The short whistle and the siren of the buzzer resounded on the surface of the sea, and at the top of the bridge of the "Grand Duke Franz", Captain Sa Shijun was studying combat readiness duty, and from here he could overlook the situation of the entire battleship. When the sirens sounded, the resting officers and men began to run to the battle positions in a panic, and looking down from above, the deck was in chaos. Major Simic, the gunner, ran up the gangway from under the bridge.

The duty adjutant, Lieutenant Kasich, reported to the gunners: "The order of the command is to intensify the search for the north-northeast position. ”

Major Simic nodded, sat down on the highest gun chief's seat, put his eyes on the eyepiece of the 7.5-meter optical rangefinder, checked the condition of the rangefinder, and asked, "Can you see the enemy?" "The gun conning tower was slowly turning to the left, and three of the six large telescopes set up like small barrels inside pointed to the direction where the target might be. A bearded observer shouted, "See nothing, sir! ”

A thin layer of light fog on the surface of the sea limits the visual distance to about 20,000 meters, and there is no trace of the enemy on the sea surface at all.

At the same time, Betty also ordered the fleet to turn south, but the flagship's signalman forgot to signal the light to the battlefleet five nautical miles behind him. Although Rear Admiral Thomas, the commander of the "Barham", received a telegram from Betty ordering the fleet to turn, according to the operating specifications, the entire fleet must be re-transmitted by light signal.

Major General Thomas "understood" Betty's order according to his own judgment: "He told us to continue north, outflanked at both ends, to prevent the enemy from escaping!" ”

It wasn't until 10 minutes later that the British discovered the mistake and re-ordered it. Thomas hurriedly ordered the fleet to turn, but had already opened up more than ten nautical miles to Betty's battle cruiser, and the four "Queen Elizabeth" class battleships were desperately rushing behind Betty at a top speed of 25 knots, but Betty was anxious to speed up his fleet to a maximum of 27 knots, and the distance between him and the battlefleet was getting wider and wider.

Hipper ordered the cruiser fleet to retreat, and now he had arrived at the battlefield, the flagship "Luzo" raised the "Z" flag, and the turrets of the ships were turned, aiming at the sea antennas to the west. There, nothing can be seen.

At 3:20 p.m., the lookouts on the "Sedlitz", located in the middle and rear of the fleet, first spotted a large column of smoke appearing on the western sea, and the battle sirens sounded again on the sea, and the rangefinders and binoculars in the artillery control room located on the top of the bridge were aimed at the sea antenna to the west under the orders of the commanders.

With the adjustment of the focal length, the figure of the British fleet clearly appeared on the sea level, and six tall battle cruisers were forming two columns, driving from the sea at high speed.

"Distance 20,000, azimuth 97!" The gunnery commander quickly reported the number of targets, which meant that the gunners had fixed the position of the enemy ship on the rangefinder and that the enemy had come within range of the warship.

It is curious that the British, armed with 13.5-inch guns, have not moved anything from the battleship with a longer range than the "Seydlitz".

Hipper stood on the bridge and took a deep breath, staring at the "Lion" heading straight in the distance. Now he has the advantage in strength, but he can't figure out the location of the four "Queen" class fast battleships of the British, and this is what worries him.

The deck of the "Luzo" was full of hurried footsteps, and the gunners with gas masks around their necks juggled over the writters and debris piled up on the side of the ship, and burrowed into the bulky turret, and the muzzles of 10 330 guns were already pointed in the direction where the enemy had appeared. "It has been confirmed that it is Betty's fast fleet, and the specific number of the main gun firing platforms has not yet come out......" at this time the staff officer reported to him.

The high-powered telescope lenses flashed with the glimpse of the British capital ships, and on the mirror-like sea, six British-style battle cruisers were now transformed into long single columns and plunged straight into the rear of Hipper's fleet. Betty wanted to rush forward regardless of the odds and cut off Hipper's retreat.

"Three 'Lion' class, 'Tiger', and at the end are two" Never Tire "! "As for his old friend Betty's fleet, Hipper's familiarity with Cheng Dù was able to tell the type of ship of his opponent and the possible reaction of his opponent without having to look at the ship atlas. He knew Betty's character well, and during the Battle of Helgoland in August last year, the British led his battlecruisers into minefields to catch up with German cruisers. It's the same now, whether it's a trap or not, he'll jump in.

"Sail southwest!" So, Hipper calmly gave the order to turn, and although he had the advantage of strength, he also put on a posture to flee back.

The distance between the two sides continued to close, and Hipper made a turn under Betty's nose, but the British artillery remained silent. The light fog and reflections of the sea obstructed the view of the gun commanders on the British warships, and it was impossible to capture the exact number of German battleships, while the figure of the British battleship in the west clearly appeared on the sea level.

"Azimuth 123, distance 19000, one armor-piercing bullet!"

"Understood! One armor-piercing bullet! ”

In the turret of the "Luzo", the turret commander hung the small trumpet-shaped earpiece back to the rudimentary but sturdy telephone embedded in the steel wall, and shouted into the old-fashioned microphone. The order to reload was given, and the small rangefinder mounted above the turret was now unable to catch the enemy, and he turned to the soldiers waiting in the turret and shouted in the same voice: "One round of armor-piercing shells, start loading!" ”

There was a screeching sound of metal chains grinding against the elevator, and the 560-kilogram warheads were lifted into the 260 mm thick turret with frontal armor, and the gunners above filled them into the breeches in turn! After that, it was the cartridge that was fired, and with a clatter, the bolt was closed and then screwed to death.

"Reloaded!" The turret commander reported upwards.

"Bearing 121, distance 18500!" The gun commander gave the target instructions, and the four huge turrets began to turn, and the thick, cold barrels made slight adjustments, and finally, all 10 guns pointed unanimously to the port side and the course of the battleship 27 degrees west-north. The officers and men in the turret could not see where their targets were, and through some gaps and observation openings between the turrets, they could only see the deck or the nearby sea.

In the three-story bridge combat control tower, the officers were basically keeping a close eye on the sea in the distance on the port side with a pair of binoculars, but at this time they could only vaguely see the figure of the enemy ship.

At 3:48, "Target distance 15,000, azimuth 117!" When the latest measurements were reported in the shooting command room, Hipper gave the order decisively: "Fire!" ”

A few seconds later, a thunderclap resounded across the sea, breaking the silence, and the banner of "port side to meet the enemy" was also raised on the ships, and as the flagship's guns rang out, the ships following it also began to fire one after another, and the sea was suddenly shrouded in a large cloud of black gunsmoke, from time to time from which a cloud of orange flames emerged.

About half a minute later, the "Lion", led by the British fleet, also began to return fire, and the shells broke the mist on the sea surface and stirred up columns of water up to 100 meters high.

The two fleets marched south in parallel at a distance of 14,000 meters, and in turn found their opponents corresponding to their positions to fight each other. Morality. The Tann was an exception, because the British had one less warship, it could only find the "Indefatigable" at the end of the opponent and attack it together with the "Moltke".

Betty concentrated the two battleships in front of him to attack the German flagship "Luzo", and he made no secret of his intention to cut into the front of the German fleet and seize a favorable position.

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