Despite the heavy blows of four German battleships, the "Democracy" became more and more courageous, and in just five minutes, the "Democracy" fired seven accurate rounds of Qishè.

A 46-mm shell hit the ship of the "Byrne" directly, and Scheer saw a flash of red light in front of him, followed by a huge explosion, and the entire hull of the "Byrne" began to tremble violently as if it were an earthquake.

Bursts of scorching heat rushed straight into the observation window and into the command tower, and Scheer felt his breath suffocated, and the entire inside of the command tower was immediately filled with a heavy smell of gunsmoke.

"They fought well," Scher exclaimed, standing up straight, "it's unbelievable, it's the first time they've fought like this." ”

"yes." Colonel Malfoy also lamented, "It's hard to imagine that this is a hand-to-hand achievement." ”

Scheer stood in front of the observation window and raised the telescope, and at this time the distance between the Chinese battleship and the "Byrne" became much closer, and Scheer saw that the fire of the battleship "Democracy" in the telescope had been extinguished a lot, but it was still billowing smoke, and despite the terrible blow, the main guns of the giant ship did not stop for a moment, spitting long tongues of fire from time to time.

Looking at the angry roar of the giant ship and the unfamiliar flag with the Chinese character "ren" fluttering high on the mast, Scheer's heart once again appeared in the poetic sympathy that had just been written.

At this moment, the hull of the battleship "Democracy" flashed again, followed by a thick column of black smoke rising. And the giant ship stopped shelling just after completing a Qi shè.

"We've hit it in the spot," Captain Malfoy exclaimed excitedly.

Scheer and the officers of the Commander Tower stared closely at the "Democracy", as if waiting for the moment when the other side exploded violently, like the thin-skinned battlecruisers of the British, and then broke in two, and sank into the sea, but after a long time, such a scene did not occur after all.

Two more shells hit the "Democracy", setting the giant ship on fire again, but the fire was extinguished after a while, and the three huge triple main guns of the Chinese battleship were all silent, and only the secondary guns continued to fire, trying to attack their German light ships on the sea.

It may be that seeing an opportunity, the four "Byrne" class battleships concentrated their firepower and desperately poured a rain of bullets on this giant ship, but the Chinese battleships still stubbornly broke 1n on the sea and advanced under the baptism of the Germans' steel bullets.

"They won't leave." Captain Malfoy sighed.

"They're fighting for fighter planes for other medium-sized ships." Scheer nodded, and then ordered loudly, "Let's not fall for them, if there is another Chinese battleship like this......"

Before Scheer could finish his words, a dazzling fire suddenly rose from the array of the German fleet, followed by a loud thunderous noise.

"It's the Border Count, she's been shot," Captain Malfoy exclaimed.

Scheer looked through the binoculars, and sure enough, he saw that the "Border Count" had already caught fire.

In the smoke in the distance, the figures of the four Chinese battleships were getting bigger.

"They want to cut our tail crosswise" Scheer, realizing the great danger his fleet was in, immediately ordered in a loud voice, "Let's go right away"

And at this moment, the battleship "Democracy", whose main guns had been silent for a long time, suddenly resumed its shè attack, and a high wall of water was instantly lifted around the "Byrne".

The German battleships gave up the attack on the "Democracy" and began to turn the rudder and escape, while the five Chinese battleships tightly bit the German ships and opened fire fiercely at the "Crown Prince Wilhelm" located behind the array, and the "Crown Prince Wilhelm" hit 446 mm shells in five minutes, and the ship was in a mess, but the "Crown Prince Wilhelm" also hit the Chinese battleship "Constitution" one after another with its main guns, causing its ship to ignite a large fire.

"Damn the Germans, they ran away" Colonel Garland, the American captain of the battleship "Constitution", watched this scene with some annoyance and shook his fist fiercely.

“…… The firepower of the German ships is inferior to that of our ships, but their tactics are flexible, their artillery skills are high, and their fighting spirit is high, and the German ships are solid in quality, although they have been hit many times by our ships, they still insist on refusing to sink them......" At this time, in the command tower of the battleship "Constitution", Deputy Captain Li Jingxi looked at the German ships that were constantly firing in the distance and wrote down such words on a piece of paper. ,

For the resourcefulness and tenacity shown by the Germans in the naval battle, the officers and men of the Chinese Navy also gave the enemy due praise from the bottom of their hearts.

"There is only one main turret left for the Democracy to be fired." Li Jingxi said, "The Germans are really stubborn. ”

"The Germans fled separately." A Chinese naval staff officer, who has observed the battlefield in great detail, said in fluent English, "We should also pursue them separately, and we can't let them run away like that." ”

Listening to the officer's words, a hint of hesitation appeared on Captain Garland's face.

"Look what's wrong with the 'democracy' image." An officer said, pointing to the battleship Democracy, which was shrouded in smoke ahead.

"I just grabbed the 'D' prefix by the Germans, and there were too many shells, so something might have gone wrong." Said another officer.

Li Jingxi looked at the "Democracy" carefully, and he quickly judged that the voyage of the "Democracy" was slowing down.

"Give the 'Democracy' signal and ask them how they are." Captain Garland ordered, "Once the radio signal is out, repeat it in the flag." ”

An officer agreed and took the order, while the "Constitution" continued to pursue the German ship on its original course, and at this time the "Democracy" suddenly deviated from the queue and slowly stopped.

"What's going on? They didn't answer us? After waiting for a while, there was no response from the "Democracy", and Captain Garland couldn't help but be very surprised.

Li Jingxi held up the binoculars and carefully observed the "Democracy" that was still smoking, and said to Garland, "The 'Democracy' should have been seriously injured, had a mechanical failure, and stopped advancing, and they did not answer us, it is likely that the radio communication system and signal flag were damaged." ”

"According to the wartime code, we should now take over the command of the fleet." The staff officer, who had just suggested splitting up the pursuit of the German ship, said anxiously, "We don't have much time and can't hesitate any longer."

Captain Garland looked at the German battleship, whose shadow had become smaller, and nodded with some difficulty, "Okay, tell them, now it's our command"

"Signal the other warships to let the 'Freedom Jīn God' go with us, kill the four 'Byrne', and let the 'Independence' and 'Nation' pursue the four 'kings'"

Very much, the four Chinese battleships on the sea, which still maintained full combat effectiveness, were divided into two groups, and each headed in different directions.

"What kind of stupid guy came up with this stupid idea? How can you spread your forces so much? ”

In Tari, the commander of the battleship "Republic", Betty could not help but be taken aback when she received the signal from the battleship "Constitution".

"Maybe the situation on the battlefield has changed differently." Xu Zhenpeng was a little dissatisfied with the word "stupid" in Betty's words, but he did not show it on his face out of politeness and respect for Betty, a battle-hardened tiger general, "By now, almost half an hour has passed, and the Germans are likely to have suffered heavy losses under our blows and want to flee separately, so this will happen." ”

"You have a point, Xu." Betty got up and walked to the chart, and couldn't help but smile bitterly as she looked at the routes of the ships and her own position depicted by the mapping officer on the chart.

"Before we knew it, we were in Herigolan Bay again."

Xu Zhenpeng looked at Betty with some surprise, not understanding why he was so impressed by Helgoland Bay (author's note: "Helgoland" - h11th in German, "Hrigolan" - h11nd in English).

Like this naval battle that was fought while running, it is now in the waters near Helgoland Bay, and the rudder of the "Republic" is malfunctioning here, Xu Zhenpeng has long known it, and he did not wait for Betty to react after he said it.

Xu Zhenpeng, who doesn't know much about the history and strategic significance of this small island, does not know what kind of thrilling stories have been born around this small island.

Situated at the throat of the deep German Gulf and close to Germany's major ports and river estuaries, Helgoland has a strategic value disproportionate to its positive position. 189 years ago, the island had been under the protection of the British Empire, and the Germans were so worried about it, but on July 1 of that year, with the signing of the Treaty of Helgoland between Britain and Germany, Lord Salisbury, then British Prime Minister, despite the strong opposition of King Victoria, against the wishes of the islanders of Helgoland, ceded this important island, known as "Gibraltar of the North", in exchange for the guarantee that Germany would not continue to expand its colonial power in eastern Africa, which was thousands of miles away. ,

Ostensibly, Germany was clearly a beneficiary of the above-mentioned treaty, and from then on Helgoland Bay became a completely German forecourt. The treaty originally stipulated that Germany should keep the tranquil semi-autonomous island "as undisturbed as possible" by the original laws and customs, but the German Emperor Wilhelm II simply ignored the fact that the island had been built as a military base against the British. At the time of the outbreak of the First World War, Helgoland Island was equipped with shore artillery, ports, barracks, fortifications and other supporting facilities. All of the island's indigenous people were sent to Germany mainland, and eligible men were called up for military service. In order to prevent the British from using obvious geographical signs for nautical positioning, the cautious Germans forcibly demolished the 17th-century Wangrok Church on the island.

When the British transferred Helgoland Island to the Germans, many British "indignantly" denounced the "Treaty of Helgoland" as an out-and-out "traitorous treaty" that humiliated the country, and went so far as to easily give up a perfect outpost of war against Germany, "as if they had sold a cage." But Salisbury's vision was far from being as narrow as the "indignant" had claimed, and in the Treaty of Helgoland Britain had gained far more than it had lost: with the increase of German naval power and the change in British "blockade policy" towards Germany, the possibility and necessity of maintaining this outpost in wartime were questionable; However, this treaty effectively curbed German expansion in East Africa and consolidated British colonial interests. After the start of the war, Britain was able to uproot German power from East Africa with relative ease. The Germans, who had acquired Helgoland Island and the nearby bays, were once ecstatic that their front had been extended to the outside world, but after the start of the war, the "short-range blockade" did not exist, and the British "long-range blockade" still did not make much change in the strategic environment of the German Navy.

The Germans vaguely guessed that the British fleet was consciously trying to disengage from the German fleet so as not to be consumed. The German navy, which refused to give up, decided to stick to the established line of thought of war of attrition and continued to extend the battle line outward, and while minelayers and submarines were heading for the British coast, the defense zone of light ships was gradually expanded.

Since the war between the two naval powers, Britain and Germany, had been looking forward to the appearance of a second "Trafalgar". Although the "long-range blockade" was a safe victory, the process was as uneventful as distilled water, which was a considerable gap from the British people's ardent expectations for the Royal Navy. Centuries of deep-seated maritime superiority have fueled the flames of competitiveness, and taxpayers' hard-earned money in the arms race needs to be repaid with good returns. As the news of the retreat on the Western Front continued, the British public desperately needed a victory to restore the psychological balance. However, the Germans have not been able to keep out, and the British "Grand Fleet" has been hovering and waiting outside the Helgoland Bay, quite alone with a sense of loss and chagrin.

The British Navy, eager to win, saw that the Germans were unwilling to easily go out of Helgoland Bay and be beaten, and the British Commodore Case, who had cleared the rules of German ship activities, planned to lead a fleet composed of light ships into the bay to take the German patrol fleet to open a vote, and the British Admiralty at that time, Winston Churchill, had been overwhelmed by the cries of the people and the navy, and was in need of an offensive to soothe the anxiety at home, and the Admiralty was also planning to send 6 teams to the Belgian port of Ostendden6, It was necessary to eliminate the flank threat of German light ships in advance. Case's "simple and bold" (Churchill's phrase) plan impressed the Admiralt. Churchill was very approving of the plan.

On August 28, 1914, the Battle of Helgoland Bay officially began, the British Navy first used submarines as bait, and successfully took out the German patrol fleet, but after the battle began, the situation was repeated, the original support fleet rushed to the battlefield but could not find the target, the careless dereliction of duty and bureaucracy of the communications personnel made this battle in the fog into a 1un messy battle of the enemy, coupled with the continuous arrival of German support ships, As a result, the British light ships that carried out the sneak attack were in a dilemma of not being able to distinguish between the enemy and us. Had it not been for Betty's decisive decision to take the plunge of five battlecruisers to come to the aid and repel the German fleet, the sneak attack would have turned into a disaster.

The Battle of Helgoland Bay was the second major naval front between Britain and Germany during World War I, and victory certainly belonged to Britain. In this battle, the German Navy sank 3 light cruisers and 1 minesweeper, 1 light cruiser, 1 minesweeper and 2 minesweepers were heavily damaged, and none of the British naval ships were sunk, 1 light cruiser and 3 destroyers were seriously damaged. ,

For most Britons, who don't understand the process and only care about the outcome, this long-awaited victory is undoubtedly a shot in the arm. But for insiders, there was only a fine line between this glorious victory and disaster, and it brought to light the Royal Navy's many problems in planning, communications, coordination, etc. But for Betty, the naval battle was an unforgettable highlight of his naval career.

The naval battle in the Gulf of Helgoland, although small in scale, had a profound impact. The defeat in the naval battle prompted the Germans to reflect on the major gaps in their original defensive system (in contrast to the British, who were reeling in the joy of victory, but did not take their lessons), and the confrontation returned to a stable and boring state. Soon Betty had a bad premonition, and he wrote in a letter to his wife: "...... They knew we were coming, so they shrunk their heads and didn't come out. I'm afraid that these nasty embryos will never come out again, and will only send some minelayers and submarines. …… They may also take the initiative and send a battle cruiser for a lunge. …… It seems that we are going to get through this war without getting a chance to fight a good fight, and this is a really unbearable thought. "Betty's prophecy was surprisingly accurate. Until the beginning of 1916, the Germans were on the defensive in the North Sea, and the battle of breaking J starring submarines and minelayers became the representative repertoire of the German Navy; The occasional sorties of the battlecruisers constituted a rare humilium; The flashy gills between the battlefleets were still wishful thinking on the part of the British. The Royal Navy sailors, who were eager to see the spectacle, were disappointed to find that they had just started a bland fé soap opera, and they leaned back in their chairs sullenly, not knowing that one day, when the long-awaited "Ragnarok" drama actually took place, the end result would be like pins and needles for them to cope with.

And now, only 4 years have passed, and Betty feels that almost the same scene is going to be staged in Helgoland Bay again, only this time the protagonist is no longer the Royal Navy.