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At six o¡¯clock in the morning on January 12, a hint of fish belly white appeared on the horizon, and it would be dawn soon. On the Bay of Astre, the huge Austro-Hungarian Imperial Navy fleet was still cruising on the sea. Last night, they had been providing fire support to the army in the direction of Astre, repelling many German attacks! If they hadn't bombarded the Germans with large-caliber naval guns, Ast might have been occupied by the Germans!
Although, judging from the casualties, the losses paid by the German army were not very large! In several attacks, the German army only lost more than 10,000 people. For the German army of more than 600,000 people, this was not a big deal. But the blow to morale was huge! The power of the navy's large-caliber naval guns is so terrifying that if you are within the killing radius of the shells, you will often die without a burial place. This made the heroic German army fearful, and naturally they would not work too hard when attacking! This greatly affected their attack power.
On the Austro-Hungarian Navy flagship ¡®Franz Joseph I¡¯, the Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Admiral Anton House, looked a little tired. After all, he was old, and after staying up all night, he looked very sleepy.
"Your Excellency, Commander, it will be daybreak soon! Astor Bay is no longer safe, we must retreat immediately! Once the German planes come, we will not be able to resist them!" Vice Admiral Lukart suggested!
Admiral Anton House hesitated. If the Austro-Hungarian navy retreats now, the German army will definitely take the opportunity to launch an attack. By then, the Austrian Army still could not withstand the German attack. And all their efforts last night were in vain!
"Hold on a little longer. We will retreat after the Chinese reinforcements arrive!" Admiral Anton House said. Although he knew that doing so would be dangerous and might even bring the Austro-Hungarian Navy into a very dangerous situation. However, he had no other choice. Before the arrival of Chinese reinforcements, the navy's help will become the main factor in whether Astre can be defended. If we retreat at this time, Astre will definitely be occupied by the German army. This was true for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is an unacceptable result!
"General, but if we don't leave, it will be too late!" Lieutenant General Lucart said anxiously. He had realized that a crisis seemed to be coming. The fierce bombardment by the Austro-Hungarian Navy made the German army's attempt to capture Astre in vain, and the Germans would definitely not give up. Admiral Lucart is almost certain that the German plane is already on its way, and maybe the bomb will be dropped on their heads in the next moment!
"Contact the Chinese. When can they arrive?" Admiral Anton House ordered!
A few minutes later, the communications officer reported to Admiral Anton House: "Your Excellency, Commander, the Chinese side responded that their fleet is expected to arrive in Astor around 11 a.m. In addition, the Chinese Air Force has dispatched a One hundred and twenty fighter planes of the wing rushed to Astor Bay to provide us with air cover. We expect to arrive in half an hour!"
The Chinese reinforcements are coming soon. And the Chinese Air Force also dispatched fighter planes to cover them. Admiral Anton House was visibly relieved after hearing the news.
"Lucart, we just need to hold on for a few more hours! Chinese Air Force fighter planes are also on their way. When they arrive, we will be safe!" General Anton House said.
Lieutenant General Lucart couldn't say anything more, but he still felt that their situation was very dangerous.
??????????????????? Five minutes later, a destroyer to the north of the fleet sounded an air defense alarm. A shrill siren sounded on the sea. When they heard the siren, a large number of soldiers ran out of the cabins of the warships and entered the anti-aircraft gun emplacements. However, these sailors seemed a little panicked.
"Your Excellency, Commander! A German fleet has been discovered in the north, at least 300 aircraft!" A junior officer reported to General Anton House!
"Damn it! Order the fleet to switch to air defense operations!" Admiral Anton House ordered with a pale face! The German plane arrived before the Chinese. This was undoubtedly a disaster for them!
"Your Excellency, Commander. Contact China. We were attacked by German planes and need support!" Lieutenant General Lucart said. Now, all they can count on is that the Chinese Air Force arrives in time.
Admiral Anton House nodded. Let people contact the Chinese side. However, this is already a matter of leaving everything to fate. Even if the Chinese Air Force planes speed up, it will still take a lot of time. During this period of time, it was enough for the German fleet to launch an attack. As for launching an attack on the German fleetIn the end, no one knows how many battleships the Austro-Hungarian Navy will have left! Some devout believers have already crossed themselves on their chests to pray for God's blessing.
At 6:13 in the morning, the German naval aviation launched an attack. Hundreds of German Navy Hurricane IV fighter jets launched an attack first, attacking the battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Seeing these German fighter planes approaching menacingly, the inexperienced sailors of the Austro-Hungarian Navy immediately controlled the anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns on the battleship to fire at the approaching German fighter planes! Dense bullets and shells shuttled through the air, but it was almost impossible to hit the target. Compared with bulky bombers, fighter jets are undoubtedly much lighter. In addition, the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy had not experienced similar battles, which made their attack completely ineffective. The fighter jets of the German Naval Aviation can easily avoid the anti-aircraft firepower on the battleships. After the anti-aircraft firepower on the battleship was attracted, dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft of the German Naval Aviation also participated in the attack. Those huge battleships have undoubtedly become the priority targets of the German naval aviation!
"Attention, squadrons, sink those big guys first!" Rear Admiral Lucas of the German Navy, who commanded this operation, ordered via radio to the troops participating in this operation!
The Austro-Hungarian Navy¡¯s flagship ¡®Franz Joseph I¡¯ and another ¡®Ferdinand I¡¯ equipped with a 381mm main gun are undoubtedly the main targets of German naval aviation attacks.
One squadron of dive bombers attacked the battleship Franz Joseph I from high altitude, while the torpedo attack aircraft of another squadron circled the flank of the battleship Franz Joseph I, preparing to launch an attack! Although this is the first time that the German naval aviation has launched an actual combat attack on a surface target, they have conducted many similar exercises before. Everyone has mastered the tactical essentials! The German naval aviation is well aware of the gap with the Chinese naval aviation, so they also work very hard in training, hoping to shorten the gap with the Chinese naval aviation as much as possible!
"Jie Jie!" When the German Navy's dive bombers dive, the sound generators on the wings will also emit a piercing scream. This is the result of Germany learning from China. This kind of shrill scream can make people fearful, especially those recruits who have never been on the battlefield, will be greatly affected, thus increasing the effect of the attack.
Four dive bombers swooped down from an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. The dive bombers equipped by the German Navy were developed on the H5C dive bombers that China originally sold to the German Navy. They can dive at an angle of almost 70 degrees. , the hit rate is very high, and it can carry a 600 kilogram aviation armor-piercing bomb, which is very powerful!
"Evade!" The captain of the battleship Franz Joseph changed his expression. He personally controlled the battleship and turned the rudder to avoid it.
4 aviation armor-piercing bombs were dropped from the sky, but they all fell into the sea. They failed to hit the warship and splashed water columns into the sky.
However, four other dive bombers also began to attack. These four dive bombers dropped bombs in the air only 600 meters away from the battleship, and four aviation armor-piercing bombs quickly hit the battleship.
At this time, the battleship "Franz Joseph I" was like a frightened whale, running rampant on the sea, trying to avoid the attack of the German naval aviation!
This time, three of the four aviation armor-piercing bombs fell into the sea, but one hit the rear deck of the battleship Franz Joseph I. The armor-piercing projectile weighing 600 kilograms fell from a high altitude, easily tore through the rear deck armor of the 'Franz Joseph I', and exploded inside the battleship.
This bomb destroyed a drive shaft and reduced the speed of the battleship Franz Joseph I by a quarter!
For the battleship Franz Joseph I, the biggest crisis did not come from the dive bombers in the sky, but from the torpedo attack aircraft that hit almost close to the sea surface.
At this time, the officers and soldiers on the battleship Franz Joseph I were all attracted by the dive bombers in the sky, and did not notice the torpedo attack aircraft on the sea at all.
These 12 torpedo attack aircraft dropped torpedoes less than 600 meters away from the battleship Franz Joseph I! 12 heavy torpedoes rushed towards the battleship Franz Joseph I at high speed. At this distance, it was impossible for the battleship Franz Joseph I to avoid the torpedoes launched in a fan shape.
"Torpedoes found on the port side!" The warning sounded, and the sailors on the port side of the battleship Franz Joseph I controlled the rapid-fire guns to fire at the sea surface, hoping to sink these incoming torpedoes! However, their efforts are destined to be in vain!