Spe's fleet also rushed over to meet Scher and Hippel. The tactics formulated by the Germans did not work. In addition to rescuing the officers and soldiers of the heavily damaged cruiser "Wisbaden", Spe's fleet was chasing the British three battlecruisers, almost playing a role in the previous battles. {

Now the three German naval giants gathered on the "Bavaria". Now the British are blocking their way back to Wilhelmshaven. Whether the British want to go home or the German fleet wants to return to the base, the two sides will inevitably have to fight an arduous battle.

Of course, the Germans could also give up fighting and choose to go back to the Baltic Sea from the Skaglak Strait.

But no one of the three generals wants to bear the reputation of being a "coward".

Hippel ordered the second cruiser escort to escort the "Luzzo", "Sedlitz" and "Von der Tann" who had lost their combat effectiveness to take a detour from the Skagerak Strait. These three warships could no longer bear any damage. So far, Germany has sunk four British main battleships, an armored ship and a cruiser, and it has only lost one cruiser and two destroyers. It can be said that the results of the battle are brilliant. If the troops are withdrawn, it is reasonable.

The problem is that the three of them are full of adventure and fighting spirit, so after a brief discussion, they decided to fight with the British at sea.

Admiral Spee suggested that Hippel should transfer to a "King" or "Bavarian" class battleship as its flagship. However, the Lieutenant General decisively rejected the kindness of the Navy General Staff and resolutely decided to return to the battlecruiser "De Fringer" by traffic boat.

After a brief rest, the German fleet completed the steering and began to sail south. Lieutenant General Hippel commanded four battlecruisers to be in front of the entire fleet, behind which were three battle fleets led by the Bavarian class, followed by four "Kings", four "Caesars", five "Hergolans" and three "Germany", and four "Nassau" classes were at the last position of the array.

The Fourth Cruiser Detachment and some torpedo boats were on the search mission in the front.

It was dusk now, the sun had disappeared below the sea level, the afterglow of the setting sun turned the sky into a gorgeous color, and the horn of the battle would be played again.

At the same time, the British fleet had also completed its turn. On the bridge of the Iron Duke, the commander-in-chief of the large fleet was ashen, and the result of the battle between the two sides disappointed him. So far, the British fleet had lost four main battleships, while the Germans remained intact.

The latest news from the "Introversion" was that six more battleships of the Germans joined the battlefield. Jeliko felt the emergency and seriousness of the situation. He was now blocking the Germans' way home. It was obvious that the Germans were very likely to forcibly rush over again and have another decisive battle with him. The latest "Queen" class in his hand is currently only two. The servo of the "War-Welfare" was broken, and the boiler cabin of the "Malaya" was also penetrated, losing half of its power. The Admiral ordered the two seriously damaged battleships to leave the battlefield and return in a group.

27:23, Jelico did not think he had the advantage. The Germans were equipped with no less 13-inch main guns than the British. He was naturally cautious and he was hesitant. The combat order issued by the Admiralty was to hope that they could intercept the German fleet and deal a heavy blow to their opponents, but Jelico thought it was difficult to do.

Previous battles have proved that naval guns are actually difficult to cause a fatal blow to strong defense battleships. Even the 15-inch main guns equipped on the Queen and two Revenge class battleships seem to be insufficient in penetration. The British battleships, the USS War-weary and Malaya, both suffered more than twenty large-caliber shells, and the USS Tiger was even hit 28 times. However, these warships were forbidden to withstand the strikes due to excellent protection. As for the sunken battleships, it was because of those damn weak defense design flaws.

Suffering experience proves that it is a big mistake to put these battlecruisers with great protection defects into the battleship duel.

Seeing that the sky began to darken and the visibility on the sea surface suddenly decreased, Jelico wanted to order the fleet to turn west and end the battle. At this time, he saw the Betty fleet returning from the north and was turning, so he ordered a searchlight to send a signal to ask: "Where is the enemy battle fleet?"

"The north is west!" Betty gave a vague answer, and he was unable to determine the specific location of the German fleet now.

Jelico looked at the threatening sky in the northwest direction with some anxiety, and sometimes turned around and stared at the charts, making it difficult to make a decision. Amidst tension and hesitation, the fleet continued to sail northwest for about 6 minutes, and the situation began to become clear. At 8:10, the "Balham" discovered that the German fleet was sailing northwest and southeast. Due to the destruction of its radio station, Major General Thomas' report was forwarded to the flagship by the "Brave" in front of him. Almost at the same time, the "Lion" also reported seeing the German high seas fleet in the northwest direction.

It can now be determined that the German fleet is about half the rudder on the starboard side of the British fleet, and the direction is roughly correct. In fact, the British ship discovered the cruiser "Stuttgart" which was in the search mission, and the distance between the two sides was 3 nautical miles. The current situation is no longer allowed to hesitate. If the British fleet wants to intercept the German fleet, it has to turn right, but doing so may take certain risks.

In fact, the British had time to turn right, but Jelico made a completely opposite decision, ordering the fleet to turn left and head to the northwest.

This made General Jelico questioned and criticized by the British after the naval war, and eventually led to his resignation from the position of commander-in-chief of the local fleet. On the contrary, his opponents, General Speer and General Schell, gave high praise to his command. In an interview with the British after the war, General Speer said that if it were not for Jelico's decision to preserve the British local fleet, then perhaps the German fleet and the Royal Navy would have both lost the sea outside Denmark. The problem is that in the Mediterranean, Austria-Hungary and Germany still have nearly twenty battleships or battlecruisers. If this fleet rushed out of Gibraltar, how would the British respond?

In the end, the American naval historian Evans Porter gave a relatively fair evaluation: Admiral Jelico's decision avoided a life-and-death duel between the Royal Navy and the Germans, leaving a way out for both himself and his opponents. In the end, the two sides lost two dreadnoughts in a fierce firefight, and the British slightly regained some face, thus ending this eye-catching peak sea battle.

As night fell, the rumbling sound of cannons on the sea gradually disappeared, and the smoke gradually dissipated. The officers and soldiers on each ship were busy extinguishing the sporadic flames on the deck. A fierce maritime war that lasted for nearly twenty minutes was declared over. The British side lost two dreadnoughts, the "Magnificent" and the "Bold", while the "Bomeron" was sunk on the German side, and the "Silesia" seemed to be irrescue and had to give up in the end.

None of the sides of the war got a good advantage. The lights flashed on the Frederick the Great. Schell asked Spee if he would pursue the British. The Navy Chief of Staff answered: "Return all!" Hippel was even more determined to leave the battlefield and would never look back.

In the battle just now, his battle cruiser fleet suffered heavy damage again, and the ships had long become beyond recognition.

Jelico also ordered the fleet to return westward and no longer engage in any entanglement. In the battle room of the "Lion", Lieutenant General Betty looked depressed and sat alone in the corner. The entire naval battle made him extremely disappointed. In any case, this damn battle was over!
Chapter completed!