In the high seas fleet of the Second German Empire, there were many similar "German outlines" and even the most eye-catching lookouts were difficult to accurately distinguish from thousands of meters away. After the aircraft was invented, the most effective way of identification changed from close reconnaissance of ships to low-altitude reconnaissance of aircraft. After the first Battle of Flanders, the British Navy finally realized the importance of aircraft in this war. The Navy tried every means to urgently expand the aviation force, requisition civilian aircraft, and recruit civilian pilots. Before the war broke out, civil aviation activities were still in its infancy, and Britain hit and

Not particularly keen on this, but the British Navy quickly gathered more than fifty seaplanes and more than twenty land-based aircraft. However, although these aircraft were large in number, their performance was uneven and their logistics and maintenance pressure was heavy. After two weeks of training, nearly half of them were unable to take off due to failures. The rest lacked effective command and contact. At this time, most civil aircraft at this time either could not accommodate bulky radio equipment, or after forcibly stuffed into the powerless station and radio operator, the speed was extremely slow, the range was extremely short, and it was difficult to fly high. Various problems almost drove the officers of the Royal Air Service Team crazy.

In the early September, the seas of Flanders were filled with smoke and blood and fighting, and another thrilling steel collision was fiercely unfolding. After some combat reconnaissance, the "Bold" light cruiser to the new Harrich fleet used radio to report the situation about the second German fleet to the fleet headquarters. Colonel Hawklis agreed with the observation personnel's judgment and believed that it was two Seidlitz-class battlecruisers.

In the intelligence database of the British Navy, the "Sedlitz" and the subsequently built Deflinger-class battlecruisers were collectively called the "Sedlitz class". The reason is very simple. Starting from the "Sedlitz", the German Navy's combat patrol was equipped with a more powerful 12-inch main gun, and the combat tonnage was close to or more than 30,000 tons, which belonged to the 30,000 tons heavy battleship. In addition, their main design, size specifications, and main performance were basically the same, so there was no need to distinguish them carefully.

After the first reconnaissance report of the "Bold" issued, Colonel Hawklis wanted to lead a light ship formation to continue to approach the German fleet, but several near-burn loss caused serious leakage in the bottom cabin of the "Bold". He was worried that the new light cruiser would lose in vain, so he turned around and quickly left the range of the German fleet at 8,000 yards from the enemy fleet. Not long after, the fleet command replied to him and asked him to confirm the reconnaissance results. For safe reasons, the colonel sent the destroyer "Harves" to carry out this dangerous mission alone.

Without the drag of formation navigation, this i-class destroyer ran with all his might at a speed of nearly 35 knots, flexibly dodging the fierce artillery fire of the German fleet. Facing the British destroyer who was rushing alone, Hippel's attitude was very firm. The two battle patrols never used the medium cannons of the triple main turret, which was equivalent to reducing the firepower by one-third. The Harrier Eagle has been advancing about 4,000 meters away from the German fleet, and can launch an effective torpedo attack. Unfortunately, at this point, its hull has been attacked by enemy shrapnel and small-caliber naval guns and has suffered multiple injuries. He had to call the gong to stop the troops.

It is worth mentioning that the captain of the Harrier Eagle was the young Captain John Tovey, and on the opposite German battlecruiser Moltke, Major Erich Redell, who was 9 years older than him, participated in the battle as the chief of staff of the reconnaissance fleet. If it weren't for a "butterfly" traveling through time and space that changed the historical trajectory here, more than 20 years later, they would have fought in the North Sea as an opponent. Tovey became the commander of the British local fleet and led the British fleet through the most difficult period. Redell was the commander-in-chief of the German Navy and reached the peak of his life in the early days of World War II.

The reconnaissance report in front was soon passed to the British main fleet that was hidden and standby in the Great Yarmouth waters. The German battlecruisers suddenly changed from four to six, and the battlefield situation was suddenly different. However, the fleet combat meeting had ended. The commanders of each squadron and squadron took a traffic boat to play the ship. Whether to implement the original plan was in the hands of Jelico.

When Jelico asked for his opinion, the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Charles Maden, did not answer positively, but used philosophical thinking. He said: "Sometimes, what we see in our eyes may not necessarily be the true side of things."

"You mean, the Germans use camouflage to mislead us?"

"It's very likely." Lieutenant General Maden's tone was not firm.

Although not a person who was easily shaken, Jelico seemed quite hesitant at this moment. He said: "If they do have six battlecruisers participating in the battle, it will be enough to defeat the Strait Fleet in a short time. At that time, you only need to send cruisers to the Strait to attack the troop transport ships. The battlecruisers quickly turn back and join forces with the Battle Fleet to face us... The chances of winning this battle are really slim!"

Lieutenant General Maden reluctantly admitted: "Yes, sir, this possibility is not ruled out."

After a long period of worry, Jeliko sighed: "What a terrible opponent."

Maden deeply felt that "the combat style of the German High Seas Fleet is not as good as the traditional German team, and it is so cunning that it is elusive."

"Then we can only take one step at a time?" The grammar of Jelico's sentence is a question, but it means helpless affirmation.

Madden turned his sight to the east. According to the plan agreed upon by the combat meeting, three combat patrols commanded by Major General Christopher Pakenhan, the two rapid detachments, as well as the super-dreadnought "Ireland" commanded by Lieutenant General Betty, the armored cruisers "Essex" and "Lancaster" will set out first and go to the hidden position. When the battle between the main fleets of both sides begins, they will wait for an opportunity to attack the support ships on the back of the German fleet.

On the other side of the battlefield, the German Navy's main combat ship group was cruising and waiting for the sea, which was only a dozen nautical miles away from the Dutch coastline, and its whereabouts and strength were also not controlled by its opponents. Unlike Jelico's hesitation and entanglement, Reinhardt Schell had to be much calmer, but not because the cards in his hand were better than the opponent, but because he had a wonderful solution to win in danger.

"King", "Caesar", "Election Emperor", "Oldenburg", the German Navy's dreadnoughts could be used for combat were much less than the British expected. In the Battle of Jutland, people often only saw the British navy's miserable miserable situation and ignored the heavy price paid by the German Navy. Germany's shipbuilding industry was already weaker than Britain. During the decade from 1904 to 1914, in order to build the main ships with increasing tonnage and increasing size, the German government allocated huge sums to help shipyards expand the docks and devoted all their efforts to build a first-class main lineup of the high seas fleet, resulting in a long construction cycle and high cost of the main ships, which indirectly affected the construction and service of light ships and large torpedo boats built at the same time and were less than half of that of the British.

On midsummer night, in the waters of the Jutland Peninsula, the fleets of both sides raised their thick and black muzzles and ruthlessly bombarded each other. The ships sinking to the seabed did not need to be cared about, and the damaged ships floating on the water staggered back. As a result, major shipyards began to be busy. Unlike wooden shell ships, steel warships were just enough to find some wood to plug the loopholes. To repair a seriously damaged warship to its original state, it not only consumes a lot of labor and materials, but also requires technical strength to be less than the construction engineers of new ships. They must comprehensively inspect the damage to the ship, formulate reasonable maintenance plans, and make continuous adjustments during the maintenance process. All of this is a competition outside the battlefield.

Before being completely crushed by fear, the British went all out to repair old ships and build new ships. The protracted war would inevitably be detrimental to the scale of the shipbuilding industry, and the strength and resources were all at a disadvantage. From the naval head Tirpitz to the fleet head Scher, from the naval chief von Boer to the fleet chief of staff Joachim, every wise general realized the need to win in one go. Because of this, the high seas fleet once again attacked the strong with weak attacks, striving to end the maritime war before the terrifying Queen Elizabeth-class super-dreadnought ship with terrifying combat power was completed and put into service.

The combat strategy that Schell and Natsuki jointly decided was led by Hippel to the battle patrols "Moltch", "Gobon", light patrols "Karlsruhe" and "Rostock" rushed into the English Channel, using their speed to avoid the blocking of the British Channel fleet, and attacked the British transport ship with a quick knife, and then passed through the strait and entered the Atlantic Ocean. This move was of great danger, but as long as the suspect was set up, disturbing the opponent's judgment, and seizing the best opportunity, there was a great chance of success.

After noon on Sunday, all the German Navy departments began to act as planned.

In the southwest waters, four German battlecruisers met and rushed to the Dover Strait at a speed of 24 knots. The dreadnoughts group and support fleets rushed towards the British coast. Submarine troops entering the strait early were ambushing outside Portsmouth Harbor. During this process, the carrier-based aircraft of the "Bismar" continued to be dispatched, intercepted and attacked the British reconnaissance aircraft. The two German Navy's Zeppelin airships also flew to the English Channel as planned to closely monitor the activities of the Allied ships in the central and eastern waters of the strait.
Chapter completed!