afterglow

Chapter 347: A milestone battle; lightning strike punishment!

"That aircraft carrier is dying, forget it! Team one will deal with the Warrior, and team four will fight the other one with me!" the formation commander ordered.

Following his order, the 28 torpedo planes immediately divided into two teams, one on the left and the other on the right, and rushed towards their respective targets.

The YH-7-1-2 aircraft of the first team of the seventh detachment took the lead, leading the remaining ten torpedo aircraft to rush straight towards the Warrior.

The incoming 102mm high-explosive bombs continued to explode behind the fleet, but some shells detonated earlier, thus affecting the Ming army's torpedo aircraft formation that was flying at high speed.

The larger fuselage of the twin-engine aircraft also increased the probability of being hit by fragments. Nearly half of the vertical tail of the No. 717 aircraft at the rear was ripped off, and the horizontal tail was also in tatters.

"The rudder is broken, the 717 rudder is damaged, try to escape!"

The entire plane fell uncontrollably downwards. It was barely able to stabilize itself when it was about to crash into the sea. The pilot almost broke the control stick, causing the plane to turn very awkwardly.

The torpedo plane pilots could see what was happening in the sky near the fleet - countless white gunpowder smoke and gray-black smoke clouds took up half of the sky, and traces of machine gun tracer bullets streaked across rapidly.

Down below, those big fish were struggling hard. They kept turning and making evasive maneuvers, drawing snake-shaped white tracks on the blue sea.

"Further forward is the range of their machine guns!"

"Follow the usual instructions. Don't lose your composure. If that doesn't work, move closer and aim directly at the bow of the enemy ship."

"Two thousand meters!"

Several torpedo planes flew extremely low, almost as if they were flying close to the sea.

Tang Cheng, the pilot of aircraft No. 712, glanced at the speedometer and saw that the index was approaching 360km/h - which was also the top speed of the Type [-] torpedo aircraft in low-altitude and level flight.

The 11 aircraft were further divided into two groups, with half attacking the starboard side from the right front and the other half attacking the starboard side from the right rear, thereby flanking the battleship.

At 8:16, the No. 712 aircraft flying at the front braved the dense incoming shells and reached a distance of only 800 meters before dropping the torpedo.

After falling dozens of meters from the air, the Type [-] aviation torpedo fell smoothly into the water. The wooden boxes at the head and tail were cracked and detached one after another, and the engine started smoothly.

It quickly floated to the preset depth, and under the correction of the gyroscope, rushed forward at a high speed of 44 knots.

A snow-white track appeared on the sea, but the Warrior was now turning sharply to the right to avoid the four torpedoes rushing towards her stern, so the route would inevitably intersect with the torpedoes on this side.

The Royal Navy officers and soldiers on the HMS Warrior battleship were naturally aware of the current situation. This huge battleship tried its best to twist its body in an attempt to evade.

The sailors on the side rushed forward due to inertia, staggered and almost fell down.

But just as they were about to stabilize their bodies, they saw the white stripe approaching the side of the battleship.

"It's coming!!!"

"Beware!"

The officers screamed, but before they could finish shouting "watch out", a shocking impact came from beneath their feet.

"Boom!!!"

The terrifying huge explosion raised water columns tens of meters high, and the sailors on the starboard middle of the Warrior enjoyed a refreshing head-to-toe open-air shower for free.

Thanks to the research and practice of the Military Gezhi Academy, the Ming Army successively installed mixed explosives specially used for underwater blasting three years ago. There are naturally differences between explosions in air and explosions in water. In order to explode explosives of the same volume or weight Under certain circumstances, it obtains greater power and is called Type [-] special explosive.

这种炸药又名秦氏炸药，由32%黑索金、51.5%梯恩梯、4%特屈儿、12%铝粉所组成，另有0.5%石蜡作为钝化剂。

Compared with ordinary TNT, this expensive mixed explosive has superior underwater blasting performance and can significantly increase the energy contained in underwater shock waves and bubbles. Its TNT equivalent can be close to 140%.

The Type 250 aviation torpedo loaded with [-]kg of Type [-] special explosive greatly exceeded the original expectations of British designers.

The explosive created a huge pressure exceeding [-] standard atmospheres in a very short period of time. The powerful shock wave and high-energy bubbles easily tore apart the underwater protection system of the British warship!

The internal structure of the Warrior battleship was instantly distorted and the broken steel fragments flew inward at a very high speed, even penetrating the longitudinal walls inside.

Immediately, the turbulent sea water poured into it.

"Captain, we've been hit!"

"The No. [-] boiler room and the sailor's accommodation are flooded! We have a power outage here!"

"Seal it! Damage control team, you..."

"Boom!!!"

Just half a minute later, the Warrior was hit by a torpedo again.

On the other side of the battlefield, the situation of the Reputation is not optimistic either.

Facing the menacing Ming army torpedo planes, the captain, Captain Charlie, could deal with it calmly at first, but he could no longer remain calm after being attacked by multiple torpedoes.

He asked the helmsman to go to the edge and steer the ship himself.

Under his control, this modernized old battleship avoided torpedoes coming at high speed. The 3-ton giant ship was as nimble as a destroyer in his hands.

After dodging 12 torpedoes in a row, Reputation's luck finally ran out.

The British sailors watched in horror as the white track approached rapidly, but they were unable to do anything because at this time the battleship was avoiding two torpedoes from the left front.

Now I can only choose one of two, two or one?Colonel Charlie chose the latter without hesitation.

"Keep calm! Deal with the impact!"

Exactly ten seconds later, amidst the roar, water columns rose into the sky.

At this time, a torpedo plane had just finished releasing torpedoes and was about to turn and evacuate, but was suddenly hit by a 40mm high-explosive bomb on the left wing root.

The explosion instantly destroyed the wing structure, and a fire broke out in the wing fuel tank, but it still persisted for more than ten seconds before breaking.The plane with broken wings immediately flipped to the left and fell into the sea.

The sailors on the port side of the battlecruiser Renown cheered in unison, but then an officer yelled: "The torpedo is coming!"

The torpedo fired by the downed Type [-] torpedo plane approached at high speed, and the Reputation quickly turned left.

The torpedo passed in front of the ship, but in the end it was slightly faster.

Before the Renown had completely passed the stern of the ship, the torpedo hit the stern of the ship at a very small angle of incidence.

The expected violent shock did not come, and after a brief moment of shock, the sailors laughed loudly again.

But how can I laugh now?
Just 4 minutes later, the Renown was hit by two torpedoes.The area below the waterline at the bow of the ship was almost blown to pieces, the resistance increased sharply, and the speed was greatly reduced.

"Oh hoo! Hit!"

"It's so unreasonable. My prediction was so good, but these guys actually dodged it."

"Gather and return."

The commander of the Ming army's torpedo aircraft formation looked back at the British fleet struggling on the sea, and said to the navigator relaxedly: "Three nails have been hammered into their coffin, who should nail the last one?"

The third wave of air strikes basically pronounced the death of Fleet A. Although the three giant ships are still floating on the water, it can be said that they are equivalent to sunken ships.

The USS Eagle aircraft carrier had previously lost its combat capability and its speed was only 9 knots;
The battleship Warrior was hit by 4 torpedoes and its speed dropped to 15 knots;
The battlecruiser Renown was hit by three torpedoes and its speed dropped to 3 knots.

The atmosphere and mood of despair quickly spread among the officers and soldiers of Fleet A, and some began to curse at the Far East Air Force.

At this time, the time was only 8:17.

In fact, the Ming fleet was already approaching the battlefield. The sailors of the A-[-] bombardment fleet could even clearly see the black smoke that went straight into the sky.

But here comes a situation that makes battleship captains scold their mothers - the aircraft carrier Tianshi Zuoyuan begins to fly its own carrier-based aircraft?
Damn, these guys are going to pick it up!

The Tianshiyuan-class aircraft carrier capacity and speed are both low. This was the product of the "small aircraft carrier" faction of the Ming Dynasty. They believed that the aircraft carrier should play a supporting role - providing the fleet with a longer reconnaissance range and using carrier-based The aircraft protects one's own fleet and harasses the enemy's fleet.

As for the decisive battle?That's the mission of a battleship!
Facing the inquiry messages from other warships, the captain of the Tianshi Zuoguan said seriously: "The enemy ships can still effectively fight back. If they are hit, the gains will outweigh the losses. It is reasonable to weaken them some more."

The ground crew and pilots were all smiling, and they couldn't help but laugh when they thought about how depressed the battleship crew would be.

Twelve dive bombers and 12 torpedo planes hurriedly formed a formation and couldn't wait to pounce on the approaching British fleet.

The warships of Fleet A were still trying their best to resist the incoming Ming army aircraft. The light cruiser USS Grain Goddess was the bravest. It still fought hard after being directly hit by an aerial bomb on the bow of the ship, causing dozens of casualties.

Lieutenant General Lancelot had accepted the reality. He sighed: "We made a wrong decision. Maybe we should not come to the east."

Fleet A had no possibility of escaping. The lookout post reported that the Ming fleet was approaching in the northeast direction. The distance between the two sides was about 30 kilometers.

The difficulty of the fourth wave of air strikes was far lower than before. The carrier-based pilots of the Tianshi Zuoyuan did not miss a good opportunity to beat the drowned dog.

The three seriously injured British warships were no longer able to make flexible and effective evasive maneuvers. The Royal Navy officers and soldiers could almost only watch the torpedoes hit them.

在不到一刻钟的攻击行动中，鹰号航空母舰又被2枚250㎏航弹和1枚448㎜航空鱼雷命中，声望号也挨了2枚航弹和3枚鱼雷，勇士号更是被足足4枚鱼雷命中。

After the order to abandon the ship was given, the sailors on the deck of the battleship Warrior began to hurriedly inflate their life jackets, and the lifeboats were also randomly removed and thrown into the sea.

The alarm bells in the lower cabin rang loudly, the lights flickered on and off, and the narrow passages were crowded.

Not long after, the deck was already in chaos, with densely packed sailors as far as the eye could see, and many wounded soldiers and corpses strewn about on the ground.

As damage control authorities halted their efforts, hundreds of tons of seawater poured in through huge holes torn in the sides of the ship's hull.

The tilt intensified, making it difficult for the officers and soldiers to stand. They could only bend or squat to lower their center of gravity to barely stabilize their bodies.

Some brave and selfless British anti-aircraft gunners are still manipulating bang-bang cannons and anti-aircraft machine guns, but the "bang-bang" sound of the artillery and the "thump-thump-thump" gunfire are now more like a tragic sonata.

Not long after the Warrior capsized, the battered Renown followed in her footsteps.

"Abandon the battleship, raise the signal flag, deploy lifeboats, and everyone evacuates in an orderly manner..."

After broadcasting the order to abandon the ship, Colonel Charlie took a deep look at the distant southern skyline - until now, not even a Far East Air Force plane had appeared.

Annoyed and disappointed, he held the rudder hard and wanted to sink with the ship, but Vice Admiral Lancelot waved his hand, and two officers rushed over and dragged the captain away without any explanation.

When they came to the deck, the commander, captain and others all saw the situation on the sea level in the distance - the Ming army fleet composed of dozens of warships was heading here.

The carrier-based aircraft of the Ming Army did not leave after completing the attack, but climbed to an altitude of 1600 meters and hovered, completely ignoring the anti-aircraft firepower of several destroyers, and leisurely watched the spectacular scene of the sinking of three giant ships.

On February 2, at 27:9 East Eighth District time, the Renown-class battlecruiser No. 03 ship capsized.

She was only one month later than her sister ship Repulse, which sank in the cold and deep seabed of the North Sea. At this point, the only high-speed capital ship left in the once arrogant Royal Navy of the British Empire was HMS Hood.

More than 1000 British sailors who had successfully evacuated were struggling in the seawater. There was a layer of black, thick and heavy oil floating here, and the smell was so disgusting that it made people sick.

Those lifeboats could not carry so many people, and many people could only hold on to the edges of the lifeboats, waiting for rescue.

In the sky, Ming army pilots witnessed the sinking of the two battleships with joy. They chatted excitedly, and the radio channels were filled with exclamations.

"Hey, who dropped that bomb that landed on the Renown? It was so accurate."

"Tsk, tsk, they really made it sink."

"Hahaha, from now on, who dares to say that airplanes can't sink big ships!"

Since it was not far from the coast and the Ming fleet was approaching, the remaining British warships did not go to rescue the people who fell into the water.

Led by the light cruiser Grain Goddess, the remaining destroyers quickly increased to their maximum speed and fled southward at high speed.

The aircraft carrier USS Eagle is the most tenacious. She is still floating crookedly on the sea.

Before leaving, the F-class destroyer Foxhound hurriedly conducted a lightning strike on her.

"Puff-puff-puff-puff-"

The Foxhound fired four 533mm torpedoes in one go to ensure 100% destruction of the Eagle and avoid being captured by the Ming army that was about to arrive.

Later, after a series of roars, the dilapidated Eagle was split into two parts from the middle.It disappeared in just 40 seconds, leaving only countless floating debris.

At the frontline headquarters in the western suburbs of Kuala Terengganu, translators and communications staff received more than a dozen telegrams one after another.

Zhou Changfeng could not wait any longer, and there was no need to wait - the British fleet would definitely run away after being attacked by an air attack and would not pose a threat.

Just when he was about to order a forced crossing and a general attack on the enemy in front of him, Zhao Hanfeng, who was rarely elated, walked over quickly.

"What a great victory! The enemy fleet was almost completely wiped out!"

After hearing the news, Zhou Changfeng simply commented: "This can be said to be a milestone battle."

(End of this chapter)