1890 King of Southeast Asia

Britain, at the mouth of the Forth River, Forth Bay, was just a normal naval base with two docks before the war.

After the war began, this place became the main berth of Beatty's battlecruiser fleet because of its superior geographical location, and it was also expanded.

At this time, in addition to the Invincible battlecruiser that was being repaired and maintained in the dock, the remaining 14 battlecruisers of the British Empire Royal Navy were anchored in the Forth Bay and accepted Beatty's command.

What is Beatty doing? He is perfecting his plan, which is the attack plan that Jellicoe discussed with Winston before. The final executor must be him, so he is simulating a battle.

"Sir, General Jellicoe sent an urgent telegram, and an unknown number of German battlecruisers appeared in the North Sea." Beatty's secretary hurriedly took the telegram, trotted in all the way, and said anxiously.

"North Sea? Where?" Betty threw down the pencil and immediately took the telegram.

"Northeast of England, southeast of Scotland, only 100 nautical miles from the coast. General Jellicoe has ordered the patrol fleet to investigate." The secretary drew a circle on the map, the approximate location where the Germans were found.

"Order the fleet to light a fire, level 1 combat preparation, all personnel return to their respective posts and prepare to set off." Betty put down the telegram.

To be honest, the information Betty got was very vague, such as the number of German warships, the fleet speed, and no speculation on the German strategic goals.

However, due to the glorious tradition of the British Empire Navy, and Betty's arrogance, he did not think that the Germans could defeat the Royal Navy at sea, so he decided to attack decisively.

"The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron has a faster speed. After the steam pressure is sufficient, it will set off first and rush to the battlefield quickly."

"The 1st and 2nd Battlecruiser Squadrons will maintain a speed of 24 knots to rush to the battlefield. In this way, the distance between the two fleets will not exceed 50 nautical miles, and they can quickly support if the situation changes."

Betty looked at the map and tried to find the target that the Germans might attack, while speaking to the secretary.

But he gave up after searching for a while. There were too many places that the Germans could attack and might attack.

At present, the British Royal Navy was running around. In addition to the ships in the port, only the British patrol ships in the waters around Germany could follow in a short time.

"Don't run, Hipper." Beatty looked for a long time and got a clue.

"Send a telegram to General Jellicoe, the battlecruiser fleet will sail southeast and go behind the enemy." Beatty looked at the secretary who had not hung up the phone.

"But..." The secretary was stunned. This is a risk.

If the Germans could not be stopped, or even if the Germans simply sailed towards London and continued to destroy along the way, Beatty would definitely be court-martialed.

Don't talk about extenuating crimes with merits. We are all battlecruisers, and no one dares to guarantee that they can definitely stop the other side.

"Believe me, the German Navy is William II's toy. They will never adopt very active tactics, otherwise they would not be fighting small battles until now."

Betty certainly knew what the secretary was worried about, but he was fully confident that the Germans must be here to fight guerrilla warfare.

"Okay, I'll send a telegram to General Jellicoe." The secretary nodded with difficulty and turned to go out of the telegraph room to send a telegram.

...

An hour later, the Lion-class battlecruisers with full steam pressure and the battlecruisers of the same class set off.

The other three Invincible-class battlecruisers have not yet accumulated full steam pressure, and the two Indefatigable-class battlecruisers can already sail normally, but the channel is so wide, so they give way to the Lion-class first.

The four faster and larger Reputation-class battlecruisers next to them are still humming and making fire. This class is the Lion-class battlecruisers added by Britain in order to overwhelm Germany in terms of numbers.

After the navy got the money, it felt that continuing to build the Lion class was not enough to maintain its advantage, so it added 500,000 pounds to a ship and modified it on the basis of the Lion class.

Using new boiler technology, the speed and armor were improved at the same time. In this way, the Renown is more like a fast battleship, but there is no such classification at present.

It is not that the British changed their minds to build fast battleships, but the design of the 381mm main gun was not completed when the Renown class was designed, so the 356mm main gun was still used.

Originally, the British wanted to increase the number of main guns, but the central axis could not be placed, and the diamond layout on the side seemed to be outdated.

The muzzle storm of the triple main gun will cause the shells to scatter very large and chaotically, affecting the accuracy, which the stubborn British do not like.

So the Renown class is still equipped with 8 356mm 50-caliber main guns like the Lion class, and the British complained about its firepower.

The data difference between the Invincible and Tireless classes is not large, but the Tireless class has increased its displacement by more than 1,000 tons, and changed the two staggered turrets in the midship of the Invincible class to a central axis layout.

It is worth mentioning that even though the South China Navy had already used backpack main guns in the Arabia class, the British battlecruisers had never used this design.

After the Lion class left, the Invincible and Tireless classes slowly left the port, and the Renown class was the last to leave. It took more than an hour from the first Lion class to leave the port.

But after leaving the port, the Renown class began to exert its strength. The Invincible and Tireless classes maintained 23 to 24 knots, about 3/4 of the speed, and the speed of the Lion class ahead was between 24 and 25 knots.

After the Renown class was assembled, it quickly increased its speed to 28 to 29 knots. This is the change of the Renown class.

The Lion class was designed with a best speed of 27 knots, but the Lion class retained the option of strong pressure ventilation, which can run at a speed of about 29 knots under strong pressure ventilation.

The Renown class spent 500,000 pounds more than the Lion class, increasing the thickness of the armor coverage area and the core area while increasing the maximum speed to 5 knots.

In less than half an hour, the Renown class surpassed the formation composed of the Invincible class and the Tireless class. It did not stop, but continued to chase the Lion class at this speed.

…………

At 12:30 noon, less than 100 nautical miles east of England, the German 7th Cruiser Division was making a big turn.

This is a bait fleet composed of 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers. They have arrived on the road that the British patrol fleet must pass.

But because the Germans were sailing southwest when they came, they will sail northeast when they return, so they are turning.

It is not possible not to prepare in advance. If the action is slow, the British may catch up. After all, the fleet's turn is not a matter of a single ship. No matter how fast a single ship moves, the whole fleet cannot be fast.

"General Hipper called, the 1st Scouting Fleet is about 40 nautical miles northeast of us and is sailing south." The fleet staff handed the telegram to the fleet commander Colonel Dietrich.

"Stay alert, let the destroyers disperse for reconnaissance, and maintain steam pressure." Dietrich just glanced at the telegram and stopped reading.

A qualified bait cannot be too delicious, otherwise it is very easy for others to suspect.

Therefore, the configuration of the 7th Cruiser Division is almost the same as that of the ordinary attack fleet. The only thing that makes Dietrich feel relieved is that these warships are not old.

The main force of his fleet, the four cruisers, are relatively young small reconnaissance cruisers, or light cruisers.

Two Kolberg-class light cruisers and two Magdeburg-class light cruisers constitute the main force of the 7th Cruiser Division.

The Kolberg class is the first German standard light cruiser driven by steam turbines, but in essence it is still based on the previous generation of light cruisers and modified.

The keel was laid in 1908 and entered service in 1910.

It is 130.5 meters long, 14 meters wide, 5.5 meters draft, 4,915 tons displacement, and uses two steam turbines and 14 coal-fired boilers.

Because of the cooperation with the Huaxia Empire, the oil-coal mixed boiler used here, combined with two steam turbines, can provide 25,000 horsepower and a speed of 2+7 knots.

Equipped with 12 single-mounted 105mm 45-caliber rapid-fire guns, 80mm deck armor, 100mm gun shield and conning tower, and no waterline armor.

The Magdeburg class is a new type of light cruiser with a clipper bow to increase seaworthiness. It is also the first batch of German light cruisers equipped with waterline armor.

138 meters long, 13.5 meters wide, 5.1 meters draft, 4,570 tons displacement, two steam turbines and 16 boilers, providing 30,000 horsepower, maximum speed 30 knots.

Waterline armor 60-18 mm, deck armor 60-20 mm, thicker midship, 100 mm armor for the command tower.

Weapons are still 12 105 mm 45-caliber rapid-fire guns, the same level as the thousand-ton destroyer.

The flagship of the 7th Cruiser Division is the Kolberg-class Cologne, and Dietrich is on this ship.

After all, the role of the flagship is more commanding. In terms of fighting, the Magdeburg class with a layer of waterline armor is obviously more combat-effective.

"A smoke column was found on the port side, and it was judged to be smoke from a warship." The chief of staff answered the phone, listened to a sentence, and then said to Dietrich.

"1:15, the British really have no concept of time." Dietrich lit a cigarette.

The port side is the direction of Britain, and Dietrich doesn't even need to observe. The ships coming from that direction can only be British warships.

"Didn't you receive the news reported by the destroyers?" Dietrich suddenly asked.

"No telegram has been received yet. The course of V-176 and V-187 is closer to the British." The chief of staff shook his head.

"Didn't they see it yet?" Dietrich frowned.

"No matter, combat alert, the British are coming towards us."

"Organize, the fleet turns left one compass point, maintain steam pressure."

"Notify the destroyers to assemble nearby, and then scout the north and south sides of the British."

"Report to General Hipper, our unit will soon contact the British, report the course and speed."

Dietrich issued one order after another in an orderly manner.

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