"Your Excellency, the sky is clear." An adjutant walked into the Trafalgar's command tower and spoke to Jericho in front of him. Jericho nodded slightly, and raised his eyes to stare away at the distant sky. As evening approached, the billowing black clouds that had gathered in the sky finally began to dissipate; Wisps of golden glow poured obliquely from the gaps in the clouds and mist, illuminating the surface of the mighty North Sea with sparkling water.

Jericho's eyes flickered, and the cloud of anxiety that hung over his face finally dissipated somewhat. At present, our fleet is heading to the southwest, just in time to blend the shadow of the ship into this brilliant glow piercing through the clouds; The sight of the gunners of the German battleships pursuing in the rear was bound to be dazzled by this cloud. By this time, the howling wind on the sea had gradually subsided, and the waves were not as violent and dense as they had been a few hours ago. According to Jellico's many years of experience, there is a high probability that there will be a large area of misty fog in the North Sea in the evening of the autumn moon; And once the fog rises, the visibility at sea drops sharply below 9,000 meters. At that time, the German fleet would not dare to pursue under the threat of suddenly increasing torpedoes and broken mines, while our own fleet could calmly maneuver to the Roseth base in the middle of the main British island.

"The order was given, and the ships released smoke again; The fleet turned one compass point to the right, and the 5th Destroyer Fleet dropped mines to block further German pursuit. Jericho stared at the fluttering St. George's naval flag on the bow for a moment, then gave another order. At present, the fluttering of the battle flag has slowed down considerably, and the smoke generators on the British battleships are finally able to play their role effectively.

"Boom ......" yellow smoke suddenly rose. Lingering and diffuse; It was different from the original turn of the Grand Fleet. The smoke was not blown away quickly. Instead, they stubbornly stayed in this sea area, insisting on chasing the waves. The German rangefinder's line of sight was originally disturbed by the glow of the western sky, and the smoke released by the British fleet blocked it, and they lost their targets in a short time. The large-caliber artillery thundered and roared, but the result was only a surging rolling wave; After a while, all the German battleships from the Kaiser back stopped firing.

Inside the command tower of the Frederick the Great, Ingnoll was squinting at the distant scene. The current situation on the battlefield is no longer suitable for an effective strike by naval artillery, and if torpedo boats are sent to carry out an attack. The glaring Western flash will also be a decisive reason for limiting the accuracy of torpedo firing. Although it is true that these five or six hundred ton warships are cannon fodder, it is impossible that any commander will let them die in vain; Under the double blow of the British main fleet and the frigate group that had the advantage in terms of number and tonnage, these battleships running naked could be called fatless than paper, and it would be difficult to have considerable results if they forcibly attacked.

While he was pondering, a herald hurried into the command tower and reported to him that Hipper had been seriously wounded and unconscious, and that the fast fleet had retreated. Ingnoll's eyes flashed with astonishment, and then he regained his calm and composedness. The fast fleet of the German Navy was still not strong enough, and compared to the main force of the opposing battlefleet, it was undoubtedly the difference between the mammoth and the foal; Although they defeated their opponents with a near-perfect victory, they were unable to assist the main fleet in the final blow.

Ingnoll turned to look, and a line of sea causeways formed by steel ship islands suddenly swooped into his eyes. The German battleships were littered with blackened and rolled blast wounds. Some of the battleships even had open flames and smoke churning and drumming. The situation is the most wolf bèi are 4 Bismarck-class really? In the decisive battle, they carried it for more than an hour under the gunfire of four British genuine dreadnoughts. Although its core module withstood the severe test of artillery fire, its superstructure and the light armor parts of the nose and tail were horribly bombed, and it was in urgent need of a complete restoration when returning to port. When the ships reported their damage to the flagship, Ingnorr found that the combat effectiveness of his fleet had also dropped considerably; The physical strength of the sailors was also depleted in the high-intensity head-on collision just now, and it was all thanks to a belief that they were able to get out of the tense combat state at all times.

"The fleet turned one compass point to the left, and the speed was reduced to 14 knots." Ingnoll took a deep breath and gave the order to retreat. The surrounding staff adjutants had different expressions, and many expressions of surprise, joy, and incomprehension were revealed on their faces; However, without exception, it is like a relief after a marathon run and a green rest. Since August 14, they have left Wilhelmshaven and sailed into the familiar North Sea, and now that a full ten days have passed, it is time for them to prepare to return after many days of drifting at sea.

The herald quickly ran out of the conning tower and carried the command to the information room and telegraph cabin, where a row of flags of different shapes was raised on the signal line, and the oncoming sea breeze flew in the hunt. On the platform near the mast, the signal soldier is holding a wide wooden plank of more than one square meter, rhythmically blocking the front of the high-power illuminated signal light with a unique time frequency. In the open but small telegraph room, the orders of the fleet commander were transmitted to the ships of the commanders of the rear detachments through the telegram signals compiled by Guò. When the chimneys and masts of the British Grand Fleet had disappeared from the sea, the German fleet began to change formations in an orderly manner, and a long line of battle began to gradually become several small sections.

The waves are rolling, the clouds are dancing, and the sunset exudes an intoxicating golden glow.

At the top of the bridge of the battleship Trafalgar, Jericho stood quietly with his back against the mast; An indescribable sour pain broke out of his heart, and then became more and more intense, and finally it was as if he was choked by an invisible hand, and the pain made him unable to breathe. In the previous battles, Jericho, who was engaged in tense battlefield games at all times, had no time to break his heart for those sunken battleships; And when the enemy was gone and the fleet was safe, recalling the explosions of his own capital ships on the battlefield before, Jericho's heart was like a pinprick, and he couldn't help but hold his hands tightly in his chest.

With a gentle breeze and the setting sun, the British Grand Fleet resumed its normal cruising formation, dragging a faint black coal cloud behind it. The spectacular formation of six columns and four rows of phalanxes a few hours ago had now become unrecognizable: seeing the incomplete formation of his own fleet, Jericho's heart was suffocated like a convulsion.

The First Battlefleet folded the Bold Super Dreadnought, and only 3 George V-class battleships were barely following the fleet; The Magnificent in the Third Battlefleet sank in a ship-wide explosion, and there were also only 3 capital ships left. The two super-dreadnought halberds of the Monarch and the Orion made the Second Battlefleet only three battleships left even after the replenishment of the Irish; The Fifth Battlefleet also lost 2 ships, the Hercules and the San Pario, and the lineup was directly reduced by half compared to when it went out!

Jerry's light turned, slowly sweeping towards the distant ships. The Fourth Battlefleet lost the Avantgarde, and the first major explosion in the British fleet is still fresh in Jericho's memory. The Sixth Battlefleet, which had been fighting smoothly on the battle line, faced the core capital ships of the Germans in the process of escaping and retreating, and the Cyclops and Gorgon were defeated one after another, becoming a member of the battleships sleeping in the depths of the sea. As a result, the entire battlefleet looked uneven, staggered, and the lack of lineups was shocking. The strong lineup of 15 super dreadnoughts and 10 dreadnoughts when the Grand Fleet set out on the expedition, at this moment there are only 10 super dreadnoughts and 6 dreadnoughts left, and the total number of battleships sunk has reached as many as 9!

Jellicoe originally thought that a large number of cannon fodder would sink before the fearless, but only the two Duncan-class ships, Cornwallis and Russell, were left behind by the Germans, and the rest of the ships miraculously followed behind the main fleet, without even slowing down. In fact, in addition to the slightly inferior protection of the Duncan class, both the Edward VII class and the Lord Nelson class have quite solid vertical defenses: the core cabin of the former is 229 mm main armor + large coal seam + 50 mm dome armor, and the thickest waterline of the latter even reaches 305 mm. Compared with these old dreadnoughts, the protection of the younger generations of British dreadnoughts can be described as extremely degenerate!

"Your Excellency, General Betty has been rescued safely, and is now in a coma in the cabin hospital of the Royal Princess." An adjutant climbed the straight ladder and shouted to Jericho, who was alone at the top of the navigation room. Jericho's body was shocked, and he suddenly turned around, his eyes showing a look of shock and surprise. After a while, however, he seemed to remember something, and the look of joy on his face faded in favor of a deeper pain.

Compared to the wounds of the main force of the Grand Fleet, the Rapid Fleet under Betty's command suffered a near-devastating blow. All 3 Invincible-class battlecruisers were sunk, 3 Indefatigable and 3 Lion class lost 2 of them each, and 7 battlecruisers were permanently removed from the Royal Navy's service list. The Royal Navy's fast fleet, which once dominated the world, now only has the only two remaining battle cruisers, the Royal Princess and the Australia.

According to preliminary calculations, the Royal Navy sank 16 capital ships one after another in less than 8 hours! Rao is Jericho was mentally prepared, and there were still bursts of intense vertigo in his mind. Looking at the slowly sinking sunset in front of him, a thought suddenly appeared in Jericho's heart: the red sun that has shone over Great Britain for more than 300 years will most likely be like the sunset in front of him, although it is still shining, but it will irretrievably go to twilight, and finally dim! (To be continued......)

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