Chapter 840 The Gradually Tilting Balance 2
"The warship has taken in about 2,500 tons of water, most of which is concentrated at the bow. The warship has tilted to a certain extent. Our speed has inevitably dropped. It is now 22 knots, and it is expected that it may eventually drop below 20 knots."
"Our No. 2 turret was destroyed, and there seemed to be something wrong with the No. 3 turret. A shell hit the front of the turret. Although it was bounced off by the armor, the violent impact seemed to damage the servo equipment of the artillery. The artillery could not reach a fixed position. elevation, so it appears we have lost half our firepower now," an officer reported to Thomas.
"It's hard for me to understand why the British Empire's most elite warships couldn't suppress the Germans' super fearlessness in a fair battle? Has the Imperial Navy fallen? Or are our warships simply incompetent?" Thomas asked with some pain. Hair.
The current situation is somewhat beyond his expectation. The Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, which is considered the most outstanding presence in the British Royal Navy with its 330MM main armor belt, 24-knot high speed, and 15-inch heavy gun, is actually fighting against the German's first-generation Super Dreadnought. At the bottom! This was somewhat unacceptable to Thomas. He has always wanted to figure this out, but unfortunately, there is no time for him to think about these things now.
In the distance, two huge fireballs rose up from the bows of the Gneisenau and the Balem at almost the same time. The two warships hit the opponent's No. 2 turret at the same position at almost the same time! Barem's shell hit the gun mount of Gneisenau's No. 2 turret. Although it failed to penetrate the 14-inch-thick gun mount armor, the violent impact and explosion caused the deck to deform and jam instantly. The turret was so damaged that it could not rotate. The Gneisenau's shells once again penetrated the turret armor of Bariem, this time actually penetrating the 13-inch-thick turret front. An opening of several square meters was made next to the left artillery piece.
The shells and the artillery collided, not only breaking the hundreds of tons of 15-inch artillery into two pieces. At the same time, the entire rear half of the gun body was pushed away from the gun frame. Dozens of tons of steel gun body rolled in the turret, crashing the artillery servo on the right side, and at the same time crushed a dozen Royal Navy officers and soldiers who could not escape into a pile of meat. Although it did not cause the ammunition to explode, the entire turret was obviously unusable.
"We finally won this battle! But unfortunately we couldn't sink them." Su Xiong was very sorry. Now, the Balem has almost lost its combat effectiveness. The Queen Elizabeth still has five main guns that can be used, but it is seriously flooded and it is impossible to escape. After the Gneisenau destroyed the No. 2 turret of Bariem, the German fleet had an overwhelming advantage. Su Xiong really wanted to take advantage of the victory, but a telegram he received a few minutes ago forced him to change his plan.
A long-wave telegram sent using the Enig cipher machine was sent to Su Xiong. Judging from the communication method, this should be a submarine, because submarines generally use long-wave radio stations to ensure long-distance communications. The content of this telegram was very simple. The British fleet was discovered 50 kilometers away from the battlefield! There are at least 2 battleships among them!
The only one who can use the Enig cipher machine is the German Navy, and there are indeed several German submarines operating in the Indian Ocean. These submarines are not under Su Xiong's control, and Su Xiong did not expect to get help from submarines at this time. It was still several hours before dark. The British fleet has already begun to release smoke and turn. If the two British fleets are facing each other, then the encounter will only last an hour?
"How is our power recovering?" Su Xiong asked.
“The ventilation equipment was barely repaired;
It's not a big problem when the speed reaches 23.5 knots. The Gneisenau has no problem running a speed of more than 24 knots. " said an officer.
"Let's go, the British are lucky this time!" Su Xiong curled his lips and said once again looking at the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship that was gradually hiding its figure in the thick smoke. Subsequently, the slender fast battleship Scharnhorst readjusted its course and sailed towards the depths of the Indian Ocean, followed closely by the Gneisenau. This battleship was almost in the best condition among the four battleships participating in the war. Okay, except for the temporarily disabled No. 2 turret and the fire in the superstructure of the hull, the core compartment and combat effectiveness of this battleship have been maintained very well. There isn't even much water coming in. You know, Scharnhorst now carries more than 800 tons of sea water!
"The Germans are gone." When the Queen Elizabeth emerged from the smoke again, all he saw was the German fleet disappearing in the distance.
"Okay, everyone, get ready. Let's prepare to return. I will take the command team to the Malaya to continue our mission. I will bear the responsibility for the failure of this battle." Looking at his colleagues with low morale, Thomas said. The battle ended like this, and he believed that the officers and soldiers of the two warships were not responsible. They performed their duties conscientiously and performed at their highest level. So this responsibility should not be taken.
During the period of separation, Thomas kept thinking about where he made a mistake, which led to the naval battle ending like this. He recalled his entire command process. The only problem was to start focusing all the firepower of the two battleships on the Scharnhorst. After the opponent completed the tactical turn under the cover of smoke, he still did not redistribute firepower, causing the Gneisenau to injure Balem without interference. Since then, the British fleet has gone downhill, and the efforts of the light cruisers only delayed the process.
But are you wrong to say that it is concentrated firepower? This is actually a false proposition. It mainly depends on the battlefield situation. If it can achieve the goal, it is right. If it cannot achieve the goal, it is wrong. This is just like the historical battle of Dogger Sandbank, when Hipper's fleet concentrated its firepower to attack Betty. flagship, so that the Lion was forced to withdraw from the battle, which led to a series of subsequent situations. Hipper's goal was achieved, so his strategy was correct.
Thomas also felt a little unlucky. When they started to focus their fire, the two Queen-class battleships barely weakened Scharnhorst's firepower. If multiple shells hit the turret, even if they could not penetrate, the artillery would malfunction. , but after fighting for a long time, there were not many hits, but the turret, which is called a shell magnet, didn't hit a few bullets! This is surprising. If the two Scharnhorst turrets could be temporarily disabled, the battle would not be so painful.
"This time luck is on the side of the Germans." Thomas said helplessly.
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