"Urgent! A large number of enemy warships appeared in the sea area in the direction of 82, heading to the southwest at a distance of 12 nautical miles! ”

At 9:51 a.m., the "Defense", which had just received a reconnaissance order from Jericho and sailed at a speed of 23 knots for about 20 minutes, suddenly spotted a large black cloud as thick as ink in the north-east. Shortly after the commander of the squadron, Rear Admiral Abbasnot, directed the battleship to turn towards the target area, he was stunned by the terrifying scene that appeared in front of him. I saw a forest of masts and chimneys suddenly rise above the sea level, and the billowing and gushing plumes of smoke were enough to make the indigenous Africans who believed that the more chimneys the more truth, lost any courage to resist; It is flanked by countless light ships, like a swarm of bees around the nest!

Just a minute later, the telegram was transmitted by radio waves to the flagship Trafalgar, where it was printed and presented to Jericho's eyes. Jericho was in agony at the news of the sinking of the Invincible, and when he read the telegram, his face was already full of anger and horror. The Germans acted as he expected, and the high seas fleet was patrolling behind the reconnaissance force not far from it; And judging from their current position and course, they will collide head-on with the main force of the Grand Fleet in less than an hour!

"God bless Britain, we have obtained vital battlefield information before the Germans." Chief Jerry exhaled, the anger on his face fading, and his words regained their former calmness and peace. The current Grand Fleet can be described as a wounded army, and it is not at all in the ideal situation; Once let the Germans seize the T-shaped advantage. It would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to his fleet. And at present, with the location of the German fleet already known to him, the situation of the Grand Fleet loading the opponent's battle line without knowing it has been reduced to an almost impossible probability.

Is it possible to grab the T-shaped head of the High Seas Fleet? A thought crossed Jericho's mind. As a recognized gunnery expert in the Royal Navy, Jericho had a profound knowledge of battleship group operations, and at the beginning of his tenure as commander of the Grand Fleet, he compiled a 70-page battle code and distributed it to the commanders of each detachment, almost all of which were about how to deploy ships in their favor in various combat conditions, and to carry out the most fierce blows against the enemy with all artillery fire. Under normal circumstances, Jericho could have commanded the 25 battleships of the Grand Fleet as an arm, but at present. However, he found that he could no longer defend himself against the enemy as he expected.

Current. Nine battleships in the Grand Fleet all had stalls of different ranges, and the Orion was even more miserable; This not only greatly affects the battlefield mobility of the fleet itself, but also greatly delays the time for the fleet to launch the battle formation. And with both sides entering the battlefield, every minute of lag. It may lead to unpredictable consequences! If the risk is magnified by blindly pursuing favorable results. Then it is entirely possible that the fleet will not only not be able to reach the predetermined area. The speed at which the battle formation unfolds is also frustrating; Whether the Germans seized the opportunity to slam the blow or retreated when the situation was not good, it was absolutely unacceptable for the British fleet.

In addition to this, the unexpected defeat of Betty's fleet. It also makes Jellico have to devote some of his energy to taking care of and supporting. As of now, only 6 battle cruisers remain in Betty's fleet, and a staggering one-third of the capital ships have sunk; Even if they reported heavy damage to an enemy Blucher-class battle cruiser and torpedoed the Sedlitz to serious damage, it was 9 to 7 that Jericho couldn't help but be shocked!

If he now ordered the fleet to turn left and open the battle line to meet the main German fleet, the distance between the large ships and the fast fleet would be greatly widened, and with Betty's current strength, it was very likely that he would not be able to resist the attack of the opposing reconnaissance fleet. As soon as the Grand Fleet was unable to obtain the perfect T-shaped head against the German fleet because of the wounded soldiers, the meastic advantage that the Royal Navy had over the High Seas Fleet would collapse like a house made of cards by the complete defeat of the Fast Fleet. After all, in less than 40 minutes before, the Royal Navy sank 3 battle cruisers one after another, and this was all fought with the advantage of forces; Now that you're outnumbered, there's no way Jericho can afford to sit idly by!

"Immediately send a telegram to Betty about the situation here, and tell him to stop entangled with the German battle patrols, and immediately leave the battlefield and move closer to the Grand Fleet! A telegram was also sent to the Strait Fleet, telling it to turn two compass points to the right and reduce its speed to 11 knots. Using his left hand to manipulate the pencil and ruler, Jellico drew a large number of standard lines on the chart in front of him in a short time, and immediately gave the order to the adjutant in a loud voice. He paused, and then said: "Order, the fleet will keep the current 167 direction unchanged and start the battle queue in accordance with Regulation No. 17!" ”

With Jellico's order, a full 80 British ships in this area of the sea began to move in a hurry. The 5th and 6th battleship detachments began to slow down, and the amount of soot gushing out of the chimneys decreased significantly; On the other hand, the 1st and 2nd battleship detachments were rushing to the front of the fleet. The speed and output of each battleship were different, and the originally tight rectangular array was suddenly broken. On the periphery of the main fleet, the cannon fodder of the three destroyer squadrons of as many as 55 ships also began to change formation, changing from the normal numeral cruising formation to a broad row. From a bird's-eye view, the waves splashed across the sea, and the wakes of different lengths and widths staggered and surged, and all the British warships were doing their jobs in an orderly manner. After a short time, the Grand Fleet gradually formed the prototype of the battle queue in an orderly maneuver, although it was not yet fully formed, but the majestic power contained in it was already sharp, and it was almost ready to rush out of the sky.

――――――――――――――

"The British finally couldn't hold on." Looking at the dense artificial smoke gradually wafting in the distance, Hipperle spat out the burned cigar in his mouth, and the expression on his face was complicated, and he didn't know whether it was disdain, joy, or regret. The explosion of the Invincible seemed to be the last straw that crushed them, and the British destroyer was releasing a smoke screen for its capital ship, which must have been a precursor to the preparation for the evacuation. Because the artificial smoke not only isolates the other party's line of sight, but also makes the gunfire ranging of their own ships a delusion; And what commander who wants to be aggressive would choose to fight with the other side blindfolded?

"General, the Blucher has been signaled that its steering gear has been completely stuck, and it must not be repaired until it returns to its home port. Although the auxiliary rudder was partially troubled after the emergency repair, it could only rotate in the range of less than 40 degrees, and the battleship was no longer able to follow the fleet for normal turning. A staff officer walked into the tower and said to Hipper, "It asks to withdraw from the battle and return to Wilhelmshaven for renovations." ”

Hipper turned his head to look and saw that the battleship was in flames, and the hull was recognizable to the naked eye, and it seemed to have been poured into a lot of seawater. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Let the two torpedo boats escort it back." They were also signaled to cross the North Sea eastward, and then south to the Norwegian coastline, so that they would not be stopped by the British Grand Fleet and the Channel Fleet. ”

Hearing Hipper's words, the major chief of staff on the side, Erich? Raeder seemed to think of something suddenly, and said in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, Vice Admiral, we may have spent a little too much time on the British Fast Fleet. Although we won the victory of sinking the three main battle cruisers, after all, the British Grand Fleet was the core target of our mission, and so far, the location of those big guys is still unknown. Should we abandon the pursuit of the British Rapid Fleet in front of us and instead reconnoiter the tracks of the British Grand Fleet? ”

Hipper's eyes flashed, and he said slowly: "Not bad." At the moment, we are close to 20 nautical miles away from the intended sea, and it is true that we have fought too deep. Luckily it took us only 40 minutes to achieve a decisive victory, otherwise the British main fleet would have been able to strike us a fatal blow in the middle of the battle. ”

In the bitter sea breeze and rolling waves, the warships of the German reconnaissance fleet began to turn; The damage control troops and ordinary sailors repaired the damaged parts of the previous battle, and talked excitedly about the hearty victory just now. Infected by this atmosphere, Hipper's mood also became relaxed, and he began to enjoy a mellow cup of warm coffee. However, after a short time, the signaling officer, Major Stein, ran quickly into the conning tower, and said loudly to Hipper, holding a telegram: "General, Frederick the Great has sent news that four British armored cruisers have appeared at a distance of 220 nautical miles from the main fleet, and the British Grand Fleet is most likely not far from the main force of the high seas fleet. Your Excellency, Commander, let us immediately go to 30 nautical miles west of the main force to conduct reconnaissance, and strictly guard against the possible robbery of the British Grand Fleet! ”

Hipper was suddenly startled when he heard this, and he didn't even notice that the coffee in his hand had spilled on his military uniform. He immediately said loudly: "Send a signal to Berdick and ask him to lead three Magdeburg-class light cruisers to a 40-degree direction at full speed!" ”

The sea breeze was howling, the waves were crashing, and looking at the high-speed light patrol that was gone, Hipper's heart not only had a trace of anxiety that could not wait. The weather was still raging, making it impossible for him to send seaplanes to reconnoitre, and the previous engagement with the British Warrangers had taken so much time that the expected absolute reconnaissance advantage had turned into the current overstretched situation. He now only hopes that the British Grand Fleet will not appear in the most dangerous place, otherwise every Qiē that the German Navy has won so far will be spit out with interest! (To be continued......)

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