"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The nine German battlecruisers unleashed a relentless barrage of shells upon the armored cruisers of the island nation's navy. Once regarded with pride and arrogance, these armored cruisers now seemed as fragile as defenseless quail, entirely incapable of resistance and destined for slaughter at the hands of the German fleet.
"Boom!"
A 343mm shell from the battlecruiser Moltke struck the armored cruiser Asama of the island nation's navy. After 16 years in service, this 9,700-ton armored cruiser stood no chance against the overwhelming might of the battlecruisers. The shell hit Asama's forward main turret.
The 152mm armor plating of the main turret proved as flimsy as paper, effortlessly torn apart by the massive shell, which detonated within, obliterating the entire turret. The crew inside the turret were instantly reduced to fragments.
Although the shells within the turret had already been fired and no gunpowder remained to cause further devastation, the loss of one of its two main turrets instantly halved the ship's firepower.
"Damn it! The Germans are closing in. The distance is now down to just five kilometers. At this rate, their battlecruisers will punch through our fleet with brute force!" Captain Yoshitaka Yoshioka of the Asama could only look on with despair. It wasn't a lack of effort on their part but an insurmountable disparity in strength that plunged every sailor of the island nation's navy into hopelessness.
However, Captain Yoshioka's anguish didn't last long. Within two minutes, the Moltke struck the Asama again, this time piercing its conning tower. The shell obliterated Captain Yoshioka and the officers within in one fell swoop.
Shortly afterward, another shell struck the Asama's side, ripping a massive hole and causing catastrophic flooding. Ultimately, Asama followed in the footsteps of the armored cruiser Izumo, sinking beneath the waves due to uncontrollable flooding.
The fate of the armored cruiser Tokiwa was even more tragic. It found itself besieged by the German battlecruisers Lützow and Seydlitz.
One 343mm shell after another exploded around it, throwing up towering columns of water and making the 9,700-ton cruiser appear like a tiny vessel in a raging storm, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
Shells repeatedly found their mark, riddling the ship with holes. Its superstructure was engulfed in flames, turning it into a blazing torch. Against the overwhelming firepower of two German battlecruisers, the survival of the Tokiwa would have been nothing short of a miracle—one that, regrettably, never came to pass.
Shortly after the Asama sank, the Tokiwa too succumbed to the deep. Of its crew of over 500 sailors, only a handful managed to survive.
With three armored cruisers lost in quick succession, the remaining cruisers teetered on the brink of disaster, adding immense pressure to the island nation's navy. If they failed to alter the course of the battle, their losses would only escalate further.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two 356mm shells from the battlecruiser Kongō struck the German battlecruiser Mackensen. One shell hit Mackensen's aft main turret but failed to penetrate its thick armor, detonating harmlessly on the outside. The immense impact stunned the turret crew but caused no significant damage.
The other shell hit the Mackensen's side, destroying a 150mm secondary gun and killing several sailors.
Scoring two hits in quick succession brought brief jubilation to Admiral Goro Ijuin and Rear Admiral Yataro Yamashita. But when they realized the shells had inflicted minimal damage on the Mackensen, their hope gave way to despair.
Even so, the hits gave Vice Admiral Spee and Rear Admiral Mauve a moment of concern.
"Order the fleet to increase speed and outmaneuver the enemy's battle line. We'll circle ahead of their armored cruisers and execute a T-cross to deliver further blows," commanded Vice Admiral Spee.
"Yes, Admiral!" replied Rear Admiral Mauve with a nod. He understood that Spee's orders aimed to preserve their fleet's strength while ensuring a decisive victory.
The German battle line accelerated. With top speeds exceeding 25 knots, their battlecruisers easily reached cruising speeds of over 20 knots, leaving the island nation's battle line, struggling to maintain 16 or 17 knots, far behind.
"Damn it! What are the Germans planning? They're speeding up and pulling away!" Rear Admiral Yamashita's face darkened. He doubted the German fleet was attempting to retreat.
"They intend to use their speed to bypass us and focus on our armored cruisers!" Admiral Ijuin's face turned pale.
Though they understood the Germans' intentions, they were powerless to counter them. Even at their peak, the island nation's armored cruisers had a maximum speed barely above 20 knots. After more than a decade of service, their speed had dropped to 17 or 18 knots at best—woefully inadequate against the swift German battlecruisers.
Within half an hour, the German fleet executed a T-cross and began concentrating their fire on the island nation's armored cruisers.
The first to suffer was the cruiser Kasuga. Already battered and barely holding on, it couldn't withstand the concentrated firepower of the German fleet. In just two minutes, it was struck by more than ten shells. For a cruiser displacing barely over 7,000 tons, such a barrage was catastrophic.
The Kasuga was torn apart by explosions and sank, leaving behind only debris in its wake.
Next came the Nisshin, Iwate, Azuma, and Yakumo. One after another, they were torn to shreds by the relentless firepower of the German expeditionary fleet, reduced to nothing more than wreckage on the unforgiving sea.