How powerful is the explosion of a shell of about 400 mm caliber? The crater of the grenade that was specifically used to attack was about the same as half a football field.

Of course, it may not be so exaggerated, but how powerful it is, at least a few points can be inferred.

Why was the navy so important in the past, and why could the navy's artillery deter most countries?

The reason for this is simple: most countries have coastal cities, and these cities are often rich because of their geographical advantages.

The destruction of these cities is a huge blow to the countries to which these cities belong and cannot be easily ignored.

Therefore, the deterrent power of big ships and cannons, in the era without nuclear weapons, can be said to be the core of the empire's display of power.

Now that deterrence has become a real combat force, Leningrad is definitely suffering more terrible than it has ever experienced in history.

After surviving eight explosions, the people in the city were already in chaos. No one knew that the attack was coming from the sea, because they had long been blocked in the harbor.

The Baltic Fleet of the USSR had two battleships, but unfortunately they were both old battleships from the Tsarist era.

One was called the Marat, and the other was called the October Revolution - the name smelled of red, but it was not as strong as the Red Army.

In fact, the previous German air raids on Leningrad had already paralyzed the two battleships in the harbor.

Both battleships were a little damaged and simply could not drive out to engage the German Navy. Of course, another reason why it could not be dispatched was because of the complete loss of air supremacy.

Without air cover, and without the cover of anti-aircraft artillery around the city, German pilots might have sunk the two aging battleships in just one sortie.

What people never expected was that now the battleships of the German Navy were bullied to the doorstep, and the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Navy still had no room to fight back.

Because in the distance in the Gulf of Finland, the German battleship force did not just dispatch two battleships, but four battleships!

Behind the battleship Warrior and the battleship Weariness, the battleship Tirpitz waiting for the Soviet Navy to come to the door to die, and the battleship Ramirez, which had just been repaired.

The German Navy hasn't had such a rich family foundation for a long time, so this time it's really bullying people to the home.

Knowing that the Soviets only had two battleships in the harbor, they learned from the British to bully them with twice as many troops...... There was a smell of wealth inside and out, so that the Soviets had no intention of resisting.

The Baltic naval officers of the USSR knew very well in their hearts that the accuracy of the shelling of the port was not enough anyway, 20 kilometers away.

As long as the other side does not come close, there is no need for them to attack and die - anyway, the shells fell in the city, and it has little to do with them.

"Hello? Feed? Where did the shelling come from? Right...... I'm Voroshilov! Confirm it right away! Right away! Holding the telephone receiver, Marshal Voroshilov's face turned green.

His troops were struggling to block the frantic advance of the German army from a distance of dozens of kilometers, but the enemy's artillery bombardment suddenly arrived in the morning.

The stability of the city, which had been maintained so hard, was gone. Now a lot of people are clamoring to get out of the city, and the army is in a mess.

"Smack!" Dropping the phone in his hand, Marshal Voroshilov went back and forth in circles in his underground bunker, not knowing what was going on in his mind.

You know, Leningrad is also his last bottom line. Stalin did not allow him to continue to retreat his headquarters, so once Leningrad became a front-line city, he was no different from Budyonny.

"Perhaps...... Is it at sea? The chief of staff looked at his commander and opened his mouth to make his guess.

"At sea? Battleship? Damn it! Hearing that this possibility was mentioned, Marshal Voroshilov also realized this possibility.

Indeed, only artillery bombardment from the sea can have such great power. But this is not easy to stop, after all, the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Union is a fleet that cannot be handled.

Two old battleships, which could only be used as gunboats, were not on the same level at all compared to German battleships.

The ideal new battleship of the Soviet class, now has a keel on the slipway - in this case, you can only think of a way with submarines or airplanes.

Thinking about it, the plane did not have to think about it, the plane that took off could not fly to the Gulf of Finland, and it would be shot down by German fighters.

The most reliable option for the rest was the Soviet submarines. It is a pity that because of the lack of spare parts, the rate of submarine damage in the Soviet Navy is really breathtaking.

Isn't that breathtaking? Before World War II, the Soviet Union had hundreds of submarines. This figure is more than twice the number of German submarines.

The result? Comparing the record between German submarines and Soviet submarines, it seems that the Soviet investment in submarines did not pay off in full.

In addition, after the Soviet-German war, the German army won one after another, and more and more of the Soviet Union's means of production were concentrated in the army, which needed to be replenished, and the navy received even fewer materials.

Unlike the Army, the Navy has always been a branch of technology and training.

Without rigorous training and sufficient material support, it is impossible to build a strong navy during the construction period.

This is the main reason why the Soviet Navy, which appeared to be a formidable Navy during the Cold War, collapsed rapidly and finally fell to the point it is today.

Again, this is the main reason why the Manchu Beiyang government and the weak Republic of China were unable to build their own navy.

All these reasons are superimposed, and now there are only a handful of Soviet submarines that can sail in their entirety, so the Soviet army has almost no way to shell the German fleet in Leningrad from the outside sea.

"Let the Navy figure it out! We can't sit still! "Marshal Voroshilov can only bite the bullet and let the navy attack and solve the troubles in the open sea.

Then, he looked at his chief of staff: "In addition, let the Air Force also think of a way, after all, if you can sink a German battleship, it will also be good for morale." ”

Now he had to make a desperate gamble and use all the means he could think of - if these 381 mm guns were allowed to bombard, Leningrad would really cease to exist.

"I understand, Comrade Marshal!" The chief of staff nodded, and then walked out of Voroshilov's office to contact the generals of the Air Force and Navy.