Chapter 255 - 255: The Second Phase

The sea lay calm beneath a hard, unbroken sun, its surface stretched wide and bright like hammered glass, disturbed only by the long white wakes of fleets in motion and the scattered scars of battle left drifting between them.

To the east, the German battlecruiser line moved in disciplined withdrawal towards their incoming 3 Derfflinger-class battlecruisers coming to reinforce. The six German Battlecruisers were cutting cleanly through the still water before gradually easing their speed, their formation holding even as the violence of the previous engagement faded into distance. Their guns had fallen silent for the moment, but the intent behind their movement had not—this was no retreat, only a pause, a measured step before the next blow.

To the north, far behind them, the British battlecruiser force advanced southward in pursuit, nine ships in ordered formation, their funnels trailing smoke into the clear sky as they drove forward with restrained urgency. They did not rush blindly. They followed carefully, maintaining distance as they closed upon the scene of destruction left behind, while the four Iron Duke-class Dreadnoughts followed further back.

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