Chapter 733: Attack the Americans First

"Commander, the enemy seems to have disbanded its formation and is retreating."

When the two columns of the First Advance Squadron of the Allied Combined Fleet were about to turn right, countless flares suddenly fell from the sky, illuminating the sea surface with a pale white, and then the radar officer on the Chester heavy cruiser made a new discovery.

Twenty or thirty German torpedo boats disbanded their formation, turned their bows and fled.

What's going on? Did the Germans feel that they couldn't win, so they chose to escape shamefully?

Major General Wright and Colonel Cohen were confused by the strange behavior of the German torpedo boats, and they didn't know what orders to give for a while. So the two columns of the First Advance Squadron continued forward along the original route in a daze, and ended up crashing into the torpedo net formed by the "two golden combs".

"Boom..."

Suddenly, the Chester heavy cruiser seemed to be hit by a monster from underwater, and with a burst of fire and a huge water jet rising from the port side amidships, the hull also jumped in the loud noise. The people in the bridge seemed to have encountered an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. No one could stand up and they all fell to the floor.

The back of Rear Admiral Wright's head hit the floor hard. After a sharp pain, he saw stars in front of his eyes. Before he stood up, he subconsciously asked, "What's going on?"

"Mine! There's a mine on the port side!"

I don't know who answered loudly.

"Damn it!" Rear Admiral Wright struggled to get up and found that the ground under his feet was tilting to the left, which meant that the port side was flooded and the hull was losing balance. He quickly grabbed the handrail beside him.

"Fill the starboard side with water!" At this time, Rear Admiral Wright heard Captain Cohen, the captain of the Chester, shouting, "Damage control, I'm the captain, find out the damage immediately..."

"Boom!"

Before Captain Cohen finished speaking, the port side of the Chester heavy cruiser was hit by something again. Just like before, there was a loud noise and the hull shook violently.

Now everyone in the bridge knew that they were being attacked by a torpedo!

Rear Admiral Wright thought the fleet was attacked by a submarine. Just as he was about to order an anti-submarine attack, he suddenly heard someone shouting, "Oh my God! The Louisville is on fire and is still tilting to the left. Oh my God, it's going to capsize! It's going to capsize soon..."

"The Augusta is also on fire... Oh my God, it exploded again, we are going to lose this heavy cruiser!"

"Atlanta! The Atlanta has also been attacked! We must have encountered a wolf pack..."

When Rear Admiral Wright heard these shouts, he rushed to the platform outside the command tower and looked around, and then he saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The originally dark sea surface is now full of burning metal hulls, and from time to time there are groups of exploding fireballs rising!

Several ships have already capsized severely to one side, and several ships have their bows or sterns lifted high and exposed to the water!

Rear Admiral Wright also saw a broken hull of the flat-deck destroyer Boggs, which was sinking rapidly!

In a blink of an eye, his first advance fleet had been severely damaged, and he, the commander, didn't know what had happened?

"Commander! We were attacked by torpedoes! Very fierce torpedo attacks!" The voice of Captain Cohen, the captain of the Chester, came urgently. The colonel had just called the damage control captain of the Chester and got very terrible news.

"The Chester was hit by a torpedo in the middle and stern of the ship, and two large holes were broken. The torpedo that hit the stern also directly blew through the power compartment. Now hundreds of tons of seawater are pouring in, and it can't be blocked at all! The power compartment will soon be flooded, we are going to lose power, commander, we are going to lose the Chester..."

Losing power, and being torpedoed with two large holes... Not to mention a treaty ship like the Chester, even if it was replaced by a battleship, it would be dead.

"Commander, please change the flagship." Captain Cohen finally sighed and proposed to change the flagship.

"Well... okay." Major General Wright also sighed - what a miserable life, he suffered a heavy blow for no reason! I don't know how I will be criticized when I return, maybe I will be kicked into the reserve.

"Are those ships intact now?" Major General Wright asked in a low voice.

"Commander, there are still 2 heavy cruisers and 3 destroyers intact." Captain Cohen reported, "The intact heavy cruisers are the Red Caucasus and the Kirov..."

Major General Wright was stunned, "Are they two Soviet heavy cruisers?"

...

"Comrade Political Commissar, Comrade Commander, Comrade Wright, commander of the 1st Advance Squadron, reported that the squadron was suddenly attacked by torpedoes, the heavy cruisers Louisville and Augusta sank, and the three destroyers Boggs, Greer and Lee The USS San Francisco and the USS Atlanta were damaged... Commander Comrade Wright has now moved to the USS Red Caucasus and is organizing rescue efforts. ”

120 T-93 Long Lance torpedoes sank three heavy cruisers and three destroyers, and another heavy cruiser was probably lost. Another heavy cruiser and a 10,000-ton light cruiser were damaged... This record was neither too good nor too bad. However, it was enough to shock the British, American and Soviet generals and political commissars in the bridge of the USS Soviet.

The battle has just begun, and the losses are so heavy. It seems that today's battle will not be easy to fight.

After listening to the tragic experience of the 1st Vanguard Fleet reported by a Red Navy staff officer, Bulganin suddenly thought of the chaplains arranged by "American Political Commissar" McCarthy on Soviet ships - these chaplains can really come in handy now. It seems that McCarthy is still a foresighted anti-G revolutionist. In addition, the Red Caucasus and Kirov are quite lucky. They are intact - this is related to the order of arrangement. The German torpedo boats added some advance when launching torpedoes, so they hit the ships at the front of the queue.

"What's going on? What did the 1st Vanguard Fleet encounter? Was it a German submarine?" As soon as the staff officer's report ended, Bulganin asked questions like a machine gun.

"It should be a lance torpedo!" British Navy Vice Admiral Fraser answered with gritted teeth. "The Japanese torpedoes have a long range, probably more than 20,000 meters... The Germans must have introduced this type of torpedo."

(The previous text is wrong, Chapter 617 has already mentioned that the British army encountered the lance torpedo)

"Comrade Commander," Bulganin turned his head and looked at Admiral Ingersoll with a gloomy face, "Do you want to continue?"

"Of course!" Ingersoll took a breath, "The advantage of the battleship is on our side, we can fight it, just be careful not to let the enemy get within 25,000 yards."

"Safe distance" is now 25,000 yards away!

"So far? Can you hit it?"

"Yes!" Ingersoll replied, "We have good radar, and we have 54 406mm main guns, and the enemy has only 16, so long-range firefights are more beneficial to us!"

...

"Your Excellency Marshal, the attack of the T-93 torpedo was successful, and the enemy had 4 heavy cruisers and 3 light ships sunk! A great victory!" Lieutenant General Messer, Chief of Staff of the European Combined Fleet, reported to Commander Marshal Lütjens.

"Well done!" Marshal Lütjens smiled, "But the battle has just begun, it's a little early to say that we have won a great victory. By the way, have you decided on the order of engagement and bombardment?"

"Okay, the 1st Squadron will deal with the enemy's main force, the 2nd Squadron will deal with the enemy's battlecruiser, the 3rd Squadron will outflank the enemy's main force, the heavy cruiser will fight against the enemy's heavy cruiser, and the 4 cruiser squadrons will cover the 4 squadrons." Vice Admiral Messer replied, "In addition, the 1st Squadron's bombardment order is as follows, Admiral Hipper, Ludendorff, and Hindenburg will concentrate their firepower on the first South Dakota-class, and the 4 Veneto-class will concentrate their firepower on the second South Dakota-class."

"Good!" Marshal Lütjens nodded with satisfaction. Vice Admiral Messer had exactly the same idea as him, concentrating his firepower on the two American South Dakota-class ships.

Because the four Soviet-class ships had just replaced the American radar and fire control, the Soviet officers and soldiers could not master them immediately, so the two American battleships must be responsible for unified observation and aiming.

Moreover, the European Combined Fleet, which had fought against the South Dakota class, also knew that the American 406mm main gun was amazingly powerful. In comparison, the German-made 406mm cannon used by the Soviet class was quite ordinary.

Therefore, the threat of the two South Dakota-class ships was much greater than that of the four Soviet-class ships! As long as they were sunk or severely damaged first, the four Soviet-class ships would not be a concern. Without the American battleships responsible for observation and aiming, their 406mm cannons could not hit the target at all.

At the same time, on the Soviet battleship that would not be hit first, Admiral Ingersoll had also formulated the order of engagement and bombardment.

Now he had three available squadrons (including the 2nd Advance Squadron). Although he had lost several heavy cruisers, his strength was still far greater than that of the Soviet class—at least that was what he thought.

But he also encountered a problem now. The seaplane detected that there were four enemy squadrons, which were advancing in unison, and there were also He-219 long-range night fighters flying from Ireland in the sky to provide cover. It was impossible for the seaplane to get too close to drop flares.

So he couldn't be sure where the enemy's main force was? But he also had a way to deal with it, which was to simply not be sure.

Admiral Ingersoll said: "We can do this, the 2nd advance squadron is in the front, the 1st squadron is in the middle, and the 2nd squadron is in the back... forming a long column, and at the same time there are 4 patrol squadrons responsible for cover. Wait until we engage the enemy, and then decide the order of engagement."

After such a change of formation, there appeared on the sea four European fleets advancing in unison against a long snake formation of an Allied fleet. The situation was somewhat similar to the Battle of Jutland more than 20 years ago.