All morning was nothing, two hostile fleets were heading towards a target, and the commanders of both sides were proud of their plans, believing that their opponents had no idea of their whereabouts, and that the other side, like himself, was waiting for the fish to take the bait.

After lunch, Admiral Jericho walked slightly disappointed on the aft deck of the flagship "Iron Duke", where the sun shone on the oak-paved deck, reflecting a harsh yellow light. The sea was calm, and as time passed, the hope in his heart was slowly dissipating.

"General, telegram from the Admiralty." At this time, the communications staff officer stood in front of him.

"Hmm......" Jellicoe glanced at the telegram, which was sent by the Admiralty: At 11:10 the directional radio signal indicated that the enemy's flagship was still at the Jasper anchorage, and perhaps the main German fleet was still in the harbor.

The tricks played by the Germans on the radio station seemed to have worked, which influenced Jericho's judgment, and he ordered the destroyers to be refueled, considering that the home fleet might need to stay at sea for some time, and was in no hurry to join Betty's fleet.

This further widened the distance between him and Betty's fleet to 71 nautical miles.

The afternoon sun seemed warm, Davide. Vice Admiral Betty, still wearing his military hat crookedly and standing on the bridge of the battlecruiser "Lion" with his hands folded, it seemed that the battle he had been waiting for was in vain. The sailors on the deck, who were sitting lazily in the sun or clearing their posts, were still about seven nautical miles from Horn Reef, and he had ordered the fleet to begin turning back in 20 minutes.

"Another boring cruise!" The lieutenant general muttered that in fact he wanted the Admiralty to transfer his fleet to the Mediterranean and fight the damned Austrians. They had already occupied Malta and even shelled Gibraltar, disgraced the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy has been saddled with too many accusations and now needs a victory too much to lift the hearts of the people.

But the cunning Hipper, like a loach, constantly plays a game of hide and seek with him.

At the same time, in the sea about 40 nautical miles southeast of Betty's fleet, in the war room of the flagship battlecruiser "Luzo", the senior staff officers of the fleet were depleted of enthusiasm, and an atmosphere of hope permeated the closed command tower. The three cruiser fleets twenty nautical miles away still had no trace of Betty's fleet, and it seemed that Vice Admiral Hipper's ambitious combat operation would certainly not have achieved the desired results.

"According to the information sent back by the submarine force, the fast fleet of the British was dispatched at two o'clock in the morning. According to their course and speed, our cruisers should have been able to detect the enemy by now, and probably the British had already begun to return home. Colonel O'Grolot, the commander of the navigation, threw the drawing pen on the chart table and said boredly. He glanced out at the bridge, where Vice Admiral Hipper was standing, a cigar in his mouth, his eyes fixed on the sea, not knowing what he was thinking.

As the minutes ticked by, Commander Tari fell into an awkward silence.

At 2:15 p.m., a mist began to fill the sea, and Vice Admiral Betty ordered the fleet to begin its return. The signal lights on the "Lion" kept flashing, and the fleet began to obey orders. At this time, the light cruiser "Galatea", which was on a search mission, saw a slow-moving column of smoke about 8 nautical miles.

"Order the Galatea to go over and check it out." Betty casually said after receiving the report that his fleet continued to turn. This is just a routine, and it is certain that the "Galatea" found a merchant ship of a neutral country.

Had it not been for the Danish freighter Fjord inadvertently breaking between two fleets eager to fight, Betty and Hippel would have passed by, and perhaps history would have been rewritten.

But history is made up of many coincidental events.

Now Hipper's flagship was less than 45 nautical miles away from Betty, and neither could see the other, and the cruisers of the two fleets on search missions were also 18 nautical miles apart, and the opponent could not be seen because of the light fog that had risen from the sea.

At this moment, due to the overheating of the steam engine, the "Fjord" urgently added coal to the boiler to cool down, which caused an unusually thick black column of smoke from the ship's chimney, which was very conspicuous on the sea surface. The German cruiser "Elpin" was the first to spot the cargo ship, and it ordered two torpedo boats, B109 and B110, to intercept and inspect it.

At this time, the British cruiser "Galatea" also discovered an anomaly on the sea, so Brigadier Sinclair, the commander of Betty's First Cruiser, also ordered his own ship to inspect the situation. The freighter "Fjord" was being intercepted by two German destroyers, and at 2:20 a.m., the "Galatea" gave the signal: "The enemy has been found!" Probably, two enemy cruisers were intercepting the cargo ship in a south-southeast direction, at a distance of 8 nautical miles. ”

At the same time, the German destroyers also spotted the "Galatea" and retreated on one side, and signaled the "Elpin" on the other, reporting on what had been found. Rear Admiral Potick, commander of the 2nd German reconnaissance detachment on the "Frankfurt", was taken aback when he received a light signal from the "Elpin", which, due to a misinterpretation, was: 164 in the north-east direction, enemy ships were found, 24-26 battleships!

Fortunately, 5 minutes later "Elpin" again continued to report the situation by radio: "164 degrees to the left, two enemy cruisers were found!" ”

Rear Admiral Potick calmed down the violent fluctuations caused by the excessive fright, and ordered the fleet to sail in the direction of the enemy, continuing to find out the situation, while reporting the latest discoveries to Vice Admiral Hipper.

The battle alarm sounded, and the well-trained German sailors quickly ran from the cabin to their combat positions, and began to operate at high speed like a sophisticated machine. "Elpin" spotted the "Galatea", which was chasing the B109 and B110 torpedo boats at high speed, and the British cruiser, with a huge splash of waves in the bow and fire from the front main guns, was rushing towards the German cruiser detachment at a high speed of 28 knots.

"I think-it-is-a battle-column-cruiser-ship!" The signalman on the "Frankfurt" was reading the light signals from the "Elpin" word by word, and Rear Admiral Potick was holding a telescope and had been observing the enemy ship, which did not look like a battle cruiser, and then another warship appeared in sight, which was the British cruiser "Fetton" that had arrived in a hurry.

"That's just a cruiser for the British!" The rear admiral said, and then he ordered: "All ships are ready for battle!" ”

A fierce artillery battle ensued between the cruisers of both sides, and two cruisers of the British 2nd Cruiser Fleet led by Commodore Goodnow joined in, 4 against 4, and the two sides were evenly matched.

Behind them, the commanders of both sides, on the flagships, anxiously awaited the latest news from the cruiser on where, in what quantities and in size the main forces of the enemy were. It is a pity that the commanders of the two cruiser fleets were only concerned with fighting each other, and forgot their main duty - to reconnoiter the situation of the enemy's main fleet.

Vice Admiral Hipper was standing in the war room of the "Luzzo", and the staff officers were laying out the position of the British fleet on the chart table based on the information sent back by the reconnaissance fleet. His eight battle cruisers lined up in a battle formation and headed west. The telegram sent back by the "Elpin" said that the enemy's main forces were ahead, and he ordered the fleet to turn to the southwest to meet his cruiser.

Hippert looked through the porthole at the two main turrets on the front deck, the main guns of the "De Fllinger" class battle cruisers were the same as those of the Austro-Hungarian "Radetzky" class, with four 330 mm main gun towers arranged in front and rear 3-2, and now the five 330 mm heavy guns had been adjusted to almost the maximum elevation angle.

The Elpin could already be seen in battle through the telescope, but judging by the splashed water column, it was only some medium-caliber shells.

"General, report back from 'Frankfurt' that they are exchanging fire with four enemy cruisers!" Rear Admiral Potick promptly reported the correct situation, and Hipper, judging that Betty's fleet was behind them, changed his order again: "Order the fleet to turn to the northwest and move at full speed!" ”

As a result, his fleet was again converted into a single column, with two "De Fllinger" class battle cruisers in front, "Seydlitz" behind them, followed by two Austro-Hungarian battle cruisers under the command of Vice Admiral Wilennik, and "Moltke" and "von Fried" in the rear. Morality. Tann", the whole fleet pounced on the cruiser of the British at a high speed of 25 knots.

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