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"Knock knock, knock knock."

The drumbeat knock on the door woke up Zhu Binhou, who was reading a book, and he opened the door of the captain's room and was a little angry: "What are you knocking on?" "Commander, go and see, something is wrong!" Without further ado, the first mate pulled him and ran to the deck. Hearing the word "accident", Zhu Binhou felt a chill all over.

The president is in Cairo too!

"What the hell is going on?" Zhu Binhou grabbed his clothes and rushed out, only to walk out a few steps, the red light in the passage suddenly lit up, and the whole ship let out a terrible whining sound. This is a battle signal! The sudden appearance of the battle signal startled the resting sailors, and the entire battleship fell into chaos. Engine rooms, turrets, hundreds of sailors and officers in blue overalls rushed to their posts.

"What's going on? Who pulled the battle alert?! ”

Zhu Binhou immediately inquired about the situation after arriving at the Anhai Command Tower. Without saying anything, the shift commander handed him the binoculars and pointed his finger to the port side: "Commander, look!" ”

As soon as Zhu Binhou picked up the binoculars, he was frightened by the scene in front of him. I saw that at the other end of the harbor, two kilometers away, countless points of fire were firing at each other, and the shore guns on the distant batteries were locked onto the French Navy battleship Lorraine and several destroyers anchored there. Outside the bay, the British naval formation of seven cruisers and destroyers had already turned sideways, and looking at the situation on the deck, it was clearly ready for a torpedo attack!

"What the hell are the British?"

"Is it a mutiny?"

"No, it's France. Did the French Navy defect to Germany? ”

The officers poured into the command tower to discuss, but Zhu Binhou couldn't control it so much, no matter what madness Britain and France had, he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, so he immediately ordered: "Anchor!" Notice Riyadh! Captain Wu, liaison with the Tibet and Xikang. Hurry up and support as fast as possible! Zhang Xiang, contact the Presidential Guard and get Air Force One ready to take off. ”

"Back to work! The turret is energized and reloaded with live ammunition. Contact the British command to inquire about the situation, and the Wuhan keeps the alarm at the same time! This is not a drill, not a drill! ”

Following the order of Zhu Binhou, the battleship Anhai and the heavy cruiser Wuhan immediately extinguished all lights. The engineer starts the boiler and sprays heavy oil into the furnace, and the auxiliary diesel engine is the first to roar. Power and power for battleships. Three minutes later, the bow turret of the Anhai began to turn, which was a signal of combat readiness!

Large-caliber shells were quickly raised, and the gun squad leader held the phone in one hand and the firing button in the other. Two streaks of sweat dripped down his cheeks and onto the deck.

"The diesel engine is started and can leave the port."

"The boiler pressure is rising, and it will be five minutes!"

"The radar is on."

"The reconnaissance plane is ready to eject!"

"Report, turret 1 is ready, turret 3 is ready, turret 2 is ready! The secondary artillery anti-aircraft was prepared. ”

"The hydraulics are fine."

"Left rudder 15 degrees, signal to the British: [Our ship is leaving!] 】 90 seconds battle ready count! ”

The atmosphere in the bridge of the Anhai was tense, and under the orange-red battle lights, Zhu Binhou stood at the front. Hold the crash railing. The navigator next to him pinched the stopwatch, and loudly reported the number second by second, and his face was covered with sweat droplets all around. The battle continued in the distance, and the machine guns on the side of the Lorraine joined the battle circle. Even the main gun slowly turned around! This scene made everyone sweat, if the French Navy opened the main guns, then the shore guns on the British batteries would definitely return fire, and then the harbor would probably turn into a sea of fire!

As the tremors under your feet intensified. The main engine of the steam turbine was finally started, which was a little relieved. "Ready." Zhu Bin Hou just raised his hand. Preparing to give the order to rush out of the harbor, the communications officer rushed out from behind: "Commander, commander!" The British replied! They are disarming the French fleet! Not against us! ”

"Disarming the French Navy?" The shouting finally made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Only Zhu Binhou did not dare to be careless, and ordered to leave the port first, and then make a decision after the situation stabilized. As the Anhai and Wuhan broke out of the anchorage, officers and sailors poured onto deck. The disarming battle behind them was nearing its end, and the French clearly lacked the determination to fight to the death, so British sailors quickly rushed aboard the Lorraine and several other warships.

"Commander, Great Britain." Captain Wu Youen was very puzzled, why would Britain and France, close allies, suddenly face each other? Only Zhu Binhou seemed to think of something, and his eyes showed a bit of joy.

When Zhu Binhou led the ship to leave the port, Yang Qiu of Cairo also got the news of Alexandria. "President, it's a fight! The British sailors wanted to disarm, the French were clearly prepared and had already exchanged fire! Gu Weijun rushed into the villa with an excited face, as if there were a lot of magic ships waiting for him to accept. That's great. As soon as Yang Qiu heard it, he knew that Jin Bihui's warning had taken effect. He waited for a long time on this day, but he didn't care about the warship, for him he could get the best, and it didn't matter if he couldn't get it, what he needed was a complete break between Britain and France! It is thorough, and not cold confrontation as in history! So immediately called the guards: "Go and ask General de Gaulle, he should also know." ”

"Shaochuan, send a report to Zhu Binhou, asking him to rush to Algiers as quickly as possible to search for the French fleet. By the way, when will Churchill arrive? ”

"Tomorrow afternoon. President, if the Navy is gone, your safety. Gu Weijun was not worried about Yang Qiu's safety, after all, here in Cairo, German and Italian spies were very active, and even the Soviet Union had infiltrated.

"I'm fine. You tell Zhu Binhou that there will definitely be a lost magic ship, let him stabilize the other party first after meeting. ”

"President, General de Gaulle is here."

As soon as Yang Qiu sent someone here, de Gaulle came by himself. The two looked at each other and smiled, and could see that de Gaulle was also angry with the British approach, otherwise why did he come to the door first before he looked for him? ——

At the same time as Alexandria started, Åland Bay was already filled with water. "Concentrate your fire! Let the cruiser come to the rescue. Oliver! Go to the battery and don't let the British come closer! Be sure to break through! "The sound of a roaring explosion exploded around the Richelieu, and a column of water up to a height of 100 meters continued to rise. Although General Sur was mentally prepared, he still didn't expect the British to really make a move, and as soon as he made a move, he concentrated his firepower on the Richelieu, clearly to completely destroy the pride of France!

After the battlecruiser USS Hood opened fire, the USS George V, USS Determination, and HMS Warrior joined the fray. 24 381-mm naval guns and 10 356-mm naval guns simultaneously opened fire less than 15000 meters from the anchorage. Dense shells frantically fell in the bay. Not only the five French battleships were attacked, but even the oil depots, ammunition depots, barracks, and even two dockyards of less than 3,000 tons on the shore were all covered and shelled, and the powerful shells set off hurricanes and completely tore apart the last bit of trust between Britain and France.

"Boom!" A huge fireball lit up Åland Bay! Two armor-piercing shells fired by the USS George V hit the naval oil depot in the port of Mirskbier, and 150,000 barrels of light heavy oil (heavy oil filtered to remove impurities) instantly turned into a huge fireball, and the flaming heavy oil spread like a raging tide towards the harbor and the bay.

"General, oil depot!"

The horrific scene stunned the French admirals. Even Jean Sur clenched his fists! The British are going to completely cut off the roots of the French navy to continue to be stationed in North Africa! "Fire, fire! Sink them! "All the French sailors were mercilessly enraged, and the last shred of luck was thrown out of the clouds.

Since Dar Lang made the battleship turn around and bow to the sea in advance, he made Suhr's counterattack very fast! In particular, the three battleships Richelieu, Dunkirk and Strasbourg had two quadruple turrets in the bow. So the bow is very powerful against the enemy! What's more, the French main guns are significantly higher than the British naval guns of the same caliber in terms of power and penetration, so the 24 main guns also hit countless water columns around the British fleet.

The artillery battle was fierce, but the results were very small, except for the oil depot, because the topography of the Mirskbil anchorage was somewhat peculiar, and there was a hill on the land where the breakwater was connected. Blocking the direct view of both sides, both Somerville and Jean Sur could only let the gunners aim at each other's masts and shoot. In the face of poor hit rates, Somerville deserved to be an excellent commander of the British Navy. In just three minutes, the problem was discovered, and the fleet was ordered to fight and retreat to open up the distance and field of vision, and at the same time ordered the aircraft carrier to support.

Jean Sur was unlucky, and the waters in the bay were narrow. There wasn't much room for him to maneuver, and it took enough time for the ship to reach full speed after it was activated. So it takes at least twenty minutes to get around the hill! For twenty minutes, he could only shoot blindly, or use the guidance of a seaplane to open fire. Compared with him, Somerville's biggest advantage is two aircraft carriers, the Ark Royal and the Dreadnought (also known as the Eagle in China). The former carried 24 Sea Gull fighter-bombers and 30 Swordfish torpedo planes, while the latter also had 12 Sea Gulls, 6 Swordfish and 6 Tubenose Swallow fighters. So after receiving the order, the six Swordfish, which took off in advance and were on standby, rushed into the bay first.

"Attention, attention! At 9 o'clock, six swordfish! "The appearance of the Swordfish swarm has caused concern for Jean Suer. The Richelieu's anti-aircraft guns were the first to fire, and the dense shells rushed towards the enemy aircraft. Don't look at the Swordfish is a biplane with slow speed, but it is very useful in actual combat. When the pilot spotted the Richelieu at the front, he immediately dispatched four planes to deal with the big guy, and the remaining two rushed towards the Brittany, which was departing from port.

The Brittany was just an old battleship, although it had been prepared for a long time, but its air defense was insufficient, and it did not expect that the British would attack itself first, so the two Swordfish easily dropped the torpedo.

"Torpedo, it's a torpedo!" The two white wakes made everyone who saw this scene close their eyes in broken heart. Because the Brittany was leaving the dock at this time, Gen could not turn to dodge. "May God bless them." A sailor bit his lip and silently crossed his chest. But God wasn't in Orland Bay tonight, so everyone could only watch as the torpedo crashed into the battleship. Boom! In two violent explosions, two large holes were torn open in the starboard side of the Brittany, and seawater began to pour into the ship's hold. Without waiting for the captain to give the order to save himself, the George V outside the bay was the first to discover that the torpedo exploded and raised a huge column of water, and turned all ten 356-mm naval guns to the area of the water column.

The 23,000-ton hull exploded continuously, and the shock wave wantonly overturned the soldiers, and the entire battleship began to burn. "General, Brittany." George V's three salvos, completely destroyed the old battleship. As the battleship slowed down, the Brittany became the standard cannonball magnet. Although it was already covered in flames, the George V showed no signs of stopping, and the ten main guns were still cold and carrying out the order through the hill. Aim at the cupola flames and throw the cannonball as fast as you can.

A minute later, two armor-piercing shells from the George V simultaneously hit under the main mast of the Brittany, and the shells penetrated the weak armor and exploded deep into the hull. The fierce explosion completely destroyed the battleship, and in the sixteenth minute after the battle began, the Brittany, which had eaten two torpedoes and was hit seven times, capsized, and only 233 of the ship's more than 1,000 officers and men survived.

A French seaplane that had come to help from the base saw the tragic situation and rushed madly towards the Hood and strafed away. Caught off guard, the Hood did not expect the French pilots to be so brave, and two sailors were immediately wounded, and the bullets also hit the transport boat. ignited the gasoline in the boat. Although the British sailors quickly cut the cable and abandoned the lifeboat, the flames flowed onto the deck, and a faint cloud of black smoke rose from the port side of the Hood.

It was this inconspicuous flame that became a turning point!

At the same time as the explosion of the Brittany, the Hood, along with the Determination and the Warrior, also hit the remaining four French battleships. On the French side, on the other hand, dozens of main guns fought for a long time, forming at least four straddles, but none of them could hit the British ship. And more lethal than the artillery shells were the British carrier-based aircraft that were constantly coming to support them from the far sea. As soon as the first wave of six swordfish left, the second wave of more than twenty sea gulls and swordfish swarmed in. Although the anti-aircraft guns on the harbor and battleships fired constantly, the anti-aircraft fire of the French Navy was really bad. Only two Swordfish were hit, and all the rest finished dropping.

"11 o'clock! Torpedoes, evasion! Left full rudder! "On the bridge of the Richelieu, the helmsman pressed the steering wheel with all his might. Three white wakes made everyone hold their breath. "Ten seconds, nine seconds, eight seconds." The navigator rushed to the porthole. Pinch the stopwatch to calculate the impact time. Seeing that the pointer was about to return to zero, the bow of the Richelieu, which was more than 40,000 tons, finally deflected rapidly, and the three torpedoes almost grazed the port side. While the sailors on board the Richelieu secretly rejoiced in their good fortune, the Strasbourg was killed. One of the torpedoes crossed the Richelieu. Straight to the Strasbourg, which was blocked from view, the torpedo crashed into the battleship, which had only been commissioned in 1938 in less than ten seconds.

The violent explosion tore through the strasbourg's side armor. Fortunately, the British airborne torpedoes were not very powerful, so only three compartments were flooded. "The torpedo hit the sealed compartment under the island, the compartment was destroyed, the pressure pipe in the boiler compartment was ruptured, and the oil tank began to seep water. Captain, the electrical valve in the vicinity must be turned off, otherwise a fire will be started. "The damage management team leader kept reporting the damage on the phone.

"Very well, this is not fatal! Seal off the adjacent compartment and fill the other side with water to keep it balanced. Start the pump to drain the water as soon as possible. Gentlemen, I need you to do everything in your power to make sure to keep up with the queue of the fleet! Captain Mills calmly gave the order, his eyes fixed on the shortening hill beside him.

"Provence! Damn, they hit Provence. "At this moment, the battleship Provence, which was lined up behind Strasbourg, was hit by a 381-mm armor-piercing shell in the secondary gun turret. After penetrating deep into the turret, more than a hundred 138-mm shells were detonated. From Captain Mills' point of view, the port side of the Provence was like a firework, and a huge black-red fireball rushed out from the rear of the island, and the flames were topped by countless fragments and wreckage.

"The Provence has slowed down! Damn, they lost speed. Keep up, keep up. Captain, they're going to be sunk. The adjutant held on to the railing, wept, and pointed to the Provence and shouted. There was silence in the bridge, everyone knew that his brother was on the Provence, but now there was nothing they could do.

"Signal, look! The Richelieu rushed out! Captain, look. It was then that the lookout saw the signal lights of the Richelieu. Guided by the semaphore, the French destroyers, protecting the flanks, accelerated forward and directed all their artillery fire at the minefields laid by the British, trying to help the fleet force its way through. When the destroyers began to clear mines, the Richelieu also completely rushed out of the bay. After the field of vision was wide open, Sur received the report of the water reconnaissance plane as soon as possible.

Discover a fireball!

As the night approached dark, the sailors on the deck of the Hood were desperately scrambling with their water cannons to wash the place where they had just been hit, and Somerville breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the flames were getting smaller and smaller. But he didn't know that Jean Sur had already transferred all eight main guns to the direction provided by the water reconnaissance plane, and also informed the Dunkirk and Strasbourg behind by light signals.

"Four o'clock, 16,530 yards away, shadow throwing, God! It's a big goal. All main guns aim, follow the Richelieu salvo! Captain Mills personally picked up the phone and translated the Morse code from the signal light as he reported it to the various battle stations.

"May God bless France!" Jean Sur drew a cross on his chest and gave the order to open fire in the shadow of the Hood.

The French naval officers who had been passively beaten gritted their teeth, like wolves bullied by tigers, driven by the Richelieu that took the lead in rushing out of the bay, completely baring their fangs!! Eight 380 mm guns of the Richelieu, 16 340 mm guns of the Dunkirk and Strasbourg, and even the Provence, which had lost its speed, raised the four 340 mm guns in the bow and fired the first salvo at the same time!

In an instant, dozens of water columns rose around the Hood, and standing in the violently shaking bridge, Somerville suddenly shouted badly, and hurriedly ordered to turn and release smoke, trying to take advantage of the gray sea at dusk to open the distance, and then rely on planes to settle the battle.

But by this time it was too late, and in less than fifty seconds, the second volley came.

Rumble!

The most tragic scene of the Battle of Åland Bay has appeared! The Strasbourg, which had just poked out half of its hull from the bay, hit the stern of the Hood! The French 340 mm naval gun is a powerful naval gun comparable to the British 381 mm naval gun, and even Yang Qiu chose to copy it, which shows how powerful it is! A 600-kilogram armor-piercing shell penetrated the aft gun of the Hood, and the shell easily penetrated the 102 mm armor here. The damage from this position was not a threat to the battleship, but even Somerville forgot that the Hood was just a battlecruiser!

The fragments of the explosion passed through the rear engine room and went into the ammunition depot where 18 tons of secondary artillery shells were stored! After the 18-ton shell was detonated, it again affected the two nearby main gun firing bays. Sensitive propellants were more dangerous than artillery shells, and a full 94 tons of propellant were ignited in an instant. This explosion was devastating! Neither Somerville nor Jeansur, nor even the Strasbourg, which fired a cannonball, would not have imagined that it could easily penetrate the armor of a warship of more than 40,000 tons.

There was a large explosion in the X and Y turrets behind the Hood, two turrets weighing hundreds of tons were lifted off, and fireballs from the shaft soared to a height of 600 meters! Countless figures flew out in the explosion.

The battlefield was completely frozen at that moment! Both the attacking British Navy and the counterattacking French Navy were all attracted by the huge black-red fireball of the Hood, and even the four sea planes that were attacking Richelieu quickly pulled up and rushed desperately in the direction of the Hood. But at this time, there was no one to help it, and the hull of more than 40,000 tons was broken in an instant! The pride and symbol of the Royal Navy, known as the unsinkable Hood, lasted only four minutes longer than in history before disappearing completely.

Only a dozen people on the ship, including Somerville, were rescued.

That scene shocked everyone, and the British and French navies never died again!