BXBX NOVEL Chapter 244: Riding a tiger is hard to get off (ask for a monthly ticket)
"The German warships can persist, why can\'t ours persist?" Lieutenant General David Beatty frowned.
The chief engineer opened his mouth, but still didn\'t say anything.
Although the United Kingdom used steam turbines in the field of warships before Germany, Germany has come from behind in the fields of oil-fired boilers and steam turbines, and has now completely surpassed the United Kingdom. This allowed the British navy to increase its speed at the expense of defense, while the German navy could increase its speed as much as possible while ensuring defense. Judging from the performance of the battleships of both sides, the battlecruisers of the German Navy are no worse than the battlecruisers of the British Navy in terms of speed. This proves that Germany has succeeded in this regard.
"General, the Germans slowed down and started to turn." At this time, a staff officer reported.
"What? The Germans are not going to flee, do they want to fight us?" Lieutenant General David Beatty immediately picked up the binoculars.
At this moment, the German Navy\'s fleet is turning, and the turret is also turning, obviously preparing for battle.
"Is there any conspiracy in this?" David Betty secretly thought. He was not a suspicious person at first, but after suffering a series of big losses under the hands of the German Navy, he had to be cautious.
"Order the fleet to turn and prepare for battle!" But at this juncture, Lieutenant General David Betty can\'t afford to think too much. If you don\'t turn around, the German navy will seize the T prefix. At that time, the British Navy will once again pay a heavy price.
The British fleet also began to turn, and the two battle lines tended to be parallel. At the same time, the distance between them is constantly shortening.
"General, General Robertson reported that they encountered a powerful German fleet. The opponent has three extremely powerful warships, which should be equipped with main guns with a caliber of about 380 mm." A staff officer reported to Lieutenant General David Beatty.
"What? Three warships equipped with 380mm main guns?" Lieutenant General David Beatty couldn\'t help but change his face.
"Damn the Germans, the Royal Navy has only just successfully developed a 381mm main gun. The Germans have already served in battleships equipped with a 380mm main gun. They have once again walked in front of the Royal Navy. The intelligence department Those guys should be pulled out and shot. Don\'t they know that this will kill us?" Lieutenant General David Betty was furious.
Indeed, the British intelligence agencies did not obtain much useful information when collecting information on the German Navy. Of course, the main reason is that the German Navy\'s anti-espionage work has achieved results, and all the secrecy work has been done well, which has enabled these powerful warships of the German Navy to keep secret until now. Otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve such a great success on the battlefield.
"General, General Robertson asked for instructions, what should we do next?"
Lieutenant General David Betty\'s brows were already wrinkled. He knew that this time the operation would not be so smooth. The fleet led by Rear Admiral Carroll suffered heavy losses. Now, it turns out that the Germans were not defenseless. Although, our side still has an absolute advantage in the number of battleships. They had 9 battlecruisers and 4 battleships, the Germans only used 9 battlecruisers. However, the combat power of German warships is obviously superior to that of British warships, especially warships equipped with 380mm main guns, which is even more terrifying.
How to choose, David? Lieutenant General Betty is also a little undecided. Reason told him that he should retreat immediately. In this way, the Royal Navy can be guaranteed not to suffer too much loss as much as possible. Of course, the four \'Iron Duke\' battleships definitely couldn\'t escape because of their speed. But in this case, it is better than annihilation of the whole army. However, Lieutenant General David Beatty knew that he absolutely couldn\'t just retreat so easily. Otherwise, he would not be able to make a difference to Churchill and the cabinet at all.
The British cabinet is still waiting eagerly for the victory of this operation to relieve the threat of the German Navy\'s breaking fleet to the British sea transportation line! If they retreat like this, it will undoubtedly prove that this operation has completely failed. Especially when three "King George V-class" battleships were sunk, one was severely damaged, and more battleships may be lost. Such a result was unacceptable to the Royal Navy, Churchill, and the cabinet. Therefore, for Lieutenant General David Beatty, it was impossible to order a retreat.
"Give General Robertson an order to drag the three powerful warships of the Germans and buy us time. Order the formation of battlecruisers to close the distance with the Germans and try to defeat them in the shortest possible time. They then reinforced General Robertson. Didn\'t the Germans rely on the strength of their warships to crush us? Then let\'s show them the real strength of the Royal Navy. Naval battles are definitely not just about relying on the strength of warships. Victory!" Lieutenant General David Beatty ordered.
Hundreds of years ago, when the Armada of the Kingdom of Spain attacked England, the British navy was also at an absolute disadvantage. However, they still won the final victory. Lieutenant General David Beatty believed that after the warriors of the Royal Navy fully displayed their combat effectiveness, they would definitely be able to make up for the inferior performance of the battleship and defeat the German Navy. What\'s more, they still have an advantage in the number of warships.
"Yes, General." The staff officer immediately went to give the order.
"Soldiers of the Royal Navy, we are now facing a huge crisis. If the German fleet in front of us is not defeated, but is defeated by them, the Royal Navy of the British Empire will suffer heavy losses. We will not be able to relieve the Germans against us. The threat of sea transportation lines, our country, will be slowly hanged by the Germans, and even in the decisive battle in the future, the Royal Navy has no chance of winning. Therefore, we can only fight to the death, and only by defeating the Germans can we gain Victory!" Lieutenant General David Beatty spoke to the officers and soldiers of the British Navy, hoping to inspire their fighting spirit.