Chapter 2115: Trap II
"Fire!" At a distance of 18 kilometers from the target, with the range finder locked on the distant reference object, after calculating the distance and azimuth, with the firing order issued, the three German pre-dreadnoughts started the first round. With a salvo, six 12-inch guns and sixteen 10-inch guns pointed at the coast where the British were retreating in the distance. Groups of orange flames gushed out from the muzzle, and accompanied by a loud noise like thunder, the body of the gun suddenly retreated, and the shells with a total weight of more than 5 tons roared towards the distant target. Dozens of seconds later, huge columns of smoke rose from the beach! Flames and explosions resounded throughout the night sky.
A few minutes later, the British's long-range artillery near the port began to attack the German fleet. However, after all, these artillerymen were not professional naval personnel and lacked a reliable fire control system. They faced the naval warships moving at high speed at night At that time, there was no good way. A round of 6-inch, 8-inch and 9.2-inch artillery roared and fired at the German fleet. However, most of these shells landed on the sea 700 meters away from the German warship. No straddle was formed.
"The German fleet has already started attacking our temporary pier. Their location should be in the B24 area." At this time, just 15 kilometers east of the German fleet, a British fleet was slowly moving forward in the night, passing through the top of the mast. The rangefinder, the British fleet can already capture the flames of the German fleet when they shoot, but for these old warships, it is necessary to rely on the old-fashioned rangefinder with a baseline length of less than 3 meters to lock the flames more than ten kilometers away at night , and it is obviously impossible to complete the solution.
At this time, under the command of Rear Admiral Gaunt of the Royal Navy, four former British dreadnought battleships were slowly approaching the German fleet under the cover of destroyers. This is already the few remaining usable pre-dreadnoughts of the British Channel Fleet after being hit many times. This time, in order to severely damage the German fleet, the British Channel Fleet has spent a lot of money!
These 4 pre-dreadnoughts are all the same class of the penultimate British pre-dreadnought ship Edward VII-class battleship, namely the Indian, the Sovereign, the Irishman and the New Zealand (the same name as the New Zealand battlecruiser). These warships are equipped with four 12-inch guns, and four 9.2-inch turrets are deployed at the four corners. The thickness of the armor reaches 9 inches, and there is a dome armor, and the front of the turret reaches 12 inches. Facing the German 12-inch L40 artillery, it can also be called sturdy. Of course, the firepower output is much worse.
"Your Excellency, the Air Force's aircraft are in place. They will provide us with lighting and detection." A staff officer sent a telegram to Major General Gaunt.
"Great, I hope the Naval Air Force will not disappoint me this time," Major General Gaunt said. "We will advance about 3 nautical miles, and we can't get any closer. If we get too close, we may run into the German fleet's security forces."
The Germans pioneered the tactic of using large bombers as maritime patrol aircraft, and the British can naturally learn from them. The simple night coordination tactics of this era are actually very rough, so it is not difficult for the British to copy them. What's more, at this time part of the German fleet has exposed its approximate location, and it is not difficult for the British bombers to find it. At this time, the FB27 bomber, which had been hovering in the air for a while, began to fly towards the position of the German fleet. Below the plane's wing is the British fleet, which is also approaching.
"Wait a minute, I seem to see something!" On a K8C bomber that was circling over its own fleet, the machine gunner in the back seat suddenly saw a gray figure flying by not far away. Looks like it's a bomber.
"Damn it, this guy is crazy, he didn't turn on the anti-collision lights!" A few seconds later, the pilot at the front of the plane also saw a fast-moving shadow in the distant night.
Because most of the bombers of the K group need to fly at low altitudes, and sometimes several planes are required to illuminate an area with flares or searchlights. Special red lights were installed for identification and avoidance. But obviously the black shadow next to him didn't do this.
"Wait, this is not normal!" The captain of the K8 bomber suddenly thought of something. Under normal circumstances, German bombers would turn on the anti-collision lights. Even if a few light bulbs are broken, they will not be completely turned off! Realizing that something was wrong, the captain immediately ordered the searchlights on the front and upper part of the bomber to shine in the direction where the mysterious plane was discovered just now!
Thanks to the speed of aircraft in this era, in less than 2 minutes, the target in front did not fly very far, and the searchlight on the nose quickly found this target. When the huge beam of light from the searchlight swept over the opponent, a series of bullets Flying to the German plane roaring!
"Damn it! It's a British twin-engine bomber! They sneaked in!" The captain ordered the telegraph operator to send a report quickly, and at the same time ordered all the machine guns to prepare for a counterattack! As a result, in the airspace near Earl Spey's fleet, the sound of machine guns like popping beans came from the air, dense tracer bullets flew in the air like fireflies in the field, and the exposed British bombers no longer hid. The searchlights were used to actively search for the opponent. The two bombers flew up and down like giant dragons, and the large-caliber machine guns on the fuselage were like the deadly breath of the dragon. The bullet roared and flew towards the target, leaving a large or small wound on the opponent's body from time to time!
"What's the situation?" The sudden air battle not only caught the pilots of both sides by surprise, but also made the German fleet on the sea a little confused. Seeing the bombers of the two sides fighting in the air, the destroyers on the sea did not dare to fire easily, but the German fleet People can be sure of one thing, that is, the British are absolutely prepared tonight, and that is what the so-called unkind comers mean!
"Immediately stop the attack on British targets on the coast and let the air force expand the search area. We need to hide ourselves!" Earl Spey responded very quickly. After realizing that the British plane was approaching him, he immediately issued an order to stop the shooting. The German fleet It has been exposed, I am afraid that the shells of the British fleet will be fired in a few minutes, right?
The quality of the German fleet is still very good. With the order issued, all warships began to implement blackout, and immediately turned to evacuate eastward, while the destroyer force began to shrink its defenses, tacitly following around the fleet, preparing for possible emergencies. Special case.
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