760 Great Encirclement Four Great Naval Battles

"Spotting the enemy fleet !!"

November 26, 1937 at 3 p.m. Pinchaev, an observer at the lookout post of the battleship "October Revolution", picked up the phone, loudly reported his findings, and then pressed the red button on the inside of the watchtower. A terrible siren suddenly sounded in all corners of the battleship.

"Comrade Commander, here they are...... Two 'Karl. Marx' class, three Königsberg class and, possibly, three destroyers. "Major Kasatonov, Special Assistant to the Commander of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, handed Orlov with a trembling hand a report sent by the communications staff officer. Out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but look out, and a few pillars of smoke rising into the sky told him that the enemy's fleet was rapidly approaching.

"What are we going to do? Comrade Commander? Kasatonov asked again.

"What to do? Of course it's time to fight! Orlov's face was ugly, and he replied impatiently. He looked at the report sent by Kasatonov again, shook his head with a wry smile, and ordered: "Left, 15 degrees to the left, report the distance." ”

"25,000 meters."

"Comrade Kasatonov, it's up to you to draw up the battle plan."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Kasatonov frowned bitterly and was silent for a moment, the Frunze Naval School did not teach him how to fight with a 305mm cannon "Karl. Marx" class, a monster with thick steel armor wrapped in it! However, he was able to roughly calculate how close the 305mm cannon would have to be to penetrate the opponent's waterline armor or the front of the main turret...... Of course, in actual combat, this distance is not easy to reach.

"According to reconnaissance speculation, the opponent should be part of the Chinese expeditionary fleet, and the two battleships may be 'Zhenyuan' and 'Dingyuan'. The caliber of the main guns, the armor, and the speed of this battleship surpass ours...... However, the number of warships of the opposing side is not as large as ours, only 8 ships, so we should attract the attention of the opponent with battleships, and then surprise the enemy positions with cruisers and destroyers, and solve the battle with torpedoes. "The commander of the battleship October Revolution, Rear Admiral Kuznetsov, at this time came up with a proposal.

"Very good, this is a good way, our destroyers are all great." Orlov forced his composure and nodded. He took out a pack of "Kazbek" brand cigarettes, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and added: "We are not going to fight them hard, if the situation is unfavorable, we should withdraw from the battle in time and break through in the direction of the Baltic Sea, as long as we can reach the Baltic Sea, we will have a chance to fight the enemy to the end...... Comrade Kuznetsov, how's that? His pained eyes swept over Kuznetsov's angular and resolute face.

"That's a miracle!" Kuznetsov seemed to answer him, and at the same time looked at the sea with worried eyes.

Everyone also calmed down, and they all looked nervously there, and the column of smoke rising from the sea was getting closer and closer!

……

On land, the dark clouds that had enveloped the Baltic coast for more than 20 days were finally blown into Central Europe by a strong northwesterly wind. The Baltic front is finally clear again. Over the past few days, the political dividing line between the front line, which means killing and fighting, has changed dramatically. Since Tallinn, the main point on the back road, was occupied by the German ** troops coming from the sea, the 1st Baltic Front, which was flanked by the enemy, had switched from offensive to defensive. On the one hand, the main force of the front army fought and retreated into Estonia, and on the other hand, the 115th Army, 117th Army, 118th Army and 120th Army were withdrawn, a total of four infantry corps and twelve infantry divisions, nearly 200,000 people, to counterattack Tallinn, which was captured by the German ** team.

However, the attack of several days was undoubtedly a nightmare for the officers and men of these four armies, and the German ** who was holding on to Tallinn was supported by the fire of the Sino-German combined fleet cruising in the Gulf of Finland. The Red officers and men could only rush to the guns of the battleship. Regiments of well-trained and well-equipped infantry fell in formation into a flying mass of shrapnel fire, all of which were reduced to charred and mutilated corpses. But more infantry regiments continued to fill the furnace. Now Marshal Tukhachevsky still has more than a million troops in his hands, and he can finally support this war of attrition with huge casualties. But the marshal knew very well in his heart at this time that there was not much time left for himself and the Soviet Union!

The commander of the 1st Baltic Front, Tukhachevsky, sat in his office furnished with a few simple old pieces of furniture, and was in a very anxious mood. He had just received a telegram that the Red Banner Baltic Fleet had spotted an enemy fleet approaching them, but this fleet consisted of only eight ships. Marx-class battleships. That is, there were now four more such battleships in the bay of Tallinn, with a total of 36 380mm guns...... In addition, there are hundreds of 152mm and 105mm secondary guns, which can easily crush their own new attack on Tallinn.

At this moment, the door to the office was pushed open, and the Chief of Staff, General Yakil, walked in with a pale face, and by his side was the Deputy Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Zhukov, who had just returned from Leningrad.

"You may be seated." Tukhachevsky waved his hand at them, glanced at Zhukov, and said lightly: "The situation in Leningrad is okay?" Georgi, you came back from there, right? ”

Zhukov saw that Tukhachevsky was already thinking about the defense of Leningrad, so he told the truth: "The situation in Leningrad is good, and the good ones are worrying!" ”

"What do you mean?" Tukhachevsky was a little puzzled when he heard this, and he looked up at Zhukov. Zhukov frowned, his gaze darkened. "The people there were celebrating the victory every day, no one knew that the flames of war were about to burn over, and there was no preparation for resisting the aggression, and I asked the acting secretary of the Leningrad municipal party committee, who did not have enough food, not enough weapons and ammunition, and did not receive orders to mobilize the workers' Red Guards...... They did not know that the war was about to be lost, and they did not believe that Leningrad would be surrounded. ”

Tukhachevsky and Yakir looked at each other, as if surprised. Tukhachevsky said: "Then they should know by now that the situation is not good, right? ”

"What if you know?" Zhukov seemed discouraged, and he smiled bitterly. "Even if there are hundreds of thousands of workers' Red Guards, Comrade Marshal, do you think you can rely on them to repel millions of fascist troops?"

"Of course not." Tukhachevsky looked at his beloved general, "What do you want to say?" Georgi, just say it, you don't have to beat around the bush in front of me. ”

"We have to break through immediately! Abandoning the attack on Tallinn, while the encirclement of the Germans had not yet been finally formed, the whole army broke through to the west, and it was possible to break out a little bit. ”

"Comrade Zhukov, do you understand what you are talking about? Do you know the situation in which the 1st Baltic Front is located? Akil interrupted him abruptly. Now that the First Baltic Front is under attack, and the front line is fighting with Germany's Army Group North, if it breaks through now, it will be a big rout, and it will be a miracle to have 2 troops stand out in the end!

"Of course I do! Comrade Yakir. But now the problem is, if we don't go, neither will the Second Baltic Front in the South, nor will the Western Front, like the Ukrainian Front. They are going to stay to cover us, to distract us from the pressure, or rather to accompany the funeral! I can guarantee that the Germans must be preparing a new encirclement plan, perhaps soon! All they had to do was to concentrate their forces and tear a few holes in them, as we did with the Poles, and put their armored forces in there, and turn the river into our rear...... And then the entire Soviet Union will be left with no available troops, and our Soviet Motherland will really perish! Zhukov tried to control his emotions, in his opinion, the battle has been lost, and now it is necessary to consider how to reduce the losses, instead of blindly carrying it to the end and losing all the last capital.

Tukhachevsky listened, he knew that Zhukov's opinion was correct, but he had his own difficulties. This military adventure was proposed by him to Stalin, and the tyrant also obeyed his words, but now he is facing total defeat...... How should I give an account to Stalin, to the Soviet people, to the proletarians of the world? Moreover, he does not have the power to order the troops to break through now, and the final decision is up to Stalin, who will never agree to give up millions of men at once.

"Comrade Yakil, can you arrange a plane to Moscow?" After Zhukov's words were finished, Tukhachevsky said slowly: "If you can, arrange for Lieutenant General Zhukov to go to Moscow and report to Comrade Stalin about the situation here as a representative of the First Baltic Front, and at the same time make suggestions." ”

After saying that, he stood up and watched Zhukov go disappointed, walked to the window, and looked at the clear and cloudless sky outside. The weather had cleared up completely, and the German air force would soon be able to return to the blue sky, and they had really lost the war this time. Unless Tallinn can be captured today, within a few days, the First Baltic Front will be in a predicament of running out of ammunition and food, and then I am afraid that only one will be able to stand out, as Zhukov said!

Thinking of this, Marshal Tukhachevsky picked up the phone on his desk and dialed Major General Timoshenko, who commanded the troops to besiege Tallinn......

……

November 26, 1937, 5:05 p.m.

The first salvo of 18 380mm guns was fired, and an earth-shattering roar began to echo in the Gulf of Finland. The duel between the Chinese expeditionary fleet and the Soviet Red Banner Baltic Fleet began!

However, the first salvo was fired, and all the people on the battleship "October Revolution" already knew that something was wrong. The two battleships of the Chinese aimed all their 18 380mm main guns at the Soviet flagship, which had been more than 20 years old, and the hot shells rushed over with a roar, and only the fifth salvo was fired, and an 800-kilogram 380mm caliber was rushed from 21,000 meters away by armor-piercing shells, and hit the amidships of the battleship "October Revolution" head-on. After a loud "boom", the battleship trembled violently as if it had been kicked by a giant, and a dazzling fireball burst into flames. The whole battleship was in disarray, and the normally well-trained Soviet sailors were now all directionless, running around like headless flies. Flames began to spread in the middle of the ship, and when a "squeak" sound sounded, the tall mast screamed and collapsed.

The shock and confusion caused by the sudden blow finally passed, and the ship's damage management personnel pulled in more than a dozen water pipes as if they had just woken up from a dream, spraying the icy sea water into the raging fire on the ship's amidships.

"Comrade Commander, the captain of the damage management team reports that the fire is under control." Kasatonov put down the phone and shouted at Admiral Orlov. However, the Soviet admiral, who was straight-uniformed and had a serious complexion, did not seem to hear his shouts.

Surprised, Kasatonov shouted again: "Comrade commander, the rear mast was shot, the shell did not penetrate the boiler room, but it caused a fire, and now the fire is under control......"

"Good! Very good! I know. Orlov nodded as if he had just woken up from a dream, barely squeezing out a smile. Now order the destroyer to charge, we will teach these Chinese a lesson with torpedoes! Let them taste our awesomeness. ”

"But ......" Hearing Orlov's order, Kasatonov was suddenly stunned, now the distance between the two sides is still more than 20,000 meters, and the distance from which torpedoes can be cast is still far away! Isn't ordering the destroyers to charge now the same as sending those destroyers to their deaths? How could they drive more than 10,000 meters under the enemy's naval guns to release mines?

"No, but! Order the destroyer to attack, this is the order! Orlov yelled. He raised his slightly trembling finger and pointed at the Chinese fleet in the distance, and shouted loudly: "Order all the artillery to fire at me, concentrate your fire on the Zhenyuan, and hit me hard!" ”

This time, no one reminded him that at this distance, except for 12 305mm main guns, other artillery could not hit the Chinese at all. Anyway, if you can't make a sound, you can be bold.

From the bridge of the battleship Zhenyuan, the flagship of the Chinese fleet, a ball of fire was constantly rising at all the cannon muzzles that could be aimed at the Chinese fleet, and at the same time, ten destroyers turned their bows and swooped in the direction of the Chinese fleet as if they were crazy!

"Are these old hairy people crazy?" Colonel Chiang Ching-kuo, who was watching the battle from the bridge of the Zhenyuan, muttered softly, now that he had finished his mission at the Transport Command and had been transferred to this battleship as the first officer. And he will soon be able to take over the position of captain from Yu Yanshou! Daddy's loss of power did not affect Xiao Jiang's future, and it seemed that the admiral's throne would be his turn sooner or later.

"They're going to attack us with torpedoes!" Fleet Commander Yu Yanshou smiled coldly: "Guns, pay attention to their destroyers, and allocate the firepower of secondary guns and cruisers to deal with them." All the main guns continued to aim at the 'October Revolution', sinking it first. ”

"Boom ......"

Yu Yanshou's order did not last long, and the battleship Dingyuan finally received the first major result of this naval battle, when 800 kg of armor-piercing shells hit the stern of the "October Revolution". All the lookouts saw that the 25,000-ton big guy seemed to have been pulled by something, and the stern of the ship was violently pushed to the right. And then there was a huge explosion.

The explosion occurred in the power compartment of the battleship "October Revolution", and the 800-kilogram shell directly penetrated its armor and drilled into the power compartment to make a big flower, and then caused a raging fire! The entire battleship suddenly lost all power, and the stern of the ship sank slightly, looking like it was flooding somewhere. Although its three twin 305mm naval guns were still shelling, everyone knew that the battleship "October Revolution" was finished.

However, to the surprise of everyone here, the "October Revolution" did not sink later. After being abandoned by order of Admiral Orlov, it remained stubbornly afloat on the surface of the sea until the end of this naval battle in the Gulf of Finland, when it was towed back to the port of Kiel by the Chinese fleet. It was restored and given as a gift to the Empress Anastasia of Russia, who had ascended the throne in St. Petersburg, and the ship's name was changed to "Anastasia I".

However, the sister ship of the "October Revolution", "Marat", was not so lucky. At 5:30 a.m., the Zhenyuan, the flagship of the Chinese fleet, fired its 10th salvo, and by this time the distance between the two sides had been reduced to 15,000 meters. Two 380mm armor-piercing shells hit the 25,000-ton Soviet battleship at the same time, one of them hit the bow, and in the face of 380mm armor-piercing shells, the 127mm armor was like a thin layer of paper, which did not play any protective role at all. The 800-kilogram shell passed through the armor belt, broke all the way, and then drilled out from the other side of the bow, punching two terrible holes, and tons of sea water rushed in. And the other shot pierced the fuel tank in the stern! A large explosion occurred inside the fuel tank, igniting the heavy oil stored on the ship, which immediately caused a violent fire that quickly engulfed the entire battleship. The captain of the ship, Rear Admiral Isakov, had no choice but to order the flagship. Thirty minutes after the ship was abandoned, the raging fire finally reached an ammunition depot on the warship, and after a loud roar, the huge 25,000-ton battleship completely disappeared from the world.

After the loss of all two battleships, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet of the USSR was de facto destroyed, and the transfer of the flagship to the cruiser "Red Ukraine" to Admiral Orlov, by this time there was no fighting spirit. Looking at the two battleships that burned like two torches, the admiral made the most painful and correct decision of his life. He took the remnants of the Soviet ship and sailed 13 nautical miles to Helsinki, the capital of Finland......

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