afterglow

Chapter 331 God agrees too?Teachers and students

It is impossible to let the destroyer go straight to the fjord where the situation is unknown as soon as it comes up, so the torpedo boat operating with the fleet has taken on the heavy responsibility of the pioneers of pathfinding.

On a fort on the west bank, the Norwegian officers and soldiers immediately manipulated the searchlights to illuminate the suspicious shadow of the ship after sensing the warning of the red signal rocket.

"Start the searchlights!"

"Two o'clock direction! Unidentified ship, sailing at about ten knots!"

A 150cm large searchlight and two 110cm medium searchlights were activated, and the carbon rods inside burst out countless blazing lights under the action of powerful electrical energy!
Most of the light is gathered forward under the action of the silver-plated concave mirror, with a brightness of up to [-] million candelas and a distance of up to [-] to [-] kilometers, as if it were three white light pillars piercing the world.

The two S-type torpedo boats immediately "fired back" with their own searchlights, reflecting those coastal searchlights. Although the brightness was far less than that of the big guys of the Norwegian coastal defense unit, it still hindered the opponent's observation.

"Ah! Can you tell them apart?!"

"Damn it! I can't do it!"

"Captain, they are still approaching, we should fire and warn!"

It should be noted that the "torpedo boat" in the German army sequence is not a small speedboat in the conventional impression, but a ship of [-] tons or even thousands of tons, with torpedoes as the main means of attack, which is equivalent to a reduced version of a destroyer; The runabout was called a "Schnellboot", the famous S-type torpedo boat.

[But after that, we still used the customary name to call the strange German warships-the miniature destroyer was called a "torpedo ship", and the S-boat was still called a torpedo boat. 】

At this time, a fort on the east coast also began to use searchlights to illuminate the two torpedo boats in the strait, and used a 57mm field gun to fire illumination bombs at them.

Several Norwegian mine-laying boats were at a loss, neither advancing nor retreating, so they stayed where they were and waited for orders.

At this time, the two 150mm howitzers of the Bolanelle Fort opened fire.

When the rumble of gunfire came, two shells also hit the front of the torpedo boat, splashing tall water columns!

In an instant, the icy sea water turned into a torrential rain, covering the two torpedo boats at once, and the sailors outside suddenly became drowned.

On the heavy cruiser Peake, the lookout posts and bridge officers all observed the artillery fire from the Norwegian army - the flashing muzzle flash was very conspicuous, and the splashing waves also reflected crystal clear under the illumination of the searchlight pole.

"Send a light signal to ask them to stop any resistance. The fleet aims at the target island and loads ammunition." Rear Admiral Brod ordered decisively.

Lieutenant Colonel Fane repeated the commander's order, and a communications officer immediately relayed the instructions via the ship's telephone.

The lights flickered on and off, and after interpreting the language of the lights, the Norwegians finally understood what these uninvited guests wanted.

At 18:27 Oslo time in the evening, a telegram was sent to Oslo and the command of the First Coastal Defense District. Only then did Norway know that the invaders were Germans, not British or French.

Major General Gosta, the commander of the First Coastal Defense District, categorically rejected the request to lay down his weapons and surrender, and instructed his subordinate forts and coastal defense units to freely fire back after the warning was invalid.

In fact, the instructions received by the major general were as follows - if the offender is British or French, then keep warning, but not have any overreaction; but if it is German, then resolutely fight back after warning.

Although they knew that the enemy was outnumbered, the Norwegian officers and soldiers still had hope - the terrain advantage of the Oslo Fjord was too great. If the Germans were careless, there was still hope of inflicting heavy damage by surprise and repelling them.

Ever since, about 10 minutes later, the Norwegian artillery guarding each fort fired again to warn.

More than a dozen shells of different types landed near the fleet, including 57mm, 65mm, and 150mm shells, and the splashing water jets were also of different sizes.

Do warning bombardments need to use so many shells?Why does it seem that every fort fired a salvo?
But if it is a formal counterattack, the artillery fire is a bit too sparse, right?And the accuracy is too bad.

Although the fleet was somewhat confused, Major General Broad made a decisive decision given that one of the shells landed very close to the destroyer on the left front of the fleet.

"This is the attack, now, fire!"

On Bollanelle, Norwegian artillerymen completed their second round of loading and were awaiting an order to fire.

However, they saw a series of light spots suddenly flashing on the sea in the distance, there were about twenty of them.

A few seconds later, until the dull popping sound of shells reached their ears, they realized that something was wrong.

If the shell passes over the sky, it will usually be heard as a sharp whistling sound; but if the shell will fall nearby, then it will be a dull sound.

Several rounds of 203mm high-explosive bombs and more than a dozen rounds of 128mm high-explosive bombs from cruisers and destroyers landed on the island battery, and the dazzling brilliance completely enveloped the small coastal defense artillery position!
A 203mm high-explosive bomb from the USS Peak landed near a 57mm field gun. The explosion of nearly 57 kilograms of explosives successfully detonated several boxes of [-]mm shells nearby.

Like setting off fireworks, after the initial explosions one after another, the shells shot up into the sky one after another, or scattered in all directions.

In the night, this scene is really magnificent.

The sailors cheered, and the army soldiers who secretly ran out to watch the excitement couldn't help but cheer, and were immediately ordered by the sailors to return to the lower deck.

The performance of the SK.C/32 203mm naval gun of the Pique is very good, but it is much heavier than the same level of naval guns of other countries, reaching 20 tons; the double-mounted turret weighs about 250 tons, which is equivalent to The triple turret of the Northampton class.

The Pic-class heavy cruiser can actually be regarded as the Hipper-class in this plane, but there are some differences.

Historically, the Hipper class has been criticized for its high cost and weak protection, and people jokingly call it "the Navy's fool".

Her cost exceeds 8000 million marks, compared with only 500 million pounds for the British London class - converted into marks, it is more than 6000 million.

This is because Germany's upstream and downstream shipbuilding industry chains have almost withered under the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, and have not fully recovered after rearmament, making Germany pay much higher costs for building any large ship.

Today, Deutsche does not have this problem, so the construction cost of the Pick-class heavy cruiser is exactly 100 million marks.

Her horizontal armor is also slightly stronger than the Hipper class's thin 30mm - 40mm for the main deck and 60mm for the ammunition bay.

Her torpedo protection has also been significantly improved - the Hipper class has a single layer of 20mm, while the Piccolo class has a double layer of 20mm.

In addition, Deutschland has made great progress in steam turbine technology, and the fuel consumption has finally been reduced, making the maximum range at a cruising speed of 17 knots reach 8200 nautical miles.

However, the Germans still did not abandon the outdated idea of ​​comprehensive protection, and the Pique class still used the dome armor design.

This may also be her most German flavor.

Bolanelle Island was destroyed almost in an instant, and the coastal defense artillery suffered heavy casualties. Although there was a missing infantry company in the defense, it was meaningless.

For a few seconds, the sudden situation silenced the entire fjord.

But ten seconds later, all the artillery deployed in the Fort of Oui Island, the Fort of Horten on the West Bank, and the Fort of Moss on the East Bank opened fire one after another.The three destroyers immediately maneuvered to evade, while the Pique continued to sail in a straight line at a low speed, so as to return fire to the Norwegian batteries with the highest accuracy.

In the fjord, two torpedo boats have used light signals to order the three Norwegian minelayers to surrender immediately. But now that the conflict has begun, are the Norwegians really willing to surrender?

The Logan with the largest displacement used its machine gun and 40mm pom-pom cannon to fire at the German torpedo boat, and the other two mine-laying boats also fired immediately after they reacted.

Instead of obeying, the other party opened fire on us?
Suddenly encountering strong resistance, the German sailors were surprised and decisively launched a counterattack.

"Damn it! Fire! Get rid of these diehards!"

In the roar of "dong dong dong", the shells fired by the 20mm machine gun and the 37mm machine gun rained down on the largest Laura!
The bursts of explosive fireworks and collision sparks turned the entire ship into New Year's fireworks, scattering sparks and burning debris in all directions.

Such a fierce battle at such a close distance was too dangerous. In order to avoid the torpedo in the blast tube being triggered by the incoming fire, Lieutenant Werner, the commander of the S37 torpedo boat, made an immediate decision, "Prepare the torpedo! Set the depth to two meters, cancel the aiming! Launch immediately!"

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The launch tube used compressed air to push the heavy G7a torpedo out, and then it fell into the sea with a crisp sound.

The minesweeper Laura, the largest tonnage, had already lost its combat effectiveness under the concentrated fire. The whole boat was cut off and there was only a small amount of power left. The countless ignition points made the fire spread rapidly.

The other two mine-laying boats only weighed more than a hundred tons, and they were equipped with only three machine guns, so there was obviously no threat at all.

However, the Norwegian sailors did not want to surrender, they would rather flee.

The two minesweepers turned around as quickly as possible and drew a perfect arc in the strait.

The Germans didn't want to kill them all, and didn't want to waste ammunition, so the two torpedo boats stopped shooting at the minesweepers, and turned to fire at the fort on Oi Island in front of the right.

But what is unexpected is that the two torpedoes launched by S37 happened to be on the escape route of the Norwegian minesweeper.

Several sailors on the stern of the minesweeper Vida were surprised to find that there seemed to be a gray shadow approaching in the night.

After a while, they realized that it was a group of moving waves?

Previously, the torpedoes launched at will by the S37 used the default speed of thirty knots, which made the relative speed of the torpedo and the minesweeper less than nine knots.

In this way, the two are getting closer.

The shocked sailors thought they had escaped and just breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the strange moving waves touched the stern of the boat.

Everyone heard something strange—the clattering of metal on metal from below.

This 533mm G7a steam gas torpedo hit the stern of the boat, and then, its head hit the propeller.

"boom!!!"

The huge energy burst out when the 320kg mixed explosive explodes underwater is extremely terrifying. This special torpedo explosive mixed with hexanitrodiphenylamine and TNT is very powerful.

In an instant, the small wooden and steel-hulled mine-mine boat was reduced to ashes.

The earth-shattering movement suddenly became the focus of the conflict area. Everyone on the Norwegian and German sides looked at the water column rising into the sky.

The sailors on S37 were stunned, they didn't even know what to say to express their feelings.

Are these Norwegians too unlucky?
Surprised, Lieutenant Werner sighed: "Facts have proved that if there is a God, he also agrees with our glorious cause."

But God and Lady Luck are always fair. The destroyer Dannenberg was hit by a 150mm high-explosive bomb and hit a 37mm anti-aircraft gun, killing six and injuring eleven. Fortunately, it did not trigger a series of explosions.

The largest Pique naturally suffered the most attacks, but 57mm and 150mm high-explosive bombs are not enough for qualified heavy cruisers to fear.

In particular, many of the old fuzes in the Norwegian inventory had failed, and only three of the six shells that hit the Pique exploded, which hardly affected the battle.

In the roar of the 203mm twin-mounted naval guns, the Eui Island Fort, the West Bank Horten Fort, and the East Bank Moss Fort were wiped out one by one.

The horrific high-explosive shells turned those antique artillery and brave Norwegian artillerymen into scraps of metal and broken limbs.

"Those loyal young men should not die like this." Major General Broad sighed, and then calmly ordered, "Maintain speed and enter the strait."

Lieutenant Colonel Finn, the first mate, hesitated for a moment, and reminded: "Comrade Commander, the speed is too low to exert the rudder effect. Should we speed up?"

Fein was worried that he might not be able to evade in time when encountering unexpected situations in the future - when the ship is sailing at low speed, the steering effect of the rudder is very low, and it can only turn effectively when it reaches a certain speed.

But Brod rejected this reminder. He believed that the fjord is not suitable for maneuvering and evading. If there is an emergency, it would be better to reverse immediately.

The German fleet continued to advance northward. The other two forts along the way ceased fire after symbolic counterattacks. Only one fort resisted until the end.

In this way, the outer defense line of the first coastal defense zone was easily broken through.

At 1:34 a.m. the next day, the leading minesweepers and torpedo boats had arrived at the inner defense line.As long as you break through here, the Norwegian capital Oslo will be in your pocket.

Here the strait is still narrower, and in the middle is occupied by the island called Cahomen.

There is a coastal defense torpedo launcher built in the south of the island, and its location is very tricky-it almost hollowed out a cliff wall, and a space was carved out of it.

The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Toler, is an enthusiastic and generous middle-aged man, but a tragic car accident four years ago caused him to lose his left leg and only have light perception in his left eye.He could only retire from active service and serve as an instructor for coastal defense cadets.

However, the commander of the torpedo launch station on Kahomen Island had to go for treatment because of tuberculosis, so from half a month ago, Toller was ordered to come here as his substitute.

After learning of the German invasion a few hours earlier, he consulted his superiors and then called to recruit his students.

Dozens of students from the Coastal Defense Academy who were awakened from sleep also temporarily joined the defense to fill the shortage of manpower, but there were still two 57 mm field guns that were not used.

"Can we repel them?" someone asked anxiously.

Toller's face was glowing red under the red lighting, and he said with a smile: "It's enough to do your best."

(End of this chapter)