It was also a simple and nutritious breakfast, and King George V, who was far away in London, ate particularly heavy. After the meal, he met the Secretary of Navy Winston Churchill who arrived early in the morning in his study at Buckingham Palace and Prince Louis of the First Minister of Sea Bartenberg.

In Britain, the Secretary of the Navy was the highest civilian chief of the Navy, and the First Minister of the Maritime Affairs was the highest position of professional naval officers, and was controlled by the Secretary of the Navy.

"Your Majesty, the Royal Navy has suffered the greatest disaster in a century." The older Prince Louis said in a sad and heavy voice.

In fact, when he woke up early in the morning, George V learned about this nightmare. The king who had served in the Royal Navy for many years was naturally heartbroken, but his firm personality made him choose to face reality. He looked up at Prince Louis, a respected veteran in the Royal Navy, who was born in a small country in southern Germany, Batenberg. When he chose to join the British Navy, the Second German Empire had not yet been established, and now it has long become a part of this empire.

Although he possessed the aristocratic blood of Germany, Prince Louis was still respected and supported by British naval officers and soldiers even when the British relationship was worst, because the British royal family was also closely related to the German royal family. George V's father, former King Edward VII, belonged to the Saxony-Coburg-Godard family from Germany. This relationship naturally made George V fall into deep trouble from the beginning of the war against Germany.

"Do we still have hope of winning this battle?" George V asked.

Prince Louis was silent, while the young and energetic Churchill replied loudly: "The glorious Royal Navy has encountered many setbacks in history, and each time it can turn defeat into victory. I firmly believe this time is no exception."

Confidence alone cannot solve the problem. Churchill then analyzed: "We were undoubtedly the defeated side of the naval battle last night. The losses of a large number of ships and personnel have greatly reduced the strength of the local fleet. Although the war-sinking ships of the German main fleet are fewer than us, many of their ships were injured. It will take a long time to repair these warships and will inevitably consume a lot of steel resources. This is what Germany, which is blocked by the sea, currently lacks. If they are eager to break our blockade, they will take the initiative to challenge us. If a naval battle breaks out in the northern North Sea or the English Channel, the geographical situation will be completely beneficial to us. As long as we respond calmly, we will have a great confidence in reversing and winning."

Prince Louis supported: "Yes, Your Majesty, as long as we firmly block the two exports in the North Sea, even if the German Navy wins a temporary victory, it will not be able to change their strategic disadvantages. Without the maritime route, their shipbuilding speed will not be able to compete with us."

George V put his elbow on his knees and his hands were dragging his chin: "What I care most now is whether Britain can survive these two months. If the people know the crushing defeat of the local fleet, they will be extremely depressed."

Prince Louis immediately said: "We cannot block the news with such a crushing defeat."

Churchill, 40, is in a golden age of flexible mind and quick thinking. He said quickly: "No, there is no need to block the news. What we need to do is to guide the public correctly, turn sadness into anger, and turn anger into strength, and devote all our strength to repair warships and new ships. If it goes well, our large fleet will only take two weeks to reorganize the lineup. With the ships urgently transferred back from the Mediterranean, we will have 3-4 battlecruisers, 12-14 dreadnoughts and a large number of old battleships against the German main fleet with uneven lineups."

George V, who was 9 years older than Churchill, was also in the middle of a strong and prosperous period. He thought about it and felt that what the Navy minister said had some truth, so he asked him: "Then how should we guide public opinion?"

"Blaming the failure of this naval battle on bad luck, we must let the public clearly see that our naval officers and soldiers showed bravery and fearlessness in the battle. We tried our best to have no obvious mistakes in the command and tactics in the battle. The Germans cleverly set up traps and took advantage of the bad weather."

Churchill said as he looked at Prince Louis, after all, he was the navy general and had a convincing voice in combat.

George V looked at Churchill, and after he finished speaking, he also turned his attention to Prince Louis.

Prince Louis knew the situation was of great importance and replied cautiously: "Although the specific situation of the naval battle needs to be known until the fleet report, with my knowledge of General Jelico, he is unlikely to be negligent in command, and Sir Bernie, General Bradford, and General Thomas, are trustworthy commanders. I personally think the analysis just made by His Excellency the Navy Minister is logical and may be very close to the actual situation."

"No further ado." Churchill suggested before George V made a clear statement, "We'd better act as soon as possible, so as not to avoid the German side's explanation, and it will inevitably be concealed if we explain it."

At this point, George V had to make a decision and agreed to Churchill's preconceived plan.

At noon, the German people who were anxiously waiting at the military terminal of Kiel Harbor finally saw the second batch of naval ships passing through the canal locks. The scarred warships finally appeared in these scarred warships. One was the main battleship "Catherine", which had been in service for less than two years, and the other was the "Osterfriland" that had been in service for three years and five months. Unfortunately, both of these dreadless ships suffered heavy blows in the battle with the British fleet, and "Catherine" was attacked by two British main forces.

The ship's close-range attack was covered with bullet holes of all sizes, with more than 4,000 tons of water in the ship. The bow deck was close to the water surface, almost one step away from sinking. The "Osterfriland" also ate 7 13.5-inch large-caliber armor-piercing bombs in the latter battle with the British main fleet. The number of casualties on the ship was as high as 192, the injured were close to 300, and the naval guns were basically damaged. They looked like a garbage ship, without any prestige of the past.

Although the dismal appearance of "Catherine" and "Osterfriland" and the large number of wounded people who were transported off the ship disappointed the onlookers, and more and more people felt uncomfortable about the safety of their families, after the light ships escorted them back to the dock, the excited naval officers and soldiers brought good news to the people: the German fleet won, and it was a big victory. The main fleet was still clearing the battlefield behind, and they would later take the victory division to triumph.

The news spread quickly, and the solemn atmosphere that enveloped people's hearts was immediately swept away.

By noon, the three main ships of "Frederick the Great", "Posen" and "Sedlitz" that left the battleship due to injuries and dozens of light ships that were damaged to varying degrees also returned to the Port of Kiel. The crew confirmed the previous news: the German Navy did win a very valuable victory. Although the battle was over, the fleet commander who replaced the temporary flagship was still looking for opportunities to expand the results of the battle with the main ship group.

Unlike those ships that were injured by artillery fire or torpedoes, the genuine flagship of the High Seas Fleet "Frederick the Great" brought a completely different visual shock to the naval officers and soldiers at the base. It was like a vehicle that had a serious traffic accident. The hull was beyond recognition due to the violent impact. The front part of the bow disappeared, and the back section was also deflated. The entire warship was shortened by more than ten meters. Moreover, the large amount of water in the front compartment caused its front main turret to approach the water surface. A whole piece of armored belt was stripped out on its port side, and a large number of internal compartments were exposed to sight without any obstruction. It is hard to imagine that a ship that was so severely damaged could actually struggle to return to the port in the storm, while another warship of the same class was sunk by a mere torpedo.

When the special train that the German Emperor was riding in the fields of northern Germany, the waters of the Jutland Peninsula gradually returned to a state of light wind and storm and vast sea. The busy "Bismar" had taken off four batches of carrier-based aircraft, and together with a small number of water reconnaissance aircraft carried by other ships, a total of aircraft were put into the ranks of sea searches. Although no one fell behind British battleship was found, they had a rich harvest of more than 20

0 crew members of both sides were eventually rescued because of their reports. Two large German torpedo boats, g137 and v164, which were seriously damaged but not abandoned by the crew, returned to the base with the help of friendly ships. Three British abandoned ships that had lost power, the protective cruiser "Peruzz" and the destroyer "Laurel" and "Pelican". After investigation by German naval personnel, the "Pelican" was towed back to the country, and the remaining two were sunk with torpedoes.

It was confirmed that the British main fleet had all withdrawn. At around 11 a.m., the German main fleet finally set off on its way home. In order to pass through the mine array channel in the Gulf of Helgoland, the huge fleet was lined up in a long snake, led by the large torpedo boat G194, 9 cruisers, large torpedo boats, 9 dreadnoughts, 2 battle cruisers, 6 torpedo boats, and the only "Bismar" took 3 and a half hours to pass the minefield. Hearing that the main fleet was triumphant, the German naval personnel stationed on the Island of Helgoland sounded their salutes.

The airships and planes departing from Wilhelmshaven accompanied the fleet, and the offshore guard fleet also sailed out of Yade Bay to welcome them. At 4 pm, the "King" with the fleet commander's flag and the Admiral's flag entered the Kiel Canal. The German people who came to hear the news filled the sides of the canal. They shouted long live, waving flowers and handkerchiefs in their hands. Just a few days ago, these people were still worried about Britain's participation in the war. At this moment, they were able to leave all these worries and sorrows behind and enjoy the happiness and pride brought by victory.

After a hard night of hard fighting, experiencing the baptism of storms and smelting blood and fire, the German naval officers and soldiers who participated in the war were bathed in the sun and cheering. Not long ago, they were as confused and uneasy as ordinary people about the prospect of the war. At this moment, although they did not know where the road under their feet was extending, they had enough confidence to raise their chests and move forward with heroic steps.
Chapter completed!