Spee's fleet also rushed over at this time to meet up with Scheer and Hipper, and the tactics developed by the Germans had no effect, except for rescuing the officers and men of the heavily damaged cruiser "Wiesbaden", Spee's fleet had been chasing the British three-battle cruiser detachment, which had played almost no role in the previous battle.

Now that the German Navy Triumvirate had gathered on the "Bavaria", and now that the British were blocking their way back to Wilhelmshaven, whether the British wanted to go home or the German fleet wanted to return to base, the two sides were bound to have an uphill battle.

Of course, the Germans could also abandon the battle and choose to go around the Baltic Sea from the Skagerrak Strait.

But none of the three generals wanted to bear the stigma of being a "coward".

Hipper ordered the 2nd Cruiser Detachment to escort the "Luzo", "Seydlitz" and "von Leetz", which had lost their combat effectiveness. Morality. The "Tann" made a detour home from the Skagerrak Strait, and the three ships could no longer withstand any damage. So far, the German side has sunk four British capital ships, one armored ship and one cruiser, while it has lost only one cruiser and two destroyers.

The problem was that all three men were full of adventurous and aggressive spirits in their bones, and so, after a brief discussion, they decided to fight the British at sea again.

Admiral Spee still switched to a King-class or Bavarian-class battleship as the flagship, but the Vice Admiral decisively rejected the offer of the Chief of the General Staff and resolutely decided to return to the battlecruiser "De Fllinger" by transport boat.

After a short rest, the German fleet completed its turn and began to move south. Vice Admiral Hipper's command of four battlecruisers remained in front of the fleet, followed by three battleships of the "Bavaria" class, followed by four "King", four "Caesar", five "Helgoland" and three "Deutschland", with four "Nassau" class at the end of the array.

The 4th cruiser detachment and part of the torpedo boats took up search missions at the front.

It was already dusk, the sun had disappeared below sea level, the afterglow of the setting sun had turned the sky into brilliant colors, and the battle horn was about to sound again.

At the same time, the British fleet had already completed its turn, and on the bridge of the "Iron Duke", the commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet was covered with iron, and he was very disappointed by the outcome of the battle. So far, the British fleet has lost four capital ships, while the Germans have remained intact.

The latest news from the "Indomitable" that the Germans have six more battleships on the battlefield. Jericho felt the urgency and severity of the situation, and he was now stuck in the way home of the Germans, and it was clear that there was a good chance that the Germans would force their way over again and fight him another decisive battle. There were only two of his latest "Queen" class ships left, the "Warweary" steering gear was broken, and the boiler room of the "Malaya" was also broken down, losing half of its power, and the admiral ordered the two damaged battleships to leave the battlefield and return in groups.

At 27:23, Jericho did not consider himself superior, the Germans were armed with no less 13-inch guns than the British, and he, who was cautious by nature, was hesitating. The Admiralty's operational order was to intercept the German fleet and deal a heavy blow to the adversary, but Jerichault thought it would be difficult to do.

Previous engagements have proven that naval guns can hardly deal a fatal blow to well-defended battleships, even the 15-inch guns equipped on the "Queen" and two "Revenge" class battleships appear to be insufficient penetrating, and the two battleships "War Weathiness" and "Malaya" on the British side have been hit by more than 20 large-caliber shells, and the "Tiger" has even been hit 28 times, but these battleships have withstood the blow because of their excellent protection. As for those sunken battleships, it was because of those damn weak defensive design flaws.

Bitter experience proved that it was a big mistake to throw these battlecruisers, which had great protection defects, into a capital ship duel.

Seeing that the sky was beginning to darken and visibility on the sea had plummeted, Jericho was tempted to order the fleet to turn west and end the battle. At this time, he saw the Betty fleet, which was hurrying back from the north, making a turn, so he ordered a searchlight signal to ask: "Where is the enemy battlefleet?" ”

"West by North!" Betty gave a vague answer, and he was now also unable to determine the exact location of the German fleet.

Jericho looked anxiously at the menacing sky to the northwest, sometimes turning to stare at the charts, unable to make a decision. In the midst of tension and hesitation, the fleet continued to sail in a northwesterly direction for about 6 minutes, and the situation began to become clear. At 8:10 a.m., the "Barham" spotted the German fleet sailing north-northwest to southeast, and since its radio station was destroyed, Rear Admiral Thomas's report was relayed to the flagship by the "Brave" in front of it. Almost at the same time, the Lion also reported seeing the German High Seas Fleet in a north-northwesterly direction.

It was now certain that the German fleet was about half a rudder on the starboard side of the British fleet, and the direction was roughly correct. In fact, the British warships found the cruiser "Stuttgart", which was on a search mission, and said that the distance between the two sides was 3 nautical miles. There was no room for further delay, and if the British fleet wanted to intercept the German fleet, it would have to make a right turn, but there was a risk in doing so.

In fact, the British had time to make a right turn, but Jericho made a completely opposite decision, ordering the fleet to turn left and sail west-northwest.

This caused Admiral Jericho to be questioned and criticized by the British after the naval battle, and eventually led him to resign as commander-in-chief of the Home Fleet, while his opponents, Admiral Spee and Admiral Scheer, spoke highly of his command. Admiral Spee, in an interview with the British after the war, said that if it had not been for Jericho's decision to preserve the British home fleet, perhaps the German fleet and the Royal Navy would have fought to defeat off the coast of Denmark. The question was that in the Mediterranean, Austria-Hungary and Germany still had nearly twenty battleships or battlecruisers, and if this fleet rushed out of Gibraltar, how would the British respond?

Eventually, U.S. naval historian Evans Murphy Potter gave a relatively fair assessment: Admiral Jerichault's decision avoided a life-and-death duel between the Royal Navy and the Germans, leaving a way out for both himself and his opponents. In the end, both sides lost two dreadnoughts in a fierce firefight, and the British saved some face a little, thus ending this dramatic battle at sea.

As night fell, the rumbling cannon sound on the sea gradually disappeared, the smoke gradually dissipated, and the officers and men on the ships were busy extinguishing the sporadic flames on the deck, and a fierce battle at sea that lasted for nearly twenty minutes came to an end. The British side lost two dreadnoughts, the "Magnificent" and the "Daring", while the German side "Pomerne" was sunk, and the "Silesia" seemed to be unable to save and finally had to give up.

Neither of the warring sides took advantage of the fact that Frederick the Great had flashing lights, and Scheer asked Spee if he would pursue the British. The answer of the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy was: "All back!" Hipper was even more determined to leave the battlefield and never look back.

In the battle just now, his battle cruiser fleet suffered heavy losses again, and the ships had long since become unrecognizable.

Jericho also ordered the fleet to return to the west, without any more entanglements. In the war room of the "Lion", Vice Admiral Betty looked depressed and sat alone in the corner, and the whole process of naval battle made him extremely disappointed. Anyway, this damn battle is over!

The curtain has fallen.

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