"Oh, those details don't matter anymore." Admiral Lut waved his hand and asked, "Is there anything else?" "The British Admiralty is also sending telegrams all the time. Sir, some of them were apparently sent to warships other than the HMS Edinburgh. ”

"Can you figure out which warships they are? Where are they now? ”

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't know about this yet."

"Any other news?"

"No, sir."

"Thank you, you did a great job."

The communications officer gave Admiral Lut a military salute before turning away. Admiral Lut turned his head and said to Captain Frank, "While we were silent on the radio, the damned British cruiser had already reported our whereabouts back. The British will soon mobilize a fleet to attack us, but we can also count on the fact that the British do not have many ships to fight us. Now, we will soon be saying goodbye to the English Channel, with the Atlantic Ocean just ahead of us. Tell us what you think, do you think there will be anything that can stop us? ”

"Unless the British can quickly and quickly get their capital ships in place without wasting an hour, the Atlantic is open to us, sir. Of course, we should still try to take out or get rid of that pesky British cruiser and not let it follow us. As long as we knock out the enemy's landing grounds, we will win this war. "As things stand, our intelligence is accurate, and our deception strategy has been successful. ”

"If the Chinese battleships had not returned home, they would have discovered Hipper's battlecruisers by now and mistaken them for us." Admiral Lut looked at the rough seas and said to Captain Frank, "Let's hurry up and send the cruiser to kill the British cruiser."

At this time, the Germans did not think that what had happened before that was not exactly what they had guessed.

Ever since Betty set off with the main fleet of the Allied Navy, he had been inexplicably anxious.

"The telegram from the Admiralty is inconsistent, what the hell are they doing?" Betty looked at the telegram she had just sent again, "They say they have found the 'Kaiser Wilhelm', then they say it is a cruiser, and then they say that the Yorke may be ahead of us, do they want to make it an April Fool's Day?" ”

Looking at Betty, who was thundering there, the officers on the bridge did not answer.

They also have no good explanation for the "insanity" of the British Admiralty today.

At this moment, the phone next to him rang loudly, and an officer quickly stepped forward to pick up the microphone and said, "I'm the bridge." While listening, repeat aloud: "Black smoke found in front right"

While everyone was watching, he continued to report loudly: "A warship has been spotted in front of the right, and two warships have been spotted in the front right that are rapidly approaching us."

With his shout, more than a dozen pairs of binoculars on the starboard side looked in that direction.

"Raise the battle alarm" Betty gave the order loudly, and the entire crew of the "Republic" ran to their respective posts amid the shrill siren.

"Can you be sure it's an enemy ship?" Betty asked.

"It's supposed to be enemy ships, they look like big guys." Captain Schneider replied.

People all looked through binoculars and turned their faces from time to time to talk to each other. The sea fog was no longer as thick as it had been when they set out, and from the telescope, the two gray outlines became clearer and clearer in the mist.

"Signal the ships to take up positions in the rear." Betty shouted sharply, the anxiety just now had been swept away, "Captain, the enemy ship will open fire as soon as it reaches range"

"They're coming straight for us," Shen Honglie said, "and they seem to want to compete with us head-on."

"If they point their entire side at us, it's not good for us." Xu Zhenpeng said.

The phone rang incessantly. The officer on duty shouted: "All guns are immediately in position and quickly prepared"

"Aim at the target"

At this time, people standing on the bridge could clearly see that the huge triple turret of the "Republic" was slowly turning, aiming at the target in front right.

"I want you to remember what I have often said, we must always be ready to destroy any enemy that comes before us" Betty exclaimed with a telescope, "Now, the enemy is in front of our eyes",

"I can see clearly that it is a German battleship," a British staff officer shouted, "look at their turrets and masts, they are German battleships, they must be 'Wilhelm the Great' and 'Frederick the Great'"

The staff officer did not know what kind of impact his words would have on the future battles.

At this moment, the first salvo of the main guns of the "Republic" began, and the loud bang of the "Republic" interrupted the staff officer's words at once.

"Hit it, hit it, hit it hard, keep shooting," Betty shouted as she shook her fist and shouted in the smoke of gunpowder.

At this time, there was a hectic scene on the German battleships that had been attacked.

"Enemy ship spotted," the turret commander shouted, "prepare immediately"

"All guns aim at the target" was repeated by the officers in a loud voice, and the gunners began a frantic operation.

The four twin turrets of the German ship turned rapidly, and the muzzles of the guns were pointed at the enemy ship. At this time, the battleship was still rocking violently in the rough seas.

The gunners exchanged glances. Many of them had little combat experience, had never heard the loud sound of a cannon fired at the enemy, and had never seen an enemy shell fly over the surface of the sea and explode in the nearby sea, as was the case now. Everyone's nerves were tense to the extreme. Although after the order was given, with the skillful drills of the usual days, the gunners had everything ready in just a few seconds.

At this moment, they are only concerned with the operation desperately, and they have no time to think about anything else. Only the nostalgia for their hometown and the incredible sense of terror occasionally flashed through their minds.

Another loud bang was heard, "Have we been hit?" Someone asked in horror.

"Focus your energies on the operation," the gunnery shouted.

The first salvo was fired from the main guns of the German ship. This was followed by a series of repeated processes: the bolt was opened, a new shell was loaded and pushed into it with a pusher, the cartridge was loaded, and the bolt was slammed shut again.

Another salvo was fired. The gunners operated feverishly. Suddenly, there was a flash of light in the turret, followed by a loud bang, and they were shaken to pieces.

"We were hit"

"Leave it alone," the gunnery shouted, "keep shooting"

Immediately after that, another shell hit the German ** ship, and the smoke instantly filled the entire turret.

The sea was completely boiling, and with the rumbling of cannons and the rain of bullets, countless tall columns of water were stirred up around the warships of the warring sides. Smoke from the chimneys, mixed with gunpowder from artillery, swirled and floated over the rough grey sea.

On the other side, the battleship "Republic" was also swaying in the wind and waves, if one could see through the broadside armor of the "Republic" to see the ammunition compartment under the front turret. They would clearly see that there was a small group of Chinese sailors loading shells into the bombardment. After a short pause after loading, the shells went up. Then, another shot is loaded. A bearded beauty ** is supervising the loading, next to a very young ** officer. The sergeant kept talking, only to stop when he checked the placement of the shells on the lifter. In addition, his speech was often interrupted by the thunderous salvo of artillery above.

"It's all up to us now, it's my turn and the sailors here. Gentlemen, do you understand? He went on to say: "The Admiralty in London is free to make plans at will; The Admiralty Chancellors could look at his charts; Admiral Betty could draw up a battle plan on the bridge; Captain Schneider can call the shots. However, it is the cannon that really solves the problem. If we stop and don't continue firing, the cannon won't be fired. So, it means that we have lost this war, and all of us and the admirals will have to go back to our hometowns, gentlemen, do you understand? Now it's all up to our artillery to solve the problem"

As he spoke, huge shells were lifted from the boomer, entered the chain, were sent to the turret, pushed into the chamber, and loaded with the cartridge. Immediately afterward, it shot out with a loud bang. At this time, the gunners in the turret were all sweating and busy.

Below the two decks were chains of shells, which were constantly lifted up by the lifters. The cannon was in the recoil, new shells and packets were loaded, and the shooter blasted the shells out with lightning speed.

On the bridge of the Republic, Betty and her men looked out through the countless jets of water that splashed high around them. Only the vague outline of the German ship can be seen, but the ferocious fire of the German ship proves their strong combat effectiveness, and also strengthens Betty and his subordinates' identification of the German ship. ,

The artillery battle continued, and in the operational command hall of the British Admiralty at that time, the mood was also extremely tense.

"If Betty has reached the predetermined position by now, they will have an encounter with the enemy at any time." "Now they're probably fighting," Studdy said. ”

"But we haven't received any reports on the state of the fighting." Said a rear admiral.

"The 'Republic' is calling, sir." An officer reported from the receiving table with a microphone: "Express telegram: Our ship has found an enemy ship engaged in battle with an enemy ship in the northeast."

Hearing this, the entire battle hall was filled with excitement and excitement for a while.

"Why didn't they state the identity and number of enemy ships?" Study took the telegram and looked at it again, and asked a little uneasily.

"It may be that the sea conditions are bad, and they can't identify the target yet, but I think it won't take a few minutes for them to find the 'Kaiser Wilhelm'." Seeing a telegram from the teleporter, Lord Hamilton took the following words away. He quickly read the telegram.

"An urgent telegram from the 'Edinburgh,'" the officer reported at the microphone at the same time, "the 'Delaware' and the 'North Dakota' are engaged with enemy ships." The course of the enemy ships was about southwest. ”

"It's an enemy ship again, can't they see the target clearly?" Studdy said with some annoyance.

"I think that no matter who Betty encounters, we should urge Betty to come back with the fleet immediately and go to the English Channel to intercept the enemy." Hamilton said.

"But the situation now is that we have no way of determining where the main forces of the Germans are." "What if Betty's current opponent is the Wilhelm? ”

"I think that's more likely," York Milton said, "and our intelligence just now proves that the York is likely to be in that direction." Betty should have taken the interception based on this information. ”

"But if we give up the attack, what will happen if these German ships attack our shores?" Study shook his head and said.

"I'm afraid that this is how the Germans are dragging down our main fleet." "Our coast is much less important than the landing grounds. Because it is impossible for the Germans to carry out a landing operation now. ”

While Study was hesitating, the officer reported: "The 'Edinburgh' is sending an urgent telegram. There was a hoarseness in his words, and it was clear that he was trying to hide his excitement and feign a calm look. However, suddenly, his calm expression disappeared without a trace, and his face instantly became extremely pale, as if he was about to shrink.

"What's going on? Repeat the message," the rear admiral urged. However, he stood in front of the table in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.

"Speak quickly, what's going on?" Study shouted.

The officer turned his face, hesitated, and said, "There were explosions on the USS Delaware and USS North Dakota, most likely by enemy ships......"

"What?"

At this moment, the written message "clicked" out of the bulletin tube, and several people went to pick it up. The rear admiral took the telegram out of the container and opened it.

"That's right, the Delaware and North Dakota exploded." The rear admiral said in a deep tone.

Hearing the words of the rear admiral, all the people around stood there, one by one.

"This ...... Too fast, right? They've only arrived for a short time......" one of the officers muttered in a lengthened voice, "how can this be ......?"

After a while, another telegram fell from the transmitter. The officer brisked himself and read the message: "An urgent telegram from the 'Edinburgh'. He reported in a voice that had involuntarily changed tone: "The Delaware and North Dakota have sunk. The Katori and Kashima are engaged with enemy ships. ”

"The Japanese can't deal with them." The rear admiral said to Hamilton, who had been silent.

At this time, the people in the battle hall paid more attention to the messages they received.

In the war room of the Katori, the navigating naval officers crouched on the charts. A prominent black X is depicted in the location of the English Channel.

"Sir, we're here. In five minutes we should have discovered it. We must move quickly towards it. ”,

"It won't be long," Takemoto, the commander of the formation, said to himself.

"Why is there no news of Americans?" An ominous premonition rose in Captain Yamauchi's heart.

"Maybe it's because of the fog that the Americans are lost." One of the staff officers laughed, "It's better that the Americans can't find here." ”

"The Americans can't find it, and we can't find it." Another staff officer said disapprovingly.

"The cannonballs are loaded, sir." An officer reported.

Under the bridge, the gunners stood by the turret.

"It won't be long," said one of the Japanese gunners.

"Now it's our turn to show what we're capable of." The other gunner said excitedly.

And suddenly, at this moment, a violent explosion was heard in the distance.

The "enemy ship spotted" alarm sounded immediately.

Soon, the turret was given the order to open fire, and through the fog and flickering fire, the Japanese gunners soon spotted a huge shadow on the sea.

"Shoot" the Japanese gunners commanded loudly, and the main guns of the "Katori" immediately began firing.

Unlike the Delaware, which had 10 305 mm guns, the Katori, with its four 305 mm guns and eight 254 mm guns, had much weaker firepower, and the Japanese did not know who their opponents were, but they quickly learned the horror of enemy fire.

The "Katori" fired three salvos in succession, but it did not hit the target, and just as the Japanese gunners in the main turret were frantically reloading and firing, the hull of the "Katori" shook violently with a loud bang.

Just as the Japanese gunners were in doubt, another loud bang was heard, many people fell, and a shell fell from the chain, just about to hit one of the gunners' legs.

"There must have been shelling from above," said a Japanese gunner next to the chain in horror.

At this time, the entire bridge of the "Katori" was filled with smoke and flames, debris flew sideways, and mutilated corpses were everywhere. In the chart room below, the stunned navigator saw something dripping from the barrel in front of him.

"What's going on?" He reached out and touched the pipe.

"Oh my God, it's blood"

With his frightened screams, the blood continued to drip down, wetting a large chunk of the chart.

On the bridge, a figure with a military uniform torn to shreds and a blackened body crawled desperately towards the pipe, struggled to pull away the corpse that had fallen on the mouth, and shouted with all his strength: "Left full rudder course 1-5-0 left full rudder."

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