The Royal Navy's local fleet led by Admiral Jelico has also reached the edge of the battlefield.[

At this time, a rumbling sound of cannons came from a distance. Major General Hood reported that he was being attacked by eight German battleships. In his southwest direction, the German fleet was chasing the Betty fleet retreating in his direction. Admiral Jelico stood on the bridge of the flagship "Iron Duke" with some anxiety. The messages sent back from all aspects were probably a preliminary understanding of the German intentions: Betty should have encountered the main force of the German high seas fleet, and Major General Hood encountered the German battle fleet that was conducting the so-called "sea test" in the Strait of Katgart. The Navy Department's Operations Department set up a trap for the Germans, but unexpectedly fell into a trap carefully set by the enemy.

It can be concluded that he will face all the main forces of the German High Seas Fleet, a sea decisive battle that the British expected.

But his determination was a little shaken. Around him, 24 battleships gathered. In addition to the Queen Elizabeth and the Fearless, which were underway for maintenance in the shipyard, all the main forces of the Royal Navy were concentrated here.

It was an unimaginable bet, but the problem was that he couldn't lose.

The Germans could still hold on without a naval force, but the British could not. Once the local fleet suffered huge losses in the naval battle, it meant that the British Empire had lost the entire war.

Now his fleet is lined up in six columns, approaching the enemy's main fleet at a relative speed of 3/4 nautical miles per minute, and it will start to exchange fire with them in about 15 minutes. Jeliko seemed a little hesitant. The safety of his own fleet was always his priority. Even if he gave up the opportunity to fight with the enemy, he had to ensure the safety of the fleet. On the other hand, he could not tell which direction the Scher fleet would enter the battlefield. Once his position was wrong and he was cut by the Germans and forced to turn forward, what awaited him would be disastrous.

Betty and Hood's battle cruisers were both in the fight, and the wounded cruiser Chester was trying to put out the fire, but neither sent back the correct information.

At 6:03, he received a new report from General Goodno: "Lost the trace of the enemy's battle fleet and is fighting with the German battle patrol. It is located at 56 degrees and 57 degrees and 43 degrees and 5 degrees and 43 degrees and 26 knots in a direction.

This provided some help. At this time, Jelico began to understand the position of the German fleet. The German fleet was closer than he expected. The local fleet only had 15 minutes to turn the six columns into single columns. To the left or right, it was time to make a decision. After about 20 seconds of contemplation, the Admiral raised his head and issued an order to the communication officer Lieutenant Colonel Woods: "To the southeast, unfold the single columns and move forward at a constant speed!"

The "Iron Duke" raised a signal flag for changing formations and moving forward at a constant speed, and at the same time notified each ship by radio: starting from the left, the fleet turned left in turn and expanded a single formation, and each ship followed the squadron flagship.

So, the British fleet began to line up with the "George V" and gradually grew into a 10-kilometer-long maritime ship.

The situation at sea is very complicated and chaotic: Betty's fleet has already met with Jelico. Since it was unable to find a suitable position, Betty led the scarred fleet to the last position of the array. The chasing Hiper Fleet is on their south side, and the main force of the High Seas Fleet led by Schell is still slightly southwest of the Hiper Fleet.

On the other hand, the Spee fleet was chasing three battlecruisers led by Major General Hood about 12 nautical miles east of Jelico.

Due to the emergence of the Hood fleet, Lieutenant General Hippel and Admiral Schell also realized that the main force of the British local fleet led by Jelico might be behind them. Hippel, who was pursuing Betty's fleet, decided to leave the battlefield first. He ordered the fleet to reduce its speed to 18 knots, intending to meet with Schell, who was following his left, and then head northeast together.

However, the Germans' judgment was deviated, and the position of the Jelico fleet was northwest of Major General Hood, not directly north. In this way, the Hippel fleet crashed towards the Jelico fleet, which had already unfolded its formation.

The sea breeze at dusk blew away the mist on the sea. At 6:20, the lookout hand on the battlecruiser "Luzov" who had just turned northeasted, shouted in surprise: "Enemy battle fleet, my goodness! They have thirty ships!" Lieutenant General Hippel looked towards the sea level ahead. In the distance between the sea and sky, a long row of jungle-like chimneys and masts appeared. He was heading forward against all the muzzles of the British local fleet.

Hippel was shocked and quickly issued an order: "The fleet turned left 20 and sent a report to General Schell. He found that the enemy's main fleet was northeast and the southeast to the east!" As soon as his turn order was issued, he saw clusters of orange flames shining on the sea in the distance, and the British shelling had begun.

On August 31, 1916, the strongest maritime decisive battle after mankind entered the industrial age finally kicked off. The collision of giant ships, cannons, and steel, and the result of the fierce maritime arms race between the two countries over the past decade will be ruled. This is the strongest maritime peak showdown in human history. This is a comprehensive consideration of the economic strength, industrial capacity and technical level between two world powers. Success or failure seems to be answered soon.

In the shooting command tower of the "Grand Duke of Franz", Captain Sa Shijun, who had been watching the sea surface, was also stunned by the scene that suddenly appeared in front of him: Although the black smoke from hundreds of chimneys made it impossible to distinguish the outline of the British warship, the battle lines of more than 10 kilometers could still be seen in the telescope tube, which was a huge fleet of more than 30 dreadnoughts or super dreadnoughts.

"This is the foundation of a maritime power!" Sa Shijun couldn't help feeling guilty and subconsciously turned back to find his own reinforcements. In the southwest direction, General Scher led a main fleet of 17 battleships and was rushing to arrive. The two fleets are now heading towards each other. After receiving Hippel's report, the main force of the German high seas fleet also began to turn north. The two fleets formed a huge "inverted horoscope" shape on the sea surface, quickly approaching.

The sound of cannons roared on the sea, and the British muzzles were shining with flames. The formation had been unfolded. The British fleet, which occupied a favorable position, concentrated all the sidewalk firepower and launched an attack on the Hiper Fleet. Admiral Schell found that he was in a very favorable position, so he ordered Hiper to lead the fleet to launch an assault on the British, winning time for his main fleet to complete the steering and unfold the formation.

At 6:27, the fierce battle began again.

The British battleship group occupied a favorable position and could exert all firepower. Nearly 270 large-caliber naval guns poured bullets into the sea. In contrast, the German counterattack firepower was much weaker. Only the seven battlecruisers led by Hippel and the four "King-class" battleships of the Fifth Battleship led by Major General Barnke have completed the steering and can exert all side firepower.
Chapter completed!