Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 634 Changes in the Battle Situation
At this time, the sea surface gradually formed a situation where the large ships fired at each other from a distance, and the secondary guns on the large ships and the small ships fought fiercely with each other in the middle. When the German ships gradually adjusted their battle positions, the two sides formed a circular battlefield , At the two edges of this battlefield, the core combat forces of the two sides are facing each other from afar.

In this way, the two sides fought fiercely for four to 10 minutes, and there were no sunken ships. It was just that the six battleships of the Atlantic Fleet's core combat power were severely damaged. More serious, and China's main battleship was also severely damaged in the opponent's concentrated attack.So far, the battle between the two sides has completed the first stage.

At this time, the strength comparison is 24 ships in the Singapore fleet and 27 ships in the Atlantic fleet. Although China has an aircraft carrier, Sa Zhenbing is worried about the three atomic bombs placed in the aircraft carrier and dare not let the aircraft carrier be the core of the attack. Therefore, the strength of the two sides is still comparable. At this time, as an ally of the Allied Powers, after receiving news of joint operations from the Chinese military, the fleets of various countries cruising in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic have gradually approached the theater.

The British feeder fleets departing from Yemen and Sudan first arrived in this misty war zone, followed by the French feeder fleet.There is also a reason for the late arrival of the French. This fleet performed an escort mission and directly sent two operations to the north by sea to cope with the increasingly unstable situation in northern Europe.Therefore, they arrived at the battle area nearly half an hour later than the British fleet.

The flagship of the British fleet, the Ark Royal, issued a semaphore: "Keep your distance." In fact, there is no need for such a reminder, the French Navy naturally knows to stay away from the torrent of steel in the melee.Since the fall of France, Charles de Gaulle formed the "Free France" provisional in London, vowing to recapture the land of the Gauls and fight the revolution to the end.But taking shelter from others is not a pleasant thing after all. Compared with the past, this temporary naval budget can only be described as pitiful, and de Gaulle was indulging in his unique naval philosophy. It does not support large ships that are expensive and of low practical value, but tends to build some small ships with low cost, low investment and high return.With the change of the commander-in-chief of the navy, a large amount of the navy budget was used to pay liquidated damages after the shutdown of the old ships. The French called for those semi-finished products to be used as target ships to verify the power of the artillery. boat fee.But de Gaulle, who was financially strapped, gritted his teeth and refitted these warships and put them on the sea. This humble French fleet only had two battleships launched 9 years ago, and seven old-fashioned cruisers were almost all of them. It's home.Compared with the warships of China and Germany, the French are simply shabby.

On the contrary, the appearance of the six British battleships showed the strength of the former maritime overlord. The neat lineup of the Nelson-class battleship, the zero-class battleship, the Prince of Wales, the Vanguard, and the Vengeance-class battleship was enough to surprise the world. In front of the torrent of steel composed of the Chinese and German fleets, it does not seem to be very conspicuous.

Seeing the rescue fleets from Britain and France coming, Lukins, who was already a little lost, became even more depressed now.At this time, the hour hand gradually pointed to nine o'clock, and the battle between the two sides had lasted for nearly an hour.The German officers and soldiers headed by Commander Lukins realized their low morale and inconsistent determination. Except for the two escaped cruisers, the remaining 25 ships were fighting independently. After three to 10 minutes of execution, it began to gradually lose its shape.And Lukins also quickly discovered that the two core enemy warships had slowly approached him from the flanks, and the mist that had once covered the entire battlefield gradually dissipated as noon approached, and the sun from the thick Half of his face was exposed in the clouds and mist, and it sprinkled the entire sea surface with golden light.

The reconnaissance plane on the Ark Royal was the first to take off, and with a good view, the pilots sent back the battle situation to the British warship one after another.

The battle situation at this time was already chaotic. Except for the four core battleships of the Chinese who were still holding on to their original battle positions, the remaining cruisers had already detoured eastward to the Atlantic Fleet under the leadership of Yangwu and Baiyun. To the northeast, they faced the small German fleet plus the hardest-hit flagships Bismarck and Luzzot.

In this way, due to the differences in the morale and quality of the soldiers, the direction of the two sides has become more and more obvious.Yangwu and Baiyun used their battle positions to form a T-shaped crosshead with seven ships, blocking the German ship's retreat. Dozens of naval guns roared at the same time, pressing the suffocating heat wave and strong air pressure to the enemy. On the surface of the sea, the shells flew out at the front flagship Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen on its right. Following the No.12 salvo of the Singapore fleet, the superstructure of the Prinz Eugen burst into flames, raging The thick smoke from the fire covered half of the sky, and the ship was in danger.

Before the officers and soldiers on the Yangwu and other ships had time to celebrate this first major achievement, they suddenly discovered that on the sea under the smoke and dust, except for the shrapnel on the sea and the fragments of the Prinz Eugen, two white waves rushed towards Our side rushed forward, drawing two arc-shaped white tracks, which seemed to be directed at the Yangwu. When the Prinz Eugen was damaged by a wave of shells, they made up their minds to die together and fired at the enemy ship. These two 14-inch torpedoes came out.

"It's over!" Not only Yangwu, but also Sa Zhenbing sighed when he saw this scene.Due to the limited observation conditions, when the two white waves were found, the distance was too close to react. Since the enemy ship had just hit the enemy ship, the vigilance of the Yangwu was also reduced to the minimum, but even if there was enough time to react, it was too late Just now, in order to launch a salvo, the Yangwu quickly rushed from its base to the side, and all the hanging nets had already been put away, and the positions of the seven warships of our own side were all stuck in order to exert the power of all the artillery fire as much as possible. Very tight, there is very little room left for maneuvering.

"Now it's just a gamble. Brothers, target the enemy's flagship and fire!" Captain Liu Shangqing of the Yangwu made up his mind. He couldn't avoid it anyway. Seizing this critical moment, the four giant doors on the bow and stern of the ship The cannon checked the launch data just now, and moved the cannon position controlled by the hydraulic system.

However, there is still a little luck in Liu Shangqing's heart. This warship was shipped from the Vladivostok Shipyard. It is designed by the Germans. The thickness of the waterline armor is 380 mm. It is the original oblique armor in Germany that the German engineers insisted on. In other words, even if the two 14-inch torpedoes hit all of them, the damage they would theoretically cause would be about 355 mm. As long as they didn't hit the same point, they would be sure to survive!But who knows whether these two torpedoes are 14 inches or larger?
boom!boom!Following two astonishing loud noises, the telescope fell from Liu Shangqing's hands in the shock of the ship's hull. At the last moment, he clearly saw a shell fired from the Yangwu hit the Bismarck, causing a wave to rise on the ship. Rolling smoke and flames, only God knows the specific results.

Sure enough, he was not wrong in his judgment. After a tremor in the hull, he returned to calm. It seems that the German cruiser was only equipped with 14-inch torpedo tubes, and only one of them was hit below the waterline. Apart from the crater and a violent shaking, there were almost no traces of this huge ship.

"Damn it, God has shown a spirit." Liu Shangqing tore off the buttons on his jacket, untied his command knife and threw it aside, and cursed excitedly: "God is so damn good." Then he spoke into the phone Qi sent an order: "Full starboard rudder, launch the torpedo boat, I will let them taste the taste of torpedoes."

The soldiers cheered for a while, and then the transporters, gunners, and loaders who carried the shells began to work. The design of the two double-mounted artillery also ensured that a 1mm shell could be fired in a little over a minute. launch out.The men of the secondary artillery were not idle either. Although the rough-skinned and thick-skinned Bismarck could not cause too much damage, every hit of the explosive shells they used could threaten the opponent's sailors with an explosion.

Seeing that the Yangwu had not received a fatal blow, Sa Zhenbing also breathed a sigh of relief. After observing for a while, he quickly discovered the hidden dangers of the current situation. , the Yangwu and other first formations will soon face the opponent's fleet of 10 cruisers, and leave the advantage to the large forces behind. Equipped with six battleships of core combat power to face the opponent directly.

Sa Zhenbing immediately made a decision, and ordered the Yangwu and eight other cruisers by radio to leave an escape route in the south. The other cruisers immediately followed the submarine formation and immediately launched an attack on the opponent's Bismarck and Admiral Hipper. shock.All the big ships rushed forward into the enemy cruiser group at full power, thus splitting the opponent's formation, so that the second submarine formation behind them could launch an impact on the enemy's core combat power.If a saturated attack of 24 torpedoes fails to leave a battleship, then the painstaking training of the Singaporean fleet over the past few years will be in vain.

At this time, the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet, the Bismarck, was being attacked by intensive artillery fire. Lukins had no time to command the fleet stretching nearly ten kilometers in a panic, and finally had to form a situation of fighting on his own.In addition to the two cruisers that have already slipped away, there are several cruisers staying at the end of the line, neither able to attack nor dare to slip away, so they have to follow the ocean currents and the vision given by the fleet in front, looking for the best time to fight .After the formation dispersed, they found that there were enemies on the left and right, and they were even more flustered. The enemy's T-shaped preemptive attack tactics had already caused heavy damage to the flagship, and what was even more pitiful was that the Prinz Eugen was about to die in the belly of the fish.

(End of this chapter)