Under the tight protection of two destroyers and four patrol gunboats, the injured super-dreadnought "Emperor" slowly sailed towards Scarpa Bay. Looking at its lonely back and on the ships still moving towards the battlefield, the officers and soldiers were in a very complicated mood. They felt that they should envy their colleagues on the "Emperor", after all, they no longer needed to be frightened by such an unpredictable combat operation.

Since it is not yet certain that the cause of the explosion of the "Emperor" cannot even be completely ruled out that it is an internal explosion without external forces, Sir Bailey decided to adopt a rigorous anti-submarine escort formation. He recalled all the light cruisers and destroyers searching for traces of German submarines, and deployed them one by one around the main battleship. The main battleships changed from three columns to two columns, and the old and new battleships were still in one column. The longitudinal spacing of each ship was shortened to 400 meters, and the column composed of five armored cruisers was disbanded. The "Karnafon County", "Roxbahl County", and "Natal" formed avant-garde formation, and the "Devon County" and "Argyle County" served as defenders.

Compared with the battleship group with complex formations, the five armored cruisers placed under General Thorp's unified command have been old partners for many years. Almost since they were completed and served, they have been incorporated into the cruiser squadron of the main fleet. The officers are familiar with each other and have a high degree of understanding of various tactical orders. After receiving the flagship command, "Kanavon County", "Roxbahl County", and "Natal" quickly stepped forward and lined up in front of the battleship group with Kong Wu's powerful posture, but they are not the real vanguards of the fleet. On the sea two or three thousand meters ahead of them, four destroyers and a light cruiser had already set off fan outposts.

According to the tactical tutorial of the British Royal Navy, Sir Bailey's fleet formation has been one step closer to the "imperfect" basis, and can be "no leaks". However, the update of these theoretical tutorials is obviously not as fast as the development speed of weapon technology. When most ships have arrived at designated combat positions, it has only 39 minutes passed since the explosion of the "Emperor", and the bow of the armored cruiser "Natal" suddenly exploded. It also appeared below the waterline. The explosion sounded dull and powerful, and the waves caused were not high. However, the warship was like being hit by an invisible heavy hammer, and a very strong vibration appeared on the ship. A few seconds later, accompanied by a deafening huge explosion.

The sound, a ball of blazing fireballs soared into the sky, and the thick smoke almost instantly swallowed the first half of the warship. Next, the continuous explosion finally evolved into an extremely terrifying scene: the deck of the "Natal" was full of flames. Where the flames flashed, countless pieces and complete and incomplete human bodies were flying in the air. The bridges, chimneys, and masts collapsed like houses built by cards. The solid and honest hull began to become fragmented. The mixed smoke of black, gray and white colors spewed out from the deck and the cracks of the hull. The smoke quickly wrapped the entire warship, like a huge curtain, covering the unbearable human tragedy...

On those ships that were close and had unblocked vision, the British crew watched with a shock as the armored cruiser with a standard displacement of 13,500 tons suffered the destruction of the god of death in war. People didn't even have time to think about how to save their suffering companions. It was already wrapped in the smoke and dust produced by the explosion. When China, any emergency measures for damage and control were useless. On those British warships that were slightly far away and could not directly look at the explosion scene, the unknown naval officers and soldiers even widened their eyes in shock. The smoke column formed by the explosion finally rose to hundreds of meters altitude. Even in Scarpaflo, thirty nautical miles away, people might be able to see this huge shadow that means death!

In less than two minutes, the explosion on the sea stopped abruptly, and the wreckage of the "Natal" was still circling in the terrible smoke and dust. The destroyers sailing in front of it, the armored cruisers on the side and the battleships behind it did not appear anything unusual. Only it was destroyed by such an unsuspecting explosion, no one saw the white track of the torpedo attacks, no one saw the periscope protruding underwater, no one saw any trace of the enemy, and the tragedy of the "Natal" seemed to be because of the sudden opening of the gate of hell!

"It's the anchor thunder..."

Sir Bailey, who was full of surprise on the Thunderbolt, Betty, who was as icy as ice on the Ireland, and many experienced officers and non-commissioned officers in this fleet, finally realized it at this time, but their awakening did not mean the end of the nightmare, the real nightmare had just begun.

After a while, the sea breeze slightly blew away the smoke and dust. The Natal, which reappeared in sight, was only half of the ship's stern. The destroyer Millbrook turned toward it, preparing to search and rescue the survivors on the ship. In order to avoid the wreckage of the Natal, the leader of the old battleship column, the Republic first turned right slightly, because Millbrook appeared in front of the bow. The Edward VII-class battleship adjusted its course to the right again. A moment later, an explosion suddenly occurred on the front of the starboard side of the "Republic". This time, the water column stirred up by the explosion rushed to twice the height of the battleship mast, and two unexpected British crew members were caught in the sea. The violent shock also shocked the captain Colonel Deval from the gangway leading to the bridge observation platform, and broke his left leg on the spot.

This time, the explosion of the "Republic" was only five or six minutes away from the "Natal" causing bad luck. This can eliminate all possible accidents. The reasoning result of normal thinking immediately made everyone feel desperate and terrified: the fleet broke into the mine formation set up by the Germans!

"How is this... possible?"

Sir Bailey, who is in charge of the new flagship, has an incredible expression, but the facts are in front of us. The enemy has put a typical defensive weapon like mines into the fleet and achieved such significant results. So, when and how many mines were deployed in what way? Sir Bailey has no idea about the answer to these questions. The old battleship "Republic" has only 3,000 tons more tonnage than the armored cruiser "Natal", and has a protective capability.

Far from the Dreadnought and Super Dreadnought. Although it did not explode in a short period of ammunition like the Natal, the situation was never optimistic. What's more serious is that the remaining 11 battleships and 4 armored cruisers were still moving towards a direction that was enough to destroy the British Empire's victory. Thinking of the terrible scene where this fleet would suffer a catastrophe in the mine formation, a deep chill suddenly surged behind Sir Bailey, and he hurriedly ordered the "main battleship to stop advancing."

In a short while, the signal cable of the Ireland raised a signal flag that matched this order. In addition to the light cruisers and destroyers able to maintain speed, 15 large ships immediately executed the command. In order to make these giants of hundreds of equipment obey the will of the operators, and to save their precarious fate, the officers and sailors on the ship responsible for the power facilities went their best. They had to change the propeller from smooth to reverse in the shortest possible time, thereby reducing the emergency stopping distance of the ship. This process is not only complicated, but may cause serious technical damage to the turbine system if you are not careful.

From the moment of ordering, Sir Bailey, who was responsible for the heavy responsibility, stood motionless on the bridge observation platform of the "Thunder". Under his gaze, the 15 10,000-ton warships slowed down their speed clumsyly and arduously. The waves on the hull gradually decreased, and the flag fluttered quietly weakened. In the end, all the large warships stopped, and the white steam released to reduce the pressure of the boiler spread over the fleet. In a trance, people seemed to be in an illusion...

Looking around, except for the slowly tilted "Republic", the other large ships were safe and sound. Sir Bailey's tense nerves finally relaxed a little. He ordered the communications officer: "Send a report to the Fleet Command, we have entered the mine formation set up by the enemy about 30 nautical miles southeast of Scarpa Bay. Please send minesweepers as soon as possible to solve the problem."

Since the outbreak of the war, the British Navy has deployed various alert ships, light cruisers, destroyers, gunboats, torpedo boats, armed tugboats and minesweepers around Scapa Bay to carry out combat cruises in layers, forming a relatively complete defense system. For more than a week, especially after the Battle of Jutland, the threats posed by German submarines have increased sharply. They lurked, spyed and attacked in the surrounding waters, causing British ships traveling to and from the Scapaflo Naval Base to be careful of, but these dangerous hunters only have two weapons torpedoes and deck guns. The deployment of mines is technically feasible. The problem today is that most submarines have small tonnage and only carry a small amount of mines is not only useless, but also increases their own safety hazards.

Since no mines or mine-branching attempts were found near Scapa Bay, the UK quickly adjusted its defense deployment. Some minesweepers were sent to the estuary of the Thames River to clear mines laid by German ships. Only a dozen hours later, the German Navy's mine-branching ships appeared in the British coastal waters. Although it could not escape the pursuit of British patrol ships, the mines laid down on the next day, which became the first active ship lost by the British Navy after the war. Some mine-sweeping boats were put into searching for German submarines, trying to use mine-sweeping nets to catch "poachers" underwater. As a result, less than one-third of the mine-sweeping ships were still performing mine-sweeping missions with dedicated mine-sweeping missions, and they had never warned and patrolled areas so far away from the main waterways.

In this sea surrounded by artificial smoke, the large warships of the British fleet stopped advancing. In order to ensure the safety of these important ships, Sir Bailey did not let them withdraw from the minefield by reverse, but asked the ships to measure the water depth and lower the main anchor to wait for their minesweepers to arrive before retreating.

A fleet that lost power has basically reduced its combat capability. Worrying that the German fleet or submarines may take the opportunity to attack, Sir Bailey ordered the three seaplane motherships to send more aircraft to alert and expand the cruise range to the limit. However, the so-called roof leaks and rains all night, and the ship is late and encounters a head-on wind. This is often the case. The alarm of the escort ship discovering the traces of German submarines in the nearby sea almost made Sir Bailey's heart stop beating, and then, in the southeast direction
Chapter completed!