663 10 minutes

Beihai, May 16, 3:55 p.m. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

The British armored cruisers Defense and Samurai arrived in the Jā Theater of Operations, where they rounded a burning British destroyer and stared at 5,000 yards away, floating on the surface of the sea, flopping out of their bellies, and the light cruiser Wiesbaden was crowded with German sailors waiting for rescue.

Then the captain gave the order to open fire!

It was a disgraceful act, for the enemy was no longer able to fight back, but the red-eyed British knights had long since thrown all their manners and chivalry out of the clouds.

The soldiers on the German main fleet in the distance clenched their fists, they watched their comrades die in the artillery fire with red eyes, but because they were not close enough to the distance of the shelling, they could only watch, one after another sharp and cold eyes, like a volcano about to erupt, contained earth-destroying anger, and all the German soldiers were enraged!

In the distance, on the nearly 30,000-ton battleship Ramey, Jellico did not like this kind of behavior in his heart, but did not stop it, because he needed to provoke Germany to come to a decisive battle, not to flee.

Front, rear, left and right, a fleet of 19 battleships, all of which were all type, galloped and waited for an attack, while 4 Tiger-class battlecruisers and 3 St. Vincent-class battleships that had returned from interception made a roundabout, and did not directly enter the formation, but clinged to their left side to cover the formation on their flanks.

Sixteen miles away, the battleship Bavaria was also home to 23 steel behemoths, their twinkling lights as bright as the stars on Christmas night.

All the seaplanes carried by the capital ships had already risen into the air, and the wooden fuselage could not withstand the impact of the giant cannons, and it would only become a trigger in the artillery battle, but when the pilots looked down from the sky, the adrenaline in each of them began to soar.

Nearly 50 steel monsters began to rush towards a certain point in the middle, hundreds of small warships surrounded them like loyal guard hounds, and the entanglement of the battle patrol formation before made it impossible for the British Home Fleet and the German High Seas Ocean Fleet to turn away at this moment, because it takes time for battleships to turn, and it is undoubtedly extremely stupid to let the battleship formation turn in front of the enemy's main formation.

Now the only thing they can do is to use artillery fire to fight their way out!

As the minutes and seconds passed, the distance between the two fleets could be reduced by 3,000 feet per minute, and the bow of the ships began to deflect at the same time, in fact, with such a large formation, with equal speed, no matter who could grab the vital word position at the beginning, so they all began to maneuver towards the Danish coastline, like two long dragons that attracted each other, waiting for the moment to come side by side.

Everyone who saw this scene had a numb scalp, and the crazy sea race before the war had contributed to this duel, and the contest of economic strength, industrial level, and technical level over the years, the countless spying and plotting of intelligence officers and commanders, the training of thousands of sailors, and the fate and honor of the two countries, everything would be decided in just a few hours.

All sorts of flags and flags began to rise from the masts of each ship, large and small, triangular, square, silk, linen, and it seemed that all of them were dressed up to celebrate that the depression was finally coming to an end, more than 400 guns, close and secondary guns, and both sides pointed their guns at each other without scruples, counting the time, waiting to reach the invisible but important line.

Wu Yingke took a deep breath, this is an unimaginably big bet, whether it is Britain or Germany, they have taken out everything they can at the moment, and in the case of being unable to retreat and being dragged into a decisive battle voluntarily or involuntarily, in fact, not only the two countries of Jāfeng, but even the Entente and the alliance that are strangling all over the world are involved.

With the fog and smoke that permeated the North Sea, no one could know who the goddess of victory would fall into the arms of the next second, but there was no doubt that whoever won would change the course of the war in Europe!

Yard! ”

The shouts of the navigator interrupted Wu Yingke's thoughts, converted into the metric system, it is less than 24,000 meters, in the calm Pacific Ocean, this distance can already be fired, but in the North Sea, it will take 15 minutes.

Scheer gave the first order: "Begin to calculate the order of shelling, the ships follow the movement of the flagship, he glanced at Wu Yingke, and every naval battle in the Far East has proved the importance of this lifeline:" Do not leave the battle line without authorization. ”

Wu Yingke saw the gaze cast and smiled slightly. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

Scheer's choice was correct, using good fire control and protection, and concentrating the devastating main guns to sweep one point at a time, was a good choice to give full play to the advantages of German gunnery, but in the eyes of Wu Yingke and the Chinese Navy, this ambitious and capable, diligent and determined commander had an inherent disadvantage, that is, he wanted to defeat Britain and lead the German navy to break through, but he could not accept a victory that was likely to pay a heavy price, because he knew that Britain had better strategic resources and reserves than Germany.

Scheer chose to concentrate artillery fire, but what about Jericho? He has the advantage of the number and caliber of the ship's guns, and the disadvantage is the protection ability of the bullet and the battleship, how to choose?

When Wu Yingke had the urge to fly into the Ramii, Jericho had already taken out a thick manual from the chart table, and the brown and yellow cover of the Fleet Battle Regulations "A few big words came into view.

Jericho was a gunnery officer, and like John Fisher, another British gunner, he was convinced that concentrated artillery fire was the decisive factor in all naval battles; Therefore, after taking office, he compiled the 70-page "Regulations on the Battles of the Home Fleet", which required all battleships to be arranged in a single column and occupy an advantageous position, and he believed that only in this way could the Home Fleet exert great power.

He used to think that this was his only way to fight! Because he previously believed that "the home fleet is the only pillar of the empire at present", so the safety of his own fleet is the first priority in his mind, even if he gives up the fighting machine, he must ensure the safety of the fleet, and it is absolutely intolerable to disperse the main force into several clusters for fast penetration, which is equivalent to providing the other party with a chance to break through.

But now, a choice has to be made.

Centralized or decentralized? That's the problem.

Tens of thousands of officers and men are waiting for orders, nearly 100 enemy ships are approaching at a rapid pace, Jericho is under pressure that no one can imagine, a hundred years ago, Sir Nelson spent 2 hours in the Battle of Trafalgar to decide the final formation, but he was only left with 10 minutes!

Jericho stood quietly in front of the compass, his eyes wandering between the compass and the chart, his weather-beaten face uncertain.

A single column can concentrate artillery fire to a large extent, but the initiative of the battle under this formation is in the hands of Germany, whether it is maneuvering or pursuing, it must follow the movement trajectory of the German fleet, but at this moment, the fog and smoke on the sea give the side that has the option of maneuvering an advantage, which means that once Schell does not want to fight, he can take the smoke and dusk as a cover and withdraw.

Previously, Scheer wanted to go, he would not desperately intercept. Now, the British Empire needs to make sacrifices.

"Grouping

Jellico's words flew quickly, 2 Avenger-class battleships and 4 Queen-class battleships were organized as the first warband, these 6 big guys with 15-inch cannons will become the core of his hands, 3 Orions and 3 St. Vincent 2nd warbands, 4 George V 3rd warboards, 4 Iron Duke 4th warbands, 2 giants and 4 Tiger-class warcruisers 5th warband.

Inside the Command Tower, everyone listened silently to the order, and their hearts were already stirred up, and they all knew Jericho well, he was a staunch supporter of the tactics of concentrated artillery fire, and now he was scattering the formation, which meant that it would be a terrible battle.

Jericho's finger slid over the 5 teams, and once the fleet spread out to attack, the Germans on the opposite side had every chance to break through, so he needed a magnet before he could be defeated!

A cannonball magnet that could probably be wiped out in a matter of minutes!

"Fourth Sentaic!"

At the same time that the four short words popped out of Jellico's mouth, it means that the chances of the 4 Iron Duke-class battleships returning to Scapa Bay are less than 3 percent, in the eyes of outsiders, perhaps the weak first team or the speed of the fifth team should be used at this time, but only those who are familiar with naval warfare understand that if there is no strong protection and artillery fire, the magnet is just a gift package, and the Iron Duke-class battleship has always been the flagship of the fleet because it has already installed a communication and fire control system, and it is currently second only to the first team's armament!

But they will face at least heavy artillery until 10 minutes later the remaining four teams complete the split assault!

Yard! ”

"Let's get started."

As soon as the count was over, Jericho withdrew his finger, and at that moment the navigator even saw Colonel Pete tremble.

"Attack!"

Far away in the Far East, Li Mo rarely praised his opponents, but the British Navy was the only exception, and when he later learned of Jericho's choice, he couldn't help but think of Nelson's demeanor, because what he brought to Britain was not only a hundred years of maritime supremacy, but also a brave and fearless naval spirit!

Like the German Army during World War I, the British Royal Navy during World War I was also a real elite!

Today, the elite finally set off, and the 4 Iron Duke-class battleships that had been ordered turned on their mast lights, they did not hide their pride, ignored death, and signaled "glory belongs to the duke" over and over again, deflected the bow of the ship, broke away from the main force, and killed the steel dragon in the distance.

"The lieutenant general, the 4 Iron Dukes, has broken away from their main formation and is speeding towards us."

No one knows, in fact, at that moment Scheer was a little stunned, he had carefully studied Jericho since he took office, and knew that this British lieutenant general nicknamed "Silent Jack" was not an adventurer, and he was now sacrificing a risky scattered assault style, obviously to drag him into a tragic decisive battle.

At that moment, for the first time, the thought of giving up the entanglement arose.

Yards, Iron Duke! ”

No one knew that when the gunners roared, their commander had the idea of retreating for the first time, but even if he knew, it was no longer a problem, because if he wanted to leave at this time, he had to use his cannons to open the way.

More than 200 cannons, at the same time, burst out with a roar, and the four Iron Duke-class battleships that served as the vanguard also launched a counterattack in the flickering of the guns, and the smoke and wind emitted from the muzzles of the guns even stirred up the clouds in the sky.

At the same time, the British Home Fleet was once again dispersed into four squadrons, and while the German fleet was bombarding the fourth squadron with all its might, it accelerated the deflection of the bow and struck towards the opponent.

Rushing ahead were the four Tiger-class battlecruisers led by Betty.

At 4:07, Jutland entered the decisive battle!

Perhaps under the influence of the overturned Wiesbaden, which had just been bombarded by the British cruiser, and after more than ten years of hard training, the German gunners who were waiting for this day played at a very high level, and in only the second round, the second ship of the Iron Duke's Fourth Squadron, the Marlborough, was on fire.

According to the lookout, an armor-piercing projectile from its bow turret hit the main armor belt of the rear bridge of the Marlborough, and it was later confirmed that the armor-piercing shell did not cause much damage, although the overall protection of the British capital ship was not as good as that of the Germans, especially the fatal wound inside the almost open turret, but the main armor belt designed to defend against 13-inch shells still withstood the attack.

But this shell provided an important coordinate, and as the point of impact was captured by the fire control rangefinders, the main force of the German High Seas Ocean Fleet completed the calibration of the naval guns, kicking off a series of destruction.

At 4:11, the more than 200 guns roaring again gave the Iron Duke's team a taste of what it means to rain down bullets, and all 4 Iron Duke battleships reported being hit, among which the heavy loss was the fourth ship, the Empress of India, because of the distance, it was aimed at 4 German powerful Bavaria-class, and 5 of the 32 380 mm armor-piercing shells crashed past its deck.

In an instant, the two turrets of He B located in the bow of the ship seemed to be lifted away, and the 700-kilogram armor-piercing shell forcibly penetrated the front of the inclined frontal 11-inch turret, and the explosion occurred inside the turret, and the swept shrapnel not only killed everyone, but also lifted the two turrets weighing hundreds of tons, and the inch-thick barrel was ineffective after only 20 shells.

The only consolation was that the fire prevention of the bomb bay in the underground was actually closed at that time, so the explosion did not cause the explosion of the magazine, and with the timely filling of water, the Marlborough was able to continue to hold out for a few minutes.

Perhaps knowing that they would die, the Iron Duke's team also burst out with strong combat effectiveness, and when the Empress of India lost 2 turrets in 4 minutes, Rear Admiral Anderson in the flagship Iron Duke showed British cunning at a critical time, and he ordered the rest of the rest to pour all his firepower on the nearby German Caesar-class battleship Louit Bōrd Regent.

Although the British were once again destroyed by the overly sensitive fuse of the shell, the 16 tons of steel and explosives per minute, thrown from 17,000 yards away at a speed of 780 millimeters per second, were still extremely powerful.

At 4:13, the Iron Duke's team also gave Germany a slap in the face, and two of the five 305 mm turrets on the Louitt Bōerde Regent were also flattened, which might have been more damaging if it weren't for Germany's sophisticated fireproof compartments and protective capabilities.

Only a minute later, the German High Seas Ocean Fleet, bombarded by 23 capital ships, finally got its first gain, the first to be hit Marlborough was able to withstand a lot of shells because of the ranging of the impact point, even if most of them were 280 and 305 mm shells, but it was not something it could stop.

No one would have thought that the fatal damage would not come from the rainstorm that swept the upper floors, but from a series of near-misses!

The Iron Duke class was improved from the George V class, mainly to strengthen the secondary guns, to deal with the growing threat of destroyers and torpedoes, and to strengthen the defense of key parts, but when these defenses were strengthened, the designers found that they were overweight, so in order to reduce the weight of the structure, the longitudinal partitions of the watertight compartments installed on the previous British battleships were abandoned, making underwater protection a big problem.

Perhaps the British designer did not expect that when he was worried about the torpedo, the attack turned out to be a near-miss.

The shells landed not far from the hull of the Marlborough, some sank to the bottom of the sea and exploded, while others were blocked by the sea and changed direction and crashed into the ship's underwater anti-torpedo compartment, the 4-inch protective armor plate could not defend against these big guys, and when the shells drilled into the water tank under the hull or exploded in the anti-torpedo compartment, the sea water followed behind and flooded the bilge.

After a squeak, the deck of the Marlborough began to tilt to the right, and although the captain immediately ordered water to be filled to the port side, this only accelerated the seawater into the hull, and he had to abandon the ship.

2 minutes later, the big explosion made Germany cheer, the Queen of India finally couldn't hold on under the 380 mm heavy gun, the turret located in the middle was continuously penetrated, the deadly protective compartment was designed to become the heel of the British Axix, the bad habit of the sailors not to close the training led to the Indian Queen magazine was exploded again, the 25820-ton hull was broken into two from the middle, only 3 minutes later, the ship's 995 officers and men all disappeared into the sea, no one escaped.

Just when the Fourth Squadron of the British Navy's Home Fleet was about to be wiped out, the cannon sound on the sea suddenly intensified, and the four teams completed the rudder assault almost at the same time, closing the distance to 13,000 yards!

With near-cold losses, Jericho took the lead in completing the split assault tactic.

In desperation, Scheer had to cancel the unified formation, because if it continued like this, even if it could sink a lot of British ** ships, it would be a disaster for the other party to complete the cross-cutting and grab the word position.

It was Betty who ran, and the 4 Tiger-class battlecruisers of the fifth team cut cross-cutting in front of the 4 German Helgoland-class battleships, forcing them to transfer their firepower, showing the importance of the speed of the battlecruise, and with the two British giant-class battleships and the two battlecruisers after Hipper, they also joined in, 6 against 6, and began to fight each other.

The second team bit four King-class battleships, the third team faced the five Caesar-class battleships that had been heavily damaged by the Louiter Bōerd Regent, and the remaining two Iron Duke-class battleships of the fourth team faced the weak four German Nacha-class battleships.

The first team, led by Jelliko himself, rushed straight to the four Bavarian-class battleships of Scheer.

Scheer used 10 minutes to equalize the numerical disadvantage with a sinking and a heavy blow, but Jericho sacrificed the tactical initiative and forced the opponent to fight with all his might!

In a short period of time, both commanders showed their own command styles, with the British showing Nelson's fearlessness and the Germans demonstrating Prussia's rigor and strength with accurate artillery fire.

Later commentators once said, "It was 10 minutes in which all the wisdom of Europe was gathered." ”

But when everyone was looking forward to the excitement, both sides entered the botch!

First, the armored cruiser Defense, which had been patrolling beside the two Iron Dukes of the Fourth Sentai to protect and prepare for leak detection, ordered to open fire on the unarmed Wiesbaden, was attacked by several heavy shells.

The shells came from 4 Tiger-class battlecruisers on our side at a distance of 17,000 yards!

This is something that neither Jericho nor Scheer expected, Lan Jianshu's prediction in the classroom on the other side of the world finally happened, a big battle

Erupt!

RA！ ~！