Chapter 973: Broken Tail

Just when the main force of the Majifen fleet was being delayed, Tycho suppressed the Entente's fast fleet with the advantage of survival * and numbers, and successfully damaged the Malaya and Amsterdam! Everything seems to have been reversed. Some Allied fleet officers even thought that with just half an hour, Tycho's fleet would be able to successfully crush the other side! It doesn't matter if Magifen catches up!

"Concentrate your fire on the sinking of the Amsterdam!" Looking at the Dutch fast battleship that had been badly damaged in the distance and whose hull had been heavily tilted, Tycho was also a little carried away. It seems to have forgotten that there is a powerful fleet behind him, which may catch up at any time! And the torpedo boats that accompanied the Italian fleet rushed up like sharks smelling fishy, and both sides were maneuvering at high speed, and the Amsterdam, which had lost half of its power, naturally could not keep up with the fleet, so it became the best target for torpedo attacks!

A total of 8 destroyers in the two detachments tried to intercept the other party's lightning strike, but before they could meet the opposing destroyer, the main and auxiliary guns of the Vittorio hit each other! A destroyer was hit directly by a shell...... The shells weighing more than 600 kilograms cut the battleship in half like a giant axe. In less than 1 minute, the destroyer, which was several hundred tons, disappeared from the sea. The other destroyer was destroyed by the continuous artillery hits, and the system could only go with the flow, although the remaining battleships were lucky to survive this wave of bullets, but they were immediately divided and surrounded by the Allied destroyers who rushed up, and the dense 75mm bullet rain woven a fire net covered the surviving Allied destroyers. Another group of destroyers rushed to the Amsterdam not far away! …。

In the end, the Dutch Navy's first super-dreadnought, second-generation fast battleship Amsterdam was hit by three torpedoes. One of the torpedoes hit the engine room right away, causing the wound to grow rapidly, and a large hole of at least 20 square meters appeared near the Amsterdam's engine room. This makes all rescue ineffective. The fate of the battleship was already sealed. He will sink into the sea in a quarter of an hour.

However, the sacrifice of the Amsterdam was not worthless, and just as the Italians were concentrating their firepower on the Dutch fast battleship, the Malaya once again attacked the Prince Eugen with a 15-inch gun at an ultra-close range of less than 11km! After piercing the sidestring armor of the Prinz Eugen, the shell crashed into the boiler compartment, and the violent explosion directly blew four boilers to pieces, and the water vapor released from the ruptured pipes killed almost everyone in the cabin. The Austro-Hung battleship, which had barely kept up because of damaged propeller shafts, finally slowed down. After losing two-thirds of his momentum, he had no chance of returning to the ports of the Mediterranean. Its direct distance from the fleet was rapidly widened.

"Save the Prinz Eugen. He participated in two naval battles and made great contributions to the empire. "In the face of the request of the Austrians. Tycho did not agree, a ship with a heavy power loss could no longer go back, leaving it to cover it and the result was that it was dragged to death, and the loss of the Prince Eugen was a wake-up call for Tycho. This is not a place to stay. If you don't leave, it's really too late!. …。

The Majifen fleet finally caught up, but all they were left with was a floating Prinz Eugen and the scarred Malaya and the Seven Provinces. After ordering a formation of torpedo boats to destroy the abandoned battleship, Magifin knew that the war was over. "Great strategy, but terrible tactics!" Majifen later wrote in his diary. Majfin managed to get his opponent into the net, but what he didn't expect was that his fleet would be so difficult to fight with absolute superiority. Originally, he thought that even if he could not completely destroy the Tycho fleet, he would be able to sink half of its capital ships. But it turned out to be 1 for 2, a fast battleship for a super dreadnought and a dreadnought on the other side. …。

"Our naval officers and sailors have a large number of problems in actual combat, the gunner is only the most basic, and there are serious problems in damage management and control of the battleship. The Allied air strikes were more harassment than attacks, and we were lucky. If the opponent's attack capability can be at the level of the Royal Navy, only 60 attack aircraft can deal a very big blow to my fleet. Our air defense operations can simply be described as bad, and when it is evaded, the whole fleet is thrown into chaos! We wasted so much time that we cost our allies a vital fast battleship. Although we occupied the top this time, it also made the other side see our weakness. We have to train harder, because not every time we can be at the top of our game! Magiffen wrote in his report to the Admiralty..........

In the face of this over-the-top report, the U.S. Department of the Navy thought it would be sufficient for the report to be circulated internally. Although there are various problems of one kind or another in terms of tactics...... But at least the Entente Atlantic Fleet was victorious under the command of Majifen? And this is enough, as for the problems in it, it can be changed slowly. The U.S. government deems it necessary to make a big deal of publicity on this matter in order to boost morale!

Now that Magiffin's direct confrontation with Tycho is over, one should ask what happened between Earl Spee and Thomas? In his telegram to Count Spee, Tycho mentions the fact that the other side had only three Queen-class battleships. But in the end, Count Spee still did not fight his opponent, for the simple reason that the Tycho fleet had been defeated, and Thomas could have joined the Magifen fleet. The so-called hit-and-run tactics are simply unrealistic, as long as they fight, they will be injured, and under the encirclement and interception of the opponent's superior fleet, Count Spee does not think that his warship can bypass the whole of Africa and return to the Mediterranean with injuries. Therefore, after receiving the news of the defeat of Tycho's fleet, Count Spee decided to immediately choose to go south and circumnavigate the Horn of Africa. At the same time, Tycho was asked to provide the ......... of the transport ships according to the predetermined plan.

And after Thomas and Magiffen converged. did not choose to continue the pursuit, but decided to go back to France for correction, and this change surprised the Spee fleet, which was already preparing for the "Long March", and the other side gave way at the critical moment, which is a good thing that cannot be desired! This is a foolish move in the eyes of some, but when you think about it, Thomas's choice was not wrong.

Although the Majifen fleet won, almost all the ships were damaged to varying degrees. In addition to the two Tennessee-class battleships, the remaining three American battleships could not be out of the dock for 2 months. The Malaya and Seven Provinces, which were responsible for interception, were even more scarred. The ship's side was damaged and flooded, and some of the main guns needed to be replaced. The French had good luck this time, sinking a dreadnought, and their own losses were not very large. However, repairs and maintenance are also required. What's more important is if one stays in the waters off Gibraltar. It will inevitably be repeatedly attacked by submarines and aircraft, and in the case of the strength of the fleet, Majifen is not afraid, but in this situation, Majifen's choice to retreat is undoubtedly the best choice. In other words, the Majifen fleet did not have the strength to fight again in a short time. Then the only one in the Atlantic Fleet of the entire Entente can fight is the Thomas fleet, and after the departure of the Majifen fleet, if the other party gets the news and chooses to fight, then Thomas, who has only 6 fast warships, will face the Spee's fleet with the Dragon Xiang is under great pressure, and it is not certain that he will win or lose in a real fight! . …。

Majifen's idea is very realistic, since he has already made a small profit in this battle, then he should not have any accidents at the end. For the plan of chasing the Spey fleet around Africa, Magifin and Thomas are not very concerned, the Spee fleet is admittedly exhausted, but at the same time Thomas's fleet is not in good shape, and Magifin really can't find a fast warship that can be used to support Thomas, such an action becomes meaningless, can't catch up, and prevent the other party from biting back, what else to chase? …。

As a result, with the Allied Atlantic Fleet retreating on his own, Count Spee was able to return to the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar without any problems. Returned to Taranto, the stronghold of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet. He saw a depressed Tycho and the ruined fleet in his hands. "In the future, the only force we can rely on in the battle against Majifen is the fast fleet. We have lost the ability to fight the main battle with it! These were Tycho's first words after meeting Count Spee, in addition to greetings.

Tycho was right...... Originally, the strength of the two sides was in a delicate balance, and the strength of the Entente Atlantic Fleet was stronger, but the strength was limited. But now, although it is only a small loss, but it also completely tilts the balance in Majifen's favor, it can be expected that unless an external force intervenes, with the current strength, the Mediterranean Fleet is no longer suitable for a decisive battle..........

"The German High Seas Fleet must act. At least let those queens of England return to the North Sea, only then can we continue to fight, as long as the British can transfer two fast battleships, then we can achieve an asymmetric advantage, we have 7 fast battleships, and at the same time there is the powerful Julius Caesar, and if the other side only has 6 left, we have a chance. Tycho said this to Count Spee more than once in private.

"But the combined Anglo-American fleet in the North Sea is very strong. Recklessness is a very dangerous move. But I think Marshal Tirpitz and Admiral Scheer will consider your advice for themselves. The Earl of Spee understood what Tycho meant, and he wanted to persuade Sher to act. But the war is not a joke after all, is the German High Seas Fleet willing to take a big action in such a situation? Count Spee couldn't figure it out, but he knew that if he didn't act now, when Majiffin completely consolidated the superiority of the Atlantic, the North Sea would really become a dead land!

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