Chapter 1563: The Winner (First Update, Please Subscribe)
naval battle!
A naval battle is never over in just a dozen minutes.
From about four in the morning until about six, when the morning sun covered the Tasman Sea, the fierce naval battle continued. Although both sides had good gunnery skills, thanks to excellent ship design and damage control, after two hours of naval battle, no warship was sunk.
The sea is fair. Strict training and good ship design have given both sides tenacious survivability. Although shells continue to hit the warships, the warships are still fighting tenaciously, and the gunners are still operating the huge cannons, firing shells at the enemy ships.
Amid the roar of artillery fire, the warship was constantly shaking under the bombardment. When the solid armor steel was hit by the shells, it would always make loud banging sounds. The loud banging sounds would always make the sailors on the ship feel nervous, because they knew that this time of luck did not mean they would always be lucky.
The sea is always fair. There are no generals or sailors on a warship. They all share the same fate. If the warship is sunk, their fate is the same, and they will mostly die at sea. The sea will not treat someone differently just because he is a general or a sailor.
Live and die together, this is the common fate of everyone on the warship.
So during the naval battle, everyone tried their best to survive. While the gunners were doing their best to load shells and fire shells at the enemy, the damage control team was putting out the fire on the deck and plugging the leaks in the cabin. By 7 a.m., the warships were covered by gunfire, like hell on earth, with blood, death, and broken limbs everywhere. The shadow of death shrouded every ship, and no one knew what would happen in the next second.
But everyone was doing their last bit of strength for victory in this naval battle. They knew that their lives depended on whether they tried their best. Even the boilermen at the bottom of the cabin knew that their mission was to send more coal to the boiler so that the steam in the boiler would be sufficient and the battleship would have more power.
As long as we do all this, we may be able to win the naval battle.
"call……"
The whistling sound of artillery shells in the air came again. The naval battle had already entered the third hour. With another round of salvos, the "Iowa", the most powerful battleship in the British and American joint fleet, received special care in the naval battle. At this time, the "Iowa" was seriously flooded, but it was still fighting tenaciously. Not only had the habitats above the deck been completely destroyed, but even the No. 4 secondary turret was destroyed. As for the No. 3 secondary turret, a 203 gun barrel was directly blown off.
But even so, the "Iowa" still floated firmly on the water. Because of this, it received special attention. Almost every salvo would have one or two, or even three or four large-caliber armor-piercing shells directly hit the "Iowa".
When the battleship "Iowa" was shrouded in thick dark brown smoke, Admiral Schroeder standing in the command tower seemed extremely calm. This admiral who had participated in the Civil War was more concerned about the losses of enemy ships. He watched his own shells hit the targets one after another and flashes continued in the smoke, and listened to the collision sounds that tore through the sea and sky. He frowned and nodded slightly.
"Well, it looks like we can win this naval battle..."
The reason why he was so conceited was that until now, although the Royal Navy's flagship "Barfleur" had suffered extremely heavy losses, with severe water ingress and the superstructure almost completely destroyed, it was still stubbornly floating on the sea and still stubbornly fighting back against the Imperial Navy with artillery fire.
"Yes, although the Imperial Navy's artillery is sophisticated, our artillery is no worse than theirs."
Just as the officer's words fell, they were suddenly interrupted by a loud noise like a bell.
Then he saw a horrifying scene - a cloud of thick smoke suddenly burst out from the tail turret of the "Centurion" in front of him. In the rising smoke, the tail turret of the Centurion was blown directly into the sky, and the violent explosion almost blew off its stern.
"The ammunition depot, it must have been hit!"
As Schroeder and others were looking at this scene in astonishment, cheers were heard in the command tower of the "Success" battleship.
"Hurray! The Centurion is finished!"
Amid the cheers, Zuo Xiaotong said as he watched the Centurion sinking rapidly.
"Inform the entire ship that we sank the Centurion!"
After the news was broadcast, cheers immediately rang out in the cabin of the "Chenggong" battleship. No matter it was the gunners in the turret, the boilermen who were struggling to shovel coal with shovels, or the damage control soldiers and medical soldiers, the sudden good news would always give them a shock, and their exhausted bodies would be revived again and thrown into a new battle.
The sudden sinking of the "Centurion" became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Almost subconsciously, a thought emerged in Schroeder's mind - preserve strength!
After all, neither the United States nor Britain could add a single warship to the Pacific Fleet. What they feared was bound to come true. At this moment, the rear of the cruiser Sydney was hit by a 12-inch shell amidships. The violent explosion directly blew away the chimney.
"Sir, if this continues, even if we win this naval battle, the Pacific Fleet will not be able to stop the next attack by the Imperial Navy!"
Colonel Jellicoe of the Royal Navy said urgently.
"General, we must conserve our strength!"
Many times, the outcome of a naval battle is never decided by the battlefield. In fact, Schroeder had already failed from the very beginning. Without the support of his homeland, every warship he lost meant a permanent loss of a warship. But the South Pacific Fleet was different. Relying on the powerful industrial strength of the empire, his lost warships would be replenished immediately, even with dreadnoughts. It was for this reason that at 7:36 in the morning, Schroeder issued the order to retreat.
Faced with the British and American Joint Pacific Fleet quickly withdrawing from the battlefield, Zuo Xiaotong did not order a pursuit. He even breathed a sigh of relief and then said.
"Well, we won the naval battle..."
Then he turned his head and looked at his subordinates in the command tower with a smile.
"We have also completed our mission. What are the enemy's losses?"
Soon, subordinates reported the observed losses of the enemy. Although only one battleship was sunk, the other six were severely damaged, which was a very impressive result. It was definitely a victory, although it was only a small victory, but their strategic goal was achieved.
"Send the results of the battle to the Navy Department. Now the warships of the British and American Pacific Fleet have all suffered heavy damage, including the Iowa..."
When giving the order, Zuo Xiaotong understood that it would be impossible for the British and American Pacific Fleets to recover their combat effectiveness in the short term. After all, Australia's backward industrial level could not support the repair of six warships at the same time. This was also the plan of the Navy Department and the purpose of their going to war - to severely damage the British and American Pacific Fleets and pave the way for the next plan.
"Now, the plan can enter the second stage..."
(End of this chapter)
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