1890 King of Southeast Asia

As soon as the Germans dispatched destroyers, Beatty discovered the Germans' intentions and they were ready to turn right.

This made Beatty a little unhappy, but that was all. You can't expect others to follow your ideas, not to mention that they are enemies.

Beatty sent destroyers to deal with it at the first time, and his own 5 battlecruisers seized the opportunity to attack the German battlecruisers.

The 152mm secondary guns on the Lion battlecruisers also joined the anti-destroyer operation because they could not reach the German battlecruisers.

However, the German destroyers were heading northwest, and only 4 secondary guns on the Lion battlecruisers had shooting angles, and in the first few minutes, the destroyers were not within the range of their secondary guns.

The task of anti-destroying ships eventually fell into the hands of British destroyers. Beatty knew that this was not safe, but even if he knew it, he still had no way to solve it.

Could it be that the 356mm main guns were used to attack the destroyers? Isn't it crazy to ignore the opportunity when the German battlecruisers can't fight back and attack the German destroyers instead?

As a result, the British destroyers failed to stop the German destroyers from firing torpedoes scatteringly due to their numerical disadvantage and latecomer disadvantage.

"Full rudder left." The captain of the Lion battlecruiser looked at the position of the destroyer, then the position of the German battlecruiser, and gave a decisive order.

"Received, full rudder left, 3/4 speed." The helmsman turned the steering gear, and as the steering gear turned, the bow began to shift to the left.

The turn made the warship tilt to the right. Before the warship was balanced, the main guns of the Lion battlecruiser temporarily stopped firing, and the same was true for several other warships.

The benefits of teaming up with warships of the same level were fully realized at this moment. The steering of the Beatty fleet could be carried out at the same time, which greatly saved time. Of course, this was against the regulations.

The commanders and helmsmen of the large British warships were experienced and skilled old navy officers. Even so, after the turn was completed, the distance between the warships of the Beatty fleet was almost dangerous.

"Keep shooting, shoot at full speed, don't save shells." Beatty glanced at the German navy, they had completed most of the turn.

"Yes, sir."

The chief of staff did not say anything about the warship not being fully back to square, and the accuracy of shooting was not high at this time.

This is the best opportunity, and the last opportunity. When this window period is over, the roles of both sides will be changed.

Boom!

The gun muzzle of the Lion battlecruiser spewed flames and thick smoke, and 8 shells flew out almost at the same time, and then fell in the middle of the German battlecruiser formation, with a huge interval.

This is because the hull failed to return to square, and there was still some tilt, resulting in slight differences in the actual shooting angles of the main guns, although the elevation angles were the same.

Extending to 13,000 kilometers away, the tiny differences were magnified countless times, and it looked very intuitive.

Boom!

Boom!

Behind the Lion, the other four warships of the same class also fired artillery fire. A total of 40 356mm shells, none of which hit the target, only set off a heavy rain in the German battlecruiser formation.

Betty held a telescope and observed the impact point. In addition to the huge water column produced by the explosion of the 356mm shells, there were also many small water columns.

This was the artillery fire of the 152mm secondary guns equipped on the five Lion-class battlecruisers. The effective range of the 152mm secondary guns was 13,200 meters, just at the edge of the range.

Although it is almost impossible for the 152mm main gun to penetrate any important part of the German battlecruiser at this distance, it is also very good to be able to strengthen the momentum.

Not to mention that instruments such as rangefinders are very precious. The aftermath of a 152mm shell explosion may cause it to malfunction or fail.

For the long-range artillery fire of the main gun, the importance of the rangefinder is equivalent to that of the human eye. Without the rangefinder, the main gun is equivalent to becoming blind.

"Hmm?" Beatty suddenly saw his target. The front main gun and the main gun on the left side of the ship amidships of the Blücher battlecruiser were emitting flames and thick smoke.

"The enemy has started to fight back." Beatty said regretfully.

Because the turn wasted a few minutes, giving the Germans a buffer time, now the opportunity is still there, but it is gradually moving away.

Tens of seconds later, Beatty heard the sound of the German battlecruiser firing, the sound of ordinary thunder.

Before the sound of firing arrived, four 305mm shells had exploded around the Lion, stirring up a column of water.

Obviously, the Blücher also took the Lion as a target. After all, the Lion was Beatty's ship and the flagship of this fleet.

"Give priority to attacking the Blücher, at least severely damage it, as long as one ship is severely damaged." Beatty didn't care about the water column. There is no reason in war that you can only fight others, but others can't fight you.

Especially in the battle line confrontation, it is even more so.

In fact, if possible, Beatty prefers a confrontation that disrupts the formation, which is more advantageous for Beatty's side with fewer warships, and this is the original intention of the British to develop battlecruisers.

Unfortunately, the Germans had already formed a battle line and did not give Beatty a chance. Beatty is now very worried about the protection capabilities of his warships.

But the battle has begun, he has no choice. If he retreats now, he will become a sinner of Britain, even the battlecruisers.

"If you can go back alive, you must ask the Naval Design Bureau to stop the existing battlecruisers and even the battleships."

"Future weapons should be warships like the Renown class, which have a certain balance in firepower, protection, and speed."

Betty suddenly said to the chief of staff.

The chief of staff was stunned and blinked at Betty.

"The Renown is good in every way, except that it's too expensive. A Queen-class battleship costs only 2.5 million pounds, and that's even including the development cost of the 15-inch main gun, which will be further reduced in the future."

(15 inches equals 381 mm.)

"And the cost of the Renown has reached 2.9 million pounds, which is a discounted price for 4 ships of the first level. It uses the more mature 14-inch main gun, which cannot be compared with the Queen-class in terms of armor and firepower."

"The construction of the next generation of battlecruisers of the navy has started, with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons, equipped with 15-inch guns, a speed of 30 knots, an estimated cost of 5 million pounds, and 8-inch waterline armor."

"If the armor and power system are upgraded like the Renown class, the final cost may exceed 6 million pounds, and even the British Empire cannot afford too much."

"After all, warships will always be outdated one day."

The chief of staff seemed honest at this moment. In fact, the discussion about battlecruisers in the UK has never stopped, just because they are too expensive.

Quoting battleships and battlecruisers for comparison:

The Iron Duke-class battleship cost 1.89 million pounds, with a standard displacement of more than 25,000 tons, a full load of more than 30,000 tons, equipped with ten 343mm main guns, 12 152mm secondary guns, and 4 533mm torpedo tubes.

The thickest part of the armor is 305mm, the weakest part of the bow is 152mm, the maximum speed is 22 knots, and the cruising range is close to 8,000 nautical miles at 10 knots.

The Indefatigable-class battlecruiser cost 1.78 million pounds, with a displacement of more than 18,500 tons, a full load of 22,000 tons, equipped with 8 305mm main guns, 16 102mm secondary guns, and 3 457mm underwater torpedo tubes.

The thickest part of the armor is 127mm, the maximum speed is 27 knots, and the cruising range is 3,000 nautical miles at 8 knots.

(Except for the change in the speed of the Indefatigable, the rest are real data.)

Battlecruisers are too expensive, and Britain needs battleships in too many places, so many people in Britain do not agree with the large-scale construction of battlecruisers.

After all, the armor protection capabilities of the first generation of British battlecruisers such as the Invincible and the Indefatigable cannot even stop the main guns of the cruisers.

In the early days of its construction, it can still rely on speed to be fierce, but as time goes by, the speed of cruisers and destroyers has increased significantly, so that it is somewhat dangerous to use it as a second-line battleship.

In the future, they will either act with the Grand Fleet and make necessary tactical sacrifices when necessary. After all, the 305mm main guns on it still have a certain deterrent effect.

Or simply become a second-line battleship, used for escort and ground attack.

But, but, it is too expensive.

"Yes, it's too expensive. The vast territory of the empire has become a burden. We should allow those worthless territories to manage themselves."

Betty sighed slightly. Just now, the Blücher fired another shot, still 4 shells, which landed about 500 meters in front of the Lion, but this did not affect Betty at all.

The battle line confrontation is like this. Unless you can't move, you have to stand on the battle line until you destroy the enemy or are destroyed by the enemy.

"Not really... Such a big smoke, is it a secondary explosion? Where did it hit?" The chief of staff was about to respond, and suddenly saw thick smoke coming out of the Blücher and spitting out flames.

The thick smoke could be anything, but the violent flames on the warship could only be the secondary explosion of the propellant.

"It should be the secondary gun propellant magazine. Thank God, it's finally getting better." Betty looked at the Blücher. The flames had dissipated, leaving thick smoke.

boo! !

Just as Betty finished speaking and the chief of staff was about to nod in agreement, a 350mm shell landed less than 20 meters to the port side of the Lion.

The explosion stirred up a column of water, and at the same time, the pressure generated by the explosion caused damage to the outer layer of the underwater structure of the Lion.

The consistent problem of British warships in World War I was to underestimate underwater protection, whether it was a battlecruiser or a battleship.

In World War I, German submarines taught the British a hard lesson. After that, the British began to pay attention to underwater defense and began to shoot at double hulls, anti-torpedo compartments and other structures.

"Report, there is damage to the bottom of the ship, water is entering, and damage control is plugging the leak and draining water." The staff came to report quickly.

"Got it." Betty nodded and stared in the direction of the Germans.

A little damage is not a big problem, or rather, it is a big problem.

The Germans were hit directly or the shells exploded at close range many times, but their speed was not affected at all, that is, they did not take on water.

But his Lion was only bombed at a distance of about 20 meters, but it caused water to enter the hull. This battle was not easy to fight.

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