This time it was Samekov's turn to make multiple choices, and there were two paths in front of him, either to fight or to run. However, as a bystander, from an objective point of view, Samekov actually has only one way to choose, and that is to run away quickly.

Because at this time, the British not only had a double advantage in quantity (8 to 4), but also in terms of quality, it is even more incomparable, and it is not polite to say that only four Queen-class ships are enough to hang Samekov's battle patrol formation.

However, at that time, Samekov made a surprising choice, he chose to fight! It is not known whether the rear admiral was full of confidence in the German goods, or if he was carried away by the almost negligible victory that preceded it.

Anyway, Samekov said this in his later memoirs: "I know that my fleet is at an absolute disadvantage, but I know that this is an opportunity, General Basilev has been looking forward to this decisive battle for a long time, there is a powerful fleet behind me, if I can hold back the enemy ships in front of me, it will create an opportunity for the main force of the fleet to encircle and annihilate the enemy!" ”

For the sake of this opportunity, Samekov gave up his mind, and only ordered the four light cruisers to hurry up, after all, the battle that followed was not something that their thin-skinned cans could participate in. Of course, Samekov did not forget to send a telegram to Basilev, he told Sù Basilev that he had discovered the enemy's main force, and asked Basilev to hurry up with the main force of the fleet to reinforce him.

The problem is that this damn telegram Basilev did not receive it, yes, no joke at all, Basilev just did not receive it! The reliability of the radio in those days was so low that it was normal to not receive telegrams, or to receive some specious telegrams.

At this time, Vice Admiral Basilev was pacing nervously on the flagship Baden. The telegraph room behind him ticked non-stop. Telegrams were delivered to him. But it confused him.

Sukhoi's aerial reconnaissance said that the enemy's fleet had retreated and was fleeing in a northwesterly direction. And the command on land told him that the enemy's aim was to shell Szczecin. As for Samekov, judging by the telegram received half an hour earlier, he was in a decisive battle with the enemy's capital ships.

To be honest, anyone who sees this contradictory information has to scratch their heads, and the most important thing for a good commander is to recognize the false and keep the truth, think calmly and carefully to screen out the wrong information, and then make the right choice.

So what about Basilev's suzhì in this regard? Not beat around the bush. In general, otherwise he would not have been unknown in the history of the Russian Navy, and in general he was a qualified commander, but not a good one.

So in the face of these conflicting and incomplete information, he was a little helpless, not knowing whether to give up this operation or continue the pursuit. Fortunately, Basilev, although not good enough, did not lack courage after a short period of thought. He decided to continue the search and sent telegrams to Samekov incessantly. Let Samekov keep you updated.

The problem is that there is still a problem with the radio, and Basilev can't contact Samekov (the latter is the same), which makes Basilev think of the worst possibility, could it be that Samekov's battle patrol formation was annihilated?

This is not impossible, after all, judging from the results of aerial reconnaissance, this time the British and American navies are almost pouring out, and in case Samekov hits the enemy's main force headlong with his back, it is not impossible to be beaten into a sieve.

As soon as he thought of this possibility, Basilev was secretly anxious, not only in a hurry, but also there was not much to do, because Samekov's formation took away the fastest warship he had at hand, and the rest of the piece was a turtle ship with a maximum speed of about 21 knots.

After another ten minutes of struggle, Basilev couldn't bear it anymore, and he ordered the first battleship detachment under his command to speed up the search and advance. In fact, it is four Gangut-class.

To tell you the truth, these four Ganguts are really wonderful, you say they are dreadnought-class battleships, and their defense is one cut lower than the dreadnought battleships that created a precedent for dreadnoughts (the main armor of the Dreadnought is 279 mm, while the Gangut is only 225 mm), to tell the truth, this is the level of the battle cruiser. But you said Gangut was a war patrol, and the maximum speed of Nima's cargo was only 23 knots of a lame leg.

Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning about Gangut is the unprecedented firepower, which has 12 main guns in a centerline arrangement, note that the centerline arrangement is the focus, because the Dreadnought, which is more than 2,000 tons smaller than Gangut, also has 10 main guns, but it can only exert the firepower of eight guns on either side. Four triple guns, that's the only thing Gangut is worth mentioning.

In addition, Gangut is not only garbage but also garbage, especially the seafaring performance, because the freeboard of the bow is too low, the seamanship performance of this cargo in the wind and waves is quite bad, and when it encounters wind and waves, a large amount of seawater will rush to the bow (that is, burying the head), and it is almost ineffective.

Historically, when the Paris Commune (Sevastopol) was transferred from the Red Banner Baltic Fleet to the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet in the 20s, it had to temporarily add a deck to the bow, otherwise it would have entered the Atlantic Ocean without returning.

Then why did Basilev at this time send these four "junk" ships to fight the vanguard? Could it be that he has a grudge against the officers and men of the four Gangut-class ships?

There is definitely no hatred, the reason why Basilev made this decision is very simple, that is, compared to the German-made battleships of the main force of the fleet, Gangut is a little faster, after all, this cargo still has a speed of 23 knots, and for German battleships that generally only have a speed of less than 21 knots, more than two knots faster is also an advantage, isn't it?

Moreover, Basilev also believes that although the defense of Gangut is very wasteful, the firepower is still relatively powerful, and the 4 Ganguts have 48 main guns, and it is still quite considerable to line up in battle columns to fire a salvo, which can cause a little trouble to the enemy.

So the four Ganguts of the 1st Battleship Detachment rushed forward, and if Samekov knew that his teammates were such an unreliable group of goods, he would probably cry. As a matter of fact. At this time, Samekov was already about to cry!

Just ten minutes into an exchange of fire. Samekov was almost blown up. In the second round of salvos. The war-weariness fired a straddle shot at the Hindenburg, and in the third salvo, the Malaya even had a close bullet that grazed the side of the Seydlitz and fell into the sea, and the shells that exploded in the water shook the Seydlitz slightly, and the scattered shrapnel made the hull clang.

Taken aback, Samekov quickly ordered the fleet to turn the rudder to evade, and after making a turning maneuver at a twenty-degree angle, he tried to return fire. It has to be said that the gunners of the Hindenburg were still quite effective, and in the fifth round of salvo results were achieved again. Its rear main gun hit the Queen Elizabeth, and when a puff of smoke came out of the queen's rear hull, the entire bridge of the Hindenburg boiled.

But pleasure came and went quickly, and soon Samekov found that his opponents were simply indifferent, as if the shot had not fallen on them, and the Queen continued to greet the Hindenburg with continuous and steady fire.

Indeed, the shot just now only scratched the Queen, and the 405-kilogram armor-piercing shell accurately hit the Queen's main armor belt, in front of the 330 mm thick case-hardened armor. The armor-piercing shell smashed into a shatter, leaving only a crater of about 10 centimeters in the Queen's armor.

At its thickest point, the Queen's main armor was completely immune to German 305mm shells at regular combat distances. The Hindenburg could not stop the Queen's 381-mm cannon at a conventional combat distance.

Five minutes later, the Warweary avenged its sister by accurately hitting the Hindenburg waterline with a 381-mm armor-piercing shell that easily shredded the 300-mm Krupp KC armor, and then continued to penetrate the coal bunkers, only to reluctantly roar when it was blocked by the armor of the ammunition depot under the main gun.

The roar made the Hindenburg almost pee its pants, and Samekov could feel the deck under his feet shudder, and a puff of black smoke rushed up, and the sea breeze blocked most of the view of the bridge.

This was only the beginning, and two minutes later, the Prestige avenged itself by sending a cannonball that struck the chimney of the Hindenburg, pierced two holes, and smashed into the deck on the other side, blowing a 150mm gun in the area to pieces, and the twisted barrel flew out thirty meters before falling into the sea with a thud.

After another minute, even the Tiger was able to show off its might in front of Hindenburg, its 343mm armor-piercing projectile hit the main armor of the Hindenburg, although it was bounced off and fell into the sea, but this cannon also made part of the main armor of the Hindenburg fall off and deform, and the waves poured in along the breach, although it did not cause much damage, but it also invisibly made the Hindenburg lose a little speed.

When the battle came to this, Samekov knew that he had to run away, the advantage of eight to four was too great, and the opponent's gunner character was a bit rebellious, almost every three to five salvos had to scrape off the four German battle cruisers.

For example, De Fringer also suffered two shots, but fortunately, both were shot in the main armor, and the losses were not large. The "unsinkable battleship" Cedritz still lived up to the reputation of the cannonball magnet, and the front main gun was once again torn off the Tianling cover, but fortunately there was no explosion, otherwise the situation of Samekov would have been even worse.

"Turn the rudder and retreat at full speed!"

Samekov was very unwilling when he gave this order, he really wanted to break his wrists with the British, but his own strength was a little insufficient, and the character of the British gunners was too rebellious, and if the British continued to play unlimitedly, his fleet would all have to go to the sea to feed the fish.

In fact, it is not that the character of the British gunners is too rebellious, it is true that their luck is really good, but to tell the truth, after four years of training, especially after the tempering of the Battle of Jutland, the tactical level of the Royal Navy is getting higher and higher, and it can be said that the Russians can be thrown three streets from the plain of the officers and men.

Objectively speaking, there is indeed a problem with the technical and tactical level of the Russian level, otherwise after firing for half a day, it would not be only the Hindenburg that opened, and all the rest would have missed the target.

Samekov's decision to retreat was right, he had not yet made contact with Basilev, and it would be death to continue to carry it. It stands to reason that if Samekov really wanted to run, then the British would not be able to stop it, although the maximum speed of the five Queen-class ships on paper was as high as 25 knots, but this was only a number on paper. For example, the Queen-class is only infinitely close but never reaches 25 knots in sea trials, and this 25 knots is the ultimate speed at full power, which is unsustainable to put it bluntly.

And Samekov's battle patrol was different. It can generally reach speeds of more than 26 knots. The fastest Moltke can even run up to 28 knots. If they run for their lives with all their hearts. In addition to prestige, counterattack, and the Tiger being able to catch up, the five queens could only watch from behind.

For example, now, Samekov snorted, turned around and fled, both sides desperately burned the boiler at the same time, and the black smoke coming out of the chimney almost obscured half of the sky. But the five queens could only watch their opponents get farther and farther away, and their speed could not go up, let alone 25 knots. Not many have reached 24 knots.

Why? Aging boilers, engine wear and tear and dirty bottoms can all affect speed. If nothing else, Samekov's fleet should have managed to escape and leave the British with dry stare.

However, what is not lacking in this world is accidents and surprises, and soon Samekov, who turned around and fled for his life, received a big surprise, and when they were halfway through, they found that a fleet was coming in front of them, and the shape should be Gangut-class.

At that time, although Samekov was a little strange, he did not know how Gangut, who had the worst combat effectiveness in the fleet, appeared first, and what about the other capital ships? Is it going in the wrong direction?

But Samekov quickly forgot about it. For him, as long as he met the main force of the fleet, it was a victory, and Gangut appeared. Are the other German capital ships still far away? Maybe this time we can really encircle and annihilate the enemy who is chasing after you!

At that time, Samekov was quite happy, and in a hurry sent a telegram to the commander of the 1st battleship detachment, Rear Admiral Yashin: "Is the main force of the fleet nearby?" ”

After receiving this telegram, Yashin replied as a matter of course: "Lieutenant General Basilev is leading the main force to arrive!" ”

After hearing this news, Samekov was very determined, and soon he gave the order to turn the rudder again to meet the enemy, he did not want the fat in his mouth to run away. Although the addition of four Ganguts can't beat the other side, at least it won't be as passive as before, hold on a little longer, won't everything be fine as soon as the main force of the fleet arrives?

However, Samekov never imagined that he was miserable by Yashin, who told him that Basillev was behind, but in reality? Basilev was not behind, because of the mistake of the translator, there was a slight error when translating the coordinates of the fleet into a cipher telegram and sending it to Basilev, although it was only a little bit worse, but it led Basilev astray.

At this moment, Basilev is ordering the fleet to turn around and go in the other direction, that is, Samekov and Yashin will face five terrifying queens alone!

Of course, neither Samykov nor Yashin knew what a difficult naval battle they were going to face, but in fact the two rear admirals were still in high spirits, thinking that the time had finally come to receive awards for meritorious service.

The old man chased after him for a while and was about to give up, but just as he was about to leave, the fleeing enemy suddenly turned around.

The enemy's move made Darnell frown, it was obvious that the enemy had received support, otherwise how would he dare to turn back like a lost dog? At that time, Darnell was a little embarrassed, and according to Jackson's orders, he only needed to bring back the three battle cruisers with all beards and tails. And this task has actually been accomplished. So is it necessary to continue the fight with the enemy now?

Darnell felt that there must be a certain risk to continue fighting, and who knows how much the enemy's backup was, and in case it ran into the main force of the High Seas Fleet, it would be too risky. But let the Royal Navy, which has always been taught to see the enemy and fight, retreat, Darnell was a little unwilling.

After thinking about it for a while, Darnell decided to take a look and say, if there are many enemies, then run, if you can fight, then try. After all, the losses in this battle to the sea are too great, and if you can't go back with the results, I'm afraid it will be enough.

Darnell set up a formation on this side that could advance and retreat, while Samekov and Yashin on the other side also killed violently. Yashin, in particular, couldn't wait to show off his skills, and the acceleration of the four very junky Ganguts was desperate, and at one point they soared at a record high speed of 24.5 knots, and even Samekov was taken aback.

Soon the two sides set up two battle lines and began to bombard, this time it was really a one-on-one bombardment, four battle cruisers against four queens, Yashin's four ganguts against the Malaya and three other British battle cruisers.

From the very beginning, Yashin led Gangut to take the lead, and the firepower of the 48 main guns was much higher than the 28 main guns on the opposite side, and if you ignore the difference in the caliber of the main guns, the firepower of the four Ganguts was indeed quite fierce.

Even the British admitted that the Russians were very strong, and Clyde recalled that the Gangut class was so powerful that the water column formed by the rain of bullets obscured his vision for a time. Of course, at the same time, he also said: "...... The Russians' firepower was fierce, but the accuracy was too poor, and most of the shells were either close or far, and rarely formed a straddle ......"

In fact, this really can't be blamed on Yashin's young man's accurate head, but there is a gap between the Gangut-class rangefinder and fire control and the sophisticated German goods, in the early days of the battle, the rangefinder of the flagship Petropavlovsk once broke down again, and it can only be corrected by experience according to the measurement number of the second ship Gangut before shooting, so it is strange that it can be accurate! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank Chen Liangyan, the sweet potatoes in the melon field and Comrade Juventus!