"The enemy ship is at a distance of 15400 meters, and the salvo is ready to ......"

When the officers on the bridge heard the battle briefing from the firing command room, the first reaction of many was that there was a problem with the rangefinder reading. Since the beginning of the artillery battle www.biquge.info although the British and German fleets have changed their position of facing each other, the distance between the two sides has been steadily decreasing, and the previous ranging reading has reached 14,600 meters, and the enemy ships do not seem to have made a turn of action when observing the situation with the naked eye.

In the heat of battle, human error is a real possibility, but Natsuki immediately realizes that the British fleet is deliberately closing the distance. As we all know, the penetrating force of artillery shells is inversely proportional to distance, and the smaller the caliber of naval guns and the lighter the shells, the more obvious the attenuation trend of power. The 13-point 5-inch guns of the British super-dreadnoughts significantly exceeded the 12- and 11-inch guns of the German dreadnoughts in their armor-piercing ability at long range. If the distance of fire was maintained, the German fleet would have the advantage of rate of fire and observation accuracy, but it would not be able to deal a fatal blow to the British fleet, and the British fleet would have a chance to gradually regain its inferiority.

Natsuki didn't need to explain these truths and speculations to Scheer, he only said "You can't let them get away", and the fleet commander understood and decisively ordered the fleet to turn right by 1 compass point.

Thanks to the rapid development of mechanical power technology, the German dreadnoughts of 20,000 or 30,000 tons were not as slow and clumsy as the ironclad ships of the past, and at higher speeds, the rudder and oar rotation at a small angle allowed them to quickly change course.

After steering adjustments, the firing angle between the four German dreadnoughts and the enemy ships was reduced, but the stern guns were still capable of attacking the enemy ships. After the course was stabilized, the firing command department quickly determined the new firing parameters, and in the case of a large relative displacement, both sides resumed a steady alternate firing, but the tempo of entering the state was much faster than at the beginning of the battle.

Suddenly, Captain Gord reported sharply: "The 'Caesar' has formed a straddle fire on the target!" ”

In the case of the battleship attacking the corresponding target one by one, the shooting effect is really easy to recognize. With even more advanced optical equipment and an advanced unified firing command system for the whole ship, the German fleet unsurprisingly had an advantage in the accuracy of its shelling, with the exception of the newly commissioned "Elector" with a slightly inferior performance. At this moment, the British dreadnought that was hit by the "Oldenburg" was left alone. In view of its drastic reduction in actual threat, the "Oldenburg" turned its guns to its sister ship, but after several successive rounds of fire, it did not form a straddle fire on the target, so it was the "Caesar's" turn to seize the opportunity, but the formation of a straddle in the previous round did not mean that the next round would be a hit. At the relatively farthest firing distance, the impact point of each round of the "Oldenburg" was significantly improved compared to the previous one, and when the fire was close enough, the firing commander made the decisive decision to fire a salvo, and the second hit hit!

These old ships are really against the sky!

Seeing that the "Oldenburg" once again came out on top, Xia Shu sighed with emotion in his heart. He was the work of the German Navy, both old and new, and he was clearly more fond of the late firing and construction of Caesar and the King, and eagerly awaited the brilliant performance of these well-rounded and well-balanced capital ships. In the First Battle of Jutland, the "Frederick the Great" became the brightest star, but its brilliance was not enough to cover up the "Blucher", which destroyed one enemy battle cruiser and sank many light ships, and the old dreadnoughts of the Nassau and Helgrand classes also won the awe of the world with their terrifying firepower.

Regardless of the final outcome of this battle, the "Oldenburg" will go down in the annals of war history as a positive example.

Natsuki was thinking about this when he suddenly heard a terrible scream from far and near, apparently a cannonball from the British super dreadnought on the opposite side. It still sounded like half of the main guns were firing alternately, Natsuki didn't take it to heart, but he didn't want to make a loud bang, just like someone put a bronze bell on his head and struck it heavily, the whole person's thinking was instantly short-circuited, his ears were completely buzzing, and the violent tremor of the hull made him stumble and almost fall to the ground.

Subconsciously looking up, Natsuki noticed that it was dark outside the observation window, but there was no strange smell in the air. Moments later, the smoke of the explosion cleared, and the sunlight was seen again. Fortunately, they were in the heavily armored battle bridge at the moment, otherwise with the intensity of the explosion just now, the fleet command team would probably be killed or injured.

Shaking his heavy head, Natsuki turned his head to look at his colleagues, Scheer was stretching his neck to look out, it seemed that he should not be injured, the captain of the ship, Commodore Beinke, widened his eyes and opened his mouth wide, but Natsuki couldn't hear what he was saying, presumably asking his officers to find out the damage to the battleship as soon as possible.

The near-perfect King-class dreadnought can't be knocked down by an enemy in a single blow, Natsuki muttered to himself. After a few moments, his hearing had regained some of his hearing, and his mind had come out of the chaotic state it had just been. Looking out the observation window, the two large forward main turrets and four thick gun barrels are unharmed, a large piece is missing from the junction of the foredeck and bulwark, and a large amount of smoke is pouring out of the breach, and it is not clear what the damage is inside the hull, but as long as the crew operates it properly, there should be no major problems with the ammunition supply channel and ammunition depot.

Seeing that the leader and flagship of the German fleet had been firmly shot, the British super-dreadnought "Thunderbolt" on the opposite side became a sea of jubilation, and the cries of British officers and men could be heard everywhere from the bridge to the turret. In the First Battle of Jutland, the German dreadnoughts showed the strength of the German Navy to the world with fast and accurate shooting and comprehensive excellent protection, and the British Navy that was rampant across the ocean suffered catastrophic heavy losses, in addition to the indomitable indomitable of the British, the only consolation was the great power of the 13.5-inch naval guns. In the waters of Jutland, the British capital ships equipped with such guns not only knocked out the old German battleship group out of a pile of scrap metal, but also severely damaged a number of German dreadnoughts in the final battle, as evidenced by the broken lineup of the German main fleet in front of them.

The morale of the British fleet, which was able to damage the German flagship in one fell swoop, suddenly recovered, and the German officers and men could not help but feel worried, but the tense pace of the battle made them have no time to worry so much. On the four German dreadnoughts that were put into battle, each and every one of them went all out at their posts -- the shooting commanders carefully and meticulously observed and calculated, the gunners sweated profusely and loaded their ammunition, the damage control personnel fought bravely and fearlessly at the damaged parts, and the medical personnel raced against time to rescue the wounded......

On the battlefield, composure is often more important than the weapon itself. Not long after the "King" was shot, two flames suddenly appeared on the starboard side of the British fleet's flagship "Daring" -- one of the core capital ships of the German fleet, the "Caesar".

As the first ship of the Caesar-class dreadnought, the "Caesar" was commissioned in 1912, and the combat team of more than 1,000 people has been training and running in together for a long time, and the technical and tactical level is naturally more proficient than the capital ships built later, especially the two King-class. It's a pity that these two shells hit the broadside armor belt of the British flagship, and the distance between the two battleships was more than 16,000 meters, and the armor-piercing shells fired by the German 50 times diameter 12-inch naval guns could only penetrate the outer armor of the British ship at most, and the actual destructive power was very limited - attacking the deck of the enemy ship was the best choice.

In the same way, the damage to the German flagship by the "Thunderbolt" was not as great as the British thought, the heavy shells smashed on the main armor belt of the starboard front of the German battleship, the thick Krupp armor resisted most of the power of the shells, several innocuous upper compartments were damaged, part of the ship's precision optical equipment failed, and the appearance of the hull was affected to a certain extent.

The King's damage was quickly contained, and the gunners were able to fire five salvos in three minutes, and three straddles were formed, and it seemed only a matter of time before they staged a show of revenge.

In the battle bridge of the "King", Natsuki and his colleagues stared angrily at the enemy ship, the "King" had also been hit before, but the armor-piercing shells had failed to achieve the expected destructive effect. At this moment, the officers noticed that the outline of the enemy ships in the telescope had narrowed, and Scheer directly ordered the ships to accelerate to 21 knots and turn 1 compass point to the right as a whole.

Good communication allowed the German main fleet, consisting of four dreadnoughts, to react as quickly as possible, and after turning again, the main guns of each ship temporarily lost their firing angle, but the firepower of the British main fleet was also cut in half - they could only fire at the rear main guns at the German fleet.

After two successive maneuvers, the battle distance of the main British and German fleets remained at 14,000 kilometers away, and the positions of the two sides were like needles facing wheat mangs, and no one took absolute advantage, but the balance of victory and defeat in the battle was not stable, and it swayed left and right with the continuous increase and decrease of weight.

On the sea in front of the port side of the German fleet, "St. Vincent", which had been wounded by the "Oldenburg" and was out of the battle queue, moved slowly under the protection of several destroyers. Scheer would not be derailed by the British dreadnought, but the target was still within range, and the port side guns of the four German dreadnoughts lost no time in pouring fire on it, and the rear main guns, which were temporarily idle, also turned their guns and fired at the target in a self-watching manner. After a short time, the "St. Vincent" was surrounded by a column of water, and after being shot, the fire on the ship, which had been initially controlled, spread again, and the escort destroyers were unable to resist the strong force of the entire German fleet, so they had to abandon the "St. Vincent" and retreat.

(End of chapter)