PS: The roar of the giant ship cannon, tearing open the water surface to form a beautiful water vortex, this is one of the driving forces for Xiao Baijun to write this book, Xiao Baijun's fanaticism for the giant ship cannon is unabated, and the largest naval battle is about to begin. The roar of the heavy artillery makes the steel splatter more violently!

A light warship galloped through the Gulf of Finland, and the May warmth covered the Nordic seas, and the ice melted so that there were no moving icebergs on the sea, allowing the British light cruiser Magnum to accelerate unbridled. The new cruiser, powered by a steam turbine, could run at a maximum speed of 30 knots, the fastest of the British cruiser detachment, and of course, speed was also the biggest reliance of the Magnum, and its appearance in the Gulf of Finland was to collect intelligence on the activities of the Germans in the North Sea and to provide intelligence support for the home fleet's attack.

People who make a living on the sea are a bit superstitious, because the sea is too vast and mysterious, and there are too many unknown mysterious phenomena that cannot be explained by science. For example, the charts drawn at this age were not accurate, and even the charts of later generations could not be accurate to every reef. The Magnum, which was rushing forward and enjoying the thrill of speed, had the misfortune of encountering such an undersea reef that was not marked on the chart.

Steel collided violently with the rock, and it was clear that the light cruiser's armor could not withstand the cut of the reef, which was strengthened by the incredible speed, and a four-meter-long opening appeared below the waterline of the Magnum Light Cruiser. Like a tadpole that has found its mother, the sea rushed into the cabin, and the battleship sank faster than the British sailors imagined, only more than 30 people jumped ship to escape, and the rest sank into the icy sea with the battleship.

Just as the British sailors were immersed in the icy waters waiting for death, a turning point occurred, and the water a few hundred meters away suddenly rose, and a submarine emerged from the water like a humpback whale. Luckily the British sailors were able to leave the icy waters, unfortunately it was a German U-boat.

U51 Captain U51 Captain Ullman learned great news from these trembling British sailors -- there was a relatively intact British light cruiser under the water, and it was believed that there were many valuable things on that warship. After weighing it up, Ullman decided to send divers into the water to search for it, the risk was that it was under the control of the Russian Navy, and if it stayed on the surface for too long, it was likely to encounter Russian surface ships, and the advantage was that the water was very shallow, and the salvage operation should not take much time.

As Ullman's luck turned out, the valuables recovered by the divers were of exceptional value, and Ullman immediately returned them to port and handed them over to the Navy Staff. Tirpitz laughed out loud when he got it, and the exaggerated gesture made the noble officers secretly ashamed, but when they learned what it was, they didn't care to maintain the posture of the nobles.

The British Navy's codebook and flag booklet, the German Admiralty easily cracked the radio code of the British, and obtained the most important piece of information - the battle plan of Jericho, the new commander of the Home Fleet.

On the afternoon of May 30, Admiral Schell, commander of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet, received a top-secret message from Berlin: "The British Home Fleet will sail tomorrow. After receiving the information, both Scheer and Hippert sensed that the British had taken an unexpected action, and Scheer worked out a battle plan identical to Jericho overnight: Vice Admiral Hipper led the avant-garde fleet from the military port of Bremen and arrived in the waters near Jutland east of Norway on the afternoon of the 31st, with a view to meeting the British fleet. Scheer personally led the main fleet from Williams' port, and also arrived in the sea area 60 nautical miles southeast of Hipper's fleet on the afternoon of the 31st.

Jericho planned to set up an encirclement in the western waters of Denmark, and deployed a large number of high-speed destroyers and cruisers on the periphery in an attempt to slow down the escape of the German navy, and once the main force of the German fleet was delayed, the battleships and battle cruisers cruising not far away would rush over and sink the entangled German warships. The ocean navy, which had been silent for a long time, finally became the vanguard of the war at this moment, and the two sides coincidentally chose the key sea area of Jutland, where the smoke and blood will continue to nourish the seas of Europe.

Before the war, the German fleet consisted of 79 battleships (13 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 6 ex-dreadnoughts, 8 light cruisers, 46 torpedo boats), divided into two formations, moving from south to north. The British fleet consisted of 117 battleships (22 battleships, 8 battlecruisers, 6 armored cruisers, 22 light cruisers, 58 destroyers, and 1 minelayer), also divided into two formations, sailing from north to south, with both sides moving in opposite directions. In terms of numbers, the British have an absolute advantage, but only 19 battleships are left after the three battleships were attacked by submarines, and this era advocates battleships to decide whether they win or lose, and their number is one of the keys to victory or defeat, and the British home fleet has reduced its numerical advantage because of the Scarpa Bay incident, which is one of the reasons for Jericho's hesitation.

At noon on 30 May, Scheer, commander of the High Seas Fleet, received a report from the Admiralty that the British Home Fleet would make an move, and he ordered the High Seas Fleet to be ready for battle.

At 17:40 in the afternoon of the same day, the fleet led by Hipper left the port of Bremerhaven and sailed first to the predetermined sea, where he gave the order "to advance at a speed of 22 knots" on the flagship. He led the 1st Reconnaissance Detachment, consisting of battlecruisers and cruisers, respectively (the detachment of battlecruisers under the personal command of Vice Admiral Hipper, including the flagships "Lützov", "De Verber", "Seydlitz", "Moltke" and "von der Tann") and the 2nd reconnaissance detachment (commanded by Rear Admiral Burdick, including the flagships "Frankfurt", "Wiesbaden", "Regensburg", "Grudenc", "Strassond", "Strasbourg" light cruisers) and the second, sixth, and ninth destroyers (torpedo boats) departed from the port.

In addition to this, Hipper's fleet included two seaplane carriers, which were converted from old cruisers and designed with the assistance of Chinese engineers and could carry fifteen reconnaissance aircraft. Two reconnaissance aircraft, totaling 30 aircraft, will become a powerful addition to the reconnaissance force of the Hipper's fleet.

Almost at the same time, the main force of the High Seas Fleet led by Scheer also left Wilhelmsport, and tears welled up on his cheeks as the battleship group sailed past Wilhelm II's eyes. The wish to challenge the British grandmother was finally fulfilled on this day, hoping that these incomparably precious ships of their own would bring news of victory.

Third Battlefleet: Schell personally sat in the flagship battleship "Deutschland", which was divided into two detachments, namely the flagship of Rear Admiral Norman "German Kaiser" and the battleships "Prussia" and "Bavaria" led by Rear Admiral Norman. These four Deutsche class battleships would be the main force of the battleship squadron, and were pinned on by Wilhelm II, Schell and all the officers and men of the navy. In addition, Rear Admiral Barnke's flagship "King" and his battleships "Elector", "Border Governor", and "Prince William" led by him.

The 1st Battleship Fleet consisted of two battleship detachments, namely the battleships "East Friesland" (flagship), "Helgoland", "Thuringia" and "Oldenburg" led by Rear Admiral Schmidt, and the battleships "Posen" (flagship), "Nassau", "West****" and "Rhineland" led by Rear Admiral Inglehardt.

Second Battlefleet: Contains two battleship detachments, all of which are made up of former dreadnoughts, and are responsible for providing fire support. These battleships were "Dortmund" (flagship), "Pomerania", and "Hesse" led by Rear Admiral Maugf; As well as the "Hanover" (flagship), "Silesia", "Holstein-Schleswig" under the command of Rear Admiral Richterfils.

4th Reconnaissance Fleet: The light cruisers "Stettin" (flagship), "Stuttgart", "Munich", "Hamburg", "Fraunlob" and "Rostock" under the command of Commodore Ruitt, with the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th destroyer squadrons carrying out cover duties, lined up in a vigilant formation in front of Scheer's fleet.

Jericho, who was completely kept in the dark, left the port four and a half hours after the departure of the German High Seas Fleet, the fleet led by General Betty departed from Losaith, and the main force of the Home Fleet led by Jericho left Scapa Flow, preparing to join Betty and go to the predetermined sea.

The haste of the British Navy was reflected in various aspects, such as Jericho did not send sufficient reconnaissance forces, the range of the submarines in his hands was not enough to reach the Jutland waters to carry out reconnaissance, and the neglect of submarines made the British far behind Germany in this regard, and several submarines in service could only be used as offshore reconnaissance forces. In addition to submarines, the British did not have seaplane carriers, and it was important to know that the aircraft had been promoted by China for less than five years, and in this short period of five years, only China had sent planes to warships, and Germany had also enjoyed the benefits of aircraft reconnaissance because of its cooperation with China. In other words, the British could only rely on their more numerous and better quality cruisers and destroyers for intelligence and reconnaissance. (To be continued.) )