Ahh

******

Seeing the retreat of the British cruiser fleet in front, the German officers on the bridge of the "Gloudenz" had unconcealed excitement in their eyes. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Colonel William August was no exception, but he was clearly the most composed of the kind, and the commander's subsequent decision proved that his expression was anything but acting: the light flotilla led by the cruiser "Glaudenz" did not take advantage of the situation to pursue the enemy, but turned to the northeast. When the distance between the two sides had reached about 20,000 meters, and there were only vague outlines in each other's line of sight, the German fleet turned westward, using the water reconnaissance planes as outposts, and followed them unhurriedly.

As a result of this change, 10,000 British torpedo boats approaching from the direction of Belgium were unwilling, and due to their own endurance, their hope of catching up with the target was getting smaller and smaller, and the momentum of the pursuit was also weakening.

In the area where the destroyer "Bulldog" sank, Colonel Schott, who survived, was rescued by a medium-sized torpedo boat that arrived from the rear.

"We have only a third of fuel left in our light torpedo boats." The officer on board handed over a dry towel and added, "If we return now, we will be able to reach Zeebrich safely." ”

Colonel Short wiped his face dry without saying a word. Fortunately, it was the middle of summer, otherwise with his old bones, soaking in the sea for a while would be enough to suffer.

His flagship was sunk by a formidable opponent, and he saw no fear on his face, nor was he carried away by the anger of revenge, but very calmly examined the situation on the battlefield, and then decisively ordered: "Give a signal to slow down the boats." ”

"The course doesn't change?" The officer on board asked cautiously.

Colonel Short only moved his lips slightly: "The course remains the same." ”

In this way, a British lightning strike squadron consisting of one medium torpedo boat and more than 20 light torpedo boats slowly headed north, and the officers and men watched helplessly as the German fleet moved "slowly" in the distant sea, and after more than half an hour, only a few masts remained in their silhouettes, and in the end nothing could be seen.

At this time, on the German light cruiser "Glaudenz", the entire crew was gradually freed from the fierce and tense state of battle. The enemy was still in sight, and the gunners were still in their positions, but the turret hatches and emergency hatches were opened, and the stuffiness on the gun emplacements was dissipated, and some of them stepped out of the turret, smoking and looking ahead of the bow of the ship.

On the bridge, a staff officer beside Colonel August speculated worriedly: "They are trying to take us to England?" ”

The navigator replied: "We are now only seventy nautical miles from the coast of England. ”

Colonel August was unmoved, and he stared at the sea in silence. After a while, the communications officer came to report that the S-33, a large torpedo boat that had previously been badly damaged in battle, had been restored to normal sailing capability after emergency repairs, which meant that the small flotilla led by the "Glaudenz" was able to exploit its speed advantage in combat operations against the enemy without any scruples.

The five British ships in front, two are old protective cruisers, and the three destroyers also belong to the older generation of the river class, they are the earliest destroyers ordered in batches by the British Navy, a total of 37 have been built and served, and the standard displacement of 600 tons is comparable to the German 1906 class large torpedo boats, but the maximum speed of the design is only 25 knots, and after more than ten years of service, the state of the ship has long been unable to reach the peak level.

Seeing that Colonel August was still indifferent, the staff officer admonished: "Sir, why don't we pursue at full speed, sink one or two enemy ships and quickly retreat, so as not to fall into an ambush by the British." In waters very close to the enemy's coast, it is not very stable to be too far from the main fleet. ”

The colonel put his hands behind his back and asked, "If you were British, how would you come to this ambush?" ”

The staff officer pondered for a moment and replied: "There are two options: one is to intercept the armored cruiser in the front and send the new cruiser and destroyer with fast speed to outflank our rear route, so as to fight a battle of encirclement and annihilation dominated by artillery battles; The other is to send new destroyers and high-speed torpedo boats to take out us with torpedoes. Both options can also be used together to increase the chances of success. ”

Colonel August bowed slightly: "If we didn't have planes, the British Navy did have many ways to ambush and annihilate us, but now our seaplanes have expanded the reconnaissance field many times, which is enough for us to detect the enemy's deployment in advance and avoid the enemy's ambush as soon as possible." ”

The staff officer looked puzzled: "Since the commander knows that the enemy is likely to ambush us in front, the only way for us to avoid it in advance at that time is to avoid it in advance, why not take it if it is not good, but continue to follow the enemy?" ”

The colonel pretended to be mysterious and said, "All we want is for the enemy to take us to the ambush circle." ”

Looking at August's smug expression, the staff officer quickly realized.

Soon after, the seaplane returning from the forward reconnaissance landed in the nearby sea, and the large torpedo boat of the 1906 class, V-154, which was following the "Glaudenz", slowed down and approached, only to see that it dropped a few fuel-loaded pontoons, and then circled the seaplane, and when the pilot had captured two pontoons, it accelerated back to the fleet - this was a common way for the German Navy to provide mid-way supplies for carrier-based water reconnaissance aircraft, although the means were primitive and susceptible to sea conditions, However, it saves a lot of valuable time by eliminating the complicated link of lifting the aircraft onto the ship.

After a normal replenishment, the water reconnaissance plane will gain at least an hour and a half of time in the air on the battlefield.

Seeing his reconnaissance plane taxiing and taking off again, Colonel August became more and more composed.

The fleet sailed more than twenty nautical miles westward, very close to the southeastern coast of England, from where it turned southwest and reached the mouth of the Thames in three or four hours.

The five British light ships in front of them suddenly slowed down, and one of the protective cruisers broke away from the formation alone, sailed to the white seaplane that had just landed on the sea, hoisted it with the ship's boom, and hoisted it back to the surface after ten minutes or so.

By the time the British fleet accelerated again, the distance between the two sides had suddenly narrowed to 12,000 kilometers.

The "Glaudenz" was suddenly enveloped in a tense fighting atmosphere again.

Colonel August raised his binoculars, and the British fleet was no different, except for the smoke still rising from the lead protective cruiser.

A gray reconnaissance plane without pontoons appeared in sight, which circled over the British supervision for a while before heading northwest. Not long after, the same gray livery water reconnaissance plane flew back from the east, its wings swaying rhythmically, and the signal lights under the fuselage were constantly flashing.

Colonel August raised the corners of his mouth, and the expression seemed to say, "The show is finally about to begin."

The curtain of the Second Battle of Flanders was indeed slowly opened, and the announcer was none other than the "Glaudenz".

Its water reconnaissance aircraft spotted three armored cruisers about 20 nautical miles to the west, and from their course, the intention to rendezvous with the five British ships was very clear.

Colonel August put away all superfluous expressions and said solemnly and steadily: "Order it to immediately reconnoiter the sea area behind the British armored cruiser." ”

The staff officer did not dare to delay for a moment, and immediately conveyed Colonel August's instructions to the communications officer, and a conspicuous signal flag was quickly raised on the flagpole of the "Glaudenz".

Seeing this signal flag, the water reconnaissance plane immediately flew in the specified direction.

At this moment, the five British battleships on the sea in front of them began to turn.

Colonel August then ordered the fleet to turn to the right with half rudders, and adjusted the bow to the enemy diagonally, and prepared in advance for a salvo from the whole side.

The eight 150-mm 45-diameter naval guns of the "Glaudenz" were naturally the main firepower output of this German advance fleet, and the maximum firing range of the 105-mm 45-diameter rapid-fire guns equipped with the two large torpedo boats of the 1913 class was close to 10,000 meters.

In less than ten minutes, the two small battle fleets had each completed the adjustment of course and array, and the proficiency of maritime techniques and tactics was equal.

Five British battleships lined up, with two escort cruisers at the head and three destroyers pressing in formation, heading south-west toward north-east.

Five German ships also formed a column, led by the "Gloudenz", followed by a 1906 class and two large torpedo boats of the 1913 class, and the V-154, which supplied the seaplanes, was moved to the bottom of the list.

The German fleet was heading 15 degrees west-north, and if both sides maintained their speed and course, it would take less than half an hour to enter a melee range with a high hit rate.

In the absence of reconnaissance aircraft to calibrate the fire, it was not until the combat command room reported a target distance of 10,500 meters that Colonel August gave the order to open fire.

In the first two rounds of alternating firing, the German gunners played a decent role, and the shells fired failed to form a straddle fire on the enemy ship, but the shells landed closer to the target.

At a distance of 9500 meters, two British cruisers opened fire one after the other. They each have 5-6 naval guns on each side, and their position at this time is conducive to exerting their broadside firepower, but their sound and prestige when firing are obviously inferior to that of the "Gloudenz", and the bullet impact point is far away, and their single-mounted naval guns are obviously in a state of fighting separately, lacking effective coordination and command, and there is only a salvo of fire, and the long-distance artillery fire is actually messy.

After a few rounds of artillery fire, three British destroyers also joined the battle. Unlike the average officer, who was preoccupied with the enemy in front of him, Colonel Auguste apparently did not take these lame opponents seriously, and he kept watching the sea in the distance with a telescope in his hand. A striking column of smoke had already appeared in the south-west, and the British armored cruisers were strong, but their top speed was only 23 knots, and as long as they were not burdened by their injuries, it was easy to get rid of their attacks. To the northwest, there is a small gray dot in the distant sky, which is a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft taking off from the "Bismarck", and its radius of activity usually does not exceed 150 kilometers, that is, the support ship group of the German High Seas Fleet is at most seventy or eighty nautical miles away, and the position of the main forces of the High Seas Fleet should be closer.

The General Office of the Navy is responsible for the formation of the order, the General Staff of the Navy is responsible for the formation of exercises, the German naval aviation units are not only uniformly painted, all naval pilots have undergone a rigorous training course since the pre-war period, and everyone must be familiar with the standard communication signals, combat instructions, and calibration parameters, whether they are flying a water reconnaissance plane that catapults and takes off or a carrier-based aircraft that takes off and lands on deck, they can effectively cooperate with their own ships in combat.

Under the watchful eye of Colonel August, the carrier-based aircraft flying back from the northwest brought a seemingly ordinary but very subtle reconnaissance intelligence: a sizable light fleet consisting of 2 light cruisers and 17 destroyers had been discovered 30 nautical miles away. Both light cruisers were equipped with twin turrets, with the main turrets stacked on top of each other on the fore and aft decks.

(End of chapter)