Can't wait any longer!

At 12:40, Sir Forbes issued a final warning to Darlan: If you do not accept any of our proposals before 1 o'clock, we will only sink your warship!

At the same time, Darlan, who received the warning, only smiled faintly, crumpled the telegram from the British, and threw it into the waste paper hole beside him.

This time, he did not continue to reply to the British, because there was no longer that need!

Outside Port Oran, British sailors were in a state of readiness, their bombs loaded, and the officers stood on the command podium, pointing fingers and preparing for action.

On the British flagship aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", torpedo attack aircraft have already begun to activate pistons, and the battle is about to break out.

Of course, Darlan's beloved French battleships were not vegetarians, they were the fifth strongest navy in the world, and they reacted immediately to the attack of the British fleet.

The French battleship Provence, facing the powerful firepower of the British battleship, was on a par with the British battleship with its strong defense and indomitable fighting spirit. The French ship Dunkirk, which suffered heavy losses, had to withdraw from the battle, but on the way it was hit by the British fleet Brave, which caught fire and lost its combat effectiveness.

The Brave showed no mercy on its opponents, and the heavy artillery fire crumbled the Dunkirk.

At the same time, the Perseverance also turned its bow and opened fire on the Dunkirk, attacking ferociously with its four 305 main guns with angles of fire.

The Dunkirk is in a hurry!

The poor Dunkirk was hit two armor-piercing shells in a row in an extremely short time.

Among them, an armor-piercing projectile drilled deep into the hull from its first chimney.

The engine room and steam water pipes under Chimney No. 1 were completely destroyed, and the thick smoke, fire and white water vapor from the explosion rose into the sky, killing several French crew members who were fighting the fire and in the environment of high pressure and lack of oxygen.

Before the French sailors could react, another armor-piercing projectile fired from the British side with a full turret and half a gun whistled, and the bulky metal warhead easily penetrated the Dunkirk's waterline with the main armor and the coal bunker that took on defensive functions, and the coal bunker was ignited, producing a huge amount of smoke and heat, and at the same time affecting the ammunition depot, which was ignited, producing a huge explosion that almost split the Dunkirk in half.

As a result, the French soldiers on the Dunkirk abandoned ship and escaped, but due to the leakage of fuel and the spread of Mars, the fuel at sea was ignited. Even if they jumped into the sea, many French soldiers were in agony in the flames.

The French should probably rejoice, because their Provence suffered little damage, but while the British attacked the Dunkirk, the Provence also attacked a number of British ships, with great success.

But the deck of the Provence was also penetrated, and the sea water rushed into the hole carved out by the armor-piercing bullet, and the crew of the Provence immediately turned on the water pump to work and drain the seawater that entered the hull.

At this moment, a cloud of smoke suddenly burst into the sky from the ship Brave, and flames loomed in the smoke.

Immediately afterward, the cheers of the French sailors soared into the sky like a dream.

It turned out that the heavy artillery on the French Provence pierced the deck of the British Valiant, and the ammunition directly ignited his ammunition room, which ignited a raging fire, which soon caused a large explosion, and almost all the officers and men on the Valiant were killed in this explosion. And the Brave itself has almost lost all of its combat effectiveness.

"Is this a gift from God to the French?" Ignorance of the surprise attack of the British, poor preparation for battle, vague tactics of warfare, which had been at the outwhelm of the fleet since it was attacked by the Royal Navy at Port Oran.

Who would have thought that in such a situation, the French army would still be able to fight back?

The violent explosion in the direction of the Brave came suddenly, and Sir Forbes's Ark Royal was also affected by shocks.

"What the hell happened on the Brave?" Sir Forbes asked a few of his staff officers in horror.

"Sir, the Brave looks like it's been sunk."

"What?!" Sir Forbes was shocked, he really didn't expect that the French Navy in this situation could have such strength.

In fact, this is indeed the hard power of the French Navy.

Historically, if it weren't for the fact that the French navy in Port Oran could not have contacted Admiral Darlan and vacillated between wars and wars, it would not have been successfully attacked by the British fleet.

This time, the British home fleet was greatly damaged by the German fight in the First World War in the North Sea, and even the battleships needed for the sneak attack operation were only made up of 2, resulting in its firepower not having an absolute advantage from the beginning.

However, after all, the British fleet still has a certain advantage, and Sir Forbes also cannot tolerate his own fleet, and cannot tolerate the royal navy of the British Empire, and in the case of superiority, it cannot still destroy the opponent.

In a fit of rage, Sir Forbes shouted to the officers: "Cheer me up, fire at all French targets, and blow down these damned French fleets!" Let them see that there is an insurmountable gap between our Royal Navy of the British Empire and him! ”

Inspired by Sir Forbes, the naval guns on the remaining British battleships shot out flames and shot at the French meritorious battleship Provence.

In a short time, most of the flybridge connecting chimneys No. 1 and No. 2 on the Provence collapsed, and the remaining small part had twisted into a spiral at a strange angle.

On the battleship Provence, the crane and the lifeboat had been swept out into the sea, and only a small section of the crooked crane arm was left miserably.

The French captain's favorite chart room vanished, and the tonnage of data was either turned into ashes in a sea of fire or into confetti flying in the sky.

In addition, a corner of the telegraph room was also cut off, and a piece of shrapnel tore off the wireless antenna above the command tower, so that the Provence temporarily lost contact with the main force of the French Grand Fleet, and the damage control soldiers and communication troops had to brave the threat of British shells to urgently repair the wireless antenna.

This is not the end, the armor wall of the turret bomb loser on the Provence that was frantically output by the British naval guns, the armor-piercing shells that were bounced off, and the bulky armor-piercing part caused secondary damage to the Provence.

The shells destroyed the watertight compartment's contact door, which was less than 40 millimetres, penetrated the thin floor of the communication channel, and exploded in the dry compartment, which was separated from the turret propellant storage compartment only by a partition of the watertight compartment.

Even though the ship's rescuers rushed to extinguish the fire, the gaseous water mist filled the fire field, but it was still to no avail, the fire caused by picric acid and the yellowish poisonous gas still spread, and soon broke through the hole that had been chiseled, and swept through the upper and lower watertight compartments and communication passages.

"The strength of the British Royal Navy is indeed worthy of its name!" Looking at the battleships on his side, which were twice as large as the British army, but were pressed and beaten by the British fleet, Darlan, who was holding a telescope, couldn't help but sigh.

At the same distance, the British fleet had already relied on the precision of their well-trained gunnery, and the French fleet could not raise its head.

The distance between the two sides is the same, but the officers and men under Dar Lang's command, because of the difference in artillery skills, are unable to achieve the superb hit rate of the British Navy.

"Commander!" Darlan's adjutant couldn't stand it anymore, he took two steps forward with emotion, and shouted: "Please order the whole fleet to press up and fight with the British!" ”

At this time, the only chance for the French fleet may be to rush forward, shorten the distance between the two sides to improve the hit rate, weaken the gap with the British army in training, and give it a go.

However, Darlan shook his head lightly and stopped the adjutant's suggestion: "You forgot one thing, the British had already laid a large number of mines before negotiating with us. ”

That's why the British Navy was the first to lay mines. Sir Forbes, from the very beginning, even if it was the French navy, could let go and rush up.

Therefore, he ordered the laying of mines, blocking the route of the French warship from the port early.

This is the true power of the British Navy.

When it comes to artillery battles at sea, they are invincible in the world!

If it weren't for the fact that Reinhardt used naval aviation to change the mode of operation when planning the construction of the German Navy.

Even if the German High Seas Fleet built 10 more battleships, it might not be able to win against the British Royal Navy in the North Sea.

It is a pity that today's French Navy no longer has the opportunity to learn from Germany.

With a wry smile, Dar Lang said a little lonely: "Although I don't want to admit it, but in the frontal combat of the naval battle, the British are indeed much better than us......"

Flying Fish broke out today, and whether I can continue to add more tomorrow depends on everyone's subscription and reward. But seriously, everyone's subscription to Flying Fish on New Year's Day has also been seen, and I am really grateful. Therefore, today, Feiyu also desperately completed the update of 12,000 words, so that everyone can watch it at one time on the first day of the new year. Finally, I wish you all a happy New Year's Day and all the best in the new year.