This naval battle, which was destined to be recorded in the history of the war and occupied many military records, ended?

The sound of cannons on the sea was completely calmed down, and there were endless sounds of wind and rain in my ears. In the "King" combat bridge, the officers looked at each other, and first saw a sense of relief and then a joy to slam the British fleet. It is no exaggeration to say that such a naval battle is enough to describe it in a series of words such as thrilling, dangerous, heart-wrenching, shocking, and heart-stirring. Basically, every participating ship had casualties, and was hit by a shell or a torpedo, causing explosions across the ship.

Death may be a momentary boundary, or an extremely long, fearful and painful process. Everyone who devotes himself to this naval battle, no matter what level he is, where he is, whether he is mentally prepared, may miss death at all times. During the process of experiencing all this, people witnessed the magnificence and splendor, felt the pride of hitting the enemy, and were angry and sentimental for the bleeding and sacrifice of his companions... At the end of the battle, everyone with complete limbs and unsecure conditions should feel glad.

"We won!"

Captain Brigadier General Bainke looked at the fleet commander Ingnoll, who stood side by side with his heart, and Prince Joachim, the chief of staff of the fleet. From his perspective, at least in the second half of the battle, the young chief of staff, who was of noble origin, showed the basic qualities that excellent commanders must possess to judge the situation, the courage to make decisions in battle, and the wisdom to plan. Although the battlefield is full of unpredictable accidental factors, from the impact of flagship commands on the combat situation, the decision he made is great

It played a more active and effective role, and the instructions sent to the executors were clear and did not require too much speculation and secondary decisions. However, this was also a constraint, which largely limited the judgment and performance of the lower-level commanders. Their understanding and mastery of the battle situation was obviously more realistic than the flagship responsible for taking overall charge. In addition, the flagship "Frederick the Great" was the pioneer and took huge risks to continuously hit the British ships. Whether this was due to his original intention, it was difficult to escape the suspicion of hasty and recklessness.

Starting with Brigadier General Bainke, the officers began to express the joy of victory with their words and deeds. According to their certainty, at least 5 British battle patrols and 7 dreadnoughts were sunk in this battle. The British Navy lost half of its main force. Although many of the main ships of the German Navy suffered heavy damage, no battle has been sunk so far, so it is absolutely not wrong to assign such a battle to victory.

"We have won! His Highness, Prince Joachim, please accept my sincere respect!"

Under the leadership of Captain Gold, the young staff of the High Seas Fleet Command saluted the young and promising successful man. Even without the on-site change of command, as the initiator of this attack plan, the plan maker and key promoter, the German fleet in a weak position could win, and although there was no clear statement, anyone with a little vision could see that during the course of this naval battle, the actual command of the German fleet was in the hands of the fleet chief of staff, and he took on huge responsibilities and risks, and it was natural to reap the honors of military achievements.

The officers around them, regardless of whether they knew the truth or not, were also in awe.

Xia Shu turned around, his face calm and his posture was steady, "Gentlemen, the victory was achieved thanks to everyone's efforts and the tenacious fighting of all the naval personnel. The whole of Germany will be proud of our performance today. However, the celebrations should be kept until the return to the port. Now, we are not far from the British fleet, and the enemy may turn around at any time, so we must be vigilant enough."

Hearing this, Ingnoll turned his head and looked at Xia Shu, and a hint of relief flashed in his lost eyes.

After leaving the battle, the German fleet was not in contact with the combat alert. The officers and sailors were still in their respective combat positions, but they could sleep in shifts. On those ships without heavy damage tasks, the rotating personnel sent coffee, fruits and pastries directly to various combat positions for combatants to replenish their energy. Many people realized the end of the battle, so they shook hands with each other to celebrate that they were still alive.

On the sea where the wind and waves were still there, the main ships with the German fleet still had combat power gradually concentrated in one place. Five ships "King", "Caesar", "Helgoland", "Oldenburg", and "Westphalia" were one line, and four ships "Rhineland", "Thuringian", "Nassau", and "Louisport Regent" were one line, and each ship maintained a unified speed of 12 knots. The seriously damaged main ships "King Albert", "Catherine", "Posen", "Osterfriland" and "Sedlitz", were unable to form due to their different speeds, and had to return each other under the escort of several light ships.

Behind these German main ships, three light cruisers and 10 large torpedo boats formed a wide back line, and two moderately damaged but still have speed, the "De Fringer" and "Gobon", are responsible for supporting the back line.

At 3:10 am, just over half an hour after the main fleets of both sides left the battle, the large torpedo boat S-58, which served as the rear guard, found a ship shadow on the northeastern sea. Its report immediately made the entire back line nervous. The "Deflinger" and "Gobert" formations immediately sounded the battle alarm. The news reached the main fleet. The nine dreadnoughts also began to adjust their arrays and were ready to turn around to fight. However, after a few minutes, the battle alarm was lifted. It turned out that the light cruiser "Stuttgart" that had been damaged and left the fleet was previously damaged. During the battle between the German main fleet and the Bernie formation, the cruiser carrying out reconnaissance mission was hit by enemy artillery fire.

The communication facilities on the upper level were completely destroyed and the power system was severely malfunctioned. Due to the lack of information, this cruiser belonging to the "pre-Joachim era" was once listed on the "loss" list by his companions. Later, the German fleet defeated the Bernie formation, and the British ships evacuated in various places. "Stuttgart" drifted alone on the sea for more than an hour. With the efforts of the crew, some boilers were re-operated again. Under the push of a turbine, it staggered south at a speed of 9 knots. Later, the second turbine resumed operation. However, the commander and his sailors were confused about the battle situation, and were afraid of encountering the British ship again, so they had to turn off the lights carefully, and almost were attacked by two of their own battle patrols.

At 3:25, another German ship, 1913-grade large torpedo boat G42, encountered similar to that of a German ship. After repairing the damage, it caught up with its own fleet, and it also brought about an important news: it was observed that a British fleet with at least twenty ships was sailing towards the northwest.

Ten minutes later, two Long-class armored cruisers appeared in front of the "King". They were escort members of the auxiliary fleet. They encountered British cruisers and started fighting after dark. Because carrier-based aircraft and high-speed torpedo boats were unable to be used in harsh sea conditions, the auxiliary fleet with the modified aircraft carrier of the "Bismarck" and the six torpedo boats as the core hovered on the edge of the battlefield all night.

In Xia Shu's initial plan, the auxiliary fleet was mainly used to stir up the situation and end the end. Now it seems that unless Jelico also wanted to use old battleships to launch a surprise attack to save the complete defeat of this naval battle, his auxiliary fleet could have withdrawn in advance. After weighing, Xia Shu finally decided to let his auxiliary fleet continue to stay in the waters north of Helgolan Bay. After all, the rainstorms in the North Sea usually do not last too long. In this midsummer, it will dawn in another hour, and this surprise might kick the British fleet hard according to the butt.

The wonder of the surprise lies in its relatively advanced combat methods. Although these auxiliary ships are protected by multiple cruisers and large torpedo boats, if they encounter British main ships directly, the fate of being slaughtered is inevitable. At 3:40, Xia Shu ordered the main fleet to turn left, and 9 dreadnoughts turned into a large circle under the cover of two light cruisers and eight large torpedo boats. The two Long-class armored cruisers crossed the main fleet and continued northward, preparing to support the back line with the two combat patrols.

As soon as 4 o'clock, the rainfall weakened significantly, and the low-hanging rain clouds gradually increased. The sea was no longer dark and the five fingers were missing. The visible distance increased a lot. The rear ships could be seen in the front of the fleet. Although the sea conditions improved, the "King Albert" evacuated due to injury still sent a signal to abandon the ship. During the retreat to the Bay of Helgolan, the water inlet of the new dreadnought lost control, and the sea water gradually penetrated into the upper compartment. The hull was tilted more and more serious, and there was a possibility of overturning at any time. Even if it was reluctant, the personnel on the ship had to give up the main ship with a cost of up to 2.25 million pounds, and it might become the last battleship to be sunk by torpedoes launched by enemy battleships!

During the previous battle, only 91 people of "King Albert" were killed. The remaining nearly a thousand officers and soldiers, including a hundred and ten seriously injured, needed to move away from the ship in the shortest possible time. The three large torpedo boats accompanied immediately began to receive and containment work, and the light cruiser "Dresden" that was not far away also came to assist. These ships were soon filled with the evacuation personnel of the "King Albert". When the last crew evacuated, its No. 2 turret had been flooded with sea water.

After all the personnel were transferred, the last moment of "King Albert" was about to come. As usual, one of the accompanying ships would launch a torpedo to end its pain, but the three large torpedo boats had exhausted the torpedoes in the battle, and the role of the creator had to be played by the "Dresden". It launched the last three torpedoes on the ship from 300 meters away and all hit. A few minutes later, the "King Albert" lay quietly 66 nautical miles from the Bay of Helgoland.
Chapter completed!