The violent explosions of shells jolted Admiral Isakov and the others awake. They threw on their uniforms and hurried to the conning tower, asking what had happened.
"Comrade Commander, bombardment! We're under fire from the Germans' large-caliber naval guns! Their Capital Ships are nearby!" a Russian staff officer said, his face deathly pale.
"What? How is that possible?" Admiral Orlov cried out.
Their destroyers and Light Cruisers had been deployed around the Capital Ships, searching the surrounding twenty kilometers to ensure that any German fleet would be detected. Yet now they were under fire from the German fleet, which meant the Germans' Capital Ships had opened fire from over twenty kilometers away.
"Comrade Political Commissar, the outer Light Cruisers have confirmed it. The Germans are at least thirty kilometers south of us!" another staff officer reported.
"What? More than thirty kilometers away? How could that be possible?" Chief of Staff Admiral Viktorov wore an expression of utter disbelief. This was practically beyond anything they knew.
Although the 410mm Main Gun had a range of more than thirty kilometers, no country could possibly hit a target at such a distance. That was simply beyond the limits of existing technology.
Admiral Isakov's expression turned extremely grim. He suddenly realized that even if they wanted to fight the German Navy to the death, they might not be able to.
After their trail had been discovered by the German fleet, Admiral Isakov had known they would not escape this time. Thus, he had resolved to die fighting the German fleet. His aim had been to make the German fleet pay a terrible price even if it destroyed them. After all, in a night battle, the distance between the two sides would be further reduced. That would shrink the gap in warship performance to its