However, just when the battle fleet led by Admiral May began to accelerate towards the starboard side of the battle patrol formation, the British suffered a heavy blow. A 280-penetrating explosive bomb penetrated the waterline armor and exploded internally, detonating
The ammunition depot under the main turret on the bow of the Defiance was destroyed. The huge explosion directly blew the giant ship with a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons into two halves, and then quickly sank to the bottom of the sea with more than a thousand officers and soldiers.<
Admiral May watched this scene painfully. It was obvious that today was an extremely dark day for the Royal Navy. This was already the third battleship to sink. But fortunately, the Germans did not attack his new attack at this time.
The adjustment responded. As the British battle cruiser formation slowed down, the battle fleet, which accelerated to 27 knots, began to insert itself between them and the German fast battleships. Then the Edward VII opened fire on the Lorraine first.
The British sailors, stimulated by the sinking of the Defiance, performed at a high level. In the first salvo, a 356mm piercing bomb hit the Lorraine. Such a caliber of direct fire at close range, even though the Lorraine was 250
The millimeter-thick Bofors alloy armor could not stop it. The shells that sank the armored belt opened a huge hole in the bow of the ship, and then the flames of the explosion spurted out from inside. However, thanks to the complete internal compartments
Design, the damage caused by this shell to the Lorraine was nothing more than that.
As the British battleships took over the tasks of battle cruisers one by one, the focus of this naval battle became five Edward VII-class ships and one London-class ship versus six Brunswick-class ships. The weakly armored British
The battle cruiser cut between the London-class and Duncan-class battleships behind from the outside and joined in the attack on the remaining German battleships and battle cruisers.
But at this time, Admiral May discovered that his troubles were not limited to fast battleships. According to the current battle situation, his battleships and battle cruisers using 305mm main guns needed to face the four Germans.
Deutschland class ships, and these four ships use the same 356 main guns as the Edward VII class. They are large in tonnage, thick in armor, and have fierce firepower. Obviously, they cannot compete with those British battleships.
Fortunately, the British still have an absolute advantage in numbers. Even if one is sunk and one is seriously damaged, they still have six more battleships than the Germans.
The battle between the two sides has now entered a fever pitch. In the turbulent waves of the North Sea, more than forty steel giants still lined up in two battle lines kept pouring artillery fire on their opponents. One after another, large-caliber naval guns fired.
Amid the roar, accompanied by muzzle flames tens of meters long, countless artillery shells with speeds several times faster than the speed of sound roared out, intertwining into a network of fire on the boiling sea, and the smoke of the explosion amidst the scattering of steel.
Shooting into the sky,.
The Edward VII class and Braunschweig class at the front, which can almost be said to be in a one-on-one duel, are matched up against each other. The armor protection levels of the two sides are almost the same. The British armor is of poor quality but thicker, and the Germans have good armor quality but thicker armor.
Thin, it is almost impossible to block the opponent's artillery shells at such a distance. Almost every hit can penetrate the opponent's armor. The British artillery is powerful, but the German 280 guns have a faster rate of fire and a higher number.
The number of artillery shells projected was nearly twice that of the British. The crazy bombardment almost turned the British battleships into a sea of flames. The British artillery shells also left horrific wounds on the Germans like giant axes.
The two sides are now like a team of ancient heavy-armored knights, fiercely killing each other with cannonballs, competing to see who can bleed faster, and the fierce soldiers are beaten. Each one roars amidst the explosion of the cannonballs,
Repeating the action of loading, aiming and shooting at the fastest speed like a machine, even the secondary guns joined the battle. High-explosive bombs loaded with picric acid shot out balls of flames on the opponent, and spread yellow poisonous mist.
Raging on deck.
It didn't take long for the close combat to have scarred all the twelve battleships, especially the six British battleships. It can be said that they were riddled with holes. The flagship Edward VII alone was hit by more than ten bullets.
Five rounds, and even one main gun were destroyed, while the weakest London took two hits on the waterline, with more than 500 tons of water in it, and two main guns were destroyed, while its opponent Hessian only
Suffering some minor injuries, it was obvious that the London was in a very dangerous situation.
Admiral May quickly ordered the London to withdraw from the battlefield. At the same time, a battleship and a battle cruiser behind it stepped forward to take its place. By now, the British's numerical advantage had become smaller and smaller. Although the German battleships
All of them were injured, and a few were seriously injured, but with their perfect protection capabilities, none of them have sunk so far.
"Order the heavy cruisers to prepare to join the battle." Admiral May thought for a moment and ordered. Although it is very dangerous for heavy cruisers to participate in a battle of this level, those heavy cruisers carry torpedoes, and they obviously want to sink these German battleships.
Torpedoes are more effective than naval guns.
But at this moment, there was a sudden earth-shaking explosion in the German fleet, and then all the British at sea couldn't help but cheer. Their battleship Montague and the battle cruiser Indomitable worked together to sink the German battle cruiser Rhineland.
.
But unfortunately, the cheers of the British stopped as soon as they started. At the same time as the Rhineland sank, a 356mm explosive bomb launched by the German Hannover penetrated the waterline armor of the Majestic. The huge
The internal explosion caused a fire, and the rapidly spreading fire detonated the ammunition depot under the turret in the middle of the ship, almost blowing half of the hull of the Majesty into pieces. Then the water poured in crazily, and the battleship was about to capsize.
Under the dim eyes of the British, the heavy cruisers that had been lingering outside the battlefield began to move forward, preparing to use their torpedoes to kill the Germans.
But at this moment, Prince Heinrich, who was on the Deutschland, received an unexpected telegram.
"Retreat?" He looked at Scheer in confusion. The telegram from the German Naval General Staff stated that the High Seas Fleet had withdrawn from the battle and returned to Helgoland Bay.
"Your Highness, our airship bombed the British landing force and caused extremely heavy casualties to the enemy. The General Staff believes that in the future, only relying on airship bombing can block British reinforcements. There is no need to continue to risk precious battleships.
." Scheer said with a smile.
"Withdraw, order the destroyers to come forward to launch torpedoes and release smoke screens to cover the retreat!" Prince Heinrich ordered immediately without any further hesitation.
Half an hour ago.
The second batch of British landing troops arrived in Rotterdam. Because the British troops who landed earlier had already controlled the port, this batch of reinforcements could land directly at the port. Two entire divisions of more than 30,000 soldiers who arrived on troop carriers were swarming.
They walked out of the cabin and stepped onto the pier of Rotterdam Port. Less than a kilometer away from them was a battlefield. A large number of Dutch army troops and Dutch civilians who took up arms spontaneously were relying on their familiarity with their city to block the invaders.
After the British troops of these two divisions disembark, they will immediately be thrown into the battlefield ahead. The number of Dutch is not very large. After all, it will take time for them to mobilize troops. So far, most of the Dutch army mobilized from various places, including reinforcements to them
The German troops are still on the road, and with the addition of these two divisions, the British will basically control Rotterdam before dark.
But at this moment, a series of screams suddenly rang out from the British troops gathering at the dock: "Airship, German airship!"
All the British soldiers who were landing raised their heads, and then looked at the sky as if they were stupid. Countless giant airships, protected by a large number of fighter jets, were flying over their heads like they were covering the sky.
"Quick, run! They are here to throw incendiary pellets." An experienced veteran exclaimed immediately. All the British soldiers suddenly woke up and immediately jumped into the trap. They jumped out one by one without hesitation.
Even the officers were panicking at this time. They didn't care about the supplies being unloaded from the ship and the soldiers who had not yet got off the ship. They all ran like crazy towards the Dutch residence not far away.
The few anti-aircraft guns on several destroyers near the pier also began to raise their heads and prepare to fire. But at this time, the German fighter jets in the sky first swooped down and attacked these destroyers with machine guns and the small bombs they carried.
Behind them, more than a hundred airships quickly enveloped the entire dock and the 30,000 British troops below like a huge cloud, and then a full 500 tons of coagulated qi decoys roared down.
The entire pier was instantly engulfed in flames.
Not to mention those unlucky British soldiers and nearby Dutch houses, even the water of the Rhine River burned, and even a German fighter jet attacking a British destroyer was engulfed in flames. As for the troop transports and destroyers on the dock, the same was true.
They were engulfed in flames in an instant. Those destroyers were better, they could rush out of the bombing zone even if they drove faster and were covered in flames. However, those troop carriers docked on the shore were unlucky and turned into pieces of iron burned by the flames.
The British soldiers who had not had time to disembark directly cooked barbecue in the pot, and the screams were hoarse and terrifying.
Soon some people rushed out of the cabin regardless of the flames burning outside, but then they turned into burning people. Some of the smart ones jumped down with their bodies covered in fire, but the river below was also burning, and there was no trace of anything at all.
Way to survive.
The British soldiers who fled to the nearby Dutch houses were trembling and looking outside. Piles of their companions were struggling and screaming in the sea of fire and then turned into charcoal. However, the same terrifying situation soon befell them.
Well, the bombing accuracy of German airships was not very high. At least one-third of the coagulation bombs used to bomb the docks fell on the surrounding residential buildings, and the fire immediately began to spread.
Most of the Dutch people in this area ran away to avoid the war, and they were basically British soldiers escaping from the bombing. These guys who were still secretly glad to have escaped would soon have to fight the fire demon. (To be continued, please search.
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