Chapter 710: Britain Explodes on the Spot
The sound of large-caliber naval guns firing was deafening, especially in the closed turret, but the gunners were accustomed to it.
Under Hipper's command, the five German battlecruisers formed a ladder-shaped battle formation, changing from bow-to-bow to broadside. The main guns of each ship turned accordingly as the ships maneuvered, and the high muzzles were always aimed at the British battlecruiser formation on the sea in the distance, which was slightly stronger on paper.
The British battlecruiser formation led by the Lion fired its cannons, not to be outdone. Boom boom boom. The eardrum-piercing noises followed one after another. The air waves produced by the explosions were even more powerful than the terrible hurricane. The sturdy hull and gun shields could still withstand such a level of impact, but if the fragile human body was directly exposed to it, it would inevitably be weakened physically and mentally.
"Today is the end of Beatty's life!" Vice Admiral Hipper, who has seized a favorable position, has decided to take revenge for the last attack. Although the British battlecruiser fleet on the opposite side is stronger, it cannot shake his determination.
According to the previous agreement with Reinhard Scheer, Hipper's fleet will resist for a while and then begin to retreat, join the main force of the High Seas Fleet, and destroy this isolated fleet of the British Royal Navy.
This was exactly what David Beatty wanted. The British battlecruiser formation, which had the advantage of high speed and main gun caliber, immediately accelerated and rushed towards Hipper's fleet. Under the order to get closer and closer, the distance between the two sides was constantly shortened.
This behavior of giving up its own advantages was relatively beneficial to the Hipper fleet, which was slightly inferior in strength. Giving up the advantage of long-range range was equivalent to exposing the shortcomings of the British battlecruisers in terms of protection.
The British shipbuilding ideas of this era, if the slave owners who are not here now, are very similar to the Soviet Union's later ones, cramming as many weapons as possible into the ship, and sacrificing some survival. Of course, it is not as extreme as the Soviet Union's complete small horse pulling a big cart, but it is almost the same idea.
Later, the Soviet Union was eager to stuff cruiser weapons on destroyers, completely ignoring stealth and using the Red Navy as suicide trucks. Today's British battlecruisers are the result of a trade-off under the overwhelming strength of the British Royal Navy.
If a cautious general had led this battlecruiser formation, the crisis would still not have occurred, but Beatty happened to be a general who liked close combat. He gave up the advantage of range and exposed the insufficient protection of the British warships to the firepower of Hipper's fleet.
The Lützow fired and hit the Lion, the Moltke hit the Tiger twice, and the Royal Princess hit the Lützow. All the Tiger's counterattacks missed by more than 2,000 meters and landed near the light cruiser Regensburg, which was on guard on the flank, making the ship very confused - why was a mere light cruiser treated so well?
It had been 29 minutes since both sides discovered each other. The Beatty fleet, which had entered close range, was at a disadvantage because it had not seized a favorable position. At the same time, the hit rates of the British battlecruiser formation and the German battlecruiser formation were incomparable. The British battlecruiser formation had a very poor hit rate and had not yet dealt a fatal blow to the German fleet.
Two minutes later, the Royal Princess was hit by two twelve-inch shells fired by the Derfflinger, destroying the firing director. From now on, the Royal Princess's hit rate could only be estimated visually, and the visibility at this time...
"The destroyer formation launches a torpedo attack!" David Beatty, who failed to seize a favorable position, gave the order in order to change the current unfavorable situation.
"Full speed ahead!" Reinhard Scheer, who was in charge of the main fleet, had already made it clear that the two sides were already engaged in a firefight. He immediately made his own judgment and adopted a very risky plan, turning to the northwest to intercept the retreat route of Betty's fleet.
On the other side, Hipper's efforts finally paid off. The shell that hit the Indefatigable landed accurately on the top of the turret. The half-ton shell penetrated the turret armor inside 11 and fell into the turret. With a loud bang, shrapnel flew across the turret. Under the strong air waves and violent vibrations, all living things in the turret lost consciousness in an instant. A few seconds later, a giant python-like tongue of fire had burned near the entrance of the ammunition compartment passage, and the steel passage was emitting a terrible dark red. Soon, the flames passed through the passage and burned to the ammunition compartment under the deck. A huge explosion sent thousands of officers and soldiers on the Indefatigable to the bottom of the sea.
It took Hipper only twenty minutes to change the balance of power between the two sides. The situation of the Tiger, Lion and Royal Princess that had been hit before was not optimistic, but Beatty did not give up. He still had the intact Third Battlecruiser Squadron, which was led by Rear Admiral Hood and included the battlecruisers Invincible, Indomitable and Indomitable.
In normal historical time and space, the Hood battlecruiser that fought the Bismarck battleship in World War II was named after Rear Admiral Hood. Although the fate of the Hood battlecruiser was similar to that of the Beatty Fleet in the Battle of Jutland, both of them attacked with thin skin and large fillings, demonstrating the determination of the British Royal Navy to not fear war.
Fifty-eight minutes into the battle, the Derfflinger switched from firing at the Lion to firing at the Queen Mary, forming a straddle. The Queen Mary was hit by a salvo from the Derfflinger and Seydlitz, causing a terrible explosion.
If it was just a decisive battle between the battlecruiser formations, Vice Admiral Hipper could have simply evacuated, returned to the port to announce his victory, and at the same time avenged his previous defeat and been hailed as a hero.
"Charge forward, we must destroy this German fleet today." Beatty's roar echoed in the command tower. The entire fleet was still moving at a speed that challenged the power system. At this time, the morale of the Royal Navy officers and soldiers was still high, and they were still trying to destroy Hipper's fleet.
"Betty is still so brave and fearless, but this is not a battle between us. You are finished today." Hipper could clearly see the British fleet speeding towards him, and decisively ordered, "Retreat according to the established plan!"
The third battlecruiser formation, led by Rear Admiral Hood, took over the task of pursuit by replacing the previously damaged warships. Although two battleships of the Beatty Fleet were sunk and many other ships were damaged, it still had an overwhelming advantage in strength.
However, Reinhartschel did not think so. The lead ship, the light cruiser Rostock, continued to sail northwest to prevent the main force of the British domestic fleet from appearing. Reinhartschel was already in a position to cut off Beatty's fleet's return route.
"Destroy the Beatty Fleet!" Reinhartschel blew the battle horn. Once this powerful Beatty Fleet was destroyed, it would greatly change the power balance between the German Navy and the British Royal Navy.
After Scheer's main fleet appeared, Beatty also discovered this huge German main fleet. In an instant, David Beatty felt like he was falling into an ice cave. The role of the hunter has been reversed.
This naval battle between Germany and Britain at the end of the year ended with the complete destruction of Beatty's fleet, with only Rear Admiral Hood leading the Invincible to escape. After careful planning, the German High Seas Fleet sank seven battleships of Beatty's fleet and captured the battlecruisers Indomitable and Indomitable.
Rear Admiral Hood escaped death and did not rest in the North Sea with the Invincible as in the historical Battle of Jutland. I wonder if there will be a battlecruiser named after him in the future.
The news caused an uproar. Not to mention the British and German propaganda about this war, as the New York Times commented: "The German fleet attacked its prison guards, but was still imprisoned."
"What a great job of licking, worthy of being a veteran newspaper." Sheffield put down today's New York Times special and sarcastically said, "People who don't know would think there is no country called the United States, only a colony called the Thirteen States of North America? Even in this state, they can still whitewash the British. This world is indeed a world with clear distinctions between the strong and the weak, but shouldn't it be more equal? Let the New York Daily refute it, saying that the British Home Fleet is now infinitely close to the German High Seas Fleet in strength, and invite officers from the Admiralty to conduct a strategic simulation to prove that Britain's maritime hegemony is no longer stable."
"Boss, what are the specific steps?" Jesla asked with a frown. His boss was good in every way except that he was a little too general when giving orders. It might be a side effect of using too much rhetoric.
"Specific steps? The specific steps are based on facts. This time, the Beatty fleet was completely annihilated, and the German High Seas Fleet suffered little loss. Is this true? There are still 24 battleships on the British mainland, plus the two captured battleships that have become German warships. The German High Seas Fleet is already 90% of the strength of the mainland fleet? Is this correct?"
Sheffield stood up and walked around his desk, muttering to himself, "In this world where lying has become a trend, a true journalist should have the obligation to tell the truth. Instead of being a good dog of the British like the New York Times. I am doing this for the citizens of the United States. As for talking to the officers of the Navy Department, it's so simple, just pay them!"
"I understand, boss!" Jesla couldn't help laughing. If his boss had told him to pay earlier, he wouldn't have asked how to proceed.
"Are you messing with the British again?" Edith Rockefeller waited until the head bodyguard left before appearing and saying, "The British suffered a heavy loss this time and are now angry."
"It's not just big, it's exploding!" Sheffield put his hands on his waist, looking very proud. How should he divide the credit? Sheffield felt that he should take at least half of the credit for the outcome of this naval battle, if not, 60% would be fine. Even if it was all, he felt that he deserved it.
(End of this chapter)
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