Chapter 199 Catching up with the Spanish Warship

The fighter jets of the Spanish Republican Army dared to bomb the German warships, this is a provocation by Chi Guoguo!

The Italian warship was bombed by mistake a few days ago, and now, the German warship is "accidentally bombed"!

Although the other party did not succeed in the bombing, on the contrary, the entire fleet of aircraft they came to bomb was wiped out. Even so, Germany must not back down!

Although both Germany and Italy are supporting Franco, after all, on the surface, the two countries have not declared war on Spain. Now, the Spanish Republican Army dares to take the initiative to provoke them, and they must pay the price!

Waiting for this opportunity!

After completing the task of annihilating the incoming bomber fleet, Deutsche continued to set sail, and after meeting with Admiral Scheer, the two warships headed north.

Dare to bomb German warships? Now, tremble!

The engine at the rear is running at high speed, the diesel engine is rumbling, the propeller is turning rapidly, pushing the huge battleship, accelerating, accelerating!

Just when the bombers flew in from the west, another seaplane patrolling in the eastern sea area discovered that there were several warships belonging to the Republic of Law in the sea area about 20 nautical miles in front of their own navy. Obviously, the other party is planning to come up to fight!

And now, the bombers have been wiped out, and these Republican warships are already retreating! For Deutsches, revenge, of course, is not just as simple as killing the opponent's bombers. These Republican battleships waiting to come up to fight in groups are their own prey!

Before the war, the Spanish navy had powerful strength and was ranked among the top ten in the world overall. After the outbreak of the civil war, the Republican Army and the National Army competed for the navy, killing each other's soldiers and controlling the navy's warships.

After that, the two sides launched a series of battles. As a result, the pride of the Spanish Navy, the Spanish-class battleship with a displacement of 16,000 tons, unfortunately sank.

The two newest Canarias-class heavy cruisers with a displacement of 13,000 tons were under Franco's control.

The largest and most effective warship controlled by the Republican Army is only the Servera-class with a full-load displacement of 9,000 tons. This light cruiser is designed based on the British "E" class.

The Libertad was the Republic Navy's most active warship during the war. It assumed the role of flagship of the fleet almost throughout the war, taking part in all major military operations.

The enemy formation discovered by the seaplane has a total of four warships, including the Libertad!

Now, Deutsche and Admiral Scheer, forming a formation, moved towards the direction detected by the seaplane.

It was getting darker and darker, and it was already night.

All the officers and soldiers of the whole ship are in a state of excitement at this time. As naval soldiers, they are eager for a decent naval battle!

On the bridge, Lukins looked at the dark sea in the distance, with determination on his face: "Use radar to detect the surrounding waters, and be sure to find the target!"

Although the seaplane found the other party's whereabouts, after the battle here, the other party will definitely withdraw, and the sea area they searched for will become larger.

At this time, you need to rely on radar to detect!

radar! In this era, it is definitely a new thing.

At that time, Cyric's trip to the island country established a good military-industrial relationship with the island country. In a series of cooperation after that, Germany obtained the island country's magnetron technology, and this device is the key to manufacturing radar.

After years of research and development, this naval carrier-based radar has matured. Although it is still primitive compared to later generations, at least it is possible to discover water warships!

This is not too far from history. In 1938, "Earl Spee" became the first German warship to be equipped with original radar equipment, which had a detection range of only 15km and could not accurately indicate when used for weapons control. The target can only know the approximate direction.

Now, after receiving the order, several radar soldiers climbed the high bridge and installed it skillfully.

Yes, it is installation. For confidentiality, the radar antenna is often removed and installed only when needed.

For example, in the daytime, this kind of radar is not very useful, and the detection distance is less than 20 kilometers. It is much more convenient than radar to detect by water plane.

And at night, it is useful, so this radar is often removed in the morning and installed at night!

The current radar is still the ancient Yagi antenna type, and the installation is not complicated.

More than ten minutes later, the radar antenna was installed on the base. After the radar soldiers came down, the antenna began to rotate, and the electromagnetic waves radiated around.

In a cabin next to the bridge, the radar soldier waited, staring at the small screen in front of him.

Time passed bit by bit, and suddenly, the radar soldier shouted: "In our east, there is an echo from the sea, ten kilometers away!"

ten kilometers! Luckins had excitement on his face: "Right rudder, catch up! All naval guns, prepare to reload!"

Ready to reload!

In the forward Drh LC/28 triple turret, the hoist rumbled, and the cartridge and warhead were lifted from the magazine.

In the watchtower at the top of the bridge, several soldiers on the lookout mission are concentrating all their attention, looking at the dark night sky. At this time, it is difficult to find the target.

Generally speaking, battles at sea are carried out during the day. This kind of battle at night is difficult to fight. How to find the target is the first difficulty.

The radar is not clear and can only show the approximate direction, so the best way is to look at it!

Above the head, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, the moon and stars were exposed, and the bright moonlight scattered all over the Mediterranean Sea.

"Found the target, right ahead!" a soldier who looked out shouted loudly, extremely excited.

Have caught up with the target!

"Front main gun, load armor-piercing projectiles, and prepare to shoot!" Lukins gave an order loudly.

Now, the other party is sailing, and they don't even notice that they are catching up from behind, which is a good opportunity!

The Libertad is a light cruiser with 8 boilers and an output of 80,000 horsepower. If it goes wild, it can reach a top speed of 34 knots. However, in normal sailing, it will definitely not be so happy, and the fuel consumption cannot be afforded. Therefore, in normal times, it can only sail at an economical speed of 15 knots.

On the bridge, Colonel Rodrigo, the captain of Spain, felt a little melancholy in his heart. They originally planned to sneak attack on German warships. After their own bombers succeeded, they could go up to besiege them and completely sink each other!

However, contrary to what was expected, the Germans came prepared, and their bombers were all destroyed. They gave up the mission and sailed northeast, making a circle in the Mediterranean Sea.