It has been said that the ambitions of the Germans to start a world war began in 1915, and from the point of view of macro-history, this opinion is not unreasonable. In that year, shrewd British diplomats used the London Armistice Treaty to preserve the core interests of the British Empire to the greatest extent, to set obstacles on the way for the Germans to dominate Europe and dominate the world, to the international shipbuilding race throughout the 20s, to the war in South America, which broke the atmosphere of peace, and to the Azores crisis, which led to the escalation of bloc confrontation, all of which are inextricably linked to the pattern left by the London Armistice.www.biquge.info

The "London Armistice Treaty" is certainly the masterpiece of British diplomats, but the defeated Britain has lost the strength to confront Germany alone, and if it were not for the profit-seeking Americans to help Britain reach out in time to help them quickly rearmament, and to launch proxy wars in Egypt, the Middle East, South America and other regions by secretly providing funds and weapons, thereby restricting Germany's foreign expansion, the Anglo-German contradictions may not have intensified so quickly to the point that war is indispensable. From this point of view, the Americans have gone from being invigilators of the last war to being the ones who are fueling it, and if they end up losing the war, they will be shooting themselves in the foot......

The Irish heavy cruiser "Ruger", which had completed its reconnaissance mission, was on the voyage to catch up with its own convoy, and German Rear Admiral von Heinke and Irish Captain Farrell stood side by side at the right end of the bridge observation platform, and in their left-hand direction, the mysterious S-fleet gradually appeared. The "Hesse" returned to the battlefield unabated, and the old and strong King-class played the role of the German-class battleships in the last war, and more than 20 light ships were ready to attack, so that the enemy destroyers did not dare to rush forward......

"The god of war is coming, I am very lucky!"

As soon as von Heinke finished speaking, a battleship on the side of the enemy fleet burst into smoke, and the lookout in charge of tracking and observing the enemy's situation then reported that it should have been the enemy's flagship, the flaunting Lexington-class battlecruiser.

In the naval combat mode, which is dominated by optical observation and supplemented by radar detection, it is not easy to hit an enemy ship at a distance of more than 26,000 kilometers. Looking at the two naval battles that took place in the sea area of San Miguel and Flores in the early stage, most of the results achieved by the two sides through naval artillery were within 20,000 meters, although the farthest hit distance that can be relied on reached an astonishing 28,000 meters, but after all, it was based on a large number of shelling, which can be said to be an accident and inevitable, but this time the situation is different. In a situation where the overall strength is slightly superior, the Allied fleet intends to engage in long-distance artillery battles, which seems to be cautious, but it is actually risky, if a large number of shells are consumed without any gain, both tactically and psychologically, it will gradually fall into passivity, and then cast an unfavorable shadow on the follow-up action.

Soon after the peace, the Allied fleet made a second hit, and the officers on the bridge of the "Ruger" were suddenly in high spirits. A German major brought by von Heinke arrogantly said, "Hmph! What's so great about Super Patrol isn't it just a king-size thin-skinned iron coffin? ”

After a series of battles in the Battle of the Azores, people can of course say that the design of the Lexington-class was very unsuccessful, they cost a lot of money to build and maintain, but they were vulnerable on the battlefield, but no one can deny the strategic role they played - at the beginning of the Lexington-class, the Germans, who claimed to be the number one in the navy, suffered a great psychological blow. The long construction period and the opposition of the wise people did not prevent the German top management from carrying it into action, and it was the Germania class, which has not yet been completed. Not to mention the "congenital disease" caused by the immaturity of the key technology of this super battleship, the manpower and material resources of just two Germania-class ships are enough to exchange for three German-class or five Mackensen-class, which is equivalent to adding a considerable detachment. If this force were to be put into the Azores, the Allied fleet would be much less passive, and the best engineers of the German Royal Naval Technical Committee would not have to be trapped in the invisible cage of Germania and would be free to think about more realistic and feasible questions.

Von Heinck's performance was not as superficial as that of his subordinate officers, who held a telescope in his hand: "It seems that we have already scored a point to break the deadlock?" Well...... It's probably too early to tell. ”

As the German rear admiral speculated, the first two hits were not fatal to a super-giant like the "Lexington", but more of a psychological blow to the American and British officers and men, and as the battle progressed, more and more shells fell around the American and British fleets trying to withdraw from the battlefield, and a bad premonition was growing in the mind of Vice Admiral Thomas Hart. It didn't take long for him to stay on the bridge and suddenly saw a "black lightning" smash down from the diagonal top, smashing straight into the top of the No. 1 main turret, and the 120 mm thick carburized steel armor plate became the shell of a sea crab, which looked vulnerable in front of professional foodies and small hammers.

Hart's expression froze instantly, at the time of the battle, the main turret loaded with two 18-inch naval guns had at least three shells and nearly a ton of ****** at any moment, enough to blow the entire turret apart, and this was not the most terrifying thing. The enemy's shells are fired at a large angle, as long as the time-delay fuse works properly, it is very likely to penetrate the turret floor into the ammunition supply channel, and the double fire door between the turret and the ammunition depot can withstand the impact of the explosion, but it cannot block a high-kinetic large-caliber armor-piercing projectile, then what awaits this battleship next will be a complete disaster.

At this moment, Hart will not have to endure the torment, because all the assumptions will be verified in a matter of tenths of a second. Next, the huge battleship seemed to be struck hard by an invisible and boundless heavy hammer, and the people in the bridge suddenly felt that the land was shattered and the world was turned upside down. Immediately afterward, Hart's eyes reflected a blazing fireball, which first erupted from the top of the cracked turret, and then because the huge energy was not fully released in the confined space, the hull that enveloped it was squeezed apart, burst, and then bloomed with a dazzling light......

An inexplicable force darkened Hart's eyes, and he lost consciousness completely, and then suddenly regained consciousness like an electric overpower. He found himself lying face down on the floor, tearing pain in multiple parts of his body. Looking up with difficulty, I looked around, and the ruined bridge was filled with smoke and mess, and there were people everywhere who didn't know whether they were alive or dead. Barely able to support his body with both hands, but the gravitational pull from the center of the earth dragged him to the side, Hart immediately realized that the floor was tilted, and he struggled to move a few feet forward, looking out through the open hatch, and the scene before him was like a nightmare: the hull of the "Lexington" was slowly sinking in a boiling water, the bow to the first main turret was completely missing, and the second main turret reluctantly turned to the right, trying to leave the barrel above the water, but the sea water had submerged the root of the barreland it is rising rapidly. The tumbling sea is full of debris, corpses and struggling survivors, which shows that the Super Battlecruiser of the US Navy is proud did not have a ship-wide explosion like the most unfortunate British Battlecruisers in the last war, and the reason why the explosion of the No. 1 main ammunition depot did not spread to the No. 2 ammunition depot very close to each other is obviously because the armor ring wrapped around the outside of the ammunition depot played a key role, which gave the surviving crew a chance to escape more precious than gold.

After a thunderous explosion, Vice Admiral Hart saw a column of water rising around the two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, and it seemed that the Allied fleet had decisively shifted its target when it learned that the "Lexington" was on the verge of destruction. Despite the fact that the remaining hundreds of tons of ammunition and more than 3,000 tons of fuel oil on the "Lexington" could trigger a larger explosion at any time, two American destroyers and a British destroyer ventured closer, spraying the burning parts of the battlecruiser with water cannons while lowering their dinghys and soft ladders to rescue the drowning crew.

As the commander of the fleet, he failed to save the fleet from doom through his own judgment and decision-making, and Thomas Hart felt guilty, so he had no intention of surviving, and only hoped that the officers and men on the "Lexington" would escape smoothly, but at this time, there was a constant screeching sound from the ship, which was the sound of the hull parts twisting and breaking under the action of gravity. Intuition told Hart that the sheer size of the ship would not last long.

Knowing that he was in danger, Hart let go of all his burdens. He moved to the side, leaning his back against the bulkhead, pulled out his cigarette case and lighter, and as soon as he lit it and took a puff, he heard anxious cries from under the bridge.

"General Hart! Colonel Garcia! Major Remy! ”

Hart took a deep breath and replied with all his might, "The officers on duty on the bridge are all dead, and I will be with the ship!" ”

Hearing someone reply, the voice suddenly saw hope: "General Hart, is that you?" General Hart! I'm Captain Davis, you hold on, we'll get you out right away!" ”

But at this moment, Hart felt the floor under him and the bulkhead against him tremble, and the trembling sensation increased rapidly, and the strange noise coming from the inside of the cabin also rose sharply.

"Captain Davis, I'm Thomas Hart, and I order you...... Organize the evacuation of the Lexington at once, and, if possible, take the battle flag with them, so that it may one day fly again on the mast of another American battleship, and let it witness the victory......"

Before Hart could finish saying this, the hull of the ship trembled violently with a palpitating sound, and the deck, which had been tilting forward, suddenly returned to a horizontal position like a seesaw, and then turned backwards, and swayed from side to side, and after this repetition, the main deck was completely submerged in the water, and the remnants of the hull immediately sank at a speed that was recognizable to the naked eye.

Cold sea water poured in through the hatch, and Hart closed his eyes with a cigarette in his mouth and muttered, "What a bad day!" ”

(End of chapter)