Chapter 985: Night Battle 2
When the German plane appeared above the British, the British were also nervous. Because they don't know where the hell the German fleet is? The Germans knew that at night this distance could not effectively attack British ships, but the British did not know! After the four battleships responsible for attacking the British were exposed to the dazzling white light, the British paused for a moment, wondering whether to continue the attack or hide first.
The High Seas Fleet fired! The slender muzzles of the four Caesar-class battleships of the Second Battleship Formation of the High Seas Fleet spewed out dazzling tongues of fire, but their target was not the 4 British Super Dreadnoughts in the distance, or the British Dreadnoughts who were beating Hansen! At this time, the two sides are equivalent to playing hide and seek in the dark night, and the first to be exposed will definitely suffer, and only the side with sufficient hole cards can win. The British former dreadnought fleet was exposed, so he was beaten by Hansen, and after Hansen was exposed, he was beaten by the British super dreadnought, and after the British super dreadnought was exposed, because the distance was a bit far............ So the Germans can only take the front dreadnought of their opponents out of anger.
No, only some of the German battleships could only attack the front dreadnought, and some of the Germans wanted to take a risk under the cover of darkness! "The planes are still hovering over the opposing battleships, the flares are still indicating the position of the opponent, although we cannot attack effectively at this distance, but we can get closer, my fleet is relatively fast, and there are no British auxiliary warships around, we can be like those Prussian pistols, quickly approach and attack, and then quickly disengage, although the results may be limited, but it is better than wasting precious shells on the dreadnoughts." Hipper commanded..........
There was a rumor within the German Navy that Schell was aggressive, but in fact, as his deputy, Vice Admiral Hipper, was more radical and daring than him! Especially when you have a fleet that is quite strong in terms of size and strength! At this time, Hipper, who had 7 capital ships in his hands, even had the idea of secretly attacking the British capital ship fleet under the cover of night. Soon, though. This overly risky plan was abandoned by him, and when the 4 Caesar-class battleships attacked the British former dreadnought battleships, Hipper, guided by the auxiliary warships, slowly approached the 4 British super-dreadnoughts that were firing!
"Each battleship can attack a maximum of 10 and a half salvos, regardless of the result, it is necessary to evacuate with the flagship!" Hipper, though bold, was by no means reckless. Once left behind by the other party's searchlight, then what awaits him will be the wrath of the British Grand Fleet. And 10 and a half salvos are only about 6 minutes at most. In such a short time, the British simply could not effectively lock down the attack.
4 British super-dreadnoughts could quickly cripple the exposed German ex-dreadnought fleet. Equally. The four Caesar-class battleships could easily defeat the battered British dreadnought fleet, with the Duke of Edinburgh armored cruiser being the first casualty. The King Albert won the first result of the naval battle, two shells that hit almost simultaneously tore open the side of the Duke of Edinburgh, one hit the engine room, and the high-speed engine was blown to pieces, while the violent explosion also destroyed the nearby power tank, and the other shell pierced through several layers of armor and exited the other waterline, although this shell was a dud. But the damage caused was not small at all, and the shell made a large hole of about one square meter 5 meters below the waterline on the opposite side! The same hole, at the waterline and at the waterline is not the same concept. The deeper the damaged area, the faster the water will enter, and the strong water pressure is equivalent to a super pump, constantly transporting seawater into the battleship's interior. And this damage apparently exceeded the ceiling of the drainage system of the old former dreadnought, and coupled with the partial destruction of the electrical system, the battleship eventually quickly tilted and sank into the sea. …………。
Subsequently, two more British pre-dreadnoughts were destroyed by the Caesar and Frederick the Great. In this engagement, only 3 ships of the British dreadnought were evacuated with wounds, while only 1 dreadnought of the German side was left from the battlefield under the attack of British artillery. With the withdrawal of the former dreadnoughts, the war entered a completely new phase, and the British auxiliary battleships and light cruisers did not retreat, on the contrary, they began to rush towards the Caesar-class battleship formations. They are trying to search for opponents with searchlights, and they will launch lightning strikes at the right time!
"When did the British fight so hard? But that? Looking at the actions of the British fleet, Scheer's eyelids also jumped sharply, the opposing light cruiser was still approaching the German fleet after the withdrawal of the former dreadnought, so it means that the other party did not plan to flash people, but continued to use the advantages of auxiliary warships to fight night battles. It's even possible that Jericho's main fleet is approaching 4 Caesar-class battleships! "Send two more destroyer formations to cover the transfer of Caesar-class battleships!"
The roar of the heavy artillery has stopped...... But at this time, the battle at sea did not stop, and countless destroyers rushed towards each other like light cavalry, led by light cruisers. Various shells from various medium-caliber artillery and machine guns weave into a web of death at sea. The British Navy was never short of courage, and the German Navy fought-for-tat. "We were able to hit the destroyer on the opposite side at high speed with our rifles, and the average engagement distance quickly shortened to about 1km! We can easily determine the location based on the light of the opponent's muzzle fire. Even searchlights are saved. The sound of explosions rang in my ears one after another, and the destroyers of hundreds of tons turned into a dazzling fire, illuminating the nearby sea surface rapid-fire guns and 50mm rapid-fire guns that fired shells one after another swept back and forth like long whips. …。
In the chaos of the war, a large number of people and ships were an advantage, and the British destroyer detachment of up to 12 destroyers, led by 4 light cruisers, finally broke through the German blockade. 2 British light cruisers after blowing up 6 German destroyers in a row. Finally a German destroyer fired 3 torpedoes at a distance of less than 500 meters from another British light cruiser! The success of a torpedo with a charge of almost 200kg blew the light cruiser, stained with the blood of the Germans, in half! However, at this time, the interception of the Germans had also come to an end, and 4 Caesar-class battleships were exposed to the eyes of the British auxiliary fleet!
"Kill all those flies!" Seeing that his little brother was beaten by the other party, the 4 Caesar-class battleships no longer retain firepower, and the main and secondary guns work together to deal with these desperate flies, anyway, once they are locked, they will be attacked by the super dreadnought that the other party is constantly approaching, so it is better to fight! At this time, the Luftwaffe still threw a flare above the head of the British 3rd Battleship Detachment, and the looming 3rd Battleship Formation was getting closer and closer to the German 2nd Battleship Formation!
The Germans were finally in a hurry, and the guns on the four Caesar-class battleships were like volcanoes that had suddenly erupted, and countless shells were like a stream of lava that was rolling down to swallow every target they could touch. In the distance, we can even see that the hull of the German battleship is wrapped in three colored apertures, which are formed by the fire of the main gun, the secondary gun, and the 88mm anti-lightning gun. He poured out their fury like an enraged beast, and we simply couldn't get close under such a dense firefight, and all attempts to get close failed at all! A British officer on a light cruiser recalled..........
The British did not give up, only the remaining 3 light cruisers walked on the sea in an S-shaped trajectory to avoid the opponent's attack, the Chester light cruiser rushed to the front, this 5000-ton light cruiser commissioned in 1914 dodged while using the ship's 6-inch guns to suppress the opponent, and this action that I don't know whether it could be reckless or brave was immediately taken care of by Frederick the Great, 8 naval guns attacked it almost at a horizontal angle, and a huge column of water rose next to it. The huge water pressure generated by the near miss bomb into the water continued to hit the hull below this waterline, and even cracked and hollowed out in some places, but the British did not give up, but continued to move forward! …。
Suddenly, the light cruiser Birmingham, which was behind the Chester in the attacking British light cruiser formation, suddenly exploded hugely, and a huge fireball smashed directly on the scabbard of the Birmingham, slashing the entire upper part of the hull like a long knife. Although it was a high-explosive bomb, it had already made the battleship almost ineffective. Before the British could wake up from their shock, another shell hit the hapless battleship again, this shell directly penetrated the ammunition wagon of the Birmingham...... A huge pillar of fire rose into the sky, and the resulting shock wave tore the battleship to pieces, scattering flying debris and wreckage on the sea for several kilometers! …。
Shortly after the Birmingham was restored to a parts state, Frederick the Great finally managed to crush the jumping rabbit in front of her! The Chester was hit by a dense 6-inch shell that reached a torch. Then, after releasing the torpedo attack, when he turned to leave, he was hit by a cannonball in the stern, and the whole battleship sank as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer, but before the hull could regain balance, two more main gun shells hit the stern, and finally the battleship sank to the bottom of the sea.
Only one light cruiser ran away, and the British lightning attack attempt had completely failed, but the destroyers who arrived later still used searchlights to firmly cover the four German capital ships in the distance. At this time, the 4 British super dreadnoughts in the distance had also reached the distance where they could effectively attack in the night battle, and at this time, in the rangefinders of the British, the 4 German battleships had been firmly locked, but it was difficult for the Germans to find the British battleships with only muzzle flames! At this moment, is the winner decided?
Thank you for the reward of zhouyu1976, and the monthly pass support ~~~. Double the monthly pass period for the monthly pass to ask for support ~~~. The misinformation chapter caused by the error, the side position has been filled, and it is placed in the relevant work, and you can read it according to the chapter number