Chapter 140: A Head-On Blow

Over the course of more than a year, the most dazzling figure in the Imperial Navy was not Hipper, nor Feng Chengqian, but Raeder, who had been completely obscure before the outbreak of the war. Of course, this did not surprise Feng Chengqian, because in the history he knew well, this loyal follower of Tirpitz would, more than twenty years later, become the Grand Admiral of the German Third Reich, leading the Imperial Navy once again onto the path of contending with the British Royal Navy for supremacy on the seas. Yet, constrained by national power, he would ultimately fail to fulfill the lifelong ambition that Tirpitz never realized.

Having participated in several large-scale naval battles, Raeder had already risen to the ranks of renowned naval commanders.

Had Tirpitz and the Kaiser not been deliberately grooming Feng Chengqian, Raeder likely would have been promoted long ago, at the very least to Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet.

Discovering that only three battlecruisers were pursuing him, Raeder immediately realized that Jellicoe had seen through Feng Chengqian's stratagem.

At this juncture, Raeder could easily have maintained his course without adjustment, leading the three battlecruisers directly into Feng Chengqian's ambush zone before turning to deal with Jellicoe. However, doing so would surely have prompted Jellicoe to alter his course prematurely, thereby causing Feng Chengqian to miss the opportunity to deliver a crushing blow to the Grand Fleet.

Should such a scenario unfold, even a victory would be a pyrrhic one, akin to the Battle of the Norwegian Sea.

Instead of pressing forward, Raeder immediately turned south, leveraging his advantage of pre-accelerated speed to outflank and position himself directly ahead of the three British battlecruisers.

In other words, Raeder had seized the most advantageous "T" formation crossing position.

If the three British battlecruisers continued their charge, they would be subjected to a devastating pounding by five German warships.

At 2:45, the three British battlecruisers also turned south, entering line-of-battle engagement status.

It must be said that Raeder's maneuver was extremely hazardous. By the time he completed his course adjustment, the distance to the British battlecruisers had shrunk to less than twelve kilometers. Even more critically, he had not shaken off Jellicoe; eighteen British battleships trailed approximately five kilometers behind the three British battlecruisers. This meant that if Jellicoe also executed a southern turn at that moment, Raeder would find himself facing twenty-one British capital ships.

However, Jellicoe did not turn immediately.

Raeder's abrupt turn presented Jellicoe with a formidable tactical dilemma.

One must remember that Jellicoe had already ordered his three battle divisions to disperse and steam in separate columns.

Consequently, should Jellicoe choose to turn and engage Raeder, he would have to order each of the three battle divisions to change course independently. The fatal flaw was that the three battle divisions had not yet fully separated; eighteen battleships remained concentrated within a relatively small area. Executing a turn with eighteen battleships split into three divisions would inevitably descend into absolute chaos.

Furthermore, Jellicoe harbored another deep-seated concern.

Raeder's abnormal tactical turn forced Jellicoe to worry that Feng Chengqian was not lying to the east, but had instead maneuvered to the south of the Grand Fleet and prepared an engagement. If the Grand Fleet followed Raeder's turn, it would walk straight into the High Seas Fleet's ambush.

Given the circumstances at the time, this was by no means an impossibility.

One had to bear in mind that Raeder's turning maneuver severely violated tactical principles. Even if his five battlecruisers secured an advantageous position upon completing the turn, they would simultaneously face twenty-one British capital ships and would need to execute yet another turn to disengage from the British fleet. Let alone five battlecruisers, even five battleships of the Queen Elizabeth class could not possibly escape under such conditions.

Put bluntly, Raeder's turning maneuver was thoroughly lethal.

If the Grand Fleet seized this opportunity, not a single one of those five warships would escape.

In Jellicoe's view, it was inconceivable that Raeder would execute such an apparently erroneous move without a purpose, compelling Jellicoe to believe that a much grander design lay behind it.

The problem was that Jellicoe could not be certain his judgment was correct.

More importantly, if his battle divisions did not turn and deploy, the three battlecruisers in the vanguard were unquestionably no match for Raeder.

Pressed for time, Jellicoe committed a grave error: he ordered only the 1st Battle Squadron, which he commanded directly, to turn.

Jellicoe's decision was likely tied to the two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships within the 1st Battle Squadron, as both of these vessels possessed a maximum speed of twenty-five knots, enabling them to keep pace with the three vanguard battlecruisers.

The trouble was that the remaining four battleships in the 1st Battle Squadron were all limited to speeds below twenty-one knots.

Once the 1st Battle Squadron turned and accelerated, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Warspite surged to the fore, leaving the other four battleships trailing far behind.

Had Jellicoe been facing Raeder alone, his actions would have been entirely flawless.

At a combat range of 12,000 meters, the 300mm main guns of the five German ships posed little threat to the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, whereas the 15-inch main guns of the Queen Elizabeth class could send any battlecruiser to the bottom at that range.

The problem was that Jellicoe was facing more than just Raeder.

Shortly after 3:00, just as Jellicoe's two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships had caught up, Raeder ordered his ships to turn due east.

It was not that Raeder dared not fight; rather, he believed Jellicoe had taken the bait.

The two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were far too conspicuous, and HMS Queen Elizabeth was the flagship of the Grand Fleet. This led Raeder to conclude that Jellicoe had brought the entire Grand Fleet forward, prompting him to carry out Feng Chengqian's plan and lure the Grand Fleet into the ambush zone.

In truth, Raeder had acted somewhat prematurely.

At that moment, sixteen battleships of the Grand Fleet were still steaming eastward in columns, with only two Queen Elizabeth-class ships and three battlecruisers pushed out in front.

Regrettably, Jellicoe once again missed the opportunity to adjust his battle formation.

Had Jellicoe made adjustments at this juncture, even if he could not have avoided encountering Feng Chengqian, he could at least have secured a far more favorable posture for the Grand Fleet.

At ten past three, Raeder caught sight of the High Seas Fleet emerging to the east.

In accordance with Feng Chengqian's instructions, Raeder executed his third turn, pushing his speed to twenty-five knots to clear the battlefield at maximum velocity.

By this time, Jellicoe had finally reacted, but it was far too late.

At 3:15, Feng Chengqian gave the order to open fire. Fifteen line-astern battleships delivered their initial simultaneous broadsides within the span of two minutes.

Before the shells from the German ships struck the water, Jellicoe also issued the order to turn and engage.

Unfortunately, aside from the five capital ships that had followed Raeder's earlier turn, the sixteen trailing battleships were unable to swing their headings around in the first instance.

The High Seas Fleet stood ready in array, while the Grand Fleet dissolved into absolute chaos.

Such a spectacle was certainly something Jellicoe had never envisioned in his wildest dreams.

For a moment, Jellicoe failed to issue further directives, instead leaving the commanders of the various battle divisions to sort out the engagement lines on their own.

It could be said that Jellicoe had completely lost his composure.

Feng Chengqian showed no mercy, nor did he afford Jellicoe any additional chances.

Within fifteen minutes, all fifteen battleships of the Imperial Navy locked onto their targets and pushed their firepower to the absolute limit.

During those fifteen minutes, apart from the five British vanguard ships, only four of the remaining sixteen British battleships managed to mount an effective counterattack.

Clearly, these were the most crucial fifteen minutes of the engagement.

According to the combat logs of the High Seas Fleet, at least twelve British ships suffered direct hits during this quarter of an hour, with seven of them taking multiple strikes.

This was hardly surprising; as the Grand Fleet struggled to adjust its formation, the combat range steadily closed. By the time the Grand Fleet finally restructured its lines, the engagement range had dropped to under 15,000 meters.

At this distance, the gunnery hit rate of the Imperial warships—forged in the fires of multiple major naval engagements—was nearly double that of the British ships. Unhindered by enemy return fire, the hit rate of the German warships even exceeded five percent.

What did this concept entail?

In previous naval battles, capital ships of the British Royal Navy, even at their absolute best, had never achieved a gunnery hit rate exceeding three percent at such a range, while their worst performances fell below one percent.

To put it plainly, the Grand Fleet had already been defeated within those fifteen minutes.

At this juncture, Jellicoe faced only two choices: either retreat with the five higher-speed battleships or reorganize the fleet lines for a decisive showdown with the High Seas Fleet.

Opting for retreat would preserve five capital ships.

Naturally, Jellicoe would never choose to retreat, for saving merely five capital ships was no different from losing the entire fleet.

Fifteen minutes was also sufficient for Jellicoe to recover his senses.

Once Jellicoe regained his clarity, his primary realization was that this decisive battle could no longer be avoided, and his sole remaining chance lay in defeating the High Seas Fleet.

In truth, it was still premature to declare the Grand Fleet completely defeated at this stage.

By 3:30, when the Grand Fleet had reformed its lines, twenty-one capital ships remained operational. Not a single one was entirely crippled; even the heavily damaged HMS Marlborough had only two turrets destroyed while six main guns remained functional, and four vessels sustained zero damage whatsoever.

More importantly, the sixteen slower battleships had successfully formed up.

Tactically, Jellicoe confronted two options: first, defeat the High Seas Fleet in a direct line-of-battle duel; second, hunt down the highly threatening Raeder.

Jellicoe opted for the latter rather than the former.

The primary reason was that the five fast capital ships he commanded had already detached from the main battle line. Returning to the formation would inevitably disrupt the established engagement sequence. Furthermore, in the preceding naval battles, Raeder's scouting detachment had played a decisive role at critical moments.

Jellicoe understood all too well that the ultimate outcome of a line-of-battle clash would inevitably be mutual destruction, with neither side securing an absolute victory.

Thus, in the aftermath of the fleet duel, whoever managed to withdraw more damaged warships would emerge as the ultimate victor, a status dictated by each side's pursuit forces.

In short, only by eliminating Raeder could Jellicoe hope to secure ultimate victory.