Tu Mei Chapter II Gorgeous Sea
Since the British engineer R whitehead invented the world’s first torpedo in 166, this kind of weapon with low cost, simple manufacture and great power has gradually become a nightmare for capital ships in various countries.
According to endless statistics, during the whole year from 1914 to 1915, there were 30 warships sunk by Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan, Turkey and other belligerents, of which 32 were feared or feared battleships were sunk by torpedoes, and the number of warships and battleships reached 15o and 24 respectively, accounting for 39% and 75% of the total number. Although these data do not mean that torpedoes have become natural enemies, they are less in line with the title of "battleship killer".
In the face of the German torpedo "prinz eugen" flying at a speed of 25oo yards, the sailors suddenly panicked. Some people continued to chase away from the German torpedo machine with auxiliary guns and machine guns. Some people picked up their weapons and fired at the sea. Others ran to the port side. Fortunately, most of the officers of this warship were brave and well-trained. While trying to calm the sailors down, they organized people to intercept the torpedo on the sea with mobile phones and machine guns.
At the same time, it was sailing into the warship in the first quarter and desperately turning its huge body. Zhang Hang passed 35 torpedoes at a distance of 25oo yards, and the chances of success and failure were 50/50.
A loud bang shocked many people. Fortunately, the short cheers on the deck battle position cheered everyone up. It seems that at least one torpedo has been detonated by defensive fire, and the second torpedo grazed the stern of the warship and went to the battle position at the stern. The sailors almost fainted when they saw this.
Before people can determine whether all five torpedoes have evaded, someone on the port side shouted "Torpedo! Torpedo! "
It turned out that after the relocation team torpedoed, another team of German torpedoes went around the port side of the prinz eugen. This time, they approached the distance of 12oo yards before quietly torpedoing. After that, the port fire power hit one of the "adventurers", which was also the first German plane shot down by the Austro-Hungarian fleet.
If there is a choice, Anton House and others would rather not shoot down that plane than be torpedoed by it.
Half an hour later, Anton House raised the commander’s flag on the "St. istvan". Anton, who was slightly injured, also came to the command room of "St. istvan" after emergency dressing to continue to command the German fleet of the fleet.
The sea surface looks a little chaotic, and most ships are avoiding it while organizing the shooting. It is difficult to identify the source of the dense explosion. Black smoke fills the sea surface, and tall water columns rise from time to time.
"General, we have taken off to meet them. The aircraft carrier has been martyred. The Count of Cuccoli has also sunk! At present, many battleships, such as Count Gafur, Radtz, Murau, Leonard and krems, cruisers Curry and Pamela Carter, have been confirmed to have sunk. Shall we order the ships to release smoke and then find a plane to evacuate? "
Anton will turn his head and look at his flustered chief of staff. The general seems to have been confused by the present situation. He reprimanded him severely
"At this time, the release of smoke will not only avoid the attack of German planes, but also make our own ships collide! The only chance is to shoot down the Dodd machine as much as possible! "
Looking at the tragic situation around the sea, the chief of staff was extremely annoyed and "alas".
Before the Austro-Hungarian warship ran out of ammunition, this round of attack by the German fleet finally ended.
After being attacked like a piranha by German planes, the Austro-Hungarian fleet suffered heavy losses. However, more than 70,000 tons of warships were exchanged for only 7 German attack planes, 11 bombers, 17 torpedo planes and 55 German pilots. After capturing a German pilot who fell into the water, many Austro-Hungarian officers and men shouted angrily to put them to death. A naval academy with multiple head injuries personally found Admiral Anton House.
"If the general doesn’t execute them, I’m afraid the brothers who died will not rest in peace!"
Although this request seriously violated the principle of individual, he had to grit his teeth and agree to their request in the face of excitement among naval officers and men
Half an hour later, the German pilots were executed by the sailors of the Austro-Hungarian Fleet in an extremely primitive way-they were forced to take the pedal to the sea after tying their hands.
This cruelty temporarily quelled the anger of some officers and men of the Austro-Hungarian fleet and brought bad luck to the whole fleet.
At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the second batch of 12o German planes flew to the fleet again. Although the number of German planes was small this time, they chose the ships that were injured and moved slowly. So by the end of the day’s battle, the record of the German air force had expanded to 6 battleships, 3 cruisers, 7 destroyers, 1 seaplane carrier and 21 transport ships, with a total tonnage of nearly 1 million tons! Fortunately, the battleships-St. istvan, United Forces, St. Bolten, Karl, Apada, Gusvik, Zorini and krems-were all traumatized to varying degrees, among which Apada and krems have lost their fighting capacity.
On the same day, when the results were reported to hippel, when they were there, the navy would finally take a long breath. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the fleet Gabre to lay mines, and then marched in the direction of Venetian Bay on a starry night!
At this time, the warships in the fleet are being protected by battleships, and mines are being laid near Pula Port. Because the capital ships are exhausted and the other side is out of the range of the fortress guns, the Austrian garrison in Pula Port can watch the class submarines leave the port. However, after being bombarded by the German battleships, the torpedo boat team fled back to the port despondently, and the two submarines were also bombed by the German destroyer depth charges.
After nightfall, hippel Fleet completed mine laying, and six mine-laying boats laid 12o floating mines and anchor mines outside Pula Port successively. Although the number is small, it has seriously affected the ships’ entry and exit into Pula Port.
In response to the fact that Vienna has been taken over by the Austrian army, the German high command finally decided to change its predetermined strategy to "encircle but not occupy" Vienna, and ordered Major General Frye’s 2 nd Panzer Corps, Dimling to attack the 1 ST Regiment and the 2 nd Regiment of Em to take Vienna while trying not to destroy the urban buildings.
It’s night. Vienna has a big gun
The news that Auffenberg and Baron Vladimir’s beaten army were able to resist the rest and morale was extremely high reached Berlin before dawn when German troops captured Vienna.
At dawn, Baron Condra and Anton House, located in the southern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, both learned the news of the fall of Vienna. At the same time, they also received a newspaper from the "new emperor" of Austria, Addums, asking them to immediately stop resisting and accept the "escrow" of the German army
Condra and Anton House The Austrian 6 th Army and Navy made completely different decisions on the afternoon of April 9.
Baron Condra will swear allegiance to the new emperor.
Anton House Navy will lead the fleet south and prepare for the death of the German fleet in hippel ―― after receiving the report from Pula Military Port, he concluded that hippel would lead the fleet to the North Venice Bay after laying mines outside the port.
In this era when aircraft and submarine torpedoes are rampant, Anton House and his fleet hope that the cannon will play the swan song of the Austro-Hungarian fleet.
However, at 11: 35 p.m. before encountering the hippel fleet, a huge German airship formation once again covered the Venetian Bay, and an equally large but weak Austro-Hungarian fleet appeared in the Wuhai Sea off the coast.
An hour later, the German fleet heard the news.
At 3: 10 pm, when the Austro-Hungarian Fleet meets the German Mediterranean Fleet, Anton House will have witnessed the final battleship duel. Unfortunately, he and his ship were killed in the German fleet attack, but his department faithfully carried out his final order-the final battle of the South German fleet!
So in the south of Venice Bay, near Briony Islands, 30 Austro-Hungarian warships and 35 German warships exhibited a heroic naval battle-the last main force of the Austro-Hungarian fleet-the battleships "Joint Force", "Gusvik", "Zorini" and the wounded light cruiser "Parag" with three destroyers and seven torpedo boats showed a desperate torpedo attack on a small gunboat and fired at the German fleet like a gladiator …
Hippel chose the latter with disdain and admiration.
This is also the most significant naval battle in his long and glorious naval career.
After the fleet turned right, the main guns of the Grand Elector and King William, with the diameter of 3o5mm and 5o, were thunderous, followed by the main guns of Seidlitz, with the diameter of 2omm and 45x, and the main guns of Heinrich, with the diameter of 13 doors, 3o5mm and 45x. The first wave of 43 heavy-pound artillery shells will set off artificial waves in the sea around the Austro-Hungarian fleet, and the water spray has not yet fallen in the distance, and the flames of their Austro-Hungarian battleships are shining. The 24omm and 2o3mm cannons fired their guns with different numbers and accuracies, but they were all afraid in this final battle, and the sailors seemed to be planning to shoot three Austro-Hungarian battleships that had been vented from the German army in the past few days, slightly more than several advanced German capital ships.
The shells from both sides exploded with each other, producing huge water columns that kept rising in the sea 10,000 meters apart.
"The fleet turned left 15 degrees!"
After slanting forward for a certain distance, hippel will decisively reach the order to turn again. Soon, the German fleet ships will be re-directed to the north battleship, and the main guns will be slightly adjusted to point to the Austro-Hungarian fleet at 45 degrees on the port side.
After losing the core commander, the formation of the Austro-Hungarian fleet became a little messy. Fortunately, they only have three battleships that can shoot torpedoes, and the light ships are fighting for their lives. The German fleet rushed to the battleships here, and the fastest fire was their fire cover.
The impact point of the continuous salvo of the German fleet here is getting closer and closer to the target. The fifth salvo of King William and the sixth salvo of Seidlitz successively hit the other side, the 210,000-ton warship of the Joint Force, and then it smoked and caught fire, and then it was silent. The Zorini and Gusvik, which had weak shaving power, were still on fire.
The "Grand Elector" accurately hit its flagship identity in the first volley. Two 3o5mm armor-piercing projectiles directly penetrated the thin armor of the "Gusvik". After two consecutive violent explosions, the old 10,000-ton warship broke off from the middle and quickly sank to the bottom of the sea.
The sacrifice of the "Gusvik" and the trauma of the "Joint Force" gave a blow to the life. When the lightning strike fleet won the treasure, the 15 mm guns in the German fleet were on fire, but they could not stop the Austrian from desperate determination. One warship after another was hit and the remaining ships were still advancing. When the German fleet was 3ooo yards away, the Austrian left the last destroyer and four torpedo boats.
The destroyer and two torpedo boats were torpedoed at this distance one after another, but the other two rushed forward like crazy for 25oo yards, 2ooo yards and 1oo yards. At this time, one of the torpedo boats was shelled by the "Grand Elector" and the red stewed hull was immediately mixed with shells and torpedoes! The last ship turned back and aimed the torpedo at the flagship of the German fleet.
"The port side is 5oo yards away from torpedo shooting!"
Trembling sounds came from the commander of the port auxiliary gun of the "Grand Elector". The officers and men in each battle position quickly aimed the muzzle and muzzle at the sea surface 5oo yards away. The anti-gun, the 2o mm machine gun and the machine gun fired together and suddenly formed a defensive line at the sea surface 5oo yards away from the warship.
The "emergency right turn" command took less than 10 seconds, and the helmsman turned the steering wheel as quickly as possible, and the huge warship immediately turned to its starboard side.
After taking all possible measures, the officers and men will pray that they will not give up this new battleship that condenses their thoughts and efforts!
There was a loud bang and a huge water column rose more than 5oo meters on the port side of the warship.
"Keep shooting! There is another one! " The commander shouted once again that the sailors were still trying to load ammunition, although they were sweating profusely.
However, half a minute later, another loud noise came from the stern of the "Grand Elector"
This is also the last honor of the huge Austro-Hungarian fleet in the naval battle.