1890 King of Southeast Asia

At 8:35 a.m., the British completed the turn and resumed half-salvo fire.

In the past 15 minutes, the six British Queen-class battleships were hit by 7 380mm shells, 11 350mm shells, and more than 20 305mm shells.

Among them, the Queen was hit the least, with only a few 305mm shells, which damaged one secondary gun and injured only two people, with the least damage.

The Warrior, ranked third, was the most seriously damaged. One ship alone took 3 380mm shells, two 350mm shells, and 6 305mm shells.

The rear mast failed, one turret failed, two large holes appeared in the waterline and thousands of tons of seawater poured in within a few minutes. Only 18 minutes after the official start of the battle, a British 381mm Queen-class battleship was severely damaged.

However, the British also achieved their goal. After the fleet completed the turn, the Germans had to face a choice - turn or not.

If they don't turn, the Germans will soon have only half of their artillery left to play a role - the front main guns, which is undoubtedly disadvantageous, and will soon form a T-shaped firepower.

Turning is even more difficult. What the British just suffered, the Germans will also suffer. Moreover, since the north is the Norwegian coast, the Germans can only turn south, and the angle is fixed.

After turning, the Germans will also be parallel to the entrance of the strait, so that the Germans will be away from the way home instead of getting closer.

Everyone was waiting for Reinhardt's order, but Reinhardt stared at the British without moving.

The distance between the two sides was rapidly closing, and soon, the distance between the two sides was pulled to 12,000 meters. Because of the change in angle, the Germans' rear main guns have gradually stopped firing.

Boom boom boom!!!

boo! boo!

The Baden, which was in the front, was suddenly attacked by the British. 381 mm caliber shells fell around the Baden, raising thick water columns.

Under the concentrated fire of 6 4+6 381mm guns, the Baden was hit by the second British salvo.

The 879kg heavy armor-piercing shells fired by the 381mm main gun easily tore through the armor protection of the Bavaria class and opened a large hole above the waterline, but because the hole was located relatively high, the water inflow was not fast.

The Baden had been hit, but Reinhardt still did not give the order to turn.

Soon, there was another round of shelling. This time the Baden was hit by two shells. In response, the Germans also had three shells hit three British ships respectively. Only one of the 380mm shells made a breakthrough, and the other two failed to penetrate the armor.

"Everyone turn on the smoke device, the fleet turns right, and forms three columns, with each ship 1 nautical mile apart." Reinhardt seemed to be relieved, and seemed to be sighing.

The British's desperate behavior explained one thing, the strait behind them was not built into a blockade.

Otherwise, the British should not have concentrated their fire on the Baden in such a panic, but should have slowly adjusted the shooting parameters, waited for the distance to get closer, and the two sides formed a T-shaped position that was beneficial to the British Navy.

In that case, the British artillery fire efficiency would be much higher.

Instead of using absolute firepower to attack the German lead ship, as the distance got closer, the damage became higher and higher, forcing the Germans to turn.

Of course, this is just Reinhardt's guess.

Moreover, this guess does not allow Reinhardt to solve the problem of the British Queen-class battleships. They are there, and it is not easy for the Germans to break through.

At least for now, the situation has returned to the normal state of naval combat. Fighting for a few hours or a whole day, until the battleship sinks and one side wins, or the ammunition is exhausted and has to withdraw from the battle, is the norm in naval battles.

At 8:40, the Germans began to turn, with the Baden still as the lead ship. It, the Bayern and the Württemberg were not hit. When the Sachsen turned, even though the smoke generator had left thick smoke on the sea, it was hit by four 381 mm shells in succession.

That is, the Germans are famous for building ships with defense rather than other things. Except for one shell that left a hole in the waterline and began to take in water, the other three shells only caused minor injuries.

The King class that followed directly maneuvered without turning in the way the fleet turned.

Because of the smoke on the sea, the British artillery efficiency became low. After the Germans maneuvered, they could not keep up with the rhythm of the artillery. Moreover, after the Bavaria class, which had finished turning, was put into battle, it attracted the British firepower.

At 8:50, the smoke on the sea had been blown away by the strong wind, and the unpredictable North Sea began to become turbulent. At the same time, the Germans were exposed to the British rangefinder.

Because the Germans did not turn according to the fleet, the German High Seas Fleet was in chaos at this time. In addition, they were following Reinhard's order to split into three columns 1 km apart, so the Germans were very vulnerable at this time.

Only the 32 380mm caliber naval guns on the four Bavaria-class ships could effectively fight back, and the Warrior had repaired the malfunctioning turret, and the British firepower was restored to 48 guns.

Fortunately, the British did not madly focus on one battleship, but honestly fought a turn-based battle with Reinhard, but the damaged Baden and the flagship Bavaria had to withstand the firepower of two Queen-class battleships.

The two sides fought for half an hour, and the German fleet gradually formed the loose fleet group expected by Reinhard.

Boo!

A near-miss shell landed on the starboard side of the bow of the Bavaria, and the explosion caused a tremor.

"Report, there is a crack underwater on the starboard side of the bow, and water is coming in. The flooded compartment is very close to the front main gun ammunition depot. In order to save the ammunition depot, we have closed the flooded compartment."

"Find a way to drain and seal the ammunition depot while ensuring the safety of the ammunition depot. We need to reduce weight and increase the speed."

"Yes!"

The command room was very noisy. After the distance was pulled to 10,000 meters, the secondary guns of both sides also joined the battle. A large number of secondary gun shells exploded. Although the power was average, the lethality was not small.

In particular, the high-explosive ammunition fired by the secondary guns was extremely threatening to the instruments and equipment on the superstructure, the sailors passing on the deck, lifeboats and other equipment, the exposed secondary gun operators, damage control personnel, etc.

At 9:30 in the morning, the thing that Reinhardt had been waiting for arrived.

"Report, we received a telegram from the reconnaissance destroyer. There is a British fleet approaching 50 nautical miles to the south. It is roughly estimated that there are more than 50 British warships, and more than 10 large warships."

"Because the firepower density of the battleship group is too high and they are driven away by British light cruisers and destroyers, our destroyers cannot get close to conduct reconnaissance."

The words of the major in the communication room made the German officers who were just excited and ready to fight back against the British suddenly become silent.

50 warships, or the minimum, how many at most?

This is just one batch, will there be more later? The British have plenty of ships. Since so many have come, it is normal for more to come.

In particular, the essence of the German fleet is here. If we defeat them, we will defeat the German Navy...

"What should we do now? We are 50 nautical miles away. In two hours, we will be within the enemy's range."

"You are wrong. According to our course, in one hour, the distance between the two sides will be reduced to less than 20 kilometers, and the 381mm main gun will barely be able to hit us."

"It is better to turn to the north and wait until night to find an opportunity to go south. If we continue to delay, the British may become more and more."

The staff officers were discussing. They tended to avoid the sharp edge. The British were not in a good position now. They paid a small price, stretched the time, and waited for night to fall. They might encounter changes.

This idea should not be right, but it is indeed right. Let's talk about it later. The major in charge of communications came again.

"Commander, the destroyer found another fleet 60 nautical miles away from us in the southwest waters. According to the comprehensive analysis of the ship type and speed, it was the British battlecruiser fleet."

"We are surrounded."

The major said one more sentence, but he said the current situation of the German fleet.

Although the encirclement has not been closed, it has been formed. It is too late to run now with the battlecruiser and the Queen-class at a maximum speed of 25 knots.

"Soldiers, officers, now is the critical moment to determine the survival of the Imperial Navy. We only have one and a half hours to decide the future of the entire navy."

"I know the pressure is great, but I believe that we can save the fate of the Imperial Navy."

"Hang up the flags, order all ships in the fleet to turn left 90 degrees, attack the formation of the Queen-class battleships, engage in a chaotic battle, and destroy them within one hour at all costs, even if it means collision."

"As long as we destroy them, we can successfully leave this sea area and return to Kiel Port, and as long as our losses are within an acceptable range, we can still win this battle."

Reinhardt tidied his clothes and said with fighting spirit.

The officers looked at each other, unable to believe the crazy words they heard.

"Yes, sir!" The communications major was the first to accept the order and turned to the communications room to issue the order.

"If Bavaria sinks or loses command and combat capability, the flagship will be taken over by the Württemberg, followed by the Baden, Sachsen, King, etc., until the last ship."

"From now on, all orders will be transmitted by radio."

"Now, turn!"

Reinhardt said the heavy words easily.

As for giving up signal flags and light signals and only using radio communication, in addition to the smoke of the battlefield affecting the vision, the Germans are now too scattered.

The Germans' first battle line has 8 ships, each ship is about 1 nautical mile apart, and the distance between the head and the tail is more than 8 nautical miles, which is more than ten kilometers. Even if Bavaria is in the middle, the warships at both ends cannot see his signal flags clearly.

The light signal is similar. Now it is daylight and the distance is too far. The light signal transmits information very slowly. Maybe a message cannot be transmitted to the entire fleet in ten minutes.

"Received, full left rudder, and prepare the torpedoes." The captain of Bavaria was the second to react and immediately thought of the role of torpedoes in the chaos.

"It's a pity. If only we had a few Brandenburg-class battleships or ramming cruisers. They would never disappoint us in a chaotic battle." The captain sighed.

"Destroyers can play a better role than rams, but the momentum of heavy battleships rushing towards the enemy is indeed incomparable." Reinhard nodded.

At this time, the telegram had been sent out, and the entire German fleet began to turn left. Because the interval was large, the battleships did not need to deliberately avoid turning, and could do so at the same time, and the turning was completed quickly.

At 9:32, the fleet began to turn, and at 30:5, all the turns were completed.

Then, the remaining dozens of destroyers and cruisers in the fleet rushed out of the queue and rushed towards the queue of the Queen-class battleships.

Their mission was to attract the British small warships to move forward and disrupt the queue of the Queen-class battleships, so that they could not play their firepower advantage well.

Reinhardt's big turn scared the British. This was a desperate rhythm!

But the most unacceptable thing for the British was that they seemed to be unable to fight. It was not a problem of quality and courage, but simply because the number of warships was too small. The number of German warships was more than three times theirs.

"Explain our situation to General Jellicoe." The temporary fleet commander took a breath and said calmly.

"How should we respond?" The first mate hesitated and asked.

"The British Empire has no navy that retreats. When encountering an enemy, we will fight. This is a glorious tradition for hundreds of years and the spiritual pillar of the Royal Navy."

"We are only more than 40 nautical miles away. As long as we can delay for two hours and cause as much damage as possible to the Germans, we can win."

"As long as we can achieve a big enough result, it is worth it even if we all sink in battle. Moreover, we are faster, and the situation is still uncertain."

"Turn right 90 degrees, attack them with the rear main gun, speed up, and delay as much time as possible..."

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