The scorching summer heat was undoubtedly a kind of torture for the gunners who struggled in the main turret of the battleship, although they were shirtless, although they turned on the exhaust fan, they could sweat profusely to move more than half a ton of shells and more than 100 kilograms of propellant ammunition together, not to mention the high temperature that remained in the barrel after the shells were fired.

As the distance between the two battlefleets was narrowed to the range of the artillery, the 406 mm, 380 mm, and 356 mm guns on both sides began to roar, and in front of them, the 305 mm naval guns that were popular in the previous war were a little outdated in terms of range and power, so don't look at the number of German battleships as many as 16, but the King class and Kai 2 ships are still 50 times the diameter of the 305 mm guns, The Americans have used 14-inch 356 mm guns from the New York class in line with the principle of everything being bigger, and the New Mexico class, Tennessee-class, Colorado class and South Dakota class are equipped with more powerful 406-millimeter guns, as the only first-class battlecruiser in the US Navy, the Lexington class is also equipped with this 45 times the diameter of the 406 mm gun, and the German fleet can only compete with the four Bavaria-class battleships equipped with 380 mm guns in caliber. 3 Mackensen-class Battlecruisers and 5 Graff-class ships armed with 406mm guns.

If the difference in the caliber of the main guns of the battleships of the two sides can be balanced by quantity, then to deal with the thick armor of the American battleships, the German sailors had to show the skill of gunnery accuracy! American ship designers seem to have a natural penchant for extreme behavior, their battle cruisers have high speed and firepower, but their defenses can be terrible, and their battleships can move slowly, but their firepower and defense are very good. Since the Nevada class, the maximum thickness of the waterline armor of all levels of American battleships has reached 13.5 inches, or 343 mm, and the frontal armor of the turret has reached an astonishing 18 inches, or 458 mm, and even the armor of the command tower is 16 inches! In contrast, even the best Graff class in Germany. The armor of these three important parts is only, 14.5 inches, 15 inches and 15 inches, and aside from the slight difference in the quality of the armor between the two sides, judging from these data alone, the enemy of the German fleet this time is unprecedentedly strong.

In the minds of the Americans, the superiority of the Germans in the air was incomparable to their own, and the artillery of the two fleets had not yet achieved any success, and the German land-based fighters that took off from Cuba won air supremacy on the battlefield as scheduled after a bitter battle, and then the German dive bombers and torpedo planes that flew in began to attack the American battleships and battlecruisers without any worries. The battle seems to have returned to the time of the Battle of Laura in South America.

When the inadequate American bombers and torpedo planes were shot down one by one by the Henkel DD carrier-based fighters waiting over the fleet, Scheer and his fleet lived up to expectations and put on a gunnery show, as the firing data from the school firing planes came back one by one, the German fleet shells began to hit the target, while the American heavy shells were still bombarding the wide and empty sea in luxury.

"A single shot hit an enemy Delaware-class battleship, and the opponent's foredeck was hit by a bullet and caught fire!"

"A single shot once again hits an enemy Delaware-class battleship, and the opponent's speed is decreasing!"

Two pieces of good news in quick succession relieved the nervous officers, but only General Scheer frowned, the Delaware-class was the oldest battleship in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, built back in 1910. If it weren't for the fact that the speed of 21 knots allowed them to keep up with the main fleet. The U.S. commander might have chosen to leave the antique battleship with a displacement of 22,000 tons and 305 mm guns in port.

What Scheer was worried about was whether his armor-piercing shells would be able to penetrate the thick armor of the newest American battleships.

"A single shot hit one of the enemy's Tennessee-class battleships, and an explosion occurred in the middle of the opponent. The damage is unknown for the time being, and the speed has not been reduced! ”

"Two shots hit one of the enemy's Colorado-class battleships, and the opponent's foredeck was hit and exploded, but no fire was seen!"

"A single shot hit an enemy South Dakota-class battleship, an explosion occurred in the middle of the opponent, the hull caught fire, and the speed was not reduced!"

As the reports of hits came again and again, the bad premonition in Scheer's heart unfortunately became a reality, and while he was pondering the countermeasures, the pilot in charge of the school shooting suddenly shouted in an excited voice:

"A violent explosion occurred on one of the enemy Tennessee-class battleships. The hull is tilting! ”

There was a burst of joy in the command room, but the pilot added: "The ship was hit by a torpedo fired by our own torpedo plane!" ”

Many officers, including Scheer, felt a chill in their hearts, could it be that the era of belonging to battleships had passed?

"A single hit to the enemy..."

Scheer didn't want to listen any longer, he walked to a corner of the command room and silently looked at the sea outside the porthole, the Americans' large-caliber shells were constantly stirring up water columns tens of meters high, and the apex even exceeded the ground masts of some battleships, and the sea became choppy because of this, and the waves formed by the falling water columns continued to rush to the nearby battleships, and were instantly shattered by solid steel.

"The whole fleet is 10 degrees to the left. Speed increased to 20 knots! ”

Scheer gave the order indifferently.

At this time, many officers and staff officers in the command room looked at the marshal with puzzled eyes, at the current distance, the shells of the German fleet had a good hit rate, and turning left meant closing the distance with the other side, once both sides were within the effective distance of each other's visual ranging instruments, the hit rate of the German battleships would increase, but the Americans would no longer be their fatal wound without a calibrator.

"Marshal, the commander of the Air Force in Cuba, Colonel von Hartmann, sent a telegram that follow-up torpedo planes and dive bombers have taken off!" Chief of Staff Raeder reminded.

"Got it, carry out the order!" Scheer closed his eyes slightly.

"Yes!"

Seeing Scheer's resolute expression, Raeder did not hesitate, he pondered that the marshal's intention was probably to increase the power of the armor-piercing bullet by closing the distance, but that would also mean that the risk to his side was greatly increased. After passing the order, Raeder turned around, and Scheer still stood motionless.

Scheer's true intentions, perhaps only one person in the fleet could understand, when Scheer's flagship gave the turn signal, on the battlecruiser "Mackensen", a veteran of Scheer's age was gearing up for his officers:

Lads, it's time for us to show our hands and get ready to go full speed ahead! ”

"Yes. Admiral Hipper! ”

In the Battle of Jutland in another world, Hipper and Schell were a pair, when Hipper led the battle patrol detachment to carry out a "death shock" to save the entire fleet, and the German High Seas Fleet had a chance to get rid of the British Grand Fleet.

This world, before Tatsuten affected the German Navy. Schell and Hipper had worked together for many years, and without the glory and helplessness of the Battle of Jutland, they were still the undisputed fleet commanders of the German Navy. After leading the reinforcement fleet to rendezvous with Scheer's Atlantic Fleet, Hipper took up his old business - from his position as captain of a warship, he had been inextricably linked to armored cruisers/battle cruisers, and by 1912 he had become the commander of the reconnaissance detachment of the German High Seas Fleet, which was dominated by battle cruisers, and had been fighting alongside Scheer as a deputy until he became a deputy of the German Mediterranean Fleet.

Just two minutes after the fleet completed its turn, Scheer's flagship "Graf" really gave the signal: the battle patrol detachment was attacking the right flank of the American fleet at full speed!

According to aerial reconnaissance reports, the far right flank of the US fleet is two battle cruisers, while the three capital aircraft carriers are more than 20 nautical miles behind the right flank.

"Brave hussars. Sortie! ”

Hipper always liked to call his battle cruiser that. Compared with the American battle cruisers, the defense of the German battle cruisers at all levels was much higher, so much so that many American generals were accustomed to include the German battle cruisers in the battleship class - such as the Mackensen-class 350 mm main armor belt was even thicker than the British Queen-class battleships. Some people joked that the battlecruisers were just the Germans catching up with the fashion, and the main armor with 203 mm thick Japanese Kongo-class, 177 mm American Lexington-class, in the case of firepower and speed comparable to the Mackensen-class, the results of one-on-one gun combat are obvious, not to mention that the Germans have an unparalleled advantage in armor and shooting accuracy!

As the fast hussars of the German fleet, the "Mackensen", "Count Spee", "Prince Fiterik", "De Fllinger", "Lüzo", "Hindenburg" under the command of Hipper, quickly accelerated to 26.5 knots - The Mackensen-class, with its top speed of 28 knots, had to take care of the 26.5-knots Dervlinger class, and in the opposite American fleet, only two Lexington-class ships had a speed of 32 knots that could surpass these German rangers, but their 406 mm naval guns and the Mackensen-class 380 mm were not at odds. The 50-fold diameter 305mm gun of the Deflinger class could easily penetrate the weak armor of the Rington Rington.

After the departure of the six battlecruisers, Schell adjusted the shape of his battlefleet slightly, and the 16 German battleships traveling at a speed of 20 knots were arranged from north to south according to firepower and tonnage, and the angle of 30 degrees allowed both fleets to fire a salvo at their own targets on the port side.

"21,000 yards!"

"20,000 yards!"

"16,000 yards!"

"17,000 yards!"

As the numbers reported by the rangefinder decreased one by one, the atmosphere in the command room of the "Graf" became solemn, and as the figure of the American fleet gradually became clear in the telescope, the shells falling near the German fleet became more and more threatening.

At 11:07, with a loud bang, the German battleship "August" became the first German battleship to be hit by American battleship gunfire. A 406-mm armor-piercing projectile hit the new battleship, which had only been in service for one year, at a horizontal angle of nearly 10 degrees, and such a shell was huge in terms of speed, mass and power, and the stern of the "August" sank, and a secondary gun turret flew into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, another shell hit the "Saxony", and although the frontal armor of the battleship's No. 2 turret was not directly pierced by the 406-mm armor-piercing shells flying from 15,000 yards away, the violent explosion made the two 380-mm guns suddenly mute.

Seeing that the losses of his own fleet were gradually increasing, Field Marshal Scheer on the "Graf" still looked at the American fleet in the distance without changing his face. The enemy's naval guns had an advantage in caliber, but the King-class and Kai-2 ships on their side did not show weakness and returned fire with 305 mm naval guns with higher rate of fire and accuracy, and the fire and black smoke that rose from time to time on the American fleet's side meant that the other side was also under the same pressure.

"A single shot hit an enemy Colorado-class battleship, the opponent's No. 2 turret was shot and exploded, oh, the turret flew into the sky!"

When they heard this report, the officers were a little relieved, the commander's decision was correct, as long as the distance was close enough, the American battleship was not really that invulnerable.

"Our bomber swarm joins the fight!"

Hearing this report, Scheer's eyes did not move to the sky above the American fleet, but turned the telescope to the tail of the American fleet, and the fire of the main guns of the two Lexington-class ships was glistening, and a row of shells landed near them from time to time, and the scene did not seem to be anything unusual.

Scheer didn't give up and continued to stare in that direction. Suddenly, a loud bang came from very close proximity, the whole battleship trembled, and the officers immediately understood that their own battleship had been hit!

Raeder grabbed the phone and said, "Damage management, report the damage!" ”

Scheer almost fell just now, he turned around and looked out of the porthole in a hurry, the smoke of the explosion came from the middle and rear of the battleship, although the power of large-caliber armor-piercing shells is very sufficient, as long as it does not hit the ammunition depot, just one shot is nothing for a heavy battleship with a displacement of nearly 40,000 tons like the "Graf", if it really hits the ammunition depot, then it can only be considered unlucky.

In fact, a 406-mm armor-piercing projectile penetrated through the area of the non-main armor belt between the deputy conning tower of the "Graf" and the chimney No. 2, and in the violent explosion, the flue, the pantry, the officer's bedroom, the toilet, the sailor's cabin, the bathroom, the equipment warehouse in this position were devastated, and the upper part of the No. 4 boiler room was also blown out of a large hole, and the whole battleship was in danger, but there was blood all over the gills of the mm open-air anti-aircraft guns and the twin 20-mm machine gun positions.

The damage management report finally put people's hearts at ease, and the damage management system of the German capital ships was as advanced as their structure, which was also one of the most valuable assets of the German Navy.

Scheer was still looking at the tail of the American fleet, and finally, a brilliant spark bloomed on the two Lexington-class, and on the sea not far away, Hipper's battle patrol detachment was outflanked in place, at this time, Scheer's expression finally relaxed a little, although the cooperation between the two excellent generals seemed seamless, but they still had to thank the aviation unit, it was the heroic attack of the pilots that interfered with the attention of the American commander.

"Beat me hard!" Hipper clenched his fists excitedly, the two Lexington-class ships were shrouded in dense artillery fire, as long as the Americans' wing was disabled, and they were rushing towards the American aircraft carriers with battle cruisers, there was not much suspense in the naval battle.

The same thought came to Scheer's brain, and it seemed that the war would soon be over. Winner, Germany!