According to the usual formation of the British fleet, each destroyer squadron consisted of a lead ship and 5-6 destroyers, which could be led by either large tonnage destroyers or high-speed light cruisers. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Prior to the advent of the first generation of the Linsen-class light cruisers, the British Navy's light cruisers of all classes had continued to use the traditional firepower configuration of single main guns on the broadside, while their main competitor, the German Navy, had adopted twin main guns since the Dresden-class built in 1905. Although the Germans' new cruisers have long been in the public eye, and the British Navy is not completely ignorant, they asked the arms company to start developing a twin-mounted naval gun system suitable for the use of its own light ships several years ago, but due to design and other considerations, the British Admiralty has not adopted this kind of naval gun configuration that can significantly improve the attack efficiency on the recently built Bristol-class, Weymouth-class, and Birmingham-class cruisers.

In 1912, a total of 8 Linxian class ships were planned to be built, with a standard displacement of 4,200 tons, a full load displacement of 4,800 tons, and a maximum speed of 28. 5 knots, which can be used as a destroyer lead ship and can meet the needs of escorting the new Queen Elizabeth-class super dreadnought. At the time of the outbreak of the war, they were all under construction, and the three fastest progressing ships, "Lin Xian", "Daring", and "Goddess of Dawn", were nearing completion. Spurred on by successive defeats at the Battle of Jutland and the First Battle of Flanders, many British ships entered service ahead of schedule, and despite the loss of thousands of professional soldiers on the battlefield, the British Navy had no shortage of qualified officers and sailors. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of these ships in the line of fire should not be underestimated, but the probability of temporary mechanical failure due to insufficient run-in is slightly higher.

If this light fleet were to attack the "Glaudenz," the German advance fleet under the command of Colonel August would probably have to retreat with all its might, but he had every reason to believe that the British navy, which was so badly damaged, would not use these outstanding light ships alone, but would let them fight closely with the main fleet. After receiving the report from the reconnaissance plane, he immediately ordered a telegram to be sent to the "King," the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, to report the real-time enemy situation.

The roaring artillery fire drew Colonel August's attention back to his eyes, and in the blink of an eye, the German advance fleet led by the "Glaudenz" and the British naval formation with two escort cruisers approached 8,000 meters, and ten ships on both sides were involved in the artillery battle. In contrast, the "Glaudenz," equipped with a new sighting instrument and a simplified unified firing command device, had the most powerful firepower and the highest accuracy, and the targets it attacked with all its might were caught in the fury of the shells again and again. In a few minutes, the leading British protective cruiser had been hit four times, the ship was in flames, thick smoke was overflowing, and half of the starboard guns were already silent.

As the target of the British fleet's concentrated attack, the situation of the "Glaudenz" gradually became precarious. Its fore and aft decks had long been soaked by waves, the port side gun emplacements and deck buildings were constantly subjected to shrapnel, the casualty figures had quietly climbed after breaking zero, and blood stains could be seen everywhere in the open air auxiliary gun positions.

By this time, the mast of the British armored cruiser could already be seen in the western sea.

In this war-torn battlefield, Colonel August still maintained his cold and arrogant attitude. Seeing that the enemy's lead ship had been shot again, black smoke was filling the deck, and the flags and lights of the subordinate ships were greatly affected, he decisively ordered the four large torpedo boats accompanying him to launch a torpedo assault on the British fleet.

The enemy's lead ship, the 4,000-ton protective cruiser, had been battered by the German new light cruisers, the weak armor could not resist the direct fire of the shells, the upper coal tanks were inextinguishable fires, and the lower compartments were seriously flooded. Experienced gunners suffered heavy losses, many had to hold their positions with wounds, and the non-fighting compartment personnel were too busy fighting fires to reinforce the gun positions. In this way, the real battle has just begun, and its combat power is already very small.

The bridge of the British cruiser was filled with scorching, choking smoke as the main guns had just been detonated, and it was difficult for people to breathe, even more so to direct the battle here. On the floor lay two officers covered in blood and unrecognizable, who seemed to be more than lucky, and the remaining officers were all in color, but they did not evacuate the bridge. The telephone line was broken, and he continued to direct the battle by means of microphones and verbal relays.

Between the fire, a non-commissioned officer came running out of breath and reported that his 4th Cruiser Detachment had sent a signal asking them to hold the enemy as long as possible. In just ten minutes, they are able to enter the combat range.

"Okay, we're going to fight for these ten minutes anyway! Even if we put our lives on the line, we're going to hold this guy to death! ”

The officer who spoke was like a torch in his eyes and his voice was like a bell, the wound on his cheek was still gushing blood, and his arm was also broken, but he was like a mountain pine in the wind and snow, and he won people's heartfelt respect with his tenacious and unyielding spirit.

Suddenly there was a series of roars on the sea, and another officer cried out: "Look! It turned its guns to the Saffer...... Damn it, it's a straddle shot! ”

Looking towards the stern of the ship, the 3,000-ton protective cruiser following behind was completely shrouded in a white curtain of water. Judging by the distribution of the impact points, the enemy's artillery fire has formed a straddle fire on it. If this continues, it will soon be damaged by a bullet and, unfortunately, even sunk.

In order to get out of this very unfavorable situation, the officer, who had a wound in the cheek, shouted and ordered: "Quick, turn 1 compass point to the right with the full rudder, signal the 'Crimea' and let it follow us closely!" ”

The officers and non-commissioned officers present hurriedly gave the order, but it was not known whether it was a problem with the steering gear or a large amount of water in the bilge, the right turn speed of their battleship was very slow, and the delay in communication also prevented the ships behind from keeping up in time.

In less than two minutes, the senile protective cruiser "Saffer" was shot, and although the explosion on board the ship was not violent, its firepower suddenly weakened considerably. To make matters worse, the British officers suddenly discovered that four German torpedo boats were rushing under the cover of the cruiser. At this time, their battleships became excellent prey for unresponsiveness.

The five British ships had to turn their guns and try to stop the German torpedo boats.

As a result, the German new-edge cruisers in the distance were able to perform their gunnery without interference.

Once again, the gunners of the "Glaudenz" fell into a state of madness.

The explosive shooting was a great drain on the ammunition reserves and the gunner's physical strength, but the battle was fought with great momentum, and the German sailors did not care about this, and the results of their daily hard training were vividly displayed on this occasion.

The second British protective cruiser soon tasted the bitterness. As a result of the successive shots, the guns on its starboard side were either directly destroyed or rested due to the death of the gunner, and several breaches in the waterline caused a large amount of seawater to pour in, and the pumping speed of the water pump could no longer keep up with the speed of the water inflow.

Leaving nothing else to account, Colonel August's fleet had a good chance of annihilating its opponents without losing a single ship.

At the moment, such a temptation was not enough to disorient Colonel August, after all, the three British armored cruisers were desperately rushing this way, they 9. The firing range of the 2-inch naval guns was not inferior to that of the 6-inch guns of the "Glaudenz", and the destructive power was several levels higher.

Having seriously wounded two British protective cruisers one after another, the "Glaudenz" turned its guns to the British destroyers behind it -- four main guns in the front against one, four main guns in the rear against one, and 88-mm secondary guns on the side against another.

Since the outbreak of war, no warship has been able to exert the power of naval guns so vigorously.

Dispersed across all three targets, the Glaudenz's accuracy remained commendable, but for the limited time that followed, it did not cause serious damage to any of the three British destroyers.

Colonel August was slightly disappointed to see that his four large torpedo boats had rushed to a distance of seven or eight hundred meters from the enemy fleet and had fired torpedoes, for the commanders of these torpedo boats had not fully understood their tactical ideas and had not shown sufficient determination. Rushing closer and firing a torpedo would have ended the battle almost definitively, even if the risk increased exponentially.

Before the results of the torpedo attack could be seen, Colonel August did not hesitate to give the order to turn around, allowing the "Glaudenz" to withdraw at full speed away from the British coast, while the four large torpedo boats withdrew directly east in formation from the position where the attack had ended.

Moments later, the first British cruiser was torpedoed by a missteer, and after a violent explosion, it began to sink at a speed discernible to the naked eye.

The three British destroyers were like hornets that had been stabbed, and after avoiding the torpedoes, they first pursued the four German torpedo boats, and realizing that they were far inferior to their opponents, they rushed after the "Glaudenz".

The "Grindenz" in a state of extreme speed was so fast that the British felt tight.

The three British armored cruisers in the distance let out angry roars - and at the same time mocked the cowardice of their opponents.

The British had expected the five German ships to slip away, but an unexpected circumstance occurred, and they sailed more than ten nautical miles to the east, and when they were about to leave sight, they made a 180-degree turn.

In the process, a detail on the battlefield that many overlooked - and that many noticed - was that the British Navy's white seaplane was shot down by the Germans' gray planes.

The number of gray aircraft that quietly appeared in the nearby airspace increased to four, half of which were carrier-based aircraft without pontoons.

Not long after, a new silhouette appeared in the eastern sea, but the high similarity of the silhouette of the battleship made the British realize that there were at least two battlecruisers among them after more than ten minutes, and the atmosphere on the battlefield suddenly changed.

At a distance of 20,000 meters, outside the range of British armored cruisers, the German fleet opened fire first.

(End of chapter)