Lord George Kirkburn’s fleet arrived at Campbelltown Passage around ten o’clock. At this time, the fog has gradually dissipated. Because of what happened on the road, Lord George Kirkburn thought that by now, the French should have known his actions. Maybe he has already formed a formation at the exit, waiting for his fleet to rush out, so that he can take advantage of his head advantage.

However, this was also planned, and Lord George Kirkburn did not feel that his decision to go north was wrong. Because based on the information they got, the French deployed more warships near the Strait of St. George, and their strength was stronger. In addition, although you can get the support of the fort at the exit of the strait, it is easier to deploy the fleet, but there are too many ports nearby, and the French have too many fast warships. Even if it protrudes, it is difficult to get rid of the French tracking. . The British fleet has no advantage in speed, at least when the sea conditions are normal.

But in the north, the situation is different. The fleet on this side should be a little weaker, and if it can protrude and penetrate the Tenes Channel, the French fleet will completely lose track of them. When they made a big bend and reached the exit of the Tenish Channel, the British fleet had long since disappeared into the vast sea.

In addition, compared to the south, the North Sea has high winds and waves, and the sea conditions are quite poor. Because of the pursuit of high speed, the French warships made certain compromises in seaworthiness. Therefore, in the North Sea area with high sea conditions, the French fleet is probably not as fast as the British fleet, at least the British estimated that. Of course, the French may not agree, they also think that the French Academy of Sciences' years of research and accumulation in the shape of boats are not for nothing.

But no matter what, as long as they entered the Tenes Channel, at least temporarily, the French would not be able to track them anymore.

However, the question now is how to safely highlight the Campbelltown Pass.

The Campbelltown Passage is 20 kilometers wide. The British army has deployed mines here. Of course, the British left the Passage. However, the width of the Passage cannot allow the entire fleet to expand. If there is an enemy at the exit, he must be in front of the enemy and with their firepower, complete a big turn in front of the enemy.

Prior to this operation, the British Royal Navy conducted at least fifty simulations on the chart. These deductions all proved one thing, that is, if the Campbelltown Passage is intercepted by a fleet of its own strength Under normal circumstances, the possibility of successfully breaking through the siege and maintaining considerable combat effectiveness is very small. As long as the opponent makes no mistakes, the destruction of the entire army is almost the only ending.

But this means that under normal circumstances, today's situation is not particularly normal, because there is still heavy fog today. If they were not found when they passed through the waters of Belfast, then they found the Campbelltown Passage under the cover of fog, and then under the protection of their position, they rushed all the way towards the Tenesh Waterway. The French wanted to stop them. That's not easy.

Of course, today's situation is not so ideal, but, under the cover of heavy fog, even under the cover of the fog that is dissipating, it is not completely impossible to carry the enemy's shelling and complete the front turn. After all, in heavy fog, whether it is British or French, the shooting rate of shelling will be very low. Unless the French pulls the distance between the two sides very close, but in this case, something that the British specially prepared might be useful.

At this time, the British minesweeper troops stationed in Campbelltown had already greeted them. The fog has not cleared yet, but the silhouette of the opponent can be seen at a distance of three to four hundred meters. Coupled with the red anti-collision lights, the two sides can find each other at a greater distance.

The two sides communicated with each other using light signals. From this light, Lord George Kirkburn knew that the minesweeper force had spotted the French fleet outside the exit. Of course, because of the heavy fog, the composition of the French fleet is unclear. Lord George Kirkburn knew that his fleet could not shrink, so he gave the order to move forward. Because of the fog, he couldn't hang the bleeding red pennant to boost morale, but the tweeter invented by the French could come in handy.

So Lord George Kirkburn delivered a brief pre-war speech to the entire fleet through a tweeter.

In his speech, Lord George Kirkburn told the soldiers that the French fleet was waiting outside the passage, hoping to keep them in the Irish Sea. But Britain has now started to suffocate under the blockade noose, and their families will be starving.

"For England, and more importantly, so that our families can have bread to eat, we have no retreat now. As long as we can rush out, the blockade of Britain will be broken, and the noose around our family’s neck Will be relaxed. So we cannot hold back.

The kingdom is rising and falling, and in this battle, the kings need to fight their enemies bravely in order to repay the country. "

After speaking, Lord George Kirkburn gave the order to move forward.

Then the British minesweeper served as the pilot and began to guide the British fleet through the minefield.

The British fleet was led by several minesweepers, followed by two fast cruisers. Because it is very common to see heavy fog on the sea in this season, the British have already made relevant preparations. One of them is that the two cruisers are equipped with long masts that extend forward and backward. The only function of these two masts is to suspend anti-collision lights used in heavy fog.

It is absolutely impossible to pass through minefields in heavy fog without anti-collision lights, and hanging them will also make it easier for the enemy to find themselves. However, at longer distances, the enemy ship can only rely on observing the suspension height and spacing of the anti-collision lights to determine the target or something. Battleships are taller and longer than cruisers, so under normal conditions, the position of anti-collision lights suspended on battleships is higher and the spacing is larger. These two cruisers made this modification in order to make the French ships make wrong judgments and focus their firepower on them, so as to gain time for the battleships following them to complete the turn.

Behind the two cruisers posing as battleships are the "Crecy" and "Poitiers" battleships. Unlike the previous cruisers, they deliberately lowered the suspension height of the anti-collision lights and changed the suspension height of the anti-collision lights. The anti-collision light at the bow of the ship was hung in the middle of the ship.

Moreover, the two cruisers at the front were normal single-columns, but the fleet following them was changed to double-columns. This approach undoubtedly increases the degree of danger when crossing a minefield. However, the formation was compressed so that it could be turned immediately after leaving the strait. In addition, it is easy for the enemy to misjudge the size of their own fleet and to cover some special-purpose warships. For example, on the side of the battleships "Crecy" and "Poitiers", there are only two A small warship of four to five hundred tons. These warships are so special that they don't even have a cannon on them. It's just that there is a long pole protruding forward at the bow of the ship.

The fleet sailed forward. At this time, the sea fog continued to disperse.

At about 10:30, the fleet was approaching the exit of the strait, and the sea fog dispersed a lot. At this time, the French can already see the British anti-collision lights two kilometers away.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of smuggling, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Truth have inquired into a lot of data about the new British warships. Therefore, based on the status of the anti-collision lights on the British warships, the French can barely carry out target identification and distance judgment.

"The first few ships are minesweepers. Judging by the proportions, the next two ships should be the battleships "Crecy" and "Poitiers". Then there are two armored cruisers, and then one. Super cruiser, the next goal remains to be seen. The distance between us and the enemy battleship is about 2.5 kilometers." On the bridge of the battleship "Trajan", Chief of Staff Copa told Admiral Bruce Said.

"According to the plan, concentrate fire on the enemy battleship." Admiral Bruce ordered.

At 10:40, the 203 mm guns of the "Trajan" battleship fired first, which opened the prelude to the naval battle. The 150 mm guns of the "Caesar" battleship that followed the "Trajan" also fired. Started to fire on the British forces, followed by the 150 mm guns of the "Hermes" super cruiser and the "Artemis" super cruiser, and then the 100 mm guns of the armored cruiser.

The fog did cause a certain amount of interference to the ranging, coupled with the interference caused by the target recognition error, it further reduced the hit rate of the shells, but dozens of warships fired, hundreds of shells fell, there are still one or two. One shell accidentally hit the target. The foremost armored cruiser "Resolve" was first hit by a 100mm shell. The shell landed on its side. If it were really a battleship, it would be impossible for a 100mm shell to penetrate the armor at this position. However, she is not a battleship, but an armored cruiser. Because the armor-piercing capability of the French artillery is underestimated, the armor of the British armored cruiser cannot stop the semi-armor-piercing shells of the French 100mm gun at such a close range.

If it was not in the fog, but at night, this 100mm shell that hits, I am afraid that the identity of the British counterfeit battleship would have been immediately exposed. After the shell hits the armor, the fire from the breakdown and non-penetration is It is different, and each caliber of shells hits the opponent's armor and the fire is different. Experienced watchmen can see that the armor of the enemy ship was penetrated by my 100mm gun, and then the identity of that ship was naturally exposed.

But now it's in the fog, so the sparks that popped out when the armor was penetrated were not visible here. Therefore, all the French ships still concentrated their firepower and opened fire violently at the two "battleships".

One of the problems caused by the fog is that at this distance, the French cannot see whether they have hit the enemy, nor can they observe the impact of the shells, and cannot make corrections. They can only rely on the combined rangefinder to measure Interpret the distance of the fog lights, and then blindly shoot.

Soon the "Determination" was shot again. This time, his luck was very bad. The 100mm semi-armor-piercing projectile hit just now, although it penetrated the armor, the charge of the 100mm semi-armor-piercing projectile was equivalent. Small, not even more than a grenade, so the damage caused is actually very limited. But this time, it was a 203 mm shell fired from the battleship "Trajan". The shell easily penetrated her armor from the port side, and then exploded on the starboard armor plate after passing through layers of internal structures. The explosion tore a one-meter-sized hole in the underwater part of the starboard side, and a large amount of sea water poured in at once.

Then a few more shells fell, and the "Resolve" began to roll and its speed dropped significantly. In order not to block the warships behind, the "Resolve" began to turn to make way for the warships behind.

But at this time, the "Resolve" had not sailed out of the minefield, so her action was very dangerous.

Perhaps it was because too many guys on the "Resolve" had forgotten to pray to God when they got up today. Therefore, this boat was particularly unlucky today. It took less than a minute to turn and she crashed into a mine. The charge and power of mines were not comparable to shells, so this armored cruiser was directly blown into two sections by mines, and sank into the sea in less than a minute. She also became the first sunken warship today.

Even through the thick fog, the French also noticed the loud noise of the mine explosion and the disappearance of the enemy's "battleship". All the French were inspired by this great victory, and they all believed that a big victory was in front of them.

The French continued to focus their firepower against another "battleship", but perhaps because the "Resolve" was too unlucky, so God is now looking for a balance, so the other "battleship Hope" has not been hit by a single shell. . Although the French shot six or seven rounds of volleys at her, she did not touch her body, as if she was possessed by a certain auspiciousness in later generations. At this time, the British drove out of the minefield and began to turn against the French artillery. At the same time, they also turned off the anti-collision lights because they had already driven out of the minefield.

But at this time, the fog dissipated more, and as the two fleets approached each other, the two sides could already see the faint outline of each other. Knowing that at this time, the French found out that what he had been shooting at was not a "battleship", but the two ships that he had always recognized as armored cruisers were the real battleships.

At this time, the British battleships had completed the ranging work by observing the muzzle flames of the French ships, and the 305mm guns on them were ready to fire on the French.