Chapter 1,686 The Battle of the Southern Indian Ocean 1

Chapter 1686 Battle of the Southern Indian Ocean 1

"Active radio communication found! 50 kilometers due south of us!" an officer reported!

"Order the fleet to sail south immediately! Send a telegram to the seaplanes and concentrate on the designated area! At the same time, notify Lieutenant General Su Xiong!" Redel put down the teacup in his hand and ordered immediately.

A few minutes later, the fast battleship Gneisenau drew a huge arc on the sea and sailed due south. Following Redel's order, the battleship began to accelerate. In the boiler room inside the hull, three shifts The stokers continuously feed hundreds or thousands of kilograms of anthracite into the boiler, and then release their energy in the raging flames. When the boiler temperature reaches a certain limit, the oil injector located at the top of the boiler begins to spray heavy oil. The additional fuel further increases the boiler's power. High-temperature and high-pressure water vapor with a temperature of more than 200 degrees flows through the pipeline, providing huge energy to the four marine steam turbines just like the blood in human blood vessels!

"Increase the speed to the maximum! Don't let the Japanese run away!" Ten minutes later, the battleship increased its cruising speed from the previous 15 knots to 23 knots, and further moved towards 26 knots!

"It's a fast battleship! It's a German fast battleship!" At this time, the distance between the two sides was not far away. In less than 20 minutes, after the Germans determined the approximate position of the Japanese fleet through radio lateral technology, a A Japanese seaplane also discovered the Gneisenau heading south! And immediately used a telegraph to notify the Japanese fleet 50 kilometers away!

"Why is there only one ship?" Hyakutakesaburo was unusually calm after receiving this information. Perhaps he had realized that this day would finally come, so he was not particularly nervous or scared. However, the fact that the other party only had one ship did make him feel uncomfortable. He was very surprised, because, according to previous battle reports, the two German fast battleships would never operate separately.

"What's the difference? There's only one battleship, and we definitely can't defeat it." An officer next to him said with some frustration.

"Haha, that's right." Hyakutake Saburo smiled helplessly. "Order the fleet to disband! Let's hold the target back!" After hesitating for a moment, the Japanese lieutenant general issued the order to disband the fleet! This is actually an inevitable choice. Although there are many people on our side, we will definitely not be able to defeat the experienced super-dreadnought ship opposite in an artillery battle. It may even be difficult to escape. So, you want to rely on them to protect the merchant ships? Take a shower and go to sleep! And although only one ship has been discovered now, another one may come over at some point. It is better to run now than later, right?

"I heard that bombs can be carried on our seaplanes?" Nagumo Chuichi asked.

"Yes, but they are all little guys, and the final weight is only 100KG." Hyakutake Saburo said.

"Even if there is only a 100KG bomb,

But attacking some vulnerable parts of the battleship, such as the rangefinder, isn't a big problem, right? "Nagyun Chuyi said.

"The premise is that it can hit!" Hyakutake Saburo said in his heart, but when he turned around and thought, isn't the current situation like a dead horse being treated as a living horse doctor? It's definitely impossible to defeat under normal circumstances, but what if it works? Therefore, Hyakutake Saburo immediately issued an order to the Takachiho seaplane carrier, requiring it to immediately recover all aircraft, then load them with bombs and prepare to attack! Unintentionally, Hyakutake Saburo set a record for the Japanese Navy, using a carrier-based aircraft to attack an opponent for the first time...

As a result, the seaplane that was originally released was recalled again before it went very far, preparing to hang bombs and then deal with the battleship Gneisenau that was first discovered. What the Japanese did not expect was that at this time, in Japan 130 kilometers northeast of the fleet, the real sword of the Germans has been unsheathed!

At this time, the three seaplanes that took off from the fast battleship Scharnhorst had already pounced on the Japanese fleet in the distance after receiving the telegram. They would undertake the positioning and guidance tasks, while on the aircraft carrier, the first wave 28 aircraft have also been neatly arranged on the flight deck.

The USS Constellation aircraft carrier began to sail against the wind and directly increased its speed to more than 25 knots. When the flight commander gave the takeoff order, the windshield in front of the aircraft carrier was directly lowered, and the raging deck wind immediately swept across the entire ship.

"Get ready to take off!" When a ground staff made a gesture, the plane in the middle of the runway released its brakes, and the engine power was instantly increased to the maximum. With the strong deck wind, the plane roared into the sky. After the first plane took off, a group of ground staff towed another plane into the center of the runway, and then continued to take off. In less than 15 minutes, all 28 planes took to the sky and simply arranged their formation. Finally, it flew towards the Japanese fleet in the distance.

Although the distance between the two sides is only about 130 kilometers, in this era, a bomber loaded with a large amount of ammunition would have to fly for 1.5 hours at endurance speed! During this period, the Japanese seaplanes had also recovered part of their seaplanes and attached bombs. Get ready for an air raid on the Gneisenau!

"The Japanese fleet has disbanded, and their fleet has also begun to evacuate to the southeast. The current speed is about fifteen knots!" At this time, at least three German seaplanes were hovering over the Japanese fleet. The faithful will see Report to the headquarters if necessary.

"The battleship Katori and the cruiser Tianlong are together, and the other two destroyers and the seaplane carrier are together!" The telegraph operator continued to send the telegram, but at this time, the plane shook violently, which made the telegraph operator a little unhappy.

"Stop it, pick up the machine gun in the back seat, the Japanese are coming up and fighting for their lives!" the pilot sitting in the front row said loudly.

Before the fleets of both sides met, the seaplanes of both sides performing aerial reconnaissance missions conducted a wave of air battles! The aircraft on both sides were hung with heavy pontoons. After all, the German seaplanes were the basis of fighter jets. The output power of the 250-horsepower V12 liquid-cooled engine was also powerful enough. Therefore, the result of this air battle can be described as one-sided. , after a crackling exchange of fire, the Japanese lost gloriously to the Germans with a record of 0 to 3. However, just as the air battle broke out, several small figures almost flew into the distance against the sea!

"They seem to be heading towards the Scharnhorst," a pilot said to his back seat.

"It doesn't matter, they're all little guys. Nothing will happen to our ship, and we can't control it now." The telegraph operator in the back seat was very open-minded. As he said, when he distanced himself, he naturally It’s impossible to chase the target with all your strength!

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