At 5:22 a.m. on November 16, 1914, the British Navy's Task Force 16 was attacked by two German warships in the waters off Port Scar, Ireland, and sent a distress signal; At 5:34, the 5,600-ton protective cruiser "Fearless" sank; At 5:39, the protective cruiser "Gala's" of the same class was heavily damaged and sank 20 minutes later; At 5:57, the destroyer "Sylvia" sank; At 6:12, the destroyer "Greek Fairy" sank ......

At 6:05, some ships of the British Navy's 3rd Task Force Combat Fleet and two armored cruisers of the British and French joint combat formation left Cork Harbor; At 7:51, British and French ships encountered two German ships in the waters south of Ireland; At 7:59, the British ships found that the two German battleships they had encountered were not Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers, but the main battlecruisers of the German Navy, so they sent an urgent report to the Admiralty......

At 8:13, the flagship of the British Task Force 3rd Combat Fleet, the Donegal, was shot; At 8:17, the British armored cruiser "Defense" was shot; At 8:18, all the main guns of the "Donegal" were silent, and a fire broke out on the ship; At 8:20, the No. 1 turret of the "Defense" was pierced by a German armor-piercing projectile, causing a violent explosion; At 8:26, the "Defense" lost its combat effectiveness, the bottom bilge was out of control, and the hull was seriously tilted; At 8:27, the bow ammunition depot of the "Donegal" exploded, and the commander Abbasnot announced the abandonment of the ship; At 8:39, the French armored cruiser "Edgar" was shot......

At 8:40 a.m., in the middle of the North Sea, the sea north of the Dogger Sandbar. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The British home fleet with the super-dreadnought "Iron Duke" as the flagship has quietly stayed here for many days, and the rainy weather in the past few days has made it impossible for the German airships to play a role in the North Sea, and most of the German submarines with the ability to sail have gone to the North Atlantic, and the German main fleet has dispatched many light ships, and the front-line battlefield of the fierce confrontation between the British and German navies in the early days of the war, the North Sea, has shown a strange calm during this period.

In this shallow water, with an average water depth of only thirty or forty meters, dozens of ships, large and small, guarded the dreadnoughts and battle cruisers of the British Home Fleet like stars and moons. Summoned by the flagship, the main battleships lowered their small transport boats one after another, and they soon gathered next to the "Iron Duke" with the captain's flag fluttering on the flagpole, and officers dressed in the uniforms of generals or naval colonels boarded the ship one after another.

In the operational command room of the flagship, Arthur Jackson, Charles Madden, and David Beatty, three important figures in the British home fleet, have gathered first.

"If the Germans did not disguise the triple main gun as a twin, it must have been 'De Fllinger' and 'Seydlitz'." Vice Admiral Charles Madden, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, said angrily, "The Germans must now think that we are like monkeys in a zoo, and that a banana can trick us around!" ”

"It's a pity that we didn't expect this, otherwise the Tiger and the Royal Princess would have been disguised as two armored cruisers, and what a wonderful showdown would have been staged in the waters south of Ireland at this time." Betty said in a half-self-deprecating tone, "If that's the case, we still have a good chance of winning." ”

Sir Jackson, an expert on naval warfare theory, immediately retorted: "Even if the Tiger and the Princess Royal are present, the enemy can immediately turn around and flee if they find that the situation is not good, and then lure you into their pre-set ambush circle - they are very good at this trick, and we must not be fooled again." ”

Jackson, of course, had good intentions, but Betty's face suddenly hung up. The Battle of Jutland had become a pain in his heart that would never be healed, and perhaps only by defeating the German fleet with dignity could he let go of this double burden of spirit and honor.

The experienced Vice Admiral Madden saw that Betty's expression was wrong, and quickly diverted the topic: "The more the Germans want us to send capital ships to the waters south of Ireland, the more we have to go the opposite way, perhaps...... Now is the right time to head north in search of a decisive battle for the German fleet. Our journey to the Norwegian Sea is a third shorter than the two German battle cruisers, and it is entirely possible that we will be able to fight this battle before De Fllinger and Seidritz join up with the main German fleet, provided that we move quickly! ”

"That's a good point." Sir Jackson praised, "With at least two capital ships certain that they are far from the German fleet, we ought to set out as soon as possible, and if we are lucky, we will have a much better chance of winning against a German fleet without battlecruisers." ”

The valiant and aggressive Betty was still apprehensive about the cunning tactics of the Germans, and he pondered cautiously: "The Germans have an advantage in the use of aircraft, their fleet alert circle is much larger than ours, and the main ships have an advantage in speed, unless we can give them an unavoidable surprise blow, otherwise they will have a way to drag the battle cruiser formation to the rendezvous, and then our hope of victory will still be very slim." ”

This objective and rational analysis suddenly poured cold water on the two who were full of interest.

The arrival of the commanders of the capital ships saved the atmosphere in this conference room from being embarrassed.

When everyone was seated, Vice Admiral Madden read out a secret telegram from the Admiralty, which was far beyond the captains' expectations, and their eyes widened one by one, as if they were questioning their hearing, or they were eager to reach out and pinch their faces to see if they were having a nightmare.

Sir Jackson, the commander of the fleet, then said: "If nothing else, it should be the two strongest German battle cruisers, the 'De Fllinger' and the 'Seydlitz'." Correspondingly, the four German battleships operating in northern Ireland are likely to be two Moltke-class battlecruisers and two Scharnhorst-class armoured cruisers, and of course, the recent disappearance of the 'Blucher' may also be among them. That's the general situation, and I'm here to hear your opinions. ”

Without commenting on this, General Edward Browning, who had personally witnessed the Battle of Jutland and the two Battle of Flanders, mercilessly scolded: "The Germans are so cunning that even the most notorious pirates in history are not as insidious as they are!" It's really unwilling to be defeated in their hands! ”

The officers present gritted their teeth and sent "greetings" to their German counterparts.

Vice Admiral Madden looked at Sir Jackson helplessly, although such a combat meeting can gather the wisdom of everyone, but everyone has their own role, different roles have different perspectives and ways of thinking, and it is often difficult to achieve the expected results by letting the captains give advice to the fleet's combat operations, so Jericho and his predecessor Sir Callahan have always made up their minds to convene the officers for deployment, and the officers' opinions are only used as a reference for the revision plan.

Jackson had no choice but to personally bring the discussion back to the topic: "Okay, everyone, on the premise of sending out a split attack, we currently have two options, the first is to continue to stay here and wait for the opportunity, and the second is to go north to find the German fleet for a decisive battle. ”

Not surprisingly, after a brief period of deliberation, most of the officers expressed their support for going north, but there was no opposition among the crowd. Ivan Thomas, who was the commander of the 1st Battleship Detachment, suggested that this could be another ploy by the Germans.

Because of his heroic actions in the Battle of Jutland, Thomas is now a well-known hero in Britain, and even has a high reputation in the United States on the other side of the Atlantic. A series of painful defeats made him as cautious, steady, and even a little stumbling like Betty, lest this last ray of hope would be extinguished in the cold Norwegian Sea.

The minority suppressed the majority, and the atmosphere in the war room was inexplicably dull, and everyone here revered Nelson, but few could have Nelson's determination, let alone command talent like him. As a result, no decision was agreed upon at the end of the operational meeting, and Sir Jackson, after a separate consultation with Vice Admiral Madden, decided to leave this vital decision to the Admiralty.

Two and a half hours later, the Admiralty sent a telegram: My Majesty, the fate of the British Empire depends on the sea, and yesterday's glory depends on the heroic and resolute offensive spirit of the Royal Navy. Britain will win!

Holding this telegram, Jackson suddenly felt his blood boiling and full of pride. Immediately afterwards, another telegram came from the Admiralty, in which Churchill, the Admiralty, ordered in a decisive tone that the Home Fleet should immediately set sail north, fearless of sacrifice and only one victory.

At 11:56 a.m., the "Iron Duke" raised the signal flag for the fleet to set sail for the expedition, and informed the ships of the contents of King George V's edict. This shot boosted the morale of the entire fleet, and the ships sounded their whistles and swore a desperate battle with a vibrating light signal.

At this time, more than a thousand kilometers away in the southern waters of Ireland, the almost suspenseful naval battle was also coming to an end, in front of the two German top battle cruisers, the best armored cruisers of the British and French navies were as vulnerable as toys, and the commander's combat strategy made the five old British destroyers lose the opportunity to launch a torpedo attack, and by the time they were forced to rush towards the German fleet, this had become a hopeless death charge, and all the destroyers were sunk at a distance of 3,000 meters. None of the torpedoes could pass and pose a threat to the two German battle cruisers. As for the three protective cruisers in the British fleet, their firepower, armor, speed, and other characteristics were at the level of the end of the last century, and they could pose a threat to the two German battle cruisers unless they were fighting at night or when the sea was covered with fog, and in such clear weather, their role was only to delay their own troop carriers a little.

The only thing that made the British happy was that two troop carriers full of army soldiers avoided the worst end. With no suitable port nearby to dock at, they ran aground on a non-reef beach between Scalar and Port Cork. In the process of wading ashore, the British soldiers suffered a lot of casualties due to the shelling of the German ships, and those who were lucky enough were all greatly shocked and shocked mentally and psychologically -- when the back garden of the British Empire became a hunting ground for German warships to gallop freely, was there any hope of victory in this battle?

(End of chapter)