afterglow

Chapter 332: Go straight to Huanglong; the fire is burning!
"Set the depth to three meters, shoot to the right to the maximum, and connect to the compressed air pipeline."

Under the supervision of the "teacher", the students and soldiers loaded three 450mm torpedoes into the launch tube through the slide rails.

These 450mm torpedoes manufactured at the beginning of the century are nearly 40 years old. When they were shipped to Oslo, the Norwegian-Swedish Alliance had not yet been dissolved.After No and Rui were separated, they have been quietly staying in the warehouses of various coastal defense units, and are only moved out regularly for maintenance.

After the loading was completed, everyone carefully inspected the launching mechanism and practiced the aiming-launching-loading process as carefully as before.

The young students seemed quite excited and were gearing up to fight the invading enemy; but this was not the case with the other soldiers, who all looked solemn.

At 1:47 in the morning, the soft moonlight seemed to cover the hills of Cahomen Island with a layer of cold white veil.

In order to get the best view for command, the commander of Oscarburg, Colonel Paul, personally took action.He came to the highest point of the island, an overgrown hill where the coastal defense unit had an observation post.

In the severe cold of more than ten degrees below zero, the exhaled water vapor quickly condensed into frost. The colonel and several subordinates waited quietly in the observation post with drafts on all sides.

A few minutes later, several dark figures appeared in the field of view of the telescope; more than ten seconds later, the true identities of these dark figures were revealed by the searchlight.

"Three small boats ahead, then destroyers and cruisers, Your Excellency, do we need warning shots?"

"The act of aggression against neutrality has been proven. These Germans know what they are doing. Do they still need a warning?"

With that said, Colonel Paul bowed and picked up the phone receiver and ordered: "The target, the invader's cruiser, fire as soon as you are ready to confirm the attack order."

As his order was issued, the Norwegian artillerymen in each fort quickly got busy, adjusting the firing elements for the 150mm howitzer and 280mm howitzer.

After about half a minute, everything was ready.

Rear Admiral Broad, standing on the bridge, suddenly saw the flash of fire in the distance, and he realized the crisis was coming almost instantly.

A few seconds later, before the sound of gunfire could be heard, the first 280mm high-explosive bomb hit the port side of the Peak!

"boom!"

All the sailors felt what the earth was shaking and the mountains were shaking. Several people in the bridge were knocked down, and the huge explosion left many people with only humming in their ears.

However, even though the large caliber and charge of 280mm are very scary, the high-explosive bomb cannot penetrate the 80mm thick main armor belt of the Piccolo, and at best it only leaves some traces and impressions.

Another 280mm shell and three 150mm shells failed to hit, and all became near misses and long misses, causing the ice-cold sea water to bathe the Peake.

"Fight back and destroy them!"

The gunnery officer was ordered to return fire immediately, but numerous searchlights from the east and west shores and Cahome Island interfered with the rangefinder's work.

The officers responsible for commanding the main gun were unable to identify the target at first. They finally recognized it, but were unable to complete effective range measurement due to the strong light.

"Comrade Commander, we should speed up through here!" someone exclaimed.

"No, a few hours have passed. We may encounter mines ahead. We can't take risks." The calm Brod ordered the vehicle to start reversing.

At this time, the destroyer Zwolle located on the left rear of the Pick was hit by a 150mm high-explosive bomb, and the sound of explosions and the sound of fragments falling into the sea were heard one after another.

The detonated 20mm anti-aircraft ammunition crackled like firecrackers, and the flames shot into the sky, which was very frightening.

At this time, in that hidden torpedo launch pad, many eager eyes were staring at Lieutenant Colonel Toler.

He took a deep breath, raised his hand to look at his watch, and ordered: "Launch!"

"Puff puff!"

The three torpedoes were pushed out of the launch tube by compressed air one after another, and fell into the sea from a height of several meters, making a crisp and sweet plop sound.

Despite their advanced age, these torpedoes, which were almost their grandfather's, were working normally. As the engines and gyroscopes started to operate, three faint tracks appeared on the sea surface of the fjord.

The gunners of the Peek went into battle one after another, but none of them could complete the range measurement. Broad had no choice but to let the battleship continue to retreat.

The wounded destroyer Zwolle was brave and kept moving forward while turning slightly to open fire on the enemy with full force.

The Zwolle is also difficult to complete the range measurement due to the searchlight, but she does not attract hatred like the Pik, so there are only a few light beams shining on her.

The sailors were quick and decisive, seizing the gap as quickly as possible to complete the range measurement of the east coast forts.

Not long after, the 128mm naval gun roared, and shells hit those old antique coastal defense guns one after another.

The Zwolle fired approximately three rounds of irregular shots, and due to haste and confusion, most of the fifteen rounds it fired failed to hit the target.

However, only the one shell that hit achieved the key mission-it directly hit the battery command post, and more than half of the ten people including the captain commander and below were injured or killed.

But the good luck of the Zwolle came to an end so far, and three 450mm torpedoes from the coastal defense torpedo launcher of Cahomen Island approached her.

The fierce battle in the night was so tense that no one noticed the faint track on the sea.

Two torpedoes passed in front of the destroyer and headed toward the east coast, but a third torpedo struck the Zwolle's bow.

"Boom!!!"

The warhead loaded with 250 pounds of TNT detonated smoothly. The entire ship's officers and soldiers felt the huge impact, and almost all the sailors in the front section were knocked to the ground.

An extremely huge hole was torn open on the left side of the Zwolle's bow. The steel plate was twisted and deformed, and seawater surged in.

Fortunately, the 450mm light torpedo is relatively weak. If it is replaced by the standard 533mm torpedo, she will probably be "beheaded".

The severely damaged Zwolle issued a "out of combat" signal and telegraph, and the damage control team members, dripping with knee-high water, tried their best to control the situation.

The near-zero biting ice water made them almost lose the feeling in their legs in just a few minutes.

However, the captain, Major Augusta, suddenly changed his mind.

He believes that the current situation is likely to remain deadlocked for too long and turn unfavorable to his own side, so he must make every effort to break the deadlock as soon as possible - it seems a good idea to land the army on board the ship quickly.

Augusta lowered his head, calmly analyzed and deduced his idea, and then ordered decisively: "Left rudder, adjust the course to 345, and advance at full speed! Tell Major Fritz to get his men on deck to prepare!"

The first mate was surprised: “But that’s the impact route!”

"Search for the beach! We can't let these Norwegians block the fleet!"

Although the bow of the ship was severely damaged, the destroyer Zwolle's power system was intact.

Her two steam turbines burst out with a majestic power of [-] horsepower, allowing the battleship to rush toward Cahomen Island at an ever-increasing speed.

[Cahomen Island and Oscarburg]

The Norwegian officers and soldiers on the island, the forts and torpedo launchers were stunned. They couldn't believe their eyes.

The Zwolle rushed straight from the night like a fearless knight charging!
迎着劈头盖脸的火力，她在挨了2发150㎜炮弹、13发57㎜炮弹之后成功冲上了卡霍门岛的东岸海滩。其上搭乘的是76山地团2营1连和2连，战舰搁浅时发出金属变形的吱呀声，尚未停稳，水兵们就把绳网给拋了下去。

Led by the battalion commander, Major Fritz, the Army soldiers swarmed up, climbed over the railing, and descended to the shore through the rope net.

The Zwolle used the only remaining functional naval gun in the front to fire at the Norwegian bunker not far away. The bunker that had just been showing off for more than ten seconds was blown into silence.

The sparse minefield initially caused some problems for the German soldiers, but they soon used explosives to open up passage.

Under the cover of machine gun and mortar fire, the infantry armed with MP38 submachine guns and Kar98k rifles easily broke through the outer defense line.

Viewed from top to bottom, Oscar Castle is shaped like a horseshoe, but its stone walls no longer have much hindrance.

"Smoke, deploy!"

"Go! Go! Go!"

The German army launched smoke bombs from the front to cover its own side, and then launched a very strong frontal attack, supplemented by detours on the left and right wings.

The continuous falling 80mm mortar shells caused the Norwegian soldiers to run away with their heads in their hands, and the intensive firepower made them unable to lift their heads.

An infantry squad that detoured from the right actually climbed up the city wall very cleverly - by stacking Arhats on top of each other.

Several Norwegian soldiers who were caught off guard were shot dead on the spot before they could raise their guns.

The machine gunner took the lead and set up the MG34 on the other side of the city wall.

Looking down, what caught his eyes was groups of Norwegian soldiers who were moving in a hurry.

"Thump, thump, thump—"

Amidst the short and powerful gunshots, rounds of 7.92mm heavy-point bullets flew out at high speed, causing a bloody storm in the queue!
About ten Norwegian soldiers collapsed to the ground like cut wheat in a matter of seconds, and their screams were completely masked by the loud gunfire.

A grenade with a wooden handle spun and landed on the ground, wisps of smoke rising from the end of the wooden handle.

"Ah!"

Two Norwegian soldiers hiding behind the truck were blown to pieces, and the car's glass was shattered.

The M170 grenade with a charge of 24g is very powerful. However, its killing method is mainly shock wave, which produces very few fragments. The actual killing radius is only a few meters. It is an offensive grenade.

With almost overwhelming force, the officers and soldiers of the 76th Mountain Infantry Regiment easily disintegrated the resistance on Cahomen Island.

In the strait, the Rothenburg light cruiser and the Peake cooperated with each other and dropped tons of steel and explosives on two forts on the east coast.

The fierce fighting lasted until 7:05 in the morning, when the exchange of fire finally stopped.

It was still dark, and there were still two hours until sunrise.

The stranded Zwolle can only be temporarily abandoned for a short time, and the mission has to continue.

Fortunately, the road to Oslo has been opened, and our losses are even lower than expected, and the efficiency is higher.

The Air Force had originally planned to provide support after daybreak, but now it seemed that it was not needed at all.

The "dawn" time in Oslo is actually past nine o'clock, and the sun finally rises from the east.

Fornib Airport is located 10 kilometers west of Oslo city. It is the base of the Norwegian Army Aviation.

At this moment, there are eleven Gladiator fighter jets on standby - their engines are warmed up every hour to ensure that they can take off for combat at any time.

The Gladiator fighter was the last biplane fighter designed and manufactured by the British. The conservative British actually purchased this biplane in batches the year before last, in the 37th year of Changchang, and exported more than 200 of them.

Although it can be called the pinnacle of biplanes, it is destined to be a backward thing in this era.

In order to defend Fornib Airport, the Norwegian Army deployed three Vickers heavy machine guns in a semi-permanent fortification in the southeast, with an infantry platoon stationed inside.

A searchlight platoon is deployed on the west side of the airport. They are also equipped with a heavy machine gun and two light machine guns for self-defense. There are also barracks on the north side, where the remaining two platoons of the infantry company and the company headquarters are located.

If pilots and ground staff are not included, the defense of Fornibu Airport is only responsible for the total number of more than 120 troops, which can be said to be quite weak.

At this time, someone suddenly heard a slight roar in the distant sky, which was very similar to the sound of an airplane engine.

The sky now is dark blue, and the darkness shrouding the world has not completely dissipated.

A sergeant on the searchlight platoon raised his telescope and saw the shadows of dozens of aircraft faintly visible between the clouds.

He thought he was being deceived, so he blinked and looked carefully, and finally confirmed that it was not an illusion, but a real formation of Ju-52 transport aircraft.

Transport planes instead of bombers?

Because of the time difference, when the war in the far north broke out, the Ming Dynasty capital in the East Eighth District was just setting the sun.

The Ming Dynasty's Embassy in Norway sent back a telegram with the latest situation as soon as possible.

As time passed and by morning time in Berlin, Ernst's speech was broadcast over the radio and quickly spread throughout Europe.

After only a delay of two quarters of an hour, the specific speech content was translated into Chinese by the translators on standby and presented to the emperor.

Zhu Lingjing, who is used to going to bed early and getting up early in her daily life, deliberately did not go to bed early today, but waited patiently—she was sure before that the German Society would definitely make a specific statement after the war broke out.

"...Comrades and citizens, from six hours ago to now, our soldiers have been engaged in the battle in Scandinavia and are fighting against the die-hard elements of the Kingdom of Norway..."

"...The British and French capitalists tried to encircle Germany from many aspects, including food, oil, technology, and minerals. They tried to make us vulnerable and chaotic, but they thought wrong..."

"...Norway and Sweden are neutral countries, but Britain and France have forcibly violated their neutrality in order to achieve their schemes. This is contempt for order and a vicious act of imperialism bullying the weak..."

"...We must fully understand our own strength and bottom line. If we remain silent and do not stop the (British and French) machinations, then it will be the entire (German) people who pay the price in the end..."

oh!This speech line is very good!

Zhou Changfeng, who was next to him, turned his head and looked at the translation on the imperial desk, and couldn't help but said: "The fire has finally started to burn."

Zhu Lingjing smiled calmly and said leisurely: "Add more gusts of wind."

　The schedule for these two days is as follows:
　　First of all, I have to extract two wisdom teeth, which is really annoying. When the wisdom teeth grow out, my gums will become inflamed and swollen. It feels like... I don’t want to eat anymore.

　　Then, these days, the chapters focus on the European war. Because we need to prepare for the subsequent war in Asia, I have been reviewing the literature recently and giving it serious consideration.

　　Finally, we must carefully clarify the specific size and quantity of the Ming Navy.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)