"At present, we have only one task, and that is to hold back the main fleet of the Allies and wait for the arrival of the main force of the British!"

Commander Tari, protected by heavy armor up to 300 mm thick, Commander Bouet of the French fleet? Admiral de la Perel stood tall and said to the subordinate officers in front of him with a stern expression: "A week ago, the British Grand Fleet had secretly drawn some of its forces and came to the Mediterranean to cooperate with us in annihilating the Allied Combined Fleet that dared to attack in one fell swoop. Now is our best opportunity than ever. Just now, the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Berkeley? Milne had made contact with the fleet by secret telegram: they had entered the Eastern Mediterranean in the early hours of today, August 12, and were now only 100 nautical miles away. We are now luring the decoy to the main British fleet, and as long as we hold out for three and a half hours, victory will belong to glorious France! ”

Hearing de la Perel's words, the staff officer in the command tower did not show much shock or ecstasy, and after the fleet sailed from Alexandria, the admiral, who intended to improve the morale of the army, informed his officers and Pan of the news that was a core secret of the Entente. However, this method did not have the desired effect of the general. Due to the complete suppression of the reconnaissance fleet by the opposing side, the large number of British and French main fleets was in an absolutely inferior formation from the moment the enemy ships were discovered; Whether it was the covering charge of the armored cruisers or the death attack of the torpedo boats, the French fleet was bled in front of the defending Allied fleet, and a large number of young officers and men were killed. The news of the sinking of their own warships from time to time undoubtedly made the hearts of the French officers in the flagship like a boulder. There is no hope or thirst for the future.

Right now. Two and a half detachments at the rear of the battle line. It was also under the fierce fire of the Allied dreadnoughts, and it was in a precarious position; However, the six Dandong-class dreadnoughts on their side could only watch the enemy ships from 17,000 yards away bombard their own ships, but they could not do anything. Because the battleships that are being deployed on the battle line have strict regulations on their speed and course, if they want to close the distance to support, they will inevitably get out of the battle line that is about to take shape, and this is obviously something that is absolutely not allowed in the decisive battle of the fleet!

Mechanical vibration. The slight chime of the clock, the lively beating of the slender hands, was like a hammer that struck the hearts of the French officers again and again. All were anxiously waiting for the formation of a battle line that would teach the Austrian beasts who dared to slap the noble French knights a hard lesson. Every minute was as long and unbearable as a day for them; And the huge fireballs that kept exploding on their own rear warships made their hearts twitch and spasm violently. You know, the vast majority of the two battleship detachments at the rear were French ships with pure Gallic blood flowing!

Suddenly, the light behind the French ships burst into flames. It was like a blazing sun descending on the sky and the sea in an instant. A French battleship with a blazing flame and a stern bow seemed to be unable to withstand the continuous heavy blows. He ended his life in the most tragic way of the explosion of an ammunition depot. Even from a distance of several thousand meters, the officers and men of the Allied countries on other warships could clearly see that the entire capital of the ship had been shattered into thousands of pieces in a violent explosion, a large number of debris and debris had been shot into the sky, and the huge twin main turrets had been thrown into the air like toys at an altitude of 60 meters. When the flames and smoke had died down, there was no longer the ship on the sea; Only the swirling whirlpools and floating scattered fabrics, barrels, oil stains and other sundries, still prove that this battleship once existed so truly!

"God, Charlemagne is finished...... the French officers turned pale and kept scratching crosses on their chests. As the pride of the French Navy, the Charlemagne, which began construction in 1894, is widely regarded as an excellent example of the French Navy abandoning the misguided Green Water School and rebuilding the main fleet and revitalizing the glory of the French Navy. However, such a powerful warship with a standing displacement of 11,100 tons and capable of dominating the former dreadnought era was sunk in less than ten minutes, and it was difficult for 700 officers and men to survive the devastating explosion just now. The battleship Dante of Italy, which was on the opposite side, was only hit by one shell, and the successive salvos of its 12 main guns also showed everyone that it was still in a state of vitality!

Just a minute later, disaster struck the French battleships in the rear. With a standing displacement of 14,500 tons, the "Republic" was no match for the Austro-Hungarian flagship Combined Forces in one-on-one combat: under the continuous bombardment of the opponent's 350-mm heavy bombs, its deck bridge, and the internal compartments of the hull, turned into a living hell of flames and flesh and blood. A 350-millimeter armor-piercing bullet was like a comet flying, brazenly tearing through the 305-millimeter-thick armor of its command tower, killing all 17 officers, including the captain and first mate, and instantly paralyzing the entire battleship. Another shell thunderbolted through its 280 mm thick waterline armor belt, destroying the internal soda lines and flooding the side of the battleship. This shell directly pronounced the fate of the Liberty.

The French battleships, with their extremely high center of gravity and extremely poor waterproofing, could not withstand this thunderous blow from the underwater part, and they lost their command due to the destruction of the command tower, and their appearance on the subsequent damage pipe was even more clumsy. Several watertight hatches were poured into the turbulent sea before they could be closed, and their poor stability further aggravated the ship's roll. In less than five minutes, the Republic was tilting more than 30 degrees to the right, and the fate of capsizing was inevitable; The rear ships hurriedly turned to avoid a collision, which undoubtedly further lengthened the time it took for them to implement the change.

At the same time as the Republic was gradually capsizing, the battleship "Zollini", which was closely followed by the United Forces, also achieved decisive results. After firing a half-salvo at the French Suffren, the dreadnought, which also belonged to the Radetz-class, fired a salvo with all eight of its own 305-mm guns. The dreadnought and tall freeboard bridge in front of France suddenly burst into flames, like a torch burning on the sea; The propeller shaft located in the stern of the ship was also destroyed by Austro-Hungarian artillery fire shortly after the exchange of fire, and at the same time it lost its ability to move, it was also filled with a large amount of seawater, and the stern freeboard was gradually lowered, and there was no longer a chance to retreat!

The two damaged battleships, the "Henry IV" and the "Gaul", could only limp out of the battlefield under the cover of smoke released by the torpedo boats, dragging their soaring flames and tilted bodies. They were lucky enough that the fire from the Radets and Ferdinand did not hit their vital points compared to the sunken robes. For a time, only 3 former dreadnoughts were left in the rear array of the Entente countries and were still holding on to resistance, and the Allied fleet had already won an overwhelming victory.

"Order, the fleet will turn right to a compass point, and each ship will fire in turn!" Inside the Danton, the French Navy's flagship ship, de la Perel gave the order in an almost roaring tone, his golden blue eyes filled with rage. In less than fifteen minutes, he lost three former dreadnoughts, and two more were forced to withdraw from the battle; Considering the other ships that have been damaged, they have lost more than half of their former dreadnought combat power. And the main fleet of the Central Powers was not hit a few times in total, which made De Perel, who had been mentally prepared, still feel angry. Although the decisive force in this naval battle is not his own fleet, under the condition of ensuring that the course of the lure enemy is roughly unchanged, de la Perel does not mind fighting the other side!

The machinery roared, and the furnace was in full swing. The sharp bow of the ship cleaves the waves, and the chimneys spew out thick black coal mist; The battered but still large British and French fleets began to turn slowly on the surface of the sea, stirring up a spectacular white wave at the stern of the ship. The battle lines of the Entente fleets finally unfolded. Four cutting-edge forward dreadnoughts with a displacement of 14,500 tons led the way, followed by six Dandong-class battleships with five chimneys and a standing displacement of 18,300 tons. 6 ships of the British Old Man Star and "St? The "Louis" was at the end of the queue to deal with the six Austro-Hungarian Habsburg-class dreadnoughts that were gradually arriving from afar.

Although the French fleet has suffered huge losses from the sinking of 7 capital ships from the beginning of the battle to the present, and its overall strength has been slightly weaker, this is still within the psychological tolerance of de la Perel. Although the current situation is not in favor of itself, it is not that it cannot be fought; The reason why his former dreadnought fleet suffered heavy losses in a short period of time had a lot to do with the change of formation just now. In the process of the battleship being drawn into a row, the route is basically fixed, which undoubtedly means that when the opponent's ship is formed by the opponent's straddle shot, it cannot turn and avoid as usual, which greatly increases the probability of being hit by the opponent's shells. And once normal engagements are returned, this defect will be remedied, and it will be almost impossible for the Austrians and Italians to get the large number of hits they have just made.

Seeing that the Allied fleet adjusted its course and intended to start a decisive battle with him, he sank enemy ships in succession, and felt that he had a clear advantage? House was obviously not going to admit it, and immediately commanded the fleet to pounce away. In order to cover the damaged two Queen Margaret-class dreadnoughts and avoid being fired by the opposing dreadnoughts in the upcoming decisive battle, Lefell has already commanded the Dante to catch up and connect the six Allied dreadnoughts in a line. (To be continued......)

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