"The 'Emperor' has been sunk!"

When they heard the shocking news, the British officers on the bridge of the "Tiger" first reacted to look in the direction of the port side, and after seeing the shocking scene, they all turned their eyes to Betty. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The decision on what to do with this battle patrol detachment is entirely in his hands.

With the sinking of the battle cruiser "Indefatigable" and the super-dreadnought "Emperor", the situation of the battle has become very unfavorable for the British fleet, and if the Betty detachment loses, the British navy will be declared almost prematurely defeated in the naval battle of the Faroe Islands.

At this time, Betty did not hesitate for a moment, he glared viciously at the German dreadnought that was beaten by the "Tiger", and squeezed out a few syllables from between his teeth: "Sink it!" ”

There was no objection to this.

Betty's battle command was immediately transmitted to the firing command room in the upper part of the bridge. The person in charge here is the British Royal Navy Colonel David Hart, who was originally the commander of fire on the battle cruiser "New Zealand", the Battle of Jutland, the "New Zealand" was sunk by the German fleet, fortunately the friendly ships rescued effectively, including Hart, more than half of the crew survived, and they then transferred to other warships, Hart gave up the opportunity to be the captain of a light cruiser, and resolutely chose the battlecruiser "Tiger", which had just been completed, and the determination of revenge is self-evident.

In the previous shooting, the main gun salvo of the "Tiger" continuously formed a straddle fire on the target battleship, and achieved at least two hits and six close misses, coupled with the results of the "Royal Princess", the German dreadnought has been subjected to three armor-piercing shells of 13.5 inch caliber and many close misses. Don't look at this is a German battleship built before 1910, the anti-sinking performance is still first-class, replaced by the United States, France, Italy, Japan or any country in the Austro-Hungarian Empire built at the same time of the capital ship, in the face of such an attack, I am afraid that it has already been seriously injured and is about to capsize.

Despite the influence of the smoke and smoke released by the Germans on the ranging results, Colonel Hart and his team quickly and accurately calculated the new firing parameters and passed them on to the gunners in the main turrets.

"The starboard salvo is ready, the main gun is fully loaded with armor-piercing shells, the enemy ship is in azimuth 4230, the distance is 9720, ready to fire at any time!"

The deputy's report caused Colonel Hart to close his eyes and quickly make a cross on his chest with his right hand, praying that God would grant him and these British warriors good luck in defeating a formidable enemy, and then he personally pressed the firing button while firing the Tiger's 12 powerful 45x 13.5-inch guns.

Before the Queen Elizabeth class entered service, the most powerful battleship of the British Navy was the Iron Duke class equipped with 10 13.5-inch guns, and the appearance of the "Tiger" undoubtedly pushed this "most" forward a big step. When the Tiger fired its first live-fire salvo in the English Channel a few weeks ago, the British officers and men present were thrilled by its flawless performance, and many looked forward to seeing it sink the German capital ship with heavy artillery fire.

Now, the opportunity is in front of us, and with the sinking of the "tireless" and "emperor" wars, the responsibility and mission of the "Tiger" are even more important.

After the huge salvo, thick smoke of propellant powder filled the starboard side of the "Tiger," and by the time they had completely dispersed, the heavy shells had already flown over the battlefield and smashed down on the sea. I saw huge columns of water soaring into the sky, and in an instant, the target battleship almost disappeared from sight, and only its gray hull with interference paint could be glimpsed through the gap between the large waves.

At this time, the main operator of the rangefinder, a senior naval non-commissioned officer, made his companions burst into ecstasy in an excited tone: "Hit the target...... Exploded, the enemy ship exploded! ”

Hart couldn't wait to raise his arms and shout immediately, venting the depression in his heart, but his subordinates only glanced at it in a hurry, and there was a possibility of misjudgment, so he tried to maintain a calm posture and hold the high-powered telescope flat with both hands. The location of the target battleship did have a large amount of black smoke, and some debris could be faintly seen flying in the air, which was a sign of a violent explosion.

Seeing this, an officer exclaimed impatiently: "It's over, let's kill it!" Victory belongs to Britain! Long live the King! ”

In the distance, the waves of water that had been bombarded by artillery shells began to fall, thus forming a wall of water that was difficult to penetrate by the line of sight, and only by patiently waiting for it to disappear could we have a greater grasp of judging the actual condition of the target warship, but even in these few seconds, the officers and men of the "Tiger" could not survive in peace. The German capital ships' artillery was already fast, and with three dreadnoughts attacking the Tiger, an average of less than 20 seconds before a salvo arrived, the Tiger was under the greatest pressure of the entire British fleet.

Had it not been for a commander like Betty, who had both courage and courage, the "Tiger" and the "Royal Princess" would probably still be in the fleet array, firing at the German dreadnoughts while waiting for the flagship.

The Tiger's firing command room is located in the upper part of the main bridge, is an irregular polygonal shape, has an armored outer wall 8 to 10 inches thick, and has several observation windows for observation and ranging needs, these observation windows are made of very thick tempered glass, but the attack resistance is still several grades worse than the command tower in the middle of the bridge. Standing on the starboard side, Colonel Hart witnessed the German shells coming through the air, just as he saw the shells roaring on the surface of the sea, the walls, floors and everything in front of him suddenly shook extremely strongly, the huge explosion came with terrifying oppression, he lost consciousness almost instantly, but the loss of consciousness only lasted a few seconds, he quickly came to his senses, the first thing he felt was an unbearable pain, the warm liquid slid down his forehead, his vision was scarlet, he stretched out his hand to wipe it, A large amount of blood made his heart sink. Raising his head, the light around him was a little brighter, because a hole had been blasted open on the right side of the shooting command room, and the strong wind swept the rain in, and the cold and cold rushed straight to the face, and the mutilated corpses were everywhere, and the rangefinder, control panel, and most of the instruments and equipment here were all unrecognizable.

After a few moments, Hart felt that his hearing had recovered slightly, and he could faintly hear a sound coming from the microphone next to him, but he couldn't distinguish the content of the sound, which was a terrible feeling. He struggled to sit up, except for the head hit, his left shoulder and right arm were also cut several times, and the body was almost a sieve, but he was already very lucky to be alive. One of the three non-commissioned officers in charge of the rangefinder was cut in two by shrapnel, one was lying on his back on his back on a chair covered in blood, and another was pierced through his left chest by a palm-sized shard of steel.

Faced with this situation, the living Hart was even more painful than the dead comrades, because for the rest of the battle, the superior fire control system could no longer contribute any strength to the combat cruiser, and the deep sense of powerlessness made him cry loudly when he saw the rescuers coming. If the "Tiger" can shine brightly in the face of adversity, he will have no regrets even if he dies, but if this battle becomes the swan song of the "Tiger" and even the main British fleet, even if he returns to Britain alive, the rest of his life will be like a walking corpse......

Colonel Hart's suffering is also the bitter fruit that David Betty cannot swallow. If the main performance such as firepower, speed, and protection are comprehensively weighted, the "Tiger" is certainly a super-first-class capital ship in this era, but its lead is far from reaching the point of being unbeatable, and from the moment it breaks away from the main fleet, Betty and his detachment have chosen a lonely path. Although Betty's idea was to win by skill rather than by death, the German fleet's calm response prevented him from exploiting the loopholes he wanted to exploit, which led to the current disadvantage. As a result of this blow, the firing command room in the upper part of the bridge was almost blown away, and the command tower, which was protected by heavy armor, was unharmed, and Betty and his staff officers suffered some innocuous abrasions at best, but the damage to the firing command room cast a shadow on people's hearts, and the large German torpedo boats that were attacking at high speed were approaching under the fire of the British ships.

Even though she was unwilling to do so, Betty calmly ordered the entire detachment to turn left at full speed for 3 compass points. As soon as he finished speaking, one of his staff members said loudly: "Look, the enemy wingman is releasing a smoke screen to cover its withdrawal from the battle!" The previous hits had taken its toll on it, and one or two more hits would surely sink it! ”

If the ship's firing control system can play its role normally, the "Tiger's" firing accuracy will not drop too much after maneuvering and turning, but the situation at this time is not only not ideal, but can even be said to be very bad.

Rear Admiral Onuoha said to Betty in a resolute tone, "Sir, please let us sink it with the 'Royal Princess' before turning!" ”

Betty didn't say a word, and the officers who were ordered to give orders did not dare to stay privately. Major General Onuoha was in a hurry, he stretched out two fingers: "Two minutes, give me two more minutes at most, we will definitely be able to seize this turning point." ”

"But General, our Shooting Commander ......" One of Betty's staff officers tried to persuade Major General Onoha, but Betty raised his left hand, signaling that they didn't need to argue any more.

"It is not worth sinking an ordinary dreadnought of the Germans at the cost of the 'Tiger'."

Betty's words surprised many of the officers present.

"I'd rather lose a main turret." Betty didn't say a word, implying that the Scott Shooting Commander was more important to the "Tiger" than a quarter of the firepower.

Rear Admiral Onuoha was silent, and as soon as Betty's order was confirmed, the "Tiger" quickly went into full throttle turn. At this time, the sea was already stormy, and with the effect of turning at full speed, the last round of fire from the battleship's main guns completely lost its previous accuracy, and it no longer posed any threat to the German dreadnought, which had a large explosion in the front main turret. The "Royal Princess" fired much more reliably, but did not make a single hit after turning. In this way, the German battleship, which was burning and emitting black smoke, slowly withdrew from the battlefield under the cover of the smoke screen of light ships.

After the "Rhineland" withdrew from the battle, the ratio of the number of capital ships of Britain and Germany became 9 to 7, and the Germans still held a relative advantage.

(End of chapter)