"Sir, there's a telegram from the 'Kent' that they are being attacked by four Austro-Hungarian fleets!" In the war room of the Queen Elizabeth, the communications officer reported to Betty on the situation.

"Very well, without the Austrians to make trouble, we can have a decent sea duel with the Germans!" Betty nodded, signaling that she already knew, and then said. At this time, the British and German fleets were already facing each other at a distance, and they had already seen each other's opponents, and the two fleets were about 22 nautical miles apart, and their course was like a "figure eight", approaching each other.

"32,000 meters, azimuth 108!" On the "Count Spee, for the first time, the gunnery commander reported the number of targets. Comparatively speaking, the performance of the German Zeiss optical rangefinder is ahead of similar products in other countries.

"Is it the Queen-class battleship that is in the lead?" Sorochin asked, unable to distinguish his opponent's silhouette in the telescope, so he asked the gunnery commander.

"Yes, sir, there are 5 battleships in front and 4 battlecruisers in the back, and it is not yet possible to determine whether the battlecruiser behind the battleship is a 'Lion' or a 'Tiger'." Said the gunnery commander on the bridge.

"It can be concluded that their battleships are in front." Herman said.

"This is exactly one-on-one, is it a standard battle line formation?" Sorochin said, "Order the fleet, take your own positions, and open fire as soon as the enemy ships come into range!" After saying that, he held up the binoculars and observed, and from the telescope, the outline of the British battleship became clearer and clearer on the gray sea.

"They're coming straight for us." Herman said: "It seems that Betty wants to have a decisive battle with us. ”

"Everybody's using the side to engage the enemy, and it seems to be fair." "But if the battle is not in favor of the British, they will not be able to outrun us." ”

"The cannons are ready!"

"Aim at the target!" On the bridge the huge artillery could be seen turning, aiming at the target on the right.

"Distance 25,000, azimuth 106, it's time to fire, sir!" The voice of the gunner came from the speakers in the war room.

"Let's get started!" Admiral Sorochin said, pointing his telescope at the flagship of the British fleet.

"Fire!" With the shouts of the gunner, the huge hull of the "Count Spee" shook violently, and then the deafening sound of cannon rang out, and the "Count Spee" fired a salvo first. Although they had already experienced many battles at sea, the 10 380mm guns were still impressed by the strength of the sailors on the deck.

After the cannon was discharged, the officers on the bridge involuntarily looked to the sea in the distance, and of course they hoped to hit their opponents in the first salvo, but the reality was exactly the opposite of what they had hoped. The shells flew over the heads of the British warships and smashed several striking white columns of water on the sea, deviating from the target for thousands of kilometers.

The Krupp SK-D/17 45 times caliber 380 mm main gun equipped with the German "Mackensen" battleship comprehensively surpassed the Armstrong 42 times caliber 15-inch naval gun equipped by the British earlier, and theoretically had a range of 42 kilometers at a maximum elevation angle of 32 degrees, but in practice, no commander would think that he could hit the target at this distance. However, with the enhancement of the caliber and performance of the artillery, the battleship's engagement distance has increased from the earlier 10,000 meters to more than 20,000 meters, and now it has a tendency to increase to 30,000 meters.

At such a long engagement distance, the angle of entry when the shells fall is almost vertical, which will greatly test the horizontal defense of the battleship. The dreadnoughts built in the early days were practically unable to cope with a high-intensity battle at sea because they did not focus on horizontal defense.

As the flagship opened fire, the ships behind it also began shelling one after another, and the sea suddenly seemed to be boiling, and clouds of black smoke rose on the sea. The flanks of the British battleships in the distant sea were also spewing orange-red fire, and they also began to return fire. Large-caliber shells streaked through the air with a sharp whistling sound, stirring up huge columns of water that rose into the sky on the surface of the sea.

The sea is boiling!

Cannons rumbled, shells fell like gravel, and countless tall columns of water stirred up around the warship. Smoke from the chimneys, mixed with gunpowder from artillery, swirled and floated over the rough grey sea.

At this time, on the battlefield at sea, the warships of both sides are like two teams of Napoleonic musketeers, holding shotguns and bombarding each other, and no one knows who will hit the opponent first. Comparatively, the Germans had a somewhat faster rate of fire from their artillery. When the British fleet had just finished firing, there was another heart-stopping scream in the sky. At this time, the British commanders could not help but sigh in their hearts - everything has its two sides, although the British fleet has always been at the forefront of the world, but the emerging German fleet has more cutting-edge warships, like a heavy but slightly sluggish old boxing champion facing a young challenger, who is more light and energetic.

As the saying goes, the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and the front waves are slapped to death on the beach.

Huge ships, artillery, and the two sides lined up to bombard each other from a long distance in motion, as if the scene brought people back to the Battle of Skagerrak fought two years ago. After mankind entered the Iron Age, the British and German fleets once again staged a small peak duel.

As the pinnacle of the Anglo-German navy, the "Queen Elizabeth" class battleships and the "Mackensen" class battleships represent the highest level of shipbuilding industry in the two countries, although the "Queen" class is slightly old due to its early service, but it is still one of the most powerful warships in the world.

In the command room of the flagship of the British fleet, most people's attention was undoubtedly focused on the tall columns of water that were constantly stirred up by shells, each shell tugging at the hearts of the people, whether it was their own or the enemy's. The two sides are equal in strength, and no one is sure that they will be able to take out their opponents. According to the theoretical numbers, a battleship armed with 15-inch guns should be able to withstand the attack of naval guns of the same caliber, but in practice, under the condition of equal strength of the two sides, the outcome of the naval battle depends more on luck.

A single detonation or a cannonball that inflicts heavy damage on an opponent can change the outcome of a naval battle.

After a fierce artillery battle that lasted for nearly five minutes, it entered a white-hot state. Shells from both sides began to hit each other's battleships. The German ship "Prince Wilhelm" was the first to hit its counterpart "Warweary", and then "Prince Frederick" was hit by "Brave".

The damage to the warships on both sides gradually increased.

Suddenly, a huge cloud of smoke rose from a warship at the back of the British fleet array, "Well, that warship should have been badly damaged!" Herman, who has been paying attention to the situation on the sea, said.

Sorochin moved the telescope over, only to see a gray smoke erupting from the front of the chimney of a British warship in the distance, and the amidships of the ship began to glow. "That's supposed to be the Lion!" The admiral said that there had always been a big problem with the structural design of the British battlecruisers, which could not be solved no matter how they were modified.

As he spoke, more than a dozen columns of smoke larger than before rose from the warship, gradually joining together to form a huge cloud of smoke that shrouded the warship over it. Sorochin saw through his telescope a huge explosion on board the Lion, and a huge mushroom cloud rose up, obscuring the entire warship.

As the smoke dissipated, it was clearly visible through the telescope that the bow and stern of the "Lion" were raised high above the water, the propellers were still spinning in mid-air, and the entire warship broke off in the middle and began to sink into the water.

Then there was another violent explosion, and the entire warship was quickly engulfed in smoke and flames, and nothing could be seen except for the countless columns of water that had been thrown high into the air by the mast, deck, and armor fragments that had fallen into the sea in the explosion. When the smoke rose and gradually dissipated, the sea was empty, and there was no trace of the "Lion".

On the "Count Spee", the officers and men on the deck who were fighting did not notice this, but the war room was already full of cheers, "The 'Lion' was sunk by the 'Hindenburg'!" Again, the 'Lion' was sunk by the 'Hindenburg'! This was confirmed by the shouts of the lookouts in the gun conning tower.

After only 10 minutes of engagement, the British fleet suffered heavy losses.

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