For Spee, his initiative was undoubtedly a crucial event related to the survival of the fleet and even whether the German Far East strategy could be carried out smoothly. If he wins, it is better to say, and once his main fleet is destroyed in the battle, not only will the Allies have complete control of the surface and sea power, but the thousands of kilometers of coastline of the Philippines will also show a state of open doors and landing.

In order to plan this attack, Spee made careful preparations in advance. According to the report sent back by the U-13 submarine, the staff officer first roughly determined the possible position of the British fleet; Shi Pei then summoned several other submarines and the "Dresden" light cruiser to reconnoiter and make sure that there would be no other strong Allied fleet blocking his way in the way of retreat. At present, in addition to several other British battleships and cruisers, a strong fleet is also stationed in the French Cam Ranh Bay across the sea from the Philippines: more than a month after the start of the war, two Russian cruisers have already moved south from Vladivostok to join forces with the French. Although none of these ships are the opponents of the German Shane-class, if they show up when they should not be there, it will also be extremely detrimental to the combat operations of the matching!

To Spee's gratification, he had never allowed Sister Shane to venture deep into the ocean; Rather, it has always been cruising in the offshore area with a steady attitude; Although the Allied fleet hated these two German ships to the core, it did not risk being attacked by German submarines to organize any large-scale encirclement and annihilation that was difficult to schedule. In fact, in the absence of British battleships, the weak French and Russian fleets were obviously unwilling to be cannon fodder to intercept the German fleet. Once the other side escapes, the Franco-Russian fleet, which has only a few old-style patrols, will also be worried about the 12 11-inch cannons that the other side has.

In the early morning of June 23, Shi Pei arrived off the coast of Malaysia. The search for the target fleet began. It was the first time since the start of the war that he had brought these two valuable cruisers to an area so far from his base. Although he did not have a report on the whereabouts of the other two British battleships, Spee was very sure that the other side would not appear in the vicinity. This is because in the case of the task of searching for the attack ship, in order to expand the search area, it is impossible for the two detachments to be very close to each other. Not to mention the lineup of 1 battleship, 2 large armored cruisers and 2 protective cruisers, which was absolutely powerful for the German fleet, and if it were not for the order of the Admiralty in Berlin, Spee would not have provoked at all. How could the British engage in a senseless act of joining forces in such a situation?

The sea breeze is blowing and the waves are swaying. The two German ships mounted one after the other, and launched a search for the enemy in the target sea area at a speed of 16 knots. Although the economical cruising speed of the ships in this class is 10 knots and they have an excellent range of 8,000 nautical miles at this speed, it is clear that now is not the time to save fuel. After a morning of deliberate searching, the German lookouts finally saw a faint cloud of black smoke in the far southwest; Against the backdrop of blue sky and white clouds. It seems quite clear and abrupt.

From the towering tower of the Scharnhorst, Speeth looked at the sudden black clouds in the distant sky. The thin face showed a little complicated. It seems to be anticipating, it seems to be excited, it seems to be worried, and it seems to be hesitant. According to the information he had, the British search fleet was near this sea area, and with the current position of his own, the probability that this wisp of soot was generated by the British fleet exceeded seventy percent!

Spee looked down at the watch on his arm, one long and one short, pointing to 11 o'clock in the afternoon. The orange-red sun hung in the southerly position of the middle sky, dazzling; The sky is high and the clouds are light. You can clearly see things more than 20 kilometers away. Seeing that the weather was so good, Shi Pei's somewhat uneasy heart regained its calm. As soon as there are signs of defeat on their side, they will order the fleet to turn and withdraw, and the visibility is so good at the moment. It will undoubtedly allow the lookout on the mast to give timely warning, so that he can avoid the dilemma of being intercepted. After the power modification in 1909, the two Shane cruisers with steam turbines were replaced, and they could reach a speed of 22 knots with an output of 23,000 horsepower; As long as you want to walk, it is difficult for the British dreadnought to keep his own with a maximum speed of only 18 knots.

As the battleship sailed, the faint wisps of soot in the distance became thicker and clearer; Fifteen minutes later, something strange finally happened on the blue sea. Five small gray dots suddenly appeared at the junction of the sea and the sky, as disgusting as rat droppings on a sapphire. After a short while, the voice of a mast lookout suddenly came from the overhead of Spee, and he could already conclude that it was a British combat ship!

"Order, the fleet immediately sounded the first-level battle alarm!" Spee took a deep breath and said loudly.

The alarm bell roared sharply, penetrating every corner of the battleship; Hundreds of German sailors began to run quickly across decks, aisles, and gangways to their intended positions. Within five minutes, the dense and rapid grinding of leather boots had disappeared from Spee's ears, leaving only the blowing sea breeze and the howling alarm bells. Spee's heart moved, and he turned his head to look, but saw that the "Gneisenau" not far behind had also completed its combat preparations: the huge main turret began to rotate slowly under the drive of the motor, and its calm and solid majestic shape made every German sailor feel excited and full of confidence. By this time, the outlines of those ships had gradually emerged: without the need for lookouts to identify them, Spees himself could recognize that this was exactly the British fleet he was looking for!

At the same time that Spee spotted enemy tracks, the British also saw the German fleet at the end of the sea. Contrary to what was expected, the German battleships that appeared this time were not the "Dresden" light cruisers fighting in the South China Sea, but two Scharnhorst-class cruisers with two chimneys and three main turrets! Mournful sirens began to sound over the entire British fleet.

Twenty kilometers away, British Rear Admiral Chris put down the telescope in his hand, and his face was full of irrepressible surprise at the moment. In the past month or so, these two evil German patrols have frequently appeared in the South China Sea, although the other side is like a tiger in the mountains, and has not adopted a very aggressive strategy, but it has also greatly restrained the actions and forces of the British Far East Fleet.

Under the deterrence of these two heavy artillery patrols, the British fleet had to be equipped with enough warships for every sortie. The consequence of this was that the British fleet could only take care of a single point, and could not cover the entire South China Sea at all. The German pirate light cruiser thus became like a fish in water in these seas, calmly avoiding the patrols of its own fleet, stirring up the sea routes, and severely affecting the normal blood transfusion from Japan, South China, and Vietnam to the British mainland.

For this reason, the British Far East Fleet planned several rounds up to round up two German ships, but all of them failed under the cautious command of Spee. The British fleet did not want to get rid of these two German ships, and then they were ready to patrol as soon as possible. And at present, the Germans, who he has been looking for countless times but can't find them, actually sent them to the door by himself, how can this not make Major General Chris excited and surprised?

The battle had not yet begun, but Major General Chris was convinced that he had won the battle. The battleship "Grudge" and the two armored cruisers "Minotaur" and "Shannon" in his hands were slightly better than the Scharnhorst-class with a standard displacement of 13,000 tons in terms of tonnage.

With a standing displacement of 14,500 tonnes and a full load displacement of 15,800 tonnes, the Vaunted battleship, commissioned in 1899, was able to run at 18 knots with an output of 15,000 horsepower. In terms of firepower, it was equipped with the usual armament of British former dreadnought battleships: two twin 305 mm L40 main guns at the bow and stern, and 12 152 mm secondary guns and 16 76 mm rapid-fire guns on both sides. The ship also has four 450mm underwater torpedo tubes, which can be described as comprehensive, but in the current capital ship showdown, this shorter-range weapon has no longer a chance to be useful.

In terms of protection, the "Grudge" is actually a quality full of conscience in the industry. Its main armor was not only 229 mm (9 in) thick, but also a considerable 3.66 m (12 ft) high, which was in stark contrast to the British later dreadnoughts, super-dreadnoughts, which played paper, and the height of the main armor belt was strict and short. On the gun profile above the main armor, there is also a 6-inch thick armor to protect the safety of the secondary gun; Even if it is placed at present, it can effectively withstand the blow of the second main gun of the former dreadnought.

In the field of horizontal protection, the "Grudge", which was commissioned in 1901, also has the strength to be fearless or even super dauntless than its own country. With a sloping dome of 76 mm (3 in) thick and a main deck of 63.5 mm (2.5 in) thick, this protection was a perfectly satisfying number even in 1913, when the Great War broke out. In addition, the ship's 300 mm thick main turret frontal armor, 250 mm main gun mount, and 350 mm command tower protection have made the super dreadnought juniors who built ten years later embarrassed!

In fact, although the tonnage utilization rate of British ships in the pre-dreadnought era was not small compared with that of Italy in the same period; But because the Royal Navy was not bad for money back then? The attribute of the local tyrant is still a simple and crude way to increase the tonnage, and the warship with remarkable performance in all aspects was built at that time. (To be continued......)

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