The setting sun shone, splashing a bloody glow on the sea. The cannons roared into the sky, the battleships spewed thick smoke and fire, and the blood-colored water was filled with corpses and dying sailors.
About 30 nautical miles behind the German High Seas Fleet, Prince Heydrich on the "Lisa" bridge looked at the sunset getting closer and closer to the sea level, with a trace of sadness on his face. The average speed of the British main fleet is about 2-3 knots higher than that of the high seas fleet. Although oneself has a huge advantage, if the opponent is determined to escape, it may be difficult to stop them with three battlecruisers. The raid fleet's aircraft cannot take off and land at night. If his aircraft take off now to delay the British fleet, it will be difficult for them to return to the aircraft carrier before night falls. On one side is the fire of the British fleet, on the other side is the well-trained German Eagle, Heydrich struggled in his mind, knowing that the Air Force Major Maur came to his side, he found the answer he wanted. .
"His Royal Highness, all the torpedoes have been loaded, ready to take off and attack!" Captain Lieb's slightly tired face was full of desire for battle.
"Captain Lieb, tell your pilots that they have no flying missions today. Let them all go to rest! What they have done today is enough to be recorded in German history!" Heydrich began to walk towards the control tower. , But Lieb followed him closely.
"His Royal Highness, as far as I know, there are still several British warships floating on the water. I am not tired, and my pilots are not tired. Please let us strike again!"
"Captain Lieb. How many hours are left until it is completely dark?" Heydrich stopped and asked.
"His Royal Highness, it's summer, there should be more than an hour before it gets dark, what do you mean?"
"We don't have enough time. If the plane departs now. I'm afraid we can only land in the water after dark!" Heydrich disappeared at the door of the command room without looking back.
"Landing in the water?" Lieb muttered in despair as he walked.
On the other side of the sea, Lieutenant General Hipper was standing in the control tower of the battlecruiser flagship "Sedritz". The British warship had clearly appeared 15,000 yards in front of him. A patch of silvery white and orange-red appeared on the water antenna in the northeast. Soon, the first batch of British artillery shells drove a German ship to the bottom of the sea, and the "Mochi" was also hit and set on fire. The British firepower and range advantages took the lead in this chase.
"Send a signal. Turn right 15 degrees and insert diagonally to the right of the British battleship!" Hipper decided to hide his fleet into the night of the east. For them, the British battleship would be exposed in the setting sun. contour.
Although Hipper's tactics were effective, more and more shells fell far away from the German warships, but the location factor could not completely offset the difference in firepower.
With a loud bang, the former main gun of the "Cedritz" was hit by a British armor-piercing shell. Hipper almost fell to the ground. After he stood up, only a puff of black smoke emerged from the hole on the side where the turret was penetrated. Saw the battleship safe and sound. Hipper sighed, but he didn't know that the actual situation inside the turret was much more serious.
German Navy Captain Enke was a gunner on the "Sedritz". He was in the turret directing the gunner's gate to reload the shells when the British's shells fell. After a violent shock and shock. Enke lost consciousness. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes with difficulty, and the turret on his side blocked the deadly shrapnel for him, but his legs did not know where he flew. The entire turret became the purgatory described by Dante, and the surrounding steel walls were inlaid with fragments of cannonballs and the flesh and blood of the gunner, and several dying moans came from the suffocating smoke. The fire after the explosion relentlessly swallowed everything around.
Enke turned his head strenuously, and he saw with horror that a deadly tongue was about to pass through the ammunition bay channel. He instinctively propped up and crawled towards the water injection valve not far away. But Enke, who lost his legs, could not keep up with the spread of the fire. In panic, a steel pipe hanging in the air hit his forehead heavily. He looked up and saw that this steel pipe was the messenger barrel leading to the damaged pipe compartment. Enke grabbed the messenger with both hands, suspended his whole body, pointed it at the mouth, and strenuously delivered the last command in his life: "Let the water!"
A torrent of sea water poured into the turret from the water injection port, quickly submerging everything in the turret, submerging the dying Encke, drowning the bodies of Encke's comrades, drowning the burning flames, and drowning the approaching "Cedri" The Grim Reaper on the "Z". Enke saved the battleship with his own life and also saved Hipper.
As hundreds of tons of sea water poured into the cabin, the "Cedritz" suddenly stalled and left the battle. Not far away, black plumes of smoke appeared from time to time on the "Maoqi" and "Von der Tann", but they did not give up the pursuit. The 6 German destroyers nearby rushed bravely at a speed of 34 knots. A row of torpedoes was cast at a distance of 3,000 yards from the British battleship, and 12 white torpedoes appeared on the blue sea. This forced Gerrid to order the British fleet to evade. Taking advantage of the gap in which the British were turning, the "Maoqi" and "Von der Tann" were inserted diagonally in front of them, and focused their firepower on the British battleship "Centurion", which was the shortest distance away. The fierce artillery fire seemed to be a tribute to the reigning heroes who had just passed away. After two rounds of volleys, the command tower of the Centurion burst into thick smoke. The captain, Major General Jim, and most of the officers in the command tower were killed on the spot. This 23,000-ton George V-class battleship was in command. After the system was paralyzed, he began to circle around the sea.
"Concentrate the firepower and kill those two German battleships!" Jelled exclaimed angrily, and now he was able to bring one less battleship back to the UK, and the two German battlecruisers actually blocked him abruptly. On the way home, and not far behind, the mast of the German High Seas Fleet's main engine Rulin has reappeared on the sea level.
After a burst of head-and-face shells fell, the "Maoqi" and "Von der Tann" had collapsed on the sea and could not move. Had it not been for the artillery shells of the Tirpitz main fleet began to fall around the British warships, it would be difficult for the two warships to return to the naval port.
Jellied had no intention of fighting, and he took his battleship with him and began to flee northward like a rabbit frantically.
"Oh! Let them run away!" Looking at the British warship that escaped range again, Tirpitz was helpless. Although after a day of battle, the main force of the British fleet no longer exists, but Gerrid's escape allows the British to retain the last glimmer of hope, not to mention that there are 10 state-of-the-art Elizabeth-class battleships lying in the docks of British native shipyards. Here, it won't take long for the British Navy to come back with powerful shipbuilding capabilities. At that time, it will inevitably be a bitter battle. The escape of those warships will undoubtedly add a little weight to the British comeback.
When the signal to stop the pursuit was sent from the "Frederick the Great", a mixed expression of joy and regret was written on the face of every German naval officer. Under the towing of the destroyer, the "Sedritz", the "Mauchi" and the "Von der Tann" followed the fleet with flames and smoke that had not yet been completely extinguished, and they returned. I tried my best, but regret does not belong to them.
When the last ray of sunlight disappeared on the sea, the entire high seas fleet was surprised to watch the planes with eye-catching iron crosses under their wings flying overhead. Different from the previous planes, this group of planes There are several huge barrels under the fuselage or wings.
On the "Frederick the Great", the communications officer rushed into the command room with a telegram excitedly.
Soon, the signal was sent out from the flagship again: all the battleships turned to pursue the British fleet!
The British Admiral Jellied who was celebrating alone suddenly discovered that God was not on his side. A large number of German torpedo machines appeared in the dark, followed by torpedoes that were too late to be discovered by the naked eye on the bleak sea. , A huge explosion resounded across the sky. The battleship could not avoid the torpedo attack, but the German aircraft could accurately find the opponent by relying on the lights on the battleship. Jellied's flagship "George V" was hit by a torpedo, and its speed dropped to a pitiful 12 knots. The "Bold" signaled abandonment after the hull was severely tilted, and the other three battleships were also on fire. The fire that started has turned the entire sea red.
An hour later, the German fleet appeared, and the British admiral, known for his prudence and scheming, reluctantly ordered the white flag to be raised.
On the deck of the Lisa, people waited anxiously.
"Come! They are back!" A sharp-eyed sailor yelled first, but everyone's mood became even more tense.
On the leading torpedo plane, Captain Lieb was also uneasy. Although he had an idea to put an empty oil drum under the plane and land on the sea, he didn't know how likely it was to succeed.
More than a dozen destroyers lined up neatly in two rows on the sea. The lights on the ships were brightly lit. From the air, it was a very wide "sea runway" in a day. Lieb gripped the joystick tightly, his plane was slowly lowering, and the cool sea breeze at night made the plane a little bumpy. He could only use the lights on the destroyer to guess where the sea surface was.
Soon after, Lieb's plane suddenly jumped upwards, and the cool water pounced on its face. Then after several consecutive jumps, the plane slowly stopped next to a destroyer with a cabin of sea water.
"God bless, I'm finally back!" Captain Lieb exhaled deeply, but not all pilots were as lucky as him. Only 25 of the 42 torpedo planes that attacked landed safely. During the landing, the price of 4 aircraft sank into the sea because the empty oil drum was shaken down. 5 of them were unfortunately stumbled, and 8 planes were not found in the fleet. It made an emergency landing dozens of nautical miles away, and was rescued by destroyers searching around until dawn. A total of 7 pilots gave their young lives.