afterglow

Chapter 369: There is no way to avoid disaster; Battle of Lombok Strait
The Dutch were initially firmly opposed to withdrawing to Australia. However, both the British and Australian sides hoped to concentrate the remaining fleets on withdrawing to "wider seas."

Staying in Java means waiting for death, staying in the port will be bombed and sunk by planes, and leaving the port to fight will be beaten by battleships. Overall, fleeing is the best option.

When I go to Australia, with its long coastline and wide sea area to rely on, the situation will not be so passive.

Although the Dutch were 1 reluctant, they finally compromised.Amsterdam sent instructions requiring the entire fleet to withdraw to Australia.

This mainly involves the sense of power and the right to speak. If it stubbornly resists and the entire army is destroyed, then the Netherlands will forever lose the qualification to speak and fight for rights in Far Eastern affairs.

The weak Netherlands no longer has the resources and energy to build a fleet from scratch. The defense issues of Dutch East Indus have been self-reliant for a long time.

In contrast, although fleeing without fighting is disgraceful, it is indeed the wisest choice from a macro perspective.

The fleet officers and soldiers had mixed reactions. Most of the sailors were not that high-minded and only felt that their uneasy hearts were suddenly relaxed; while the officers were mostly depressed and felt that this was a shame.

Lieutenant General Helfrich obviously belongs to the latter group. Born in Batavia, he regards this piece of Dutch East Indu as his homeland as much as his motherland. Coupled with his status as a naval admiral, abandoning Java makes him doubly disappointed. Feeling ashamed and depressed.

But now, a sudden encounter has instantly reversed the mood of these two types of people.

The officers and soldiers whose fighting spirit was ignited had fiery eyes and looked extremely excited.

But those officers and soldiers who thought they could escape the flames of war were much more frustrated, and their hearts twitched - there was no way to avoid the disaster.

The captain of the destroyer USS Iverson is a man who is always energetic. He ordered excitedly: "God has given us this opportunity. We must prove the glory of the Netherlands Navy. Turn to 115 and control the main guns to fire uniformly!" "

Although one of our own destroyers was turned into a floating bonfire, the other coalition destroyers had no intention of retreating and instead rushed over bravely.

The distance between the two sides was only more than 3000 meters. The destroyer USS Iverson faced off head-on. While avoiding the incoming torpedoes, she used her 120mm naval gun to blast the nearest Tongcheng.

"Boom! Boom!"

Different from similar designs by the French, the large-tonnage super destroyer Tongcheng also has certain protection capabilities. Its situation room can withstand vertical incidence of five-inch naval guns at a certain distance, and the power cabin can withstand three-inch naval guns. It has the well-deserved top protection among destroyers in the world.

The incoming shells fell into the nearby sea one after another. The first successful shell hit the rear of the bridge. The 120mm ordinary shell penetrated the thin steel plate and exploded inside, killing several of them on the spot. Ming army sailor.

The second and third shells both hit the living quarters at the bow of the ship. Because the sailors were all in combat positions, there were no casualties.

The Iverson immediately turned around, exposed its side, and fired the torpedoes while firing with all its main guns.

Just like fish entering the sea, the six torpedoes fell into the water and made a few splashes, then swam forward at high speed.

"Visually watch the enemy ship thunder!"

With the assistance of flares, the Tongcheng's lookout post clearly witnessed the enemy launching torpedoes in front of them, and immediately issued an early warning.

"Left full rudder!"

"Yes! Left full rudder!"

"Left rudder, full!"

When the Tongcheng was dodging the incoming torpedo, a dull loud noise suddenly came from the opposite side.

At this time, the flares were burning out and everyone could not see clearly what was happening in the distance. However, just a few seconds later, another round of flares lit up in mid-air again.

I saw that the towering water column set off by the torpedo explosion of the 512mm ship was fading, but countless metal fragments reflecting the light fell down like a goddess scattering flowers.

The British destroyer Forester was the unlucky one to be hit. Because the battle was too fierce, the Royal Navy officers and soldiers did not discover the torpedo track in time, and by the time they noticed it, it was already too late.

The power of more than 300 kilograms of Qin's mixed explosives was so frightening that a large hole five to six meters wide was violently torn open on the port side of the Forester. The power cabin was almost completely damaged, and power was lost in an instant.

The shock wave and high-energy bubbles ignited some flammable materials, causing a fire to break out in the middle of her hull.

The captain who fell in the violent shock was helped to stand up. He shouted loudly: "Don't save us. We can't do it. Abandon the ship!"

The warning light rotated and flashed dark red light. Amidst the shrill siren, the British sailors wearing life jackets climbed over the railing and jumped into the sea one by one.

"Damn it, so beautiful!"

"Cool!"

Less than a quarter of an hour after the battle started, two enemy warships were sunk one after another, and the sailors on each Ming army ship burst into warm cheers.

Although the initial battle was unfavorable, the coalition fleet was still not timid. They knew that there was no point in escaping from this battle - even if they escaped tonight, they would still be bombed and sunk by Ming army aircraft tomorrow morning.

At this time, the fleets of both sides had basically understood the size of the other side, and all the warships of the Ming army's escort fleet rushed to the scene and participated in the battle one after another.

The BDA coalition can roughly confirm that the Ming fleet that unexpectedly encountered them was not the main force, but just a detachment. It seemed that it might be escorting the landing force?

The chaotic and hasty encounter affected their judgment, and coupled with the language barrier between the British and the Dutch, it took Lieutenant General Helfrich a while to determine the current situation.

The units fighting from before to now are only the first wave of the coalition fleet, while the fleet retreating to Australia is divided into two waves.

Because the Lombok Strait is very narrow and inconvenient to maneuver, the first wave of reconnaissance only included 5 destroyers, but the second wave under Helfrich was different.

拖家带口的联军舰队足足有30多艘各型舰艇——2艘重型巡洋舰、3艘轻型巡洋舰、6艘驱逐舰、9艘扫雷舰、5艘布雷舰、10艘鱼雷艇。

In comparison, the detachment that only escorted the Ming army's landing troops was much weaker.

They only include the heavy cruiser Yinshan, the light cruisers Talamhe and Nujiang, the large destroyer Tongcheng, the standard fleet destroyers Leping, Luxi, Pingyao, Tangyin, and several minesweepers.

Faced with such an opponent, Lieutenant General Helfrich made a decisive decision and was determined to defeat this not-so-strong Ming fleet and carve out a bloody road to Australia!
He immediately ordered the remaining three destroyers that had been fighting from the beginning to the present to withdraw while fighting, and the second wave of fleets adjusted their formation and joined the battle.

Four British destroyers were in front and two Dutch destroyers were on the left. They turned into a ladder formation and launched a determined charge;

Three light cruisers followed at slow speed to provide cover;

The two heavy cruisers accelerated to seize the T-shaped head position and took advantage of their artillery fire.

"Damn! Correct! That's a heavy cruiser! A heavy cruiser!"

"Wrong identification!"

The Ming fleet actually regarded the Royal Australian Navy's Canberra as a light cruiser, so they were not worried at first - both the enemy and ourselves were a heavy cruiser, so there was nothing to fear.After this misjudgment was corrected, some officers couldn't help but panic.

"I'll go, it's not good."

"The enemy's heavy patrol is turning and speeding up. They want to seize the artillery position!"

However, Shen Mingxun, the captain of the Yinshan and the fleet commander, was surprisingly calm, and just said calmly: "Give me the order, the troop transport fleet will immediately turn around and leave at full speed; the ship will turn to [-], advance three meters, and armor-piercing bombs will suppress the enemy's heavy patrol. ; Each destroyer retracts its position and prepares to contain the enemy with a complex vertical formation."

This easy-going and talkative colonel was the second son of Zhao Ping Bo, a serious nobleman. Although people around him didn't despise him, his temperament was hard to trust.

The 39-year-old Shen Mingxun is in a state where he has had enough of all the tricks he played when he was young. Now he is tired of most things. It seems that only the fight of blood and fire can arouse his interest now.

The call for help has been sent out. The A-24 bombardment fleet is far away and will definitely not be able to make it in time. The only hope is the C-25 air attack fleet.

Before that, the main task of the escort squadron was to delay time, firstly to allow the transport ship to escape, and secondly to obtain reinforcements to annihilate the enemy in front of them.

It was 4:03 in the morning. After learning of the emergency, the chief officer of the C-25 air attack fleet did not hesitate to dispatch troops and generals to rush to support.

The two aircraft carriers are temporarily unable to provide support, but the two battlecruisers are suitable.

So the Yongyuan and Yuanxing battle patrols immediately left the fleet and rushed to Bali together with three destroyers.

Both battlecruisers set their boilers to overload, using the highest steam pressure and temperature to reach top speeds of over 32 knots.

The bow of the S-shaped ship broke through the dark sea, setting off white bow waves on both sides, and then sped towards its destination more than 100 kilometers southeast...

[Admiral-class destroyer & Kent-class heavy cruiser]

[Battle diagram]

In the fighting sea area, this narrow naval battle entered a fierce stage not long after.

Neither side wanted to get close to the narrow Lombok Strait, so they turned north in unison and were in a state of same-ship battle.

At 4:21, the Yinshan, which fired from behind, completed the cross-fire before the enemy. Eight rounds of 192mm armor-piercing shells landed on the left and right sides of the British Cornwall, splashing eight tall water columns.

But achieving cross-shooting first does not mean that you will get a hit. In many cases, it really depends on luck.

Just 1 minute later, a salvo from the heavy cruiser Canberra hit the Yinshan, and two 203mm capped semi-armor-piercing rounds hit the middle and rear of the hull respectively.

Flames mixed with various debris spurted out from the breach. From a distance, it looked like a flashing alcohol blowtorch.

Shen Mingxun reached out and grabbed the table beside him to steady himself, and said calmly: "Report the loss."

The first officer walked to the side and asked loudly into the microphone.

After a while, he came back and replied loudly: "Report! The No. [-] boiler has stopped and cannot be repaired. The rest of the damage is not serious!"

At this time, the four twin-mounted turrets pointed at the enemy ship completed another loading, and then fired the fourth round of salvo under the coordination of the shooting director.

For the officers and soldiers on the front line, whose adrenaline is soaring, the flight time of more than eight seconds of artillery shells seems to be as long as eight minutes. Everyone is looking forward to seeing the dazzling light that bursts out when it hits an enemy ship.

The result that complied with everyone's wishes has really arrived - on the enemy ship in the distance, a large group of fire suddenly flashed!
"Long live!!!"

"It's accurate! It looks like it's hitting the turret!"

One of the eight armor-piercing shells just fired landed on the B turret of the Cornwall.

The Kent-class heavy cruiser is the first-class treaty-class heavy cruiser designed and built by the British. It was scornfully called the "white grave" by Royal Navy officers and soldiers because of its weak armor protection.

The turret armor is only a pitiful 25mm thick, and is as fragile as an egg shell to the incoming 192mm armor-piercing projectile.

The armor-piercing shells that penetrated and exploded detonated the propellant packs and shells being loaded inside. The huge explosion instantly tore the top of the turret open, and flames shot up like a furnace.

Many windows on the bridge were shattered, and many officers and soldiers' faces were scratched and bloody, and they fell to the floor full of glass shards.

Fortunately, the bomb shaft door was closed, otherwise the Cornwall might be driven into the soul by one shot.

The battle between the heavy cruisers was back and forth, but the destroyers were different. The destroyers on both sides were more like brave cavalry waiting for an opportunity to charge.

Six BDA coalition destroyers launched an attack in a left ladder formation. The British Diana took the lead and fired the torpedoes first, followed closely by the Dutch Bankert.

Not to be outdone, the Ming warships fought back. The sailors controlled anti-aircraft guns, main guns, and even anti-aircraft machine guns to fire desperately at each other.

Countless shells flew over the sea, and torpedoes passed under the sea.

Bright or dark flares hung under the parachute and slowly fell, and the flying tracer bullets tore through the night with conspicuous trails.

In the fierce melee, the stern of the destroyer Tangyin was unfortunately hit by two 102mm and one 152mm shells in succession. The rudder was damaged and the steering was inconvenient.

But she still rushed forward resolutely and fought hand-to-hand with the enemy ship on the port side, firing all the torpedoes at a distance of only more than 1000 meters.

The light cruiser Sumatra was hit by seven 128mm shells and hundreds of 20.8mm shells by two Ming destroyers, and the bridge was blown to pieces.

Then, this old warship with mediocre performance collided with a torpedo launched by the Tangyin, and lost its combat effectiveness in two consecutive violent explosions. A large amount of water entered and caused her to quickly tilt to one side.

After finishing off the Sumatra, the Yuin with its damaged stern rudder tried to turn around, but found that the effect was extremely poor, so she simply rushed forward boldly and inserted into the enemy's formation.

Although the Ming destroyers are brave, they are still in danger when facing the superior BDA coalition forces.

At 4:51 a.m., the destroyer Luxi was hit continuously, leaving only two main guns still operational; the Tangyin disrupted the coalition fleet's position, but was also attacked by concentrated fire and turned into a slowly sinking ship. Fire ship.

Shortly afterwards, a torpedo hit the left front of the Yinshan, almost tearing off her bow. The damaged shape and the influx of water caused her speed to plummet to 15 knots.

At this time, the war situation fell into a temporary stalemate, and the two sides were fighting inextricably. However, there was no pause button in the war, and everyone had no chance to regroup. They could only adjust their formations wherever possible.

The Yinshan had just been hit by a 203mm armor-piercing projectile on the bridge. More than ten people were killed and injured immediately. The floor was covered with broken pieces and broken limbs, and pools of blood were flowing everywhere.

The first officer staggered over and said anxiously: "Two more boilers have been shut down!"

(End of this chapter)