Chapter 660 The baits begin to fight against each other

Missed it?

"Yes, I missed it."

Many years later, when a new generation of navalians put on military uniforms and listened to the old predecessors talking about this naval battle, they would stare and say such a word in surprise.

On May 16, at 2:00 p.m., two baits passed by under the gaze of the Brazilian freighter Simos.

No one knows whether Captain Bandax had the idea of pulling them back and putting them together at that time, but according to his later legend, he collected the white trousers because it allowed the Seamus to avoid four deaths in two hours.

The fog gradually began to thicken and help both sides. Whether it was David Betty, who forgot the responsibility and was impulsively ready to beat the enemy, or Hipper, who was ready to seduce the enemy but couldn't find the target, he began to scratch his head in the face of the fog.

The lookout on the mast found that the arm of the telescope was a little numb. The gunners on standby felt like a hopper trapped in a cage. The officer smoked cigars fiercely and waited for the order. Perhaps the busiest thing was the power cabin, because it asked them to keep increasing their horsepower, especially the three St. Vincent class. The maximum speed of battleships is only 20 knots, which can't be maintained for too long, but General Betty's seven battle patrols have exceeded 24 knots.

The sound of curse permeated the two fleets, but the cursed target did not know it at this moment. Lieutenant General Sinclair tried to modify the route, but he was entangled by Major General Burdick, who knew nothing about killing the enemy. He really wanted to pull the Hans out of the bridge and tell him: "Hey, man, we are all cruisers. Ship, don't work so hard."

Unfortunately, Major General Burdick couldn't hear it at all. The rigidity and rigor of the German people returned to him at this moment. There was only one thought left in his mind, pestering these British men and waiting for the battlecruiser brothers behind to wash the ground.

In fact, it was later learned that both Betty and Hipel had the opportunity to find the other party. The three Short 184 reconnaissance aircraft sent by Jelko had actually arrived in the war zone. However, due to the low clouds and thick fog, the aircraft dispersed after arrival. Although one of them found the Hipper's fleet, because The radio was broken, and his partner didn't know where he had to fly, so he had to rush back desperately, but the problem was that the pilot might want to return to the mother ship so much that he flew directly back to Jelico's main force, instead of looking for Betty's fleet, which should have been intercepted halfway.

The German plane also found Betty's fleet, but Germany did not install a radio on the plane. When the pilot came back according to the original route, he found that Hiffel was no longer with the fleet, so he had to look around and finally found it in 50 minutes.

But at that time, the battle patrol led by Hiper was less than 12 miles (about 20,000 meters) from Jellico's main fleet!

According to the gun officer of the Dflinger: "After 15 times amplification, I can clearly identify the most advanced six Queen-class and Avenger-class battleships from the telescope. Although their 15-inch muzzles are still low, they are too thick for us. In addition to them, there are still 14 on the sea. The main battleships, they form five marching columns, not a belligerent formation. They probably didn't expect to meet us. They followed one by one, and their majestic bodies were like legendary prehistoric beasts. I don't know how to describe them, because the lieutenant general said that we were delicious baits, but obviously, they were seduced by the prey. It's too big!"

Hipper was also dumbfounded at that time, and the cigars in his mouth fell off. When the rapid alarm sounded from all over the five battlecruisers, his surprise suddenly turned into joy, because he found that the other party was still in the form of an army.

His bait is finally going to be useful!

"Left rudder!"

"Refer to the first column on the right to calculate the shelling parameters."

Hippell repeatedly took care of the Dflinger command tower: "Remember, any mistake at this time will cause an irreparable failure! I don't want to see who is surrounded and then torn to pieces!" After taking out a new cigar and stuffing it into his mouth, he stared at the four Orion-class battleships on the far right, and his heart was secretly nervous. These big guys were too big for him, so he had to take advantage of the other party's unexpected that he would appear and strive for a little chance.

So I shouted: "Our ship is in order of Dflinger, Luzov, Sedriz, Mauszi and von de Tarn, the battle column, in the southeast direction, with four Orion on the port side. Although they have 10 13.5-inch naval guns, the shelling command instrument can only control about 15,000 yards, and the speed will not be high. In the 20th section, and now there is fog on the sea, which is beneficial to us, so each ship follows the flagship movement and must pay attention to the control of the battle distance.

"Rumble."

The sound of gunfire floated into the bridge, and the two-wing destroyers began to fight each other. It was not until then that the main battle of Jelko's fleet suddenly woke up. Everyone no longer thought about why the other party appeared here and why the first battlecruiser detachment did not stop this problem, because the "dark clouds" in the sky reminded them that the enemy was really Appeared!

Jelko immediately ordered the formation of five battleships, but the fastest 20 knots of the battleships themselves were extremely slow. It would take at least 10 minutes to immediately convert from five-row formations to shelling lines.

At this time, the opponent's speed is 24 knots, even with the maneuver and rudder time, that is to say, when he line up the battle line, five German war patrols are enough to bring the distance closer to 16,000 yards (about 15,000 meters).

Of course, this is an acceptable distance for Jellico, because it is the best killing distance for his 13.5-inch naval gun. No matter how far the fire control is, there is a problem, but the cunning Hippell never thought of attacking across the line.

Later, when people criticized Jellico's slow action, his opponent, the Xinhua Imperial Navy, wrote a special article pointing out that no matter how good the commander was, when he released the bait and several reconnaissance fleets in front, he took the fleet to prepare to ambush, but was miraculously hit by the enemy's front-garde fleet, He would feel confused. Moreover, if it hadn't been for the fog in the North Sea, he would have found that the enemy would be at least 25,000 meters away, so Happel would have to turn around and run away.

In the conning tower, everyone watched the five German battlecruisers getting closer and closer, accelerating the formation while waiting for the enemy's coordinate parameters, but the gun officer held up the phone for a long time, and the microphone was still silent.

Have you fallen asleep with ranging and fire control? No, this is caused by the special environment of the North Sea. In this season, the mist is humid and the sunlight cannot penetrate.

Unfortunately, the clouds above the head of the main force of the major fleet actually cracked a big opening. The sun was shining directly, and the enemy could see themselves, and the bouncing point was easy to identify, but they saw that the German fleet only had a vague outline and could not even recognize the details, so the rangefinder did not report the parameters for a long time.

Whether Germany or Britain, the gunners all began to rub their hands. Thick armor-piercing bullets were filled into the gun barrel, and the turret began to turn. All the barrel, telescopes and rangefinders were angry at each other. The damage management team was already in place. The medical officer looked out from time to time.

The long-awaited battle is finally about to begin!

"18,000 yards!"

At 2:12, when the range finder shouted out the long-awaited number, the four double L50/305mm of the DFlinger took the lead in firing. The violent vibration made the 26,600-ton beast tremble violently, and the dark red flame from the muzzle made every German sailor cles clench their fists excitedly. But the British sailors on the opposite side were not good, because he had participated in the naval battle of Siby Road Island and saw with his own eyes that the Russian Crown Prince was killed in seconds. He obviously learned how to concentrate his fire in the early stage and aimed all the muzzles of the five war patrols at the first conqueror.

The dense rain suddenly enveloped the huge body of the Conqueror. Two minutes later, including four Orion-class battleships, the 20 battleships in the formation also fired back one after another, and the sea was suddenly filled with gunfire.

Just when Hiffel's adventure attack, the most dramatic scene appeared. Betty, who was 50 nautical miles away, also bumped into Scheer. The two sides were also stunned by the thick smoke across the sea. The hydrological environment slightly better than the opposite side made the two sides find each other outside 25,000. After that, everyone was shocked, and the black German capital ships ran on the sea like a migrating herd!

Later, when he learned that Betty and Hiffel had not lured the enemy, but sent themselves into the bloody drama scene, even Li Mo only said three words to express his sigh.

"Fuck it!"

If Betty can speak Chinese, it is estimated that this national scolding will pop up, because he is facing a full 21 heavily armed German main battleships!

"Prepare to fight!"

He is still a little hesitant. The surname is impulsive. Betty, nicknamed "Dog Fighting", first sent a telegram to Jellico, saying that after encountering the enemy's main force, she immediately ordered to enter the battle, but his order later caused a lot of controversy, because at this moment he only has seven battlecruisers in his hand, and three Shengwen Because of its slow speed, the Cent-class battleship is still struggling to catch up 3 nautical miles away.

Battlecruisers can't fight with battleships. This truth is clear to future generations, but they all ignore one of the biggest problems. This is an era where there are more cannons and thicker cannons!

As for armor and survival surname?! Directly ignored by Betty, because Sir Nelson never cares about bullshit defense. Every time he commands a battle, he stands at the bow of the ship. Strong offensive ability is the fine tradition of England. What he needs to do now is to teach Germany a lesson with fierce gunfire, not to mention that the card in his hand is really good at this moment.

Seven battlecruisers are all new ships built in five years, and the speed is up to 24 knots. Most importantly, they are all equipped with four double L45/13.5-inch (343 mm) heavy guns, all of which add up to 56, and three battleships are coming.

Looking at the opponent, although there are 21 capital ships, 4 of the scratch-class belong to the old goods, and 4 Helgolan-class also belong to the old guys ten years ago, which are already unbearable. As for the 9 Caesar-class and King-class are in the year of the battle, the caliber of the naval gun is 305 mm, which is much thinner than himself. As soon as he pressed him on the caliber of the cannon, there were only four Bavarian-class equipped with four double-engine L47/380mm heavy guns developed by Xinhua, but its speed was only 20 knots, which could not catch up with the battle patrol.

More heavy artillery than the enemy, so Betty decided to teach the Germans a good lesson. What is heavy artillery king!

But Betty forgot one thing, that is, Germany's technical advantage in optical rangefinders.

The optical rangefinder is one of the cores of the ladder fire control system. Even in Xinhua, the domestic optical system scientific research force is trained by Germany. Even after more than ten years of development, it is slightly inferior in core technology. The only advantages are systems such as electronic integration, signal transmission and fire channel layout.

Although Germany is not as good as Xinhua in the last few items, or even far from each other, relying on excellent optical rangefinders and mechanical computers, it still takes out a fire control command instrument second only to Xinhua. Although it is not as good as the latter in terms of weather, hydrological and integration, it is much better than the United Kingdom.

It can be said that in terms of optical technology, only Xinhua and France can slightly catch up with Germany. The former is supported by Germany, and the latter grited its teeth and started its own optical industry because of the need for confrontation.

At 2:20, seven battlecruisers completed the battle line formation. Although Major General Thomas, who led the three St. Vincent-class battleships, sent a signal to wait for him, Betty couldn't wait!

According to Sergeant Franz, Sergeant on the deck of the Battlecruiser Tiger, recalls: "At that time, everyone on the ship, from the boiler worker to the commander, knew very well that they were about to participate in a collision between the Titans. Such opportunities have stayed in everyone's mind from the beginning of the war, countless plans and countless prayers. Since the Victorian era, the Great Britain Empire has firmly held the right to sea. Will it be an exception this time? More than 100,000 officers and soldiers of the Royal Navy and 52,000 officers and soldiers of the mainland fleet are looking forward to it. The turning point in history depends on everyone's performance.

At the same time, Scheer also realized that this was a good opportunity. The seven battlecruisers were already the full mobility force of the United Kingdom at present. If they could be destroyed, then Germany would control the mobility in the North Sea from now on!

"The horn has sounded, the curtain has opened, and the actors are in place." Foster, the watchman of the battleship Governor, was a literary enthusiast. Later, he stood on the mast and shouted, which was remembered by generations of German naval people: "I seem to see the heroic spirits of the ancient brave on the tip of the waves in the distance, shining in front of the barrel, whispering on the clouds, commenting on the value of our generation."

Even if the speed of the battleship can reach the speed of the battlecruiser, it is far inferior to its opponent in terms of mobility and dexterity. Therefore, when Betty pulled close to 20,000 yards (18,000 meters), 21 German battleships had not actually lined up into battle lines, but what the British sailors did not expect was that the shells at this time It has flown here!

"Boom." The five Caesar-class battleships of the German Navy's Third Battleship Squadron kicked off with the 50 L50/305mm guns they carried. Rear Admiral Hansen knew very well that the enemy's guns were larger than his own, so he, who was closest to Betty, had to use his steel body to win time for his comrades behind him!

Betty didn't expect that the Germans would fire at such a long distance. Although the Xinhua Navy set the world's farthest hit record of 22,500 meters on the Pacific battlefield, it was in the calm Pacific Ocean. If it was in the North Sea, he believed that it would be shortened to at least 18,000 meters!

And now, these Hans have also chosen this distance!

"Boom."

While there was a fire in the middle of the Lion-class battlecruiser Queen Mary, 56 L45/343mm guns also roared and roared. The gale generated by the muzzle blew away the thick fog and was replaced by red and black smoke covering the sky!

The two baits, which were supposed to be fragrant and delicious, were sent to the teeth of the prey in an eye-dropping way, so that the prey was not even ready to swallow them. Then they carried their own thoughts and ideas, which opened the world's attention, and even almost became the prelude to the most sea battle in this war. !

(to be continued)