On the sea about 200 kilometers northeast of Uruguay, the British intercepted the fleet's front, who had arrived in a hurry, met the German fleet that had just vented a slightest force.

When Major General Cradock saw the behemoth on the opposite side through the telescope, he was in a mood almost the same as Major General Stoddat who died heroically.

In particular, he personally commanded a warship to exercise with the same type of battleship, and knew how difficult it was for the guys on the other side. The difference was that in the last exercise, the Chinese Navy forcibly reduced the performance of the warship and disguised itself as a general combat patrol. This time, it was a serious and complete version!

After returning from the major general lost too much last time, he studied the pros and cons for a while. If he faced him again, he was somewhat sure. But when he saw four big guys face to face, he was eyeing him with the main gun, Cradock still couldn't help but feel irritated.

He was not sure!

This is quite difficult to say and it is also a result that he is very unhappy to admit. But there is no way, the gap in strength between the two sides is here, Major General Stodat also used the lives of more than a thousand British naval officers and soldiers to prove the strength of the Germans.

According to common sense, Major General Cradock should no longer be stubborn. Whether it is instructions from the Admiralty or the understanding of the enemy's strength, letting go is a wise choice.

But just when he easily blocked the other party with the help of the merchant ship telegrams that appeared on the Atlantic Ocean, a sense of uncontrollable fighting spirit burned like gasoline!

"Is it really invincible? Just avoid it like this?"

After asking himself, Major General Cradock suddenly clenched his fists: "No, I must retreat without fighting! At least I should fulfill my duties and let the Germans feel the determination and will of the British Empire naval soldiers!"

Take a deep breath. The major general decisively issued a command to face the battle.

The four main battleships and two auxiliary armored cruisers immediately sounded the alarm and began to accelerate.

The four main battleships under Cradock are the two dreadnoughts "Berrofon" and "Magnificent". The two armored ships are the "Edward VII class" "Soviet" and the "Ireland".

Both dreadnoughts were equipped with five 10-door 45-diameter 305mm main guns, with a range of 17,200 meters. The enhanced heat pipe boiler and the British-made Parson-type direct transmission steam turbine have a maximum speed of 21 knots.

The ship has 254mm side armor, 278mm on the front of the turret and the command tower, all of which use the latest Wicks armor. In terms of defense capabilities, it takes into account durability than the previous armored ships' 305mm armor.

The latter two armored ships were equipped with two four-door 305mm main guns, plus 10 3mm firepower. This was affected by the Chinese fleet's advance of the entire main gun battleship, and the design was modified in advance.

In terms of armor, it has the old 305mm main armor and turret armor, and its protection is not much worse than that of the dreadnought. However, its speed is slightly slower, with only 19 knots.

From the perspective of military equipment, the four warships have 24 305mm main guns and 20 3mm main guns, which seems to be the number of them better than the 36 main guns of the German warships on the opposite side.

However, the ammunition delivery volume and range and power are one level lower. So in comparison, it seems that the British side is definitely at a disadvantage.

However, if you have no chance, it may not be. According to the information obtained by the UK, the battleships designed by China at that time were as high as 30,000 tons of full load displacement, and the actual thickness of the main armor was only 305mm, which was not much higher.

The reason why the hull is so large is that the triple turret is too heavy, the front and rear double bridges of the take-away front and rear are obviously tall, and the main system is strong, and the displacement is further increased.

In addition, there are some unconfirmed rumors that China-built warships have further strengthened the protection of key areas. Not to mention, the three-layer horizontal armor alone, plus the multi-layer protection around the ammunition depot, mainframe and fuel silo will bring at least two or three thousand tons of weight.

Including the cabin size reserved to ensure a large range, we can know that even if they want to make the warship smaller, it will not work.

As an example, the strongest "Iron Duke" in the UK has a huge hull of 30,580 tons, loaded with 10 13.5mm main guns, a maximum thickness of 12 inches, a range of 8,580 nautical miles per 10 knots, and a speed of 22.5 knots. Among them, many enhanced armors, decks and watertight compartments have all been redesigned and strengthened, and their anti-sinking ability is more than the original dreadnoughts.

The "Queen Elizabeth-class" under construction increased its displacement to a height of 33,000 tons, and the return gift also became eight 380mm cannons.

In the words of the British Navy upper class, "This is the real battleship."

Yes, according to the standards that the Chinese had taken the lead in the process, a single caliber full main gun, high speed, high armor thickness, and large range were used, and a full set of latest technical equipment was adopted to seize the dominant position with high maneuverage, and use volley firepower and heavy armor-piercing bombs to hit the target hard!

Ten years, a full ten years! Starting from knowing that China has made the "Hebei-class" battleships as a template, the British Empire Navy was finally able to create excellent battleships that could surpass the other side! I have to say that the pursuit is really painful.

Major General Cradock hated this feeling extremely. As a navy general and aristocrat, he could not tolerate the dignified British Empire navy being left behind. Now he met an object of shame for him in person. If he pretended to be invisible, would he still have the face to see others in the future?

Just like the warriors in the legendary story, the British knew that their strength was at the disadvantage of the enemy, but they still resolutely launched a brave frontal charge!

Major General Cradock did not blindly take risks with his lives and thousands of navy soldiers. He repeatedly calculated that he had a considerable chance to deal a heavy blow to the other party!

Nothing else, battleships these days cannot open fire and bombard the highest speed. Although the guys on the opposite side may have a speed that exceeds their own, they will not be able to take advantage of themselves when seizing the T-head position. However, when firing, they must slow down to the same level as each other.

Moreover, in order to ensure the hit rate, the opponent must also pull the shooting distance down within ten kilometers, so that his own artillery can exert considerable strike ability! If the number advantage is added to the numerical advantage and the array is dispersed, it may form a short-term face-to-face bayonet, with more and less. With his own 305mm main gun, he doesn't believe that he can't leave a heavy blow to the opponent!

As long as the enemy ships can be injured, the main fleet that accelerates behind can be beaten up in one fell swoop!

This is a risk worth taking!

Raise the flag and sound the alarm. Four main battleships line up in a row, and two armored cruisers are formed separately and dragged behind, waiting for an opportunity to advance, or shell or launch torpedoes.

As for the German fleet, they could clearly see the British's actions, and the officers couldn't help but frown: "The British should have received the news of the previous fleet's defeat? They still refused to learn from their lessons and continued to challenge us overestimate their abilities? However, it seems to be a bit threatening."

Having realized the strength of his own strength, the German navy soldiers were full of fighting spirit and were completely fearless.

The accompanying naval staff reminded Major General Spe: "Our purpose is to successfully drive these four warships back to Morocco or the Mediterranean, becoming the main force that restrains the British Atlantic fleet, and in the war, it becomes the key force to cut off its transportation connection with overseas colonies. For the overall strategic goal, we must not lose! In comparison, it is not important whether the British warships on the opposite side sink."

Major General Spee narrowed his eyes and replied extremely toughly: "I don't think that the little power in the past will pose any threat to us. On the contrary, I think this is one of the heavy responsibilities of this fleet. Whether it is to cultivate the fighting will of soldiers or weaken the British maritime power, this battle has enough value."

He ordered without hesitation to fight!

After a baptism of battle, all members of this fleet became much more calm. After step by step, they worked with the great guys to skillfully seize the advantageous position.

Both sides want to seriously damage the opponent and make achievements, so there is no need to dodge. After each of them uses all their strength to seize the t-shaped head and decide the winner as scheduled, no surprise, the German fleet will take the lead with a column.

The Cradock fleet was just the opposite, with two staggered formations like the previous German mode. Among them, four battleships, armored ships paired up in pairs, and rushed to the front with the most powerful "Berrofen-class" and the two armored ships behind. In this way, they formed a face-to-face firepower that could be coordinated, but they would not be attacked by the opponent calmly concentrated firepower one by one.

At the same time, two armored cruisers interspersed from behind, trying to force the enemy ships while the chaos was in trouble. No need to guess what they were going to do.

Once the confrontation is formed, the distance will be quickly narrowed, and the German warships will fire first!

Compared with the main gun with a range of only 17,200 meters, the Germans used a 45-diameter 356mm gun with a range of up to 000 meters, and its accuracy is higher than that of the opponent, and its firing rate is not inferior. The aiming speed is no problem.

The only drawback is that the triple-mounted turrets did not provide a firing delay device on the German warships. If the three main guns were fired together, it would cause the gun gusts to interfere with each other, and the accuracy would drop sharply. The solution obtained by the Germans was to use only two main guns on the left and right at a time, and the three main guns in the middle of the three turrets were fired into a group of volleys.

This seems awkward, but it ensures the accuracy of the volleyball to the greatest extent. Otherwise, a more troublesome method must be taken. The British will inevitably make the barrels of different lengths. The Germans themselves seem to have to increase the distance between the main barrels, which leads to a surge in the weight of the turret, which further affects the armor, total displacement, etc. The resulting useless death weight is quite considerable!

But this problem is not a problem at all for the current German fleet. They have been practicing the entire set of tactics for more than half a year, and they have no effect when used.

So, when entering the strike distance, the four battleships arranged in arcs first launched a test-fire, and the landing point exploded an evacuated water column about two kilometers away from the target British ship "Magnificent". The second test shot dispersed the landing point, forming a span and estimating a relatively accurate distance. The support entered the dense volley.

At this time, the distance between the two sides is still more than 12 kilometers!

Major General Cradock's face was extremely serious! At this distance, the warship on his side could not aim at the other side! With the main gun in his hand, the landing point could not be seen too clearly after hitting so far. He had to push 10 kilometers or even 8 kilometers to be quite sure to hit.

But before that, the opponent could shoot several rounds in a row!

He finally understood why Major General Stodat was wiped out. It was really a one-sided blow. It was too difficult to get close to the enemy ship to fight for bayonets.

In this era, only the Chinese navies were skilled in the routine of columns grabbing the word T in actual combat and hitting the enemy with volleys. Although the countries themselves have practiced, they are unfamiliar with actual combat.

The Germans have guidance from Chinese friends, and they are relatively rich in experience. After another practical verification, they are skilled and confident. Compared with such a high or low, the British are not a little bit inferior!

After several rounds of volleys, the Germans cooperated more and more tacitly, and always followed the training routine, insisting on the strategy of joint firing and strike by four ships. The front and rear turrets cooperated with each other, throwing heavy shells on the head of the enemy ship directly opposite!

Just as both sides approached 10 kilometers, a near-lost bomb was generated and a hit hit was generated! The two dreadnoughts heading in front were hit by heavy armor-piercing bombs, and steel flew around, and the explosion smoke rose. The optical rangefinder on the main mast was not even easy to stabilize the position!

Major General Cradock insisted on staying in the commander's tower and personally experienced how terrible the large-caliber shell was when it hit the edge! One shot was knocked down at a steep angle, flattening the turret in front on the right. The 278mm thick armor failed to block the violent kinetic impact of the 650kg armor-piercing shell, and was easily blown away!

At that moment, the major general only saw countless steel on the side scrambling to leave the warship. The broken double-mounted turret was flying higher than the commander's tower. A gun barrel was thrown out more than ten meters away and smashed into the sea. A large number of debris rose up, and the main mast and the side hull jingled. One of the secondary guns was flattened, and all the members of the gun positions turned into meat sauce!

Fortunately, this gun did not cause a death explosion. It was just the bombardment of the shell's own charge, but it also made the major general's ears buzz for a long time. Until the end of the battle, he did not recover his hearing.

Entering modern artillery battles, optical aiming and fire control systems play a role. Once a near-loss and leap is formed, hitting is almost inevitable. Once you are hit, you will wait for more artillery shells to arrive accurately!

The British realized for the first time what a life-threatening bomb attack was. Major General Cradock's flagship then kept shaking in the hit explosion and the roar of missing bombs. Not to mention aiming and counterattacking, it was difficult to stand firm!

The 356mm armor-piercing bomb itself is considered equal to the "Queen Elizabeth-class" and is used on the dreadnought. After a few hits, an explosion finally opened a big hole in the bow, causing the fire to blur the vision in front of the ship!

Major General Cradock's heart skipped a beat and finally realized that it was not good! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!