As the battle alarm sounded, the crew on the "Mackensen" jumped off the bed one by one, opened the hatch and rushed to their respective combat positions, and the labyrinthine and tortuous passages on the warship were immediately filled with footsteps, but after only a few minutes, these cabin passages became empty, and only the radio was still repeating the battle alarm. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

On the deck, the four massive main turrets moved slowly, the muzzles of the black holes pointing in unison in the direction of the leaping cannon flames. Deep in the ammunition compartment below deck, the sailors were ready to load armor-piercing or high-explosive shells into the loafers, and at the other end of the loafers, the gunners were ready to complete the last baton of the relay race.

From the moment it began to reverse, it took the "Mackensen" and its two light cruisers to sail out of the minefield - a longer time than Beanke had expected, and the whole process was undoubtedly proud. Although the wartime coastal defense fortress No. 9 learned some profound lessons from the Battle of Texel, the Allies did not have enough time and manpower, nor did they have enough transportation capacity and confidence to build a large coastal fortress again.

Knowing that the enemy ships were in the southeast, the shipborne radar of the "Mackensen" did not detect the target for a long time, but the land-based radar station deployed east of the port of Punta delgada kept sending reports: A fleet of two large ships and four small ships appeared in the southeast sea of São Miguel Island, which initially moved on a route parallel to the coast, and when attacked by shore artillery, they quickly turned south. They took the initiative to open a straight line from the coast, and then turned eastward, as if to end the battle and evacuate the area, but after only a quarter of an hour, they turned to the north again, and the fire of the artillery fire on the opposite shore suddenly became fierce...... By the time the "Mackensen" and the two wingmen withdrew from the minefield to form a battle formation, the land-based radar station had ceased to work, and the entire No. 9 coastal defense fort had been damaged by more than 40 percent.

The attackers were clearly not just trying to destroy a medium-sized coastal defense fortress, after making the coastal defense fortress No. 9 in the southeast corner of San Miguel Island unthreatening, they quickly turned their attack to the coastal defense fortress No. 8, which was closer to the port of Punta delgada, and if it could be destroyed, the next target of the attackers would definitely be the harbor where the Allied ships were anchored, so the long-range heavy artillery deployed at the coastal defense fort No. 8 was all engaged in counterattack.

Although the situation of the battle was unfavorable to his side, Beinke, who had resigned from his post as commander of the Allied fleet, completely lost the heavy psychological burden of his earlier period, and he ordered the communications officer to send his combat intentions to the theater command in the form of a secret telegram, asking them to coordinate their radar stations and fortress firepower to distinguish between friend and foe, and then command this "small and exquisite" fleet to attack the southern flank of the enemy fleet.

Twenty minutes later, Beinke finally got the enemy detection report from the ship's radar room, and six large and small enemy ships were located at 14 degrees north-east and at a distance of 24,000 meters. According to this speculation, the enemy warships were separated by 20 kilometers from the coastal defense fortress No. 8 on the island of San Miguel, and in the case that neither side could accurately observe the opponent's position, and the radar ranging data was not accurate enough, the shore artillery undoubtedly suffered a great loss.

Beinke immediately issued an order to all the soldiers, asking them to prepare for engagement.

Ten minutes later, the radar room sent another report, the distance between the two sides was reduced to 18,000 kilometers, and the pulse warning instrument sent an early warning signal, which means that the opponent has discovered the whereabouts of its own ships.

Beinke picked up the binoculars, and the sea was still dark and dreary, except for the moment when the cannon flame flickered, and he couldn't see even half of the shadow of the ship in his sight, but the powerful enemy was there. Victory, there is a good chance to settle the situation in one game, defeat, but not to the point of no return, which gives Beinke enough confidence to challenge the opponent.

At 7:41 p.m. that night, Beinke ordered the opening of fire, targeting the enemy ship closest to him on the radar.

In the majestic thunder, the fire of the muzzle of the cannon lit up a large area of the sea in an instant. Even from a dozen nautical miles away, the sound of breaking the silence could still be heard clearly. The first salvo of the two German battleships was slightly spaced, and then the sea almost fell silent, leaving only the peculiar sound of heavy shells cutting through the air.

A dozen seconds later, an even stronger thunderclap was heard on the distant sea, which was the sound of a cannonball falling into the sea and exploding. Beinke could imagine how the sailors on that enemy ship would react to these sudden large-caliber shells.

The enemy quickly replied with the sound of artillery, and although the shells fired from 16,000 or 7,000 kilometers away were somewhat inaccurate, Beinke and the officers on board could still judge from the sound of the shells when they exploded: they were shells fired from the 16-inch guns.

The power of the 15 and 16-inch caliber naval guns seems to be a level apart, in terms of the muzzle kinetic energy of the shells, the latter is at least 130% of the former, and the armor penetration depth has increased by more than 20%, but the brilliant victory in the last major war has given the German naval officers and men enough confidence and arrogance to defy this gap, and the play of tactics and technology can indeed make up for it to a great extent, as evidenced by the German Mackensen-class and the British Admiral-class, which attracted much attention in the early 30s, in the first naval battle of San Miguel. The Mackensen-class, armed with a 15-inch naval gun, performed much better than the 16-inch Admiral-class in a strong dialogue. Objectively and impartially deduced, the odds of victory and defeat are half of the odds of the two heads-to-head -- the admiral-class main gun armor-piercing shells can effectively penetrate the opponent's main armor belt, and the Mackensen-class armor-piercing shells can also threaten the opponent's core parts, and the key lies in who can take the lead in striking a decisive blow.

After the second round of exploratory main gun fire from the "Mackensen", the radar room reported that two enemy light ships had turned to the side, and the other four battleships remained on their course and speed.

Since leading the main fleet of the Central Powers to the Azores, Beinke has fought 11 naval battles with the US and British navies, and has learned the various tactical routines of the enemy generals. Therefore, he ordered to attack the opponent's large warships with the main guns, and use the secondary guns against the smaller warships.

Like all German capital ships built at the same time, the Mackensen-class battlecruisers were armed with turret-style 150 mm twin secondary guns, which were characterized by high accuracy, long range, and fast rate of fire, and were highly lethal to ships of the light cruiser class and below. Soon after Beinke's order was delivered, good news came from the radar room: one of the two enemy light ships that had turned around suddenly and sharply stalled, quickly distancing itself from its companion.

Regardless of whether the enemy ship was really wounded or fake, Beinke very decisively adjusted his disposition, and the fire of the "Mackensen" secondary guns and the two accompanying light cruisers immediately concentrated on the enemy's "single arrow". Gradually, Beinke could already see its rough outline through the fire that rose from the opposing warship. It was a typical twin-chimney destroyer, and despite the incomparable strength of the enemy and the guns on it, one or both of its guns stopped firing briefly with each hit - the fighters in the non-enclosed turret probably lost far more in such a battle than the enclosed turret, but it was not long before the seemingly muted guns were fired again, except that their shells never really threatened the heavily armored "Mackensen".

At 8:11 a.m., just 20 minutes after the exchange of fire began, the destroyer, which belonged to the American and British camps, disappeared from the sea with most of its crew, and its only contribution was to make the opponent open fire one after another, thus facilitating the observation and shooting of its own capital ships.

Under Beinck's command, the "Mackensen" temporarily ceased firing, although heavy shells from the northeast landed one after another on the nearby sea, stirring up huge waves one after another, and it was like a cunning and patient fox, quietly changing course and adjusting its attitude.

During this time, two German light cruisers frantically ravaged another enemy light ship that had stalled due to injury, and in its desperation it fired flares in the direction of the Allied ships, but found nothing because the guns were out of range.

After about a bag of cigarettes, the "Mackenson" and its accompanying light cruiser moved swiftly to the south flank of the American and British ships, and learned that the two light ships had suffered one after another, and the commander on the opposite side had realized that the situation of the battle was very unfavorable to him, so he took the initiative to take a retreat posture, which made Beinke very puzzled -- did the opponent not even have the courage to fight more and less?

Doubts are doubts, since the fighter plane has been sent to him, Beinke will not easily miss it, at a firing position of 12,000 meters away from the enemy, the "Mackensen", which had been replenished at sea in the early stage, opened the burst state without any scruples, after three and a half rounds of salvo and six salvos, the long-lost fireball finally broke the domination of darkness over the sea surface, and the rising fire ball illuminated a large area of sea, For the first time, Beinke, who was using the fixed high-powered telescope in the conning tower, saw his opponent's true colors: a tall three-legged mast and a tall bridge resembling a cylinder, a huge main turret with two front and one back, and two thick, tall chimneys, and even if the ship's amidships were shot, the battleship facing this side on the port side was still firing shells with all its might.

"It turned out to be our old rival! The British gave them the title of War Rangers, and even said that they were the natural predators of the Mackensen-class, tsk! Beanke shook his head with contempt. The enemy in front of him was like a few hungry wolves, who boldly entered the village, found the sheepfold, and at first began to speak, but were frightened by the sudden appearance of the gatekeeper and fled. Is this the real strength of Ernest King?

(End of chapter)