Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 702 The Lost Sea Empire

At this time, after No. 188 fled to a safe sea area, it did not go far.After dormant for a while, it raised its periscope to observe the battlefield again.Tian Shijie saw that the aircraft carrier that was hit was billowing with thick smoke, and the black smoke column was as high as 1000 feet. This scene was very similar to the situation where the "Konya" caught fire after being attacked in the Mannar air strike.

The personnel on the "Hermes" have come down from the ship one after another.Seeing thick smoke rising from their beloved aircraft carrier, and sometimes a long tongue of flames, many officers and soldiers of the coalition forces burst into tears and were deeply saddened.Under the action of two violent explosions, the "Hermes" seemed to jump out of the water.Then, it began to sink, but its hull remained stable for the time being.Ten minutes later, the "Hermes" was completely submerged in sea water.A total of 10 crew members died, accounting for one-third of the entire ship's crew.

After the two aircraft carriers sank one after another, the battleship "Prince Wilson" is currently the most important in the coalition fleet.In the ensuing battle, the fate of this ship was also so tragic.

When the "Hermes" was shot, the deck crew of the "Prince Wilson" were busy preparing for takeoff.When they saw the "Hermes" explode and burst into flames, knowing that the aircraft carrier was doomed, the crew instinctively looked at the sky.Suddenly, they saw 13 Dragon Army dive bombers heading straight for the "Prince Wilson". The arrival was a formation of Lanxiang dive bombers led by Gao Zhihang who took off from the Chunzi aircraft carrier.

In just a few minutes, the "Prince Wilson" hit three bombs one after another.The first bomb hit the flight deck near the elevator at the front of the ship, and the last two bombs hit the elevator in the middle, completely blowing up the deck, and the fire quickly burned to the oil depot and ammunition depot.The battleship was completely enveloped in smoke and fire, and the raging fire was crackling.The captain stood on the signal platform on the right side of the bridge and gave orders loudly, urging the crew to put out the fire and rescue the wounded.The temperature below the deck was extremely high, hot as hell, the door of the hangar deck was melted and curled up, and the living people escaped to the deck.The windlass deck became a makeshift hospital, and the doctors and medics kept their faces straight like robots.In the choking smoke, they gave painkillers to the seriously injured, bandaged them and stopped the bleeding as best they could.They put aside those who are really hopeless, and first rescue those who still have a glimmer of hope.A large number of sailors were gathered on the foredeck, together with a few officers.Suddenly, a violent explosion threw many people into the sea.

From the time the "Prince Wilson" was shot for the first time to the time when the fire swept across the entire warship, it took only 10 minutes.Due to the direct damage of the bomb and the continuous explosions induced by the fire, the main engine of the "Prince Wilson" stopped working, the steering wheel system could not be operated, and all the fire pipelines were blown up.The "Prince Wilson", which has made many achievements in World War II, became a huge "cremator" in just 30 minutes

Faced with this situation, the captain had to order to abandon the ship, and most people began to transfer to the "Berwick" and "Kent" in an orderly manner.In order to avoid the scorching flames, many people jumped into the sea. Some of those who jumped were rescued by the destroyers "Berwick" and "Kent", while others were drowned alive.After the crew left the ship, the captain himself stayed on the burning battleship bridge. The crew elected the naval fighting champion Sergeant Yorke to return to the battleship to persuade the captain to come out, and said to him: "If If the captain refuses to come down, you will use force to carry the captain to a safe place with your superhuman strength."

When York climbed onto the bridge of the "Prince Wilson", he found that the captain was holding a Browning pistol in his hand, standing there motionless, staring ahead without blinking.He walked up to the captain and said, "Captain, on behalf of your entire crew, I am here to pick you up to safety. They are waiting for you. Please come with me to the destroyer." "

The captain ignored York's plea.York stepped forward, intending to carry the captain to the waiting boat.But the captain's stern face stopped him in his tracks.He turned and walked away with helpless tears.When he left the bridge, he heard the captain singing the British Navy's military song, and the voice was heard far away on the sea, looking extremely tragic and desolate.

At 6:13 in the evening, the surviving crew members of the "Prince Wilson" watched the battleship disappear from the sea on several nearby destroyers. There were 718 people under the captain who sank together with the warship.

At this time, the three main warships in the United Fleet had all returned to the sea. Commander Cunningham knew exactly what was waiting for him. He made a weak gesture and said to the signal soldier: " Send a message to the headquarters that the aircraft carrier team has been hit by an unprecedented attack by the enemy and is about to be wiped out."

The biggest tragedy in the history of naval warfare happened in just a few ten minutes.

At the same time, Mountbatten was far away in the bombed-out Mannar Naval Port. Although his stomach trouble was raging, he was still very excited. Although his subordinate Cunningham violated his order and deliberately delayed the return time, So much so that it is very possible to meet with a Chinese warship, but deep down in his heart he also hopes that his core fleet can give this Chinese fleet a heavy blow to avenge it.For this possible encounter, he is very confident. He believes that this time, the dual-core attack lineup composed of the "Hundred-eyed Giant" and the "Hermes" is fully capable of fighting the Singapore main fleet. According to intelligence, the enemy's main fleet has returned, and the impact left in the Indian Ocean is nothing more than a third-rate fleet.In the event of an encounter, Cunningham can also handle it calmly.

As expected, at 7:28 in the morning, the reconnaissance plane sent by Mannar sent a telegram: "10 enemy ships have been found!" This telegram suddenly woke up Mountbatten, who was already drowsy.

The people in the military port were very nervous after hearing the news. What they were most afraid of now was hearing the word "China". Mountbatten was even more tense and said nothing.This tense atmosphere didn't take long, and two telegrams were received one after another, informing that the aircraft carrier team led by Cunningham had encountered a formation of Chinese ships, which consisted of 5 cruisers and 5 destroyers. It seems that there is only one aircraft carrier behind.

The atmosphere in the military port suddenly relaxed, some people even became inexplicably happy, and some said: "This is a big piece of fat!"

At this time, Mountbatten and his staff had a very strange optimism. The main Singapore fleet they feared most had returned, and now there was nothing to worry about. The Chinese task force responsible for patrolling was at best only one Aircraft carriers, in any case, cannot be compared with Cunningham's aircraft carrier team.Therefore, they believed that this time the Dragon Army would definitely be killed by Cunningham's carrier-based aircraft, and it would not be long before they could hear the good news from Cunningham.

However, at 10:50, the Communications Staff was full of grief, and without saying a word, he handed an urgent telegram to Mountbatten, which was sent by Cunningham. The 'Hundred Eyed Giant', the 'Hermes' and the 'Prince Wilson' were severely damaged, and we temporarily retreated northward to regroup our forces."

When the bad news came, it was like a bolt from the blue, and Mountbatten and his staff were all dumbfounded.Mountbatten himself and his staff did not expect their fleet to survive this massive naval battle.If the loss of one aircraft carrier, they seem to be able to take it calmly, the loss of two, although it is a serious setback, can also be tolerated, but now the loss of three ships, two aircraft carriers and a battleship, together with the horse The warship destroyed in the air raid on the Gnar Naval Harbor, this time, Mountbatten didn't even have a trump card in his hand!
Therefore, at this moment, everyone in the United Fleet Command is numb and has cold hands and feet.The headquarters was no longer the calm, methodical collective it had once been.Staff Alexander was furious at first, slapping the table anxiously, and then wept bitterly, just like an actor in an Italian opera house.However, until this time, Mountbatten still believed that there was only one aircraft carrier in China's maritime formation, and Cunningham still had a battleship "George V" in his hands, and there should be some cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo gunboats. , if organized properly, there is still a chance of defeating the enemy fleet and landing on South Andaman Island.What Mountbatten and his staff are most concerned about is how much aviation power there is in the Chinese task force. Although the coalition fleet has lost almost all of its main force, the "George V" is still intact and can be used to attack the dragon. Army aircraft carrier.In addition, night battles at sea can also be carried out, or other means of attack can be adopted.

At present, this game of chess has reached the most critical moment. Either concentrate all the troops and put all their strength in a desperate attempt, and there may be a chance to turn the game over, or pack up the remnants of the defeated generals and leave the Indian Ocean, a place of right and wrong, and return to the English Channel to accept the resentment of the Chinese people.In 1 minute, Mountbatten made a decision and resolutely chose the former.In the following research, he believed that in the current form, the coalition fleet should not just shrink back around some small islands, but should gather together to capture the strategic hub of the Andaman Islands first, and obtain an outpost for fighting against China. The battle will be easier to fight.

However, the Chinese Navy must have established a defense network on the Andaman Islands. The air force attacking the Dragon Army's shore-based air force can only rely on the mobile force, but the mobile force is scattered on various small islands, and it is difficult to assemble quickly.The current problem is that it is necessary to quickly gather all sea forces and carry out a lightning strike on Andaman before it can be captured.If the Dragon Army shore-based defense bases on the Andaman Islands are not immediately destroyed, the Chinese may transfer more aircraft from the Sumatra bases, and in this case, it will be more difficult to occupy Andaman.

(End of this chapter)