At 9:14, the distance between the British and German fleets was reduced to less than 19 nautical miles, and the visibility on the sea seemed to have improved a little more, and the two fleets of pilot ships showed their targets at the same time.

When the German ship, which looked very slender in pursuit of higher voyage, appeared in the telescope's vision, the hearts of all British officers and soldiers were raised to their throats, one ship, two ships...8 ships. As the distance got closer, the outline of the warship became clearer. The latest Jane's warship identification manual was placed in front of the officers for verification one by one, and the veteran non-commissioned officers had begun to visually identify them based on their experience.

"1 Schánhorst-class battlecruiser, 1 Deutsche-class heavy cruiser, 2 Hippel-class heavy cruiser, 4 destroyers..."

"Are they two Hippel classes instead of two Schanehorst classes?"

The sailors hesitated for a moment, and carefully identified them in the telescope again, and confirmed again after two minutes: "That's right, it's Hippel-level."

"It seems that another new Hippel class has been built..." A combat staff member murmured to himself and immediately reported the enemy situation to the formation commander Colonel Christopher.

He asked with concern: "You said there is a fleet behind?"

"The lookout vaguely observed that there seemed to be a unit 10 nautical miles behind the German pioneer fleet, but the distance is too far now, and the number and ship type are not clear at all. The radar room also reported that there are highlights behind it."

Christopher was very nervous but was vaguely excited: the local fleet command gave the fleet a clear order last night, requiring him to figure out the situation of the two German aircraft carriers. Now it seems that the enemy aircraft carriers are likely to follow this pilot fleet. The specific model and technical parameters of the warship cannot be detected by radar. In the premise that the aircraft cannot be used, he must rely on the most traditional visual identification. It is obvious that the Germans will not foolishly put the aircraft carrier in the front. If they want to observe clearly, they must be fully approached, so he must take the risk of getting closer.

He gritted his teeth: "Let Watch and Loyalty go up and take a look, be careful."

Watch and Loyal are newly built L-class destroyers with a displacement of about 2ooo tons and a maximum flight of 36 knots. After receiving the order, the two ships immediately left the team and rushed behind the German formation as quickly as possible.

Just as Christopher issued a reconnaissance order, the level of alert in the Commander Zeppelin Tower also increased the highest level: "Sir, a report came from the front, the target has been confirmed, and it is a British cruiser formation, with 1 London-class heavy cruiser, 1 Norfolk-class heavy cruiser, 1 Linxian-class light cruiser, and 4 destroyers. The model cannot be identified for the time being."

"There are no battleships behind?"

"Not yet appeared, and the radar has not detected a suspicious target!"

Mashar breathed a sigh of relief and just didn't have a battleship! He turned his head and asked Richthofen in a consultative tone: "Can the carrier-based aircraft still not be deployed?"

Richterhofen spread his hands and shook his head helplessly.

"Well, no matter whether they are pure cruiser formations or the vanguard of the main fleet, since they encounter it, there is no reason to let it go. Let's have a traditional artillery battle and use the fire of the ships to kill them." After confirming in advance that the British Navy sent out all George V-class battleships, the German Navy Command, which formulated the tsunami plan, was relieved from top to bottom. Admiral Schell, the slowest heavy cruiser in the North Sea Fleet, could drive to 26 knots. As long as the George V-class is not there, if you can't beat the other "iron turtles" of the Royal Navy, you will have the strength to escape. Now there are only three cruisers, and the shelling fleet has a completely overwhelming advantage. Maschel's enthusiasm suddenly aroused.

"Tell the Scharnhorst, the battle is over..."

Seeing that four warships including Schánhorst, Admiral Schár, Sedelitz and Prince Eugen rushed over with great momentum, Christopher had no choice but to issue an order to fight, but the four German ships on the opposite side were all equipped with artillery above 2o3mm caliber. The tonnage of one Schánhorst alone was worth all the cruisers in his hands. However, in order to cover the destroyer's smooth progress, he had to bite the bullet and fight with the Germans in order to create opportunities for the destroyer.

Major General Eric Bey, the commander of the shelling fleet commanded by the Schanehorst, also saw two destroyers rushing over from the left and right wings. As the commander of the destroyer fleet for many years, he certainly understood what the British wanted to do, but he was unmoved and stared at the several British cruisers in front of him. Except for notifying Mashar to mobilize light cruisers to deal with the British destroyers, the formation and degree of the shelling fleet were not affected at all.

At 9:28, the high-end fleets were closer to less than 26ooo meters. The main gun of the Schánhorst fired first. One minute later, Admiral Schánhorst's naval gun also fired both ship guns with the same caliber of the same ship gun. However, at the current fire exchange distance, it was better to fire first than to hit the target. In order to interfere with the aim of German guns, Colonel Christopher decisively ordered the fleet to release smoke. Soon, thick smoke rolled on the sea, covering all the British cruiser formations.

At this time, the two British destroyers behind the German shelling fleet and the two wings of Seedlitz and Prince Eugen were closer to less than 15,000 meters. The latter's main guns turned to one side to aim at the destroyer and opened fire. This distance was the effective coverage of the 2o3mm naval gun, and the British destroyer's artillery could not fight back. Their only relied on the maneuverability brought by height. In the end, their adventure strategy was obviously successful. During the shooting process of more than 5 minutes, the shells fired by Seedlitz and Prince Eugen recently only caused slight losses to Watch, which was almost missing shrapnel and injured a British soldier.

Seeing that the British destroyers left their effective shooting range and rushed backwards, Seedlitz and Prince Eugen could only turn their guns in disappointment and follow the Schonhorst again to move closer to the British cruiser formation.

Christopher wisely did not choose to fight back under the cover of smoke. Once fired, the muzzle flame could easily reveal the location of his side. Therefore, other British ships did not shoot in a strange way, and only the huge water column caused by German shooting was seen on the sea. The British formation not only did not fight back, but after confirming that the investigation destroyer broke through the local vanguard fleet, it also took the opportunity to quietly adjust the route through the cover of smoke, from 12o degrees to 9o degrees, which means that the German formation still advanced northwest, and the British fleet changed from southeast to east. The gap between the two sides narrowed slightly in a short period of time and gradually widened. As long as it was maintained for more than 15 minutes, even without smoke cover, he could slip away from the German fleet's sight, and then he could quietly break off the contact with a degree advantage of 5-6 knots faster than the German shelling formation.

But today's luck does not seem to be on the side of the United Kingdom. Although Admiral Schánhorst and Admiral Schör shot blindly for 10 minutes in vain, the radar of Seedlitz, which had caught up again, firmly locked in the British fleet. After the current British fleet turned, the information was immediately informed to Major General Eric Bay.

"A bunch of cowards! Where does the Royal Navy's courage to fight when they see the enemy?" Major General Bei was so angry that he was chasing in the wrong direction that he was so angry that he immediately turned his course and chased him. If Lieutenant General Kumetz was famous for his special caution, Major General Bei was a particularly famous general inside the Navy. He was tall and big, with a high nose bridge, thick neck, and always had a fighting fierce light in his blue eyes. At first glance, he looked like a boxer, and his colleagues called him "ferving Bei".

However, he also has a rough and delicate personality. In less than 15 seconds, he issued a second supplementary order: "Admiral Schell maintains the current route, and the remaining warships follow me to pursue the British cruiser, and the degree is increased to 31 knots."

The point he issued this supplementary order was obviously taken into account that Admiral Schell could only run 26 knots, and he believed that the British fleet could not always go east, because if it hit the Norwegian 6, it would hit the enemy ships, and that time it would be a good opportunity to intercept.

"The enemy rushed over so easily?" Looking at the German shelling formation chasing behind him, Christopher said angrily: "If we follow the e-fleet behind us, all the aircraft carriers behind you should be finished now!"

Unfortunately, now there is only one cruiser formation in this sea area. Not to mention battleships, there is not even one additional destroyer. He can only let the formation be added to the highest level of 32 knots, then turn the course again, slowly pass a large circle outside Norway, and sail from the east to the north. Major General Bei, who followed behind him, also adjusted his course to the north without hesitation.

At 9:45, the two British destroyers, Watch and Loyal, finally approached less than 10 nautical miles from the aircraft carrier formation. Although the specific design and ship type data are still unclear, at least the ship outline and general appearance can be seen clearly. The two British destroyers initially believed that at most one of the rear was an aircraft carrier, and the other should be a ship of the same class of the Schonhorst class, because there was only one in the artillery fleet in front, but after getting close, this judgment was wrong. The two giant ships behind had typical fleet aircraft carrier characteristics, and their displacement was estimated to be at least 40,000 tons in terms of appearance, and the degree was about 27 knots. In their opinion, there was not much oil tanker to run to this level, so the evidence of the "aircraft carrier" was undoubtedly conclusive.

"Sir, the German cruisers and destroyers are coming for us, so we have to leave quickly..."
Chapter completed!