Chapter 1088: A Defeat
PS: The first update has arrived! Ask for a subscription, ask for a monthly pass! Thank you for the reward of Prince Charming, who is a virgin and has no words! Thank you for the monthly pass of the book friend Jijiu Tianchang, Huang Tianlong, Lip Yi, Nalan Blood, and Park Tianzhu!
The battleship 'Barham' had accelerated to 25 knots, which was already the maximum speed of the battleship. With the battleship "Warrior" damaged and the battleship "War-Weary" sunk even more, all the officers and men of the battleship "Barham" knew that the time had come for life and death. Therefore, the captain immediately gave the order to break away from the battle line and accelerate the flight to the west. It's just that just after they completed the turn, the fighters of the 4th Wing of the Chinese Naval Aviation have already arrived.
"Squad 3 begins to dive! Kill that big guy down there! "The squadron leader of the 4th Squadron of the 3rd Group of the 2nd Wing of the Chinese Naval Aviation ordered. The battleship 'Barham' was the third ship of the 'Queen Elizabeth class' battleship, with a displacement of up to 33,000 tons, and was slightly damaged in the naval battle in the North Sea. This time the reorganization of the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, John Brown. Admiral Jericho also asked for this powerful battleship. In the Mediterranean Fleet, there are only three 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships, the 'War Wey' has been sunk, the 'Warrior' has also been injured, and the 'Balham' battleship has naturally become a target that the Chinese naval aviation will not let go.
Four 'Fish Eagle' dive bombers entered the dive channel, and they began to dive from the rear of the battleship 'Barham' and pounced directly on the battleship 'Barham' along a 60-degree dive angle, making a sharp whistle. The British officers and men of the battleship 'Barham' looked in horror at the planes that were diving down in the sky. Now these planes. in their eyes. It has become synonymous with demons. Powerful battleships were even more vulnerable under the blows of these aircraft.
The battleship 'Barham' swayed left and right on the surface of the sea, trying to escape the attack of the bombers that were diving downward. When the four "Fish Eagle" dive bombers were only more than 500 meters away from the battleship "Barham", they dropped bombs one after another. Four aerial bombs weighing 500 kilograms fell and smashed into the battleship 'Barham'. However, the battleship 'Barham' seemed to have good luck, and all four aerial bombs fell into the sea, splashing up a column of water that soared into the sky. However, it did not cause any damage to the battleship 'Barham'.
"Hell, look at me!" The squadron leader of the 2nd Squadron of the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Wing of the Chinese Naval Aviation scolded angrily and personally led four 'Fish Eagle' dive bombers to start a dive attack. At this moment, the British officers and sailors on the battleship 'Barham' had not had time to cheer in order to avoid the attack of the four bombers in front, but a new attack had arrived.
"Boom!" The screaming sound of the 'Fish Eagle' dive bomber during the dive shook people's eardrums with pain, as if they were about to tear people's eardrums. Many of the British sailors on the battleship 'Barham' covered their ears with their hands, looked in horror at the bombers that were diving downward, and at the same time kept praying to God in their hearts. Pray that their battleships will not be hit.
This time, four 'Fish Eagle' bombers led by the squadron commander of the 2nd squadron. It was only when it had dived to an altitude of 400 meters that the bombs were dropped, and four black aerial bombs were smashed along the inertia towards the battleship 'Barham'. Despite the fact that the battleship 'Barham' began to make an emergency evasion, two aerial bombs hit the target. An aerial bomb exploded on the aft deck of the 'Barham', directly knocking off the twin 381mm guns on the aft deck. Another aerial bomb hit the apostle of the 'Barham', and the huge explosion damaged the power compartment of the 'Balham', and the leakage of high-temperature steam in several boilers not only scalded the British naval officers and men inside, but also caused the speed of the 'Balham' to begin to drop sharply. And in such a dangerous time, once the speed is lost, this is undoubtedly fatal for the battleship 'Barham'.
The squadron leader of the 2nd Squadron was about to order the remaining four Fish Eagle dive bombers to continue the attack on the Balham, but the business grabbers had already arrived. Four 'Osprey' dive bombers swooped down from the right flank and rear of the battleship 'Barham' and dropped their torpedoes only 500 meters from the battleship 'Barham'. Four 533 mm heavy torpedoes rushed at high speed towards the battleship 'Barham', whose speed was rapidly decreasing. Once the huge battleship loses speed, it becomes like a steel coffin floating on the sea, becoming the best target for fighters in the sky.
"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Three loud explosions sounded on the starboard side of the battleship 'Barham'. Of the four heavy torpedoes, all but one missed, and the remaining three hit the waterline armor of the battleship 'Barham'. Even if the battleship 'Barham' had 330 mm thick waterline armor, it could not withstand the blow of a 533-mm heavy torpedo, and the hundreds of kilograms of high explosives in the warhead of the heavy torpedo were enough to tear through the battleship's armor. It was hit by three heavy torpedoes at once, and it completely killed the battleship 'Barham'.
After being attacked by three heavy torpedoes. The starboard side of the battleship 'Barham' was torn open by three huge openings, and the raging sea water poured into the hull, causing the hull to tilt sharply. The captain of the 'Barham' gave the order to abandon the ship as soon as possible, but the battleship 'Balham' capsized on the surface of the sea within a few minutes, and less than a third of the more than 900 naval officers and men on the battleship escaped, and the rest sank to the bottom of the sea with the battleship, leaving a huge whirling nest on the sea.
"***, dare to rob us of the results. Squad 2 is going to deal with the rest of the ships, let's go back and load the bombs first! The squadron leader of the 2nd squadron scolded hatefully, but the bombs carried by the fighters had been used up, and there was no other way, so they had to return to the field airfield in Marsala, and after reloading, they were coming. I only hope that there will be no sunken capital ships by then.
Under the fierce siege of 40 "Osprey" torpedo attack planes and 40 "Fish Eagle" dive bombers of the 4th Wing of the Chinese Naval Aviation, the combined fleet of the British and French navies once again paid a heavy price.
The battleship Centurion of the British Navy was heavily damaged by several Fish Eagle dive bombers, and although it was not sunk, it lost half of its power. Two of the three 'Brittany-class' battleships of the French Navy, the 'Brittany' and the 'Lorraine', which were not injured, were also the targets of the siege. The battleship "Brittany" was hit by three aerial bombs and three heavy torpedoes and sank to the bottom of the sea. French Admiral Palmiro had to move to another battleship to command the battle, this time choosing an armored cruiser, because he knew that the capital ship had become a key target of the Chinese naval aviation. After the sinking of the battleship "Brittany", the battleship "Lorraine" was also heavily damaged.
In addition, the flagship battleship "Warrior", which had been damaged before, once again became the target of the Chinese naval aviation. Besieged by eight 'Fish Eagle' dive bombers and four 'Osprey' torpedo attack planes, this powerful battleship, which had been very lucky in the naval battle in the North Sea, could no longer hold on, and after eating two aerial bombs and two torpedoes again, it was powerless to recover. Commander of the Combined Fleet, John Brown. Admiral Jericho personally gave the order to abandon the ship, and after more than ten minutes, the mighty battleship sank to the bottom of the sea.
Despite the best efforts of hundreds of fighters of the 4th Wing of the Chinese Naval Aviation, it was not possible to wipe out all the capital ships of the combined fleet. However, all of these capital ships were damaged, if not sunk. The speed of the voyage has also dropped a lot, and many warships are full of smoke, and when viewed from the sky, it is very miserable. The 4th Air Wing also lost two Fish Eagle dive bombers in this attack. The two 'Fish Eagle' dive bombers did not control the altitude when they were diving, so that they could not pull up after dropping the bombs, and finally crashed into the sea, destroying the planes and killing people. However, such losses were insignificant compared to the results they had achieved.
"Return immediately, return to the airfield to replenish ammunition, and then come to the defense of these guys!" Wing Commander of the 4th Air Wing, Major General Cai Shudong, ordered. More than 100 fighters of the 4th Air Wing, which had completed the bombing, swaggered out of the skies over the combined fleet of the British and French navies, leaving only the officers and men of the combined fleet of the British and French navies who wanted to cry without tears.
"Your Excellency, Commander, we have suffered heavy losses. So far, we have 5 battleships sunk, and the remaining 8 battleships have all been damaged. The speed of all capital ships has been greatly affected, and the Chinese planes will definitely come again. Judging from the situation just now, we can't resist their attack at all! "Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said with a grim face. Although he didn't say it explicitly, he already knew that this time the combined fleet of the British and French navies was a failure, and it was an unprecedented fiasco, and all the capital ships probably couldn't survive.
"Order all the battleships, sail westward. The Chinese planes went to replenish ammunition, and we had to hurry up and escape. "John. Admiral Jericho said. His face seemed to be dripping from this, as the commander of the Combined Fleet, he also knew that this battle had been lost, but he still wanted to be able to escape back with as many capital ships as possible, although he knew that this was probably just his luxury! (To be continued......)