In the commander tower of the battleship Iowa, Nimitz's face was already pale.

More than 20 minutes ago, when the anti-sea radar swept a large area of targets about 25 kilometers away from him, Nimitz sensed that something was wrong. Another friendly force was now launching a thunderous assault on the German fleet, and it was impossible to appear in the ocean storm zone so close to itself; Considering that the position of his fleet had been discovered by the other side in yesterday's battle, it was only possible that the enemy fleet was approaching him. And to his great trouble, the appearance of these enemy ships was completely unexpected, and now, he had no means to escape the pursuit of the other party!

As the initiator of the entire plan, Nimitz knew all too well the embarrassing state of his fleet. The four Essex-class aircraft carriers in the fleet are not the original lineup, and the three ships "Franklin", "Hancock", and "Cabot" are all wounded ships that came from another fleet at night: they were intensively attacked by a large number of German fighters in yesterday's battle, and ate a considerable number of bombs and torpedoes, just to play a role in confusing the public and create an opportunity for the attack of another aircraft carrier fleet on their own. At this time, they can only stagger forward at a speed of slightly more than 21 knots in the stormy area of the waves, and neither the watertightness nor the power itself allow them to flee at a higher ≧speed. The Randolph was slightly faster, but it could only reach a speed of 25 knots at most, in front of the enemy fleet that was chasing at 30 knots. There is also a lack of opportunities to escape from the battlefield.

Although the specific lineup of the opponent is still hidden in the rain curtain, it is unknown. But those who dare to chase after several fleets in the wind and waves. It could only be the German artillery fleet with battleships at its core. At present, there are only 3 Iowa-class battleships in their hands that can be used as the main escort force of the aircraft carrier; Considering that the German Navy, which integrated the Italian-Austrian fleet, had at least 30 battleships at its disposal, Nimitz had no illusions about the strength of the line-up on both sides. I thought that in this stormy sea area, the German Navy with aviation as the core would not be able to pose any threat to itself, but the other side actually had a battlefleet that acted alone from the aircraft carrier and appeared in front of it at the critical moment when it avoided the enemy's air attack!

At the thought of this, Nimitz's heart was filled with bitterness and remorse. In previous battles, he had already learned through the reports of the pilots that the target fleet was not accompanied by a single battleship. However, he did not realize that the opposing battleship group would be acting alone, and instead believed that they were escorting the other aircraft carrier fleets that had not yet appeared. Now, he has to face a harsh hand-to-hand encounter. Half a year ago, he returned with 6 against 4, and the current situation is undoubtedly several times worse than the last time!

"Let the aircraft carriers turn and retreat first, and we will buy them time to escape." Nimitz gritted his teeth, and then ordered categorically. Soon, the U.S. fleet was divided into two distinct forces: the four aircraft carriers, escorted by a group of destroyers, made a sharp turn and headed head-on in a direction perpendicular to the course of the German fleet, while the forces with three battleships as the core slowed down and made the same maneuver. Once the German fleet chose to pursue the American aircraft carriers. It will be hit by the t-head of 27 406 mm guns.

"There is still some blood in this group of Americans." After hearing the detection report from the radar room, Scheer on the Wilhelm was slightly surprised. There was also a hint of admiration in the words. He understood at a glance the intention of the American fleet to carry out this maneuver, and its shelling fleet was ready to stay and fight him to the death. Although he admired the courage of these cowboys, Scheer, each of his lords, did not have the slightest intention of showing mercy to his subordinates; With his orders, the column made of seven battleships did not dodge or evade, and rushed straight towards the American fleet at a large angle. The majestic main turret slowly turned, and the muzzle of the gun continued to pitch with the real-time numbers from the central fire control room, and suddenly, a brilliant light like the scorching sun bloomed from it in an instant!

"Boom!" It was as if thousands of scorching thunders had exploded in the air, and the earth-shattering sound swept through the hustle and bustle all around, and Rao Shischer, who had been the captain of the battleship since the beginning of this century, was still buzzing by the loud sound of the landslide and tsunami. Hundreds of meters of blazing waves burst through the air from the front of the muzzle, as majestic as the fire dragon clouds, and even the wind and rain seemed to be reflected in an instant into a red and gorgeous color. As an excellent display of misleading the direction of the enemy's navy in the new era and demonstrating the power of the empire, the 9 500mm L45 guns equipped with the 64,000-ton standard displacement of the 64,000-ton Kaiser Wilhelm-class battleships can be said to be completely powerful. It was only one and a half volleys, and its surging momentum compared to the wind and rain; The 2,200kg giant cannonball roared like a comet soaring into the sky, and in less than half a minute, it stirred up the Optimus Jade Pillar next to the US fleet 15,000 meters away!

When the Kaiser Wilhelm fired, the six battleships in the rear also burst out with a deafening thunderous roar, and for a time the red rainbow rushed on the rolling sea, and the fire dragon was premature, which looked magnificent and strange. The "Etel the Great" that followed closely behind also displayed a terrifying prestige that was not inferior to the former, and its bombardment made the American officers and soldiers cold from their hearts to the soles of their feet. After 38 months of intense construction and 8 months of training, the No. 2 ship of the Wilhelm class was officially formed into combat effectiveness three months ago and incorporated into Scheer's battlefleet. At present, these two giant ships are the absolute masters who dominate the battlefield. The firepower of one of their ships is comparable to that of the other two Iowa-class, and their armor defense, which was born out of the Cult of the Hatted Hat, is beyond the reach of the opponent.

And even five Bismarck-class battleships with a standard displacement of 38,000 tons will also throw their opponents who are 10,000 tons larger than themselves out of the street. Although the muzzle velocity of the 1400kg shells fired by the 8 430mm L42 guns is low, only 710m/s, with the excellent storage speed given by the heavy weight of the bullet and the slender hood, it is as easy as a sharp knife to cut through the opponent's 38mm outer plate + 307mm 19-degree inclined main equipment at the current distance. Although the Mk7 main gun on the American battleship has a theoretical penetration depth of more than 560mm at the current engagement distance, the German battleship's inward tilting and stripping of the cap main installation makes it in a powerful state: the shell that has lost the cap can only be smashed without suspense when it hits the surface-hardened armor at a large angle, and cannot cause damage to the internal core compartment at all. As for underwater shells, the double-layer TDS of German battleships also had sufficient thickness, and it was extremely difficult for American artillery shells to penetrate them. Coupled with the numerical superiority possessed by the German fleet, the battle lost its suspense from the very beginning.

"Boom!" The hull of the ship shook and the waves shook, and Nimitz in the command tower lost his balance under this sudden strong tremor, and fell to the ground heavily, and the violent collision between the hard steel plate and the joints of his body made him scream in pain. As far as the eye could see, everyone in the command tower was also staggering, and after a while, their shoulders tightened, and they were already supported by the two staff officers. Unable to call a doctor to check on the injury, Nimitz grabbed the telephone and shouted at the other end: "Report the damage to the damage department immediately!" ”

"General, the frontal armor of the B turret was pierced and exploded violently, and it is estimated that it is difficult for the 54 people inside to survive!" After a while, a voice full of panic and grief rang out from the phone. Startled, Nimitz struggled to his feet, and through the observation hole in the command tower, he saw that the front of the turret had been torn open by a large hole in the steel blade, and billowing smoke was pouring out of it. The shape of the turret is visibly distorted like a kneaded rubber, and the explosion inside it can be imagined. In this case, neither the gunner nor the equipment has almost no reason to survive!

Seeing this, Nimitz only felt a chill suddenly rise from his heart, his whole body was cold, and his eyes were full of horror and horror. The Iowa-class turret has 500 mm thick frontal armor and a 45-degree camber arrangement, making it the most heavily armored part of the ship. And the opponent's cannonball can thunder through this part from a distance of 15,000 meters, and its power can only be described as shocking and incredible! Although he knew that this battle was more than lucky, Nimitz still felt an unprecedented sense of fear at this moment.

The German battleship guns roared like thunder, purple light spewed into the sky, and the cannonballs roared into the sea to stir up a magnificent column of water, and constantly exploded in the hull of the opponent's ship to destroy the fiery shock waves. At a distance of 15,000 meters, the hit rate of large-caliber guns exceeded 6%, and the US battleship was soon swept away by the thunder and artillery fire of this day, the speed slowed down, and the hull of the ship was obviously tilted due to water ingress. When a group of American destroyers, led by six large cruisers, launched a decisive torpedo assault, a large number of ships of the same class in the German fleet also galloped out from the flanks, and the layers of arches were in front of the main battleship. Several German battleships turned their guns and thundered at the large American cruisers that led the team, and in the face of these heavy shells, the American cruisers were as defenseless as eggs under a hammer, and even horizontal protection would be penetrated by the other side at close range! (To be continued......)

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