The battleship "France" with a full load displacement of 25,000 tons is 168 meters long, 28 meters wide, and has a standard crew of 1,108 people.
It is impossible to give up such a large battleship. France now has only 10 battleships left. In addition to the three 18,890-ton "Voltaire" class battleships, there are only seven "Guba" class and "Breeze" class battleships left.
"Tani" class, every ship cannot be given up easily.
After the accident occurred on the "France", the two destroyers next to it immediately came over, covering while trying to provide help to the "France".
The destroyer chasing the offshore patrol boat also immediately turned around, and the "Vicious" that was quarreling with the "Excellence" also immediately broke away. Even the "Excellence" repeatedly sent out flags to ask the "France" if it needed help.
It's a pity that at this time, the "France" has too much time to take care of itself.
Compared with other countries, French warships pay more attention to the underwater protection of ships, so French warships extend the armor below the waterline when designing them.
The main armor of the Guba-class battleship is thinner than that of British and German battleships of the same period, but it covers a wider area. The battleship's secondary equipment is also smaller in caliber than other battleships of the same period.
In addition, because the turrets are stacked forward, the bow of the Guba-class battleship is relatively heavy.
The damaged part of the "France" was exactly the bow of the ship.
Although the damage was not visible on the surface, due to the rapid intrusion of water, a vortex even appeared on the side of the "France" due to the influx of water into the hull.
When this situation was discovered, the destroyer "Courage" that was next to the "France" immediately sent a signal to the "France" to remind the officers and soldiers on the ship to abandon the ship immediately.
At this time, the bow of the France had sunk severely, and the propellers at the tail were almost out of the water. The sailors on the France were also aware of the danger, and regardless of the officer's orders, they jumped into the sea to escape.
Fortunately, the sea water is not too cold in Madagascar in January.
"General, let's go quickly, the 'France' is irreversible-" Richie Efe urged Grote to abandon the ship.
Grote's eyes were dull and his expression was numb. He stared blankly at the twin main guns directly under the bridge without saying a word.
Rich Effie knew that the situation was critical, and he and several officers swarmed forward and tried to take Grote away from the "France".
"Let me go - let go -" Grote lost his mind and muttered a few words and suddenly became angry: "I mean let go, I am the captain of the 'France', even if the 'France' sleeps at the bottom of the sea, I
I want to be with the 'France' forever!"
Grote struggled desperately, pushed Richie Efe away, and then kicked away the bosun behind him. He silently bent down to pick up his hat and put it on, then returned to his seat while holding the command podium.
"Let's go, you can go, don't worry about me, I will be with my battleship -" Grote paused, turned back and smiled hard at Richie Effie: "Tell Mary and the children that I love them
——”
Damn French romance——
"Yes, General, I will definitely tell Madam." Richie Effie's eyes were red, he stood at attention and saluted Grote, and did not forget to close the door when he left the bridge.
At the same time, in the bridge of the "Excellence", Thomas was ordering the sailors to lower the lifeboats and participate in the rescue of the fallen sailors as much as possible.
"If we join rashly at this time, will it be considered a hostile act?" First Mate Lance still resented the "Vicious"'s shouting just now.
"Who knows? Who knows what just happened?" Second Officer Trollope watched the excitement with a telescope. The sailors on the "France" were jumping into the sea like spreading beans. Such a scene was rare.
"To sink a 25,000-ton battleship, even one torpedo is not enough -" Lance also suspected that it was not the "Excellence" that fired a torpedo at the "France".
The torpedoes at this time were all steam gas torpedoes, which were noisy, had obvious tracks, had poor concealment, and were not powerful enough. After all countries strengthened their armor for underwater attacks, during the World War, German U-boats sank within an hour.
The achievements of three 12,000-ton warships can no longer be replicated.
"That's not necessarily true. What if it happened to hit the ammunition depot -" Trollope was arguing.
"That's not a suicide." Lance still thought it was unlikely.
"Okay gentlemen, even if you don't want to help, don't make sarcastic remarks." Thomas was helpless, and he was also curious about what happened to the "France".
At this time, two Indian Ocean Fleet destroyers in the distance also came to the rescue. To the shame of the officers and soldiers of the "Vicious", even the "Harvest" came over and threw several lifebuoys to the drowned sailors.
At 11:25 a.m., in just half an hour, the "France" slowly sank and completely disappeared from people's sight.
After the news came out, the whole world was shocked.
A powerful battleship with a displacement of 25,000 tons actually sank due to unknown reasons. The rescued officers and soldiers were not even sure whether the "France" was attacked. This result is really unacceptable.
Although the French Navy immediately dispatched an investigation team to investigate the cause of the sinking of the "France", the attack on Madagascar was also forced to stop.
Up to now, the French government still does not know the real reason why the "France" sank, but if it was because Madagascar used some mysterious weapon to cause fatal damage to the "France", that would be terrible.
This also means that if the battleship "Colbe" comes to the vicinity of Madagascar, it may be sunk by Madagascar at any time.
Such a result is unacceptable to the French government in any case.
When the French government began to investigate the cause of the accident, Roque was also curious about the real cause of the sinking of the "France".
"Unclear -" Martin was also confused. There were three warships of the Indian Ocean Fleet at the scene at that time, among which the "Excellence" was less than two nautical miles away from the "France". Thomas didn't know what happened to the "France".
Two nautical miles sounds quite close, but in fact it is almost 3.7 kilometers when converted. At this distance, even if the "France" explodes, it will take more than ten seconds to reach the "Excellence".
"There were three ghost submarines around the 'France' at that time, but none of these three submarines launched an attack on the 'France'." Anton's current position is the Minister of the Navy. The Navy Department is under the leadership of the Ministry of National Defense and subordinates the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Ocean Fleet.
Fleet, as well as the War Department and Marine Corps.
What Anton did not say was that when the "France" had an accident, the three surrounding ghost submarines, although nominally owned by Madagascar, were actually operated by officers and soldiers from southern Africa.
To put it bluntly, it is selling dog meat at the expense of others. If it really launches an attack on the "France", then the attack will be carried out by Malagasy people and has nothing to do with southern Africa.
"Then what happened? Is it really an accident?" Roque looked amazed. This is indeed very French.
Before the World War, the French Navy had determined its green water naval strategy.
Since it is a green water navy, it should not perform missions in waters more than 200 nautical miles away from its home port.
The French government probably thought that Madagascar was easy to bully, so it decided to return to Madagascar.
It's a pity that the three-day separation was very different. Madagascar with the support of Southern Africa and Madagascar without the support of Southern Africa are completely different countries.
"Even if it's not, it has to be, just wait and see, the French will definitely find a magical reason. The great 'France' can be destroyed by ammunition explosion, operational errors, or even run aground, but it can't be hit.
"Shen." Deputy Minister Richard Brown sneered. He was originally French and knew the French very well.
"Why?" Martin and Barton were both curious.
"Because of France's proud self-esteem, how could the powerful French battleships be sunk by the enemy." Richard Brown dismissed it. Military prestige is achieved by fighting. If the Southern African Expeditionary Force had not performed outstandingly during the World War,
Southern Africa will not win the respect of Europeans either.
Rock nodded in understanding.
It’s not that I understand the so-called “pride” of France, but France’s current situation determines that the battleship “France” cannot be sunk by the enemy.
Considering that the French navy, which was once the second largest navy in the world, has now been far surpassed by the United States and Japan, and has been reduced to competing with Italy in the Mediterranean, you will know how anxious the French are.
Don’t forget that the current international colonial system was jointly determined by Britain and France. Like Britain, France also has huge overseas interests to safeguard. In Asia, North Africa, and even in the Pacific, France also has huge colonies, which it relies on.
Only through the blood transfusion of the colonies can France struggle to move forward from the ruins after the World War. The current situation in France has made many French people extremely dissatisfied. If the "France" is sunk by the enemy, then the current French government will probably be angry.
The French people overthrew again.
"France has stopped sending soldiers to Reunion and has actually stopped its conquest of Madagascar. So do we still need to help Madagascar train troops?" Ford Lu, another deputy minister, is responsible for assistance to Madagascar.
Southern Africa's aid to Madagascar is not just talk. The navy is too expensive to talk about. Even if it sells two aircraft carriers to Madagascar, Madagascar cannot afford them. In order to give Madagascar the power to fight against the French expeditionary force, Roque and
The result of Robert's agreement is that the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa will send instructors to train the Madagascar troops and strengthen the mountain combat and jungle combat capabilities of the Madagascar troops.
To put it bluntly, it's guerrilla warfare. Since we can't fight in a frontal battle, and sea traffic will be completely cut off once a war breaks out, let the French go ashore and fight guerrillas with the French.
