"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The three 380mm main guns of the battleship *Bavaria* unleashed a fierce barrage aimed at a British light cruiser. While the power of the 380mm shells was undeniably formidable, hitting a light cruiser darting at a speed of thirty knots proved a considerable challenge. However, the *Bavaria-class* battleship was not only equipped with 380mm main guns but also boasted 150mm secondary guns and 88mm rapid-fire guns. These armaments posed a lethal threat to the British light vessels.
Admiral Reinhard Scheer stood on the bridge, observing the swiftly approaching British light ships through his telescope. In the shadow of the massive battleship, these lighter vessels resembled wild dogs before a lion. Nevertheless, the heavy torpedoes launched by these light ships represented a significant danger to the German fleet. Thus, it was imperative to sink the British light cruisers before they could unleash their torpedoes, thereby eliminating any threat.
"Boom! Boom!" Shells hurtled toward the British light cruiser but missed their mark, splashing into the sea instead. Yet, Admiral Scheer remained unperturbed. He understood that as the British light cruiser drew nearer, the accuracy of their shots would increase, making it easier to strike the target.
As anticipated, when the British light cruiser closed to within approximately eight kilometers of the *Bavaria*, it began to sustain hits. Though struck by 150mm and 88mm shells, which ignited fierce fires aboard the cruiser, it pressed forward, seemingly undeterred by its wounds.
Two minutes later, a violent tremor shook the British light cruiser as if struck by a giant's hammer, its bow shattered into fragments. A single 380mm shell from the *Bavaria* had found its mark, obliterating the cruiser's forward section. Water gushed in rapidly, and the vessel sank beneath the waves.
Without pause, the *Bavaria* turned its sights on another British light cruiser, as if the previous kill were no more than the swatting of a fly—an inconsequential event. Indeed, in the face of the imposing *Bavaria*, the British light cruisers, weighing just a few thousand tons, and their even smaller destroyers, seemed insignificant, mere insects crushed without a second thought, even though each ship carried the lives of hundreds of Royal Navy personnel.
The battle raged fiercely as the British light cruisers launched reckless assaults to close the distance to within two kilometers. In retaliation, the German fleet unleashed a relentless barrage, the air thick with falling shells, transforming the sea into a boiling cauldron.
"Charge! Increase speed! We are almost within torpedo range!" shouted a British captain, urging his destroyer, now racing at 34 knots, to accelerate further.
Despite displacing just over a thousand tons, the destroyer surged forward like an arrow toward the German battlecruiser *Mackensen*. Once within two kilometers, it would be able to launch its torpedoes—533mm heavy torpedoes capable of inflicting grave damage on the *Mackensen*.
However, just a minute later, the light cruiser split in two as a 380mm shell severed its keel.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The German light cruisers and destroyers responded with their 150mm and 105mm guns, igniting fires aboard the British light cruisers and destroyers attempting to launch torpedo attacks against the German battle line.
The British light cruisers and destroyers, despite needing to close the distance to launch their torpedoes, were not merely passive targets. Their main guns also posed a lethal threat to the German vessels, and destroying the German light cruisers would facilitate further assaults on the main fleet.
Fights between light vessels were often the most brutal, as their flimsy defenses meant that hits resulted in catastrophic damage.
After a harrowing struggle, a British destroyer finally penetrated to within two kilometers of the German battleship *Caesar*. Four 533mm heavy torpedoes were launched, hurtling toward the *Caesar* at over thirty knots.
The *Caesar* immediately began to maneuver evasively. Although heavily armored beneath the waterline, no commander would recklessly endure a torpedo hit, particularly from heavy torpedoes. The captain of the *Caesar* was no fool.
However, the British torpedoes spread in a fan pattern; the *Caesar* could evade three but was unable to avoid one. Reluctantly, the captain ordered preparations for torpedo defense and prayed that the vessel's underwater armor would withstand the impending strike.
At that moment, a German destroyer bravely positioned itself in front of the *Caesar*, sacrificing itself to protect the larger battleship.
"Boom!" The explosion was deafening as the destroyer was struck, obliterated in an instant, while the *Caesar* emerged unscathed.
"Damn it! Sink that British destroyer!" the captain of the *Caesar* commanded.
As the British destroyer attempted to turn away, a 343mm shell from the *Caesar* struck, sinking it instantly.