The four hundred and fortieth chapter do not want to admit
Can't wait any longer!
At 12:40, Sir Forbes sent a final warning to Darlan: If you still do not accept any of our suggestions before 1 o'clock, we can only sink your warship!
At the same time, Darlan, who received the warning, just smiled faintly, crumpled up the telegram sent by the British, and threw it into the wastepaper hole next to him.
This time, he did not continue to reply to the British because there was no need for that!
Outside the port of Oran, British sailors were in preparation for war, loading ammunition, while officers stood on the command platform gesticulating and getting ready to go.
On the British flagship "Ark Royal" aircraft carrier, torpedo attack aircraft have begun to activate pistons, and the battle is about to break out.
Of course, Darlan's beloved French warships are not vegetarians. They are the fifth strongest navy in the world. When faced with the attack of the British fleet, they responded immediately.
The French battleship Provence faced the powerful firepower of the British warships. With its strong defense and indomitable fighting spirit, it fought on a par with the British warships. The French ship Dunkirk, which suffered heavy damage, had to withdraw from the battle, but it failed midway.
It was hit by the British fleet's HMS Brave, caught fire and lost its combat effectiveness.
The Valiant showed no mercy to its opponent, and the fierce gunfire rocked the Dunkirk.
At the same time, the Resolute also turned its bow and opened fire on the Dunkirk, using its four 305 main guns with shooting angles to attack fiercely.
The Dunkirk is suddenly in emergency!
The poor Dunkirk was hit by two armor-piercing shells in a very short period of time.
Among them, an armor-piercing bomb penetrated deep into the hull from its No. 1 chimney.
The engine room and steam water pipes under the No. 1 chimney were completely destroyed. Thick smoke, fire and white water vapor generated by the explosion rose into the sky. Several French crew members who put out the fire all died in the fire, high pressure and hypoxic environment.
Before the French sailors could react, another armor-piercing projectile fired from the British full-turret and half-cannon roared in. The heavy metal warhead easily penetrated the Dunkirk's waterline main armor and coal bunker, which had defensive functions.
The coal bunker was ignited, producing huge smoke and heat, which also spread to the ammunition depot. The ammunition depot was ignited, causing a huge explosion that almost split the Dunkirk in half.
As a result, the French soldiers on the Dunkirk abandoned the ship one after another and escaped. However, due to the leakage of fuel and the spread of sparks, the fuel at sea was ignited. Even if they jumped into the sea, many French soldiers were in agony in the sea of fire.
The French should probably be lucky, because their Provence suffered almost no damage. On the contrary, while the British attacked the Dunkirk, the Provence also attacked some British ships, with fruitful results.
However, the deck of the Provence was also penetrated, and seawater surged in through the hole dug by the armor-piercing bomb. The crew on the Provence immediately turned on the water pump to drain the seawater that entered the hull. The French Navy damage control team used their hand tools to plug the leak.
The leaking tank was plugged, the sea water was quickly drained, and the Provence continued to fight.
At this time, a cloud of smoke suddenly burst into the sky on the Brave ship, and flames were looming in the smoke.
Immediately afterwards, the cheers of the French sailors rose into the sky like a dream.
It turned out that the heavy artillery on the French HMS Provence penetrated the deck of the British HMS Brave, and the ammunition directly ignited its ammunition room. The ammunition room ignited a raging fire, and soon triggered a big explosion. The officers and soldiers on the Brave almost died this time
Everyone was killed in the explosion. The Brave itself also lost almost all of its combat effectiveness.
"Is this God's gift to the French?" The British did not understand the sudden attack, poor preparations, and unclear combat strategies. Ever since the fleet was attacked by the Royal Navy in Oran Port, they have been at a disadvantage.
Who would have thought that under such circumstances, the French army could fight back desperately?
There was a sudden violent explosion in the direction of the Brave, which involuntarily caused the Ark Royal where Sir Forbes was to be affected by the concussion.
"What happened on the Brave?" Sir Forbes asked several staff officers in horror.
"Sir, the Brave seems to have been sunk."
"What?!" Sir Forbes was extremely shocked. He really didn't expect that the French navy in such a situation could have such strength.
In fact, this is indeed the hard power of the French Navy.
Historically, if the French navy in Oran Port had not been able to contact General Darlan and was wavering between war and war, it would not have been successfully attacked by the British fleet.
But this time, the British Home Fleet was severely weakened by the German battle in the North Sea. Even the battleships needed for the sneak attack were only 2, resulting in its firepower not having an absolute advantage from the beginning.
However, after all, the British fleet still has a certain advantage, and Sir Forbes can't stand that his own fleet, and the majestic Royal Navy of the British Empire, can't destroy the opponent even though it has the upper hand.
In extreme excitement, Sir Forbes loudly ordered the officers: "Cheer up, fire at all French targets, and destroy these damn French fleets! Let them see the Royal Navy of our British Empire.
, there is an insurmountable gap between you and him!"
Encouraged by Sir Forbes, the cannons on the remaining British warships sprayed flames into the sky and fired at the French warship Provence.
After a while, more than half of the flying bridge connecting the No. 1 chimney to the No. 2 chimney on the Provence collapsed, and the remaining small part was twisted into a spiral at a strange angle.
On the battleship Provence, the crane and the lifeboat had been thrown out of the sea, leaving only a small and crooked crane arm.
The French captain's favorite chart room disappeared directly, and tons of data either turned into ashes in the sea of fire, or turned into confetti flying in the sky.
In addition, a corner of the telegraph room was cut off, and a piece of shrapnel tore off the wireless antenna above the command tower, causing the Provence to temporarily lose contact with the main force of the French fleet. The damage control crew and communications crew had to brave British artillery shells.
Threats, urgent repair of wireless antennas.
That's not all. On the Provence, the armored wall of the turret bomb loader was fired wildly by the British naval guns. The armor-piercing shells were bounced off, and the heavy armor-piercing part caused secondary damage to the Provence.
The shell destroyed the communication door of this watertight compartment, which was less than 40 mm, penetrated the thin communication channel floor, and exploded in the dry compartment, which was only separated from the turret propellant storage room by a watertight compartment partition.
Even though the rescuers on the ship put out the fire urgently and densely covered the fire scene with gaseous water mist, it was still to no avail. The fire and light yellow poisonous gas caused by picric acid still spread, and soon broke through the dug hole, and in the two upper and lower watertight cabins and
Looting in the communication channel.
"The strength of the British Royal Navy is indeed well-deserved!" Darlan, holding a telescope, couldn't help but sigh as he saw that he had twice as many battleships as the British army, but was overwhelmed by the British fleet.
At the same distance, the British fleet had relied on their precise gunnery skills maintained by their good training to defeat the French fleet.
The distance between both sides was the same, but the officers and soldiers under Darlan's command were unable to achieve the superb hit rate of the British Navy due to the gap in gunnery skills.
"Commander!" Darlan's adjutant couldn't stand it anymore. He took two steps forward emotionally and shouted: "Please order the entire fleet to press forward and fight the British!"
At this time, the French fleet's only chance may be to rush forward, shorten the distance between the two sides to increase the hit rate, weaken the training gap with the British army, and give it a try.
However, Darlan shook his head calmly and stopped the adjutant's suggestion: "You forgot one thing. The British had already deployed a large number of mines before negotiating with us."
This is why the British Navy took the lead in laying mines. Sir Forbes, from the beginning, he even thought that the French Navy might give it a go and rush up.
Therefore, he ordered the mines to be mined, blocking the French warships' departure route early.
This is the true power of the British Navy.
When it comes to naval artillery battles, they are invincible!
If it weren't for Reinhardt's use of naval aviation to change the combat model when he was planning to build the German Navy.
Even if the German High Seas Fleet builds 10 more battleships, it may not be able to defeat the British Royal Navy in the North Sea.
Unfortunately, today's French navy has no chance to learn from Germany.
With a wry smile, Darlan said a little lonely: "Although I don't want to admit it, the British are indeed much better than us in frontal naval battles..."
