Just like the sinking of the "Invincible", the damage to the "Inquisition" was just the beginning of the British rapid fleet's painful attack. Three German battle patrols quickly pointed the gun at the "Inquisition". After several rounds of fire, the "Inquisition" began to be shot, and the ship soon burst into flames. The main turrets of No. 1 and No. 3 were in trouble. If the British Navy had not learned the lessons of the Jutland Naval Battle to improve the main warship's ammunition channel and added a fire-proof and explosion-proof gate, the "Inquisition" had already sunk twice. Even though it avoided the fate of destruction, the damage of the two main turrets would have brought a heavy blow to the entire warship. Pakkenhan knew that with the protective performance of the Invincible Class Battlecruiser, he would undoubtedly die if he held on. He had to order the "Inquisition" to withdraw from the battle.

In order to cover the evacuation of the "Indom" from the fierce artillery fire of the German fleet, the British destroyer who was covering the side hurriedly launched smoke. However, the main gun of the German Battle Patrol fired very fast. With the combat situation at this time, I am afraid that the "Indom" would have been beaten into a pile of scrap iron by the opponent before the smoke screen could play a role.

At this moment, the sightseeing personnel in the shooting command room of the "Goben" discovered that the clear outline of the British battle patrol was blocked by another warship. Although its hull was not as long as the battle patrol, the majestic hull was taller and more solid.

The situation came suddenly, the shooting commander of the "Geben" made a decision to continue shooting. The German battle patrol shot half a minute ago to form a cross-fire on the "Indom" and one shot hit and one shot near miss. The parameters of this round of shooting were calculated completely based on the relative displacement of the "Indom" and the observation of the bounce point was unexpected: a shell hit the bridge of the "Ireland" and a wall of the port side of the ship was fired. Neither of these two armor-piercing bombs could penetrate the heavy armor of the British super-dreadnought.

During the fierce firefight, the sighting personnel of "De Fringer" and "Blücher" also made a decision to shoot directly without adjusting the parameters when the two British main ships were partially overlapping. The dense artillery fire covered the areas where the "Indom" and "Ireland". Betty's battleship was hit by three guns in a row, and five or six rounds were close to the loss of bullets. The "Indom" in critical condition only received one 11-inch armor-piercing projectile.

The German reconnaissance fleet seized the opportunity to bombard the target, and the British destroyers were also racing against time to launch cover operations. The crew opened the smoke cans and ignited the smoke agent. Independence, artificial chemical smoke was released in large quantities before and in the front and rear areas. In addition, the "Ireland" protected the "Ireland", the severely damaged "Indomitable" finally hid in the smoke screen and almost survived this most dangerous moment.

Although the "Indom" disappeared from the field of view of the rangefinder, with the help of the observation of the water reconnaissance aircraft, Hippel still had the opportunity to continue to attack the British battle patrol, but it was wise to calmly weigh and concentrate firepower to solve the "Ireland" lying in front of you. On the battlefield where the situation is changing rapidly, all Hippel's orders and decisions were made at the first time based on tactical instinct, without hesitation and accuracy.

After "Indomitable" exited the battlefield, the battle became "Ireland" to fight three with one, and the two fleets heading towards each other have narrowed from 18,000 meters when they first opened fire to 9,000 meters. At such a distance, the optical rangefinders of both sides can achieve ideal accuracy, because the interference caused by temperature difference, gunpowder and other factors have been reduced accordingly. In the next few rounds of shooting, both sides hit a high level. "De Fringer", "Gobern", and "Blüchel" all scored a hit. In a short time, the "Ireland" burst into flames,

Mars were splashing everywhere, but the German Battle Patrol's attack failed to capture the opponent's key points. The "Ireland" suddenly rushed out of the siege of flames and smoke, majestic and majestic. Its shooting frequency was obviously slower than that of the three German Battle Patrols, but the powerful 13-point 5-inch armor-piercing projectile hit Hippel's ship three times, and two shots penetrated the starboard armor belt, and exploded a shocking break on the wall of the ship on the side. One shot destroyed the double-equipped secondary turret in the front of the port, causing a more violent explosion, which caused considerable damage to the "De Fringer".

On the scene, the "Ireland" is not at a disadvantage. The key is the first-class protection of its key areas. However, if the two fleets continue to approach, the penetration of the German battle patrol main gun will continue to increase. Theoretically, as long as the distance is close enough, the 12-inch naval gun of the "De Fringer" can break through the armor at any position of the "Ireland". The "Goben" and "Blüchel" can also destroy all the deck buildings of the "Ireland" except the Bridge Commander Tower.

With the departure of the "Indomitable", the "Ireland" became the proxy flagship of the British fast fleet. Since Pakkenhan did not board the ship, David Betty became the actual commander of the fleet.

The signal cable of the "Ireland" soon showed tactical instructions that were in line with Betty's style. The light cruiser in front of the fleet turned right first, followed by one ship behind, and the intention of maintaining a combat distance was fully revealed.

According to normal logic, Hippel should use the advantage of speed to quickly narrow the combat distance between the two sides. However, the signal command issued by the "Deflinger" is not to turn left, but to close the formation and move forward at full speed.

As the new combat order was implemented, the distance between the three German battlecruisers was adjusted from four to five hundred meters to about three hundred and fifty meters. The light cruisers and large torpedo boats that accompanied the formation retreated and the frigates that were pressing the formation stepped forward. The combat queue of the entire reconnaissance fleet was shortened by at least one-third of the length, and the ships that served as combat alerts on the left and right wings also moved closer to the axis column.

When a falcon that spreads its wings and soars, it will close its wingspan and dive from a high place when it finds its prey ready to scatter.

Five minutes later, the distance reading of the "Deflinger" on the "Ireland" became 11,000 meters, which was completely within the acceptable range of David Betty, so he did not make any new adjustments. However, during these five minutes, the shells fired by the "Ireland" hit none of them, and even lost their cross-fire at the "Deflinger". The shooting accuracy of the three German battle patrols also decreased, and the two armor-piercing shells hit did not cause serious damage to the target, and the actual threat of near-lossing can be ignored.

At this time, the "De Flinger" raised the tactical signal flag of "The fleet turns left at full speed by 8 quora points", which means that the German reconnaissance fleet's route will turn 90 degrees left.

In a very short time, including outposts, main combat patrols, escort ships, and frigates, 17 German ships completed the tactical movement of the overall steering in an orderly manner. The combat formation still maintained the compactness before the steering, and the ships slightly deviated from the scheduled route were quickly adjusted to the correct position.

After completing the turn, the distance reading of the "Deflinger" of the "Ireland" had increased to 12,000 meters. This large-scale tactical maneuver caused the shooting command departments of the warships on both sides to recalculate the artillery parameters, and a brief silence appeared on the battlefield.

This short battle gap is the only opportunity for David Betty to judge the opponent's intentions and respond in a timely manner.

The real-time state of the battlefield is that the German reconnaissance fleet heads northwest and the British fast fleet southwest and west, the routes of both sides have changed from roughly parallel to nearly perpendicular. The extension line of the German fleet route is in front of the British fast fleet. If both sides maintain the speed and course unchanged, each will have a chance to occupy the T-shaped position. The British fleet will soon occupy the standard T-shaped head, but the distance with the German fleet is about 10,000 meters. When the German fleet occupies the tail-direction T-shaped position, the distance between both sides will be only about 7,000 meters.

Since the number of main ships of the two fleets is one to three, the British fleet occupying the T-shaped position lacks practical significance when the two sides decide the outcome by artillery battles, but the German fleet can get a valuable opportunity to annihilate the opponent in its T-shaped position.

David Betty quickly turned his sight to the southwest sea, and he noticed that another German fleet composed of two old battleships, two armored cruisers and dozens of light ships had also adjusted its course. Although it was not an opponent of the British fast fleet, it rushed straight forward bravely, looking to be preparing to cook a delicious sandwich burger with the Hippel fleet.

In terms of tactics, to avoid the joint attacks between the two German fleets, Betty's best choice is to lead the fleet to turn north, but this also means that he voluntarily abandoned the intention of attacking and destroying German support ships. At this moment, the standing and preparatory communication bands of the British main fleet are still in a blocked state, and there is no exact news about their combat situation. If Jelico can defeat his opponent, the temporary retreat of the fast fleet will not hinder the overall situation. However, if Jelico is defeated again, the fast fleet will lose the best opportunity to counterattack.

The British Navy's lion quickly made his own choice.

Under the dispatch of the "Ireland", five destroyers on the left wing of the fleet took the lead in rushing towards the front of the German reconnaissance fleet's route, and then the six destroyers behind the fleet galloped south in a single column.

With the strength of the German reconnaissance fleet, it is difficult for these British destroyers to threaten three German battle patrols alone. Fighting hard will inevitably lead to bloodshed, but they can use torpedo attacks to force the opponent's ships to avoid, interfere with the tactical rhythm of the German fleet, and win the opportunity for their own fleet to break the opponent's double-team.
Chapter completed!