World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Order the entire fleet," Scheer turned, his voice resolute, "to execute the second battle turn. But this time, it will not be a unified turn, but a turn by fleets."

"The squadron is turning around?" Trota asked, puzzled.

"The First Battle Fleet turned northwest, the Second Battle Fleet turned northeast, and the cruiser and destroyer squadrons dispersed in all directions, releasing smoke and launching torpedoes. I want to completely muddy this sea, to the point that the British can't distinguish where the main force is, where the decoys are, where the smoke is, and where the warships are."

His eyes gleamed dangerously in the dim light: "Since order is against us, let's create chaos. Since they excel at fighting orderly battles, let's force them to fight the most chaotic battles."

Orders were frantically relayed via radio and light signals. The already battered German fleet began executing this insane plan.

The main fleet split in two, turning in two different directions. The light cruisers and destroyers scattered like a school of startled fish, releasing smoke as they fired torpedoes toward the roughly determined direction of the British fleet—not caring about hitting their targets, but only about creating a threat.

More flares were launched into the sky, and more signal flares streaked across the night.

In an instant, the entire sea surface was in complete chaos.

On the British side, Jellicoe showed surprise for the first time when he saw this through his binoculars.

"He's gone mad," Study muttered. "Splitting the fleet like this, spreading it out like this, is tantamount to giving up all formation advantages. Any single squadron that crashes into us will be crushed."

"But we can't deal with all directions at the same time either." Jellicoe lowered his binoculars, his tone complex. "And look at that smoke... and the torpedo trails. In this level of visibility, it's hard for us to distinguish between real threats and mere bluffs."

This was Scheer's goal—to gain strategic breathing room through tactical chaos. To sacrifice order and coordination for the possibility of survival.

But chaos is a two-way street. While the German fleet was in disarray, the British fleet also had to adjust its strategy. And this adjustment could create vulnerabilities.

"Report!" an urgent call suddenly came from the sonar room. "Multiple high-speed targets detected approaching from the southeast! Approximately 8,000 yards away, speed exceeding 30 knots! They are destroyers! A large number of destroyers!"

Jericho rushed to the megaphone: "Number? Specific location?"

"At least... at least twenty! Bearings between 120 and 150 degrees! They're launching torpedoes! The sonar detected a large number of torpedoes entering the water!"

Torpedo Sea.

This is standard tactic for destroyers when facing capital ships—charging in swarms, launching a barrage of torpedoes at close range, and then using speed and maneuverability to escape. At night and in dense fog, this is an extremely dangerous threat.

"Command the entire fleet to make an emergency turn! Hard to port! Set course to 000! All secondary and medium-caliber guns, concentrate fire on the incoming destroyer!"

The British battle line began an emergency turn. Twenty-four dreadnoughts turned simultaneously, a spectacular but dangerous sight – during the turn, the warships would temporarily lose some of their firepower, and their formation could be disrupted.

But during this window of opportunity, an unexpected event occurred.

Due to the hasty turn, coupled with the interference of dense fog and smoke, the lead ship of the British battle line, HMS Marlborough, misjudged the distance between itself and the second-ranked HMS Iron Duke. When HMS Marlborough began to turn, HMS Iron Duke failed to slow down in time, and the distance between the two ships rapidly closed.

"Break, crash, crash!" the lookout yelled.

Chaos reigned on the bridge of the Iron Duke. The helmsman frantically turned the rudder, and the engine room reversed in an emergency, but the 80,000-ton steel behemoth was no car; its inertia was too great.

At the last moment, HMS Marlborough accelerated forward, while HMS Iron Duke turned sharply to starboard, the two ships passing each other less than fifty yards apart. The splashing waves splattered onto both decks like a mini tsunami.

But the crisis is not over.

HMS Iron Duke's emergency right turn forced HMS Orion, which was following closely behind, to also make an emergency turn. Then came HMS Monarch, HMS Conqueror... like dominoes, the first half of the entire British battle line was thrown into chaos.

All of this was observed by Hipper's fleet, which was charging forward.

On the bridge of the Lützow, Hipper saw the chaos of the British battle line through his binoculars.

He was prepared to sacrifice himself—to charge into the British fleet, draw their fire, and sink under a salvo of main guns. But unexpectedly, the British didn't use their main guns against him, but only harassed him with their secondary guns.

This puzzled him and made him wary.

Only now, seeing the chaos at the front of the British battle line, did he suddenly understand.

"I see..." he murmured. "What Scheer wants is not for us to draw fire... what he wants is for us to create chaos."

He turned and roared at the communications officer, "Signal all ships that can still move! Change targets! Stop charging the middle of the British battle line! Charge their lead ships! Charge HMS Marlborough and HMS Iron Duke! Force them to change course, disrupt their formation!"

"But Commander," the captain cautioned, "our speed...we can't get that close."

"Then use artillery! Use torpedoes! Use every means possible!" Hipper's eyes burned. "Tell them this is their last chance! If we can tear a hole in the British battle line, the main fleet will have a chance to break through!"

The orders were transmitted via light signals. HMS Derfflinger, HMS Seydlitz, HMS Von der Tann, along with several light cruisers and destroyers following behind, adjusted their course and pounced on the most chaotic front of the British battle line like a pack of wolves that had spotted a weakness in their prey.

The Lützow was at the very front. Although she was slow and badly damaged, her bow remained firmly pointed in the direction of the Marlborough.

The remaining X and Y stern gun turrets began firing. 305mm shells streaked across the night sky, landing around the "Marlborough" and exploding into plumes of water.

Meanwhile, several German destroyers emerged from the smoke and charged toward the British battle line at speeds exceeding thirty knots. Their aim was not to hit, but to intimidate—launching torpedoes at a range of four thousand meters, then rapidly turning away.

"Torpedo! Starboard!" The lookout's scream echoed across the bridge of the USS Marlborough.

The captain urgently ordered a turn to evade. However, turning meant breaking away from the battle line and disrupting the rhythm of the entire column.

Jericho witnessed all of this aboard the Iron Duke.

He witnessed the desperate charge of German battlecruisers, the torpedo attacks of German destroyers, and the chaos at the front of his own fleet.

He also saw an opportunity.