"("King of the North Atlantic" Section 8, American Tragedy [End])
At 16:41, the panicked American battleship squadron hit the main force of the Ocean Fleet head-on.
The current situation of Americans can no longer be described as difficult, cruel, and desolate. The Americans only have three battleships. The commander is a short major general. The officers and soldiers only have some fixed ship target gunnery training and little ocean navigation experience. Their opponent is the ocean fleet at its peak.
A few hours ago, the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy gathered all their respective capital ships and fought in the sea of ??stars below them, and then defeated their opponents for the second time. After the one-sided Harvest Campaign, the Germans were drawn into three parts by the fleeing British in the vast northern Forth Firth that could not support each other in time. The weakest part happened to encounter the American battleship squadron heading south.
The maritime situation in the Gulf of Forth may not necessarily be beneficial to the Americans, but at least it has given birth to many opportunities. Just when the Americans thought they could use some means of taking advantage of others, the Germans, who were highly skilled in combining large fleets and fighting in small formations, showed the rookies who had just set foot on the fearless and angry sea what is called Sillem-style battlefield insight and The Ocean Fleet-style tactical execution shows how 'Great White' the Great White Fleet, which falsely claims to be the third largest in the world, is in front of the new King of the North Atlantic!
In the 21st minute of the German-American naval battle, the eight German battlecruisers of the First Reconnaissance Group entered the battlefield from the northeast at high speed, "beating the drums". Both the timing and angle of entering the battlefield were just right, forcing the Americans to give up. The prey that was obtained ran towards the direction preset by the Germans with its tail between its legs and at the preset speed.
Fifty minutes into the German-American naval battle, the German main fleet appeared in front of the American battleship squadron. The main front fleet of the Ocean Fleet, which had thirteen battleships, had completed the T-shaped cross-head position under the guidance of the Purple Baron. snatch. The rear team was also turning, forming a spectacular steel Great Wall against the Americans.
The Germans formed a two-sided attack on the three cutting-edge battleships of the American battleship squadron. It only took fifty minutes from harvesting the wanton waves of the German disabled squadron to turning into a lost dog that everyone wanted to beat. The situation changed so quickly that the American commander was shocked. Rear Admiral Rodman was dazzled and caught off guard. Moments before encountering the German main fleet, this commander who lacked naval combat experience, strategic vision and charisma was still hoping that the German main force located on the west side of the battlefield would not be discovered in time on the vast sea. I didn't expect that the Germans would bring their meticulous attitude and rigid character to the naval battle, and just use their peak tactical execution to tear the last hope of the Americans into pieces!
Major General Rodman was stunned. He was breathing heavily, his eyes were bloodshot, and his heartbeat was erratic. It was as if angels and devils were fighting in his mind, forcing the major general to face an illusory multiple-choice question.
¡®Die in battle or surrender? ¡¯
Major General Rodman repeatedly chanted Hamlet-style torture. Perhaps he had made a decision, but the bright general star on the left shoulder patch of his gorgeous and neat uniform was too dazzling, forcing Major General Rodman to temporarily lose his voice.
At 16:44, the sun in the North Sea was already tilting downwards. At this moment. The German front line opened fire.
The capped armor-piercing shells fired by the thirty-two 350mm main guns of the four K?nigs-class battleships and the thirty 305mm main guns of the three Kaiser-class battleships splashed down on the American battleship squadron like rain pillars. Although the Americans maintained a high speed It made it difficult for the German observation sergeant to observe the opponent. The accuracy of the artillery fire was appallingly low. But it's not without surprises.
Three minutes later, the battleship Oklahoma was hit. A 350mm armor-piercing projectile hit the front armor of the American's main turret with a straight trajectory.
If the Americans' main guns did not adopt the cheating shared-saddle gun mount design, a mere 350mm capped armor-piercing projectile would definitely not be able to shake the Nevada-class battleships that take the most important protection to the extreme. How could they go to such extravagance to lay a layer of 1618 on the Nevada-class battleships? The Americans, who had frontal armor of 1.5 inches of main gun, suddenly took pity on the armor weight of the main turret. In the name of saving the tonnage of the warship, they put the cart before the horse and arranged the main guns in double or triple configurations, juxtaposing them in a relatively compact manner. Put it on the same gun mount. Thus forming a common saddle for the main guns.
"Idiot" is a perfect way to describe the Americans' shared-saddle mount design for the main gun. Even the British don't lack that bit of tonnage. The consequence of worrying about the weight of the main guns is that although the frontal defense armor of the main guns of the American battleships is strong enough, the common saddle of the main guns makes the American double-mounted and triple-mounted main guns lack armor protection. gap, even if the Americans tinkered with this, allowing every American main gun to fire. Two adjacent main guns will affect each other's ballistics and shooting accuracy due to the "ultra-small distance between main guns", but sharing saddles means sharing saddles. After all, it cannot be compared with the fully enclosed main guns of mainstream countries.Turrets are comparable.
The 350 mm armor-piercing projectile hit the gap between the common-saddle gun mounts. After a violent explosion, the captain of the USS Oklahoma could only watch helplessly in the command tower, which weighed more than sixty people. The ton of twin main guns were lifted up, rolled over on the deck at an incredible angle, and then engulfed in flames and large clouds of poisonous gas.
From time to time, firemen emerged from the thick smoke near the Oklahoma's No. 2 main gun, and then turned into coke in the breeze. Through the narrow observation hole of the command tower, the captain found that the horizontal deck in front of the cockpit was like soft plasticine, twisted into a ball by external forces, and pieces of iron were flying around to harvest lives. The damage control team and medical soldiers were working in vain. To save the situation, the fire and smoke continued to penetrate along the breaches in the gun wells and horizontal decks, and eventually spread to the depths of the ship's hull.
The smoke billowing from the battleship Oklahoma frightened the American battleship squadron that continued to advance westward. At the command tower of the flagship USS Nevada, officers who were unwilling to fight focused their eyes on the face of Major General Rodman, full of expectations for Major General Rodman. Do 'what a professional American military officer should do at this time'.
¡®Order, the fleet is heading south, and all ships are free to move¡¯
Faced with his men who were just about to step forward and force him into the palace, what else could Major General Rodman say. As long as they are not crazy, no one will think that just three US battleships can challenge the Ocean Fleet, not to mention that Rodman's previous hesitation has completely ruined the retreat of the US battleship squadron.
After discovering the main force of the Ocean Fleet, Rear Admiral Rodman fell into despair for a long time. The First Reconnaissance Group commanded by Vice Admiral Bihanik took advantage of this time to gradually catch up with the American battleship squadron by virtue of the high speed of the battle cruiser. , they are located on the north side of the Americans, maintaining a distance of about 17,000 meters from the Americans. Although the speed of about 25 knots does not allow the First Reconnaissance Group to make any bombardment actions, the First Reconnaissance Group does not hesitate to lose battleships. The pursuit of the host life is worth it, as if they are blocking the way for the Americans to follow the example of the British battle cruiser HMS Indomitable and run aground northward, using a potential T-shaped head to force the Americans to do nothing but Turn around and head south.
Rear Admiral Rodman finally stepped forward to take responsibility for the defeat of the naval battle. The officers and soldiers of the U.S. battleship squadron finally got the order they wanted. The Americans, who were demoralized, were relieved and began to think about how to end this battle "honorably" that should not have happened.
As a result, the seriously injured battleship Oklahoma immediately raised the white flag. Under the threat of eight German destroyers' rapid-fire cannons and torpedoes, the Americans did not even have the courage or self-esteem to secretly open the sea valve on the bottom of the ship and scuttle themselves. , fearing that the Germans would become angry and retaliate, the officers and soldiers of the Oklahoma battleship completely handed over this powerful battleship to the German sailors who came to take over the battleship, and then walked into the prisoner of war camp with smiles on their faces.
The Oklahoma battleship became the best research specimen of the German Navy. It was this completely captured American battleship that helped the Germans improve their understanding of battleship protection and made the German Navy completely abandon the concept of high-speed flicks. The twenty-year interwar period gradually transitioned into the era of heavy bombardment.
Unlike the USS Oklahoma¡¯s direct surrender, although they reached the same destination by different routes, the captains of the USS Nevada and USS Texas decided to surrender after firing all their main guns.
The Europeans did not refuse the surrender of an organized organization when they were isolated and without support, and they ran out of ammunition and food. For the Americans who cherished their lives, it was rare for the USS Nevada and the USS Texas to have the determination to end the battle in a dignified way. It was a pity. They miscalculated their opponents and overestimated the survivability of their own warships.
Under the concentrated fire of the German Ocean Fleet, the battleship Texas was hit by more than eleven rounds, and was eventually killed by a 380 mm armor-piercing projectile that hit the horizontal deck.
On the other side, although the thick-skinned USS Nevada has repeatedly staged classic cases of the side main armor belt spreading out German large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles, since it is a battleship with key protection, the USS Nevada must have weak points in non-key protection As a result, the USS Nevada, which was riddled with holes, tilted due to excessive water in non-key parts of the hull.
At 17:18, three consecutive armor-piercing bombs hit the USS Nevada, causing the hull of the USS Nevada to tilt suddenly. Before the captain ordered water to be injected to level it, a shell located in the underwater ammunition depot of the No. 1 turret fell from the gun carriage, eventually causing The ammunition depot exploded.
After the USS Nevada exploded and sank, the North Sea finally calmed down, and the German-American naval battle ended with the destruction of the entire U.S. battleship fleet.
On the evening of the 21st, the sun set over the North Sea and the large warship flying the German naval flag cut through the waves. The German sailors stood hesitantly near the bridge of the new flagship, looking at Heidi Sealem, who had a drunken blush on her face. He hesitated to speak.
¡®Okay, we really won this time, the North Atlantic is ours! 'WesternMu smiled jokingly and said to the German boys. "(To be continued.)