At about 8 o'clock in the evening, the main American and British fleets arrived 20 nautical miles south of Flores Island, only a two-hour voyage from Corvo Island, and by this time, the word anxiety was clearly written on the face of the commander, Admiral Chatfield. If www.biquge.info continues to advance, it is very likely that it will encounter the main fleet of the Central Powers as revealed by intelligence, and the odds of victory with this fleet in its current state may not be too high; turning around and withdrawing will have a very negative impact on both the military situation and personal reputation, and it is very likely to cause an irreparable historical disaster; as for standing still, it is probably the worst choice at the moment.

At the critical moment, an urgent telegram sent from the US-British Joint Operations Command seemed to push Chatfield into an ice hole -- a reconnaissance plane taking off from Texel Island photographed the Allied fleet near Corvo Island before dark, and through the enlargement and identification of aerial photographs, it was judged that the enemy fleet lineup included at least one Deutsche class, one Count Tirpitz class, one Mackensen class, two Bavaria-class, two Deflinger-class, and one suspected Deutschland-class. Regardless of factors such as the commander's ability, the morale of the officers and men, and the condition of the ships, this Allied fleet was stronger than the U.S. and British fleets led by Chatfield alone.

"Let me just say, if the enemy dares to land more than 300 kilometers away from his base, the main fleet will come to cover it no matter what." Admiral Yanel of the United States unceremoniously stabbed Chatfield's colicy heart.

Of course, this knife did not defeat the experienced General Chatfield, and even inspired his fighting spirit.

"With the current situation, we have no way out, and we can only survive by fighting to the death. From 1588 to 1915, the glorious Royal Navy was not afraid of any formidable enemy, but it is not known whether the American naval officers and men had such determination. ”

Faced with Chatfield's provocation, Yanel scoffed: "It's not a question of courage or determination at all, it's a question of right and wrong." In the light of the present circumstances, my officers and I do not consider it wise to engage the enemy head-on. Now that Corvo Island has been occupied by the enemy, give them this humble island! As long as Flores Island remains in our hands, and as long as our fleet remains combat-ready, there will be room for maneuver in this battle. ”

Chatfield shook his head: "Once again, we are back to our previous differences, General!" Corvo Island is indeed a humble island, but the ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes famously said, 'Give me a fulcrum, and I will pry up the whole earth', and Corvo is now the fulcrum of our battle. After the occupation of Corvo by the Allied forces, even if we were able to deal with the situation calmly, what would ordinary soldiers think? What will the population in the rear think? General, think about it, the enemy used the tactics of sea assault to cut off our sea supply lines before the occupation of Corvo Island, and now with this stronghold capable of greatly expanding the reconnaissance range and supplying the ships, how sure are we that we can break the enemy's blockade? If we retreat in disarray tonight, perhaps the command of the Combined Operations Fleet will be in your hands early tomorrow morning, have you figured out how to solve the current dilemma? ”

This series of problems did put a stop to Yanel, and now this mess is not something that anyone can clean up, and it takes a lot of courage and sacrifice to be ordered. If you succeed, you are a hero admired by all, and if you fail, your name will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

After thinking for a moment, Yanel lowered his posture: "You are the commander of the fleet, as long as you make a decision, even if we have objections, we will carry out your orders to the letter, as for the fault and wrong, let justice decide!" ”

The concerted efforts of their own faction were a necessary prerequisite for a strong enemy, and despite Admiral Yanel's clear concessions, the differences and mistrust between the two sides were not eliminated, and Chatfield was helpless. Democracies have the advantages of democracies, **** regimes have the advantages of **** regimes, when the Allied armies led by Germany were losing on the battlefield in the Azores, and they were about to collapse on all fronts, they actually stopped the decline with the efforts of Beinke and others, in addition to the inherent tenacity of German soldiers, it obviously has a lot to do with the centralization of the monarchies of Germany and Ireland. As long as those key figures in power continue to trust the front-line generals, even if the doubts from all walks of life are loud, the generals will be able to calmly command their officers and men full of military honor to fight tenaciously.

Doing nothing is doing something, which is a very interesting philosophical truth. After receiving detailed information from the Joint Operations Command on the enemy's fleet formation, Chatfield hesitated and did not make a fundamental adjustment to the original plan for the bombardment of Corvo Island, and the American and British fleets entered the brutal gladiatorial arena step by step. At 9:20, the fleet approached Flores Island, and the 26 large and small warships previously stationed here, including the two Pennsylvania-class battleships that were still under repair, were temporarily joined the combat formation under the call-up of Chatfield, and the expansion of the lineup should have played a role in boosting morale, but whether it was the main fleet that had trekked from Pico Island, or the escort fleet that had been trapped on Flores Island for many days, whether it was a middle and senior officer or an ordinary sailor, they had already been aggressively attacked by the opponent and the "Hohenzollern genius" The prestige of the famous man was so frightened that he lost his confidence. At about 10:10 a.m., two destroyers -- the US Navy's "Hale" and the British Navy's "Rockingham" -- collided in the sea east of Flores Island because of the heavy rain at night, and a total of 39 crew members from both sides fell overboard. Officers and soldiers on both sides were busy with the rescue, but they did not realize that the real threat was quietly approaching.

At 10:36, the 3rd Combat Reconnaissance Detachment, led by the German Navy's 1932 torpedo boat destroyer T-802 "Heinz Buch", T-727 "Otto Styra", T-733 "Bender-Sturmacher", T-645 "Otto Koning" and the Irish destroyer W-4 "Sligo", found the enemy's traces in the dark, so that the American light cruiser "San Diego" and the hapless destroyer "Hale", which were carrying out the rescue, had nothing to hide. At a distance of less than 1,000 meters, the destroyers of the Allied countries frantically poured their guns down, and the "San Diego" suffered more than 170 shells of 37 mm or higher in just 10 minutes, and the "Hale" suffered about 150 rounds.

With these two torches as the central point, the two huge fleets gathered together with each other, and the bad weather greatly reduced the effective detection range of the ship-borne radars of both sides, until 11 o'clock Chatfield realized that the enemy's main fleet was already within range, and at this time, three of the four combat reconnaissance detachments sent by the Allied fleet had occupied advantageous outposts, and only waited for the flagship to issue a radio command to attack, and then pointed out the direction of the enemy ships with searchlights and flares. At this time, the firing commanders of the Allied capital ships had to overcome only this terrible sea condition.

In accordance with the pre-war arrangement, the "Hanover" and "Hesse", the two most powerful German battleships, concentrated their firepower on the enemy's lead ship at the beginning of the engagement, and the primary target of the "Bavaria" and "Baden" was the enemy No. 2 ship, but due to poor firing range, they turned to attack the heavy cruiser on the side of the enemy lead ship, and the "Prince Heinrich" and "Mackensen" were deployed behind the flanks of the two German-class battleships, and carried out leapfrog fire on the enemy No. 3 ship more than 2,000 meters away. The "Lützov", the smallest capital ship of the Allied fleet, formed a guerrilla formation with its dexterity and superior seaworthiness, and fought at high speed from the right flank of two German-class battleships to hunt the cruisers in the vicinity of the enemy's lead ships......

Of all the battles that Chatfield could have foreseen, the reality was undoubtedly the most powerless, and the enemy's unstoppable three-plank axe stunned the well-informed senior officers and plunged the ordinary sailors into despair. The rain was pouring down all the time, and the distance between the two fleets was comparable to that of the Battle of Jutland, but now the main guns of the first-line capital ships on both sides had increased from 12 to 13 at that time. The 5-inch gun was expanded to 15 to 16 inches, and the cannon weighing more than a ton fell to the opposite side in only two or three seconds after being discharged, and no matter how thick the armor was, it could not withstand such a close attack, so the efficiency of this naval battle was far higher than the battle of San Miguel Island three months ago, and also higher than the Battle of Jutland 19 years ago.

At 11:22, the Colorado-class battleship "Washington", which was at the forefront, exploded violently after being hit several times, and the 35,000-ton hull turned into a brilliant firework, and then quickly disappeared from sight; Ten minutes later, several Allied destroyers broke through the outer defenses of the US and British fleets, and fired torpedoes at the array of US and British capital ships almost at the position of "guns on the head......

Although the U.S. and British fleets also dealt a heavy blow to their opponents in close combat, the "Hanover," which served as the flagship as the lead ship, was beaten by a group as usual, and at the most difficult time, the whole ship caught fire in many places, and all the main guns could not operate normally, and the morale and mentality of the officers and men played the most crucial role in this most critical moment. The signal to abandon the ship issued by the "New Mexico" became a desperate blow to the US and British fleets, and many damaged ships hastily withdrew from the battlefield on the grounds that they could not persist in combat, and the relatively well-organized battle formation became a dilapidated house with leaks everywhere, and the flagship "Indiana" soon became the common target of the capital ships and destroyer detachments of the Central Powers. In desperation, Chatfield had no choice but to order the fleet to retreat to the coastal waters east of Flores Island, but unfortunately, the panicked retreat turned into a rout in the face of the opponent's bold penetration and pressing step by step, and 31 American and British ships were sunk or abandoned, of which 23 were torpedoes, and two-thirds of the torpedo results were achieved at a distance of less than 200 meters.

(End of chapter)