August 24, 1863 is a day that is destined to be remembered by future generations. On this day, the two world's most powerful naval powers began a fierce collision in the rough North Sea, and the steel giants of the highest level represented by human industrialization let out a shuddering roar on the sea. In order to compete for supremacy at sea, but also for the ongoing world war, they fought brutally.

From the collision of the reconnaissance fleets of the two sides, to the battle of the battleship detachments of the two sides, the North Sea has been completely boiling.

At sea, dozens of kilometers away from the battlefield, a huge fleet is thinking about sailing in a northwest direction. This is a huge fleet with dozens of warships. In the center, there are twenty huge warships like small hills. In particular, the four 'Helgolan-class' battleships, armed with four twin 381-mm guns, are particularly eye-catching. This was the most powerful battleship of the German Navy, and it was also the capital of the German Navy and the powerful Chinese Navy in the struggle for supremacy at sea. Of course, by the second half of the year, the German Navy would be able to get four more powerful 'Caesar-class' battleships. However, due to the tense situation on the land battlefield, the German Navy could no longer wait for the 'Kaiser-class' battleships to enter service.

Inside the bridge of the battleship Helgoland, the flagship of the German Navy, Admiral Philippe, commander of the High Seas Fleet, Vice Admiral Müller, chief of staff, and adviser Thomas Murray. Sir Simmonds was studying the current situation on the basis of the information he had received.

"There is no doubt that the Chinese are very close to us. Now the 3rd Battleship Detachment is exchanging fire with the Chinese 2nd Battleship Detachment. I'm a little worried, though. The 3rd Battleship Detachment may not be the match for the 2nd Battleship Detachment of the Chinese. The Chinese' 2nd Battleship Detachment was armed with 'Southern Song Dynasty-class' and 'Northern Song-class' battleships, which were powerful battleships no inferior to our 'Nassau-class' and 'German-class' battleships. The 3rd Battleship Detachment is equipped with the 'Braunschweig-class' battleships and the 'Wichelsbach-class' battleships. I'm afraid it's hard to fight against it. "said the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Philip.

"Your Excellency, Commander, perhaps you are overly worried. The 'Braunschweig-class' battleships and the 'Wicchersbach-class' battleships were also formidable battleships. Merely. The main guns of the 'Wichelsbach-class' battleships were only slightly smaller. If God is on our side, victory is ours. British consultant Thomas. Sir Simmonds said with a smile. After all, there are too many uncertainties in naval warfare, and a little difference in the caliber of the main gun is actually not important. If either side is lucky, it may be possible to gain an absolute advantage. For example, a shell pierced the armor of the opponent's ammunition depot and detonated the shell inside, then. A powerful battleship is finished.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Your Excellency, Sir is quite right. This is the North Sea, and God will surely bless us. Lieutenant General Muller also said with a smile. It's just that they are pinning their hopes on God's blessing, which seems a little too ridiculous.

Soon, a telegram was delivered to the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Mueller. After reading the telegram, Lieutenant General Muller's face suddenly became a little ugly. Admiral Philip and Thomas looking at the charts. Sir Simmonds also noticed his strangeness, and the two of them suddenly felt bad in their hearts. After all. At this time, I am afraid that only bad news from the front will make Lieutenant General Muller lose his temper like this.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, what happened?" Admiral Philip asked anxiously.

"Your Excellency, the 3rd Battleship Detachment has failed. Battleship Wicchersbach', battleship 'Swabia'. The battleship "Mecklenburg" was sunk, and the battleship "Vidin" was heavily damaged and had already withdrawn from the battle. The other four battleships were not lightly wounded. Vice Admiral Hepburn was ordering the fleet to retreat. Light cruisers and destroyers were lightning striking the 2nd battleship detachment of the Chinese, covering the retreat of the 3rd battleship detachment. Lieutenant General Muller said.

"What? So much loss? And what about the Chinese? How much did the 3rd Battleship Detachment achieve? Admiral Philip asked. The loss of the 3rd battleship detachment. It was too big for him to accept. But. If the 3rd Battleship Detachment can inflict certain losses on the Chinese Navy, then the gap between the two sides will undoubtedly not be large.

"The 3rd Battleship Detachment did not inflict any losses on the 2nd Battleship Detachment of the Chinese Navy. It was just a number of battleships of the Chinese Navy that were damaged, all of which were minor injuries and did not affect the battle. Lieutenant General Muller said with a grim face.

"Oh God! How is this possible? Was the 3rd battleship detachment completely defeated? "Thomas. Sir Simmonds exclaimed. Such a gap is so big that they can't believe and accept it at all. After all, even if they guessed that the German Navy would be at a disadvantage. But such a blow is inevitably too big.

"Let Lieutenant General Hepburn immediately move closer to us. Order the main fleet, accelerate the advance. In any case, the 3rd Battleship Detachment could not afford to lose any more ships. Otherwise, the gap between us and the Chinese Navy will further widen. Admiral Philip said with a serious face.

Vice Admiral Müller nodded, although four battleships were lost. But such losses were not too fatal for the German Navy. After all, if you add the 3 battleships of the 4 battleship detachments, they still have 24 battleships, which is only 4 fewer than the Chinese Navy. If you're lucky, you don't necessarily have no chance of turning the tables. The naval battle has just begun, and if you want to tell the winner, it's still early.

The main forces of the German Navy's high seas fleet began to speed up. Because of the 4th battleship detachment' Caesar. Dragged by the battleships of the Frederick III class and the battleships of the 'Brandenburg class', the speed of the fleet was only 15 knots. As the first class of battleships built by the German Navy, the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships had a displacement of 18,000 tons, but the maximum speed was only 17 knots. In the past few years, due to the aging of the hull and the wear and tear of the machine, it has been very good to be able to run at a speed of 15 knots.

The speed of the 4th battleship detachment of the German Navy seriously slowed down the speed of the fleet. However, Admiral Philip could not abandon the 4th Battleship Detachment now. After all, in the event of heavy losses in the 3rd battleship detachment, every remaining battleship was precious. Even the old 'Brandenburg-class' battleships were the same.

Only half an hour later, the flagship of the High Seas Fleet once again received a telegram from Vice Admiral Hepburn, commander of the 3rd Battleship Detachment. The content of the telegram this time made the German Navy's high seas fleet completely speechless.

"Oh God! It's simply a conspiracy. The Chinese carefully laid a trap, and we stepped into it. The 3rd Battleship Detachment is definitely finished. Having already suffered heavy losses, the 3rd battleship detachment of the Chinese was encountered. Even in its heyday, the 3rd Battleship Detachment was not necessarily an opponent of the Chinese. Now not only are only half of the battleships left, but most of them are wounded. If you want to defeat the other party, it is even more impossible. "Thomas. Sir Simmonds was very pessimistic.

Admiral Philip and Lieutenant General Muller also had very ugly faces. If the 3rd Battleship Detachment had been completely annihilated, the blow to the High Seas Fleet would have been much greater. Eight battleships were destroyed, which would further widen the gap between the German Navy and the Chinese Navy's 5th Fleet. With eight less battleships, it was almost impossible for the German Navy to defeat the Chinese Navy.

What's more, the strength of the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy is only half of the strength of the Chinese Navy. Before the war, the German Navy hoped that the High Seas Fleet would be able to inflict heavy damage on the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy at a small cost, and preferably be able to destroy the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy. In this case, the German Navy would have enough strength to deal with the 1st Fleet of the Chinese Navy from afar. But now, if the 3rd Battleship Detachment is lost, even if the German Navy is lucky to defeat the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy in the next naval battle, it will only be able to win a crushing victory at most. Once the main force of the 1st Fleet of the Chinese Navy arrived, the German Navy would still not be able to confront it. Naval supremacy in the North Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean is still in the hands of the Chinese Navy, and the German coastline will still be blocked.

The best thing to do now is probably to retreat! In this way, at least the main forces of the German Navy's high seas fleet could be preserved. It's just that such a result is obviously not what the German top brass wants.

"Your Excellency, what shall we do now? Otherwise, order the fleet to continue westward. Perhaps the 3rd Battleship Detachment will be able to hold out until our arrival. At that time, we will be able to rely on the superiority of the capital ship to inflict heavy damage on the Chinese Navy and regain its inferiority. Lieutenant General Muller said.

What Lieutenant General Müller said was the most optimistic scenario. If by the time the main forces of the High Seas Fleet arrived, the 3rd Battleship Detachment had not yet been destroyed. Perhaps, they will be able to rely on the remaining 3 battleship detachments, a total of 20 battleships, to inflict heavy losses on the two battleship detachments of the Chinese Navy, or even turn the situation around. But will the 3rd Battleship Detachment be able to hold out for that long?

Admiral Philip knew he had no choice. He could only pray to God, that Lieutenant General Hepburn would be able to hold on.

"Order the fleet to move on. Also, send a telegram to Lieutenant General Hepburn and tell him to hold on and try to get closer to us. Admiral Philip made a choice, and it was this choice that saved the German Navy's High Seas Fleet. (To be continued......)

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