Chapter 1,172 Hunting 2
Chapter 1172 Hunting 2
Naturally, Stettin would not confront the Queen, and immediately released a smoke screen, and then hid in the shadows. Fortunately, the British battleship had no intention of staying here anymore, and immediately dodged after forcing the opponent back. people. And this battleship was the Malaya that was the first to leave after Thomas ordered the fleet to be disbanded and fled for their lives!
What is completely different from what most British people imagine is that the Malaya has no intention of sacrificing itself to fulfill others! Colonel Sinclair's idea is simply fishing in troubled waters! "If we wait until the German warships kill our auxiliary warships and then come up to catch us, then we have no chance at all. To give a more vivid example, our warships are like fish in a pond. And the German warships are like fish in a pond. People are like fishermen with a trawler. Their encirclement quickly closes toward the center. The only chance is to escape from the loophole before the opponent is completely encircled. We cannot wait, and we cannot even predict from them. Escape in the right direction, because there is a trap set by the hunter for us!”
To paraphrase an old Eastern proverb, catch the enemy unawares! The German fleet did not expect that the British would do the opposite at this time and charge forward against the blade of the German fleet. Of course, Colonel Sinclair's command was also better. Although they followed the lightning strike force to launch the attack, they were behind the lightning strike force. Their position was just downwind. In this case, the smoke screen released by the British light cruisers and destroyers was very large. This "stowaway" was well covered.
In this case, if some luck is added, the two German fleets that were staring at the main force of the Thomas fleet did not expect that such a warship escaped from the gap between the two fleets. If it escaped this time If there were two ships, then there was a chance that the target would be discovered because the target was too big. However, as luck would have it, this time the Malaya, which was in the best condition in the fleet and was the only one to choose to take advantage of the fire, ran out, and When I came out, I accidentally disabled the Stettin's radio communication equipment... Therefore, the talented and courageous Colonel Sinclair successfully escaped with the Malaya.
Of course, this kind of behavior is suspected of taking the blame for the entire fleet. Although this approach saved the battleship, although it was excusable, for the Royal Navy, which advocates dedication and sacrifice, this behavior has been criticized by many people. Of course, this is something to talk about later. Let us put our perspective back to the main battlefield. At this time, the dominant German auxiliary battleships have basically completely cleared out the British light cruisers and destroyers, except for leaving a small number of troops to continue to deal with them. In addition to the remaining enemies, more than 70% of the British auxiliary battleships have been sunk or are preparing to be sunk... The remaining four Queen Elizabeth-class battleships hugging each other were also bitten by the German fleets coming from all directions!
Goben, Moltke and Vondertann commanded by Rear Admiral Lefetzov were three pure-blooded battlecruisers. Their main target was Thomas's flagship, Queen Elizabeth, whose speed remained relatively intact. There would have been a Seydlitz, but because it was hit by a torpedo, the Seydlitz, whose speed was not up to standard, could only join other battleships in besieging the British warships that had slowed down.
Be the first to bite the opponent's Hipper fleet! The four Bavaria-class battleships took the lead,
With a group of boys, he caught up with the No. 7 ship Counterattack, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship at the back! This battleship had already taken in more than 1,500 tons of water during the previous battle. The battleship tilted 5 degrees, and its power system also suffered certain losses. The current maximum speed is about 22 knots. Facing this British warship that had become a lame wolf, Hipper believed that arranging four Bavaria ships was too extravagant, so he decided to send two Bavaria ships to continue chasing the other queens.
At the last moment of the Repulse, this British warship, which had only been in service for less than three months, tried to fight back, and the desperate Jackal did have some impact on the Lion. Two 15-inch shells hit the Desshaw. At the bow of the ship, one of the shells tore through the 6-inch-thick bow armor belt. The fragments from the explosion penetrated two compartments, while the other shell actually fired a water bomb. This shell was like a torpedo. It hit the Des Thao 5 meters underwater. The sharp warhead easily tore through the three layers of highly elastic steel plates, and exploded before approaching the last layer of mine protection wall!
The large charge of British artillery shells is indeed no joke. Countless fragments blew the outer mine protection partition at the bottom of the turret into pieces. However, the heavy oil tank in the middle played a great role. The thick heavy oil with a thickness of nearly 1 meter greatly weakened the impact of the shrapnel. The Bavaria's last layer of underwater defense system has also proven to be reliable enough. The 75MM-thick mine protection wall extending from the main armor belt successfully blocked the fragments. After a burst of crackling impact, there was not even a crack...
However, a large amount of water intrusion is inevitable. This shell brought 900 tons of water intrusion to the battleship. However, part of the water was pumped into the countermeasure compartment through the underwater connector. A few minutes later, the Bavarian tilt was corrected. Hipper stated that this attack, although insidious, had little effect….
However, the Repulse was in danger under the siege of two Bavaria-class battleships. Three minutes after the re-engagement, the Weimar scored its first hit. This shell directly greatly accelerated the defeat of the Counterattack! With a harsh whistling sound, the 875KG shell successfully hit the stern of the Reputation. This horizontally incident shell easily tore through the horizontal armor on the upper part of the stern steering gear compartment, and then smashed the equipment and personnel inside. , and this shell didn't feel powerful enough. After it fell to the floor and exploded, the violent explosion opened a big hole in the bottom of the ship! With a loud noise and the sound of metal tearing, a steering gear and a propeller on the side of the Reputation's hull were directly removed! The huge drive shaft made a burst of noise that was enough to make people collapse. After a few minutes, the British on the entire battleship knew that the Weimar was no longer operational!
Then the rest of the battle entered a state of target practice. Facing an antelope with its limbs broken, the two Bavaria-class battleships threw shells at each other's hull from a distance of 12 kilometers like a target. , the violent explosions and the flames rising into the sky never stopped. After less than a quarter of an hour of attack, when the Weimar smashed the last No. 4 main turret of the Repulse that could counterattack into a burning iron box, this The battleship completely lost its combat effectiveness.
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