Chapter 124: Calculating Interests

Hamilton had been beaten back, and Beatty quickly moved up to take his place.

To the south, Raeder did not ease up. Upon discovering that the battlecruiser *Tiger* had turned to retreat, Raeder organized his light cruisers to intercept the meddling British ships while ordering his line to adjust, pursuing the fleeing Hamilton. Minutes later, the five battlecruisers formed a wedge-shaped column, with *Kaiserin Augusta* in the lead, closely following Hamilton’s *Tiger* as it headed north.

About thirty kilometers to the north, Beatty was adjusting his fleet’s formation.

The message sent back by Hamilton was precise: the High Seas Fleet’s reconnaissance detachment had fully arrived, and five battlecruisers were in hot pursuit. Although Hamilton did not mention the whereabouts of Hipper’s main force, Beatty was certain that Hipper could not be far from Raeder.

At this moment, Beatty had twenty-four battleships at his disposal, rather than the twenty-three Hipper believed he had.

The extra ship was the *Queen Elizabeth*, which had been completed at the end of January, officially commissioned in early March, and had only arrived at Scapa Flow on May 3rd, just before the Grand Fleet set sail.

Beatty had originally intended to assign this battleship, which boasted a top speed of twenty-five knots, to Hamilton’s reconnaissance detachment. However, after careful weighing, he decided to keep the *Queen Elizabeth* with the main fleet.

This allowed Beatty to form four main divisions, each consisting of six battleships.

Because it had not completed its full training and the quality of its crew was not on par with the other ships, Beatty did not choose the *Queen Elizabeth* as his flagship. Instead, he assigned it to the 1st Battleship Division, which consisted of four *Iron Duke*-class battleships and the *Erin*. At the same time, Beatty adjusted the other divisions: the 2nd Division was comprised of four *King George V*-class ships, the *Agincourt*, and the *Neptune*; the 3rd Division consisted of four *Orion*-class ships and two *Colossus*-class ships; and the 4th Division was formed by three *St. Vincent*-class and three *Bellerophon*-class ships. Clearly, the 1st Battleship Division possessed the greatest combat power, while the 4th was the weakest.

Dividing the twenty-four battleships into four divisions was primarily a matter of command.

If all twenty-four battleships were organized into a single division, it would be impossible for Beatty, Jellicoe, or any other commander to lead them effectively. When commanded from a flagship, a single division should contain no more than six major capital ships. Any more, and command would falter, preventing the fleet from unleashing its full combat potential and effectively weakening its overall fighting capability.

However, this meant Beatty could only directly command the division he was in.

In other words, the other divisions had to be managed by their respective commanders.

Of course, the situation was the same for Hipper.

The High Seas Fleet had a total of only seventeen battleships, which Hipper divided into four divisions: the 1st Division with four *König*-class ships, the 2nd with five *Kaiser*-class ships, the 3rd with four *Helgoland*-class ships, and the 4th with two *Nassau*-class and two *Rheinland*-class ships. Although the number of divisions was the same as that of the Grand Fleet, each division had fewer battleships than those of the British.

This created a very serious problem: in a head-to-head battleship engagement, no individual division of the High Seas Fleet would have an advantage.

Was this battle even winnable?

Clearly, neither Hipper nor Feng Chengqian lacked confidence.

Raeder had sent a telegram: Hamilton’s reconnaissance detachment had been routed. The battlecruisers *Australia* and *New Zealand* had both been heavily damaged and rendered combat-ineffective. Although the damage to *Tiger* was not critical and it could still fight, it posed little threat.

Thus, if necessary, Hipper could integrate Raeder’s reconnaissance detachment into the battle line.

However, Feng Chengqian did not wish to do this.

Extensive combat experience had proven that battlecruisers were not suited for line-of-battle engagements, especially against battleships, as their overly thin armor made it difficult for them to survive such clashes. In a fleet engagement, the primary purpose of a battlecruiser was to use its speed to disrupt the enemy’s line, finish off damaged enemy ships, protect its own line from enemy light, fast ships, and screen its own capital ships.

Feng Chengqian’s idea was more direct: concentrate superior force on a local battlefield to sink and destroy as many British ships as possible.

To this end, Feng proposed combining the 1st and 2nd Battleship Divisions to strike the Grand Fleet’s 1st Battleship Division first upon engagement. The 3rd and 4th Divisions would handle the Grand Fleet’s 2nd and 3rd Divisions respectively, while Raeder, once his mission was complete, would be responsible for pinning down the slowest 4th Division. This would give the High Seas Fleet a 9-to-6 advantage at the front of the line, while at the rear, eight battleships would face twelve of the Grand Fleet’s, and the five battlecruisers would contend with six battleships.

Undeniably, the 3rd and 4th Divisions would have to bear significant pressure.

Furthermore, Raeder would also face substantial risk.

Yet, one point could not be ignored: if the 1st and 2nd Divisions could conclude the battle quickly, the Grand Fleet would lose unified command.

In naval warfare, the importance of effective command is no less than the number of capital ships.

Initially, Hipper was not in favor of this, as the High Seas Fleet would suffer heavy losses, greatly diminishing the value of any victory.

Fortunately, Feng Chengqian soon convinced Hipper.

Before five o’clock, a telegram from Raeder indicated that the main fleet led by Beatty had arrived on the battlefield and had been split into four battleship divisions.

Hipper stopped insisting on his own view and agreed to let Feng Chengqian go to the 2nd Division to direct operations.

At 5:20, Feng Chengqian and his adjutant, Zhang Dongqiang, boarded the battleship *Kaiser*.

Before the *König* entered service, the *Kaiser* had been the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, and this ship had been designed and built under Feng Chengqian’s leadership.

At 5:35, Raeder sent another telegram: the Grand Fleet had completed its formation change.

By this time, the distance between the High Seas Fleet and the Grand Fleet was less than thirty kilometers.

Following Hipper’s orders, Raeder did not engage the Grand Fleet, maintaining a distance of over twenty kilometers and a speed above twenty-two knots. This meant that even if Beatty could open fire on Raeder, it would be difficult to hit his five battlecruisers.

At 5:45, Raeder sent his final telegram: the Grand Fleet was sailing southwest at twenty knots.

Five minutes later, Hipper issued the order to turn.

Seeing the flag signals from the flagship *König*, Feng Chengqian ordered the 2nd Division to follow the turn and shorten the interval between ships to five ship-lengths.

In line-of-battle tactics, this was the shortest possible interval.

Any closer, and the ships would easily collide during evasive maneuvers.

At 5:57, the *König* hoisted the battle ensign, signaling that its lookouts had spotted the enemy fleet. Two minutes later, lookouts on the *Kaiser* also sighted the enemy ships appearing to the northwest and identified them as *Iron Duke*-class battleships.

After 6:00, the *König* made its final tactical turn, adjusting its course to 230 degrees and reducing speed to twelve knots.

Subsequently, Hipper issued the order to engage: *König* and *Großer Kurfürst* were to target the first enemy ship; *Kronprinz* was to target the second; *Prinzregent Luitpold* was to target the third; *Kaiser* and *Kaiserin* were to target the fourth; *Friedrich der Grosse* and *König Albert* were to target the fifth; and *Prinzregent Luitpold* [sic] was to target the sixth.

Hipper’s arrangement was not wrong, but there was one oversight: he did not know that there was a battleship with powerful firepower within Beatty’s 1st Battleship Division. Even worse, Beatty had placed the *Queen Elizabeth* at the end of the formation rather than in the center.

According to Hipper’s engagement order, *Prinzregent Luitpold* would have to face the *Queen Elizabeth* alone.

Clearly, this battleship, commissioned in 1913, was no match for a new-generation battleship and would lose in a one-on-one duel with the *Queen Elizabeth*.

If one considered Beatty’s engagement plan, the situation for the *Prinzregent Luitpold* was even more perilous.

At the time, Beatty had committed two battleship divisions, not one. In other words, Beatty intended to use twelve battleships to deal with Hipper’s nine. Because the *König* and *Kaiser* classes were relatively new ships and their performance was in no way inferior to contemporary British ships, Beatty decided to eliminate the central 2nd Division first, cutting the High Seas Fleet’s line in half. This way, Hipper would likely be forced to withdraw from the battle, and Beatty could then use the speed advantage of the 1st Battleship Division to pursue the German ships.

Consequently, the British ships facing the *Prinzregent Luitpold* would be the *Agincourt* and the *Neptune*.

Clearly, while engaging the *Queen Elizabeth*, it would be difficult for the *Prinzregent Luitpold* to withstand the fierce bombardment of twenty-four main guns from the two British ships.

Judging by the deployments, both sides hoped to fight according to their own tactics and thereby shatter the other’s line.

It would come down to who could hold out longer.

Simply put, whoever broke first would have their line disrupted, losing the initiative and being pressured by the enemy.

Beatty relied on numerical superiority, while Hipper relied on more precise and ferocious firepower.

At 6:08, the *König* and *Großer Kurfürst* fired their first broadsides; two minutes later, the *Iron Duke* also began its bombardment.

This great decisive naval battle, later known as the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, had finally begun.