Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 512
Contrary to the high-profile voyage of the Hipper fleet acting as a "bait", the main formation led by Scheer maintained strict radio silence.At the same time, the radio station in Wilhelmshaven continued to use the call sign of Scheer's flagship "Frederick the Great" to communicate with the outside world, creating the illusion that Admiral Scheer and the main force of the Oceanic Fleet were still in the port.Scheer's plan seemed impeccable, but he never expected that the secret of this operation had been leaked.This just proves that war is full of contingencies.

This is because in World War II, after Russia sank the German light cruiser "Magdeburg" at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, Russian divers accidentally discovered a German navy code book and semaphore manual in the wreckage of the German warship, and copied it Provided to the United Kingdom, the British easily deciphered the radio codes of the German Navy.

On the afternoon of May 5, Admiral John Jellicoe, commander of the main fleet of the British Navy, received top-secret information from London: "The German Oceanic Fleet will set sail tomorrow."

After learning the information, Jellicoe worked out a battle plan that was exactly the same as Scheer's overnight: Vice Admiral Betty led the vanguard fleet from Rosyth, Scotland, and arrived in the waters near the Jutland Peninsula east of Norway on the afternoon of the 31st. In order to meet the German fleet.Jellicoe personally led the main fleet to set off from Scapaflo, and arrived at the sea area 31 nautical miles northwest of Betty's fleet on the afternoon of the 60st. If Betty and the German fleet exchange fire at this moment, after actively showing weakness, he should Lead the opponent to the direction of the main force of the fleet, so that Jellicoe's huge fleet will appear behind the side of the German ship.Relying on the huge firepower and speed of the British fleet, Jellicoe believes that he is absolutely sure to annihilate the German fleet appearing in the expected sea area.

This plan was approved by King Edward VII and the cabinet, and it was considered an excellent opportunity to revive the British Empire's naval power!

晚20时30分，杰利科亲率由24艘战列舰、4艘战列巡洋舰、20艘巡洋舰和50艘驱逐舰组成的庞大舰群开出了斯卡帕弗洛港。之后，贝蒂率领由4艘战列舰、6艘战列巡洋舰、14艘轻巡洋舰和27艘驱逐舰组成的前卫舰队驶离了罗赛思港。

A few hours later, the latest submarine developed by Germany and China, which was ambushed outside the port of Rosyth, sent back a telegram to the Atlantic Fleet saying "the enemy fleet is sailing".And Germany's "bait fleet" has long been under the surveillance of the British.The two fleets that almost came out in full force believed that their "bait tactics" had succeeded, and they headed towards the predetermined battlefield.

At this time, neither Scheer nor Jellicoe expected that the opponent's fleet had been dispatched in full, let alone that they would personally participate in the world's largest fleet battle in the near future.

At 5:31 on May 14, the British vanguard fleet led by Vice Admiral Beatty arrived in the waters north of Horn Reef.

At this time, on the sea to the east of the Beatty fleet, the German avant-garde fleet led by Vice Admiral Hipper was also heading north along a parallel route, and 40 nautical miles away was the main force of the German Atlantic Fleet led by Admiral Scheer. .However, at this time, neither Betty nor Hipper knew that the enemy was not far away from them. Seeing that the two hostile fleets were about to pass each other, the mysterious arrangement of fate forced the two rivals together.

At 14:20, a Danish cargo ship "Fjol" blew its whistle as it passed the sea south of the Jutland Peninsula.With a sharp whistle, a thick steam rushed into the sky.The British cruiser "Galati" and the German light cruiser "Elpin" discovered the abnormal steam at the same time, and both went to check.

When the two ships approached the freighter together, they recognized each other soon, and immediately sent a warning signal to their respective fleet commanders: "Enemy ship found!" signal.

At 14:28, the "Galati" first fired at the German ship, and the German ship "Elpin" also fired back. The two sides launched a short artillery battle.After this prelude, a total of 265 warships of various types, including 149 British ships, 116 German ships and about 10 naval officers and soldiers, was launched in the Battle of Jutland on an ocean surface of 400 square miles. The real battle has begun.

After receiving the report from the "Elpin" on his flagship "Lützow" that Vice Admiral Hipper had found the enemy, he ordered all the ships under his command to turn to the southeast and try to lead Betty to the main force of the Atlantic Fleet.Seeing that Hipper was about to slip away, Betty chased after him with a destroyer.His actions were so eager that his four powerful battleships failed to see the signal and fell behind by more than 4 nautical miles. As a result, Betty's original 10:10 strength against Hipper was reduced to 5:6.

At 15:45, on the Jutland sea, the two vanguard fleets of the British and German navies sailed in the same direction and on different sides. Because Betty was slightly faster in speed, the distance between him and Hipper was getting shorter and shorter.At the same time, Jellicoe, the main fleet of both sides, was about 20 nautical miles away, and Scheer was about 40 nautical miles away.But under the lure of Hipper, Betty gradually approached the sea area where Scheer was, but he himself didn't know it.Of course, Hipper didn't know that besides the Betty fleet, there was a larger British fleet led by Admiral Jellicoe himself, which was also heading here.

At 15:48, Hipper ordered the ships to fire on the Betty fleet 21000 yards away. With the first batch of shells fired by the German ship, the battle between the avant-garde fleets of the two sides finally started!

Because the German ship adopted an advanced whole-ship unified azimuth shooting command system, the artillery hit rate was much higher than that of the British ship.In addition, the armor-piercing shells of the German army are also superior to the British army.After the exchange of fire between the two sides, the first salvo of the German ship hit Betty's fleet, and Betty's flagship "Lion" was hit frequently.

At 16:[-], an armor-piercing projectile pierced the middle turret of the "Lion" and exploded in the tower, igniting the gunpowder chamber.At the critical moment, Colonel Harvey, the turret commander whose legs had been blown off, struggled to order water to be filled into the ammunition compartment through the sound transmission tube, which saved the "Lion" from being sunk.

Just 5 minutes later, the British battlecruiser "Indomitable" was hit by 2 armor-piercing projectiles, an astonishing explosion occurred, and soon sank together with 1017 officers and soldiers on board.After that, Hipper ordered concentrated firepower to bombard the British battlecruiser "Queen Mary", causing the super dreadnought battleship with a displacement of more than 1275 tons to be hit several times. Only 9 people survived.

In just a few minutes, 10 British battlecruisers were sunk and 2 was injured, while the Germans only lost 1 small destroyers.The balance of power reversed rapidly, and the situation of the British army was precarious.At this critical moment, the 2 British battleships that had fallen behind arrived, roaring with cannons and raining bullets, and finally released Betty from the predicament.

Not long after, under the bombardment of the large-caliber artillery of the British battleship, the German fleet was a little bit overwhelmed. Hipper commanded his warship to fight to the east while retreating, and Betty chased after him.It wasn't until he discovered the main force of the oncoming German Atlantic Fleet that he realized that he had been fooled, and hurriedly ordered his fleet to retreat northward, and at the same time sent a power call to Jericho for help.Seeing this, Scheer ordered the fleet to pursue across the board, but he never expected that the "fish" he caught was also a bait set by others.At this time, Hipper was eager for revenge, turned around and led his fleet to the forefront.

At around 18:24, Jellicoe's main fleet entered the battlefield from the northeast and discovered the position of the German Atlantic Fleet.Jellicoe immediately ordered the fleet to change its battle formation, adopting the usual "T" prefix tactics in naval battles. The 1.5 battleships quickly lined up in a single combat line [-] yards long, and swooped towards the German Atlantic Fleet in the southeast.Betty's fleet also changed course, and fought fiercely with Hipper's fleet.

At 18:20, Hipper's flagship "Lützow" was hit by intensive artillery fire from the British ship, and two old British armored ships were also hit by the German battlecruiser, blowing up and sinking.

Thirteen minutes later, the British No. 13 Battlecruiser Squadron's flagship "Invincible" with a displacement of 1.7 tons was hit by a German ship and was immediately blown into two pieces. The fleet commander, Rear Admiral Hood, sank to the bottom of the sea together with the entire crew.However, the loss of the British fleet did not affect the numerical advantage of the main fleet. In addition, Jellicoe successfully used the "T" prefix tactics to give full play to the firepower of his naval guns.On the other hand, the German warships lined up one after another, because the front ones blocked the firing range behind them, so they were greatly hindered in exerting the power of their artillery.

What's even more unfavorable is that the Betty fleet, which turned ahead of time, has begun to insert into the rear of the German fleet. At this time, Scheer discovered that he was facing the entire British main fleet.Without hesitation, he decisively ordered the ships to turn to starboard.

According to this order, the German ships reversed course, made a sharp 180-degree turn, and withdrew from the battle.However, because the route to the German home base was cut off by the Betty fleet, the Atlantic Fleet had to head southwest. That is to say, the farther the Atlantic Fleet traveled, the farther it would be from the southeastern home base.

Seeing that Jellicoe did not pursue the pursuit, Scheer judged that Jellicoe must have deployed his main fleet on his return route, which was more terrifying than the pursuit!Therefore, Scheer decided to turn around and fight back when the British fleet changed its formation, and made a breakthrough from the tail of the main fleet, breaking the British blockade, fighting a bloody road, and returning to the base.

After some pondering, Scheer once again issued an order for the entire fleet to turn.He wanted to fight back and fight Jellicoe again.

Just after 19 pm, Scheer's fleet appeared on the port side of Jellicoe's fleet.Unfortunately, due to the calculation errors of the staff, the German Atlantic Fleet did not rush towards the tail of the British main fleet, but directly crashed into the center of the British main fleet, forming a "T" favorable to the British fleet again on the battlefield. Combat stance.The oceanic fleet was once again facing away from the sunset, its silhouette clearly visible, while the main fleet was still hidden in the smoke.

Seizing this favorable opportunity, the British battleship fired at a distance of 8000 yards. The German ship could not see the British ship, but only the flash of the distant muzzle.Seeing that the Atlantic Fleet was once again in a critical situation, Scheer immediately ordered the release of smoke screens and torpedoes, and ordered Hipper's battlecruisers to make a "death charge" to cover the main force and turn back.

(End of this chapter)