The blue waves are rushing, and the coal fog covers the sky.

Fierce winds howled in the sea, blowing the wide banners of St. George and the Black Vultures. One after another, the giant ships split through the waves, like armored and sharp Templar dragoons, marching towards the battlefield in a neat queue. They are the display of the two world-class empires that led the electrical industrial revolution, and the bearer of the desire of hundreds of millions of people in the two countries for the vast ocean. And the extremely splendid fireworks that bloomed in the annihilation collision will surely become the most shining light ripple of this century, and there is no one!

"It's a dream scene like a god war. When the mast of the D'Verblinger was about to disappear on the southern horizon, the former dreadnought battleship Caesar emerged in the far reaches of the north? The shadow of the Barbarossa. As far as the eye can see, there are mountains and mountains of steel hulls and thick artillery groups as dense as jungles, and they are the perfect crystallization of Germany's incomparable industrial power! Our torpedo boats were already thunderous and jubilant, and all the officers and men were shouting and jumping at the shocking power displayed by the Empire; Captain Kaye, the old captain of Yan Sù, was even more excited at the moment to hide his face and weep, perhaps he who had experienced the entire Tirpitz era in the navy could understand better than us how many ups and downs this high seas fleet had gone through along the way. A young German naval soldier recorded what was happening on the S13 torpedo boat.

On the Frederick the Great, Ingnorr straightened his dark black double-breasted general's uniform, and the staff officers around him couldn't help but start checking their appearance. The intention is to meet the peak moment with the most perfect attitude. Such a majestic and complete battle column. It is estimated that it will be difficult to have a second time in the future. Flags of all colors and shapes began to rise on the masts of each capital battleship. Countless blessings and longing flags overlapped. Kailanga, a military correspondent from Vienna, was allowed to set up a camera on the rear bridge of the De Fringel, and in a flash of light, the 19-kilometer-long battle line of the German High Seas Fleet was permanently frozen.

Caesar, Catherine, King Albert, Louitpold, Frederick the Great, Palatinate, and Saarland, the seven most elite Emperor (Caesar means Emperor in German) class super dreadnoughts, are now closely following the six battle cruisers of the reconnaissance fleet, leading the lead in the main fleet. On the steel body with a standard displacement of 20,350 tons, eight long and majestic 350mm L42.4 heavy guns reflect a breathtaking cold light. In terms of protection. The large 320 mm thick main armor belt, and two layers of horizontal armor totaling 80 mm, laid a solid foundation for its survival on the brutal battle line; At present, they are the brightest blades in the entire German High Seas Fleet!

After the 7 Caesar-class ships of the 2nd Battleship Squadron, 8 battleships that were almost identical in appearance broke the waves; On the towering mast, the command flag of Vice Admiral Ronce, commander of the 1st Battleship Squadron, honked in the sea breeze. Helgoland, Osterfrisland, Thuringia, Oldenburg, Nassau, Westphalia, Rhineland, Posen, the majestic battleships of the main forces of the German High Seas Fleet made the officers and men on the torpedo boats next to them excited. The two stages of ship, which were built in 1906 and 1907, respectively, had almost exactly the same number of bases: a standard displacement of 19,700 tons and a maximum speed of 21 knots. The ship is armed with 2 triple and 2 twin Skoda 305 mm L42.7 guns, the thickness of the main armor belt and core deck is 300 mm and 75 mm, respectively.

At the beginning, in order to achieve mass construction and reduce the cost. The German Navy directly followed the design of the Nassau class when building the Helgoland class, with only minor improvements in the depth of mine protection and the structure of the internal compartments. Under the changes of Qingying, these 8 warships have already changed the extreme cheats in history and become excellent ships with a balanced attack and defense; Even at the end of August 1913, these guys, who could concentrate a salvo of all 10 guns on a single side, were still the backbone of the world's top naval powers.

Germany, Hanover, Silesia, Pomerania, Bismarck, Moltke, Long, Frederick, and then 8 battleships formed Vice Admiral Schmidt's 3rd Battleship Squadron. The 4 German class is the first class of all-heavy gun dreadnoughts built by Germany in 1903~1905, with a standard displacement of 17,000 tons, a maximum speed of 20.3 knots, and 5 twin 283 mm L47 main guns, of which 3 main turrets are carried on the central axis of the long bow hull in the front 1 and 2 in the rear, and the other 2 main turrets are arranged diagonally on the side of the amidships. The entire ship's firepower can also be fired at the same side. Although the 280 mm broadside main equipment and 65 mm level are slightly inferior to those of their predecessors, they still have the capital to hold their heads high in the face of the British low-performance armor-piercing shells.

4 Bismarck-class ships were started in 1900~1901 under the name of armored cruisers, and the initial armament was 2 twin 283 mm L42 main guns and 2 twin 450 mm combat torpedo towers; In 1911, when the torpedo tower was dismantled and the space reserved for it was replaced with two twin turrets with the same head and stern, the class was upgraded from a cruiser to a dreadnought. After completing the transformation, they maintained the original standard displacement of 14,200 tons, but their firepower was increased from 4 283 mm guns to 8 283 mm guns in one fell swoop; Coupled with its not weak discharging kinetic energy and rate of fire of 2 rounds per minute, it completely gained the firepower of the frontal rivalry of the original British dreadnoughts. In terms of protection, they were originally born for the decisive battle, they have a 3.5-meter-high 250 mm main armor and a total thickness of 65 mm horizontal armor, and the defense of the core cabin is not inferior to the historical von der Tann, and even slightly better than the original British dreadnought! Thanks to proper maintenance, these ships, which have been in service for seven or eight years, are still capable of running at a design speed of 20 knots at this moment.

In addition to these 29 world-class dreadnoughts, there are 12 second-class warships following unhurriedly in the rear of this German column, which stretches almost the entire sea surface view. The 4 ships of Adalport, Louis, Hansa and Prince Heinrich started construction in 1897~1899, and their decisive battle concept, armor protection and speed were no different from the later Bismarck class, the difference was only in the number of main guns and tonnage. The first 3 ships have a standard displacement of 13,000 tons and 6 283-mm guns; Prince Heinrich had 11500 tons and 4 main guns. After entering the era of dreadnoughts, they have all undergone a comprehensive upgrade of the fire control system, and at present, except for the Prince Heinrich who is difficult to do due to the inherent disadvantage of the number of main guns, the other three Adalport-class ships have shown satisfactory accuracy in daily gunpowder training.

At the end of the entire German battle line, Lieutenant General Gleper commanded by Lieutenant General Wicchersbach, Wiettin, Zahringen, Swabian, Mecklenburg, Hesse, Caesar? Frederick III, Caesar? Barbarossa: 8 former dreadnoughts. Among them, the first 6 Wiecchersbach class ships were started in 1896~1899, with a standard displacement of 13,200 tons, a speed of 18 knots, and three twin 283 mm L42 main guns; The latter two ships are the oldest of the High Seas Fleet, comparable in tonnage and firepower to six decrepit 283mm L37s. With the participation of Qing Ying, these ships not only had far superior firepower than the same period in history, but the armored defense was also completely formulated according to the standards of the decisive battle of dreadnoughts; As long as the damage is properly managed, they will be ideal cannon fodder for the main fleet to share the shells.

Because the battle line of the German High Seas Fleet was so long that the ships in the rear could barely see the figure of the general flagship, but could not distinguish the flag it had unfurled; Under this circumstance, four Gazelle-class protective cruisers, which were built in 1898~1900, took on the mission of signal relay. For a 20.5-knot slow cruiser with a displacement of only 2,800 tons, this is already the best stage for them to use their residual heat.

Fifteen nautical miles away, the length of the battle line stretched out the length of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, which was nearly 23 kilometers long, and was also transmitting messages from the flagship with light cruisers. Jericho, who had just recovered from the miraculous sights of his own fleet, soon discovered the problem of the reduced command efficiency caused by the oversize of the fleet. The efficiency of the British light patrol, which had never been trained in signal relay transmission, was obviously not comparable to that of its German counterpart, which had found its own position from the beginning; After the flagship's command, it took fifteen minutes for the former intrepid detachment at the end of the queue to comprehend.

However, for Jericho, the biggest artificial obstacle to his attack had been crossed - the cost of the Royal Navy's loss of three battle cruisers was too great, but it allowed him to successfully bring together the three home fleets in a series of maneuvering games and launch a breathtaking decisive battle formation. The 15 super-dreadnoughts of the HMS Ireland, armed with 8 356mm L45 guns, 6 George V-class and 4 Orion-class with 10 343mm L45 guns, and 4 Giant-class with 8 343mm guns, form the core of the Royal Navy's strike. And 3 St. Vincent, 6 Bellerophon and 1 Dreadnought, although they can only exert 8 305mm firepower on the single side, their strength is definitely not to be underestimated. The 18 ex-dreadnoughts were all armed with four 305 mm guns, eight of which were Edward VII and two Nelson, with two and five 234 mm secondary guns respectively. Jericho also has reason to expect that he will be able to achieve no less feats on the Trafalgar than his predecessors. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the reward of zhouyu1976~~