After this decisive battle at sea lasted for two hours, the British finally ushered in the hope of victory. With twice the numerical advantage and bravery and tenacity, until now, the German battleships opposite them that were still fighting had only
There are seven ships left, and the others have sunk to the bottom of the sea with bruises all over their bodies. Due to the depth of the water in this area, most of these sunken warships are mostly above the water. They look like standing monuments, with each side still dancing.
The flag flutters in the cold wind.
Of course, there are not only German battleships here. In fact, the losses of the British and French fleets far exceeded that of the Germans. Including the unlucky battle cruiser Bold, which was forced to run aside and ran aground, ten British and French battleships have sunk to the Germans.
At the doorstep of our home, coupled with a large number of cruisers and destroyers, the entire Helgoland Bay looks like a warship graveyard.
These sunken sea monsters have had a very serious impact on the warships of both sides that are still fighting, because the sea area where they could roam freely has become like a group of reefs. Two warships have already collided with them.
Among the sinkings was a British heavy cruiser. This unlucky cruiser collided with the overturned battleship London, and a 305mm gun barrel was hidden underwater, tearing the entire bottom of the ship open. Now,
Two British warships were almost stacked on the sea, looking extremely funny.
However, the fight has reached this point, and naturally no one can retreat anymore. Although both the British government and the French government, which lost two battleships, are bleeding from heartache at this time, they can only risk it for the final victory.
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As for the German High Seas Fleet, from Prince Heinrich to ordinary sailors, they were determined to fight to the death. They had no retreat than the British. In order to strengthen the belief of his subordinates, Prince Heinrich even gave William
The logistics personnel left behind at the port ordered to requisition a group of merchant ships to directly block the waterway in Wilhelmshaven. This is actually equivalent to burning the boat and cutting off one's own escape route.
"Your Highness, it is a great honor to fight with you." Scheer said to Prince Heinrich solemnly in the command tower of the Deutschland, which had been hit by sixteen rounds of explosive shells from the British battleship's main gun and filled with more than 4,000 tons of water.
, he knew that this flagship of the High Seas Fleet would not last long.
Prince Heinrich did not answer him immediately. Instead, he stared at the German land in the east with his telescope, and soon said with some relief: "Reinhardt, our reinforcements are here."
Scheer was stunned for a moment, staring at the sea with wide eyes. He didn't find where the reinforcements he mentioned were.
"Not on the sea, but in the sky!" Prince Heinrich said, pointing to the eastern sky.
"Airship?!" Scheer looked in the direction of his finger and then exclaimed.
In the southeastern sky, countless airships were flying in under heavy clouds and despite the falling snowflakes. This was the fastest support William could provide to his brother. He collected all the airships he could find.
All airships were sent over, with the total number reaching 160. However, not all of these airships carried aerial bombs. Because they were rarely used, the Germans did not have many such things in their warehouses. These airships were loaded with aerial bombs.
Most of them are coagulated qi decoys. Although they have not been tested in destroying warships and we don't know how effective they are. But at this point, we can't even bother with them.
But just when Prince Heinrich and Scheer were excited for the reinforcements, they suddenly saw a huge fireball rising from a main turret in front of them, and at the same time, countless steel fragments swept across like discharged cannonballs.
All around, there was an earth-shattering explosion. The battleship Deutschland suddenly jumped upwards, and the two of them instantly flew up and hit the bulkhead. Prince Heinrich immediately fainted, and Scheer struggled to get up again.
.Through the blood left on his eyelids, he watched the sea getting closer and closer. After a few dozen seconds, vibrations came from under his feet. The entire deck of the battleship was completely submerged under the water. Only the top of the turret was still in the waves.
Hide and appear.
Deutschland sank.
Just as the Deutschland sank, shrill alarms sounded from all the British warships at sea. It was obvious that the British had also discovered the German airship heading overhead.
Unfortunately, I saw that on the nearly one hundred British and French warships remaining on the sea, the officers and sailors could only look at the group of airships getting closer and closer and look at each other. Quite simply, they did not know what to use against the airships in the sky.
At this time, no one had imagined airships bombing warships on the sea. These aerial monsters with a speed of no more than two hundred kilometers dropped bombs from a height of several hundred meters onto a ship with a width of only tens of meters, and the fastest speed could exceed six meters.
It's simply incredible on a moving target of ten kilometers.
"What are they here for? To celebrate our victory with fireworks?" Jellicoe on the Edward VII said with a sense of humor as he looked at the mighty German airships flying in.
"Victory? I don't think we have achieved any victory." Admiral May looked at the sunken battleships all over the sea and said with a wry smile. As if to heighten the atmosphere for the commander's words, a British battleship suddenly exploded due to the spread of fire.
The entire middle part of the starboard side was almost torn apart, and the flames erupting from the inside were indeed like extremely bright fireworks.
Jellicoe immediately shut up. A victory that set back the strength of the Royal Navy for six years is indeed difficult to make people happy. What's more, the High Seas Fleet still has six battleships fighting on the sea. If the number at this time is
Comparatively speaking, the British Royal Navy has only fourteen battleships left. Compared with the ten ships of the Russians and the eleven ships of the Germans, they are all second-rate navies on the same level. As for the first-rate navy, it goes without saying that it is China.
The navy.
Of course, now is not the time to express emotion, because at this time, the German airship has pressed over the battlefield like a black castle. This aerial monster, which is almost the same size as a battleship, has brought great harm to the British sailors below.
Due to the sense of oppression, many people even forgot about the battle and stared dumbfounded at this spectacular scene in the sky. However, what surprised them was that these airships did not drop bombs.
"Blow up the battleship? Does it make sense to do this with our fifty-kilogram coagulation bombs? The High Seas Fleet is finished. Even if we give them support, they have no hope. If this is the case, there is no need to waste it, the British
There are better goals behind you, don't forget what is most important to Germany now." On an airship in the sky, Hall, who had been promoted to lieutenant general, said calmly while looking at the battlefield below through the window.
At the same time, Admiral Mei below also instantly understood the intentions of these airships.
"Quickly, notify the landing fleet behind them to disperse immediately and don't gather together!" He hurriedly shouted to Jellicoe.
Behind the British main fleet, thirty-two landing ships are still waiting in the mine channel for our own main ships to clear the obstacles. These landing ships are the most closely protected. In the middle of the long queue of British and French fleets, in front is the main fleet.
, followed by a troop transport protected by cruisers and destroyers, with German minefields on the left and right, completely protected in the safest waters. The sailors and infantrymen on the landing ship even stood on the deck boredly watching
The looming battlefield ahead, the soaring fire and gunpowder smoke made the young British boys excited and full of longing. They had no idea that they were about to be in bad luck.
Even when the airship appeared in the sky, the landing ship captains who had received the order still did not realize that the god of death was grinning at them. They were nonchalantly directing their landing ships to start and arrange in the mine channel with limited space.
Form a column and sail forward, preparing to gradually widen the distance between each other during the sailing process.
At this moment, Lieutenant General Hall was already preparing to launch an attack.
"All airships are formed according to the bombing trench method. The eight airships are arranged in a horizontal formation at a distance of 20 meters, and each group is arranged in a column with a distance of 40 meters from the beginning to the end." The old executioner who bombed London in those years gave orders to his airship formation with ease.
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Following the rapid swing of the small flag in the hands of the signal soldiers, the airship pilots who had played countless games immediately controlled the aerial beasts in their hands and began to reorganize in the sky in an orderly manner. The airship group began to rapidly lengthen and gradually became
It formed a giant square array nearly five kilometers long and more than 400 meters wide.
"If there's no accuracy, what's the big deal? We have density." Hall said with a sneer in the airship command cabin. This was exactly why he changed his target to the British landing fleet. On the chaotic battlefield at the mouth of the Elbe, he
It is difficult to effectively attack British warships. After all, the accuracy of airship bombing is limited. It would be impossible to accurately hit those warships that are racing at 20 or even 30 knots and whose course is uncertain!
Moreover, those battleships and cruisers with perfect armor protection cannot be dealt with by the small bombs and coagulation decoys in his hand that deal with ground personnel. Even if they actually hit, they will not cause any damage to the opponent. The coagulation decoys are indeed lethal.
The force is huge, but it is impossible to burn the armor of the battleship. You can use fire tactics to bomb fixed fortresses, but in this sea, no matter the high temperature or air extraction, it is meaningless.
But it is different if it is a landing ship restricted by mines in a narrow channel. These warships with a speed of only 20 knots do not have enough room to escape, and the large amount of wooden materials used in order to reduce their own weight and facilitate beach landings are also
The originally useless coagulation decoys suddenly became useful. You must know that even the decks of these landing ships are still made of wood. (To be continued...)