The use of shrapnel can be traced back to the early 18th century. Burning shrapnel replaced solid shrapnel with chemical combustible substances. The principle and structure are not complicated. The difficulty lies in how to make shrapnel explode at a distance that meets tactical needs, thereby forming an effective attack. After receiving the instructions of the German Navy, Krupp Military Industry conducted secretly for more than two years of research and successfully developed a practical combustion shrapnel with practical significance at the end of 1913, which is commonly understood as "shock shrapnel". By the outbreak of the war in 1914, the Krupp factory had produced more than 2,000 burning shrapnel of two specifications, 283 mm and 305 mm, for the German Navy. The 14 German dreadnoughtsmen participating in the Jutland Navy were equipped with 12 rounds of each main gun, but they did not get a chance to show their skills.

This time, the German mixed fleet attacked, and it is expected that it will need to deal with a large number of British light ships, "King", "Caesar", and "Louisport Regent" each main gun is equipped with 25 burning shrapnel rounds, while the "Brunswick" and "Pomerania" are equipped with 15 rounds each. With the order of Reinhardt-Sher, five German battleships began to fire such unconventional shells at the opposite group of British lightning strike ships. Although they could not directly sink the ship, they could make the other party feel the pain of burning skin. The British warships that were within the range of burning shrapnel were killed and injured. The superstructure and deck gun positions also turned into a sea of ​​fire. Survivors were tired of extinguishing the fire. The ships were no longer combat-effective in a short period of time. The shells and launching drugs that were exploding were also aggravated the ship's injuries at any time.

The British light ship group that was attacking in a straight line suffered from purgatory. The "Thunder" boat group that advanced to the center of the battlefield immediately split into two, each facing the enemy ship formation surrounding the flanks. On the right wing of the German fleet, on the left side of the British fleet, four German armored cruisers "Lone", "York", "Prince Adalbert", and "Friedrich-Karl", adjusted their courses neatly to maintain the port side of the enemy. Facing the distance, they were constantly approaching.

The British ships, their 210mm caliber main guns, known for their rate of fire, frequently spit out dazzling flames, and the standard 150mm and 88mm caliber single-mounted secondary guns were also firing with all their strength. The large and small artillery shells formed a barrier-type firepower net on the sea outside the torpedo range. Two British torpedo boats that were first to break into were shot and caught fire one after another. Seeing that the destroyers and torpedo boats were not good, they quickly turned to avoid the German armored cruiser.

The team intercepted the areas with the most dense firepower, but they didn't know that what was waiting for them would be a pit that was about to be crushed to pieces. An old destroyer with three chimneys became the first martyr. It was sailing on the sea surface that was not attacked by artillery fire. A flash of flames under the bow of the ship suddenly broke the entire bow. The violent explosion instantly blew up the entire bow. The huge steel plate was thrown to a height of dozens of meters, and the small pieces of debris were even scattered within a range of hundreds of meters. The remaining hull was like a trap.

The speed of the carriage entering the mud pit dropped sharply in just a few seconds, and under the action of inertia, it trembled violently and swayed violently under the action of inertia. The passage of time did not gradually stabilize, and the hull quickly developed a longitudinal imbalance. In less than two minutes, its propeller was raised high from the water surface, and the hull finally sank in a state almost perpendicular to the sea surface until it completely disappeared. During this process, there were only twenty or thirty crew members who survived and escaped from the cabin.

The misfortune of this British destroyer immediately aroused the vigilance of his neighbors, but an emergency turn may not necessarily mean escaping from danger. Soon another destroyer and a torpedo boat hit the mines. The mines used by various countries during this period were basically the power to severely damage or even blow up battleships in one fell swoop, and it was no problem to deal with a ship of only a few hundred tons. None of the two British ships that followed the footsteps were spared, and a few people on the destroyer survived, and the fragile torpedo boats exploded into pieces in an instant.

Uncertaining the location and scale of the minefield, the cost of the two destroyers and a torpedo boat was enough to prevent the dozens of British ships remaining on this side. They turned around and turned around in the fierce shelling of four German armored cruisers. Although they were able to avoid the fatal threat of mines, two more torpedo boats were soon injured by artillery fire and lost power. The one had to wait for the end of the journey under the German muzzle. The other was not lucky. It dragged the rolling black smoke and tried hard to escape. It was intercepted by the German high-speed warship before going far away. A torpedo blew it up in the waist, allowing it to find its home at the 67-meter-deep seabed.

On the left wing of the German fleet, on the right side of the British fleet, the defense line composed of eight large German torpedo boats seemed much worse than that of four armored cruisers, because their guns totaled only 24, and they were all weak 105mm or 88mm caliber. However, five German battleships were moving to this side, and they could turn the muzzle to reinforce the intercept line at any time. The British lightning strike ships that chose this side to break through quickly encountered the same trouble as their companions. The anchor mines laid in advance by the Germans were below the sea. Direct attack without reconnaissance could not avoid this deadly danger. Three torpedo boats, one expelled

The ships hit mines and exploded one after another. Four light ships with fragile structures and almost unprotected light ships were all destroyed. Most of the remaining ships turned around and retreated. Three unwilling captains tried to bypass the minefield. They led their ships to make a larger-scale detour and exchanged fire with the escort ships of German auxiliary ships. However, when they rushed over and prepared to kill the German aircraft carrier and high-speed torpedo boat carrier with torpedoes, one of them triggered the mine and caused the explosion to sink. The other two turned around and evacuate because they were worried about falling into the thunder formation. However, they were soon attacked by two extremely powerful German war patrols, one of which was injured and sunk, and the ending was equally bleak.

The draft of a thousand-ton destroyer is usually 3.5 to 4 meters, the draft of a 500-ton small destroyer is about 3 meters, while the draft of a 200-ton small and medium-sized torpedo boat is also above 1.5 meters. The draft of a thunder-class high-speed torpedo boat in Germany is only 0.9 meters, and the "Lightning-14" is only 0.7 meters. Because of this significant gap, the attacking German high-speed warships can safely pass through the minefield that cannot be crossed by British light ships. On the left and right wings of the front line, they launch a decisive attack on British destroyers and small and medium-sized torpedo boats that are retreating in a mess.

In front of battleships, destroyers have the advantages of flexible maneuvering, but compared with high-speed torpedo boats, they become "silly big guys" who turn slowly. These agile sea elves come like the wind. In broad daylight, they launch torpedoes from 600 meters away, and occasionally use the cover of the battlefield environment to rush to 500 meters or even closer. If they are only attacked by one or two torpedoes, unless the crew is careless or their own power is damaged, British light ships can calmly avoid it, but when faced with four, eight or even more torpedo groups attacking, they will find it difficult to escape the bad luck.

To deal with these fast-moving and small-sized targets, manual control and manually loaded small caliber guns are usually difficult to hit. Machine guns, machine guns or shrapnel must be used to strive to sink or drive them away before they launch torpedoes. Given that these short-legged high-speed warships are mainly used for offshore defense, the British Navy equipped the ships to the main fleet with sufficient machine guns and machine guns, and when the war breaks out, it will be incorporated into coastal defense.

Most of the old destroyers and torpedo boats in the army are original equipment. Now, they have to pay a heavy price for this equipment that is ignoring the other. Three destroyers, five small and medium-sized torpedo boats were sunk by "Thunder", and two protective cruisers were attacked by "Lightning 14" and eventually sank. The 22 "Thunder" attacked and 17 "Lightning 14" lost only 4 of them, and the tonnage and personnel loss ratio reached an astonishing multiple.

Relying on the well-layered three-dimensional defense, the German fleet repelled the first attack of the British light ship group at a slight cost. The smoke of gunpowder dissipated, and the sea was filled with fragments of British ships and the remains of dead people. Four warships that had lost power or were sinking were abandoned, and the survivors who fell into the water were still struggling to survive. In this battle that lasted less than two hours before and after, the British Navy not only lost more than 30 destroyers and small and medium-sized torpedo boats, but also two armored patrols.

The foreign ships were damaged in the artillery battle, and an armored cruiser and four submarines were bombed by German carrier-based aircraft. For the attackers, this was a complete defeat. The battle report reached the Scarpaflo Naval Base. The first reaction of the naval ministers and generals was how to report the bad news to King George V, who had been hit hard. At the same time, the light ships deployed by the British Navy on the east coast of Britain continued to gather, and a considerable number of high-speed torpedo boats were also rushing to the war zone through supply halfway.

When learning that the German fleet had set up a mine formation in the combat waters, the British naval generals had huge differences on the offensive issue. Navy Marshal Sir Wilson sent a report from London to Churchill, suggesting that the current offensive deployment be cancelled to avoid sacrificing more naval soldiers in vain. The Navy's staff's opinions were the same. They proposed to use submarines and mines to deal with the German navy, and the fleet avoided rashly attacking in the absence of reconnaissance and lack of intelligence.

In the process of meeting King George V of England, Churchill sang an ode to his opponents in an abnormal manner, praising Prince Joachim as the most dazzling star in Germany in a thousand years. His characteristics of winning by his wisdom are just like Viscount Horazio Nelson, the greatest naval commander in British history. If he was allowed to continue to make achievements, Germany would inevitably replace Britain as the new overlord of the ocean. Germany, which ruled the European continent and the world ocean, would also become an unparalleled powerful empire. Speaking of this, Churchill changed his mind and pointed out that the German fleet had only 5 battleships and 2 battlecruisers. Excluding two old battleships, there were only 5 real main ships.

"We have 5 first-class battleships and 5 second-class battleships in Scarpaflo, and the Straits Fleet has 21 second-class battleships. I know that the Germans really want to squeeze our last power out. We have two choices: temporarily avoiding war until we reorganize the main fleet. This must be an extremely painful and humiliating process. A brave attack to give the enemy a fatal blow must require a smarter strategy than the enemy."
Chapter completed!