"Turn to retreat, turn to retreat immediately!" On the battlefield in the Baltic Sea, Lieutenant General Holzendorf shouted without hesitation while looking at the telegram in his hand.
"General, what's wrong?" Captain Spee, the captain of the Braunschweig next to him, asked in surprise. So far, the German-Russian battleship showdown on the ice has almost decided the winner, although the German army lost
The Nassau battle cruiser, but it sank the Russian fast battleship Sevastopol and the battleship Queen Maria. The former was hit by too many bombs and flooded and seriously rolled over, and the latter was directly hit.
The balance of strength in the firefight and at sea has become five to four. It can be said that victory is already beckoning.
"We were deceived. The Russians deliberately lured us out. The mine layout map of Helgoland Bay was leaked. All British and French battleships have entered Helgoland Bay, and they are preparing to land directly with a large number of landing ships to attack Hamburg.
"Holzendorf took a deep breath and said.
Colonel Spee was completely stunned. After he came to his senses, he also gave the retreat order to his men without hesitation. The remaining five German high-speed battleships that were fighting on the entire sea all left their opponents and turned to Kiel at high speed.
Their opponents did not pursue them. For Roger Stevensky, his mission has been completed. Even a high-speed battleship cannot sail back to Kiel from here and reach Helgoland Bay through the Kiel Canal in one day.
, by the time they arrive, the High Seas Fleet will probably have been completely wiped out, and these five already scarred battleships will be gone (Chang-Feng is to add to the British record.
At the same time, the High Seas Fleet led by Prince Heinrich at the mouth of the Elbe River had begun a decisive battle with the British and French fleets. Thirteen battleships lined up in a battle line, lying in front of the enemy approaching at high speed like a steel wall.
, each large-caliber naval gun pointing to the side sprayed out flames in an instant, and the huge bombs smashed into the enemy like meteors with a heart-stopping roar, tearing apart the invaders' bodies with terrifying explosions.
The British and French battleships sailing out from the mine channel in four columns were obviously in a disadvantageous position. Due to the restrictions of the surrounding minefields, they could only maintain this formation to fight the High Seas Fleet, and their numerical advantage was not at all
Unless they can break out of the minefield and enter open water, unfortunately, the High Seas Fleet is blocking the exit. If they want to break out, they can only force their way through. Fortunately, the British are also mentally prepared for this and have ways to deal with it.
While the four Edward VII-class battleships at the front fired back with their 356mm main guns, a large number of destroyers rushed up from behind and began to release smoke screens. It was already snowing in the sky, and now there was a smoke screen coming from the downwind.
.Almost all the warships of the High Seas Fleet disappeared in the smoke.
Now it was the Germans who were at a disadvantage. Not only were Prince Heinrich and his fleet unable to attack the enemy, they also had to face the torpedo threat from British destroyers. Although they could not target the German battleships in the smoke, if they were to attack the enemy again, they would not be able to target the German battleships in the smoke.
If you fire hundreds of torpedoes like in the last naval battle, you will definitely get a lot of hits even if you don't have to aim. However, if the German cruisers and destroyers come forward to intercept but are under the main guns of the British battleships, they will be like this in front of those 356mm main guns.
Doing so is tantamount to committing suicide.
After understanding this, Prince Heinrich could only order his battleships to get out of the way of the mine channel. However, he ordered the thirteen battleships to be divided into two teams, among which Vice Admiral Ingenohl led a team consisting of six battleships.
The fleet headed north, and he himself led the remaining seven battleships to turn south, forming a formation sandwiched between the exits. At the same time, a large number of cruisers, destroyers and even torpedo boats hid behind the battle fleet, ready to rush out for a surprise attack at any time.
His change of formation was not hidden from the British, but compared with the initial situation, the threat to the British and French fleets has been greatly reduced. Although they will be attacked from both sides, the numerical advantage of the British and French fleets is enough to make up for this. As for the loss,
That's for sure. Admiral May never thought that he would be able to deal with the High Seas Fleet unscathed. In his opinion, the loss of five more battleships was worth it for the victory of this battle.
After forcing back the High Seas Fleet, the British and French fleets, which were running in four parallel columns, quickly moved forward and changed into two teams during the voyage. At the same time, they spread out and opened up the distance. The cruisers and destroyers that originally released smoke screens to prepare for a surprise attack were sandwiched between the two teams of battleships.
Go forward at high speed in the corridor, use the cover of the battleship to rush to the open water at the mouth of the Elbe River as quickly as possible, and then turn around to harass the German battleships from the outside, mainly to attack the German cruisers hiding behind and preparing to attack.
Move away from the destroyers, otherwise it will be very dangerous for these small warships to make a desperate attack.
At this time, the two German battleships from the north and south had opened fire at the same time, and then the British and French battleships also began to fight back. Although the number was small, the High Seas Fleet, which no longer had battle patrols, was not at a disadvantage in the short term, and was dragging a longer queue of British and French battleships.
They could not all go into battle. For a while, the Germans even had a certain advantage, but this advantage could not last long. Prince Heinrich, who was on the Deutschland, knew this very well.
"Send a report to the shore and order the coastal defense troops to release as many floating mines as they want." He said viciously.
Drifting thunder is an ancient weapon that has almost been forgotten by the generals. Even Admiral May, the commander of the British and French fleets, has almost forgotten that there is such a thing. You must know these things that were picked out from the dust in the warehouse.
It was still loaded with black poison, but hundreds of kilograms of black poison were also very scary for destroyers. The two ships rushed to the mouth of the Elbe River at a high speed of 36 knots, and were preparing to turn around in the shallow water to attack the German battleships.
The destroyers each hit a floating mine floating down the Elbe River almost at the same time. With two huge explosions, the two destroyers jumped upward at the same time, and then began to sink at the mouth of the river.
"Mines, why are there mines there?" Jellicoe said in surprise, holding up the telescope.
"No, it's not an anchor mine, it's a floating mine. Order all ships to pay attention to the sea. The Germans have released floating mines from the Elbe River!" Admiral Mei quickly woke up and ordered hurriedly.
However, the captains of cruisers and destroyers paid great attention to his order, but the captains of battleships did not pay much attention to it. The British Navy had not produced this thing for a long time, and the same was true for the Germans. These floating mines must have been purchased from warehouses.
It is a fantasy to find out old antiques and black poison that can blow up battleships.
These floating mines traveling down the river forced the British and French cruisers and destroyers who were preparing to turn from the shallow waters of the estuary to slow down and move carefully. At this time, with the cover of the battleships, the German destroyers and torpedo boats
A desperate raid on the British and French battleships began. These small warships rushed out from the gaps between the battleships, completely replicating David Beatty's original tactics. They braved intensive artillery fire to block and attack the enemy at a similar distance without taking too careful aim.
Hundreds of torpedoes were fired in volleys.
The British and French battleships that were fighting the German battleships had to desperately turn to avoid it. Unfortunately, due to environmental constraints, it was difficult for them to have enough room to dodge like the Germans did last time. Although it could be said that they had gone all out, they still
A battle cruiser and a battleship were hit. The battleship was better and did not sink immediately after being hit by two torpedoes. However, the battle cruiser was hit by six torpedoes, and soon only half of it was left.
The shipyard remained on the sea.
Admiral Mei frowned and looked at this scene. Although there was a mine map, it was obvious that such an environment was too restrictive for the British and French fleets to give full play to their numerical advantage. However, at this point, we could only continue the fight. He urged
The cruisers and destroyers in the front quickly got rid of the entanglement of drifting mines, and quickly joined the battlefield to draw away the small German warships. At the same time, a group of cruisers and destroyers that had been left to escort the landing ships and troop transports were mobilized from behind.
But this is cheaper because there are too many escort ships. Hipper is worried about how to hunt safely. He has just sunk two British troop transports. The second one was a small boat with only one battalion on it, but even so
He could still say that he had gained so much that William even sent a telegram personally pardoning him for his violation of the order.
Encouraged by the Kaiser, and knowing the significance of this battle, Hipper's fleet, like hungry wolves, bravely charged at the enemy on the windy and snowy North Sea.
And at this time, it was not only Hipper and his small fleet who participated in the peripheral hunting, but also the German submarine force nearby joined the battle, especially the U9, which had been hiding behind the British fleet, did not hesitate.
The ground approached a British transport ship from underwater like a ghost. This two thousand-ton small ship was originally supposed to be protected by two destroyers. After receiving the order from Admiral May, one went to reinforce it, and the other one went to reinforce it because it was far away.
A German destroyer appeared everywhere and was on alert with several other British destroyer formations nearby. This merchant ship full of soldiers was idle like other troop transports waiting for the outcome of the battle ahead.
"Torpedo! German submarine!" The sudden appearance of torpedo tracks on the sea scared a crew member who was watching the excitement, and he let out a heart-piercing scream as if his tail had been stepped on. This poor makeshift ship
Everyone on the requisitioned merchant ship was in chaos. Even the army troops ran out of the cabin and tried in vain to shoot torpedoes with their rifles. Other British transport ships that were not the targets panicked and moved closer to the nearest escort ship.
A British destroyer rushed to the rescue.
But unfortunately everything was in vain. The heavy torpedo prepared for the battleship instantly hit the slow-moving troop carrier. With the terrifying explosion of two hundred kilograms of Tyne antimony, the small boat was almost broken in half, and the ship was blown away.
It sank quickly with nearly a thousand soldiers on board. (To be continued...)