Chapter 721: devastated
The shell exploded in the sea, splashing a column of water that soared into the sky. It made this piece of sea boil up.
Although, the number of warships in the joint fleet of the island nation\'s navy is greater. However, they did not have any advantage in the battle. Even though they were besieging German warships, they were the ones who were suppressed instead.
"Boom!"
After a fifteen-minute test launch, the German Navy Expeditionary Fleet finally scored its first hit. A shell fired from the battleship "Derfflinger" hit the battleship "Satsuma" of the Japanese Navy. The heavy 380mm shells easily tore the two-inch-thick deck armor of the "Satsuma" battleship into pieces. The shells pierced through several layers of bulkheads before exploding. The huge force blasted the entire bow of the battleship \'Samo\' into a mess. The fire then burned inside the battleship, causing the sailors of the island country to rush into the fire without even having time to wear their gas masks, trying to put out the fire. It is not known how many people died under the poisonous smoke.
"Bastard! Put out the fire!" the captain of the battleship "Satsuma" shouted Dazuo Yoshijima Shigetaro.
Once the fire spreads to the ammunition depot, it will be bad. As the former dreadnought "Satsuma" battleship, the displacement is only more than 19,000 tons. Not only is the armor weak, but the defense of many cabins inside is also very low. Even a raging fire can cause fatal damage to a battleship.
This order made more sailors from the island nation rush into the fire and use their lives to put out the fire.
"Your Excellency, the "Satsuma" was hit, and the situation is very bad. The German 380mm main gun is too powerful, and the shells can tear everything apart." Major Gentaro Yamashita looked very bad.
"It is not the former dreadnoughts that decide the outcome, but the four \'King Kong-class\' battleships. If we can quickly disable or even sink the two battleships in front of the German battle line, then we will still There is a chance." General Ijuin Goro said.
The 356mm main guns of the four "King Kong-class" battleships are the only ones that can pose a threat to German battleships.
"Let\'s find a way to shorten the distance with the Germans! Only in this way can the power of our main guns be brought into play. Otherwise, those 305mm shells would be difficult to hit the target." Major General Gentaro Yamashita said.
"It\'s very difficult, almost impossible. The Germans will not allow us to get closer. Our warships, except for the four \'King Kong-class\' that can reach 25 knots, the speed of the rest of the warships is too slow. In In terms of speed, we simply can\'t catch up with the German battlecruisers. If the \'King Kong-class\' battlecruisers are allowed to pursue, this will only make our \'King Kong-class\' battlecruisers fall into the hands of the Germans. Under siege." General Ijiin Goro shook his head.
So, the battle can only go on like this. The navy of the island country knows that it is not good for them, but there is no way to change it. Perhaps, they also pinned their hopes on the blessing of the illusory God Amaterasu.
As time went on, the battle became more intense. In other words, the German Navy began to gradually achieve hits through its advanced and powerful qualities. On the other hand, the navies of the island countries have nothing to gain from their shells other than falling into the sea to fry fish. If this continues, it is undoubtedly obvious which navy will win in the end.
"Boom!" A 343mm artillery shell fired from the battlecruiser \'Moltke\' hit the battleship \'Tango\'. This old battleship with a displacement of more than 11,000 tons already has two A ten-year-old ship. A Russian battleship captured by the island nation\'s navy during the Russo-Japanese War. In Western countries, such battleships would have been decommissioned long ago. However, in the Japanese navy, this is still an out-and-out capital ship.
The place where the shell hit was the waterline of the battleship \'Tango\'. Although, the waterline armor of the "Tango" battleship is as thick as 368 mm. However, the defensive power of the old-style armor is very limited, and it cannot withstand the new-style capped armor-piercing bullets at all. Therefore, the 343mm artillery shell fired by the battlecruiser "Moltke" easily penetrated the waterline armor of the battleship "Tango", and blew a big hole near the waterline of the hull. Sea water frantically poured into the battleship from the hole.
The sailors of the island nation on the battleship \'Tango\' desperately wanted to plug the loophole. However, because the hole was too big and the water pressure was too strong, it was impossible to succeed at all. In addition, the setting of watertight compartments of old-fashioned battleships like the "Tango" battleship is extremely unreasonable. Even if the watertight compartments are closed, the battleship will capsize due to too much water.
This has undoubtedly declared the fate of the battleship "Tango".
"Your Excellency, the battleship \'Tango\' was hit, and a big hole was blown below the waterline. The damage control personnel have nothing to do about it." Major General Gentaro Yamashita reported with a dark face.
General Ijuin Goro also closed his eyes in pain. Although he knew that in this battle, many battleships of island countries would definitely be sunk. But what he didn\'t expect was that some battleships couldn\'t hold on so soon. This undoubtedly shows that the German expedition fleet is stronger than he imagined!
"Let everyone on Tango evacuate. In this battle, the Imperial Navy will inevitably suffer heavy losses. Saving one more person can be regarded as saving a little strength for the Imperial Navy." Admiral Ijuin Goro said.
At this moment, the battleship \'Shikishima\' hit the battlecruiser \'Molky\'. A 305mm artillery shell successfully hit the front main gun of the battlecruiser "Moltke".
"Long live!" When the explosion sounded and a fireball rose from the deck of the battlecruiser "Moltke", the sailors of the island nation cheered.
However, then they were dumbfounded. Because the battlecruiser \'Moltke\' was not damaged at all. The main turret that was hit was still firing, as if nothing happened.
This immediately caused the morale of the combined fleet of the island nation\'s navy to drop in an avalanche. After all, the enemy\'s main guns can easily kill one\'s own warship, but one\'s own main gun can\'t penetrate the armor of the enemy\'s warship. Doesn\'t this deserve to be ravaged by the enemy?