While London's decision-makers were making difficult choices, the battlecruiser HMS Tiger, the highly-anticipated battlecruiser Tiger, the number one base of the British Home Fleet in the south of England, was moored to the dock in a new look. www.biquge.info It was originally the fourth Lion-class battlecruiser, according to the construction plan, it was supposed to start after the launch of the "Lion", the original plan was a standard displacement of 29,000 tons, equipped with four 13.5-inch caliber twin main guns, after the first three Lion-class ships started, the British Navy obtained the relevant technical information of the German "von der Tann" battle cruiser, after calculation and comparison, It was found that the German battle cruiser equipped with 11-inch triple main guns had a great victory rate against the British tireless class battle cruiser of the same level under equal conditions, and the Moltke-class battle cruisers built by the German Navy in the future would continue to use triple guns, and the British Navy top brass finally couldn't sit still, and they decided to try the design of the triple main gun on the "Tiger", and in one breath on the 13.5-inch caliber triple gun, so on the basis of the original design plan to make a relatively large change, The standard displacement has been increased to 32,000 tons, and the designed full load displacement has reached 37,000 tons, thus surpassing the German De Vellinger class to become a new generation of "super warships".

Stimulated by the fiasco in Jutland, the British Navy urged the shipyard to rush work day and night, so that the "Tiger", which was originally scheduled to be completed at the end of October, was completed three weeks ahead of schedule, but due to equipment failure during sea trials, the official service was postponed to November.

Together with the "Royal Princess" and "Australia", which survived the Battle of Jutland, and the "Indefatigable", which survived the Second Battle of Flanders, the British Navy once again had a formation of battle cruisers. However, in order to deal with the German battle cruisers that broke through into the North Atlantic, the "Australia" was deployed in the Clyde military port in northwest Scotland, and only the three battle cruisers "Tiger", "Royal Princess" and "Indefatigable" were concentrated in Portland Harbor, and the structural damage suffered by the "Royal Princess" in the Battle of Jutland made it impossible for it to recover to its best condition, so it was difficult to be competent for high-intensity naval combat confrontation missions, and the psychological significance of existence was greater than its actual role.

At this time, the commander of the British battle patrol formation on the "Tiger" was still David Beatty, who was more than brave and not composed, and his tenacity in repeated defeats and defeats was admirable, and with the deepening of research and analysis, people gradually realized that the defeat of the British fleet in the Battle of Jutland was mainly due to their own incompetence, but the cunning of their opponents, which largely reduced the responsibility of Jericho and Betty. In the second Battle of Flanders, the British fleet once saw the hope of victory, but in the end it lost the battle because of technical and luck shortcomings, Betty led the "Ireland" to fight bravely, and at the critical moment with more than one enemy, damaged the German main battle cruiser "De Fllinger", and played the iron will of the British Royal Navy, although the "Ireland" finally sank, the naval battle still became the subject of British official positive propaganda, David Beatty, along with many British naval officers and men who survived that naval battle, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest honor, and his military career took a major turn for the better. By mid-October, he had been reappointed commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Detachment, commanding the British battlecruiser group, which he particularly loved.

In this beautiful southern port of England, in addition to Betty's battlecruisers, a group of British dreadnoughts commanded by Admiral Sir Arthur Jackson was moored at this time. To be fair, John Jericho did not make any serious mistakes during the battles of Jutland and Flanders, but his modesty was the target of public criticism, and in order to appease public opinion, the British Navy had to replace his command of the home fleet with Sir Jackson, who was four years older than Jellicoe, and Jellicoe, who had been wounded by a German torpedo boat attack on his flagship during the Second Battle of Flanders, returned to his hometown of Southampton to recuperate.

Older doesn't mean more experienced or senior, in fact, Jackson's role is more of that of a military theorist, and his top command position is Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, and that was several years ago. After 1911, Jackson served as First Sea Lord, Rector of the Royal Naval College, and Chief of Staff of the Imperial Navy. In Africa, the Allied forces occupied German Togo only for a relatively short time, and in South-West Africa, Cameroon, and German East Africa, the resistance of German colonial forces continues to this day; In the Pacific, British forces coordinated with Japanese forces to launch an offensive on Jiaozhou Bay, and the battle was nearing its end by the end of October. In general, the combat operations of the British army outside Europe were lackluster, after all, the military focus of the Germans was entirely on the European theater. Against the backdrop of the successive crushing defeats of the British home fleet, Jackson's performance deserves new expectations from the British people.

At the beginning of the war, the British Royal Navy had a total of 22 dreadnoughts, and when Jackson took over the command flag from Jericho, the size of the main fleet, which was originally the world's first, was reduced by nearly two-thirds, and only six dreadnoughts were assembled in Portland Harbor, namely "Iron Duke", "George V", "Emperor", "Conqueror", "Thunderbolt", and "Agincoot", "Collingwood" was ordered to be stationed at the Scapaflo base in the north, and the newly completed super-dreadnought "Emperor of India" was still undergoing pre-service commissioning and training.

Not surprisingly, Jackson chose the Iron Duke as his flagship, and the ultra-dreadnought, which was attacked by half of the German fleet at the Battle of Jutland, has become a spiritual symbol of the British Royal Navy. In the bright sun, it quietly moored at the berth opposite the battlecruiser "Tiger". When looking at the "Iron Duke" alone, people can't help but be surprised by its majesty and majesty, but when it is in the same picture as the "Tiger", its brilliance is taken by the latter. Because of this, Betty raised the flag of the commander of her squadron on the newly commissioned battlecruiser, so that it could fly proudly in the front line of the battle in the rain of bullets.

Half an hour before lunch, a white transport boat was dropped off the port side of the "Tiger", and Captain Betty sat neatly on this motorboat to the "Iron Duke". Although it is possible to reach the destination by car or on foot, naval officers clearly prefer to use this unique mode of passage for the Navy.

While Betty was still on the way, Admiral Sir Jackson was already standing on the deck near the gangway, wearing a slightly old naval uniform, with a serene expression and deep eyes, and he did not look like a commanding general, but a gentle, elegant and connotative scholar.

After taking command of the fleet, Jackson did not disband the staff team left by Jericho, but adjusted according to the personal wishes of the staff officers, some were transferred to the detachment as chief of staff or main staff officer, and some were appointed as ship commanders, and accordingly, Jackson brought in subordinate officers whom he trusted and appreciated. Jackson himself was not a member of the "Fisher Gang", and his strategic views were diametrically opposed to those of Churchill, Jerichault and others, advocating a near-shore blockade and an active attack, rather than the far-reaching blockade tactics actually adopted by the British Navy after the outbreak of war. Britain was no longer in a position to blockade the German navy, but Jackson and Betty found a lot in common when it came to finding opportunities to turn defeat into victory. They agreed that careful defense would only make the German navy's noose on the British island tighter and tighter, and that Britain would not be able to build ships as fast as possible without the supply of resources, and that the gap in strength between the British and German navies would widen.

As soon as Betty boarded the ship, Jackson couldn't wait to say to him, "Here's the opportunity we've been waiting for!" ”

Seeing the new commander's expression of ambition, Betty did not have the slightest excitement on her face, and there was a little worry between her eyebrows. The fleet commanders had been so full of expectations before they left for Jutland and Flanders, and the result was in line with the old adage that "the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment".

Betty's calm reaction did not discourage Jackson, and before the captains of the capital ships had arrived, he explained the contents of his telephone conversation with the Admiralty, and said to Betty: "It is really frustrating not to be able to go north to meet the German fleet, but the thought of winning back what we have lost in the Skagerrak Strait is that all the thorny issues do not matter." ”

Betty, who had been as resolute and high-spirited as a lion, seemed to be possessed by Jericho, and whispered to Jackson: "If the Germans don't see through our plan in the end, this may indeed be our chance to achieve a great reversal, but the Germans are so cunning, will they be unaware of our movements?" ”

Jackson was stunned by this question, but he was reluctant to overturn the "brilliant plan" drawn up by the Navy's top brass himself.

"We can do everything we can to confuse the enemy." Jackson said, "We deliberately gave the Germans false information and set off a smokescreen to make them think that the reason why we did not go north was because we were afraid of a showdown with them." ”

"Germans are much smarter than we think!" Betty reluctantly reminded, "Their fleet chief of staff, the military genius of the Hohenzollern royal family, will not be easily deceived by us...... Never! ”

Jackson gritted his teeth: "But the Admiral told me that this plan has been approved by His Majesty the British King, and that the German fleet has completed or is close to completing their deployment, and that time is very short for us. Don't...... Do you think we should go north? ”

Betty shook her head and threw a very helpless sentence to Jackson: "There is no need to send the main fleet and send the main fleet, the Germans must have prepared a trap for us to drill." Their real target is still us! ”

(End of chapter)