Chapter Sixteen: The Trump Card (Six)

  A brief exchange of fire had given the British a glimpse of the German High Seas Fleet's reserve, and the Second Battlecruiser Squadron decided to alter course south by east under cover of night and mist, with the intention of joining Beatty's First Battlecruiser Squadron.

  Muller's decision was somewhat conservative, but not entirely unjustified. Unfortunately, the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron had already made up its mind to entangle Muller, and the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron's stubborn turn undoubtedly put the directionless Warship into an awkward dilemma.

  A faint tremor was transmitted from underfoot, and just as the sailors operating the giant manual steering wheel were bewildered, the almost inaudible sound finally turned into a shocking scene. The huge warship seemed to be lifted up by some kind of enormous external force, and the sailors fell to the ground one after another, with blood flowing everywhere.

  At 20:46, a 450mm torpedo from Petard passed under the hull of HMS Repulse and struck the unprotected bow. The tremendous force of the torpedo battle easily tore open a gash three meters below the waterline on the port side of the bow, exploding inside the ship, and the bow section of HMS Repulse was instantly devastated.

  Restricted by the effective range of torpedoes, destroyer torpedo attacks were always called "death rides" by sailors. This nickname is well-deserved, as lightly armored destroyers would face enemy capital ships and a multitude of smaller caliber secondary guns at distances of less than 1,000 yards, braving hailstorms of bullets to launch their torpedoes in what was essentially a suicidal attack.

  A 40-minute torpedo battle ensued, during which the First Reconnaissance Squadron lost six destroyers and three more were heavily damaged. The British lost three destroyers, with two more being heavily damaged, and the battleship HMS Warspite was hit, taking on water forward and reducing her speed to 22 knots.

  Like the Royal Princess, which had sunk in the previous skirmish, the disaster of the HMS Acasta could not be confirmed by the lookouts of the 1st and 2nd Destroyer Flotillas. After they finished launching torpedoes under British fire, survival was a difficult luxury, let alone confirming the outcome!

  After the torpedo attack, the two fleets again disappeared into thick fog. The First Scouting Group lost touch with the British. For some time after that, the main body of the British and German fleets remained about 9,000 yards apart, cautiously feeling out each other's lighter forces at distances of no more than 2,000 yards.

  The torpedo battle ended in a whimper, the Germans came with great fanfare but were repelled by the Royal Navy's firepower. The British and Germans are evenly matched, but perhaps the British will be more likely to experience the saying "to die before achieving victory". Fortunately, every coin has two sides: when the German destroyers launched their "death charge", the crippled Deutschland managed to stem the flooding in its bow section and increased its top speed to 26 knots; the torpedo attack threw the British main fleet into disarray, and Admiral Moore, nearing retirement age, did not want to give up a new battleship, so he mistakenly ordered the fleet to slow down and regroup.

  The German First Scouting Group, dusty and worn out, thus crossed paths with the stumbling British Second Battlecruiser Squadron. The First Scouting Group continued to advance along the previous track of the British for more than half an hour until the light cruiser forces sent out reported that they had not found the British, and it was only then that Vice Admiral Leutnant Z?ttl, who had temporarily taken over command, realized that something was amiss.

  Damn it, was the Second Battle Cruiser Squadron proceeding northwest to join Admiral Jellicoe's main body or turning south to join Beatty's First Battle Cruiser Squadron?

  Wang Haitie was awakened by Lieutenant General Lewin Tso, who was entangled. In fact, Wang Haitie didn't necessarily sleep that much, but the symptoms of spiritual weakness became more severe due to overwork, and Wang Haitie, who shouldered the mission, did not want to cause psychological pressure on the young people in the command tower of the Lusov because of his loss of demeanor in front of his subordinates.

  "General, I'm sorry... I lost the British..." Lieutenant General Leiwentz looked into Admiral Wang Haitie's eyes, which were bloodshot, and thought of the trust that the undefeated Aris had placed in him. Shame and self-reproach surged up in his heart like a flood. The lieutenant general hesitated for a long time, until Admiral Wang was about to lose her patience, before he finally spoke out the truth with shame on his face.

  "Huh?" Wang Haitian hummed noncommittally and turned his head to help the young general out with a sentence: "General, there's nothing to be ashamed of, use your brain, everything is still within our plan!"

  "Still in the plan?!" Lieutenant General Leiwentso's face showed a look of astonishment, his lips pursed in deep thought, and it wasn't until half a minute later that he managed to savor a bit of flavor.

  The task of the First Scouting Group was to entangle David Beatty's British fast battlecruiser squadron, forcing Admiral Jellicoe's Grand Fleet into a decisive engagement with the High Seas Fleet. It was known that in March 1915, the main body of the British Grand Fleet was not strong enough to challenge the High Seas Fleet, giving the Empire an advantage in such an engagement; given the fact that the British had ten fast battleships while the Empire only had five, the entanglement mission was refined into using speed advantages to separate the two British battlecruiser squadrons and prevent them from supporting each other.

  "Betti and the general are equally matched, he can't fail to see the risks under the North Sea fog. Once the entanglement time exceeds his psychological expectations, Betti will inevitably give up this sweep plan and escape with the night color and sea fog..."

  The ocean never shows its gentle side, storms, sea fog, dark currents, whirlpools, the accumulation of these factors makes naval battles always full of uncertainty, which is also the greatest charm of a naval battle before the dust settles. The undefeated Arles of the Imperial Navy was not an unscrupulous demon, the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the Battle of Dogger Bank, and this time's Battle of Jutland, these battles that were heavily calculated before the war did not go according to script once, the British always managed to adopt effective tactical deception, thereby gaining a relative numerical advantage. However, the War God's tactical command ability was in no way inferior to his strategic vision, he always managed to turn the tide of battle.

  Lieutenant General Leiwentz gazed at the expressionless Wang Haitian, his face's astonishment gradually transforming into a kind of epiphany.

  "There is a delicate balance here, we need to let the British regain the upper hand before the balance is broken, and make them willing to continue hunting in this North Sea bay!"

  "Kiel Naval Academy's Three Heroes, in terms of military skills and academic performance, I am not as good as Bernhard von Oden, the most outstanding talent in Kiel Naval Academy's decades-long history. In terms of comprehensive knowledge, I am not as good as Erich Redel, a versatile genius who is proficient in multiple foreign languages and holds numerous academic degrees..." Heidi Wang finally cracked a smile, with a hint of sadness and postmodernism: "Major General, you graduated from Kiel Naval Academy, and I'm sure you've heard about the embarrassing things I did during my training at the academy. But do you know why I was able to become one of the Three Heroes of Kiel Naval Academy?"

  Wang Haitie's question was somewhat off-topic, and Lieutenant Colonel Leventis was confused, shaking his head and asking: "What is it?"

  "What I've learned in twenty years - psychology!"

  ****

  At 22:24, on the eastern side of the North Sea, somewhat disheveled, the Second Battle Cruiser Squadron returned to the embrace of the Fast Battleship Squadron like a child who had played enough and was slightly frightened.

  Betty stood on the bridge of the Lion-class battlecruiser's foredeck, her bright blue eyes carefully measuring her stake: two Lion-class battlecruisers, one Tiger-class battlecruiser, two Queen-class battleships, two Invincible-class battlecruisers, and three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers. Although the Royal Princess had unfortunately sunk, the rudder machine of the Disgusted was destroyed, and the bow section was severely damaged, but the eight fast capital ships were more than enough to face their old opponents' four battlecruisers, and the Royal Navy's Fast Fleet could still fight!

  "Old friend, your forte isn't those cunning schemes and tactics of deception, but rather the thorough and open stratagems that come from understanding character!" Betty turned to face the vast night sky, saying lightly: "Fighting alone is your nature, while taking risks is my instinct. If you want to fight, then go ahead and fight!"

  At 22:49, after a brief turn away to clear the enemy's range, the large British battlecruiser force turned northwards at 23 knots towards Skagerrak.