"Each ship attacks freely and opens fire!"

In order to make the battle orders pass through the rain curtain to the ships accompanying them, the flagship "Iron Duke" of the British Fleet sent a light signal with a 90-centimeter searchlight. Even so, ships a little far away only knew the flagship command after seeing the signals forwarded by the warships. Therefore, when the rumbling cannons began to resound across the sea, the British warships lined up behind the fleet, the officers and soldiers did not know that their fleet had launched a fierce attack on their opponents. In fact, except for the jumping flames, all they could see was rain and surging waves...

After issuing the first offensive order, John Jericho, who was in charge of the "Iron Duke", commanding the fleet, issued an order to follow me, following me and concentrating his firepower to attack the enemy's tailship!

Unlike the old-fashioned dreadnoughts of the Bernie formation, the ones that lined up to attack the German fleet at this moment were all super dreadnoughts that the British Royal Navy were proud of. The fierce artillery fire immediately burst into sky-storm water columns around the German main ships. Their height was far beyond the masts of any warship, and even the surging waves were pale in comparison.

The British main fleet was fierce and imposing, and the Germans on the opposite side were not panicked at all. The four dreadnoughts on the right battle line opened fire and counterattacked in an orderly manner. At a combat distance of less than a thousand meters, their bounce points were compactly distributed around the British warships. Large and small, high and low water columns almost wrapped the pilot ship that appeared in front of the searchlight. This majestic Iron Duke-class battleship turned steadily with agile posture, and the bow pointed directly at the "Catherine" at the tail of the German 1st battleship detachment.

On the temporary flagship of the High Seas Fleet, the fleet commander and his staff officers stared at the starboard sea. Before the war started, they were nervous and nervous because of their opponents' strength and their lack of practical experience. In the more than seven hours from dusk to late night, the successive victory made them accumulate unprecedented confidence, so that some people have gradually forgotten the strength of the British navy. In their eyes, this German main fleet with a neat lineup and high morale is enough.

Sweep all obstacles to victory, but such optimism has never appeared on the faces of Ingnoll and the senior officers. They know that their opponents are not only the strength of technology and materiality, but their spiritual combat effectiveness based on glorious traditions and will beliefs is also the key factor in winning repeatedly in the past few hundred years. When the Iron Duke-class battleship leading the team to fight unconcealedly puts forward the invincible edge and courageous domineering spirit are undoubtedly revealed!

The moment to make decisions has come again. Natsuki knew that he could not get clear suggestions from Ingnoll or the staff. Some of these German officials trained in German naval academies and active fleets were knowledgeable, quick-responsive, brave and aggressive, firm willed, some were meticulous and steady, but these were just differences in style. Most people could not get rid of the limitations of the times. The eyes were not long-term, courageous, and judgments were not accurate enough. They were also restricted by imperial power and political factors. They were often restrained and looked forward to the forefront. In comparison, Natsuki was not only a "newborn calf but not afraid of tigers", but also a member of the privileged class, and he also won excellent conditions for himself to show his ambitions.

Looking at the new battlefield situation, Natsuki felt that his opponent might not be "going all" because the Royal Navy was the foundation of the British Empire. The losses of the entire Battlecruising fleet and the five dreadnoughts will change the strength comparison between Britain and Germany, and even force Britain to withdraw from this war. However, as long as the main force of the Royal Navy is still there, the prosperous land is guaranteed and the vast and abundant colonies are not lost, the hegemony of the world empire will not be easily lost. On the other hand, if the British Navy lost 70% of the main ships in this battle, it will fall from the world's first navy to the end overnight. Not only will the local area lose a security barrier, but the overseas territories will also face the ********* of the great powers. Which is more important, a cautious and steady general like Jelico cannot not make any trade-offs.

On the one hand, the British fleet could not tolerate destructive losses. On the other hand, the existing war situation has put Britain in a precarious situation to kill several old battleships of the German Navy at the cost of more than ten main battleships sinking or severely hurting. Has the British Royal Navy suffered such humiliation since its establishment? As soon as the news came out, not only the confidence and morale of the naval officers and soldiers fell to the bottom, but the British people would feel even more anxious. The determination to compete with France and Russia to compete with Germany and Austria will be shaken. The expedition that has been ready to go has been gathered in southern England.

The troops will have to stay to defend the local area, which will have an unpredictable impact on the process and results of the war. Therefore, before leading the main force of the fleet out of the battle, Jelico must find ways to sink several German main ships, thereby reducing the proportion of war losses between the two sides, preserving the face of the Royal Navy, and avoiding disastrous political consequences. After this battle, even if the British Navy is temporarily at a disadvantage, it can still use geographical conditions to blockade against the German Navy, and then use the advantageous shipbuilding industry to quickly make up for the losses on the battlefield.

Thinking about this, Xia Shu turned his attention to the sea behind the starboard side. Although the situation at the tail of the fleet could not be directly observed from the bridge, from the concentration of the British fleet's lights and artillery fire, they were fiercely attacking the "Catherine". At this time, he couldn't help but feel a little glad that if he had not adjusted the fleet battleship before and arranged eight old-fashioned dreadnoughts of the 3rd Battleship Detachment and five new dreadnoughts of the 1st Battleship Detachment, the British fleet is now just halfway through the battle line of the German fleet. On this turbulent rainy night, the medium- and long-range shooting of the naval guns will become useless. The British fleet, which has a large number but concentrated force, will form a huge local advantage in a short period of time. Even if the German battleships have the best protection level, it is still inevitable that they will repeat the mistakes of the "Hometown".

The "Catherine" is hostile, and the situation is certainly unfavorable, but it is a Caesar-class battleship with balanced and powerful performance. The main armor and bridge armor of the waterline have reached unprecedented thickness, and they use high-quality carburized armored steel manufactured by the Krupp factory in peacetime. As long as it is not too lucky, there will be no risk of war damage for a while. The adjacent "Louisport Regent" belongs to the same Caesar-class. It has almost no loss of combat power in previous battles. At this time, it can provide assistance to Catherine with its agile skills.

The current situation does not seem too bad, but due to the poor vision, the two sides were quite close at the beginning of the battle, and the British main battleship was in a high speed state. Even if it was just a moment of hesitation, the battlefield situation may undergo subversive changes. This sense of urgency in judging the situation prompted Xia Shu's brain to run quickly. From the beginning of the artillery battle, he issued a second order to the main fleet after "free fire and counterattack": the 1st Battleship Detachment strictly guarded the array, and the 3rd Battleship Detachment each ship turned right, and passed through the 1st Battleship Detachment to launch an attack.

Securing the array means that even if the ship belonging to it is firmly locked by enemy artillery fire, it must not evade attacks by maneuvering. In naval battles, this is a firm and cruel command. A certain or several warships must make huge sacrifices for the victory of the entire fleet. If the discipline is unclear or the command is not effective, this command may not be implemented. In the event of loss of flagships or communications failing, this command may become a shackle that restricts the captains' own judgment.

Whether it is signal light or radio, it takes a certain amount of time to convey this not too complicated or simple command. The two leading warships in the British fleet were obviously more efficient. They quickly passed through the middle area of ​​the two battle fleets, and the bow still pointed to the "Catherine" at the end of the right column of the German fleet, as if they were ready to launch an impact when artillery fire was not enough to sink the opponent, but the British commander did not seem to have led the ship to crash into "Orion" before.

The fierceness and decisiveness of the USS, or in other words, adopted a more civilized and skillful combat strategy. When the distance between the two sides was close to a hundred meters, the two British warships turned left together. Judging from the swaying posture of the warships, they were turning rapidly at the maximum rudder angle of the high-speed navigation, so two full and smooth arcs left on the sea. When the arc gradually gathered and turned into a straight line, the two powerful British battleships had pointed all their main guns at the "Catherine".

These are 20 high-performance 13.5-inch naval guns!

A few seconds later, the German main battleship "Catherine" was fully loaded with crews, and the most terrifying fire was bombarded since the battle. Under the illumination of searchlights, the black holes of the two British battleships erupted terrifying flames one after another, and the huge shells passed through the field of view at a speed that was discernible to the naked eye but difficult to catch up. "Catherine" was facing the enemy on the starboard side. After the shelling, there was no bullet point on its port side, and a water wall that was far larger than any barrier was instantly ripped up near the starboard side. Its hull, deck and superstructure were also instantly shrouded in the explosion of flames and smoke. Witnessing such a scene, many viewers thought that the "Catherine" had a big explosion in the ship!

The heavy rain extinguished the flames, the strong wind blew away the smoke of gunpowder. After only a few seconds, the solid and concise hull of the Catherine reappeared in front of people. All searchlights were turned off, and all deck buildings were beyond recognition. Fire tongues were scurried in many parts of the ship, and thick black smoke was dragged on the damage location, but it remained in the array of the German fleet and declared its indomitable will with artillery fire!

The Catherine was not sunk, at least the heavy blow just now did not destroy its body. The two British battleships' amazing 13.5-inch main gun groups were still aimed at it, but their next round of shooting would have to wait at least 40 seconds, and the two sides were in a parallel navigation state, and would completely stagger their positions in half a minute. In this case, without someone's expectations, the two British battleships turned right in a tacit understanding, intending to cut from behind the Catherine to maintain a close distance.

The dominant position of the volley of the strait. At this moment, a black shadow suddenly rushed out from left to right from behind the "Catherine", which was completely beyond the British's expectations. Seeing that the collision between the bow and the bow was about to happen, the German warship that suddenly appeared had no intention of avoiding the iron Duke-class battleship leading the front had to bite the bullet and continue to turn right. According to this trend, although it could almost avoid the coming, it would immediately follow the "Catherine" into the German battleship, forming an unprecedented naval wonder.
Chapter completed!