Chapter 1014 Demonstration
The main battlefield is in the sea 150 kilometers east of Malta.
British Deputy Commander Ives paced anxiously in the command room of the "Duncan".
(The picture above shows the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Duncan. Compared to the London class, the main improvement was the reduction of the thickness of the front armor to increase the speed, but it was only increased to 19 knots)
"No news yet?" Ives asked.
"No, General," the signalman replied. "I think it's very likely they've been defeated and surrendered, just as the telegram says."
"Impossible! The main force of the French army is right in front of us." Ives was unconvinced. "How could they defeat the squadron and force them to surrender? That's three battleships and two battlecruisers!"
The signalman didn't know how to answer.
Although they received the last telegrams sent by the Prince of Wales and the Queen before their surrender, Major General Ives said he did not believe them.
At this time, the staff officer guarding the radio station reported loudly: "General, a telegram from General Winter."
Major General Ives's expression relaxed: "I knew it."
Finally got in touch. They must have had a problem with their radio during the operation.
He hurried forward and took the telegram.
But after taking a look at the content, Major General Elvis was stunned.
It only says:
"As much as I hate to say this, this is a fact we have to admit, Ivis."
"We couldn't defeat the French fleet. We misjudged the situation. We made a serious mistake."
"The fleet has no way out now. Surrender, Ivis. There is no point in continuing the battle."
Major General Ives's expression changed, and he asked the signalman, "Have you confirmed that it was sent from General Winter?"
"Yes, General," the signalman replied, "we've confirmed their identities."
Major General Ives's face darkened and he called back:
"You've already become a shameful traitor, so there's nothing more to say!"
"Tell the French we will not be like you."
"I will lead the troops to continue fighting until victory!"
General Winter called back: "You don't know what happened. Charles said he would show you."
"Demonstration?" Major General Ives looked puzzled. "What demonstration?"
Suddenly, the lookout on the mast shouted: "Plane, enemy plane!"
Major General Elvis stuck his head out of the cabin and looked. More than 20 small black dots appeared in the sky, flying towards the fleet in a triangular formation.
"Is this the so-called 'Char Demonstration'?" Major General Elvis sneered. "Are they planning to use machine guns to penetrate our armor?"
General Winter's telegram reached him in good time:
"I know what you're thinking. You think these planes only have machine guns. But they're not. They're bombers. Bombers with bombs."
"Every bombing is equivalent to you being hit once by the enemy's naval guns."
"No, in fact they cause more damage than the naval guns, much more serious."
Major General Elvis's expression changed slightly, and his gaze turned again to the growing black spot in the sky, half believing and half doubting.
Are they bombers?
A bomber with bombs?
It's impossible. Even for bombers, it's difficult for their bombs to hit the warship as long as the warship is moving.
"Full speed ahead!" Major General Elvis ordered.
"Full speed ahead."
"Full speed ahead!"
…
The crew passed the orders down one by one.
Major General Ives may be right.
Previous bombers, such as the Caproni, could also carry bombs to bomb warships, but the error in level flight bombing was at least 200 to 300 meters, and the higher the altitude, the greater the error.
The warship was sailing on the sea at a speed of 19 knots per hour and would also perform evasive maneuvers.
Under such circumstances, it was simply wishful thinking for bombers to hit or destroy the tough battleships.
But this idea is outdated.
Soon, Major General Ives was surprised to find that the bombers flying at high altitude were diving towards the warships at high speed.
The machine guns and cannons on the warship roared, and the anti-aircraft fire was fully opened, but to no avail.
Then, amid a sharp engine sound, bombs were dropped one after another nearby, blasting out water columns dozens of meters high on both sides of the warship.
Although the three bombs missed their target, they still shocked Major General Elvis.
The impact point was only a dozen meters away from the warship. Such accuracy is undoubtedly "precision bombing". How did they do it?
"Boom boom!" Two loud noises.
The unprepared Major General Elvis was knocked to the ground by the violent shaking. The glass on one side of the command module was shattered by the shock wave and fell to the ground with a crash.
A piece of flying debris scratched Major General Ives's face, leaving a long bloody mark, and red blood flowed down his cheek like tears.
But Major General Elvis was unaware of this. He was still shocked by the accuracy of the enemy bombers.
At the same time, he understood what had happened to the squadron led by General Winter.
Now, what General Winter encountered has fallen on his own head.
Major General Elvis struggled to get up from the ground and found that there were planes everywhere outside, including "Camels" and "Jenny A".
They chased the seaplanes everywhere, shooting them down one by one. In a short while, the sea was covered with the wreckage and debris of the seaplanes.
The blood and corpses of the pilots attracted sharks, which scrambled for the corpses in the water. Occasionally, the pilots who were alive could not escape the fangs of these beasts.
Then the fighter jets changed their targets. They flew lightly over the side of the warship. Amid the sound of machine guns, dense bullets hit the armor, making a series of "clang" sounds.
Finally, it extended to the "bang bang" gunners.
The gunners had no time to react. They were busy loading ammunition one second and the next they were shaking with screams. When they fell to the deck, there were more than a dozen shocking bloody holes on their bodies.
Major General Ives was stunned.
The signalman staggered over and brought him a telegram from General Winter.
"Now you know what's going on," said General Winter.
"Please believe that they did not use their full strength. The bombs used in this bombing were only 50 kilograms. They also have 250 kilograms of bombs and even 500 kilograms of bombs."
"And torpedoes, yes, their planes can also release torpedoes."
"You know what that means to a warship!"
Major General Elvis sighed. He had been in the military for decades and believed that he was very experienced in naval warfare.
But I never thought that the situation would be like this:
The enemy's attack came from another dimension, the air.
But the warships were powerless to fight back against them!
(Note: Since aircraft carriers were deployed on the battlefield, the combat mode has become "three-dimensional." During World War II, many naval guns and secondary guns were removed and replaced with anti-aircraft firepower. In modern times, the main mission of destroyers has become air defense, followed by anti-submarine warfare, and finally anti-ship warfare. Anti-ship warfare is usually carried out by carrier-based aircraft, and ship-to-ship combat on the sea is basically non-existent.)
(End of this chapter)
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