Chapter 15: Germany, Germany! (3)

  Because I have a part-time job, updates may be unstable recently. I'll try to schedule new chapter uploads at 7:30 PM; if it's not uploaded by then, there probably won't be an update that day. This chapter had quite a few bugs, so I made some changes in the middle of the night. Then I received some shocking news - Germans use metric units for distance, while the British use nautical miles. It looks like I'll have to start revising from the Battle of Heligoland Bight onwards; next chapter will change to metric units for the German side, and previous chapters will be revised gradually.

  At 17:56, in the fading light of a northern summer evening, Admiral Beatty's fast force - the five battleships of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron - formed up line ahead and followed the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at high speed.

  On the vast ocean, the flagship Queen Elizabeth, which had not yet formed a combat force, took the lead, followed closely by her sister ship Iron Duke. The three Invincible-class battlecruisers, which had just traversed thousands of miles from the Falkland Islands and Rogerestvensky's mad dog style, lagged behind with a lingering regret. Acting Commander-in-Chief Admiral Muir stood beside the bridge of Queen Elizabeth, the naval flag at the top of the mainmast flapping in the wind, constantly slapping against the face of the old general who was lost in thought.

  "Commander, our distance from the vanguard is still increasing!"

  25.1 knots, two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships ran out of light load trials that had never been reached before, but the distance between the second battlecruiser squadron and the front team sailing at 26.1 knots was still expanding.

  "The First Battlecruiser Squadron and the German First Scouting Group were engaged in a battle formation heading east by northeast. Based on the experiences of the Yellow Sea, Tsushima, and Dogger Bank battles, the clash between ironclad steamships would not be settled in just three to five hours. The distance between the vanguard and the Germans was at most 100 nautical miles from the Jutland coast, meaning that both fleets would inevitably choose to turn.

  Just a few minutes ago, the flagship of the First Battlecruiser Squadron, Lion, had sent news of engaging fire with the Germans and David Beatty's summons. However, old General Muir had an even more wonderful idea. Muir leaned against the handrail of the bridge corridor, speaking slowly to his temporary chief of staff: "General Beatty's pre-battle plan was to lure the Germans out of Heligoland Bay and as far north as possible, so we'll intercept them from the north!"

  "North? North!" The chief of staff of the Second Battle Cruiser Squadron repeated, tilting his head as he gazed at the old general with a confident face.

  ****

  In 1912, the Lion-class battlecruiser conquered the discerning British Empire with its smooth and elegant appearance and the English gentleman's temperament that radiated from it, so much so that the arrogant Britons gave it the reputation of "perfect cat" without reservation. The Derfflinger-class battlecruiser was the most modernized and powerful main battleship in Germany before the Bavaria-class battleships and Mackensen-class battlecruisers entered service, and the entire High Seas Fleet had high hopes for its unmatched performance. On March 3, 1915, at 17:56, 100 nautical miles off the coast of Heligoland Bay in the North Sea, two flagship main battleships representing the most advanced shipbuilding techniques and technologies of their respective countries, representing two completely different warship design philosophies, naturally became the focus of attention.

  The signal flag for engaging the enemy was hoisted on the foremast of Lützow, and the rangefinder in the command tower and the stereoscopic rangefinder at the bottom of the ship transmitted the distance and bearing of the target ship Lion to the fire control director. After a complex and dizzying series of precise calculations, the firing data was transmitted to each main turret.

  Under the orderly command of the gunner, the propellant package transported in a metal container was filled into the shell by the trained loader. In the era of dreadnoughts, the weight of the main gun shells often exceeded 300 kilograms. To reduce the labor intensity of the gunners, to adjust the range, and to reduce the damage to the barrel, it became necessary to separate the warhead from the propellant. After the shell was loaded, the hatches on the magazine, the projectile room, and the hoist above were quickly opened, and the 350mm armor-piercing shells weighing over half a ton were sent to the main turret through the hoist, passing through the armored gun seat with 350mm armor protection, 200mm upper side armor, and 150mm hoist channel armor. The shell was then hastily pushed into the breech by the gunner.

  The annoying sunset jumped below the sea level amidst the curses of the observers, and the ranging stations of Germany and Britain, which were deeply disturbed by the sunlight, were relieved one after another. More accurate data was transmitted to the hands of the gunner after being calculated by the Pollen fire control system's trajectory computer.

  In 1905, the British installed a shooting command center with rangefinders on the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Dominion. Due to technical limitations, the main and secondary guns of the British were still in a state of separate combat. In 1912, the Royal Navy first installed a central fire control system on the battleship HMS Thunderer, invented by Royal Navy officer Percy Scott, which was mounted on a platform on the mainmast. The fire control center controlled the shooting aiming of each gun on the ship, and during the main cannon salvo, it could concentrate on observing and correcting the shell impact point, unify the calculation of various shooting elements, and adjust the direction of the guns according to instructions to aim at the target became relatively easy. Unfortunately, Percy Scott's invention had not been verified in actual combat, and HMS Thunderer was lost at Dogger Bank! The Lion-class battlecruiser that entered service in 1912 was the only main warship equipped with the Pollen fire control system, which consisted of a rangefinder, a position instrument, an automatic plotting instrument, and a shooting command instrument.

  At 17:56, the British, accustomed to pursuing a high rate of fire, began their first salvo after completing their trial shots. The A and B turrets at the bow, the P turret between the second and third funnels, and the X turret at the stern opened fire, sending eight 343mm shells hurtling towards the Russian newcomer Lützow.

  The Lion-class battlecruiser could easily hit a distance of 23,000 yards, and the Tiger's 15-inch main gun had a range of over 25,000 yards. However, in the era of dreadnoughts without radar and precision guidance, the main gun's hit rate was always related to the combat distance. Eight rounds of 343mm armor-piercing shells poured down like a meteor shower, hitting the First Reconnaissance Fleet on this side with sonic booms. The heavy armor-piercing compartment, steel shell, and bitter acid explosive inside made the North Sea surface, which had just calmed down, burst open again in an instant, forming a yellow-green mist on the surface of the sea, tons of seawater were splashed up, and occasionally broken metal shells flew back and forth in the mist. Fortunately, most of these fell more than 500 yards to the right of the Lützow's starboard, with only one shell forming an over, posing no threat to the Lützow.

  At 17:57, the Lützow finished adjusting its turrets and the alarm sounded again on deck. The idle cook temporarily dropped his work and lay down in the limited viewing port of the ship's side, watching as eight 350mm armor-piercing shells were fired out of the barrels, heading straight for the flagship Lion of the First Battlecruiser Squadron 18,000 meters away.

  The Lion's secondary armament was ready to fire, and the sailors on the spotting top of the foremast were opening their mouths wide with fear, lest the blast from the main guns would shatter their internal organs. At this moment, a scorching smell wafted through the air, accompanied by the shrill sound of friction against the air, like a giant hammer constantly pounding their eardrums and hearts. This feeling was not good at all, because seasoned Royal Navy spotters knew that it was the whistling sound of incoming German shells.

  A shell consisting of a cap, a thick and solid armor-piercing part, and a propellant came whizzing in, heavily pounding the surface of the North Sea, creating a huge whirlpool and stirring up countless terrifying waves. An even louder explosion followed, with tons of seawater being condensed into a heart-stopping pillar by the shockwave generated by the intense explosive, reaching a height of sixty meters! Occasionally, a few scorching hot and rapidly rotating shrapnel emerged from the vaporized seawater mist, crashing against the hardened armor wall of the Lion-class warcruiser with a heart-wrenching scraping sound and leaving almost invisible scratches before heavily falling onto the deck.

  This was also the best result of Lützow's first salvo, 18,000 yards of ultra-long distance, the dim visibility made a big discount on both sides' hit rate, but everyone had the most optimistic mood for the tough sea battle, because this was just the beginning.

  The Derfflinger, Seydlitz, Moltke and Von der Tann of the First Scouting Group and the Princess Royal, Tiger, Bellerophon and New Zealand of the First Battle Cruiser Squadron engaged each other.

  "Target locked on Royal Princess, armor-piercing shell, ready to fire!"

  "Anna (A turret) is ready!"

  "Berserk (B-Turret) ready!"

  "Catherine (D-Tower) is ready!"

  "Dora (Turret E) ready!"

  The preparations for the four main turrets of the Derfflinger were reported to the fire control tower via internal telephone, and the gunnery officer gave the order to open fire without hesitation. As night began to fall, the four twin 350mm guns suddenly burst into a cloud of smoke, and the massive hull was displaced about half a meter on the surface of the sea due to the recoil generated by the main gun firing, so that the port side of the Derfflinger-class battlecruiser was full of waves.

  Eight armor-piercing shells hurtled towards the Royal Princess like a broken bamboo. Through the rangefinder sight of the De Ruyter's command tower, the impact point was magnified 23 times, so that the rangefinder officer could see a 200-foot (60 m) water column, smoke and some fire.

  "First salvo, short, add three hundred yards!" The spotting station fed back the disheartening news, a second salvo was brewing, but the expected counterattack from HMS Royal Princess had yet to materialize.

  "Damn it, where did the shells from Royal Princess go?" The sailor in the spotting tower of Derfflinger grasped his binoculars and scanned the sea surface carefully. 30 seconds passed, the sea around the battlecruiser was quiet, without any signs of explosion.

  Eight 381mm armour-piercing shells formed a spread area 300 yards off the port beam of Seydlitz, with splashing water, churning columns and acrid cordite fumes continually jarring the nerves of the spotters in the spotting top.

  "Report, no hits on the British ships, shell landed at 256 degrees to port of Sedritz, scatter area approximately 300-700 yards!" The lookout grabbed the phone and reported to the command tower and fire control tower. However, before he could finish his casual report, the unbelievable second salvo from the British came unexpectedly.

  "11 seconds? The British completed a salvo in just 11 seconds?!" The lookout muttered a few words, and soon discovered some clues from the power of the armor-piercing shell explosion: "Perhaps the British Royal Princess mistakenly took us for the Derfflinger!"