Chapter 17: The Peak Battle (Five)

The Ruby destroyer belongs to the British H-class destroyer. It is an improved Harrier-class type, with a standard displacement of 730 tons, fuel power, a maximum speed of 27 knots, equipped with 2 4-inch guns, and 2 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo launchers. As a consumable with balanced performance and moderate price, the Ruby was incorporated into the Eleventh Destroyer Fleet, and carried out covers the flanks of the Great Fleet, rescues and captures both sides of the water, intercepts German destroyers and submarines, and is always ready to launch a death raid on the German main fleet.

In the North Sea where the fog dissipated, the wind and waves gradually became a trend of rising. The low bow and freeboard of the Ruby could not withstand the blue and white waves of the Jutland coastline. The wave peaks surged onto the deck, shaking the destroyer less than 1,000 tons violently, and then smashed the destroyer's fragile steel fly bridge.

Sergeant Glenn Johnson and John Terry Private tied themselves to the low mainmast to avoid being thrown out by the shaking hull. The small destroyer was still sailing forward with difficulty, and the dazzling light of the rising sun in the east tilted down at a slight angle, making the poor lookout unable to open his eyes.

"How great would it be if I were on duty on the watchtower of the Iron Duke..." The young private finally changed the subject after a long complaint and stared at the flagship Iron Duke, a large fleet of flagship Iron Duke, which was covered by a layer of gray smoke.

"If you are on the Iron Duke, I'm afraid you will miss us who are doing nothing on the destroyer again!" Glenn Johnson, a veteran who served in the Royal Navy for eleven years, saw through the impetuousness of the young man, and his fine stubble rose slightly, jokingly said.

Serve on the main ship is naturally a rare honor for navy personnel. However, in the view of Glenn Johnson, who is no longer passionate in middle age, the Iron Duke's observation force is daunting. When the main ship is fighting, the smoke from the continuous fire of the main turret of the bow A and B bow covers the sky and the sun, which is enough to form a wall of smoke blocking the sight around the hull. At this time, the optical lens of the range-finding tower that can enlarge the target ship more than 20 times will lose its effect. The distance measurement work, judging the landing point of the one-sided shell and assess the results of the battle naturally fell on the lookout. Guide the fuse control and evaluate the results of the battle under extremely harsh conditions. Although Glenn John has not served on the main ship, some things are clear.

"There's nothing to regret!" John Terry, who had just been promoted from a middle school student who had lined up outside the London Recruitment Station to a naval private, could not confirm the results of the fierce battle of the fleet for more than ten minutes, but this did not affect his use of the angry young man's head to carry out the most wonderful and romantic imagination: "Even under normal circumstances, it would take seventeen or eighteen minutes to complete the steering and launch the battle line. The commander-in-chief used four battleship teams to deal with a German battleship team that was isolated from the team. There is no reason not to be able to defeat only four king-class ships!"

Glen Johnson participated in the Battle of Helgoland Bay and the Battle of Dogel Sands. In those two naval battles, Glen Johnson and the Grand Fleet ran back twice in vain and exhaustingly. Glen Johnson would not be as young and energetic as a young man who had just graduated from high school.

"Private, don't underestimate our opponents. In addition to short legs, the German main ships have very good overall performance. Their Seedlitz-class and De Fringer-class battle cruisers are even no less than our super-dreadnoughts. The German Navy also has a group of excellent commanders, such as Bernhard von Oden, who unfortunately died in the Battle of the Falkland Islands, Franz von Hippel, the former commander of the First Reconnaissance Fleet, and Heidi Silem, who is as famous as Deputy Commander David Betty. In short, although the German Navy is young, its strength cannot be underestimated..."

"Sergeant, have you abandoned your ambition as a royal navy in the Empire of the Sun never set?" Faced with the veteran's inappropriate warning, Private John Terry naturally had his arrogance, pointing to the rough direction of the Seventh Team, and his sarcastic expression became stronger and stronger. "The disabled emperor of Germany thought that there were relatively objective battleships and could gain a slight advantage in several low-intensity naval battles. His toy fleet was enough to dominate the ocean. In fact, the Germans would not use the navy at all, and victory and glory could only belong to the British!"

The young man was still talking nonstop. The good-tempered sergeant tried hard to hold back his laughter and turned his face to listen. However, the sergeant could not suppress the emotions in his heart. From the sarcastic laughter, to the unknown confusion, to the unsolved fear in the end, a complicated expression piled up the savings on the sergeant's face, until the veteran pushed away the young man who was pointing the country, untied the waterproof rope tied to his body, grabbed the phone equipped with the watchtower and shouted at the destroyer commander tower regardless of the matter:

"Captain, discover the first German reconnaissance fleet! God, the undefeated Ares is back!"

The German Navy's rare treasure, Lieutenant General Aresheidi Sileme, the undefeated Imperial Navy, temporarily took over the command of the cockpit of the Luzov. Standing near the steering wheel of the bridge, his deep eyes swam back and forth between the low and narrow observation holes of the Luzov cockpit and the pocket watch on his chest.

After the Battle of Dogel Sands, Major Rollfies, the navigator who was supplemented with the Luzov, mingled among the fleet's staff. The young man's blue eyes were not aimed at Heidi Sileme, admiration, envy and fear, and various complex emotions alternating.

The general was only thirty-seven years old, but judging from his haggard face suffering from insomnia and depression, he was at least in his forties. The general was not tall, and could not even reach the 1.8 meters of Germans, and he was not as handsome and romantic as David Betty, who had been writing for life in the imperial newspaper. He could only be said to be a very ordinary European appearance. It is said that the general was unrestrained and unruly, and he was entangled with many women, but Lieutenant Colonel Lauren, who had close ties with the general, widened his eyes and told him that it was just a rumor that the most outstanding naval general in the empire once threw off his armor in the red light district of the eight major Hutongs in the Far East. His marriage life and underground

The relationship is also a mess. The general is not a natural soldier. Apart from his extremely high linguistics, philosophy and natural sciences, and his ghostly strategic vision, most of the general's military qualities can only be said to be careless. At least his outrageous record at the Kiel Naval Academy has been widely circulated and has become a topic of the navy for a long time. The general's resume is not beautiful. In addition to being promoted to the Imperial Navy as soon as possible, the general has only improved one level in the long sixteen-year service career. If it weren't for the efforts of General Hippel and Colonel Redel, he would probably have to wasted his time in the "Naval Tomb" Ottoman Turkey.

However, such a navy man with almost no personal charm to show off, he used endless drinking and tantrums to improve the preparations for the imperial navy bit by bit. After the war, the navy was depressed, but the general opened up an unfavorable maritime situation with his own hands, led the fleet to win the Battle of Helgolan Bay and the Battle of Dogel Sands, and planned the classic Mudros Bay raid and the new model of ocean-breaking war. Under the heavy suppression of the conservative Navy, the general escaped the naval political storm swept through Berlin and resolutely led the navy to work alone until the decisive battle in the North Sea in March 1915!

"Order, Luzov, the right rudder of the Luzov, advance at full speed, and penetrated between the Great Fleet and the Seventh Team!" Wang Heidi seemed to have forgotten the British fast fleet that was still pursuing hard on the back. He wrapped his hands around his chest, and only Jericho's large fleet in his eyes. "The ships of the First Reconnaissance Fleet follow the flagship, and the general intends to release smoke and cover the retreat of the Seventh Team!"

Silame's instructions made Major Rollefes, who was wandering outside the sky, jumped for a while, and found that everyone's eyes in the cockpit were already focused on his face. Major Rollefes, who had only been graduating from the Naval Academy for more than five years, couldn't help but blush and conveyed the commander's order with some doubts.

The general always issued some instructions that were inexplicable and even crazy at the time, but were later considered a stroke of magic. It was like discovering the British rapid fleet that had completed the rendezvous in the early morning. The general's response was not to avoid its edge, but to head-on.

The general's order once made Major Rollfies, who performed the steering action, struggled for a long time. The British fast fleet had ten fast battleships, and the number of combat patrols was only half of the British. The reason why the First Reconnaissance Fleet, which had no major defeats during the night fight was just the cover of night and sea fog, and the speed advantage of David Betty's division mistakes and the battle patrol. The two British fast fleets, the British fast fleet, had already met in the early morning. Even if the Empire had five advanced combat patrols with high speed, the First Reconnaissance Fleet did not have the ability to confront it head-on.

Rollfies was feeling a little bit of resistance and unhappily executed the commander's order. It turned out that this was just a mediocre disturbance of him. Silame gave up the T-word and forced the British fast fleet to move eastward. This bold decision was rewarded in the subsequent decisive battle of the main fleet line: the numerical advantage of the British fast main battleship collapsed under the impact of the high speed of the First Reconnaissance Fleet, and the strongest Queen Elizabeth fell behind unconsciously. The Australian battle patrol was the first to sink in the peak battle.

This is not the whole reward. David Betty's eight main battleships of the fast fleet were dragged tightly and forced to separate from the large fleet. The British, who were at the advantage of the fast battleship, could not play their strengths. When Betty had the opportunity to join the battle line of the large fleet and broke the equilibrium situation in one fell swoop, Betty could only find that his ammunition reserves had dropped below the cordon.

The heart-wrenching fact made Rollfys put away the unrealistic and regrouping majors who thought that General Heidi Silem would lead the First Reconnaissance Fleet to entangle David Betty to the end, and start a classic battle with fewer victory over the more rare in the history of naval battles. However, the general seemed to have made another trick - he ordered the First Reconnaissance Fleet to turn 180 degrees!

The newly-emerging feeling of worship disappeared again, and Major Rollfys was confused again, because the general's instructions were incompatible with the knowledge given to him by the professor of the Keil Naval Academy. The shrinking battle line was the decisive battle, and the First Reconnaissance Fleet dragged down the opponent with high speed. According to the theory of the Naval Academy Command Lecturer, the advantage of abandoning the hand was to commit crimes against sailors, fleets, and empires. The First Reconnaissance Fleet should cut the inner corner and seize the t-shaped horizontal head at a small angle.

With the previous experience, Major Rollfest did not fully follow his inner predictions because he began to hesitate about the stereotyped knowledge of the Naval Academy. Perhaps the command lecturer has rich theory, but no matter how exquisite theories are, they must consider the complex and changeable situations in naval battles. General Heidi Sileme, as the new general with the richest experience in steam naval battles in the ocean fleet, had an abnormal command that he had to implement.

As Rollfest speculated, the First Reconnaissance Fleet suddenly turned in the most incredible way at the most unlikely time. The left rudder, the German Battle Cruise, under the action of inertial acceleration and centrifugal force, the hull tilted violently to the right, opening a huge halo on the surface of the North Ocean. It completed the 180-degree steering without any danger. After sailing at high speed for ten minutes along the original trajectory, Rollfest finally understood General Silame's painstaking efforts.

Far far ahead, Jericho's large fleet of twenty main battleships lined up in battle lines that could not be seen at first sight. The majestic 15-inch, 13.5-inch and 12-inch main gun muzzles were pointed south. The shells of various caliber were like the rain in London in June, drizzling. The targets of the British shelling were not someone else, but the lonely and seemingly shaky Seventh Division.

"Roar over and pass through the seventh team and the large fleet!" Rollfies' limited tactical reserves and naval combat experience made his thinking unable to keep up with the commander who could always understand everything in advance and respond in time based on clues. This sprinting action is very dangerous, but Major Rollfies has nothing to be afraid of. Heidi Silem is Germany's best strategist, second only to Siper's tactical commander, Ares, the undefeated Imperial Navy. More importantly, the glory of the commander is not the appreciation of the imperial emperor and the ministers, nor the unfounded advocacy of the Berlin propaganda machine, but the real sword and gun in the Bay of Helgolan, in Dogers, and in Muderos Bay, with his life, courage and wisdom and the world's first-ranked Royal Navy!

The overload operation of the boiler and the super-high speed rotation of the spindle made a delicate tremor feel from the hull of tens of thousands of tons of steel. The German Navy's most powerful first reconnaissance fleet rushed towards the British fleet at a speed of nearly four-thirds of a kilometers per minute.

The cockpit was very quiet, and the sound of fine sweat beads falling from the bridge of the staff's nose could be heard on the floor. Although Lieutenant General Heidi Sileme, the backbone of the First Reconnaissance Fleet, looked calm, this could not soothe the tense atmosphere above the Luzov. After all, the young man was facing a total of twenty main battleships! Rulin's muzzle and long line of fire, everything was so daunting!

"Young man, do you know what I want to do?" The commander of the 37-year-old main squadron seemed to be unable to see through the suppression and trembling under the silence. He was interested in taking the exam and the sailor Rolfez, who had been secretly looking at him and occasionally making some insightful expressions.

Wang Heidi's junior Rollfes was a little nervous and nervous. He tried his best to straighten his body and stutter: "Cover the 7th Team of the Third Battleship Fleet to withdraw from the team safely..."

"There are many ways to cover the retreat of the Seventh Team. Even if we do nothing, as long as the First Reconnaissance Fleet appears in the sight of the Great Fleet, the British will definitely release a lot of firepower to solve the problem in their eyes. The German Battle Patrol team, which is considered a first-class and soft persimmon, is laughing. The nervousness swept away instantly. Wang Heidi had a quiet smile on his face. He continued the topic until the laughter subsided, and said seriously: "I am not a madman who despises the laws of nature, but I still decided to pass through the battle line between the Seventh Team and the Great Fleet! Maybe you will be afraid of twenty British battleships, maybe you will be worried that the First Reconnaissance Fleet will be attacked by the large fleet and the fast fleet, but I want to tell you, never be blinded by the strong enemies created in your heart!"

"There are all good seedlings!" Wang Heidi's words made the officers in the cab meditate. When humans think, God will laugh. Wang Heidi looked at the young man who was as pure as a piece of white paper in the cockpit and sighed.

The era of Scher, Hippel and Schmidt will eventually go away. The three musketeers of Kiel and the naval strategic masters will enter their forties after the fierce European war. Shaohua will never stop at the angle and stop because of personal nostalgia. Germany's new journey to open up the ocean will still require these ignorant and fearless young people. Wang Heidi patted the arms of the young man who was destined to take over the baton and handed over the temporary command.

"Order, Major Rollfest, the navigator of the Luzov, took over the command of the cockpit!"

Long after the fleet commander left, the atmosphere in the cockpit was still very dull, until Major Rollfys's ambition and joy broke all this!

"I understand!" The young Rollfies' face was full of excitement, and he couldn't wait to express his views: "The decisive battle of the main fleet has lasted for more than ten minutes. The smoke generated by the main gun mouth of the British main ship will undoubtedly form a smoke wall around the hull, causing the British warship's general observation conditions and ranging ability to sharply decline. Under such conditions, the First Reconnaissance Fleet will not only not be too dangerous for crossing the Fire, but the smoke we release will completely close the British's final observation and shooting sight. In this way, the task of supporting the Seventh Team to return to the team and covering the Ocean Fleet to launch the battle line can be favored."

Rollfys' explanation made everyone suddenly realize that everyone could not help but turn their heads to see the general's disappearing back, and his interpretation of the Navy's God of War was a little deeper.

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Chapter completed!