Chapter 1491 Air Raid 3
Chapter 1491 Air Raid 3
The battleship sank so quickly that most of the French navy officers and soldiers were thrown into the sea before they even had time to put on life jackets. Most of them were unable to return to the shore. The huge whirlpool generated when the battleship sank inhaled 90% of the people who fell into the water. seabed. In the end, only more than 70 people survived on this battleship!
"Okay, let's look for the next target!" After completing the attack, the bombers began to retreat, but Major Koum was not leaving yet. He still needed to guide other bombers to continue the attack, and this time, he targeted a British battleship. !
The Marlborough, which was attacked by the Earl's fleet in the previous confrontation, became the second victim. This battleship had been hit by a German battleship and set on fire. Then, several scattered bombers attacked the unlucky ship. The battleship set another fire on the rear deck of the battleship, and now, even though the British destroyer next to it continued to release smoke screens, the pillar of fire rising into the sky still showed the position of the battleship. It was like a start in the night. Like celebrities, it's hard not to pay attention to them...
As a result, a group of German bombers began to hover over the British battleship, waiting for the smoke screen to dissipate before launching an attack! This was the last wave of attack aircraft in the Bavarian Air Force's attack. The British estimate was correct. The total number of aircraft in this wave was about 120. Other planes were delayed because they took the wrong route, or were unable to arrive due to mechanical problems. Moreover, the number of attack aircraft in this wave of bombers is relatively small, with only 60 in total carrying bombs and torpedoes. Therefore, it is already good to have more than 20 in this wave!
"There are actually two battleships!" When the smoke cleared, the Germans were surprised to find that there was an armored cruiser next to the Marlborough. If Count Spee saw it, he would be able to recognize it at a glance. , this is the only remaining armored cruiser Bacchus after the British launched the first wave of attacks. Perhaps because of good luck, this battleship did not receive any damage in the previous battle, while its two sister ships have already be destroyed. But now? The Bacchus armored cruiser that insisted on covering the Marlborough was also included in the attack list!
"Their air defense is indeed better than the French." Major Koum's plane circled in the air, and then expressed his appreciation for the British formation.
Eight destroyers formed a circular defense array outside the battleship. The Marlborough was naturally in the center of the circle, while the Bacchus armored cruiser was located behind the battleship. Its anti-aircraft artillery and machine guns could cover Marlborough from both sides and rear at the same time. Boro. The distance between the British fleet and the entire formation is very reasonable. The outer destroyers are just at the optimal distance for torpedo attack - that is to say, the destroyers are about 800 meters away from the Marlborough. If If the torpedo plane were to attack, it would probably directly hit the destroyer's anti-aircraft artillery!
If we adopt the attack method just now, in which fighter jets attack the destroyer to interfere with the anti-aircraft firepower, and then dive bombers launch the first round of attacks to suppress the battleship's air defense, then it is also possible, but because the opponent's defense is tight,
This loss may be relatively large. So Major Coombe hesitated. However, a few minutes later, when a dense roar of artillery was heard in the distance, the Luftwaffe finally no longer had to be confused! Because Count Spee has led his team to fight back!
The destroyers left by the British could only cause some trouble to the Count, temporarily delaying the pursuit. Although the situation of the Count's fleet was not good, after all, it had 6 battleships and the dense secondary battery energy easily defeated the opponent. , and now, they can already see the tail of the British fleet! The battleship Marlborough and the armored cruiser Bacchus remained at the rear.
"Well, all our troubles have been solved. I think this battleship can hardly run without us now." The companion sitting in the back seat said to Major Coombe.
"That's not necessarily true. Didn't you see that only one of the battleships in the distance was firing its main gun?" Koum said with a smile and nodded at the Sultan Selim I, which was rushing ahead in the distance.
"The Earl's fleet has also reached the point where it is running out of fuel. If my guess is correct, their main guns should have very little ammunition left!" Major Coombe said meaningfully. And this is indeed the case now. The ammunition reserve for each cannon of all super-dreadnought battleships is now only about 25 rounds. This is the result of the count requiring each ship to carry extra ammunition!
However, even such a thin main gun design can still tear apart the British outer defense. The two quasi-dreadnoughts rushed forward with the few remaining destroyers and launched an attack on the British outer destroyers, while Sultan Selim I began to attack Marlborough.
Intense rapid-fire artillery fire smashed three British destroyers that came up to try to release torpedoes. When the last destroyer that rushed up was detonated by a 6-inch shell torpedo, the Count's flagship also hit the 350MM shells heavily. On the side of the Marlborough, this was a high-explosive bomb that directly killed many of the anti-aircraft gun emplacements on the hull deck and superstructure. In line with the principle of taking advantage of your illness to kill you, more than a dozen Bombers and torpedo attack planes launched the final attack!
In less than 2 minutes, German bombers dropped 4 bombs on the heavily damaged battleship. The successive explosions turned the entire battleship superstructure into a burning torch, accompanied by crackling explosions, soaring into the sky. The flames spread on the surface of the battleship, and the resulting updraft even made aircraft flying at low altitudes feel a little shaken.
Then there was a classic lightning strike on both sides at the same time. 8 torpedo planes cleanly hit 5 torpedoes on the battleship. With a series of explosions, the battleship was directly blown into 4 pieces before sinking into the sea! A large number of fragments were spread into the air by the shock wave generated by the explosion, and then fell one after another. Some fragments even floated 6 kilometers away!
After killing the Marlborough, the German Air Force had no intention of staying in this airspace anymore, and the remaining armored cruiser Bacchus could just be left to the navy. Except for the J-3 fighters and Tracers that continued to stay in the air for air defense missions, all the bombers began to return.
"Kill this junk cruiser, and then let's go!" Count Sipei didn't waste any time. The fast battleship Prinz Eugen who stayed behind knew what he was doing, and rushed forward with two destroyers. At a distance of less than 7,000 meters, In terms of distance, after using high-explosive bombs and semi-armor-piercing bombs to destroy the opponent's last bit of firepower (the armor-piercing bombs are almost used up), they are handed over to the destroyer for disposal. With two loud noises, the Crecy-class armored cruiser also sank to the bottom of the sea.
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