Inside the majestic bridge of the battlecruiser Lion, David? Lieutenant General Betty looked at the foggy waters of Helgoland Bay outside, and his heart was heavy.

In the faint mist, the five magnificent ship shadows are chopping the waves with an indomitable momentum, towering like a mountain and speeding like lightning. Behind the Lion, Queen Mary, Princess Celestia, Invincible, New Zealand, and four battle cruisers followed neatly, chasing the track of the ship in front of them and speeding forward. At the top of the sturdy three-legged mast, the St. George's battle flag fluttering in the wind. This is the most powerful fleet force in the Royal Navy outside of the battleship detachments of the Grand Fleet!

However, Betty, who commanded such a powerful fleet, could not be relaxed at this time.

As the most shining general in the Royal Navy, Betty is also burdened with great expectations and pressure, and the battle cruisers under her command are the most valuable assets of the Royal Navy, and now she has to take this fleet into the dangerous waters of unknown conditions.

As Case, Goodenough, and Tyrit were chase-and-run, Betty realized that there was a problem with the fleet's communication, and after figuring out why, he wanted to stuff the idiot bureaucrats of the Admiralty into the 13.5-inch guns of the Lion. In order to avoid such a problem again, Betty immediately ordered all the information from the wireless telegraph to be sorted out and summarized, and at this moment, Betty had a basic grasp of what was happening in the Gulf of Helgoland, but because of this, he was even more worried.

An hour earlier, the Lion had received a distress telegram from Commodore Tyrit stating that the Harwich fleet had encountered and exchanged fire with 4 German light cruisers and was in critical condition, requesting support from battle cruisers. However, Betty still had concerns about whether to break into the rescue, after all, Helgoland Bay was a German defense area, there were many submarines, mines, and shore artillery, and now the visibility in the bay was still limited, and if the battle cruiser rushed into it like this, it was very likely that they would fall into these gadgets if they were not careful.

Although he longed to fight, and even lamented in a letter to his wife a few days ago that the Germans were cowering in their turtle shells and were unwilling to come out to fight the Grand Fleet, Betty, who had nothing to do, had to be cautious at this time.

The five battle cruisers led by himself are the most important mobile reconnaissance force in the Grand Fleet, and the loss of any one of them will greatly weaken the combat capability of the Grand Fleet, and he will become a sinner for the entire Royal Navy and even the whole of Great Britain!

And even if you leave immediately, it will take more than 90 minutes to get to the battlefield, so it's still a question of whether you can make it in time. There are still 6 of Goodenough's light cruisers in the bay, and if the Germans only have 4 light cruisers, it would still be possible to cover Tirit's escape.

However, Betty never expected that the four German light cruisers would almost end the battle in less than 20 minutes, and Tirlett's distress telegrams were one after another, judging from his tone, the Harwich fleet was estimated to be wiped out before Goodenough came to his rescue. If the Germans really had this combat effectiveness, then even if Goodenough arrived, it was estimated that he would have to suffer, even if he couldn't save Tierit, he would have to help Goodenough get out, and Betty immediately ordered all the battlecruisers to set off.

Betty, who is brave and aggressive by nature, naturally does not hesitate to look forward and hesitate once he has made a decision, but this still does not stop him from worrying about the situation. And the news that came immediately made him realize that the situation in the bay was more complicated than he thought. It is no longer important that the German destroyers that suddenly entered the battle doomed the end of the Harwich fleet, but the important thing is that it shows that the German ships are constantly pouring into this area, and this is not a scattered ship, but an organized and coordinated counterattack force!

And then the news that Goodenough encountered 7 German light cruisers deepened Betty's worries, the German light cruisers can be so organized into battle, so is it possible that the main force of the ocean fleet has also been dispatched? The low tide at the mouth of the Jed River did affect the departure of the German capital ships, but who knows if there would be warships anchored just outside Jed Bay?

It was only 35 nautical miles from Wilhelmshaven to Helgoland Island, and the area of engagement was less than 30 nautical miles west of Helgoland Island, even if it was just a German battleship, it only took 3 hours to reach the battlefield, and God knows what time the Germans gave the order for the capital ships to set off?

Even if the German capital ships were trapped in the harbor at low tide, they could not be taken lightly, and it was now close to noon, and the water level at the mouth of the Jed River would be able to pass through large ships in a maximum of 3 hours!

Although he has 5 battle cruisers in his hands, if he really collides with the main force of the German ocean fleet, then he will still give it all here!

However, Goodenough's current situation does not allow Betty to think so much.

"Report, telegram from the 1st Light Cruiser Fleet that the Nottingham is completely destroyed and about to sink!"

"What?!" Betty shouted in disbelief, he really didn't expect the first light cruiser to suffer losses in such a short time.

"Light signal, notify Queen Mary and Princess Celestia, full speed ahead!" There is no time to move slowly with the Invincible and the New Zealand at 24 knots, and the battle must be resolved in 3 hours! Betty decided to get rid of the Invincible and New Zealand on her own, and rushed to the battlefield with the three fastest battlecruisers herself.

"Well done!" Rear Admiral Maas, who had been holding a straight face on the light cruiser Cologne, finally smiled: "But we could have enjoyed the results of this battle alone." ”

The Germans actually did not expect to solve a British light cruiser in such a short time.

Maas had brought one more light cruiser than the British, and after allowing the Munich and Danzig from the Third Reconnaissance Fleet to join forces against a light cruiser at the end of the British ranks, five light cruisers from the Second Reconnaissance Fleet fought against the British. Of the five ships, two were of the same class as Mainz, the Kerburg class, and the other three were the newer Madegerburg class, which had the upper hand in the artillery battle, but the results achieved so quickly were indeed beyond the expectations of Rear Admiral Maas.

The reason for this situation was the four light cruisers led by the Mainz that joined the battle group after the formation of the team on the side, because they could not intervene in the middle of the battle, so they naturally aimed all their firepower at the Nottingham led by the British.

As a result, the Nottingham was fired at by 5 German light cruisers, and more than 500 water columns appeared around the Nottingham within 5 minutes, resulting in a disturbance that the 5 light cruisers did not know which shells were fired by themselves, and there was no way to effectively calibrate the fire control data, so they could only correct it by feeling.

However, even if the Germans interfered with each other and caused poor accuracy, the Nottingham was quickly beaten, the ship was on fire, the entire battleship was shrouded in smoke, and there were continuous small explosions on the ship, and it was hopeless.

Being able to deal with his opponent so quickly, Mas was finally able to easily joke that he had been robbed of his prey.

"There's no need to waste shells on her, inform all the ships, intercept the British, and since they dare to come, then we'll leave them all behind, lest someone say we're not hospitable enough!"

In order to avoid the Nottingham, which was already shrouded in fire and collapsed on the surface of the sea without power, the following British ships began to turn to evade, but their actions to evade happened to affect the German shelling. Smoke from the burning Nottingham filled the sea, obscuring the friendly ships passing behind her, and Goodenough took the opportunity to try to distance herself from the Germans.

How could the Germans let the British go so easily?

His immediate superior, Lieutenant General Hipper, was furious that the British could swagger into the Helgoland Bay! If the British could not be taught a lesson that would never be forgotten, then all the defending forces in the entire Gulf of Helgoland would have to go around without food!

It will be difficult for the scattered British destroyers to catch them all, so the British cruisers in front of them must be completely annihilated! And the Germans can do it!

With the exception of 2 Königsberg-class light cruisers, none of the Germans had a ship that was slower than the British! All light cruisers were more than 1.5 knots faster than the British!

The Coleburg, which had overtaken the Nottingham, opened fire again at the Sydney, which was turning at the end of the pack, and after seven volleys, Maas discovered that something was wrong with the light cruiser. The Sydney, which had already completed the turn, had no intention of returning to the rudder at all, and continued to maintain the attitude of turning and began to break away from the formation. Her rudder was jammed, and if it went on like this, it would only run in a big circle behind the ass of the German fleet.

However, for this lamb that has become a lamb to be slaughtered, Maas can only shake his head with a wry smile: "It's a pity, this time the prey has to be given to someone else." ”

Maas did not want to waste time on such a ship, and after ordering the München and Danzig, the slowest in the group, to break away from the formation and continue to take care of their own prey, the Second Reconnaissance Fleet continued to bite Goodenough.

The Germans also took this opportunity to carry out a reformation, and the higher-speed Mainz, with two Dresden-class ships, took over the detached Munich and Danzig and added them to the tail of the Second Reconnaissance Fleet.

Just when Goodenough watched almost in despair as the German light cruisers caught up little by little, and the artillery battle was about to begin again. A deafening roar was heard in the air, and a hissing sound that swept through the air destroyed the eardrums of officers and men on both sides.

But the sound sounded like heaven to Goodenough's ears!

"Boom!" The waves generated by the explosion of the skyrocketing water column 50 meters next to the German warship shook the warship of thousands of tons like a lonely boat in a storm!

"13.5-inch naval guns! It's a lion! It's the First Battle Cruiser! It's Betty! (To be continued.) )