Rear Admiral Hipper made full use of his advantage—the enemy was in the light while his forces were hidden in the dark—rapidly closing the distance between the two fleets.
The captains under his command were still somewhat apprehensive. In the darkness, if enemy destroyers spotted them early and sneaked up to launch torpedoes, the threat to the German battlecruisers would not be small.
Torpedoes were simply too difficult to detect and evade in the dead of night.
However, October 29, 1914—September 12 on the lunar calendar—offered relatively bright moonlight, making it impossible for ships to close to point-blank range before being discovered.
As the two sides drew closer, Hipper spotted more details about the enemy forces once the gap narrowed to roughly fifteen kilometers.
"Admiral, observing the distribution of muzzle flashes from the enemy fleet, we initially assess that the enemy ships have split into two groups. The eastern group appears to consist of three capital ships and a small number of auxiliary vessels currently bombarding the city of Ostend!
"Ten kilometers west of the main fleet, there is another capital ship and a large number of auxiliary vessels! They are currently bombarding the town of Nieuwpoort and the coastal highway positions!"
Hipper's spirits lifted. The enemy had actually divided their forces? If he acted fast enough, there was a real chance he could defeat them piecemeal, preventing the entire enemy fleet from responding to the battlefield in time!
Yet he remained puzzled by one detail, muttering to himself, "Why did the enemy divide their forces? Are they really in such a hurry to bombard both Ostend and Nieuwpoort at the same time?"
Fortunately, Lelouch, standing beside him, was very familiar with the army's situation and immediately deduced the likely reason:"Admiral, I think I know what happened! It must be Colonel List's elastic defense. It has been harassing the enemy endlessly, so they want to rely on their superior numbers to crush our army along the entire line.
"Furthermore, look: there are two massive fires on the sea outside Ostend! Those must be damaged enemy ships! The Britannians probably didn't know that when we captured Ostend, the Belgin army surrendered so fast they failed to destroy the city's defensive installations!
"When Colonel List and I fought our way inside, the colonel took over the coastal fortress, which houses eight 210mm coastal defense guns! The Britannians definitely underestimated us at first. They tried to send their light warships into close range to take cheap shots, only to be heavily damaged by the colonel's counterattacking coastal defense guns!
"It must have been after taking those losses that the enemy withdrew their light vessels further away from Ostend and transferred them west to Nieuwpoort to focus on our forces, which lack the capacity to fire back."
Coastal defense guns were extremely accurate against warships because they fired from fixed positions and routinely conducted calibration shots to map out ballistic tables. In actual combat, gunners only needed to report the coordinates and fire according to the tables. The anti-ship effectiveness of a single 210mm coastal defense gun was perhaps even fiercer than an armored cruiser carrying four 210mm main guns.
It was only because Ostend wasn't large enough that it was equipped merely with 210mm coastal defense guns. If they had been facing a major metropolis like Antwerp, 280mm or even 305mm fortress guns might have taken the stage.
With the 210mm coastal defense guns present, the enemy's small ships no longer dared to approach. They could only use battleships to lob shells from long range to knock the coastal defense guns out first.
After listening to Lelouch's analysis, Hipper's remaining doubts and hesitations were swept away, his mind completely clear.
The exact reason no longer mattered. Since this situation had already taken shape, all he needed to do was seize this godsent opportunity and deal a crushing blow!
"Since most of the enemy's auxiliary vessels have avoided Ostend, we don't need to worry about being ambushed by enemy torpedoes as our capital ships close in. All battlecruisers and armored cruisers, target the three enemy battleships at Ostend and approach at full speed! Attention: shift from column formation to line abreast as we advance!
"Armored cruisers will be responsible for driving off the enemy's few auxiliary vessels on the eastern side to prevent them from entering torpedo attack positions! Battlecruisers will divide into groups to target the enemy's capital ships!
"All light cruisers and destroyers, intercept the enemy's secondary fleet on the western side—fire at will. As long as you create confusion in the darkness and delay the western enemy group from converging toward us, that will be enough!"
Following Hipper's orders, every ship immediately began turning. Their formation swiftly shifted from a column to line abreast as they advanced side by side.
By the time they finished adjusting their formation, the distance between the two fleets had dropped below ten kilometers.
After sailing forward for another two kilometers, when the two sides were roughly six to seven kilometers apart, the lookouts on the Derfflinger relayed another crucial piece of information:
"Observed that enemy ship A's main guns have ceased firing! It has been one minute since their last salvo!"
Hipper had been fully concentrating, waiting for reports. His original plan was to press in to a distance of five kilometers; if they still hadn't been discovered by then, it would be ideal, allowing them to turn and open fire at their leisure.
Hearing this news, he decisively issued orders: "The enemy must have spotted us! All capital ships, hard port! Heading due east to enter the battle line! Reduce speed to cruising! The two Derfflinger-class ships will target the easternmost enemy capital ship! The two Blücher-class ships will target the second enemy capital ship! Open fire at will!"
...
Why had Vice Admiral Hastings, positioned seven kilometers south of Hipper, suddenly ceased fire?
It was, of course, because as the bombardment continued, the lookouts in his fleet had finally spotted a cluster of dark silhouettes appearing to the north.
"Admiral! Unidentified warships appearing to the north! Numbers unknown!"
Vice Admiral Hastings, currently standing on the bridge of the pre-dreadnought HMS Majestic, was slightly startled by the report.
There was absolutely no chance friendly forces would appear at this time, as he had received no prior notification.
Thus, he immediately ordered his main guns to cease fire. All three pre-dreadnoughts currently bombarding the coastal fortress at Ostend turned their hydraulics to maximum, spinning their turrets frantically.
Ostend lay on the southern coast, Hastings's fleet was in the middle, and the mysterious visitors were to the north. To switch targets, the warships' main gun turrets had to execute a 180-degree turn—a maneuver that would take their old-fashioned hydraulic systems two full minutes.
This gap in firing was therefore remarkably obvious.
Two minutes later, the Formidable-class HMS Majestic and the Royal Sovereign-class HMS Revenge finally swung their 305mm main guns toward the north.
As for the oldest ship among the three, the Royal Sovereign-class Hood, she had never been refitted with fully enclosed 305mm main gun turrets. Still using late-nineteenth-century 343mm older-model main guns, she required five full minutes to complete a 180-degree turn.
Seeing there wasn't enough time, Hastings ordered the handful of auxiliary vessels around him to intercept at all costs while the battleships' main guns were turning, attempting to block and delay the enemy.
The Arethusa-class light cruiser Daring, the Bristol-class light cruisers Glasgow and Gloucester, along with five destroyers, immediately surged out from the east, west, and north sides of the capital ships, rushing toward the dark silhouettes in unison.
Before long, however, the opposing German forces used their secondary batteries to launch two rounds of star shells over the heads of the charging light cruisers and destroyers.
With 1914 technology, star shells were generally fired by auxiliary vessels; large-caliber main guns were not wasted on such things. However, the secondary batteries on battlecruisers and armored cruisers also met the requirements, so the star shells currently illuminating the sky had all been fired by the secondary batteries of the German ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
The Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers carried eight 210mm main guns in four twin turrets, six 150mm secondary guns with three single casemate mounts per side, and sixteen 88mm quick-firing guns.
A salvo of star shells from three 150mm secondary guns could ensure the target sea area remained illuminated for about one minute.
The British auxiliary vessels were soon illuminated, but they couldn't launch their torpedoes right away. They could only bite the bullet and continue charging forward—in 1914, torpedo ranges were equally worrying. The 533mm torpedoes used by nations like Demania and Britannia only had a range of four kilometers in high-speed mode above thirty knots, while the 450mm torpedoes of France, Russia, and other countries had ranges of merely two to three kilometers.
To guarantee a hit, a ship had to close to within two kilometers before dropping a torpedo.
Right now, there was still a five-to-six-kilometer gap between the two forces; the torpedoes had not yet entered their effective range. Meanwhile, the Scharnhorst-class ships' 210mm main guns, firing a salvo every twelve seconds, were already pouring fire into the British light cruisers. At the same time, their 88mm quick-firing guns began sweeping the destroyers.
The cruiser Daring—which just a few days prior had rendered great service by rescuing King Albert I of Belgin—was the first to be focus-fired by a total of sixteen 210mm guns from the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at a distance of five kilometers. The very first salvo of shells landed all around the Daring, forming a straddle.
Just twelve seconds later, the Daring had some of her superstructure torn away by a near-miss shell exploding in the adjacent water.
Another twelve seconds passed, and two 210mm shells slammed directly into her hull, setting the Arethusa-class cruiser ablaze from stem to stern and blowing two massive holes in her frame. Although the damage wasn't near the waterline and didn't immediately cause catastrophic flooding, her upper firepower systems were completely disabled.
The German armored cruisers were relentless, continuing to pour fire into her for half a minute until three more 210mm shells struck home. The Daring finally broke into two halves in a massive explosion. Her captain, who had been chatting and laughing with the King of Belgin just three days prior, was completely torn to shreds. Very few of her nearly four hundred crew members survived.
And yet, the fate of the Daring was not enough to serve as a warning to the other British ships. They kept their heads down and continued their charge.
In truth, they had no other choice. The surviving Bristol-class light cruisers likewise carried only two 150mm guns. With such feeble main gun firepower, a head-on charge allowed only one 150mm gun to fire, while turning broadside allowed two. Did that slight difference even matter?
That being the case, they might as well abandon any expectation of extra output from the stern 150mm gun and focus solely on closing the distance as fast as possible to launch torpedoes.
Regrettably, the laws of physics could not be overcome by courage alone.
What did it mean to charge into sixteen 210mm guns firing every twelve seconds? Especially when the distance had closed to the point where elevation didn't even need to be considered. The guns could be fired point-blank; as long as the Scharnhorst-class found the correct horizontal deflection, it was almost guaranteed to hit.
The Glasgow and the Gloucester likewise exploded amidst this desperate charge.
The former never managed to reach torpedo range. The latter did, but just as she turned to find a launch angle, exposing her broad flank, she was turned into a blazing torch by the opposing 210mm guns.
As for those five destroyers, the German captains didn't even need to direct individual targeting against them. The free fire from the 88mm quick-firing guns alone was enough to give them a terrible beating.
Each Scharnhorst-class ship carried sixteen quick-firing guns, eight per side, capable of firing one shot every three seconds. While 88mm shells couldn't sink a destroyer's hull outright, they could still inflict severe damage, causing speed loss and destroying their command and firepower. Several destroyers had their decks set ablaze or their superstructures blown to pieces. Stripped of their offensive capabilities, they turned and fled into the distance.
Even if they had continued their charge, they no longer possessed the ability to launch torpedoes; their combat command and firepower systems were already destroyed.
Fleeing meant they might sink a little slower, which in turn could draw the enemy's fire away from their capital ships for just a moment longer.
"If the Britannians had two or three times more close-escort forces, a suicidal torpedo charge tonight might actually have broken through.
"But heaven is helping our army! Most of their auxiliary vessels had nothing to do on the eastern side due to the threat of Ostend's coastal defense guns, so they were transferred to the west!"
Aboard the Derfflinger, Hipper watched as the two vanguard Scharnhorst-class ships—along with his own ship's broadside of six 150mm and six 88mm secondary guns—harvested the small number of enemy auxiliary vessels making their mad torpedo charge. He both admired the opponent's courage and knew it was entirely futile.
A torpedo charge had to achieve sufficient scale to stand a chance of victory; employing oil-adding tactics was just throwing lives away for nothing.
And the result of throwing those lives away was merely buying a cumulative total of ten-odd minutes for their capital ships—just enough time for them to turn their turrets around, adjust their hull positioning, and complete initial aiming at the enemy.
The problem, however, was that in a nighttime environment, before the Demania battlecruisers' main guns opened fire, the Britannians could only complete lateral aiming. They could not rangefind. In other words, they could only roughly set the horizontal angles of their main guns, but they still had no idea how much to adjust for distance.
Rangefinding at night relied primarily on observing the gap between the flashes of an enemy ship's fore and aft main gun turrets through a rangefinder to estimate the ship's size and distance.
If the distant enemy ship's main guns didn't fire and emit muzzle flashes, the distance between its fore and aft turrets couldn't be measured.
In contrast, the Britannian battleships had already fired numerous rounds from their main guns, allowing the Demania observers to repeatedly measure their range long in advance.
The 210mm main guns on the Demanian Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers had indeed been firing continuously, so theoretically the British capital ships could have ranged the Scharnhorst-class and concentrated their fire there. But everyone knew the Scharnhorst-class's 210mm main guns posed no threat to pre-dreadnoughts. In a decisive battle, who would dare waste firepower on secondary targets that posed no threat to their own capital ships?
It would be like the Hood engaging the Bismarck in a duel—would she continue wasting her main gun firepower on the Prinz Eugen when she knew full well the leading ship was the Eugen?
Consequently, by the time Hipper finished dealing with the enemy auxiliary vessels and shifted all his attention back to the gunnery duel between the capital ships, the Britannians still hadn't managed to gain the upper hand. They had to start over from the exact same starting line.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Twelve-inch and 11-inch German shells soared into the sky in a mixed, alternating barrage, kicking up four dense clusters of muzzle flashes across the surface of the sea.
Only ten-odd seconds after the muzzle flashes appeared, a salvo of shells flew straight over the top of the HMS Majestic!
Listening to the whistling sound overhead, Vice Admiral Hastings broke out in a cold sweat.
"What? How is the enemy's gunnery so accurate? Just how long were they observing us in the dark?"
As a veteran naval officer, Vice Admiral Hastings naturally knew that finding the correct horizontal deflection in a naval battle was relatively simple; the true difficulty lay in precise rangefinding.
Yet the enemy's very first salvo had flown right over his head, proving that they had nailed the horizontal alignment from the start and had merely overestimated the range.
"Return fire immediately! Then make fine adjustments to the rangefinding as fast as possible!"
Hastings was burning with anxiety as the twelve main guns of his three pre-dreadnoughts roared back at the enemy.
Their horizontal deflection was likewise decent, but their range estimation was far more off than the enemy's. They had to urgently fine-tune their range calculations based on the spacing of the muzzle flashes exposed by the enemy's main guns.
What was even more fatal was that Hastings only had three ships at hand, totaling 3 × 4 = 12 main guns. Facing him, Hipper commanded 4 × 8 = 32 main guns.
Hipper didn't even wait for the precise rangefinding calculations. Relying merely on experience, he estimated that the first wave had flown long and immediately ordered: "Do not wait for calibration results! Reduce the range by 300 yards with each successive wave—half-salvos! Keep firing until we score a hit!"
Some of the more rigid officers didn't immediately grasp Hipper's deeper intent, but that didn't stop them from strictly executing his orders.
The German ships swiftly carried out the command. Firing half-salvos allowed them to shorten the interval between gunnery rounds by nearly half; what had originally been three rounds per minute could now be increased to five.
Just one minute later, as the estimated range was shortened by over a thousand yards, a 12-inch shell finally found the superstructure of the HMS Majestic, blowing her smokestack clean off at the base with a deafening crash.
Black smoke laced with flames poured directly out of the hull, transforming the HMS Majestic into an exceptionally conspicuous living target in the dark night—one that no longer required star shells to mark its position.