In the bridge commander tower of the temporary flagship of the German High Seas Fleet, most people were surprised when they heard the news of the failure of their high-speed torpedo boat group, but few people showed a depressed look.

Xia Shu didn't find it strange at all about this seemingly weird atmosphere. Since the emergence of high-speed battleships, the unique status of large battleships in the navy has been affected and challenged. For a few years, Germany was full of doubts about the navy spending huge amounts of money to build a fearless fleet. When the relationship between Britain and Germany worsened due to the shipbuilding competition, some opponents pointed the finger directly at the ruling class of the empire, believing that it would be better to use the same funds to build a super-large high-speed torpedo boat force than to build a large number of new battleships. This could not only ensure the absolute security of the German territorial waters, but also ease the conflict between Britain and Germany. The French Navy used this strategy to resolve the century-old hatred with Britain and turned from an opposition to an ally.

Because of these origins, the generals and officers of the German main fleet had quite contradictory views on the high-speed warship forces. On the one hand, they recognized the attack power displayed by the high-speed warships in training and exercises, and on the other hand, they were worried that the outstanding performance of the high-speed warships would further affect the use and construction of the main ships. In previous combat operations, the German Navy's high-speed torpedo boats did play some positive roles, cooperating with the main fleet to sink and injured many British ships. The German fleet also defeated the British high-speed torpedo boat forces with strict firepower organization. Now the German high-speed warship group was defeated by the British fast ships with not particularly strong strength, which completely proves that the protagonist of naval warfare in this era is still a large ship and a giant cannon.

"Without the shrapnel, the fleet's blocking force on the speedboat will be greatly weakened." Natsuki analyzed to Schell, "The battlefield situation doesn't look good, but at this time we should still give the speedboat troops a chance. My opinion is to let Brigadier General Michelson concentrate all the existing speedboats and use 6 to 8 large torpedo boats as cover ships to defeat the opponent in one go."

Schell didn't speak, just nodded, his eyes moving back and forth on the four British battleships opposite the battlefield, as if he was only concerned about the battle in front of him, but Natsuki knew that he was not such a commander who ignored the past and ignored the future, but fully trusted his judgment.

"Please send a telegram to Brigadier General Michelson." Natsuki turned to Captain Gold and said, "Just follow what I just said, and tell him that the victory of the battle is often the more persevering and determined side."

"As for your order!" Captain Gold glanced at the officers beside him and left the bridge directly.

After making a decision, Xia Shu quickly turned her gaze back to her eyes. If she had to divide the primary and secondary, the competition between her support fleet and the British rapid fleet was in a subordinate position in this naval battle, and the exchange of fire between the two main fleets was the real duel.

After giving the British fleet a St. Vincent-class dreadnought, the German fleet and its opponent's main ships became four to four. The battle process was both a step-by-step and dramatic aspect. Among the four German battleships, the "Oldenburg" with the least tonnage and the oldest oldest performed the most. Another St. Vincent-class dreadnought in the British fleet has been almost unrecognizable under its ravages. Not only can it not pull out to assist other ships on its own, but it may also drag down the entire fleet's combat operations at any time.

The battle between the old-fashioned dreadnoughts quickly divided the level, and the firefight between the new main battleships of the two sides was like two groups of warriors wearing heavy armor slashing each other with swords. The heavy armor affected the accuracy of the movement and was swept a lot. Even if they hit the other side, there were scenes of sparks splashing and harsh sounds of jingling, and very few of them were really hurt and even hit the key points.

In this fierce battle against each other, only the "Caesar" on the German side gained a relatively obvious advantage. Its shooting hit rate is relatively stable, and it can get a direct hit every three rounds of shooting. From the exchange of fire to now, it has hit its opponents with its main guns for as many times. The first few shots were either bounced off by the main armor of the British ship, or only caused minor damage. When the fleets of both sides turned for the second time, the German fleet used its speed advantage to narrow the combat distance. At about 13,000 meters, the "Caesar" began to show its power and achieved four effective times.

Score, a shell penetrated the main armor on the side, one shot hit the bridge, and two shots landed on the rear deck of the enemy ship, and a fire broke out on the ship. At this moment, the four main turrets of the British Super Dreadnought were alive, and all the main guns could fire, but the shooting speed was slowed a lot, and there was a mismatch. It was probably the telephone line, sound tube and shooting command device were damaged, and each turret could only aim and shoot by itself. Since the British ship was hung with the fleet commander's flag on the pole, if its communication equipment was indeed damaged, the subsequent battle would be more beneficial to the German fleet.

"Hit...explosion...well done!"

Brigadier General Bainke, the captain of the battleship "King", said these words word by word without hiding his arrogant personality.

The "Frederick the Great" shocked the world with his feat of hitting the enemy in the Battle of Jutland. After this battle, this high seas fleet flagship truly became a spiritual symbol of the German Navy, but its structural damage could not be repaired in time. After repeated inspections and calculations, the German Navy ship engineers believed that it was no longer competent for high-intensity combat tasks. In order to deter opponents and inspire the military and civilians, the top German Navy decided to keep it confidential. After the maintenance, the "Frederick the Great" still nominally served as the general flagship of the high seas fleet. At the same time, the construction budget for the first ship of the Bavarian-class battleship under construction was added to equip it with the communication and command equipment required for the flagship. Before the new flagship was put into service, the "King" will continue to act as the tactical flagship of the high seas fleet.

According to common sense, even if the flagship "King" is incorporated into the combat fleet, it should be commanded and dispatched in a back-end position. However, facing a powerful opponent like the British Navy, the German fleet really needs a flag bearer who leads the way to infus all the soldiers with spiritual beliefs. Such flagships are quite popular in the era of sailing warships. They not only have to play a good role in navigation and withstand the enemy's attacks, but they must also be a powerful attacker. After the artillery battle began, the artillery accuracy of the "King" was not inferior to the enemy's leading ships, but the opponent who took the lead in getting a direct hit was the opponent. Then they almost bombarded the commander tower of the "King". As the flagship commander, Brigadier General Bainke naturally felt a sigh of anger.

In the officers' telescopes, the attack target of the "King", the Orion-class super-dreadnought, which had a strong armor and fierce fire, had just been hit hard. Its entire main bridge was shrouded in rolling black smoke, and it looked like the main turret in the front of the bridge was hit by a devastating blow. Unlike the British dreadnoughts built in the early days, the Orion-class canceled the rear tripod mast, the tall main bridge and the only large tripod mast were concentrated in the front of the hull.

The front deck is very compactly equipped with two load-type main turrets, and the rear deck is also compactly equipped with a double main turret, so that the hull has enough position to stuff into the fifth main turret. All 10 13-point 5-inch naval guns can be volleyed to the same side. Considering that the armor-piercing projectiles of this caliber weigh 635 kilograms, while the Germans' 12-inch projectiles are 405 kilograms, the amount of ammunition delivered by the British Orion-class single volley is nearly twice that of the German King-class!

The result of a naval battle cannot be simply measured by the amount of ammunition delivered by the warship. After all, before the Queen Elizabeth class of the UK and Bavaria class of Germany, the King class designed by Natsuki was the best protection level among the active ships of various countries. Orion was much inferior to that. Moreover, the "King" was also equipped with the best optical equipment and unified shooting command system of this era. Coupled with the first-class power configuration, the German flagship had the strength to defeat the opponent.

Based on the experience of the Jutland Naval Battle, the British dreadnought has armor that is more difficult to penetrate. The main turret or their biggest weakness turret itself has very thick armor, but the passage between the turret and the ammunition depot is not protected enough. Once the main turret is penetrated, the explosion and the ammunition detonation caused by the explosion in the turret may spread to the ammunition depot, causing a devastating explosion. So, including Xia Shu, the officers stared at the enemy's leading ships to observe. At this moment, someone said happily: "Look, the 'Election Emperor' has finally hit the enemy ship!"

Everyone moved the telescope a little bit. Until now, the four British capital ships are the third hull. At this time, a ball of explosion smoke floated behind its starboard side. Judging from the black marks left by the ship wall, the shell hit the armor belt in the middle front of the starboard side. Even if it penetrates, the damage to the inside of the hull is limited.

In nearly twenty rounds of shooting, more than 100 shells were fired, and the "Election Emperor" made the first hit. If it were the usual shooting assessment, such results would probably be ranked last. Friends were fighting with great success, and enemy ships were repeatedly fired. It can be imagined how anxious the crew on this newly-served battleship would be. In fact, there are many experienced officers and non-commissioned officers among them. The weapons and equipment on the ship were only new and not old than the "King". The live-fire shooting results during training in the Baltic Sea also reached excellent levels. It was just the first time I participated in the actual combat. Luck seemed to be deliberately teasing this group of German naval officers and soldiers who were not confident enough.
Chapter completed!