Chapter 735: Fight, Navy (Part 1)

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Political Commissar, Massachusetts reports that a new enemy fleet has been found, with more than 10 ships and a distance of 42,000 yards, of which 7 are large ships!"

At 10:10 p.m., the communications officer on the Soviet Union loudly reported the news from the battleship Massachusetts-another battleship formation of the European Combined Fleet appeared on the radar screen!

Admiral Ingersoll and Vice Admiral Fraser looked at each other, and both saw a bit of solemnity in each other's eyes.

7 plus 7 is 14! If they are all battleships or battlecruisers, it is still quite difficult to deal with!

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Political Commissar, Massachusetts's radar has found another formation... also 7 large ships!" Just 2 minutes later, another message came.

Another 7 battleships/battlecruisers? That's 21... What's going on?

Could it be that the French and Italians' old battleships are here too? This is a bit troublesome.

Although the Italian Cavour-class and Duirio-class, and the French Courbet-class and Provence-class cannot be compared with the new battleships, it is better to have them than not, right? Now Admiral Ingersoll has already regretted sending 12 old battleships to protect the NR21 fleet.

The atmosphere in the Soviet command tower became more tense. However, no one spoke. Bulganin and Kuznetsov exchanged glances, while Ingersoll and Fraser kept exchanging glances - if a disaster really came, should they leave their friends behind and run first?

Before the eyes were aligned, the voice of the report rang again: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Political Commissar, the Duke of York's radar has found another... There are still 7 large ships, following the other 21 large ships!"

28 ships! ?

Isn't this too many? Could it be that the Japanese battleships are also coming to the Atlantic? What should we do? Comrade Bulganin looked livid and looked at Ingersoll solemnly.

"It should be...it should be that the enemy mixed heavy cruisers and battleships." Admiral Ingersoll guessed correctly this time.

"Comrade Commander, what should we do then?" Bulganin asked.

"Fight!" Ingersoll answered without hesitation. "Even if the enemy has more battleships/battlecruisers, we will definitely win! Because the victory or defeat of a fleet decisive battle is never determined by quantity. We have an absolute advantage in the quality of battleships!"

At 10:20 p.m., the Allied Combined Fleet Command made the final decision to engage in battle. The huge fleet, which was originally sailing at a speed of 20 knots on the sea, following the European Combined Fleet's fleet (the distance between the two was 40,000-42,000 yards, or 36.7-38.4 kilometers), began to speed up in order to close the distance with the enemy fleet.

At this time, the situation on the sea had changed greatly compared to before the encounter between the main double-engine fleets.

First of all, the course of both sides changed. Because Admiral Lütjens ordered his heavy cruiser formation to turn north at 9:30, and the Allied Combined Fleet then adopted a follow-up tactic. Therefore, the course of both sides changed to sail north.

Secondly, the formation of both sides also changed. The main battleships of the Allied Combined Fleet originally formed a long column, like a giant dragon swimming on the sea. However, after discovering 7 enemy "battleships", the head (the 2nd advance squadron) of this giant dragon separated from the body and accelerated to the front of the 7 "battleships" to search for the torpedo ship that would launch T-93 torpedoes.

Therefore, the number of ships in the Allied Combined Fleet's battleship formation (excluding the light cruisers and destroyers on alert in the surrounding area) became 11 battleships/battlecruisers - Massachusetts, Alabama, Soviet, Soviet Ukraine, Soviet Belarus, Soviet Russia, Duke of York, Anson, Howe, Kronstadt and Sevastopol.

At around 10:10, the two Soviet heavy cruisers Red Caucasus and Kirov, which had salvaged the fallen US Navy officers and soldiers, also rushed to the battlefield. The two ships followed behind the 11 battleships/battlecruisers, thus forming a large formation of 13 battleships (heavy cruisers are also battleships). Around this large formation, there are 20 to 30 light cruisers and destroyers responsible for covering and alerting.

In addition, there are 3 US medical ships, 2 US seaplane carriers, 3 light cruisers and more than a dozen destroyers wandering around the battlefield.

The main fleet of the European Combined Fleet also changed its formation, from 4 columns to 1 super long column, with 28 battleships (including battleships, battlecruisers and heavy cruisers) lined up in a long row. There were also 20 to 30 destroyers and light cruisers around to provide cover.

Several medical ships and seaplane carriers of the European Combined Fleet also hid outside the battlefield under the protection of light cruisers and destroyers.

In addition, the 30 torpedo boats (torpedo boats) that attacked the 1st Advance Squadron of the Allied Combined Fleet did not return home. Instead, they went to find a torpedo supply ship (actually a freighter with a crane) to install T-93 torpedoes. According to the plan, they were ready to look for an opportunity to launch another attack!

…

“Boom boom boom…”

At around 10:40 p.m., the battleship Massachusetts, at a distance of 35,000 yards (about 32,000 meters), relied on the command of the fire control radar to fire the first round of salvos at the heavy cruiser Lützow, which was mistaken for a Bismarck-class battleship!

"Marshal, the Lützow reports that the enemy ship's shells landed more than 80 meters away on the starboard side!"

The communications officer of the Hindenburg quickly told Admiral Lütjens the report of the heavy cruiser Lützow.

"Marshal, the one who fired should be the South Dakota class. It fired very accurately, which means its fire control radar is very good." Vice Admiral Messer frowned.

"Better than ours!" Admiral Lütjens shook his head slightly, then turned back to ask the radar officer and gunnery officer of the Hindenburg, "Has the distance been measured?"

"Marshal, the distance is too far, it should be possible to measure it within 30,000 meters..."

Although the fire control radar used by the German Navy is better than in history, it is still not as good as the equipment used by Britain and the United States. 32,000 meters is a bit far for the Germans.

"Where are the seaplanes?" asked Admiral Lütjens.

"There are 2 Bv-138Cs, 2 He-115s over the enemy formation and 4 Ar-196Ds." Vice Admiral Messer replied.

"Marshal, the enemy has launched a seaplane... Boom boom boom!"

As soon as the radar officer finished speaking, another round of cannon fire was heard. This time, the battleship Ludendorff was hit.

"12 muzzle flames! It's a King George V class!" Rear Admiral Brinkmann, the captain of the Hindenburg, shouted.

"It must have found the biggest target on the radar screen." Vice Admiral Messer said with a smile, "But it's going to be unlucky."

Because now the two large formations of the European Combined Fleet and the Allied Combined Fleet are moving forward in parallel. Since the European Combined Fleet has 28 ships, while the opponent Allied Combined Fleet only has 13 ships. So the formation of the European Combined Fleet is much longer than that of the opponent, and now the second squadron of the Allied Combined Fleet is parallel to the first squadron of the European Combined Fleet - that is, 3 King George V class ships and 2 Kronstadt class ships.

"Order the heavy cruiser squadron not to open fire and keep a distance of more than 30,000 meters from the enemy." Admiral Lütjens ordered, "The 1st and 3rd squadrons turn left 10 degrees and approach at full speed... Have the seaplanes drop flares in 10 minutes."

The heavy cruiser squadron was obviously mistaken for a battleship formation, so it was best to just take the hit and not fight back - otherwise it would be exposed once it opened fire!

As for the other three squadrons in Lütjens' hands, they rushed to the enemy's 2nd squadron at full speed.

"Open fire within 25,000 meters, and the 1st squadron will concentrate its fire on the King George V-class that just opened fire." Admiral Lütjens continued to give orders. "

The 2nd Squadron follows the Heavy Cruiser Squadron and is ready to cover the retreat of the Heavy Cruiser Squadron at any time.

The 3rd Squadron follows the 1st Squadron and is ready to launch missiles."

A few minutes after Admiral Lütjens gave the order, the large formation of the European fleet on the sea changed from one column to two columns, one of which continued to be parallel to the other, and the other was closing the distance with the opponent at full speed.

This change was quickly discovered by the radar on the Soviet.

"The enemy may be approaching us to launch remote-controlled missiles!" Admiral Ingersoll made a judgment, and then he said to Bulganin, "Let the 2nd Squadron turn left and see if we can lead them away. The 1st Squadron will turn right 10 degrees to close the distance with the enemy's 1st Squadron (actually the Heavy Cruiser Squadron and the 2nd Squadron)."

Bulganin looked at Kuznetsov, who looked very good, and saw that the other party did not express any objection, so he agreed to the American arrangement.

So the situation on the battlefield began to change again, and it became two battle groups fighting against each other.

At 10:48 p.m., three U.S. Kingfisher seaplanes flew over the heavy cruiser Lützow and began to drop flares in turn. With the help of the light of the flares, the optical fire control device on the battleship Massachusetts was finally able to perform ballistic correction.

But at the same time, an observer on a Kingfisher plane also discovered that the enemy ship being attacked on the water was not a battleship, but a heavy cruiser with a much smaller tonnage.

"What? It's an Admiral Hipper class?" Admiral Ingersoll found that he had made a mistake and frowned, "Then what are the ships following it?"

"I don't know yet." Vice Admiral Fraser shook his head.

"Go and find out!"

After Vice Admiral Fraser immediately assigned the task, he said to Ingersoll: "Admiral, do you want to continue attacking the heavy cruiser? We have locked it!"

"Continue..." Ingersoll hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, "Attack! Sink it first!"