Do you want to run away? The thought flashed through the mind of the Forbes general. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 However, Forbes soon found bitterly that it was too late for him to escape at the moment. His fleet of battleships had a speed of less than 20 knots, which was completely slow in today's naval warfare, and if the Germans had really laid a net in the waters west of Bergen, these slow battleships would not only not be able to escape the pursuit and siege of aircraft, but even the German surface ships could easily catch up with them. At this time, it was just dawn, and it was impossible to expect the night, judging by the current sea visibility, the probability that our battleship team would be able to retreat calmly was very small!

Moreover, once it chose to retreat, all expectations of Great Britain to thwart German ambitions in Norway were frustrated. At that time, even if he preserves the fleet, he will be pointed out by thousands of people when he returns home, and his reputation will be ruined; The German Navy, with Norway as its foothold, will also be like a fish in water in future operations, completely cutting off Britain's maritime lifeline. Forbes gritted his teeth fiercely, and his always calm and calm face showed a little distorted and crazy: when he adopted Tovey's suggestion to ride the face of the fleet, he was ready to lose 2 battleships and a dozen destroyers, and today is nothing more than taking all his old books and fighting with the Germans!

"Send a telegram to the Fast Fleet and the 4th Theater Air Command in Aberdeen that our fleet is about to launch a decisive assault on the enemy. For the sake of Britain, ask them to immediately send everything they can fly to the aid of the capital ships! Forbes walked briskly to the command tower in the rear, and at the same time gave a loud order to the adjutant beside him, "The battlefleet spreads out to the left front, heading 297 and speeding 18 knots." The 9th Destroyer Fleet guarded the rear flank, and the rest of the ships maneuvered ahead of the battlefleet. Today, the Royal Navy is only advancing, not retreating! ”

The sun is shining, and the battle flag hunting is flying. On the deep blue sea, the two fleets traveled north and south, getting closer and closer to each other. The sharp bow split the waves, stirring up spectacular white trails of water on the sides and sterns, but the sailors on both sides had no intention of admiring the spectacle, and their full attention was focused on the impending naval battle. On the deck of a majestic battleship, the towering and heavy turrets began to whimper and whirl, and the stout and hideous giant cannons raised their heads to the sky, and finally pointed at their targets with bad intentions.

Seeing that the German fleet was coming head-on towards him, and that no reinforcements appeared in the surrounding sea or sky, Admiral Forbes couldn't help but be a little surprised, and then his heart was pleasantly surprised. What he feared most was that bombers would appear in front of him at this time, sinking all his own fleet, which was already close to the Norwegian coast; Now that the German planes did not appear, the German battleships rushed up, which really gave them enough opportunity to turn the tables in adversity, and let them see the brilliance of hope in the tragic and heroic decision that they were already preparing to die honorably.

At this point, the four slow-moving battleships no longer have to fight to get to the right area at the right time and face the right enemy, and they are about to usher in the opportunity to engage with them in a passive attitude. And judging by the current lineup on the sea, the British fleet has at least twice the advantage! Forbes thought to himself that if he could eat the German fleet in front of him, even if he lost Norway, the pressure on Britain at sea would be drastically reduced!

"Haha, this must be the commander of the German fleet who judged the target of the home fleet, but in order to maintain radio silence, he did not inform their land-based air force!" Forbes had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and in an instant he figured out all the key to the other party's strange move. He shook his spirits, and his depression disappeared without a trace: "We still have a few hours to use, we must leave these German battleships behind!" ”

Just as he was completing the psychological transformation from prey to hunter, Forbes, who was gazing intently at the German fleet, suddenly felt a flower in front of him; A large expanse of blazing red orange flames burst out from the distant sea, and its source was the fast-moving German fleet. Seeing the brilliant and dazzling clouds like the morning sun jumping out of the sea, Forbes couldn't help but be stunned: What is the situation? The own battleships have not yet fired, could it be that which German battleship suddenly exploded in the ammunition depot on the way forward? Wait, fire?

Forbes, who suddenly realized something, was frightened and hurriedly grabbed the binoculars and looked at it. In less than 10 seconds, he got the answer he wanted. I saw that the last battleship in the enemy's queue once again swept up the extremely fierce purple waves, and actually reflected the surrounding sea surface that was already daytime, even though it was more than 20 kilometers away, Forbes still couldn't help but squint his eyes because of the bright light. He didn't care about closing his eyes and pranayama, he suddenly raised his gaze and searched carefully in the clear and translucent sky, and in a few breaths, Forbes found a few small black dots that were extremely small in size, but they were indeed flying rapidly!

"It's an 18-inch cannon! The German battleships were the first to open fire! Forbes was shocked and exclaimed.

42 seconds later, the first wave of 4 1.5-ton armor-piercing projectiles flew over a distance of 23,700 meters, roaring at a terminal speed of 498m/s and crashing into the sea. Forbes stood in the Rodney Command Tower, only to see an out-and-out tsunami wall rise hundreds of meters in front of the ship, and the deafening roar then swept across the ship, making him suddenly feel a nightmare feeling like being in a thunderstorm!

As Forbes recovered from his dizziness, the air was filled with the terrible roar of a locomotive as it fell at supersonic speed. Moments later, the hurricane howled and the waves crashed, and the battleship Warrior, which followed closely behind the Rodney, also witnessed the incredible power of the 450-millimeter shells, which were twice the height of its mainmast, leaving all the British sailors on the ship stunned and terrified.

In the past few months, although there has long been news within the British Navy that the German new battleships are equipped with 18-inch guns, due to the lack of official statements and conclusive evidence, many British sailors still do not believe that the German battleships have such a caliber of huge guns, and they are still full of confidence that their old capital ships can match their opponents. At this moment, however, anyone who holds such a view is a blow to the head. Even the 16-inch main gun on the Rodney will definitely not be able to stir up such a terrifying and majestic column of water, and the opponent's firepower seems to be two grades higher than that of the Rodney, and the rumors that it is equipped with an 18-inch cannon are entirely true! (To be continued.) )