The flames were raging and the waves were raging, and the German troops were braving the heat and poisonous gases produced by the combustion, and were engaged in a fierce battle with the vigorous flames. The loading explosives, which were mainly composed of picric acid, were still fierce after 20 years, causing severe damage to the ship's surface facilities and nearby personnel. A German sailor, lying in a pool of blood, was rushed to the ship's hospital, and the small space was filled with wounded soldiers; And the originally peaceful and fresh air was also filled with a strong smell of blood and medicine.

In the command tower of the Lützov, Millau listened solemnly to the report sent back by the damage control unit: the battleship was hit by a total of seven large-caliber shells, three sailors' quarters, chart rooms, seaplanes and other parts and facilities were completely blown up, and the battleship was flooded by 400 tons. The situation was similar for the Blücher in the rear, where the rear bridge had been completely engulfed in flames and smoke, and the rotation mechanism of one of the main turrets had been stuck, but the core compartment remained unharmed. Under the leadership of Qing Ying, the German main warships were designed and built in strict accordance with the theory of the immunization zone; As long as there are no bullets in the water and damage to the rudder propeller, the core compartment of the battleship will be Jinou forever!

"General, isn't it too risky for you to use only 4 torpedo boats to escort 2 battle cruisers?" Seeing that there was only a small group of sea light horsemen left around, Captain Hader of the Lützov could no longer hold back the anxiety in his heart, and suddenly said, "If the British take advantage of their auxiliary ships and send a large number of destroyers directly through the smoke screen, what can we use to resist these crazy dogs that are rushing quickly?" ”

"Colonel, we are indeed being calculated by the cunning British. However, you should not forget the purpose of our division of troops this time. That was to attract the British Grand Fleet, which had been shrinking into the harbor until now. Create a decisive opportunity for the High Seas Fleet to greatly weaken them! Millau turned around. A pair of eyes shone with determination and fierce flames, "If at the cost of the destruction of our bait, the inevitable conditions for the strength of the Great Fleet to be greatly weakened again, then this is definitely a business to do!" ”

Millau clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "At present, we have pulled out a smoke area that is large enough to cover the British observation. Unless the British are willing to give up the swan meat they have already eaten, they will surely send a large number of swift auxiliary ships through the smoke to take our main battle patrol and launch a torpedo attack. As a matter of fact. This is the only way the slow Grand Fleet can catch our fast fleet. However, this move is also a great opportunity for us to launch a counterattack! ”

"Our fleet has 2 battle cruisers and 15 torpedo boats, and a small number of destroyers is simply not enough to pose a threat to us. Therefore, the British will definitely send a sufficient number of light warships so that they can deliver a decisive blow to us. Millau took a deep breath, a fierce smile appeared on his face, and said hesitantly, "Now that these light ships have come to attack our battle cruisers, how many escort troops will the British battlefleet have left?" When the main lookout of the Lützov saw a large number of British destroyers appear, our torpedo boats, hidden in the smoke, would be able to take advantage of the situation. Launch a torpedo counterattack directly against the British Grand Fleet! ”

"As soon as we are able to achieve a hit on the enemy battleships, the overall speed of the British fleet will be greatly slowed down by the survival of the damaged ships. This is our best chance to create a degrading British Grand Fleet for the High Seas Fleet. In the previous pinnacle of the North Sea naval battle, Betty's flagship Lion was torpedoed and sunk, which proves that the underwater defense of British battleships is quite unsatisfactory, and I bet on the same structural system of British capital ships. Millau turned his head, stared at the vast sky and sea in the distance, and said lightly, "Compared to being able to damage or even sink British dreadnoughts in this open sea, what is the loss of my detachment?" As long as His Excellency Ingnorr rushes to this sea area at full speed and locates the British Grand Fleet with an underwater plane, our mission as a decoy will be completed!"

The sea breeze howls and the turbines roar. With the wave of the signal flag of the Lützov, the 11 torpedo boats that had been accompanying the battle patrol suddenly turned around and submerged into the dense smoke created by them behind them. The captains of the torpedo boats were instructed by their flagships not to return to their own squadron when they had successfully fired their torpedoes, but to the northeast to join the High Seas Fleet. With their speed, none of the ships in the British fleet could catch up and leave them behind. At the same time, the boiler power of the German War Cruiser also entered a state of strong pressure ventilation: the pitch-black viscous heavy oil was sprayed on the high-quality anthracite at a high temperature of nearly 1,000 degrees, and the coal was further burned completely in a violent reaction. A large amount of high-quality superheated steam passed through the guò pipe into the turbine turbine, and the turbine blades were frantically expanded, and the ship's output soon reached more than 130% of the rated power. Although he has already made up his mind to die as a decoy, it is better to delay the battle as far back as possible; If God favors, it is still unknown that these two battle cruisers can evade the lightning strike of the British destroyer with their own Ling Bo microstep at extreme speed.

"General, the destroyer of the British has appeared!" I don't know how long it took, but suddenly the roar of the lookout was heard in the intercom microphone. Millau was shocked in his heart, and an order to attack almost blurted out; However, he quickly calmed down and waited patiently for the exact number of British destroyers to come. When all the British destroyers broke out of the smoke and did not increase any more, his eyes suddenly froze, and he said lightly: "Then let's start." ”

17 kilometers away in the sea, Jericho was panting with the main force of the Grand Fleet at a speed of 21 knots. Due to the speed difference between the two sides, the distance between himself and the other party after the chase became farther and farther away. As for the strong defense of the German battle cruiser that was almost not defeated in the turn, Jericho, who had experienced a crushing defeat in the North Sea, had already predicted: the core of the decisive battle in his hands this time was not the slow battleship fleet, but the more than 40 fast destroyers that could generally exceed 29 knots under strong pressure and ventilation.

"If it weren't for the damn Betty who had lost so many battle cruisers that it would be difficult for the current fast fleet to take down even a German detachment, how could I have let the slow fleet do such a thing?" Looking at the reference white clouds that slowly drifted in the sky, Jericho's heart was full of regret and bitterness. Although he tried his best to catch a German fast fleet that was raging on the Atlantic route, due to the limitations of the battleship itself, it still seemed a little powerless in this kind of chase battle. Thankfully, the British Navy's next deliveries were completed and commissioned with Queen Elizabeth-class battleships designed to reach speeds of up to 25 knots; And with the imminent demise of the current two German battle cruisers, the extremely withered fast fleet will finally come back to life.

"General, Lieutenant Colonel Edda, commander of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron, sent a telegram: they had broken through the smoke screen, and the German fleet was less than 10,000 yards away from them (in imperial units, 1 yard equals 0.9144 meters), and had not changed course, but was still fleeing in the original direction at a speed of more than 25 knots. The German fleet had only 2 battle cruisers and 4 torpedo boats left, and the escort force was unprecedentedly weak, and they were absolutely sure that they would send the Germans to God with torpedoes! A staff officer ran briskly into the command tower and said to Jericho excitedly.

"4 torpedo boats?" Hearing the report of his subordinates, Jericho was greatly shocked, in the photo just now, the Germans also had fourteen or fifteen battleships, why are there only four torpedo boats left? He stood there for a moment, and suddenly his pupils suddenly contracted, and he said loudly: "It's not good, the Germans are going to launch a torpedo counter-assault with the help of smoke!" Order the 5th Destroyer Fleet to immediately enter the first level of combat readiness to escort the capital ships! ”

Before the words fell, the smoke in front of the British fleet suddenly began to roll and surge, and a small warship with a slender body suddenly broke through the fog; Then, a large number of ships of the same type appeared like fish jumping out of the sea, and the black vulture battle flag fluttering on the top of the mast was the German torpedo boat unit. They sped through the waves at a high speed of 34 knots to their British counterparts, and after a slight turn they struck the British Grand Fleet from the thorn slope; Even in the blood, fire and hell ahead, these German assassins, who used speed as their life and torpedo as their weapon, would not hesitate or fear!

"Damn it, cunning Germans!" Jericho's roar resounded throughout the Command Tower. At present, although he has successfully intercepted this German pirate who is roaming the Atlantic, the main force of the High Seas Fleet is still hidden in the fog of the battlefield and is not known; Therefore, despite the fact that the Speedy Fleet under the command of Thomas had been raising red cloth in the North Atlantic in the west of Scotland since this morning to attract hatred, Jericho, who had no idea of the location of the great enemy, decided to make a quick decision, and sent almost all the destroyers in order to kill the enemy with a single blow. However, this order, which had been made prudent, was now an omission in which the Germans were able to strike back.

With the help of smoke, the German torpedo boats were only discovered at a distance of 8,000 yards, and with the speed of the opponent's mines exceeding 34 knots, it only took 7 minutes to reach them! During this time, our fleet could only rely on a squadron of 8 destroyers to escort it. Who would have thought that in a desperate situation, the other party did not think about how to quickly retreat and delay time, but made such a desperate move to fight for his life!

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The sound of messy and dense artillery fire suddenly resounded throughout the sea and air. The British gunners, who were in a hurry, began to fire wildly at the sudden group of assassins. Just two minutes later, a German torpedo boat exploded into a brilliant red firework in a continuous burst of artillery fire. The remaining torpedo boats, however, were moving forward with the momentum of a thousand sails passing by the side of the sunken boat, like barracudas flying across the sea like lightning: as the sprint continued, the officers and men of the German torpedo boats could already clearly see the details of the British battleship...... (To be continued......)

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