In the early morning of 23 July 1915, a British patrol fleet under Commodore Bell sailed about 220 nautical miles northeast of the Faroe Islands toward the coast of Norway. At about 4:30 a.m., the entire fleet was moving eastward in a dawn battle formation at a speed of 14 knots. In order to deal with unexpected situations, the naval fleets of most countries in this era would adopt battle formations at dawn, and all the boilers would be operated in parallel, so that the warships could be operated at full speed after the enemy was discovered.

At the same time, the Austro-Hungarian fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Cromwell gradually left the Norwegian coast and turned its course to the north of Iceland, and the formation was moving at a speed of 18 knots, and if nothing else, they would pass by the British fleet commanded by Bell, and no one would find out.

It was still dark, but the starlight was fading in the sky, and looking down on the foredeck from the tall bridge, only the vague outlines of the two main turrets could be seen, the darkest moment before dawn.

Major General Cromwell had just gotten out of bed and entered the war room with a cigar in his hand, with the thick velvet curtains drawn. "Where are we now?" The Major General walked over to the chart table and leaned down.

"This location, District 53, General!" The nautical staff officer on duty pointed to the numbered Norwegian seas.

"Well, it seems to be a dangerous sea, order the fleet to increase the speed to 23 knots, we must get here quickly before dawn." The major general took the cup of hot coffee handed over from the staff officer and calmly gave the order.

The "Radetzky" flashed light signals to the "Grand Duke Franz" behind them, so the two warships began to slowly accelerate, and when they looked back from the "Radetzky", they could already see the blurred gray shadow of the battleship behind them, and the eastern sky was already covered with a milky white halo.

The dark gray hull gradually became clear against the black sea water, and on the sea surface in the distance, a white sky water line was revealed at the junction of heaven and water, and the sky was about to dawn.

After giving the order, Major General Cromwell went to the cabin below, where he had to wash up and have breakfast. Major Conti, the staff officer on duty, ordered the gun command above to pay attention to intensifying the search on the sea surface through a microphone. The gun headquarters is located at the rear of the top of the bridge, the highest position on the warship except for the watchtower above the mast. Aside from the lack of a main gun, it resembles a rotating turret with a layer of armor plates that are not too thick.

After receiving the order, the gun conning tower began to rotate slowly, the sailors on duty all returned to their posts under the orders of the officer on duty, and six large monocular high-power telescopes set up in the control tower began to search along the sea. In the distance, the sea is shining brightly, and the sun will rise from the water at any moment, and the sky will soon dawn.

At about 7 o'clock in the morning, Major General Cromwell returned to the operational command room, and as soon as it was too late, the officers and men who had eaten breakfast began to change shifts. Colonel Clemens walked in from outside the bridge smoking a cigar, "It's bad weather again, Major General. He said to Cromwell.

Indeed, through the porthole, you can see the sky outside, the rising sun hanging high in the east, and the black sea with red waves. The breeze was breezy and it was another sunny day.

"We've pretty much crossed two enemy blockades, Colonel." A smile tugged at Cromwell's lips, and soon they would be out into the vast ocean.

At this time, Major Conti, the combat staff officer, turned his head and asked, "Nothing has been found, sir." ”

Cromwell glanced twice at the sea in front of him, nodded at him and said, "Well, move to level 3 alert." ”

As a result, Conte ordered the navigation officer and communications officer to transfer the fleet to a 17-knot cruising state, and the personnel of the combat position, except for the personnel on duty, were disbanded.

A qiē is back to normal.

But the whole fleet, after three hours of acceleration, went forward an additional 15 nautical miles, and the British fleet under the command of Commodore Bell inevitably ran into each other.

At 9:17 a.m., Rear Admiral Cromwell sat in a chair in the navigation room and chatted with Colonel Clemens and the staff officers about the Battle of Dogle Shoal at the end of January, in which the Germans seemed to have fallen into the trap of the British, and Lieutenant General Hippel suffered a great loss.

Major Conte was unsparing in his criticism of Vice Admiral Hipper's recklessness in command, and he led the fleet in pursuit of what appeared to be a fleeing British destroyer without reconnaissance, only to fall into Betty's trap.

"Shhh Cromwell joked lightly.

Lieutenant General Hipper, who was currently leading the "Seydlitz" and "De Fllinger", was about thirty nautical miles behind them, and since radio silence had been maintained, they were in fact only guessing roughly where the Germans were at the moment.

Major General Cromwell stood up and said a few words to the staff officer on duty, apparently preparing to return to his cabin below to rest, when suddenly the shout of the lookout came from the microphone: "Port side, 22 o'clock, find a column of smoke!" ”

Soon, the signaling officer confirmed the situation as well.

"Turn right, try to avoid it, and get ready for battle!" Rear Admiral Cromwell thought for a moment, and then gave the order, and the battle alarm sounded on the warship.

The British destroyer "Lizard", which was searching in front, was spotted, and the Austro-Hungarian fleet was not found at this time due to the height problem. But the G-class destroyers of the British were fast, approaching Cromwell's fleet, and when the Austro-Hungarian fleet finished turning, the destroyer seemed to spot them, and then headed towards them at a higher speed.

As a last resort, Cromwell ordered the fleet to turn to the left, and he found himself unable to avoid a battle: "Attention, all ready for battle!" Send a telegram to General Hipper, we have been discovered! ”

As the battle order was given, the huge main turret on the deck slowly turned, and the muzzles of the guns began to point in the direction where the enemy ship had been discovered. The sailors have done the cannon maneuver hundreds of times, but there are not many who actually enter the real battle, and the battle command makes people feel excited and nervous.

"High-explosive bombs, ready!" The gunnery commander is giving instructions to the turrets to deal with a destroyer or light cruiser, and high-explosive shells are more effective than armor-piercing shells. In the ammunition compartment below deck four, sailors were ordered to pack high-explosive shells and propellants into the loafers. At the other end of the lifter, the gunners were also ready to complete the final procedure.

The two Austro-Hungarian battle cruisers, after a slight adjustment, quickly headed for the British destroyers approaching at high speed.

For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read.