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Part One Twenty Years Chapter 12 The Fall of the Star-Spangled Banner (4)

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    (Finally there is good news. The air conditioner has finally been repaired. I burst into tears. Also, the British chapter of Orkney will end tomorrow. You can count how many ships the British have left)

    "("King of the North Atlantic" Section 7, The End of the Union Flag[7])

    Sealem's plan to completely destroy the Royal Navy failed. David Beatty, who valued Nelson's spirit and the quality of professional officers as extremely important, abandoned the Second Battle Fleet and thousands of soldiers on the battlefield with a telegram that almost cut off a man's wrist.  , will abandon and take all the responsibility for the defeat of the Orkney Islands naval battle.

    In an instant, the dust of the entire British island's overt and covert struggles settled. Only the British Lord of the Admiralty, Balfour, let out a lonely sigh in his dim office.

    The fast fleet is in the process of turning. It is foreseeable that General Lampard's nine battlecruisers will pass at a high speed from the southern edge of the battlefield at a speed of at least 25 knots, and then go straight into Scapa Flow.  The main fleet of the Grand Fleet was speeding up like crazy, even if the flagship Revenge and the Marlborough of the third squadron gradually fell behind, even if the first battle fleet gradually distanced itself from the weak squadron, even if it faced the 15-inch main gun group  There are only four Helgoland-class battleships that have been in service for nearly ten years and two Nassau-class battleships that have been severely damaged. The First Battle Fleet is still dragging long lines of soot and performing a life-threatening run on the North Sea.

    Faced with a large fleet that insisted on losing its fleet to save its commander, and even turned a blind eye to the bait deliberately thrown out by the Ocean Fleet - the First Battle Fleet that had lost the protection of the Third Battle Fleet, even the genius Heidi Sillem had no choice.  .

    Silem did not show his disappointment on his face, but from this sentence, "Let the third battle fleet adjust its course, and there is no need to rush back to the battle line of the main fleet, and have a happy battle line with the fast fleet.  It will be whatever it is.  We are not inferior to those scumbag ships of the Fast Fleet', the staff of the Ocean Fleet Headquarters still vaguely smelled something sour.

    In the third year of the war, the so-called gentlemanly demeanor in the navy has been completely eliminated, and Britain and Germany have long forged sworn enemies.

    The last round of fighting continues.

    With great difficulty, the Bavaria, which had its bow pointed due south, occupied a T-shaped head. It only had time to fire three rounds of main guns at the fast fleet flagship Barham, which was 16 kilometers away, before being ordered to turn.  The other ships of the Third Battle Fleet, who were busy seizing the T-shaped head, realized that it was just a joyful occasion, and they could only adjust their courses and speeds according to the instructions of the flagship.

    It is an extremely complicated process to allow the fleet in the process of turning to maintain a relatively intact formation and turn around again. A staff officer of the battleship Oldenburg recalled the chaotic scene of the Third Battle Fleet at that time: "After the general issued the order, the navigation officer,  The communications officer, the cockpit, and the steering gear compartment almost lost their hands and feet within a few seconds.  Various semaphores and flags rose from the mast of each ship, big, small, triangular, square. The confidential officers in the telegraph room almost stepped on the threshold of the conning tower.  ¡¯

    In the North Sea, the battleship Bayern forcibly increased its speed.  Reorient the ship's bow to the southwest and activate the electrically powered main gun steering device.  Gradually, the four Helgolands also followed the flagship's movements, always paying attention to maintaining the distance and course between the warships.  As for the four Caesar-class battleships that have not yet turned around.  They were thankful that after slowing down, they no longer had to worry about the possibility of collision with the First Battle Fleet.  While adjusting the direction of the 305mm main gun muzzle, aim at the opponent who is about to rush out from the south side of the battlefield.

    The formation of the third battle fleet is chaotic and disorderly at the moment, and the fast fleet is not that good.  The start-up time of the fast fleet is three to five minutes later than that of the Germans, and the steering angle is larger than that of the Germans. Therefore, even though the relative distance between the two dreadnought fleets is constantly shortening, the opponent is unable to fight back because of the fleet's steering.  But neither side could launch an attack first.

    At the end of the third round of fighting, the main fleet was still the first to achieve results.

    Lieutenant General Mavey's First Battle Fleet began to slow down in the vast North Sea, hoping that the British would try to sink four Helgoland-class and two Nassau-class battleships for a small profit, thereby actively reducing them.  speed.  It gave the Ocean Fleet the opportunity to completely destroy the main fleet of the Grand Fleet, while worrying whether the British would really be determined to slow down and use the 15-inch main gun group to fight to the death.

    The fact is that the British gave up. They abandoned the Second Battle Fleet and began to risk their lives.

    Since the British took the initiative to send a big gift, Lieutenant General Mavey, who lost two battleships, had no reason not to accept the gift from the British, or he would not mind regaining ground from the British and trampling on them a few more times.  As for Heidi Silem, his ambitions are greater than Lieutenant General Mawei, who has a typical German military character of being cautious. In his plan, if the British dare to commit suicide as a hero, they at least have to stay.  Next?? Iron Duke -class battleships as compensation.

    On the battlefield, the Goliath battleship faced the attack of a Mackensen-class and a Derflinger-class battle cruiser and soon could not hold on.

    At 14:12, the battleship Giant's trestle collapsed after nine rounds of bombs were fired, and a huge hole was drilled through the chimney near the conning tower.  The propellant loading chamber of the P turret was punctured, causing a fire that spread from the P turret amidships to the stern of the ship.  The medical cabin at the bow of the ship was overcrowded, and many injured people could only receive first aid on the relatively safe secondary deck. The seriously injured were given a simple injection of morphine, and the medical officer's job was to quickly stop bleeding, bandage and splint.  As the fire began to spread deeper into the ship's hull, sailors poisoned by gas were lifted out of the hold, their skin pale and they kept vomiting.

    At this moment, a 350mm armor-piercing projectile came over and followed the path of the previous 380mm armor-piercing projectile and once again sank into the black hole of the P turret of the battleship Giant.  This time, the explosion-proof cover of the main turret well failed to function, so the battleship of more than 20,000 tons shook and trembled violently at sea.  After a series of explosions, the battleship Titan broke apart and quickly sank into the sea.

    This was just the beginning of the disaster. Not long after, a more terrible accident happened.

    In the earlier exchange of fire, the battleship Marlborough gradually fell behind due to damage to its hull. The battleship Ben Bow behind the Marlborough was being fiercely attacked by the German Baden, and did not notice the approaching Marlborough at all.  When the distance between the two battleships was less than a hundred meters, the Benbow woke up from a dream.

    The captain of the Ben Bao ordered an emergency turn and shouted damage control preparations, but it was too late.  Before the Benbow could escape the range of hydrodynamics, the two ships collided uncontrollably. The bow of the battleship Benbow hit the stern of the Marlborough, and the bow of the former was seriously damaged.  water, and the latter's transmission system was severely damaged.

    At any time, a collision at sea is abhorrent, especially in a naval battle. Fleet commanders can tolerate the sinking of their own capital ships and the firing of firecrackers by their opponents, but they do not allow collisions to occur¡ª¡ª  Combat attrition due to human error is in itself annoying. What's more, a collision is always a slap in the face. Once it happens, the two warships will directly lose their combat effectiveness.

    It rained all night, and the First Battle Fleet would not be polite to the British. The battleship Baden and the four Helgoland-class ships desperately focused their fire on the two poor super-dreadnoughts. In less than five minutes,  At that time, the battleships Benbow and Marlborough were sunk one after another.

    The battleship HMS Emperor of India, which was at the end of the British Fourth Battle Fleet, was also almost hit. Fortunately, the captain ordered a turn in time. The Iron Duke-class battleship was barely able to avoid it, and it was a blessing in disguise that it leaned on the pair of troubled brothers.  The steel city wall suddenly increased the speed to 21 knots, and finally escaped the fierce pursuit of the Germans.

    The fierce battle is going on here on the battle line, and on the other side, good news has come from the third battle fleet.  (To be continued.)
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