Chapter 1,105 Battle of the Norwegian Sea 3

Chapter 1105 Battle of the Norwegian Sea 3

And the last destroyer failed to withdraw from the battlefield. After hurriedly firing four torpedoes, the destroyer was blocked by the Wiesbaden, which turned back. A 120MM shell landed on an unfired torpedo tube. Then, a huge fireball rose from the sea. Hundreds of tons of seawater rushed into the sky. When the flames and water mist dissipated, except for some debris After that, there was no trace of the ship's existence.

"Well, let's keep going!" After killing three destroyers in less than 20 minutes, the German fleet continued to evacuate to the southwest.

"It seems that this will be a long hunt. Send a message to the Second Squadron and have Warspite and the Balem ready to follow at any time!" Thomas ordered.

The Queen's ship design was still a little worse. When the German fleet reached a speed of 27 knots, the Queen of Thomas's fleet finally couldn't hold on anymore. Thomas did not dare to maintain 25 knots for a long time. After all, the two warships had hidden injuries. The speed gradually dropped to 24 knots, which meant that the distance between the two sides would lengthen by about 6 kilometers per hour. Two hours later, Thomas could no longer see the two German battlecruisers, but it didn't matter. The seaplane carrier waiting aside began to dispatch aircraft to track the two battleships. In order to ensure the accuracy of tracking, the British implemented a dual-machine tracking strategy. The position of the German fleet was determined using data provided by the two aircraft.

The visibility was good today, and the two British Short seaplanes successfully targeted the two German battlecruisers that had not traveled very far.

"Look, the two German battlecruisers, they are so beautiful. Compared with these two guys who are like panthers, our lions and tigers are like lynxes." Lieutenant Schobert, who was driving one of the planes He sincerely admired the two German battleships.

"They seem to be slowing down?" said the observer in the back seat.

"Yes, is there something wrong with their power system? The two battleships slowed down at the same time. I think we need to get closer and take a look." Lieutenant Schobert said.

"Okay, send a signal to Martin and tell us to go up and take a look." As he said that, Second Lieutenant Schobert operated the aircraft and approached it.

What's the saying? Curiosity killed the cat! Second Lieutenant Schobert was killed by curiosity. At this time, on the slender rear deck of the battlecruiser Blücher, two seaplanes were ready to go, and the crane next to the apron had already lifted two J-1s. The seaplane was placed on the sea, and relying on its own power, the two planes took off one after another. Lieutenant Schobert's seaplane happened to be targeted by one of them!

"It's a German seaplane! I should have known it a long time ago." Second Lieutenant Schobert tried to avoid the opponent while operating a huge twin-engine aircraft. You must know that this aircraft is purely for reconnaissance.

In terms of range and endurance, it is much better than the J-1, but in terms of air combat, it is really impossible to defeat and escape!

The twin-engine aircraft carrying huge pontoons was caught off guard by the agile opponent. The opponent knocked off half of the seaplane's wings with just one burst of fire. After the second burst of fire, a bullet directly shattered the front blocker. The windshield killed the second lieutenant, and a minute later, the plane crashed into the sea, while another J-1 seaplane successfully drove away another Short seaplane.

"We seem to have underestimated the British." Colonel Lefetsov said, rubbing his chin as he watched two British reconnaissance planes in the sky, one being destroyed and the other being taken away. After temporarily getting rid of his opponent, the colonel did not relax. He walked to the huge chart hanging on the wall and began to rethink the way out of the fleet.

"We are being followed all the time! All our most direct and possible choices are in the opponent's calculations. It's not right to only have two queens. Where are the other queens?" Colonel Lefetsov looked at the chart that the staff had just made He said after marking the route.

"We can't return to the North Sea now. The British fleet is to the northeast of us. And there is a wide cordon in front of the main battleship. If they find us again, they can intercept us. Maybe the opponent is still deploying in the direction of the North Sea blockade. Without extra troops, if we go back at this time, we can only throw ourselves into a trap. We must not turn to the North Sea now!"

"Order the fleet to evacuate due north!" Colonel Lefetsov said.

"Your Excellency, Captain, our fuel is actually not enough to support the fleet in circles with the opponent in the Norwegian Sea! If our warship sails at a speed of more than 20 knots, since it is fully loaded, our fuel can only last for about 150 hours at most! Now we can hold on for up to four days," said an officer.

(The fuel consumption of a battleship when sailing at high speed is several times that of low speed. For example, if the Emden sails at a speed of 12 knots, it only consumes 2 tons of coal per hour. If it sails at a speed of 23 knots, it consumes 15.7 tons of coal. tons of fuel, walking the same distance consumes 4 times more fuel!)

"Because of this, we need to take a long-term view. We cannot waste the limited high-speed sailing time. We need to go farther, save fuel, and then use the night to slowly return to the North Sea." Colonel Lefetsov said.

The colonel's idea is this. Judging from the current situation, the British fast fleet has recovered. They have at least 6 Queen-class battleships, and they have spread out like a pack of wolves. Now only one is exposed, so where are the remaining at least two Queen's fleets?

The situation of the German fleet was now very bad, and the Colonel was now in an almost dark situation. But even so, the colonel can guarantee that the British fleet must be deployed at the entrance and exit of the North Sea! A large number of scout ships and at least two queens.

Theoretically, if the fleet immediately turns around and goes back at a high speed of 25 knots, it can return to the North Sea before dawn the next day. However, there is a premise for this, that is, it cannot be targeted by the British fleet again. The fleet that was chasing me just now is in the northeast, and there is a cordon running across the east and west, and there are also seaplanes. In today's visibility conditions Next, if you go north, you will probably be discovered, and the opponent will take a shortcut to intercept you. Before nightfall, the other party would definitely be able to stop him.

And the most important thing is that this route is too deadly. In addition to the Queen, the British battlecruisers are probably impatient to wait, right? The British had enough warships to deploy two blockades on their way south. It is even possible to temporarily block the large fleet at Germany's doorstep. At the same time, at least 2 queens and a bunch of escort warships were left waiting in the Skagerrak Strait. If this was the case, even if he returned to the North Sea, he would still be in danger, or even fall into a trap! Do you think it's safe to cross the North Sea blockade? too young too simple!

Two updates today. Yesterday, the three updates were subscribed to the same level as the two updates. The author was also drunk...