From turning the rudder to completing the 180-degree turn, the "Seydlitz" took only 3 minutes and 40 seconds, and the wounds of the battle obviously did not affect the excellent maneuverability of the German battlecruiser. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info At about the same time, the four German battleships "De Fllinger", "Moltke", "Strasbourg", and "Rostock" also completed the turn, and the array of the Hipper's reconnaissance fleet was reorganized, and the flagship "Seydlitz" fell on the stern.

In the process of turning the ship at full speed, the ship's main guns basically stopped firing, and only some of the secondary guns continued to attack the three British ships, which were almost incapacitated. When the steering was complete, the main guns in the stern direction were the first to let out an unwilling roar, and the officers also turned from the right side of the battle bridge to the left, watching the shooting through the portholes.

Suddenly, he saw an orange-red flash on the northeastern sea, as great as lightning, and a German staff officer exclaimed: "God, look, it's the British Grand Fleet!" ”

Everyone was taken aback, and within a few seconds, the rolling thunder swept in, mixed with the strange sound of heavy shells falling. In an instant, the water column on the sea was like a forest, the waves were roaring, and the impact point was basically on the west side of the three British battleships, and their fire became an excellent reference for the British fleet to carry out artillery bombardment.

Looking at the strange scene on the sea, the German officers had to throw themselves into Hipper's "foresight", and Major Raeder, who was appreciated by the Kaiser and the head of the navy, was also dumbfounded.

Hipper secretly breathed a sigh of relief, in the face of the sudden artillery fire, he was not in a hurry to report to the main fleet, but ordered the ships to cease fire and keep the lights under control, and asked the staff officer to use the sextant to locate the North Star, and he also carefully observed the shelling of the other side, and ordered the communications personnel to send a report to the general flagship with a tactical code: the British Grand Fleet was discovered, and its main battlefleet was firing from about 10 nautical miles northeast of the fleet, and there was no hit yet; The fleet had turned ahead of schedule, and at the time of the report the coordinates were XXX, XXX, with a course of 15 degrees to the west of the south, and a speed of 24 knots.

The main force of the German High Seas Fleet, which was southeast of the Hipper's fleet, was still divided into three groups of ships of different speeds and headed north. Six new dreadnoughts with escort light ships were at the forefront, sailing at a speed of only 6 knots; Eight old dreadnoughts and escort ships were in a hurry, and the lead ship "Helgoran" and the "King", the last of the advance battle columns, had been approached to a distance of 3 nautical miles, that is, about 5,500 meters, and the two sides could exchange information through light signals; Fifteen former dreadnoughts and their accompanying ships barely increased to a speed of 16 knots, and they were still 8 nautical miles away from the advance battle. In the daytime, such a distance is completely within the visual range, and the enemy will not be too troubled in the battle, but the situation in the night battle is particularly complicated, and the concentration of forces can better deal with the threat from a strong enemy.

On the bridge of the battle ship "Frederick the Great", the officers tried to keep a cool head in order to analyze the complex situation of the battle, which was constantly emerging with new situations. By the tacit decision of the Fleet Commander and the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, the advance battle, consisting of six cutting-edge dreadnoughts, stopped shelling and slowed down with it, effectively abandoning the strangulation of the remnants of Betty's fleet and instead preparing for a possible collision between the two large fleets. Twenty minutes passed, and the lookouts and rangefinders discovered that the three British battlecruisers, which had been damaged by the German high-speed torpedo boats one after another, had not taken advantage of the opportunity to slip away, and that they were still sailing slowly in front of them under the cover of several light ships. The third group of high-speed warships from the German fleet successfully caught up and launched another round of torpedo attacks on them, although the exact results of the battle are not yet known, but at least three British battleships exploded in sight, one of which was completely on fire and appeared to be seriously injured, so it seems that the condition of Betty's fleet has been worse.

The sunken Betty fleet became the fat on the lips, as long as the previous battle columns led by the "Frederick the Great" increased their speed slightly, and with the help of flares or searchlights, they could quickly send three British battlecruisers to the bottom of the sea, cutting off the possibility of the British repairing them, but Ingnoll and his high-ranking fleet chief of staff were not greedy for this time, and they waited patiently for the follow-up capital ships to gather while waiting for the change of the battle situation.

Although the carrier-based planes were equipped with corresponding navigation and lighting equipment for taking off and landing at night, the speed of the "Bismarck" planes slowed down considerably after dark, and there was an accident in which a plane broke out of the deck and fell into the sea while landing on the ship, losing a D-type reconnaissance plane and seriously injuring the pilot. In addition, the planes without any modern navigation technology can be imagined to be effective in night reconnaissance, and the pilots have to fly low close to the sea, and after discovering a suspected target of the fleet, they have to risk sending a light signal to the other side to confirm their identity, so as not to throw flares over their own fleet and cause serious problems. Because of these objective difficulties, they lost track and surveillance of the British Grand Fleet after dark, and when the British battlefleet opened fire on the Hipper fleet, they were ordered to go for reconnaissance, and it was not until half an hour after the flagship's order was given that a reconnaissance plane dropped flares with small parachutes over the British fleet.

A dazzling white light burst into the sky, and several large and imposing British warships emerged from the darkness, while many more continued to hide in the shadowy sea, and only faint shadows could be glimpsed in the light of flares.

A few minutes later, the Hipper fleet again sent an encrypted telegram to the general flagship of the High Seas Fleet: the main British battlefleet was 30 degrees north-east of the fleet, at a distance of 21,000 meters, and judged its course to be 20 degrees east-south; The coordinates of this ship are XXX, XXX, the course is 15 degrees west-south, and the speed is 22 knots. ”

By the time Hipper's second telegram was received, the number of battleships behind Frederick the Great had increased to 13, which meant that the core of the German High Seas Fleet, 14 dreadnoughts with strong armor and built-in subdivided compartments, and strong power and fierce firepower, had been gathered. They are the essence of the German Navy, embodying the top skills of the German shipbuilding industry, and at the same time, they are also the proud works of the "Hohenzollern genius" and the expert in ship design, Prince Joachim, who poured his heart and soul - under the existing conditions, they are the most comprehensive and balanced capital ships, and the theoretical indicators are close to the best values of the times, but what their real value is, they still need to pass the test of "real fire" on the battlefield.

After a brief discussion with the chief of staff of the fleet, Ingnorl adjusted the deployment: the 1st battleship detachment composed of six cutting-edge dreadnoughts increased to 12 knots, the 3rd battleship detachment composed of four Helgoran-class and four Nassau-class decreased to 12 knots, and 14 dreadnoughts formed a single-line column; slowed down from the 2nd Battleship Detachment of 15 old battleships to 14 knots; The auxiliary fleet gathered the attacking high-speed warships as quickly as possible and replenished them with fuel and torpedoes.

Sailing north at a speed of 12 knots, the German dreadnought group could crush the remnants of Betty's fleet to powder in half an hour, but on the battle chart in front of the fleet commander, the battleship group of the British Grand Fleet had clearly abandoned the Hipper's fleet, which had the advantage of speed, and turned around and headed straight for the German dreadnought group behind Betty's fleet. As a matter of fact, the German High Seas Fleet's operational objective of annihilating the British mobile fleet had been basically achieved, and even if it turned around and withdrew and avoided a head-on confrontation with the British Grand Fleet, the German Navy would still be the big winner in this naval battle, and in the future it would be possible to make use of the mobile superiority of the Hipper fleet to find more ideal combat opportunities and gradually defeat the British Navy with as little risk as possible. However, encouraged by the fruitful results, the German naval officers and men were all gearing up, and the always cautious Ingnorl did not shy away from the battle, and Natsuki was certainly willing to carry this great and glorious adventure to the end.

"Now, left or right?"

Ingnorr asked questions about the charts, and the staff officers around him had a say, but at the decisive moment, people knew the great responsibility, so they waited quietly for the chief of staff of the fleet to give his opinion.

The difference between turning left and right is not whether the fleet will face the enemy on the starboard or port side, but on which side will succeed in seizing the T-head. To put it simply, your own fleet is in front of the enemy's fleet, allowing your ships to exert broadside fire, while the opponent can only fire from the bow and some of the broadside guns. With a close difference in strength, the side that preempts the T-prefix is able to maximize the fleet's firepower to suppress and defeat the opponent. The First World War in history, the Battle of Jutland, the first and only head-to-head confrontation between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet, Jericho commanded the British fleet to successfully seize the T-shaped, 22 British dreadnoughts and 6 battle cruisers unfolded, bombarding the German fleet with terrifying broadside fire, the German capital ships were hit by bullets and damaged, but the artillery fire that fought back rarely hit, after the war, people talked about the first-class defense of German battleships, It is often overlooked that many German capital ships suffered turret damage and reduced combat power under the blows of the British fleet.

The commander's ability to adapt to the situation, the maneuverability of the ships participating in the battle, and the quality and ability of the officers and men of the fleet are all very important.

Left or right, it's a simple and complex choice, light and heavy.

After a short period of thought, Natsuki raised his head and looked at Ingnoor, the commander-in-chief of the High Seas Fleet tried to maintain his calm and composure, and when he looked at Natsuki, his eyes were not hesitant or embarrassed, but a kind of hope - pinning the hope of victory on the person who made this bold plan.

Choosing also means taking on a heavy responsibility.

Because of his special identity and experience, Natsuki is not afraid to take responsibility, and at this moment, he has only one thought: I hope that his decision can bring this navy to the other side of success, instead of swallowing the bitter fruit of sadness and regret in defeat.

(End of chapter)