While the swordfish were flying in the air, the Royal Navy finally got a chance, a chance to give full play to the thunderbolts and land-based aviation to inflict heavy damage on the opponent! "Let's hope these sailfish don't let us down." Looking at the Sailfish bombers lined up in a neat formation preparing to lower their altitude and launch a lightning strike, a British admiral said hopefully. To be honest, he was tired of the war. In this war, the British Royal Navy paid an unimaginable price, more than a dozen capital ships were sunk. Tens of thousands of outstanding naval officers and sailors died at the bottom of the sea for the glory of the British Empire. Even if it is victorious now, Britain's maritime supremacy has been fundamentally shaken, and both the United States and China in East Asia have the ability to prove that they will challenge Britain, which has lost too much blood. It's not that the size of the fleet, but that the attrition of the great war made it impossible for the British to maintain a fleet that was overwhelming!

"If these little things really make a merit, it means a new beginning, what we have been preparing for decades will be wasted, and naval warfare will be carried out in a whole new way. Battleships will eventually give way to these little ones flying in the air and carrying sharp blades. Jericho said with emotion. Maybe after this naval battle, we will all become obsolete antiques. ”

The British Navy has certain hopes for the Sailfish torpedo plane, not that they really have much research on aviation, but because the war has been fought so far, the British Royal Navy is running out of skills. The battle lasted for more than 2 hours, and their own losses were more than that of the other side, and the British had no way to retreat, and if they retreated, they would be on the island! Like a soldier who is riddled with illnesses. In the end, all the absurd methods are realistic, and this desire to survive makes the British want to try any tactic!

And at this moment, the German High Seas Fleet also encountered the most dangerous moment since its formation, and it lost everything by accident! In the face of simultaneous attacks from the air and from the sea. Scheer was also afraid, he did not dare to hard top, he could only open a certain distance before the British officially launched an attack, the whole fleet began to sail half a compass point to the left, and the distance between the fleets was also widened, so as to free up enough air force for the battleships to avoid lightning strikes, and Scheer invested all his escort warships at once. A handful of light cruisers with dozens of mine-striking ships sprang out of the gaps in the various detachments, among which there were even some battleships built in the pre-dreadnought period. A large number of Russian soldiers braved a hail of bullets and smoke to emerge from the cabins, searching for all the anti-lightning and anti-aircraft weapons they could find. 88MM ANTI-MINE GUNS, 37MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS, LARGE-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS, AND EVEN RIFLES WERE PUT TO GOOD USE, READY FOR THE BRITISH'S MOST FEROCIOUS BLOW!

The British did not let the Germans wait too long, and a large number of mine-striking ships rushed towards the German fleet more than ten kilometers away like light cavalry, and the sound of cannons, which had been silent for nearly half an hour, resounded throughout the sea again. THE ROAR OF THE 15-INCH AND 343MM CANNONS ON THE SUPER DREADNOUGHT WAS LIKE A CLARION CALL FOR A FINAL ATTACK. Nearly 100 tons of shells per minute flew towards the German High Seas Fleet, which was moving away in the distance, and dozens of mine-striking ships were organized into several waves and rushed towards the middle of the German battle line. In the air, more than a dozen sailfish torpedo planes that broke through the Luftwaffe interception gradually lowered their altitude and launched an attack on the opposite German fleet in a three-plane formation.

The entire British fleet and air force pressed towards the enemy on the opposite side like an angry dragon, and at this moment the British Navy was fully revealed! "Intercept with all your might, even if you shoot down your own plane, you have to stop these guys!" Scheer looked at the rapidly approaching swordfish torpedo bombers in the distance and ordered loudly, and in an instant, waves of brilliant light burst out from the entire German side chord, and artillery of various calibers fired a barrage of barrages at the British torpedo planes flying close to the sea. Countless fires and cannonballs covered the entire sea like a curtain that quickly unfolded! The sparks that exploded in the air from the shells hit the front over and over again. It's really more beautiful than the most gorgeous flowers of the festival.

THE NOSE OF A SAILFISH ATTACK AIRCRAFT WAS HIT BY AN 88MM GUN. Powerful shells penetrate directly through the nose and explode inside the fuselage. In an instant, this plane was turned into a pile of chopping wood, and the other plane struggled to advance in a dense stream of small-caliber rapid-fire guns. Bullets and shells flew close to the body. SUDDENLY, THE PLANE SHOOK VIOLENTLY, THE RIGHT WING WAS HIT BY A 37MM SHELL, AND THE SLENDER WING WAS DIRECTLY GNAWED OFF IN HALF, IN THIS LOW-ALTITUDE FLIGHT, ANY DAMAGE WAS FATAL, BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH ALTITUDE FOR THEM TO SAVE THEMSELVES, THE PLANE FINALLY CRASHED DIRECTLY INTO THE SEA AND THEN TURNED INTO A HUGE FIREBALL.

However, the Germans' obstruction of the first wave of torpedo planes ended there, the German Navy did not install special anti-aircraft fire control equipment, nor did it conduct targeted training, and it was already good to be able to shoot down two planes. Although some of the remaining dozen planes were also wounded or the formation was scattered, they still dropped torpedoes at a distance of about 600 meters. Torpedoes fired at close range were a formidable threat to any warship, and white trails flew beneath the surface of the sea towards the German fleet, which was trying to evade it in the distance. The four King-class battleships had to make a big maneuver to evade, and they all turned their bows to dodge the flying torpedoes.

White trails clung to the hull of the ship, and two more crossed the bottom of the boat, because the height of the throw was somewhat high, and the torpedo quickly dropped below the fixed depth after entering the water. Even so, in the end, two torpedoes hit the evading Elector, one of which may have been caused by a failure of the shock guide fuse, leaving a pit in the hull. Another torpedo was successfully detonated, and the huge explosion formed a large number of high-temperature and high-pressure bubbles in the seawater, carrying the fragments from the torpedo explosion and violently impacting the fragile hull plate of the battleship, accompanied by a tooth-aching sound of metal twisting and squeezing, the shock wave generated by the explosion finally opened a huge hole in the hull, and thousands of tons of seawater poured into it along the hole.

The house leak happened to rain overnight, just at the end of the first wave of the British Royal Air Force attack, the British surface mine team also rushed over under the cover of the strong light cruiser formation, under the covering fire of 6-inch guns and 4-inch guns, the few German light cruisers were pressed to death, just when the British lightning strike ships passed through the escort light cruisers and were about to launch a lightning strike, the Germans on the opposite side moved first!

A GROUP OF GERMAN DESTROYERS QUICKLY FIRED TORPEDOES INTO THE SEA AND RUSHED TOWARDS THE BRITISH DESTROYER FORMATION LESS THAN 1 KM AWAY. The British were caught off guard by the enemy's preemptive lightning strike, and the two destroyers were torpedoed by torpedoes because they couldn't dodge, and the slender hull was torn in two as if it had been pierced by a giant axe. sank to the bottom of the sea in less than a minute. However, most of the torpedoes were dodged by the high-speed and nimble destroyers, and although the damage was not large, it disrupted the formation of the British destroyers and bought time for the adjustment of the German main fleet.

After repelling the first round of air strikes, Scheer ordered the Elector to temporarily withdraw from the battle, leaving three warships to return to the battle to withstand the British surface lightning strikes. Finally, with the help of light cruisers, the British managed to tear a gap in the German anti-lightning line. More than 20 destroyers and torpedo boats managed to penetrate less than 5KM from Scheer's flagship! Just as a destroyer was about to adjust its speed and make its final sprint, a huge column of water rose into the air next to it. The underwater part of the destroyer's side chord was cut in two as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer, and a large-caliber shell finally buried the battleship.

"Shipper's job is beautiful!" At this critical juncture, Hipper decisively gave up the fight with Thomas and began to cover the main fleet with all his might. All artillery was used to attack the blade-wielding Assassins. For a time, the firepower responsible for interception instantly increased several times. The destroyers maneuvering on the surface of the sea to evade are scurrying like flies. The original formation and coordination were completely disrupted. Powerful fanning lightning strikes eventually turned into scattered attacks. Although they tried to shoot all the torpedoes, the effect in this panic situation was very mediocre, except for a torpedo that accidentally exploded about 8 meters outside the side chord of a Caesar-class battleship, causing some damage.

Subsequently, under the cover of the avant-garde fleet, the German high seas fleet, relying on powerful firepower, successfully blocked the attack routes of the remaining torpedo boats. But at the same time, the German avant-garde fleet also paid a heavy price for this, even with the protection of a smoke screen, in the absence of fire suppression, Thomas finally raised his eyebrows and attacked the Hipper fleet fiercely, and in just ten minutes, Hipper's flagship Bismarck battleship alone was hit with at least 7 large-caliber shells. Under this heavy shelling, the two turrets were completely disabled, and there was an additional large opening of at least 12 square meters in the bow. Even the auxiliary rangefinder, located on the rear mast, was smashed to pieces. The rest of the battleships were in a bad situation. The slightest distraction in this contest of similar strength will cause the situation to be reversed, and after being beaten for more than ten minutes, even if Hipper concentrates all his strength on Thomas's fleet, I am afraid that it will be a little weak!

"But it seems that the crisis has been resolved, and we have successfully stopped the other party's lightning strike. We won't be able to fight any longer, but we can at least go back safely with our fleet. Hipper let out a long sigh and said that this ending was very imperfect, and it was far from what was originally envisaged. But Hipper knew that this was already the best outcome, it was better to achieve a great tactical victory and then retreat than to continue to fight on the doorstep of others, the main fleet might still be able to support it, but the auxiliary warships were almost at the end of their ammunition, throwing away a large number of sunken battleships, and the remaining battleships were also scarred, and even the destroyers did not have many torpedoes left. And the British torpedo machines, God knows how many!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 and the book friend hukaikaka for the tip~~~, as well as the book friend Hell Queen, Linlei886, Topdown, and Ranky's monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued......)