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Text Chapter 1046: Germany¡¯s Disastrous Defeat

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    The night gave the German fleet good cover. In the pitch-black night, visibility was extremely low. Even the battleship's tall, mountainous hull received excellent cover.  However, the prerequisite is that there is a blackout.  Otherwise, the lights on the battleship will become the enemy's best guide.  Thick clouds blocked the bright moon, and the bright moonlight was no longer available, which gave the German fleet an excellent opportunity to retreat.

    However, the British Navy obviously did not want to let the German fleet retreat peacefully. They hoped to get a more perfect victory.  As the German fleet retreated, the British navy pursued it.  And a large number of light cruisers and destroyers were dispatched to follow the German fleet and ensure that the German fleet would not take advantage of the chaos to escape.

    The speed of German battleships is generally low. After experiencing brutal naval battles, the speed of many battleships can only be maintained at around 18 knots.  It is simply delusional to want to get rid of the British fleet at such a speed.

    In order to facilitate the fleet's escape, Reinhard.  Admiral Scheer ordered the battleships to break out and return to Wilhelmshaven as much as possible.  Although, adopting a dispersed breakout method will further weaken the strength of the German fleet.  But this is also the best approach in this situation.  An individual battleship is less likely to be discovered by the enemy than a fleet.

    The German fleet dispersed and broke through, which posed a problem for the British fleet.  It has become impossible for the British Navy to completely annihilate the German Navy's capital ships under such circumstances.  John.  Admiral Jellicoe realized this command problem and had no choice but to order the sinking of as many German naval battleships as possible.  In particular, the four Bavaria-class battleships of the German Navy were the key targets of the British Navy.  Since the beginning of the war, although these four Bavaria-class battleships have suffered more or less damage, their combat power has not been greatly affected.  On the other hand, among the five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the British Navy, although no battleships were sunk, two have already withdrawn from the battlefield due to heavy damage.  Therefore, John.  Admiral Jellicoe believed that the four Bavaria-class battleships of the German Navy posed the greatest threat to the British Navy, and focused on asking the British Navy to besiege these Bavaria-class battleships.

    The four Bavaria-class battleships of the German Navy all had very tragic endings, or rather tragic.  When Reinhardt.  Admiral Scheer realized that the British Navy's goal was to command the four 'Bavaria-class' battleships, and directly ordered these four 'Bavaria-class' battleships to take on the important task of breaking up and lead the British Navy to retreat from different directions at the maximum speed to prepare for other ships.  The retreat of the capital ships creates opportunities.

    In the end, among the four 'Bavaria-class' battleships, except for 'Saxony,' the luck was slightly better. Although it suffered heavy damage, it still escaped the pursuit of the British Navy and insisted on returning to Wilhelmshaven. After that, the other three battleships were  It was sunk by the British Navy.  The battleship 'Baden', the battleship 'Baden', and the battleship 'W¨¹rttemberg' were both besieged by the British navy.  Even though the armor of the 'Bavaria-class battleship is very thick, when it is besieged by several enemy battleships, it is still defeated by four hands.  Reinhardt, Commander of the German High Seas Fleet.  Admiral Scheer also sank into the North Sea along with the battleship 'Bavaria' at 12:12 p.m.  Originally, he had a chance to escape.  But Reinhardt, who believed that his incompetence caused the German navy to suffer a disastrous defeat in this naval battle.  Admiral Scheer chose to sink with the ship.

    However, in order to sink these Bavaria-class battleships, the British Navy also paid a high price.  Among the Queen Elizabeth class battleships, the Malayan battleship was sunk in a desperate counterattack by the Bavaria battleship.  At the same time, the flagship 'Queen Elizabeth' also suffered heavy damage.  In addition, the battleship 'Ajax' was also severely damaged.

    The retreat of the other nine battleships of the German Navy did not go smoothly. In addition to leaving a large number of battleships to besiege the German Navy's 'Bavaria-class battleships, the British Navy also sent a large number of battleships to hunt down the escaped battleships.

    In the end, only 6 of the 9 battleships escaped back to Germany. None of them was intact, and all suffered more or less damage.  The other three ships, the battleship "Grossf¨¹hrer," the battleship "Kaiser," and the battleship "Hannover," were sunk in the battle.  The British Navy also paid the price for this, with the battleship HMS Orion being sunk and the battleship HMS King George V being severely damaged.

    But even though the losses of the British Navy were not small, overall, the British Navy won this naval battle.  The main force of the German Navy no longer exists after this naval battle, but the main force of the British Navy still exists and can continue to blockade Germany's coastline.  It can continue to control the sea in the North Sea and even the eastern Atlantic. Even if the German Navy still has some battleships, as well as those damaged battleships and battlecruisers, they can still control the sea after being repaired.The battle continued, but it no longer challenged the strength of the British Navy.  Until the end of the war, these battleships and battlecruisers stayed in the military port, relying on the protection of coastal defenses to act as a presence fleet.  However, this also made the German Navy pay more attention to weapons such as submarines. After the failure of the naval battle, a large number of submarines were built and put into combat in the North Sea and the Atlantic.  These submarines frantically attack Britain's maritime transportation lines, causing more than 100,000 tons of losses every month, seriously weakening Britain's war potential.  However, these are all things for later. At least after the disastrous defeat of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet, it shocked Germany and the entire world. It also had an extremely far-reaching impact on the ongoing world war.

    The study room of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam is always brightly lit.  Although it was already late at night on May 31st, senior German officials had gathered here since yesterday afternoon when the German Navy's High Seas Fleet and the British Navy encountered each other and started a fierce battle.  Everyone is paying attention to the news of the naval battle and waiting for the result of this naval battle.  Whether the German navy can defeat powerful enemies is particularly important to them.  If the German navy can win this time, then the difficulties faced by Germany will be easily solved.  On the contrary, if the German navy fails, the possibility of Germany winning this war will be very slim.  At least, the most important force to defeat the Allies will not be Germany, but China, Germany's nominal ally.

    Kaiser Wilhelm II, Crown Prince Wilhelm, Imperial Chancellor Theo Baden.  Feng.  Bateman.  Holweg, Navy Minister Marshal Tirpitz, German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn and others were all quietly waiting for the final result.  Although, except for Crown Prince William, everyone else was already quite old. Staying up late made these people look tired, and everyone could only rely on cups of coffee to refresh themselves.  However, no one wants to rest at this moment. Everyone wants to know the situation of this naval battle as soon as possible.  This naval battle is so important to Germany. It is no exaggeration to say that this naval battle will be directly related to the fate of Germany.

    The atmosphere in the study was rather solemn. Although the reconnaissance squadron of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet achieved good results in the afternoon naval battle, after the main force of the two sides began to show off, the High Seas Fleet during the fierce battle never sent back a telegram.  This made everyone's hearts pick up in their throats.  Although, everyone has great confidence in the German Navy's High Seas Fleet.  However, their opponent is Britain!  This is the overlord who has dominated the world's oceans for hundreds of years.  In front of the British Navy, the German Navy was just a toddler.  If it were not for the rise of new battleships, the German Navy would not have the qualifications to challenge the British Navy.  But even so, the British navy's strong accumulation over hundreds of years cannot be defeated so easily.

    At NO:45 in the evening, there was a knock inside the study, and a naval officer walked in.  German Navy Minister Marshal Tirpitz rushed forward and received a telegram from the naval officer.  At this time, he ignored etiquette and opened the telegram on the spot.  However, his expression darkened immediately, and after reading the entire telegram, he seemed to have grown older all of a sudden.  Admiral Tirpitz is now sixty-three years old, but he has always been physically strong, and he has regarded the development of the German Navy as his lifelong belief.  But now, this belief was shattered at this moment.

    Others have also been paying attention to the expression of Admiral Tirpitz. After discovering his expression, everyone's hearts gradually sank to the bottom.  Although Tirpitz has not yet told the situation in the telegram, these people are all mature old guys, and they have already guessed the result from Tirpitz's expression.  That is, in this naval battle, the German Navy's High Seas Fleet has failed.

    "Your Excellency Tirpitz, how is the situation of the High Seas Fleet?" Kaiser Wilhelm II's eyes were also full of loneliness, and all the ambitions he once had no longer existed at this moment.

    "Your Majesty, in the fierce battle this afternoon and evening, the High Seas Fleet suffered a disastrous defeat!" Tirpitz said sadly.

    "A disastrous defeat? What happened to the disastrous defeat? Why did it happen? The High Seas Fleet should have won!" Crown Prince William roared uncontrollably.  The hope of Germany's rise was shattered before his eyes. No wonder he behaved like this when the city was not deep to begin with!
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