Chapter 246: An early decisive battle

  The 'Invincible-class' battlecruiser and the 'Indefatigable-class' battlecruiser, as the earliest two-class battlecruiser of the British Navy, have brought the design concept of emphasizing firepower and speed and despising defense to the extreme.

   However, naval battles have proved that defense and survivability play a very important role in naval battles. The defense is too poor, and often as long as it is hit, it will be severely injured or even sunk.

  But now, the British Navy has nothing to do. Knowing that the situation is very unfavorable to them, but still have to bite the bullet.

   "Fire!"

   At a distance of 15,000 meters, the German Navy fired first. Three "Moltke-class" battlecruisers and three "Blücher-class" battlecruisers began to pour shells at their respective targets. The targets of the 'Moltke-class' battlecruisers were the 'Tiger' and the remaining two ships of the 'Lion-class' battlecruisers, and the targets of the 'Blücher-class' battlecruisers were clearly 'Indefatigable', 'Australia' and 'Indomitable'.

  The German Navy also hopes that the "Blücher-class" battlecruisers will win first. After all, although the enemy they faced was not weak in firepower, their defense was too rubbish. As long as it is hit by a shell, it is possible to seriously damage it. If the key is hit, it may even be sunk directly. Although, the caliber of the main gun of the "Blücher-class" battlecruiser is only 305 mm. However, the 305mm main gun with 50 times the caliber has extremely terrifying armor capabilities, and it cannot even withstand the defense of the "King George V" battleships, let alone these weakly armored battlecruisers.

   "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  Accompanied by a roar that shook the sky, one after another shells roared and smashed into the opponent's battleship.

  After the German Navy's breaking fleet opened fire, the British Navy was not to be outdone, and all nine battlecruisers opened fire one after another. Moreover, they are still trying their best to shorten the distance. When one's own defense is far inferior to that of the enemy, the British Navy hopes to improve the armor-piercing ability of its own shells by shortening the distance. In this case, it may be possible to reverse the unfavorable situation as much as possible.

   It's a pity that the German navy was not fooled at all. With the speeds of both sides almost the same, they kept the combat distance at a distance of 12,000 to 13,000 meters. This distance is very beneficial to the German Navy. The main gun of the British Navy can hardly penetrate the main armor of the German Navy. However, the main guns of the German Navy can easily penetrate the armor of British battleships. In such a fight, the German navy will obviously take advantage, and the numerical advantage of the British navy will almost be completely offset. After all, what's the use of having quantity? You must be able to hit the target and penetrate the armor before you can cause damage to the target! Otherwise, it is a waste of shells.

   At 11:45 noon, the battlecruiser "Von der Tann" of the German Navy took the lead in forming a straddle in this naval battle. When a 305mm artillery shell exploded on the sea surface on the left side of the battlecruiser "Australia", hundreds of officers and soldiers on the entire ship couldn't help but gasped.

   "Damn, when did the Germans become so powerful?"

  Countless British naval officers and soldiers have such a question in their minds. They also learned about the tragedy of the four "King George V-class" battleships before. But now when they really fight against the German navy, they know how powerful their enemy is.

  The battlecruiser 'Von de Tann' immediately switched to focused fire, and three triple-mounted 50-caliber 305mm main guns began to pour shells at the 'Australia' at the maximum rate of fire.

   "Boom!"

  A shell hit the sea, and after the explosion, a water column as high as ten meters was splashed. The water splashed down and hit the sea surface, making a crackling sound, just like a storm was falling.

  A dozen battlecruisers from both sides fought fiercely in this sea area, which directly made this sea area boil.

   On another battlefield, the fierce battle between the three "Derfflinger-class" battlecruisers of the German Navy and the four "Iron Duke-class" battleships of the British Navy also kicked off. The 380mm main gun of the "Derfflinger-class" battlecruiser is amazingly powerful. Every shell that explodes on the sea can splash water columns soaring into the sky, and the momentum is astonishing.

   The officers and soldiers of the British Navy can only bite the bullet and fight fiercely with them. They all knew very well that even though their warships were battleships, their armor was too weak. If they were hit by a 380mm shell, it would be enough to cause them severe damage.

  This naval battle is a crucial naval battle for the British Navy and the German Navy, and it can even determine the outcome of the two sides in this war. It is not an exaggeration to say that the decisive battle between the two sides has arrived ahead of schedule.

  Originally, the British Navy just wanted to destroy the German Navy's breaking fleet in this operation, so as to ensure the safety of their sea transportation lines. But I didn't expect that the German navy also deployed a backhand, and it was very aggressive. The fleet that used them as bait almost wiped out all of them. This caused the British Navy to suffer another heavy blow. It also made Lieutenant General David Betty, who carried out this plan, a little bit hard to get off.

  If they stop here, their losses will be in vain, and it will be difficult to get them back. Therefore, Lieutenant General David Beatty had no choice but to pin his hopes on the next battle. If the Royal Navy could show its might and defeat the German Navy in one fell swoop, they might be able to reverse the situation. Conversely, if the British navy failed instead of succeeding, it would be very difficult for the British navy to win this war.

  The same is true for the German Navy. When the imperial prince Qin Tian was formulating this battle plan, he regarded this plan as a plan to secure the victory in advance. If the German Navy can win in this plan, then the German Navy will be able to secure the victory in advance. In the future decisive battle at sea, there will be no problems at all.

  So, the German Navy desperately wanted to win this naval battle. This will be directly related to whether they can establish the victory of this decisive battle.

  This naval battle has become crucial for both Britain and Germany. Whoever can win will have an advantage in the future decisive battle. However, from the current point of view, the possibility of the German Navy's victory seems to be a little bit greater.