged officer watched with a blank face as the British fleet was driven away by German planes. When the British destroyer exploded, the German officers in the entire command room cheered, and he had to force a smile.

When the second wave of bombers flew off the deck of the aircraft carrier, the morale of the entire German fleet was extremely high, and on the deck and gun emplacements of the "Toure", sailors waved their hats in their hands.

On the gun emplacements below, the sailors were still busy loading and firing, and the British destroyers were now completely frenzied, ignoring the German shells and aerial bombs falling overhead, and desperately approaching at full speed.

The middle-aged officer looked at the first mate who was concentrating on the helm, as well as the second officer next to him and several other officers, and put his hand into his pocket, his fingers touching a cold object.

"Don't move!" The middle-aged officer pulled out a Luger pistol and put it on the head of the first mate.

"Captain!" Everyone was stunned.

"You all get out of the command room and close the door, or I'll shoot him in the head!"

The crowd looked at each other, and they couldn't understand why the normally calm and peaceful captain had acted like this, but they obediently did so.

"Captain......" The first mate's voice began to tremble, and he soon felt a blow to the back of the head, and then fainted.

The middle-aged officer lowered the first officer to the floor and steered the steering wheel himself. The bow of the ship quickly aimed at the larger aircraft carrier not far away, the "Lisa"!

"Full speed ahead!" The middle-aged officer roared at the microphone, the sailors in the engine room were completely unaware of what was happening above, and the "Toure" soon increased its speed to 27 knots, and the distance between it and the "Lisa", which was moving at 22 knots, was getting closer and closer.

At this moment, several German sailors with guns suddenly rushed into the command room under the leadership of the officers, and the middle-aged officers were about to draw their guns to shoot, but the rifles in the hands of the sailors opened fire first.

Ruger's pistol fell to the floor with a clatter, the middle-aged officer slowly collapsed holding his abdomen, the second officer hurriedly ran to the rudder, and the bow of the warship quickly turned away from the German aircraft carrier in front.

An officer walked over and pressed a handkerchief against the bleeding wound of the middle-aged officer, and under the shaking of the other officer, the first mate slowly opened his eyes, and the muzzles of the gun-wielding sailors were still aimed at the captain who had lost his mind.

"Captain, what's wrong with you?" The officer picked up the Ruger pistol on the ground and asked puzzled.

The middle-aged officer did not answer, his breathing began to become heavy, but his eyes were staring straight at the second officer who was at the helm.

At this time, three more British destroyers were directly shot or injured by near-misses, losing their speed and falling far behind, but the last three British destroyers had rushed to a distance of 1,000 yards from the German aircraft carrier formation, and after the six torpedoes plopped into the water, they quickly turned and prepared to flee, but unfortunately they were soon sunk by the combined force of German shells and aerial bombs.

The bell for an emergency turn rang suddenly, but the huge hull of the aircraft carrier could not turn around as nimbly as a destroyer.

The middle-aged officer who fell to the ground did not see the resolute expression on the face of the second officer, the 87 officers and men of the whole ship were so indifferent to death at this moment, all the German sailors on the deck understood where their battleship was heading, but none of them planned to abandon the ship and escape.

The Toure and its brave sailors used their bodies to stop the deadly torpedo for the Lisa, and all 87 officers and men on board were killed, each of whom was posthumously awarded the Iron Cross by the Kaiser, including their captain.

As the sun rose, the remnants of Betty's ships were intercepted by Scheer's battlefleet, and after a fierce firefight, Betty sank to the cold bottom of the North Sea with 5,800 other British naval officers and men.

During the night of fighting, the German High Seas Fleet lost a total of 3 armored battleships, 2 seaplane carriers and 5 destroyers, while the British lost almost the entire home fleet, and only 3 armored battleships and 5 cruisers that participated in the Battle of Calais returned to London in disgrace.

This time, the dead Betty failed to become a scapegoat like Jerryd, and Churchill, the British Admiralty, finally paid the price for his adventurous actions, and his post as Admiralty was relieved of his duties as Naval Intelligence.

The next day, the British royal family began to evacuate London to Birmingham, far from the coast.

On September 16, the British government officially announced that the British government was ready to defend its homeland, and the English Channel and the Dover Strait were closed to navigation, where the British Navy would deploy a large number of mines during the war.

A few days later, a combined Anglo-French fleet of 34 warships of various types arrived in Britain from the Mediterranean, and they were stationed at Plymouth Military Harbour in England along with the remaining ships of the British Home Fleet.

Despite the worst losses suffered in this naval battle, the German High Seas Fleet still had a large number of dynamic warships, and the German Navy's goal was to firmly control the North Sea and block the British shipping lines in the Atlantic.

On September 20, at the Imperial Military Conference in Berlin, the Kaiser asked the General Staff to draw up a plan for landing on the British mainland as soon as possible, and announced the official start of relevant mobilization and preparations.

The last dark night belonging to the German Navy has passed, and the dark night belonging to the British has just fallen......