On the sea where the twilight was gradually fading, 12 low-profile two-seat torpedo boats rushed north at a speed of 36 knots. The rumbling cannons covered the powerful roar of the Daimler gasoline engine, but the surging waves failed to suppress the sharp edge of these sharp blades. These high-speed warships did not have flags waving in the wind, and the iron cross logo on the hull exuded a dark aura under the erosion of water waves; there were no proud and domineering artillery, and the torpedo launch tube on the side of the boat contained a low-key dangerous killer...

In the bumpy cabin, German crew members were wearing new black uniforms of high-speed torpedo boat troops, observing the situation on the sea with bright eyes. Their reconnaissance planes kept dropping flares over the British fleet, leaving those British warships nowhere to hide. Their own group of dreadnoughts were also constantly firing at the British fleet. The flying shells were like meteors passing through the sky, and the water columns aroused on the sea were dozens of meters high, which looked particularly eye-catching under the light of the shining flares.

Seeing the water column in front of him becoming clearer and more shocking, and the figures of the British warships were also more complete, the German crew knew that the battle time was coming soon.

Before the "Thunder" formation attacked the British mobile fleet, the "Lightning-14" formation arrived first. Even if the sea conditions were not ideal, these small and flexible single-seat torpedo boats could still run at a speed of 40 knots under combat load. That is to say, even if this is a simple competition for speed, these German high-speed warships could catch up with the British mobile fleet that traveled northward at a speed of most of the time within the combat radius, not to mention that their pace was also subjected to German torpedo attack aircraft

The bond. In just half an hour, the Lightning-14 formation had already caught up with the Lion battlecruiser, which was left behind due to injury. At this time, it was already under the fire of the German dreadnought group. These German high-speed warships did not lean on to launch torpedoes. Most of the Lightning-14 continued to chase the British ships in front. A three-boat squad set targeted another British cruiser, "Birmingham", which was left behind due to injury. This 5,400-ton British warship was unlucky.

It was awesome. The two combat patrol fleets had exchanged fire. They were arranged to the rear of the fleet without launching a single bomb. After seeing the German main fleet, they made a large turn and were hit by a German shell shot from 16,000 meters away. The 305 mm caliber ordinary bomb instantly destroyed its stern artillery, and the explosion affected the lower engine compartment, causing the "Birmingham" to be in power for nearly ten minutes. After the efforts of the crew, one of its main engines started working again and the speed was restored.

At the 8th quarter, when another main engine was about to repair, it was approaching another round of bullets. The seawater poured into the bottom cabin, causing a group of boilers to be shut down. As a result, the new warship, which had been in service for less than half a year, could only continue to stagger on the sea. The British crew were busy repairing equipment, while the lookouts were keeping a close eye on the main German fleet behind, while paying attention to the injuries of the "Lion", but failed to detect the fast-striking German high-speed torpedo boats in time. It was too late to call the alarm!

After getting closer, the drivers of the three Lightning-14 high-speed torpedo boats realized that the British warship, whose hull was longer than those in front of the dreadnoughts, was just an ordinary cruiser that had little threat to their main fleet. Despite this, they still fired torpedoes at the starboard side of the Birmingham at a distance of 300 meters. Three 450mm caliber triggered torpedoes hit the target one after another, and the subsequent explosions quickly turned the British cruiser into a burning cemetery. When the main ammunition depot exploded, a huge fireball rushed straight to 100 meters, and ships within 20 nautical miles could see this spectacular scene.

Seeing the explosion of our own ships, the two frigates of Betty's mobile fleet belonged to the "Bodisia" and "God of War" of the Essini Queen-class reconnaissance cruisers, the officers felt the approach of the threat. When the lookout post noticed the blurred ship shadows on the sea side and the model was difficult to distinguish, the officers ordered the launch of flares. British artillery flares successively turned into bright yellow lamps over the sea, but due to the deviation of estimated distance, the first few flares illuminated the empty sea surface. When the correct position bloomed in the sky, the German high-speed torpedo boats jumping on the top of the wave made many British crew members gasp: for ten years, the Germans have always maintained an unparalleled technological advantage in the field of high-speed speed boats.

The increasing number of high-speed battleships in the national navy has gradually become a strategic defensive force. Whenever diplomatic political conflicts broke out between Britain and Germany, and some British people shouted to engage in a "preventive war" against Germany, ships passing through the Gulf of Helgolan and Kil Bay could always "accidentally" run into a large group of German high-speed torpedo boats going out to sea for a spectacular scene. The German people were comforted by this. Generals and officers of the British Royal Navy had to study the tactics of breaking through the opponent's offshore defense array. Therefore, British ships were equipped with a large number of mk-iv type 4-inch naval guns using semi-automatic loading technology. In order to pursue loading quantity and firepower density, British dreadnoughts and battlecruisers were only equipped with a single 4-inch secondary gun, which caused more prominent tactical defects.

An ordinary gun-fired flare can only illuminate a very limited area in a limited time. The last twilight is mixed with the brilliance of the flare, and the visual effect is quite strange. The German high-speed warships are divided into multiple small groups. In this case, the British officials on the "Bodisia" judged that there were as many as 40 German torpedo boats coming. The commanders of the "God of War" concluded that "about 60 German high-speed torpedo boats attacked from the right rear of the fleet." The figures of the two reports gave the officers and soldiers of the friendly ship a very intuitive signal: a large wave of German high-speed warships are approaching!

At this moment, the British battle patrol "Royal Princess", sailing 3 nautical miles in front of "Baudisia" and "Female Warrior", had just raised the fleet flagship flag and the lieutenant general's flag, which meant that when the sister ship was ravaged by enemy artillery fire behind it, it had resolutely assumed the heavy responsibility of the fleet command ship. At this point in the battle, this mobile fleet gathered in the British Royal Navy's fast battleship had lost more than half, but this was obviously not the final result. In Betty's mind, whether to swallow the bitter fruit of the defeat to preserve its strength as much as possible, or to cooperate with the large fleet to fight back against Jedi, the answer is obvious.

Before the outbreak of the war, the British Navy had widely adopted semi-automatic loading technology on small-caliber naval guns, which gave it at least twice the rate of fire than purely manual loading. Therefore, in one-to-one battles, British light cruisers or destroyers have a clear firepower advantage over German warships of the same level, and can also be blocked with dense short-range firepower in the face of torpedo attacks from German light ships. It was observed that the German high-speed torpedo boats were approaching and Betty's patrols were under the command of Betty.

The ships opened fire one after another, and countless large and small water columns on the sea surface were suddenly endless. The German torpedo tactics were not rigid linear assaults. From the high-speed torpedo boat test brigade to the later offshore lightning strike fleet, the changing lightning strike tactics have always been one of the most eye-catching highlights of the Kiel Military Harbor Festival. Seeing the dense firepower of the enemy appearing in front of them, the German crews tacitly turned right and detour, looking for the enemy's defensive air in their fast and sensitive tactical maneuvers.

The "Lightning-14" battle group attracted the attention of British ships, and the "Thunder" battle group entering the battlefield began to disperse its formation. They formed in two groups, either cutting from the rear of the British fleet, or following the "Lightning-14" route, from the right side of the British fleet. These single boats were equipped with four torpedoes, and their combat speed was only slightly faster than that of the newly commissioned destroyers in Britain, and their endurance was far less than that of any destroyer, but their hull was only more than one meter above sea level and the width of the boat was only about two meters. When covered by smoke screen or used at night, they could best exert cover the Italian fleet. The battle of the Ionian Sea to severely create the Italian fleet is a very convincing typical case.

"88° in the front left, 800 yards, elevation angle 2°, continuous launch!"

"The sea surface in front of the right is 93°, with a distance of 700 yards, an elevation angle of 2°, continuous launch!"

"First forward, 700 yards, continuous launch!"

The rapid and slightly chaotic command sound filled the starboard deck of the Royal Princess. Without having time to rest for a moment, David Betty climbed the bridge observation deck with a solemn expression. Apart from the war-sinking "Invincible", the New Zealand, which had previously withdrawn from the battle and evacuated by itself, and the Lion, which was waiting for the end of his life at the muzzle of the German fleet, his fleet was only left with the Royal Princess, "Queen Margaret" and "Australia". They followed the other one, with almost no combat formation at all. The number of main battleships has decreased, and the remaining light cruisers and destroyers have also been simpler. Two or three of them cover a battle patrol, carefully guarding against the biggest threat at present: torpedoes!

The Royal Princess, who served as the temporary flagship, was guarded by a light cruiser and two destroyers. The 3400-ton reconnaissance cruiser "Anfieon" was located in front of the starboard side, and the 900-ton destroyers "Fardog" and "Scorpion" were arranged behind the port and behind the starboard side. When the German high-speed warships appeared on the starboard side of the sea, four warships opened fire one after another. In a short while, the dense artillery fire had formed a fire network like a fence on the sea about 1,000 meters to the right, which seemed to be safe. However, when hearing the battle orders of the guns on the side of the ship, Betty knew that this fire network was just a matter of momentum, so he ordered the starboard No. 1 and No. 8 sub-cannons on the starboard side to fire the 4-type flares with the shortest delay at a 5-degree angle, and prepared the searchlights of the entire ship to illuminate the starboard side.

During the chaos, Betty's instructions were still implemented in a timely manner. Two 4-inch secondary guns on the front and back of the starboard side replaced ordinary shells with flares, and these low-angle flares were basically set off at 400-500 meters away from the starboard side and 20-30 meters above the sea surface. Although they were not burned out when they landed in the sea, they were just in front of the German high-speed torpedo boat. The dazzling light made the German crew unable to see the target clearly. Then, several high-power searchlights on the "Royal Princess" illuminated together, illuminating the sea surface on the starboard side.

At this time, the sky was not completely dark, and the waves, ships, smoke and dust on the sea were all hazy and blurry in sight. The sudden strong light immediately produced a dazzling effect. The German high-speed warships that were attacking towards each other turned, but it was obviously too early to be happy at this time. The British crew quickly discovered the tail of the torpedo on the starboard sea surface, and the artillery fire poured out, and quickly exploded a torpedo. Even so, since it was impossible to confirm how many torpedoes the German high-speed torpedo boats fired before the temporary evacuation, Betty did not dare to be careless. After receiving his instructions, the "Royal Princess" quickly turned left, and the three escort ships also turned rudders.
Chapter completed!