Just when Emperor Yang was full of conspiracies and preparing to harm the Indonesian people, in the distant North Sea of Europe, the largest battleship decisive battle in the history of war had begun.
The German Empire's High Seas Fleet will face its old enemy, the British Royal Navy's Home Fleet, for the first time.
This is a battle without any fancy, a collision of pure steel and will, fire and blood. A pair of destined enemies fired at each other without any hesitation almost as soon as they met. Countless cannons facing each other roared at the same time, and the shells
Amidst the explosion, fire burst out, steel splashed, and the sea boiled instantly.
Just as they were firing, all the escorting cruisers and destroyers retreated at the same time, leaving the battlefield for these sea monsters. The British's sixteen battleships, which originally sailed in three columns, began to change their formation to the left and form one column to seize the "T"
, and the eight battleships of the High Seas Fleet opposite them began to turn right as if they had a tacit understanding. The two huge fleets displayed terrifying broadside firepower, gradually turning to move parallel and engaging in a fight.
At this time, the British formation of twelve battlecruisers began to accelerate to the limit of thirty-two knots, preparing to bypass their own battle fleet and cut across to the front of the High Seas Fleet, also seizing the prefix T. At the same time, the German fleet
The six Swedish high-speed battleships and four battlecruisers moved forward in the same way. It was obvious that the Germans' goal was to use the armor of the battle fleet to withstand the artillery fire of British battleships that were twice their own, and use the high-speed battleships to add
The battlecruisers had a decisive battle with the British battlecruiser formation, and after winning the battle, they returned to reinforce the battleship fleet.
This is also their helpless move when there is a large gap in numbers. Originally, the High Seas Fleet did not want to fight the British this time, but was just used to contain them. After all, this is not far from Helgoland Bay, and they wanted to escape back to the mines.
There was not much difficulty in the cover of the formation. But the miraculous results of the Dutch fleet made William and Tirpitz unable to restrain themselves. It was obvious that this was an excellent opportunity. Two sinkings and four serious injuries left the British mainland
The strength of the fleet has dropped sharply. If this opportunity is missed, the High Seas Fleet will have no chance when their four battleships are repaired.
And they must also buy time for the army to reinforce the Netherlands. The second batch of British landing troops has already set off, but it is difficult for the German reinforcements to arrive in Rotterdam before them. If the High Seas Fleet can gain an advantage in the naval battle, then
It would be difficult for the British to have the courage to continue fighting on the Dutch battlefield.
"This is a decisive battle, a decisive battle for the fate of the empire!" Prince Heinrich said calmly on the High Seas Fleet flagship Deutschland.
"Your Highness, your identity is the guarantee of our victory." Major General Scheer, the chief of staff beside him, said. His words were not wrong. As the only surviving brother of Kaiser Wilhelm, Prince Heinrich personally sat on the flagship.
This will undoubtedly have a huge effect on improving the morale of the German naval officers and soldiers. No matter how fierce the British firepower is, looking at the flag representing the royal family on the Deutschland, the soldiers who are fighting an enemy twice their size will not
Don't care about death.
Of course, courage is only one aspect. The Germans do not rely on spirit and courage to win battles.
Their biggest reliance is their battleship protection capabilities, which is different from the British battleships that only partially use Bofors alloy armor due to cost issues. William, who is not short of money by plundering the United States, uses this type of armor for all his battleships.
It can be said that the strongest armor, coupled with the increased watertight design at the expense of speed, makes the German battleship protection capabilities no less than that of Chinese battleships.
Now, this is the guarantee of their confidence.
Under the intensive firepower of British battleships twice as large as ours, almost all eight battleships, including Deutschland, were hit one after another. The piercing bombs that were deflected by the strong armor exploded a series of water columns close at hand.
, amidst the impact of huge waves. In the flames exploded by high-explosive bombs with picric acid charges, dozens of 305 and even 356 main guns pointed at the port side kept roaring, and the explosive bombs roared and streaked.
Crossing the sea, it hit the British battleship more than ten kilometers away like a meteor.
However, at such a distance, the German's explosive bombs were also unable to penetrate the British's main armor. The two fleets invariably moved closer to each other to shorten the fighting distance. At this time, the battle patrol formations moving forward at high speed had also begun to exchange fire.
Because they could no longer achieve their original goals, the two formations also set up battle lines to engage in firefights. On the sea, in two battlefields, one in front and one behind, forty-four giant steel ships lined up in a battle line that stretched for 20 kilometers, each heading towards
The opponent frantically poured out artillery fire.
At this time, the performance advantages of the six Swedish high-speed battleships were immediately revealed. The Braunschweig at the front opened fire first, targeting the British battle cruiser Formidable. The ten 280mm main guns on the side fired the first round.
One of the volleys hit. Although it was fifteen kilometers away, the explosive bomb still penetrated the Formidable's waterline armor less than 200 millimeters thick in an instant. Then the flames of the explosion spurted out from the inside, and even
Even a riveted armor plate was blown off, and seawater immediately began to pour into this giant ship with a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons.
The Prussia, which followed closely behind, opened fire almost simultaneously, targeting the Defiance, then the Lorraine, and then the Rapid... Twenty-two battleships and battlecruisers from the two formations all joined the battle in less than five minutes. At this time, the British
It was discovered that the 305 main guns used by their battle cruisers could not penetrate the armor of the Brunswick-class fast battleship at such a distance. Even if it was not the main armor, they could not penetrate it. But the Brunswick-class second
For the 80 main gun, almost every shell fired at such a distance can always produce satisfactory results as long as the angle is not too large. Under the crazy bombardment of these 280 mm cannons whose single gun fire rate can reach three rounds per minute,
Only a few minutes into the battle, five British battle cruisers, including the battle cruiser formation's flagship HMS Triumph, were shot and injured one after another.
Obviously, such a distance is very detrimental to the British battle cruisers. These giant ships, which sacrificed armor in pursuit of speed, immediately began to accelerate forward to close the fighting distance, and the Germans opposite them were also closing the distance. They must
In order to obtain a greater hit rate, on the two battlefields before and after, all the warships were approaching each other while pouring cannonballs on each other. The roar of the air and the huge explosion resounded across the sea.
As the distance gets closer and closer, the hit rate of the artillery shells on both sides increases sharply, and the penetration power also increases sharply. Especially the 280 main guns of the Brunswick-class fast battleships, like giant tomahawks, easily hit the British
One terrible hole after another was cut into the armor of the battle cruiser. Before it could get within ten kilometers, the main gun on the side of the Fast was directly penetrated through the front armor and detonated the ammunition that was about to be fired. The huge explosion shook the whole person.
The turret and the base hull were blown away. Although there was no danger of sinking, the fire that spread rapidly inside forced the battleship to withdraw from the battlefield.
But even at such a distance, the British's 305 main guns were still unable to penetrate the main armor of the Braunschweig-class fast battleship. Although the British tried their best to pour cannonballs at these six battleships, unfortunately, except for the hits,
The weak points of the upper armor have been harvested, and the explosive shells that hit the waterline were all bounced away by the 250 mm thick alloy armor. The poor British battlecruisers can be said to have been severely beaten by these sturdy fast battleships.
, after the Fast, it wasn't long before the Formidable also suffered heavy damage. A 280 shell that penetrated the waterline armor exploded in its power compartment. A set of diesel engine pipelines was seriously damaged, and three points were lost.
One of the motivations, the speed immediately slowed down.
By this time, the battle between the battle patrol formations had turned into a one-on-one duel, but such a duel could be said to be a disaster for the British, except for the last four Nassau-class battleships.
patrol, the remaining six British battle cruisers are not qualified to challenge the Braunschweig class in a duel. Although their main guns began to penetrate the opponent's main armor at a certain angle after the distance was shortened to seven kilometers, but the same
German artillery shells are becoming more and more accurate, with shells exploding inside the British battle cruisers almost every minute.
"Your Excellency, Commander, we must withdraw the battle cruisers. They cannot fight against the German fast battleships. Except for the 356 main guns, it is difficult for us to penetrate the main armor of the Braunschweig class." Looking at the Germans in the distance.
Major General Jellicoe, Chief of Staff of the Home Fleet on the Edward VII, said to Admiral May as the battle patrol formation struggled under the gunfire.
Admiral Mei also looked at the battlefield in the distance with a solemn expression. He did not expect that these fast battleships produced by Yang's Shipyard were so strong, with a full load displacement of less than 20,000 tons, and their protective performance was not inferior to that of the Edward VII class.
With a displacement of close to 30,000 tons, if we continue to let those weakly armored battle cruisers hold on, I'm afraid there will really be problems.
"Order the battle patrol formation to slow down to twenty knots and wait, and the battleship formation accelerate forward!" Thinking of this, he immediately ordered. The distance between the two fleets was not very far, and the battleship fleet could reach the fastest twenty-seven knots easily.
We can catch them, and then use thickly armored battleships to deal with these fast battleships. Anyway, now the local fleet has enough numerical advantage.
He then turned his attention back to the German battleships on the opposite side. At this time, the battleships of the Home Fleet had already occupied an overwhelming advantage. Although the German battleships were still resisting tenaciously, under twice the firepower, they had already taken down all of them.
Among them, the Hessen even suffered a 356mm piercing bomb at the waterline. It had tilted slightly due to the water ingress. However, the protection of these German battleships was indeed a headache, even though they had been beaten black and blue.
, but not one of the eight battleships was seriously damaged, and even the speed was not affected. (To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!