When London's decision makers made a difficult decision, in Portland Harbor in southern England, the number one base of the British local fleet before the outbreak of the war, the battlecruiser of the USS Tiger, which was highly anticipated, was anchored next to the dock in a brand new posture. It was originally the fourth Lion-class battlecruiser. According to the construction plan, it should have started construction after the "Lion" was launched. The original plan was a standard displacement of 290,000 tons, and was equipped with four 13-5-inch dual-mounted main guns. After the first three Lion-class ships started construction, the British Navy obtained relevant technical information on the German "Von-der-Tann" battle patrol. After calculation and comparison, it was found that the equipment was 11

The German Battle Cruise with an inch triple main gun has a great winning rate against the British tireless class battle cruiser of the same level under the same conditions. Moreover, the Moltke-class battle cruiser subsequently built by the German Navy will continue to use the triple main gun. The senior British Navy finally couldn't sit still. They decided to try the design of the triple main gun on the "Tiger", and they used a 13-point 5-inch caliber triple in one breath. Therefore, they made significant changes based on the original design plan, with the standard displacement increased to 3.20,000 tons, and the designed full load displacement reached 3.70,000 tons, thus surpassing Germany's Deflinger class to become a new generation of "super battleships".

Stimulated by Jutland's defeat, the British Navy urged the shipyard to rush work day and night, which made the "Tiger", which was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of October, three weeks ahead of schedule. However, due to equipment failures during the sea trial, the official service was postponed to November. The British Navy's senior management regarded this new warship with superb firepower as a secret weapon and intended to keep it away from the public's sight. However, within the British Navy, its completion and service became a means to inspire the morale of officers and soldiers. From senior generals to ordinary sailors, they all regarded it as the ultimate weapon to defeat the German fleet.

In addition to the "Royal Princess" and "Australia" who survived the Battle of Jutland, the British Navy re-owned a battle cruiser formation. However, in order to deal with the German Battle of the North Atlantic, the "Australia" was deployed at the Clyde Military Port in northwest Scotland. The only three battle cruisers concentrated in Portland were the "Tiger", "Royal Princess" and "Deng" and the "Deng" battle cruisers. Moreover, the structural damage suffered by the "Royal Princess" in the Battle of Jutland made it impossible to recover to its best condition, so it was difficult to compete for high-intensity naval combat confrontation tasks. The psychological existence significance is greater than its actual role.

At this time, David Betty, who was in charge of the Tiger, was still the commander of the British combat patrol formation, and was not calm and calm. The tenacity of fighting repeatedly was admirable. As the research and analysis deepened, people gradually realized that the British fleet's defeat in the Battle of Jutland was not mainly because of its incompetence, but because of its opponents too cunning. This greatly reduced the responsibility of Jelico and Betty. In the Second Battle of Flanders, the British fleet once saw hope for victory, but in the end they lost the battle due to lack of technology and luck. Betty led "Ireland"

The USS was fighting bravely, and at the critical moment, he injured the German main battle patrol "De Fringer", which exerted the iron-blooded will of the British Royal Navy. Although the "Ireland" finally sank, the naval battle still became the official theme of the British official propaganda. David Betty and many British naval officers and soldiers who survived the naval battle won the highest honorary award of the Victoria Cross, and his personal military career also took an important turn. By mid-October, he was re-appointed as the commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Detachment, commanding the British battlecruiser group that he was particularly fond of.

In this beautiful southern port of England, besides Betty's battlecruiser, there was also a group of British dreadnoughts commanded by Admiral Sir Arthur Jackson. To be fair, John Jelico did not make serious mistakes during the Battle of Jutland and Flanders, but his cautiousness became the target of public criticism. In order to appease public opinion, the British Navy had to replace his command of the local fleet with Sir Jackson, four years older than Jelico. During the Second Battle of Flanders, Jelico, who was injured in a sneak attack on the flagship by a German torpedo boat, returned to his hometown of Southampton to recuperate.

Older age does not mean more experienced and more experienced. In fact, Jackson's role is more inclined toward military theory experts. His highest command position is commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, which was a few years ago. After 1911, Jackson served as the First Minister of Maritime Affairs, the president of the Royal Naval Academy and the chief of staff of the Imperial Navy. When the war broke out, the veteran, who was nearly 60 years old, did not participate in the combat operations of the main fleet, but was sent to command and coordinate the offensive operations of the Coordinating Team against the German Colonial. In Africa

The Entente Team occupied German Togo only in a short period of time. In Southwest Africa, Cameroon and German East Africa, the resistance of German colonial forces continues to this day. In the Pacific, the British team cooperated with the Japanese army to launch an attack on Jiaozhou Bay, and the battle was coming to an end by the end of October. Overall, the British team's combat operations outside Europe were not good, after all, the Germans' military focus was completely on the European battlefield. Against the backdrop of the successive defeats of the British local fleet, Jackson's performance deserves new expectations from the British people.

At the beginning of the war, the British Royal Navy had a total of 22 dreadnoughts. When Jackson took over the order flag from Jelico, the size of this main fleet, which was originally ranked first in the world, dropped by nearly two-thirds. Only the "Iron Duke", "George V", "Emperor", "Conqueror", "Thunderbolt", and "Ajincout" gathered in Portland. The "Collingwood" was ordered to station in the Scarpa Floo base in the north. The newly completed super dreadnought "Emperor of India" is still under commissioning and training before service.

Jackson chose the "Iron Duke" to repair the return team as the flagship. This super-dreadnought, which was attacked by half a German fleet in the Battle of Jutland, has become a spiritual symbol of the British Royal Navy. In the bright sunshine, it quietly anchored on the berth opposite the "Tiger" battle cruiser. When looking at the "Iron Duke", people couldn't help but be surprised by its majestic and majestic force, but when it was in the same picture as the "Tiger", its brilliance was seized by the latter. Because of this, Betty raised his squadron commander's flag on this newly-in-service battle cruiser so that it could proudly float on the front line of battle in the rain of bullets.

Half an hour before lunch, a white traffic boat was placed off the port side of the Tiger. Betty's military face was neatly seated at the Iron Duke. Although he could reach his destination by driving or walking, the naval officers obviously prefer to use this unique naval mode of transportation.

Betty was still on the way, Admiral Sir Jackson was already standing on the deck near the gangway. He was wearing a slightly simple and old naval uniform with a peaceful expression and deep eyes. He didn't look like a powerful general on the battlefield, but a gentle and elegant scholar.

After taking over the command of the fleet, Jackson did not disband the staff team left by Jelico, but adjusted according to the personal wishes of the staff officers. Some were transferred to the squadron as chief of staff or main staff officers, and some served as ship commanders. Correspondingly, Jackson brought subordinate officers he trusted and appreciated. Jackson himself was not a member of the "Fisher Gang". His strategic views were completely opposite to Churchill, Jelico and others, and he advocated near-shore blockade and took the initiative to attack.

It was not the far-reaching blockade strategy that the British Navy actually adopted after the outbreak of the war. Now Britain is no longer able to block the German Navy, but Jackson and Betty have found many common topics in terms of how to find opportunities and strive to turn defeat into victory. They agreed that cautious defense will only make the German Navy tighter and tighter the ropes on the island of Britain. If they cannot obtain resource supply, the UK will not be able to build ships as quickly as possible, and the gap in strength between the British and German navies will also widen.

After Betty boarded the ship, Jackson couldn't wait to say to him: "The opportunity we have been waiting for is here!"

Seeing the new commander's confident expression, Betty's face was not excited at all, and there was a little worry between her eyebrows. Before rushing to the Jutland Peninsula and heading for Flanders, the fleet commanders were also so full of expectations, but in the end, it was just the old saying "The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment."

Betty's calm reaction did not dispel Jackson's enthusiasm. Before the captains of the main battleship arrived, he revealed the content of his phone call with the Navy Secretary and told Betty: "It is really frustrating that you can't go north to meet the German fleet, but when you think of winning back everything we have lost in the Skagerac Strait, all the tricky issues are no longer important."

Betty was as fierce and decisive as a lion, and was full of energy. At this time, he seemed to be possessed by Jelico. He whispered to Jackson: "If the Germans did not see through our plans in the end, this could indeed be our chance to achieve a big reversal, but the Germans were so cunning, would they be unaware of our abnormal movements?"

This question stunned Jackson on the spot, but he felt reluctant to overturn the "magnificent plan" formulated by the top naval leaders himself.

"We can do everything we can to confuse the enemy," Jackson said. "I deliberately gave the Germans fake information and smoke bombs, so that they felt that the reason why we didn't go north was because we were afraid of having a showdown with them."

"The Germans are much smarter than we thought!" Betty reminded helplessly, "Their chief of staff, the military genius of the Hohenzollern royal family, will never be easily deceived by us... will never!"

Jackson gritted his teeth: "But the Navy Secretary told me that this plan has been approved by His Majesty the King of England, and that the German fleet has completed or is close to completing their deployment. Time is very urgent for us. Do you think we should go north?"
Chapter completed!