Chapter 1037 Precise Advance

Vice Admiral Freddy finally understood why the German fleet did not change course and continued to charge forward even though they knew they were in an unfavorable position.

I also understand why the two German "Bavaria" class battleships chased the "Barham" under fire, and did not give up even when they were at the limit of their range and it was almost impossible to hit her.

They were not intended to hit, but to create conditions for aerial "torpedo planes" to launch torpedoes.

But it was too late by then, and Lieutenant General Freddy had no choice but to endure it.

"Anti-aircraft fire," Lieutenant General Freddy ordered. "Shoot them down."

In fact, he didn't need any orders, as the gunners and machine gunners on the warship were already prepared.

The "torpedo planes" modified from the German "UWD" seaplanes were much slower than those of the French. Especially after entering the attack state, they could only maintain a steady flight speed of about 90 kilometers per hour. Anti-aircraft fire had a great chance of shooting them down.

But it turned out they were overthinking it.

Suddenly, there was a whistling sound, and the reconnaissance seaplane that was ready in the air swooped down with a dark shadow, and its machine guns fired at the anti-aircraft fire on the side.

"Dang, dang, dang" the bullets hit the shields and the deck, making crisp sounds that almost covered up the screams of the machine gunners and gunners.

The British sailors did not dare to delay and hurried to add a group of machine gunners, but before they were ready to shoot, another reconnaissance seaplane approached with a whistling sound and sprayed bullets.

This was what Admiral Scheer had practiced: once the seaplanes gained air superiority, they would fully cooperate with the "torpedo planes" in the attack.

"Let's make one thing clear." At the pre-war mobilization meeting, General Scheer said to the pilots with a serious expression:

"Your machine guns can't destroy battleships, but 'torpedo planes' can."

"Therefore, you must ensure the safety of the 'torpedo plane' at all costs, even if it means crashing into enemy anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery."

"It's worth it. You will become heroes of Germany, and your families will be well taken care of!"

As he spoke, Admiral Scheer picked up a list that recorded the families of all the pilots.

He added: "I assure you on my behalf that they will be protected by the state!"

…

"Boom" a seaplane hit the "bang bang" gun on the warship, followed by another one, and the explosions were endless, just like the shells hitting the "Barham".

After a while, the few anti-aircraft firepower on the "Barham" was surrounded by flames, the machine guns and artillery were knocked to and fro, and some ammunition exploded.

It was obvious that even if the fire was put out, these machine guns and anti-aircraft guns would be unusable.

"This is crazy," Lieutenant General Freddy shouted. "They are simply a bunch of lunatics."

At a glance, the "torpedo plane" was approaching the throwing distance.

The first group to approach consisted of four aircraft. Vice Admiral Freddy noticed that they were in groups of two. One group attacked directly, while the other group set its target in front and at an angle to the ship.

This was the German "torpedo planes" attacking in advance. Vice Admiral Freddy understood their intention: once the "Barham" turned sharply to avoid, the two "torpedo planes" in front would be able to make the perfect finishing blow.

"Full right rudder!" Lieutenant General Freddy ordered.

This order was beyond everyone's expectations. Usually, warships would choose to move away from enemy aircraft to avoid torpedoes because that would increase the warship's maneuvering time.

But Lieutenant General Freddy did the opposite. "Full right rudder" means approaching the enemy plane.

The first mate was stunned for a moment, but did not hesitate and immediately passed on Lieutenant General Freddy's order:

"Full starboard!"

"Full starboard!"

…

At the moment the warship turned, the German "torpedo plane" dropped the torpedo into the water. Two white lines crossed the water like a shark's dorsal fin, pointing directly at the side of the warship.

One of the torpedoes passed by the stern of the warship and was changed in direction by the water flow from the propeller.

Another torpedo hit the hull, but because the warship turned in time and the angle was too large, the torpedo failed to explode.

The crew on the warship heard a muffled "bang" and only felt relieved after a few seconds when there was no explosion.

The remaining two "torpedo planes" lost the opportunity to drop bombs because they misjudged the turn of the "Barham" and had no choice but to take off again.

"Return to the line." Major General Freddy ordered.

Although doing so might result in concentrated fire from two "Bavaria" class super dreadnoughts, it was obviously much better than facing more than 20 "torpedo planes" alone.

So the "Barham" turned around and headed towards its own formation more than ten kilometers away.

It only takes a dozen minutes for them to "return to the team" by walking towards each other, and the danger will be much smaller at that time.

But the "torpedo planes" obviously would not let the tiger go back to the mountain, and four more planes slowed down and approached its side at low altitude.

…

Major Condra felt that he had met a tough opponent.

The "Barham" seemed to have extensive experience in dodging torpedoes. It knew that even if it was hit by a torpedo at a large angle, it would most likely not explode.

This is actually a risk, because no one can guarantee whether it will explode if it hits, so people usually choose a safer way.

Now we are in trouble.

No one could be sure whether the "Barham" would dodge to the left or to the right, and even if four "torpedo planes" attacked at the same time, they might not be able to hit it.

More importantly, the Barham can reach a speed of 26 knots when operating at super-power, which is even faster than some destroyers.

Looking at the British warships approaching in a line on the other side, Condra immediately gestured to hand over the command to the deputy captain, then pulled the nose of the plane and left the fleet.

He calculated the speed of the fleet in the air, stared at a vacant spot in the fleet left for the "Barham", and even flew along the direction of the fleet to estimate the time.

Then he calculated silently in his mind and used the intervals between British warships as his "ruler". Even if the machine guns and "bang bang" cannons below were roaring, it could not affect his "exploration" and attempts.

Then, Condra chose the right time to lower the altitude, maintained stable flight for a while, dropped the torpedo under the belly of the plane, and then swung the tail to pull up.

…

It was at that moment when "Barham" once again shook off the joint attack of four "torpedo planes" that all the crew members cheered.

They will be able to "return to the team" soon.

As long as they return to the fleet, the anti-aircraft firepower will be much greater than it is now. At the same time, there will be other warships blocking on both sides, making it difficult for the "torpedo planes" to "find a gap" and launch precise attacks.

That means they are safe.

However, just as the "Barham" was about to return to the queue, a crew member suddenly shouted: "Torpedo, port side torpedo..."

"What's going on?" Vice Admiral Freddy's face changed. There was clearly no plane on the port side, so why was there a torpedo?

Before he could understand what was going on, a muffled "bang" was heard from the port side, stirring up a wave and causing the "Barham" to shake violently.

(End of this chapter)