As soon as the battle with the British main fleet ended, Schell hurriedly led the German Fleet to turn back. When he arrived at the rear battlefield, the remaining ships of the British fast fleet were still fighting fire with Hippel's reconnaissance fleet under the leadership of the "Ireland". In addition to the escort ships supporting the fleet, the German fleet had already gained an absolute advantage. The efforts made by the British officers and soldiers were nothing more than defending the century-old honor of the Royal Navy...

As the German Battle Patrol fire struck the "Ireland", the deck building of the British super-dreadnought was surrounded by thick smoke and flames. There was no sign of a cannon that could still be fired from the bow to the stern of the ship. The warship showed no signs of overturning and sinking, and even maintained a faster speed. However, it had already missed the opportunity to escape, and the moment of destruction would come sooner or later. Sooner, two large German torpedo boats appeared on the port side of the "Ireland". They braved the artillery fire of the British escort ships and then approached.

Eight torpedoes were fired at this behemoth. After a moment, the super-dreadnought, originally built for Ottoman Turkey, trembled violently in loud noises. Xiongwu's hull finally tilted to the left, and the surviving crew members dived and escaped, while the nearby British ships had ignored these companions. The three German battle patrols had turned their muzzles towards them. Although "De Flinger" and "Gobon" each lost some of their combat effectiveness, the "Divine Ship" alone made the British officers and soldiers in despair.

Watching the Ireland sink over with raging fire and rolling smoke, David Betty's mood sinks to the Arctic Ocean. In order to continue commanding the fleet to fight, he moved to a destroyer in advance. At this moment, he at least did not have to worry about it being captured by the Germans, and then made such a cruel decision to let his destroyer sink it.

Betty's face turned pale and his eyes were fierce: "I will definitely ask you to double the humiliation today!"

Xia Shu, standing on the bridge of the "King", sneezed inexplicably. By this time, his expression was much easier than before. The officers around him did not hide his joy of defeating a strong enemy. Although he failed to completely wipe out the British main fleet, it was already a very impressive victory to achieve such a result when the troops in the battle were weaker than the opponent. However, the nine British main ships appeared on the battlefield, three of which were sunk and six were seriously injured. They were no longer able to fight again, regardless of the ship's condition or the morale of the military.

Now, Schell and his command team are facing a new choice: either win and return, or take advantage of the victory.

Inspired by victory, most officers tend to expand their results, and Scher also had the same intention. However, the Moltke, Deflinger and Goben were seriously injured in the battle, and the original plan to break through the strait was definitely not feasible. In the Fearless Fleet, the Caesar and Oldenburg ships were in good condition and were suitable for continuing to fight. Their speed was faster than the British main battleship, but they were not ideal ocean-going attack ships.

"My suggestion is to form an assault formation with three ships, 'Caesar', 'Oldenburg' and 'Blüchel', and lead several light patrols and torpedo boats to force into the English Channel. If the British Navy transports troops overnight, we will attack their troop transport ships. Otherwise, we cannon the Portsmouth at night."

On the bridge observatory where the King was covered with bullet marks, Colonel Von Trota said in a swift manner.

Lieutenant Colonel von Lefytov responded: "It seems that the weather tonight is very suitable for ship activities."

Scher naturally turned his attention to the Xia Tree for consultation.

"As long as the British think we will send ships into the English Channel, they will definitely suspend the cross-strait transport operations and prepare the strait fleet and torpedo boat troops for desperate resistance."

Although Xia Shu's words were logical, the officers around him couldn't help but wonder: This was clearly refuting the Strait Breakthrough Plan he proposed before!

After pausing for a few seconds, Natsuki said in a firm tone: "We shell the Thames tonight!"

Most of the officers on the bridge were surprised. The Thames estuary was near, but shelling land targets must be close to the coast. The British laid a lot of mines in the nearshore area and could dispatch a large number of high-speed torpedo boats to defend and counterattack, which was called difficult and dangerous. However, when they thought that this was trampling on the marine hegemony of the British Empire, a fierce shelling could make the originally arrogant British people angry, angry and scared, the German officials couldn't help but be excited.

"Would this be too risky?" Von Lefedov raised cautious questions for the officers present.

"It's certainly true to take risks." Natsuki replied disapprovingly, "We may touch mines, besieged by British torpedo boats, and may fight a night battle with the British fleet, which may lose one or more main battleships, but I can guarantee that the value of shelling Thames will be far more than the price we pay for."

"But if we completely angered the British..." Colonel von Trotta was only half of his words. As for the latter half, only the most discerning strategists could make accurate predictions.

"Then let repeated failures extinguish their anger and use long-term trouble to slap their determination. By that time, the one standing here will no longer be the Hellhound in the North Sea cage, but a timid gatekeeper!" Xia Shu pointed his finger at Britain.

The bloody dusk gradually faded away, the night was rising, the sky was full of stars, and the visibility on the sea was no less than the early morning just after dawn. East of the Thames estuary, on the sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, several light-armed ships wandered around the places where the British and German fleets had fought fiercely, and rescued the crews who survived the battle. Some of them had just suffered some skin injuries, which was a very lucky chance. Some were seriously burned and dying, and even if they got on the ship, they could not get enough professional treatment. Whether it was a cabin or a deck, there were faces full of dusty faces. Apart from the low moans, people could only sigh in disappointment.

The estuary of the Thames at night is as quiet as during the day. Under the stars, small-tonnage patrol guard ships are like tadpoles in ponds, moving in an inconspicuous way. They carefully avoid the dangerous areas with mines, patrol slowly along the only few safe channels, and turn on the searchlights from time to time to see if the sea behind them is followed by the periscope.

The Great Wickering on the north bank of the Thames estuary has long white sand and flat open fields. It is one of the favorite vacation spots for Londoners and the venue for previous British Cup of Dec water racing. Now it is closely linked to a British warship.

Before the super-dreadnought "Ajax" was stranded on the Great Wakeling Coast and the British fleet was defeated again, this news caused deep regret and concern among British senior officials. However, when the defeat became a stubborn reality, the four main battleships, "indomitable", "Ireland" and "St. Vincent", have already sunk to the bottom of the sea. Even if all ships in the dock were repaired, the number of main battleships of the British Navy had fallen below the Germans. The strategic situation was unprecedentedly harsh, and the British Navy's mood to preserve the "Ajax" was even more urgent.

The Thames River sermon is known as the gate of London, but it is still fifty kilometers away from London to the estuary, and it is necessary to add more than ten kilometers to the Greater Wakeling. After learning that the Ajax was stranded, the British Admiralty urgently mobilized repair ships from London and surrounding ports, but it was not until dusk that the first ships loaded with repair equipment arrived one after another. After nightfall, the damage management personnel of the Ajax and the workers who arrived in the repair ship continued to repair the warship with a mentality of fighting every minute. They first blocked the breakout of the watertight cabin of the bottom floor of the super-dreadnought, and then used a water pump to evacuate the accumulated water to let it float on its own, and then tow it to the nearest large dock with a barge. For a large warship of more than 20,000 tons, such work usually takes one or two days to complete with sufficient manpower and complete equipment.

In the night sky, two gray planes hovered around the Thames estuary with a slightly noisy roar. They were soon attracted by the lights of the "Ajax" and the maintenance ships. Their appearance made the British officers and soldiers feel like they were facing a great enemy. Several British destroyers guarding the side opened fire, and the crew of the "Ajax" also used machine guns to shoot at the air. However, these weapons could not effectively drive out enemy aircraft during the day. In addition to making the atmosphere at the scene extremely tense at night, their only function was to attract the attention of enemy ships.

The "Ajax" that stranded on the shore naturally became an ideal target for torpedo attacks. In order to prevent the German submarine's sneak attack again, the British Navy's escort ships laid two lightning protection nets around it, which effectively blocked the torpedo attacks of German submarines. From afternoon to dusk, the German submarine fired 7 torpedoes from a distance, except for the two, the remaining five were blocked by the lightning protection nets. The British destroyer waiting beside them used naval guns and anti-submarine bombs to siege the two German submarines for a long time, and finally sunk one of them.

Two annoying German planes refused to leave for a long time. The British officers and soldiers finally gave up their attempt to shoot them down and watched them silence. The gunners were sweating profusely because of the continuous transport of ammunition. After being ordered to stop shooting, many people smoked and rested in the open space. At the beginning, someone vaguely saw meteors passing through the sky. After making a wish, they were surprised to find that these meteors were getting closer and closer, and strange whistles came. At this time, the crew on the maintenance ship was still unclear. It was not until the heavy shells burst out the water column at sixty or seventy meters high on the sea that they realized that this was an enemy ship attack. These civilians who had not faced the war were stunned.
Chapter completed!