After the Imperial German Navy submarine Fischer discovered the main force of the combined Anglo-French fleet and its escort transport fleet, Tirpitz led the high seas fleet, accelerated the pursuit day and night, and finally approached the other side a few days later. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Taking advantage of the last dark area before entering the polar day, Tirpitz quickly made arrangements and divided his troops into three routes, with the main force of the High Seas Fleet going to attract the main force of the combined British and French fleets, and sending two fast cruising fleets to attack the British and French transport fleets.

Tirpitz was very cunning, he knew that the Anglo-French combined fleet might not be fooled, so he arranged a fourth sneak attack fleet in addition to the previous three, this is the wolf submarine fleet, they will take the opportunity to go to the predetermined sea area in advance to lurk, waiting to ambush the British and French transport fleet.

The first shot of the naval battle was the battle cruiser detachment of the German High Seas Fleet.

The Wittersbach class battle cruisers, the strongest battle cruisers of the German High Sea Fleet, started construction in 1892, launched in 1894, and commissioned in 1896, respectively, the Wittersbach, the Vidin, the Zaringen, the Swabian, the Mecklenburg, a total of five, each battle cruiser is equipped with a 381 mm main gun imported from the Chinese Empire, three mounted four turrets, and four sets of W20000 steam turbine units imported from the Chinese Empire, 28 high-pressure boilers, and four-shaft propulsion, It can ensure that these five giant ships of more than 40,000 tons can move forward at a speed of 29.2 knots.

This is the fastest battle cruiser in the German Imperial Navy's High Seas Fleet, the German Navy has always attached importance to defense and neglected the importance of speed, as Hitler was reused, he persuaded the German Navy to refocus on naval shipbuilding in terms of speed, but the German steam turbine system was not powerful enough to meet the requirements of high-speed warfare, so it could only import equipment in this area to the Chinese Empire.

This was also the first time in six years that the German Empire imported steam turbine units from the Chinese Empire, highlighting the strong strength of the Chinese Empire in this regard, and it was also a helpless move by the German Empire's local naval shipbuilding industry.

Although people of insight in both China and Germany believe that if the Allies win the world war, then China and Germany will be forced to become rivals or even escalate into hostilities.

Therefore, many people did not understand that the Chinese Empire was willing to export advanced steam turbine technology to the German Navy, until the appearance of Hitla, he told Wilhelm II and other German high-level officials that the Chinese Empire was already developing aircraft carriers, and even battleships could be exported to any country, let alone battlecruisers.

When Wilhelm II and other high-ranking German military officials learned that the so-called battlecruisers of the Chinese Empire had actually secretly become fast battleships a long time ago, everyone was frightened, thinking of the Sino-Japanese naval battle and the Sino-American naval battle, the Japanese Combined Fleet and the American two-ocean fleet were abused by the Chinese Imperial Navy.

If it weren't for Hitla's reminder, the entire German Navy would not have known about such secrets, and for a time they would have been even more afraid of the Chinese Empire.

At this moment, Tirpitz's ears kept ringing Hitera's instructions to him, never use a battlecruiser to hook up with a battleship, otherwise there is only a dead end.

So, when the five Wittersbach-class battlecruisers set off, Tirpitz told them the same.

The five German battle cruisers, the Wittesbach, the Wittin, the Zalingen, the Swabian and the Mecklenburg, suddenly broke through the night and sailed into the daylight zone, where they were soon discovered by British submarines on guard.

Admiral Lawrence, commander of the combined Anglo-French fleet, urgently consulted with Vice Admiral Dale, the deputy commander, on countermeasures, and the two agreed that the German High Seas Fleet must be nearby, and that five German naval battle cruisers were the first to come to test it.

The two judged very accurately, the five Wittesbach-class battlecruisers were indeed here to flirt with the sister, and soon the First Patrol Fleet of the Royal Navy of the British Empire was hooked up.

Four Lion-class battlecruisers and two Dignity-class battlecruisers took the initiative to turn around and turn to meet the formation of five German Navy battlecruisers.

On the other side, the French Navy's cruiser formation, six Denton-class battlecruisers, maneuvered in a roundabout way, trying to penetrate and outflank from the flanks.

The main battleship formation of the Anglo-French Combined Fleet did not move, apparently to deal with the imminent emergence of the main forces of the German High Seas Fleet.

Tirpitz breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it was not for the battleship formations of the British and French navies to intercept them, the five Wittesbach-class battle cruisers would not have had a major incident.

At 10:39 a.m., the main guns of the battlecruiser Westbach, the flagship of the German Navy, opened fire, and 381-mm shells whistled towards the British fleet, exploding near the British Navy's flagship Lion.

This was a tentative artillery bombardment, which showed that it was to deter the enemy, and in fact it was also a preparation for a comparative fire. If it is placed in ancient times, this is called shooting the enemy's foot.

Sure enough, the six battle cruisers of the British Cruise Fleet quickly made a maneuver and changed lanes and moved forward in an S-shaped motion.

At the same time, the Lion, the flagship of the British Navy's First Cruiser Fleet, also quickly launched a counterattack, and the same 381 mm main gun fired, and the sound, firing range, and the height of the waves provoked by the explosion were obviously inferior to the 381 mm main gun of the Westbach.

The main guns of these two British and German battlecruisers, one made in the United States and the other in China, were judged from a superior position.

The confidence of the officers and men of the five German naval battle cruisers suddenly soared, and their experience told them that the British battleships on the opposite side were no match for them.

In the same way, the officers and men on the various battle patrols of the British Imperial Navy were disappointed, but fortunately, they were used to this situation, and every time they fought against the Imperial Chinese Navy, they were abused by the Imperial Chinese Navy, and they were used to the fact that dead pigs were not afraid of boiling water.

After the tentative shelling of the flagships of the two sides, the British fleet flag was changed, and four Lion-class battlecruisers were turned to the left, and two Dignity-class battlecruisers were to the right, making a tactical maneuver of separate attacks and joint attacks.

Five German battle cruisers immediately fired a salvo of their main guns, trying to suppress the opposing side with superior artillery fire.

And the six British battle cruisers fired back during the march, and the battle between the two sides officially began!

In an instant, the cannon roared, and one after another large-caliber shells rushed to the enemy, filling the air with smoke, and the battle instantly became white-hot.

This was the first full-scale battle between battlecruisers in European history, and for the first time, a modern naval battle never really broke out, and this is the first time that the European powers managed the era of steam ironclads, the pre-dreadnoughts, the dreadnoughts, and now the superdreadnoughts.

The British Royal Navy has rich combat experience, even if it is tortured by the Imperial Chinese Navy, it is much stronger than the German Navy.

From the very beginning of the battle, the British Royal Navy was in the lead in tactics, even if it was inferior to the German fleet in firepower, it was still pressing the German Navy.

Tactically, the Imperial German Navy suffered a loss, and soon the two ships Wittesbach and Wittin were shot and smoked.

The armor of a battlecruiser was much more crispy than that of a battleship, and a few large-caliber shells were a heavy hit.

Fortunately, the German battle patrol formation received instructions from Tirpitz before setting off, and this time it was to flirt with the sister, and after successfully luring the enemy, it had to withdraw in time.

At this time, the French battle patrol formation on the other side also killed, and the five German battle patrols saw that the situation was not good, and immediately turned around and ran.

At this time, the German battle patrol with advanced steam turbines made in the Chinese Empire ran at a high speed of 29 knots, while the British battle patrol formation and the French battle patrol formation ran at a speed of 289 knots, and they were in hot pursuit.

The speed of the two sides was about the same, and the British and French battle cruisers, who had always been known for their speed, could not catch up with the German battle cruisers, which stunned all the British and French naval officers and men.

If the German Navy had not listened to Hitera's proposal and refused to purchase steam turbines from the Chinese Empire to increase their speed, then now these five most powerful battle cruisers in the German army, with the steam turbines produced by Germany, will definitely not be able to outpace the British and French fleets, and the result will inevitably be encircled and eliminated by the British and French fleets.

Thinking of this, Tirpitz was full of reverence for Hitla.

"The whole fleet is out for battle!"

Tirpitz gave an order, and the main forces of the German Empire's High Seas Fleet were dispatched.

It was a large fleet of twenty-one battleships, four Bavaria-class battleships, four Bavaria-class battleships, Baden, Württemberg, and Saxony, four King-class battleships, King, Elector, Frontier Governor, and Crown Prince, five Caesar-class battleships, Caesar-class battleships, USS Caesar, USS Frederick the Great, HMS Catherine, USS King Albert, USS Regent Louitpold, four battleships of the Helgoland class, USS Helgoland, USS Osterfrisland, USS Thuringia, USS Oldenburg, as well as four Nassau-class battleships, the Nassau, the West**, the Rhineland, and the Posen.

Among them, the Bavaria-class battleships were the most powerful battleships of the Imperial German Navy, while the Nassau-class battleships were ten years old and were about to be decommissioned. Since the German High Seas Fleet had fewer capital ships than the British Royal Navy, and the French Imperial Navy was also present, Tirpitz had to bring four of the oldest Nassau-class battleships with him.

"And so it was!"

On the battleship Nelson, the flagship of the British Royal Navy, Admiral Lawrence sneered softly, he had already guessed that the German High Seas Fleet would be dispatched, so he had been prepared for a long time.

"The German Navy deliberately let five battle cruisers come out to lure us, and then vainly tried to concentrate the main fleet to eat the eleven battle cruisers of our British and French forces, what a bold day, when we are all fools, will we be fooled?"

"Pass my order, the main fleet will be dispatched, our Royal Navy of the British Empire will meet the enemy from the front, and the French Imperial Navy will outflank it from the flank and rear, and we will flank the front and rear and destroy the German High Seas Fleet in one fell swoop!"

Lawrence reacted quickly, but Vice Admiral Daile, commander of the French fleet over there, reminded: "It is advisable to leave a cruising fleet to protect the ship group!" ”

"You're right!" Lawrence nodded in agreement, and the British and French navies each left a patrol fleet to protect the ship.

Tirpitz soon discovered that the main force of the combined Anglo-French fleet was dispatched, but two cruising fleets were left to continue to protect the group.

"Think that's all it takes?"

Tirpitz snorted coldly, all this was in his prediction, it was not easy to sneak attack the British and French ships.

But Tirpitz was confident, and he remembered that Hitler had told him that at the beginning of the decisive battle of the main fleet, he would destroy as many of the Anglo-French battlecruisers as possible, and at the same time protect the German navy's battle cruisers, which would be crucial to the final victory of the whole battle.

Tirpitz had already been persuaded by Hitra that he would no longer allow the German Navy's battle patrol detachments to participate in the main fleet battle, while the commanders of the British Imperial Royal Navy and the French Royal Navy on the opposite side would put the battlecruisers into the main fleet decisive battle with the mentality of more than the merrier.

In this way, Tirpitz could take advantage of the rough skin and thick flesh of the German naval battleships, first resist the shelling of the British and French battleships, and then concentrate their firepower on the British and French battlecruisers.

The five most advanced battlecruisers of the German Navy were fast and quickly broke away from the battle, and the battle patrol detachments of the British and French navies, in order to attract the main force of the German High Seas Fleet, did not rush to leave, but waited for the main force of the British and French fleets to come to reinforce them.

This played into Tirpitz's hands, and he did not hesitate to order the whole fleet to concentrate its firepower and open heavy fire on the British and French battle patrol fleets.

Knock knock......

More than 20 battleships of the German High Seas Fleet fired a salvo of fire, and the momentum was so great that it seemed to shatter the sky in an instant, and the sea surface boiled violently.

Large-caliber shells roared into the sky, a moment that seemed to remind the British Navy of their encounter with the Imperial Chinese Navy.

The instantaneous explosion quickly pulled the British naval officers and sailors back to reality.

This is not the Imperial Chinese Navy, what is the German Navy afraid of!

The British Navy had a psychological shadow on the Imperial Chinese Navy, but in the face of the German Navy, they were still very strong!

What's more, the main British fleet in the back has already come up, so there is no need to be afraid at all!

"Fire!"

Lawrence gave the order, and the twenty-seven battleships of the British Royal Navy fired a salvo with the same momentum, and each time hundreds of tons of shells smashed towards the German fleet.

There were constantly German battleships that were shot and then smoked, but Tirpitz didn't care at all, his eyes were only on the battlecruiser detachments of the British and French navies, and the main guns of all the German battleships were all aimed at the battlecruisers of the British and French navies.

At first, Lawrence didn't pay attention to this matter, but as the battlecruiser Lion was hit by bullets and caught fire, and then suddenly the ammunition depot was broken through and exploded, it became the first large capital ship to be sunk in the Battle of the Barents Sea.

"Damn it!"

Lawrence was so angry that he almost turned his back on it, the Anglo-French combined fleet obviously had an absolute advantage, and it was theoretically enough to completely annihilate the German High Seas Fleet, but Mao was the first British capital ship to be sunk? (To be continued.) )