“It’s almost time.”

Drinking the last drop of coffee in the cup, Xia Shu held her head and looked into the distance. At this moment, the essence of the German high seas fleet was 14 straight and majestic dreadnoughts, sailing in a stepped array on the turbulent sea west of the Jutland Peninsula. On their starboard direction, an equally powerful fleet was walking in the same direction, but the night clouds obscured their figures and the waves obscured their sounds, and Xia Shu and his colleagues knew clearly that they were there.

More than ten years of hard work will one day finally become the qualification to challenge the strong. Not to mention the final result, this is destined to be the peak moment in many people's lives.

In a completely silent situation, dazzling highlights suddenly appeared on the sea surface in the distance. Their dazzling light was better than any star in the sky. Even if the moon appeared on the sea surface in the most perfect posture, the brightness brought instantly was far less than that.

"See the British fleet!"

Someone couldn't help but scream, while more people chose to face the opponent in a quiet and steady manner. In fact, when it was dark just now, the flares dropped by German reconnaissance planes reflected the direction of the British fleet. However, at that time, people on German flagships had to use high-power optical telescopes to see blurry shadows at the end of the sea. Now, the two sides are less than 10 nautical miles apart, as long as the flares are set at the right place, they can even identify the dark ship shadows sailing at the top of the wave with their naked eyes.

The time has come. Xia Shu calmly took off his military cap, smoothed his hair with one hand, and put it on again. The officer hats of the Second German Empire Navy are divided into two styles: winter and summer. The winter hat top and hat walls are blue, while the attack hat top is pure white, the hat wall is sea blue, the brim of the hat is pure black, the huge hat badge is Prussian ring in the center, the upper end is a crown symbolizing royal power, and the surroundings are full oak leaves, symbolizing courage, loyalty and honor.

After finishing the military cap, Natsuki said to Ingnoll: "Order the fire!"

Ingnoll had no choice but to nod, "Ship-fire freely."

A moment later, the signal flag that allowed each ship to shoot freely was raised to the signal cable of the "Frederick the Great". At the same time, the communication personnel used searchlights to send clear and unmistakable light signals to the entire battle formation.

The main guns of battleships pointed to the starboard sea all made final fine adjustments. After a brief brewing, the heavy artillery roared across the sea, and the cannon flames dyed red in the night sky, and the sea surface was boiling again!

About twenty minutes ago, the brave "Stantin" used illumination flares to point out the exact position of the British fleet, and the German Dreadnought Group fought an artillery battle of about ten minutes with the British fleet. As the "Stantin" was sunk by the British light ship and retreated, the British fleet took advantage of the situation to hide into the darkness, and the German fleet had to cease fire, but they were both clear that the situation of the battle had developed to this extent, and no side would give up easily before the victory or defeat was decided. During the ten minutes of the artillery battle, the attention of both sides was attracted by the rumbling cannon sound from the rear of the fleet, but neither stopped placing troops in front of the battle and dispatched generals. So when the German Dreadnought Group challenged the end again, on their opposite side, the British fleet was also ready to fight.

Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong!

The short gunshot brought clear vibrations, and the "Frederick the Great" who served as the flagship of the High Seas Fleet took the lead in the attack. Before achieving cross-fire, Captain Feng Lu ordered the main guns of the ship to carry out rotational shooting as usual. Each double-mounted main turret fired only with one gun at a time. After the observation of the bounce point was transmitted back, the other gun fired according to the adjusted shooting parameters. However, the environment of night battles obviously had a great impact on the observation and aiming of the combatants. Sometimes the two warships opened fire at the same target at about the same time, and the bounce points were difficult to distinguish. In this case, the most direct way was to open the interval and then carry out another round of shooting.

Seeing the shells fired by the fleet kept buzzing water columns in the distance, and the flashing light of the opponent's fleet was full of artillery flames, Xia Shu still maintained his calmness that was inconsistent with his age. Before the emergence of fire-controlled radar technology, no matter how much energy the navy invested in night combat training, the combat effect could not escape the human eye's dependence on light. After more than a dozen rounds of shooting, the German daggers group still failed to obtain even a direct hit, but their fierce shelling obviously attracted the attention of the opponent. The British, who were not to be outdone, also had a rumbling blow. Taking this opportunity, nine large torpedo boats of the German 1st Lightning Strike Team were flying.

The British fleet's intercepting artillery fire launched a lightning attack. In accordance with the flagship instructions, these German warships rushed to 3,000 meters away from the British battle line to launch torpedoes. Although this distance exceeded the effective combat range of the G-type torpedoes, the torpedo trails that appeared one after another on the sea still made the British sweat. Their battleships had to twist their huge bodies to avoid them, and the light ships escorted were even more busy. Driven by the tense atmosphere, several British warships almost had a collision accident. At the most dangerous moment, the sharp bow of a battleship almost rubbed against the side of a cruiser.

Just when the British fleet was busy avoiding torpedoes, Natsuki, who had seen the opponent's lineup, issued new tactical instructions. 14 German dreadnoughts turned right 45 degrees under the cover of the accompanying light ships and rushed straight towards the opponent at a high speed of 18 knots. The two fleets quickly shortened at a speed of about 400 meters per minute. After just ten minutes, the combat distance between the two sides was narrowed to 10,000 meters.

Seeing the German battleship group rushing towards him with a terrifying aura, destroyers escorting the British main ships rushed to attack. The first ladder was four, the second ladder was six, and ten British destroyers tried to approach the German fleet to launch torpedoes, and they were soon blocked by three light cruisers and one armored cruiser from the German Fourth Reconnaissance Fleet. Immediately afterwards, the large torpedo boats belonging to the German 1st Lightning Strike Brigade, which successfully completed the lightning strike, also turned around to join the war. The two sides quickly strangled together, which was difficult to distinguish for a while.

"At 8,000 meters away from the enemy fleet!"

When the rangefinder reported the latest observation data, the atmosphere in the combat bridge of the "Frederick the Great" could no longer be described as nervous. Ordinary training exercises targeted only a few conceivable situations, while the real battle was full of uncertainty. The complex night battle environment, the huge fleet that was difficult to take into account from beginning to end, the aspiring young commander, and the British fleet that could not be deployed through naked eyes. The staff officers of the German High Seas Fleet Command should have calculated and analyzed and planned, but at this time they completely guessed

The direction of the battle situation is not clear. Most of the officers on the ship look at the battle situation with excitement and anxiety. During night battles, long-range artillery attacks have little effect, and only by pulling closer can we have the opportunity to hit the opponent hard. Moreover, the gun caliber of the German main battleship is generally smaller than that of the British warships built at the same time, and high-speed flicks that help improve hit accuracy were chosen. Considering the distinct differences in armor thickness and defense layout between the two sides, close combat is more beneficial to the German fleet, but at the same time, many unpredictable accidental factors have been added.

In front of the sea, two British destroyers suddenly escaped the entanglement of German light ships and came. They did not rush blindly, but fired multiple torpedoes from afar. Seeing the torpedo tails looming on the sea, Xia Shu did not dare to be careless. When the ships accompanying him had begun to turn and avoid them, he made a key decision based on his prediction: to make the 6 dreadnoughts of the 1st Battleship Detachment avoided the torpedo attack and then moved to the rear of the "Frederick the Great". The 8 dreadnoughts of the 3rd Battleship Detachment avoided the torpedo attack and then formed two ships with the first ships "Nassau" and "Hergolan".

When the German Dreadnought Group was frightened and dodged torpedoes, the British fleet, which had already skipped for a while, was reorganizing formation. Through the previous artillery battle, they had exposed their strength to the Germans equipped with 13.5-inch heavy artillery, the Iron Duke-class and George V-class battleships, which were indeed in the back line. The 4th, 5th and 6th battleship squadrons belonging to the British 1st Battleship Squadrons. Their common commander is Lieutenant General Cecil Bernie, deputy commander of the British Fleet.

Through observation of the shelling of the German fleet, Lieutenant General Bernie also realized what the enemy was in front of him. He immediately sent a report to the "Iron Duke", the flagship of the British Fleet where Jeliko was located, and asked the Admiral whether to slow down the front line of the fleet or to speed up the rear line of the fleet to catch up. Jeliko's reply was "maintain the speed and stick to the array."

The Berleaufon class, St. Vincent class and Giant class under Lieutenant General Bernie were both early dreadnoughts built. The maximum speed that each ship can actually achieve is 1-2 knots slower than those of the newer dreadnoughts. In the first half of the voyage, the British Fleet sailed in an orderly manner. After receiving the signal from Betty's fleet to help, they had to speed up the speed. The entire fleet was thus divided into three parts, including the latest and most powerful George V class, the Iron Duke class, and the Hunter

The second battleship squadron composed of the Hoz-class battleship was rushed forward under the leadership of Jelico. The first battleship squadron commanded by Lieutenant General Bernie could only run at a speed of 18 knots. The third battleship squadron composed of the former dreadnought fell behind at a speed of 15 knots. As for the seaplane mothership that was an auxiliary ship sailing with him, he was hit by a torpedo launched by a German submarine shortly after leaving Scarpa Bay. Under the protection of several destroyers, he staggered back to the base.

Before, seeing the German Dreadnought Group rushed straight in a very neat step-shaped battleship, Lieutenant General Bernie felt a real blow. After all, he only had 8 ordinary dreadnoughts, 3 Berlelofon class, 2 Saint Vincent class, 2 Giant class, and the "Default" that was the first to get the full-heavy artillery battleship. They were equipped with 12-inch main guns with a diameter of 45 or 50 times, and their firepower was the weakest of the British Dreadnought Fleet, because of their lack of experience and some flaws in design. In the eyes of outsiders, these dreadnoughts are majestic and domineering.
Chapter completed!