Chapter 1,484 Don’t Block the Fleet Returning Home 2
Chapter 1484 Don’t block the fleet returning home 2
When a British destroyer shuttled between light and shadow, she didn't realize that her ship had fallen into the hunter's shotgun! When the last smoke screen disappeared from sight, the British destroyer was surprised to find that it was facing the side of a German destroyer! Then at a distance of less than 500 meters, the Germans fired two torpedoes! So, this is the scene that Major General Nickell saw just now! A British destroyer was blown into a ball of fire, and countless fragments fell from the sky. Makes people aware of the cruelty of this battle!
It was impossible to maintain a mysterious formation if they were traveling at high speed through dimly lit smoke screens for a long time. The British did not know what they would face when they rushed out, while Germany said they did not know what would appear in the smoke screens in front of them. Eight German destroyers and torpedo boats were at the front, followed by three pre-dreadnought battleships and four super-dreadnoughts. The latter's tooth-like side string secondary battery array was aimed at the smoky sea. The main guns of the former dreadnoughts were filled with armor-piercing projectiles, while the four super-dreadnoughts used semi-armor-piercing projectiles. The limited number of armor-piercing projectiles were used on British and French battleships, so how could they be wasted on cruisers? !
As more and more British destroyers rushed out of the smoke, the battle between the two sides finally began. However, this time, in the battle environment deliberately created by the Germans, the first batch of British destroyers rushed out became Complete cannon fodder!
"We rushed out of the smoke and didn't know the surrounding situation. We didn't even see the position of the opponent's warships clearly. Tons of shells fell from the sky. At this moment, we all had a premonition that the situation was not good, but we couldn't go back because there were more warships. We were rushing outward. If we went back, we might collide with friendly forces, so I could only rush forward." A British Navy destroyer captain recalled the scene at that time.
As soon as the British destroyer Alfalfa broke out, it was stared at by two German destroyers and a torpedo boat. Eight 105MM and 88MM cannons fired wildly at the target. An oval barrage enveloped the poor warship. Balls of flames spurted out from the slender hull. Finally, a well-placed shell landed on the triple torpedo tube in the middle of the Alfalfa's hull. With a huge sound, the destroyer turned into fragments all over the sky.
More and more British destroyers rushed out of the smoke screen. The German destroyers could not stop them all at the first time. However, this did not mean that they were safe. The three pre-dreadnought battleships behind them showed their ferocious fangs, especially the Red Beard. , the triple firepower composed of 8 10-inch guns on the side string and numerous 150MM and 88MM artillery pieces easily smashed into pieces the British destroyers that were lucky enough to slip through the net!
The 10-inch artillery sprayed out long tongues of flame. In the leveled state, the shock wave generated when the artillery flew out formed huge ripples on the sea. These shells roared and flew towards the target 5,000 meters away - a ship with more than 1,000 people. tons of British destroyers. This warship had just used torpedoes to blow a German torpedo boat into pieces. At the same time, it used four 102MM cannons to drive away another German destroyer. Just as it was killing everyone, the shadow of death also secretly shrouded it!
The water column dropped by the 10-inch shell quickly enveloped the poor battleship.
A near-miss bullet entered the water less than 3 meters away from the destroyer. Although it was an armor-piercing bullet with a relatively small charge, the distance was too close! And he was facing a destroyer that only had hull plating as a defense! With the explosion of distance, the middle part of the destroyer's hull suddenly sunk inward, forming a large pit of more than ten square meters! However, this was not the end. The energy generated by the explosion pushed large pieces of debris to easily penetrate the fragile hull plate. The huge pressure and impact made the entire battleship's side ribs emit bursts of whine! A big hole was quickly punched out in the entire lower part of the hull!
Tons of seawater poured into the boiler room. They extinguished the boiler, destroyed the pipes, and smashed each compartment into pieces. The battleship screamed before it died, but its pain did not last long. Another 10-inch shell that hit penetrated directly from the deck to the bottom of the ship. More seawater was like a big hand, directly dragging the poor warship into the sea.
However, this carnage did not last long, and some slight changes occurred with the addition of three British armored cruisers to the battlefield. The armored cruiser Cressy was the first to rush out of the smoke screen. The dense 6-inch guns and 12-pound guns on the side string fired a dense barrage. A German destroyer that could not dodge was quickly torn into pieces, and Behind him, the Hog also rushed out, but they discovered the Redbeard armored cruiser shooting not far away!
"Fuck!" Both sides were startled, and then they pointed their cannons at each other!
After all, it was an old-fashioned armored cruiser. It was 2 years earlier than Red Beard, and its design concept was at least 10 years different. Raindrops of 6-inch shells fell on the heavy impact zone on the side string of Red Beard, although the latter's armor surface was It may not be enough to look at the dreadnought, but the huge defensive area is simply the nemesis of the old cruisers that mainly use high-explosive bombs to suffocate opponents. Balls of flames exploded on the armored belt, leaving only shallow pits and traces of flames.
"Go to hell! Trash!" The huge twin 10-inch turret rotated slowly. Through the rangefinder on the turret, the gunner easily aimed at the Cressy, which was 5,500 meters away. Along with the two Load armor-piercing bullets. The hunter's shotgun is aimed at the prey again!
boom! Two fireballs shot out, and a few seconds later, two fireballs suddenly burst out from the more than 100-meter-long hull of the Cressy. At this distance, even a 10-inch armor-piercing projectile weighing only more than 200 kilograms could easily be shattered. The armor was no more than 6 inches thick. The paper-like armor was torn apart, and then rushed down to the flue above the boiler room. With a loud noise, flying shrapnel exploded the entire flue into a mess. A large amount of flames, exhaust gas and shrapnel were in the explosion airflow. It was scattered in all directions and even directly caused the flameout of several boilers. However, this was just the beginning. Even if it was two against one, facing a warship that was at least one generation more advanced than itself, the Cressy was still at a disadvantage!
What's even more tragic is that after cleaning up the approaching destroyers, the battleship Ferdinand also aimed its thick and long 12-inch guns at these two miserable armored cruisers! Otherwise, one inch bigger and one inch stronger... (Author: Is there such a thing?) What’s more, it’s 2 inches larger? ! If the armor-piercing bullet of the Red Beard only caused a penetrating wound to the opponent, then the 12-inch armor-piercing bullet weighing more than 400 kilograms is like a heavy hammer. When the hammer head hits, it will break the bones and tendons!
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