Republic of China game

Page 518

"Quick! Power the 'Frederick der Kaiser' and report the situation here to Commander-in-Chief Raeder." Lütjens ordered loudly: "The whole fleet re-forms and shells the formation! Guns, set the shelling order."

"Yes."

When Bismarck was busy in the command tower, Lütjens was triumphant, and whispered to himself: "Okay! Isn't it 6 to 14, let's teach the British guys a lesson here first, and when the sun rises, the overall situation will be over." deal!"

"Sir, call back from the 'Frederick der Kaiser'." At this time, the communications officer walked up to Lütjens with a serious face, and said in a low voice: "According to the latest weather forecast, the weather in the North Sea will not be very good this morning. , the clouds are very thick, and there will be thick fog in the morning, which may cause the plane to be unable to dispatch. Commander Raider asked us to persist until after 10 am, when..."

"Well, after 10 o'clock, there is no problem." Lütjens interrupted the staff officer, took the telegram and read it again. Although he was already praying to God for a good weather in his heart, he was still very calm on the surface.He smiled and said: "Call back to Commander Raeder, our main force (battleship force plus armored cruiser force) will definitely teach the British guys a lesson before the air force arrives!"

"The re-formation is complete, and the order of the battleship detachment is: Tirpitz, Zhenyuan, Bismarck, Dingyuan, Mackensen, and Ningyuan; the order of the armored cruiser detachment is Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, Scheer Admiral Graf Pey, Fudering, Mozzy; the order of the heavy cruiser detachment is Admiral Hipper, Blücher, Prinz Eugen, Lützow..."

The chief of staff of the detachment reported loudly with the latest formation order. Since the German High Seas Fleet was at an absolute disadvantage in the number of battleships this time, the five armored ships were arranged behind the battleship detachment. They must bear the same burden in the next battle. The task of the battleship artillery battle, even the four heavy cruisers may have to fight a British battleship!

"The distance is 25000 meters!"

The navigation staff began to report loudly. This distance is theoretically possible for artillery battles, but under the current visibility, it is basically impossible to hit.However, starting from this distance, every time the distance between the two fleets is shortened by 500 meters, the navigation staff will report the number.In this series of counting sounds, Lieutenant Colonel Qiao Guanhua, the liaison officer of the Chinese Expeditionary Fleet who was probably the most leisurely on the battleship Bismarck, gradually became nervous.Although he has served in the Chinese navy for many years, he has never served on a ship, let alone participated in actual combat, but this time he participated in the sea duel between Britain and China as a military liaison officer!

"Lieutenant Colonel Joe," Lütjens seemed to have received another telegram from the communication officer at this time, glanced at it, and handed it to Qiao Guanhua. "Your navy is in a decisive battle with the British Empire's navy, and your army invaded Hong Kong, which has been occupied by the British for more than 90 years, a few hours ago! Now it has successfully recovered there."

"Oh?" Qiao Guanhua took the telegram and looked at it, and said excitedly: "That's great! Please, Commander, inform the officers and soldiers of the three ships Zhen, Ding, and Ning. Today's naval battle is very serious for our Chinese navy. It is said that it is a sea battle to wash away the shame of the Opium War!"

Lütjens nodded emphatically, "Today is the time for your Chinese navy to wash away its century-old shame, and it is also the day for our German navy to avenge Jutland!" The German vice-admiral in the Battle of Lanzhou seemed to raise his voice and shouted loudly: "We will fight hard! Hit the British!"

……

Whitehall, London, Admiralty.

In the narrow meeting room of the British Admiralty, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive, as if the British Empire had already lost the war.Although Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was dressed in a straight Western dress, he was sitting there with the most standard posture, with a faint smile on his face.But from his eyes, what everyone saw was physical and mental exhaustion and desperation.

Although the First Secretary of the Navy, Winston Churchill, had just reported to the Prime Minister the good news that the German High Seas Fleet had taken the bait in the most cheerful tone, the Prime Minister was still worried.Not because of the sinking of the battlecruiser Tiger and the heavy cruiser Cornwall.This loss is not unbearable for the British Empire.

In fact, even if the battlecruiser Tiger is not sunk, it will be retired from active service at the end of 1939, because at that time, five King George V-class battleships in the United Kingdom will be put into active service one after another!Due to bad weather in the North Sea and English Channel, Britain is the only major naval power currently building battleships on a large scale.The construction of these five battleships started long after the expiration of the "Washington Naval Treaty" in 1936, one year earlier than in history, and it is expected that they will all be put into active service by the beginning of the 40s.At the same time, the United Kingdom has also launched a huge aircraft carrier construction plan. In the past two years, four Glorious-class aircraft carriers have been in service (earlier than in history), and the Ark Royal was also completed a few days ago.After the defeat of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom urgently launched the construction plan of four large Dreadnought-class aircraft carriers, which are expected to be put into use around 1941.In addition, the United Kingdom also plans to use merchant ships to refit a number of aircraft carriers, and the planned number is as many as ten.

It can be said that the current UK has gone all out to invest in the tide of shipbuilding!And her opponents Germany and China are obviously more than a beat slower in this regard.Because both countries have huge armies and air forces, and there are no vast colonies that can be transfused (the colonies acquired by China have not yet reached the harvest period).Therefore, their shipbuilding plans are much smaller than those of the United Kingdom.If it weren't for Japan's sudden betrayal of the alliance and the sudden attack on the United States, the British Empire would really not have to worry about the risk of defeat.

But now, in just ten days, the world situation has been turned upside down by Japan.They were originally expected to contain China and prevent China from seizing British colonies in the Asia-Pacific region, but this crazy country has dealt an unexpected blow to the United States... The balance of power in the Pacific region has reversed. Defeated, I really don't know what power can defend the colonies of the British Empire.If the British colonies such as India, Malaya, and Australia all fell, the war potential of the British Empire would be at least half.Before the United States regains Hawaii, it is estimated that it will not invest too much power in Europe.The situation suddenly deteriorated to the point where it was difficult to deal with it!

And the North Sea sea battle was launched in this harsh strategic situation!In this war, Britain can only win, not lose!Only by destroying or seriously injuring the German navy can Britain free up a considerable navy to go to the east. Together with the three aircraft carriers and a few battleships that the United States can produce, it can at least contain China to the east of Malacca and keep Japan Shut out of Australia.

But if this battle is not won... the sea power of the British Empire can only stick to the mainland.It is even possible for Chinese warships to go wild in the English Channel!

Thinking of this, the British gentleman's smile on the face of Prime Minister Chamberlain finally couldn't hold back, he and the chubby Churchill exchanged glances, and at the same time turned to Sir Pound, the First Sea Lord.Fatty Qiu said: "Singapore's defense won't be a problem, right? They have already started attacking Hong Kong."

Chamberlain and Pound were taken aback when they heard the words. They did not expect that Churchill was still thinking about Singapore at this moment.Churchill ignored the eyes of the two, and continued to say to himself: "Singapore is guarding the throat of China's westward march to the Indian Ocean and southward to Australia. If it falls there, the colonial system of the British Empire will also collapse. There is no room for redemption."

Sir Pound nodded slightly, and replied: "Singapore has long been transformed into a fortress, and the Chinese who used to live there have all moved to the Malay Peninsula. We built airports, naval bases, forts and There are a large number of military camps. Now there is an army of the Australian and New Zealand Allied Forces and a British and Indian Army stationed there, a total of 8 troops! There are also 200 aircraft and thousands of artillery pieces, including more than 300 anti-aircraft guns. The defense should last until reinforcements from the home fleet arrive..."

Having said that, I went back to the Beihai War.The British Empire now has two dead ends, one in the North Sea and the other in the South Seas.Even if there is a tie in the North Sea, the British Empire will collapse because Nanyang is controlled by China.In Nanyang, as long as China captures Singapore and closes the door to the Eastern world, even if the British Empire wins the Battle of the North Sea, it will still be hopeless!

Thinking that most of the glorious empire on which the sun never sets will be buried in his own hands, old Chamberlain's eyes turned red, and two old tears dangled inside.

"Report, Admiral Forbes reports that the main force of the German High Seas Fleet is ready for a decisive battle, and the two sides will start exchanging fire within 30 minutes!" Major Carson, the adjutant of the First Sea Lord Pound, walked in with a grim expression, and When he finished his report, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.It seems that in the early morning of this dense fog, the 15 battleships of the British Empire and France took over the 6 battleships of China and Germany.

……

"boom!"

The huge battleship formation of the British home fleet fired the first round of salvo again!Although no target was hit, the spectacular scene of 15 mountain-like giant ships roaring at the same time still made the Chinese and German naval officers and soldiers on the opposite side feel a little chills down their backs.Especially under the flares of the High Seas Fleet, two giant battleships flying the French tricolor flag suddenly appeared in the entire British battleship formation!

"That's the Richelieu and the Jean Pabon! How did they end up in the North Sea?"

In the command tower of the battleship Zhenyuan, Colonel Jiang Jingguo, who had been promoted to first officer, pulled the armrest and exclaimed loudly.

Yu Yanshou, the captain of the Zhenyuan and the deputy commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Fleet, seemed not to have heard Xiao Jiang's words. The veteran vice admiral who graduated from the first year of Haida just smiled coldly and said, "We can come to Europe to help the Germans , the French can’t come to the North Sea to help the British?”

"Sir, but the firepower and defense of the Richelieu class are no less than that of the 'Zhenyuan' class, our odds of winning..."

"It's okay, as long as we persist until 10:1000 am, we will win. The Germans have prepared [-] planes!" Yu Yanshou smiled disdainfully, "Unless the British dare to charge and disrupt the battle, we just need to distance ourselves. With this kind of visibility, you can't take a few rounds for a whole day."

After being reminded by Yu Yanshou, Jiang Jingguo discovered the mystery.Now the distance between the two warring parties is still more than 20000 meters, and the wind and waves on the sea are so strong, and the visibility is so low that you can't even see them at all. You can only use radar and flares to see them vaguely, and then make do with them.The shells from both sides are coming and going, which seems to be very lively, but in fact, it is just a sound, so far there is not even a single missed shell.

Although the British and French fleets have always wanted to shorten the distance with the Chinese and German fleets, the slowest "Zhenyuan class" and "Polish Legion" class of the Chinese and German fleets can reach a maximum speed of 30 to 31 knots, while the highest speed in the British and French fleets is There are a lot of them with only 20 knots.The faster ones are the three ships Hood, Richelieu and Jean Papen.However, it is wishful thinking to let two French battleships charge up to entangle the six Chinese and German battleships, and the thin-skinned Hood can't charge, otherwise it will definitely be killed by six "Zhenyuan" class 54-door 380mm The main gun shattered to pieces.In this case, the Chinese and German fleets can maintain the combat distance between the two sides in a position that is most beneficial to them.

At this time, Admiral Forbes and Lieutenant General Cunningham, who commanded operations in the command tower of the battleship Nelson, also saw the problem.But he was at a loss, and couldn't think of a way to shorten the distance with the Sino-German fleet.Time is passing by like this.

Chapter 0805 the admiral's decision (fourteen) hard work will win! ?

November 11, 20:7 am.

The "no-casualty naval battle" in the North Sea continues.The German High Seas Fleet still relied on its own speed to be much faster than the British mainland fleet, keeping the distance between the artillery battles between the two sides between 20000 meters and 22000 meters.It did not give the British a chance to get closer.Although the British battleship formation has an overwhelming numerical advantage, but because the speed is too slow, there is no way to take down the opponent. They can only use countless tons of shells to try their luck... It's just that today's goddess of luck doesn't seem to be very favored British guy, after fighting for a long time, the German High Seas Fleet is still unscathed.

In this way, since the Battle of Jutland, the largest battleship battle at sea has been carried out in such a dull way.The battleships of both sides did not seem to come here to fight, but to serve as targets for the opponent's aircraft.What really decides the outcome is not the tens of thousands of tons of warships that cost a huge amount of money to build, but those small aircraft with aluminum alloy shells.

As time passed, the dense fog above the North Sea gradually dissipated. Although the clouds in the sky were thick, there was no sign of rain.And the planes of both sides will never lose their way under the navigation of their respective fleets.The commanders on both sides knew that it would not take long for the battleship to dominate the battlefield to become an aircraft.Time is running out for battleships!

And whose side will air superiority be on?Although Britain's Hugh Dowding and Germany's super fat Goering both confidently declared that their air force could seize air supremacy over the North Sea.But in the end, only one of them can seize the air supremacy, and what awaits the other will be a devastating disaster.

Do you want to hand over the fate of the British mainland fleet to the Air Force?

Admiral Forbes must now make the final decision.No, Admiral Forbes and the British Empire have no choice!Because what they are facing now is not a contest between Britain and Germany, but a world war.The British and German naval confrontation in the North Sea is just a gamble for the British Empire to save the unfavorable situation in the world war. Only if Britain wins can the empire be guaranteed. If it ends in a draw, her powerful home fleet will be firmly contained. In the native land.She could only watch helplessly as China and Japan seized her rich and vast colonies.

This is the adverse effect of Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Hawaii on Britain.

Admiral Forbes stood quietly in front of the chart, his eyes wandering between the North Sea and the west coast of Norway, northern Germany and Denmark.There was a look of pain on that resolute and serious face, as if making some difficult resolutions.

The main battleships of the two sides fought in a single column, which was the most common formation in the battleship era. However, the German High Seas Fleet, which has the advantage of speed, took the initiative in the battle under this formation. As long as they wanted to, they could immediately withdraw from the battlefield. Similarly, they also Being able to keep the combat distance at a level that makes every Brit on the North Sea depressed.They are obviously full of confidence in their air superiority, and just want to delay until the fog and clouds have dispersed, and then use aircraft to decide the outcome of the naval battle.

If the United States had not suffered a disastrous defeat in Hawaii, the United Kingdom would not have to work hard, even if they ran back to Scapa Flow with their tails between their legs, it would be nothing. Slow consumption, although it may not be possible to win, but it is not a big problem to keep the tie.

But now, the British Empire must win if it wants to survive!And to win, the only way is to fight desperately... Only let the British Empire's dominant navy fight!Since the weak Japan can defeat the United States with desperate tactics and gain sea dominance in the Pacific Ocean, why can't the British Royal Navy, which has dominated the ocean for hundreds of years, not fight to the death?

Forbes raised his head, looked at the German High Seas Fleet in the distance in the mist, gritted his teeth, and shouted: "Change formation! Set up a horizontal formation, the bow of the ship faces the enemy, we rush to disrupt the battle!"

The tactics of horizontal formation and chaotic warfare were the mainstream tactics of naval warfare before the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-]. However, in the Dadonggou naval battle, the Japanese combined fleet defeated the Beiyang Navy's horizontal formation of ships. Behind the enemy, the tactic of facing the enemy on the side of the column has become the mainstream of naval warfare tactics for decades because of its advantage of giving full play to the maximum power of the fleet's main guns.Even the British Home Fleet Combat Regulations required all battleships to be lined up in single ranks and occupy vantage points, because only then could the Home Fleet exert its greatest power.

But the problem is that the current British Empire has fallen, and most of the battleships in the local fleet are the products of World War I.If you line up in a single file to meet the enemy, the maximum speed of the entire formation will be limited by those super-slow classic battleships, at most it will be 21 or 22 knots, which is almost 10 knots slower than the opponent!In this way, the favorable position will always be in the hands of the Germans, and the initiative in the battle will also be in the hands of the German High Seas Fleet.In this situation, change the original tactics, face the enemy with the bow of the horizontal formation, charge like infantry, disrupt the opponent's formation and drag the naval battle into a melee under the condition of bearing a certain loss... In that way, training The local large fleet, which is clearly ahead of its opponents in terms of experience and experience, and has a clear advantage in numbers, will have a great chance of winning the battle!

……

"Sir! The enemy fleet... the enemy fleet seems to be charging towards us?!"

"What?" Lieutenant General Yu Yanshou was taken aback when he heard the words, and turned to look at the navigator of the battleship Zhenyuan.

"Sir, the results observed by the radar and the lookout post are the same. The enemy seems...as if the infantry is charging, and the entire fleet is swarming up!" The navigator explained.

Yu Yanshou was stunned again and again, are these British guys crazy?Now it's sea battle!Do they still want to use battleships to fight bayonets?The bow of the ship confronts the enemy, and the whole fleet charges...how could there be such a style of play?Don't these British guys know that during their charge, the 11 large-caliber main guns owned by all 84 battleships and armored ships of the High Seas Fleet can be concentrated at one point, and the British battleships are called one by one?Now the distance between the two sides is nearly 20000 meters!That is 10.81 nautical miles.Even at a speed of more than 30 knots, the Hood, Richelieu, and Jean Bart will take 20 minutes to rush into the queue of the High Seas Fleet. Of course, the premise is that the High Seas Fleet is still waiting for the opponent to attack!And in these 20 minutes!

"Sir! Headquarters order, reduce the speed to 15 knots, shell the target, the Hood! The sequence of shelling..." The communications chief's shout suddenly interrupted Yu Yanshou's train of thought.