Forty nautical miles southeast of the 7th Cruiser Division of the Imperial German Navy, nine battlecruisers of the 1st Reconnaissance Fleet of the Imperial German Navy were slowly sailing on the ocean.

"Commander, a telegram from Colonel Dietrich." The chief of staff handed the telegram to Hipper almost mysteriously.

"Is the British behavior abnormal?" Hipper's face became serious after reading the telegram.

"What do you think?" Hipper looked at the fleet chief of staff next to him.

"According to the consistent style of the British, they should rush forward and engage in a fierce battle with Colonel Dietrich. The proud Royal Navy will not use this...inefficient fighting method."

"Moreover, the size of the British fleet exceeded pre-expectations. It was almost a complete light reconnaissance fleet instead of an ordinary patrol fleet. This is very abnormal."

"If every patrol fleet is composed according to this configuration, then our maritime guerrilla warfare should not be able to achieve any results, but we have achieved it."

"And with so many warships forming a patrol, the British cannot block the North Sea no matter how big their business is. The fact is that the North Sea has been almost airtight blocked by the British."

The chief of staff did not directly tell them the news that none of them wanted to hear, but told them again about the abnormality of the British.

Obviously, the British will not act abnormally for no reason. Such actions can only show that the Germans have been exposed.

"The question now is whether Dietrich's 7th Cruiser Squadron was exposed, or our main fleet was exposed, and how much was exposed." Hipper stood up with the telegram and walked to the chart next to 1

.

"The British battlecruiser is less than 100 nautical miles away from here. Even including the time to make fire, it only takes 4 hours to arrive."

"Ask Dietrich to move closer to me, and the fleet prepares for battle." Hipper photographed the telegram on the chart and said to the chief of staff.

"yes!"

…

The 7th Cruiser Division struggled with the British warships for a long time. They tried to escape by releasing smoke and torpedoes, but failed to escape.

The maximum range of the torpedo was set, the speed was only about 20 knots, and the wake was very obvious. After the British formed a bow-to-enemy formation, it was very easy to avoid the torpedo.

As for the smoke, the smoke released by the Navy is not thick enough to cover most things like in the game, but very thin and 0-dispersed black smoke.

The purpose of the black smoke is to interfere with the British's aiming, rather than completely covering the fleet. If the British are unable to shoot accurately, they can leave in an orderly manner.

Otherwise, when the warship turns, it is very likely to be attacked by concentrated fire.

Unfortunately, these actions failed to delay the British. The British formed a formation facing the enemy from the bow of the ship and rushed forward.

The two sides once approached a position of 78 kilometers. The Germans saw this and launched a round of counterattack, hitting one part. However, the power of the 105mm rapid-fire cannon was not ideal. Apart from killing and wounding a few sailors, it was of no use.

.

After that, the British took advantage of the fact that the Germans had not yet completed their turn and widened the distance, always maintaining a distance of 11,000 to 12,000 meters.

Dietrich was very uncomfortable with this British style of play, because there were various signs that this patrol fleet was just here to hold them back.

"Sir, General Hipper's telegram tells us to move closer to the main fleet." The chief of staff of the 7th Cruiser Squadron handed the telegram to Dietrich.

Boom!

Bang!

Dietrich was about to receive the telegram, but there was a sudden vibration from the ship's god. Dietrich stumbled and hit the table. He couldn't hold the water glass firmly in his hand and fell directly to the deck.

"Sir, are you okay?" the chief of staff helped him up.

"I'm fine, report the damage! What did General Hipper say?" Dietrich rubbed his arm and walked aside.

A staff officer on the side quickly ran out to check the damage. The chief of staff sat up and picked up the telegram.

"General Hipper only said that we should move closer to the main force of the fleet. I guess our mission may have been abandoned. The general believed in your judgment." The chief of staff said meaningfully.

"Where is the position?" Dietrich moved his arms and asked after making sure there was no problem.

"To the east, the main force of the fleet is only about 40 nautical miles away from us. General Hipper asked us to drive northeast and meet up in an hour." The chief of staff glanced at the telegram.

"Call back..." Before Dietrich could finish speaking, the staff officer who went to check the damage came back.

"A main gun on the port side was hit by a 152mm high-explosive shell. The main gun was firing at the time. The explosion ignited the propellant and caused a series of explosions."

"Fortunately, the explosion did not affect the gun emplacement next door, but the gun was completely scrapped. Four were killed, five were injured, and seven were injured." The staff officer tried his best to remain calm.

Although the staff officer had tried his best to calm down, Dietrich still saw the irritation on his face.

This is caused by the situation of being beaten, unable to fight back, and unable to escape. Being beaten passively without being able to fight back is the most damaging to morale.

"Call back to General Hipper. We will attract the enemy's patrol group and ask them to delay their departure." Dietrich originally wanted to leave, but now it seems that this is not possible.

The frequency of British artillery fire was getting higher and higher, and the number of hits was also greatly increased. The distance between the two sides was more than 10,000 meters, but the Germans were scared to death.

Moreover, these warships can run very fast. If they don’t want to retreat, they will definitely have to pay some price. Dietrich doesn’t want to do this.

There was no gain from coming out, and they were the first to exit the battle. Basically, they had lost. If they had to pay some price, Dietrich couldn't imagine what a big blow it would be to himself and the German Navy.

…

"The Germans accelerated again, speeding up to catch up, and the front main gun fired to interfere." Vincent quickly noticed the Germans' movements.

However, Vincent did not know that this was a trap.

"Always pay attention to the movements of the Germans. If they slow down, don't report them, just slow down."

In the previous chase, the British 1 accidentally used Nelson's spirit and extended the distance to 78 kilometers, which is a normal combat distance for small and medium-sized ships.

This distance is almost the optimal firing range of the German 105mm rapid-fire cannons. The German Navy's more than 20 105mm rapid-fire cannons that can fire to the port side seized the opportunity to fire a barrage.

The shells of the 105mm gun are not very powerful, at least they cannot cause fatal damage to the cruiser unless they continuously attack the waterline.

However, with the current artillery technology, the probability of hitting the waterline continuously is about the same as the probability of one shot penetrating the weak point of the armor in the core area. Yes, but very small.

If it happens once, it will be remembered for many years. I am talking about you, Hood.

In short, at a distance of 78 kilometers, the British experienced the feeling of washing the deck with a 105mm gun.

In just a few minutes, two British cruisers and two destroyers ate dozens of 105mm artillery shells, losing two compartments and a 76mm rapid-fire gun.

Another 17 people were killed and more than 60 people were injured. If Vincent had not decisively ordered to carry the artillery fire to keep the distance, there would have been more casualties, and the main gun might have been damaged.

In the following time, Vincent kept the Germans hanging and attacked slowly with the 152mm cannon. Putting aside the mistake just now, the battle was not cruel to the British.

The 152mm rapid-fire cannon also slowly spit out shells as if it were undergoing gunnery training.

"Have the Germans not turned yet?" Vincent chased for half an hour, but when he saw that the Germans still made no move, he realized something was wrong.

"No, I still want to drive northeast." said the chief of staff.

"No, no!" Vincent took out a chart, which recorded the trajectory of the patrol fleet. On the sea with no reference objects, he could rely on this to quickly determine his position.

Of course, you can also operate various positioning instruments such as a six-point meter to obtain your position, but it is not as fast as looking at the picture directly.

"Even if the Germans want to escape, they should sail east or even southeast. Traveling northeast will only increase their risk of encountering the enemy again."

"How far is the destroyer fleet from us? Contact them and ask them to expand the scope of their investigation and focus on the northeast."

Vincent looked at the escaping 7th Cruiser Squadron and was unwilling to let them go.

After a series of chasing maneuvers, both parties were far away from their original positions.

Vincent knew that Betty had already set off, and that the five powerful Lion-class battlecruisers in the vanguard were only an hour and a half away from them.

If he can bite the German 7th Cruiser Squadron, then this battle will result in at least 4 ships.

When an ordinary cruiser faces a battlecruiser, it can neither run away nor fight, and can only wait to die.

After all, battlecruisers were originally designed to hunt cruisers.

"Maintain steam pressure, be prepared for strong pressure ventilation at any time, slow down to 3/4 speed." Vincent was keenly aware that the Germans were seducing him.

"A game between two decoys? It's really funny." Vincent was very relaxed, even a little excited.

Vincent knew about the existence of the German battlecruisers and knew that the German 7th Cruiser Squadron was leading them into an encirclement.

But why wasn't Vincent himself looking for the German battlecruisers?

In the afternoon, the sky over the North Sea, which was cloudy and sunny, changed. Dark clouds rose into the sky, becoming densely black. The air became humid, and a storm was coming.

In this kind of weather, airships cannot be dispatched, and the reconnaissance range of base 6 aircraft is extremely limited due to flight restrictions. Determining the location of enemy battleships and cruisers is also one of Vincent's tasks.

"Sir, the Germans have slowed down and the distance is getting closer." The rangefinder gave the message that the Germans were waiting for them.

"That's right. Order all ships to maintain steam pressure, prepare for shelling, turn left, starboard to face the enemy, and fight at about 10,000 meters." Vincent didn't know where the German battlecruisers were.
Chapter completed!