1890 King of Southeast Asia

Forty miles southeast of the 7th Cruiser Division of the German Imperial Navy, the 9 battlecruisers of the 1st Scouting Fleet of the German Imperial 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 very abnormal?" Hipper's face turned serious after reading the telegram.

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

"According to the British's consistent style, they should rush up and fight a fierce battle with Colonel Dietrich. The proud Royal Navy will not use this... inefficient fighting method."

"And the size of the British fleet exceeded expectations. It is almost a complete light reconnaissance fleet, not an ordinary patrol fleet. This is very abnormal."

"If each patrol fleet is composed of this configuration, then our maritime guerrilla warfare should not achieve any results, but we did."

"And with so many warships forming a patrol team, the British can't block the North Sea even if they are big and powerful. The fact is that the North Sea has been almost blocked by the British."

The chief of staff did not directly say the news that they didn't want to hear, but repeated the British's abnormality.

It is obvious that the British will not be inexplicably abnormal. Such an action can only mean that the Germans have been exposed.

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

"The British battlecruisers are less than 100 nautical miles away from here. Even if the time for making fire is included, it will only take 4 hours to arrive."

"Let Dietrich get closer to me, and the fleet will prepare for battle." Hipper slapped the telegram on the nautical chart and said to the chief of staff.

"Yes!"

...

The 7th Cruiser Division had been fighting with the British warships for a long time. They had released smoke and torpedoes to escape before, but they failed to escape successfully.

The maximum range set for the torpedoes is only about 20 knots, and the wake is very obvious. After the British formed a formation with the bow facing the enemy, it was very easy to avoid the torpedoes.

As for the smoke, the navy released smoke not like in the game, releasing thick fog that is enough to cover most things, but very thin and non-dispersed black smoke.

The role of black smoke is to interfere with the British aiming, not to completely cover the fleet. When the British can't hit 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 did not hold back the British, who rushed forward in a formation with their bows facing the enemy.

The two sides approached to a position of 78 kilometers. Seeing this, the Germans launched a round of counterattacks and hit some of them, but the power of the 105mm rapid-fire guns was not ideal. Apart from killing and injuring a few sailors, it was useless.

After that, the British took advantage of the Germans not completing their turn and pulled away, always maintaining a distance of 11,000 to 12,000 meters.

Dietrich was very uncomfortable with the British's style of play, because all signs indicated that this patrol fleet was only here to hold them back.

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

boo!

clang!

Dietrich was about to take the telegram, but the ship suddenly shook. Dietrich stumbled and hit the table. He lost his grip on the water cup and fell directly onto 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 to the side.

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

"General Hipper only told us to get 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 location?" Dietrich moved his arm and asked after confirming that 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 sail northeast and meet up in an hour." The chief of staff glanced at the telegram.

"Reply..." Before Dietrich finished 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, and the explosion ignited the propellant and caused a chain explosion."

"Fortunately, the explosion did not affect the gun position next door, but this gun was completely scrapped, killing 5 and injuring 7." The staff officer tried his best to stay calm.

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

This was caused by the situation where he could only take a beating but could not fight back or escape. Passive beating and inability to fight back were the most damaging to morale.

"Reply to General Hipper, we will attract the enemy's patrol brigade and let them delay their departure time." Dietrich originally wanted to leave, but now it seems that it is not possible.

The frequency of the British artillery bombardment is getting higher and higher, and the number of hits has also increased significantly. The distance between the two sides is more than 10,000 meters, but the Germans are beaten to flee.

Moreover, these warships run fast. If they don't want to retreat, they must pay a price. Dietrich doesn't want to do this.

They came out without gain, and the battle was the first to leave. Basically, they had already lost. If they had to pay some price, Dietrich dared not think about how big a blow it would be to himself and the German Navy.

…

"The Germans are speeding up again, speeding up to catch up, and the front main guns are firing interference shots." Vincent soon noticed the Germans' actions.

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

"Pay attention to the Germans' movements at all times. If they slow down, there is no need to report, just slow down directly."

In the previous chase, the British accidentally carried forward the stubborn Nelson spirit and pulled the distance to 78 kilometers, which is the normal combat distance of small and medium-sized ships.

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

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

However, with the current artillery technology, the probability of hitting the waterline continuously is similar to the probability of penetrating the weak armor of the core area with one shot. There is, but it is very small.

Once it happens, people will remember it for many years. I am talking about you, Hood.

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

In just a few minutes, two British cruisers and two destroyers took dozens of 105mm shells, lost two warehouses and a 76mm rapid-fire gun.

In addition, 17 people died and more than 60 people were injured. If Vincent had not decisively ordered to carry the artillery fire and pull away, there would be more casualties, and the main gun might be damaged.

In the following time, Vincent was hanging the Germans and attacking slowly with 152mm guns. Putting aside the mistakes just now, the battle was not cruel to the British.

The 152mm rapid-fire gun also spewed shells slowly as if it was conducting artillery training.

"Haven't the Germans turned yet?" Vincent chased for half an hour, and when he saw that the Germans had not made any move, he realized something was wrong.

"No, they are still trying to head northeast." said the chief of staff.

"No, no!" Vincent took out a nautical chart, which recorded the trajectory of the patrol fleet. In the sea without reference points, this was the only way to quickly determine one's position.

Of course, one can also operate various positioning instruments such as a sextant to obtain one's position, but that is not as fast as looking at the chart directly.

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

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

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

After a series of pursuit maneuvers, both sides had moved away from their original positions.

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

If he could catch the German 7th Cruiser Division, then at least 4 ships would have won the battle.

Ordinary cruisers could neither run nor fight against battlecruisers, and could only wait for death.

After all, battlecruisers were designed to hunt cruisers.

"Maintain steam pressure, be ready for strong pressure ventilation at any time, slow down, and sail at 3/4 speed." Vincent keenly realized that the Germans were seducing him.

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

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

But 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, and the air became humid. A storm was coming.

In this kind of weather, airships cannot be deployed, and the range of 6-base aircraft is extremely limited due to the range limit. It is also one of Vincent's tasks to determine the location of the enemy battleships and cruisers.

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

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

However, this did not affect his gathering in the direction of Betty.

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