The sun is setting and spreading its remaining splendor to every corner of the Caribbean. With the passage of time, the light in the sea and air has darkened markedly compared with the afternoon, and the observer troops behind the rangefinder have to raise their spirits in order to accurately grasp the distance and navigation situation of the target at any time.

The high-pressure jets in the "......" smoke canisters were rapidly sprayed out, forming large patches of orange smoke in an instant after contact with the seawater, and in less than two minutes, the starboard side of the flaming battleship South Dakota rose an artificial curtain wall large enough to disrupt enemy ranging. The left side of the bow began to stir up a splash of water that was significantly higher than that on the right, and the gentle waves generated by the low-speed voyage were still lightly rolled up on the shattered and twisted foredeck. In previous battles, the South Dakota was hit by a total of 21 large-caliber shells by the opposing Saxony, and the main armor belt and underwater protection were pierced several times. However, the entire battleship was also flooded with more than 8,000 tons of seawater under the pit damage of the built-in main armor belt, and the average waterline increased by nearly 2 meters; The starboard wheel nacelles and the middle boiler room were flooded, and the battleship could only maintain a cruising speed of 15 knots. Although the ship's power system can still provide a strong output of 70,000 horsepower, the underwater loopholes temporarily plugged with iron sheets, wooden planks, and even mattresses cannot withstand the impact of high-speed sailing, and the slightest carelessness will lead to the risk of water ingress out of control. In addition, the bow of the ship, which had been heavily buried, also made the battleship disqualified from pursuing speed; With just a simple maneuver to turn to withdraw from the battle, the foredeck of the battleship was flooded by the waves into a swimming pool. The American sailors who were exhausted and fell on the deck to gasp for breath thought that the battleship had capsized, and the screams of exclamation resounded throughout the sea and sky almost instantly!

On the battleship Baden. Machar did not in the slightest rejoice in the fact that an American battleship was seriously injured and withdrew from the battle. His whole mind. All of them were completely occupied by the sadness and anger generated by the explosion and sinking of the Württemberg. He had served on that ship for fifteen years, and the current captain, Luke, was a close friend he had known since his military school days. However, this is the cruel war that soldiers must face head-on, and how many brave men have made fearless and heroic sacrifices on the century-long road to the creation of today's fantastic German Empire?

"How did the Americans start using high-explosive shells?" Seeing the soaring water columns that suddenly scattered around him, Machar's heart was shocked, and then he blurted out with surprise. Since the armor-piercing projectile is usually equipped with a blunt fuse at the bottom of the projectile, the water column excited by the kinetic energy of the projectile is thick and long-shaped. The charge and fuse of the high-explosive bomb are significantly different from that of the armor-piercing shell, and the water column generated after the explosion is closer to the situation when the destroyer drops a depth charge during anti-submarine operation. Because there is a clear difference between the two. Machar recognized it almost immediately. He had a flash of inspiration, and immediately understood the reason: this American fleet, which is a surprise soldier, has the core goal of sweeping away its own landing grounds, so how can it carry too many armor-piercing shells for anti-ship? After more than an hour of fighting, their armor-piercing shells should also be exhausted!

"Boom!" The sound of a huge explosion that collapsed the eardrum suddenly came, the hull shook violently, and the loss of unprotected areas on the German battleship increased sharply due to the fact that the charge of the high-explosive shell was several times that of the armor-piercing shell. The air waves are rushing, the steel armor is exploding, and the vigorous and roaring flames are soaring into the sky; However, the core compartment of the battleship was preserved. German soldiers and mechanics scrambled to repair in oily seawater. So that the overall situation of the battleship is constantly improving. Even at the head and tail waterline, the German battleships had a light armor against shrapnel. It can effectively resist the direct hit of the warhead fuse high-explosive projectile. And perhaps in pursuit of accuracy, the American fleet showed no signs of pulling away, which allowed the armor-piercing shells on the German battleships to still effectively penetrate them.

At 18:47, the battleship Bavaria finally avenged its sister Württemberg. Having dealt with the enemy at hand, it immediately turned its attention to the Indiana in the rear and opened heavy fire on it with its remaining 10 main guns: the ship's firepower was the best preserved of the German fleet, with only one main turret failing during the battle due to a broken pitching mechanism. After emergency repairs, the combat effectiveness of one of the guns has been restored. The Indiana, which had been attacked by 17 shells under the attack of the Württemberg, was immediately enveloped by a column of water that soared into the sky, and huge blazing fireballs continued to explode on the ship. In a five-and-a-half-gun salvo, the Indiana was hit twice at once, one of which pierced its main armor belt and detonated the secondary ammunition hoarded in the rear. The power of thousands of medium-caliber shells to explode inside is also impossible for any warship to resist; The German lookouts saw a large amount of pitch-black billowing smoke suddenly burst out of the hull, mixed with bright flames, and then enveloped the entire battleship. By the time the smoke cleared, there was no longer the American battleship in that area, except for some lucky ones who survived the catastrophe.

Due to the short distance, Nimitz was the first to observe the catastrophic explosion. The loss of the Indiana made his face pale, and the joy of sinking a German battleship had long since faded. According to his idea, the enemy would wash away the secondary artillery fire of the opposing ships with high-explosive shells, and then send destroyers to carry out a decisive torpedo raid; However, before that, his own battleship actually sank another! Although another battleship in the German fleet at this moment pulled up the smoke, this did not make him feel relieved in the slightest; If we continue to fight like this, I am afraid that there will be warships that will follow in the footsteps of the USS Iowa and the USS Indiana!

"The fleet turned six compass points to the left and released a smoke screen in preparation for evacuation. The destroyer launched a torpedo attack. After a moment of silence, Nimitz gave the order in a heavy tone. The Indiana's death made him no longer determined to continue fighting, and although the Massachusetts and Alabama ships were still in good condition, they could only take a beating in battle without armor-piercing shells, and could not deal any real damage to the enemy ships.

As for the distance to reduce the threat of German armor-piercing shells, the same does not suit the current American fleet. The damage caused by high-explosive shells to battleships was already very limited, and the low hit rate at long range made these sporadic injuries even more insignificant: the reason why Nimitz did not choose to distance himself was precisely because he hoped to destroy the opponent's secondary guns and fire control facilities with more hits, so as to create a chance for the destroyer's successful lightning strike.

With the rise of clouds of smoke on the capital ship, the American destroyer, which had been reduced to spectators in the battle, finally had a stage to show its strengths; It's a pity that this is already a simple ending song after the core cast has left. For the sake of concealing people's ears, the US destroyers escorting this battlefleet were only 16 ships in two detachments, and the terrifying scene of rushing like a pack of zombie dogs was completely absent. There were also 12 German destroyers, and they had a clear advantage in the field of armor: due to the double opening of the power system itself and the fluid drag reduction, the German destroyers were able to save weight and lay armor protection that their counterparts in other countries could not afford at all, and their ammunition depots and even the entire core compartment were immune to 5-inch shells fired from normal combat distances. Although the German battleships were damaged in the battle, they were able to draw out several 128-mm secondary guns to support them. Under the fierce interception of the German fleet, only two American destroyers were given the opportunity to strike at the target battleship, and the torpedoes fired by them were calmly dodged by the former.

Looking at the shadow of the American fleet as it swept away, the sailors on the German battleships let out a feeble cheer full of exhaustion; In previous battles, they had fought bloody battles against more outnumbered enemies, and they had paid a heavy price as well as victory. The Württemberg, along with more than 1,400 officers and soldiers, lay to rest at the bottom of the sea, and in the end one of the ten survived; The Saxony was damaged, nearly a third of the crew was killed or wounded, and the battleship could only stagger forward at a speed of less than 14 knots with a 12-degree tilt to the left. The Baden and Bavaria were relatively lightly damaged, but had to be returned to Germany for full repair; This means that for a long time it will no longer be possible for the German Navy to use this force in the Caribbean.

In the distance, the setting sun slowly sank below sea level, and the German fleet, having completed its interception mission, began to return home. According to Machar's plan, the three battered battleships would first go to Brazilian ports for simple plugging of leaks, wait for the water to be completely drained, and then cross the Atlantic to return to the German shipyards. By contrast, the U.S. fleet, which was fighting at home, was undoubtedly repaired much faster, and by the time the German ships had even returned home, their lightest-damaged ships were able to regain their grip on the seas.

To Marchar's surprise, the U.S. fleet turned out to be a rifle in the night: in addition to the New Jersey and South Dakota, which had returned to the New Jersey and South Dakota, two other ships in better condition turned back to the waters off the coast of Dominica and opened heavy fire on the German landing grounds. The battleship's cannon was finally able to suppress the ground, and the huge explosion made the German army officers and men fall into hell. However, the artillery fire at night also completely lost its accuracy, and the American gunners, who could not observe important targets, could only fire indiscriminately, and the actual destructive power was greatly reduced. Fearing a lightning strike from the German destroyers at night, the two American battleships hurriedly left the site of the incident after dumping their high-explosive shells at the highest rate of fire, causing very limited damage to the German landing force.

However, this small unhappiness was completely overshadowed by the victory of the aircraft carrier fleet during the day. (To be continued......)

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