"Look, 'Saragato' has been hit...... There was an explosion in the amidship! Smoke rises from the stern! My God, may this not be a disaster! ”

In the command tower of the American battle cruiser "Lexington", a captain officer seemed to be so stunned by the sight before him that he was a little incoherent, and his negative emotions were immediately transmitted to his colleagues, who stopped their work almost at the same time and looked at the sea behind starboard side. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"What's it called? What are you panicking about? ”

Lieutenant General Hart's face was pale, his brows were almost furrowed, and under his majestic reprimand, the panicked officers calmed down, and the operation of the operation, the summons of the order, the observation of the observation, the strict machine returned to its proper rhythm.

As the commander of the cruiser's fleet, Vice Admiral Hart could not fail to pay attention to the injuries of the "Saragato", but he had to keep an eye on the situation and keep an eye on the situation, so his eyes constantly wandered between the enemy, his own and friendly ships.

The battle in front of us can be said to be a duel between three Lexington-class ships and three Mackensen-class, but this duel is not as fair as it seems, the Germans have gained a tactical advantage through a premeditated battle layout, and the attack on the "Saragato" is the embodiment of this advantage, while the incomparably powerful main guns of the American battle cruiser are not fully utilized, so the officers under Lieutenant General Hart will become more and more restless. The reason why Hart was able to calm down was not because he was sure of the Lexington-class protection ability, but because he saw that his main fleet had sent two British battle cruisers to help in time. At that time, even if the "Saragato" withdrew from the battle, Hart would still have a four-on-three advantage, not to mention that the performance of the British battle cruiser was more balanced, and it would not be so disadvantageous to fight with the Germans.

After a few moments, the officer in charge of communications reported to Vice Admiral Hart: "Sir, the Saragato has radioed that their power system has been slightly damaged, but it is still able to maintain its current speed, the power supply on board is normal, the main guns are working properly, the starboard side has lost two secondary guns and five anti-aircraft guns, and the estimated number of casualties is around 60." ”

At first glance, the explosion scene of the "Saragato" made people feel terrible, you must know that the most criticized Lexington class is its weak defense system, this drawback has been improved to a certain extent during the refit in 1929-1930, but because the main gun caliber of the newly commissioned German battle cruiser is at least 15 inches, the modified Lexington class is still nicknamed the "super sea iron coffin" by many people.

Receiving the damage report from the "Saragato", Hart finally breathed a sigh of relief. In the face of the enemy's sharp artillery fire, he once again commanded the battle patrol detachment to carry out a rapid maneuver, and in the following minutes, three American battle cruisers were not directly hit, and two British battle cruisers had already arrived quickly.

The heavy artillery fire failed to help, and the German battle cruisers in the distance took on a new twist - their shadows quickly narrowed, quickly narrowed to the limit, and then widened, which meant that they were turning around. As a result, two British battlecruisers armed with 16-inch guns had just entered the fray, and after two rounds of half-salvos, they lost their targets - three Mackenson-class ships cunningly used the outline of São Miguel Island, moved to a position where American and British battle cruisers could not look directly, and then continued firing with the help of the island garrison. Despite the fact that such shooting accuracy and adjustment efficiency were far inferior to direct sighting, the Germans had enough ammunition and patience to sustain such a battle.

The U.S. and British fleets crossed half the Atlantic to the Azores, and apart from the newly captured island of Texel, there was no strategic base within a thousand miles, and supplies and time were exactly what they lacked the most at present. In the waters off São Miguel Island, more than 100 kilometers away from Texel, the US and British fleets either gave full play to their superiority at sea and fought a quick victory, inflicting heavy damage or even annihilating the main fleet of the Allied Powers, or they gave up the great opportunity to win the battle and wage a tug-of-war of attrition with the enemy in the Azores.

The U.S. and British battle cruisers combined in one place, trying to re-find the target through the movement of position, but in the absence of an absolute advantage in speed, how could the American and British warships in the outer ring outrun the German war patrol in the inner circle? This situation of being completely passive lasted for more than ten minutes, and Vice Admiral Hart had no choice but to order a retreat, and the battle between the two battle patrols came to an end temporarily, and the main ships of the two sides completely disengaged from combat contact, but the naval battle of San Miguel Island was not over. Even if the Allied fleet moved to the waters north of São Miguel Island was bent on escaping, it had to worry about the opponent's position -- the main US and British fleets were on standby in the waters southeast of São Miguel Island under the command of Admiral Sanderley, and no matter which direction the Allied fleet retreated, they were able to calmly adjust their deployment and pursue them at high speed with the cruisers, with the battleship groups following closely.

Like a cat, Standley intends to use static braking and wait for the rat to take the initiative to reveal his flaws, but his opponent is not an incompetent rat, but an ally army that can conquer the accustomed war. From early morning to noon, Allied warplanes launched six waves of air raids on the US and British fleets, and although the scale and intensity were much smaller than the previous day, such attacks still made the US and British officers and men feel distraught. After another round of air raids, the American and British warships finally raised their guns and launched a retaliatory bombardment of São Miguel Island. Twenty capital ships and six heavy cruisers, including the battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral Hart, rained down on the island, which was less than 800 square kilometers, in a ferocious formation that threatened to sink it to the bottom of the sea. In a short time, the southern part of the island of San Miguel was repeatedly swept by blazing flames and flying shrapnel, both by Allied soldiers and by the island's residents.

At about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the tall mast of the battleship suddenly appeared behind the headland in the northeast corner of São Miguel Island, and a Bavaria-class battleship was the first to show its face and shell the two outposts sent by the US and British fleets to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance on this side. The rumbling of artillery immediately shifted the focus of the battlefield from the southern part of São Miguel Island to this side, and the American and British ship groups reacted quickly, and the two powerful Britannia-class battleships were the closest capital ships, and they were heading north on the one hand, bombarding the German ships with powerful 16-inch guns on the other, and a column of water rose near the northeastern headland of São Miguel Island. Ignoring this more than substantial artillery fire, the German battleship continued to attack the two enemy destroyers within range, wounding them one after the other, and then turned around decisively and quickly disappeared behind the headland.

How could the cat be willing to be teased by mice, and Shandley's flagship issued orders one after another, and dozens of American and British ships changed positions in turn in detachments. Two Britannia-class, one Sovereign-class, and two Queen Elizabeth-class ships formed a battle column at an interval of 500 meters, with all the main guns pointing uniformly to the port side. At 1:52 p.m., the "Great Britain" signaled: The enemy fleet had been spotted off the coast of the north side of the island, and four large warships and more than 20 light warships could be seen......

Detailed information about the disposition of the enemy fleet was still being sent, when large-caliber shells suddenly burst through the air and crashed down on the sea near the British battleship. The five British battleships quickly returned fire, firing 17 shells in a half-salvo from their main guns, and the enemy immediately returned 28 rounds!

With eight main guns per German capital ship, it is entirely possible that four capital ships will fire 28 shells in one round, but the combat observation report of the "Great Britain" refutes this speculation - several enemy capital ships are hidden in a smoke screen, and it is difficult to judge their number at present.

Shandley hurriedly urged the remaining two battleship detachments to follow up, but the Colorado-class battleship in the center was notoriously "full of turtles", and even if it was at full power, it was still slowly swallowed, and it was soon overtaken by the North Carolina-class and South Dakota-class, which were further south-Admiral Yanel's battleship detachment would take at least ten minutes to enter the firing position, and before that, the British battleship formation would bear the pressure alone.

From a global point of view, Stendley's move was obviously to prevent the Allied fleet from attacking the west, luring his main fleet to the north of São Miguel Island and then taking the opportunity to retreat south, on the one hand, they could exert their mobility capabilities, and on the other hand, the weakness of the Lexington-class class was really not suitable for being the vanguard in the fleet war.

For the next quarter of an hour, the British battleship formation was faced with the most severe challenge since the beginning of the war, not only under heavy attack from the enemy's capital ships, but also by the German fortified guns in the northeast of the island of San Miguel, and two of the five battleships were set on fire. Knowing that the German coastal defense forces on this side still had a certain combat effectiveness, Standerley's mood was not so bad, and he ordered the backward Colorado-class and Pennsylvania-class battleships to concentrate on attacking targets on the island, and he stood on the battle bridge of the "Indiana", holding a telescope and paying attention to the port side - the British battleship formation that was engaged in the enemy's firefight was close at hand, and the scene on the other side of the cape gradually unfolded in his field of vision, two Bavaria-class battleships, two German-class battleships, There are also enemy capital ships hidden in artificial smoke screens, and perhaps the remaining three Deutsche class ships are among them, so is the final showdown between the two main fleets going to be staged?

Thinking of this, Shandley's heart was no longer calm, he was still full of confidence in winning the victory, but behind this confidence, there was the exhaustion of hard fighting, the torment of apprehension, and the expectation of ending the battle as soon as possible to seek relief.

"Prepare for half a salvo, reload armor-piercing shells, calculate the ...... of firing all elements"

The sound of battle orders being given and conveyed filled the bridge with tension and excitement, and every officer here did not wish to end this hard-fought battle at sea with victory, but their opponents were very different from the Spanish army of 1898, which was a martial spirit in the blood, tenacity from the soul, and innate fearlessness.

Suddenly, a major who was observing the enemy situation suddenly shouted: "The German column mast has been found behind the headland!" Two enemy ships...... No, three! Distance...... Twenty-three thousand yards, a Mackensen-class battlecruiser! ”

(End of chapter)