Chapter 903: Trade-offs
"Tycho! It's the best decision of your life! Just when the Spee fleet was entangled and could not hold on, two battleships appeared behind the fast fleet, and Tycho personally commanded two Caraciono-class battleships to support the fast fleet, and with the help of 20 350 guns, even a battleship as strong as the Vengeance class only seemed a little difficult to resist.
ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO SUPPORT FROM THE FAST FLEET, THE ITALIAN FLEET STILL SENT THE EMPEROR TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, THIS SAD BATTLESHIP IS GUARANTEED TO BE DIRECTLY PENETRATED THE AMMUNITION DEPOT, 300MM ARMOR IN CLOSE COMBAT IN THE FACE OF 350MM GUNS IS NOT ENOUGH TO SEE, PLUS A LITTLE BAD LUCK, THIS BATTLESHIP WAS ALSO DIRECTLY BLOWN UP THE AMMUNITION DEPOT, TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA TO ACCOMPANY ITS BROTHER! After the settlement of 2 British super-dreadnoughts, the numerical superiority of the British was completely wiped out. But before Tycho could catch his breath, another problem arose, although the four Italian Super Dreadnoughts easily defeated their opponents with the support of the fast fleet, it did not mean that the other warships were equally optimistic.
The fast fleet, which has been scarred by 2 battles, has been in decline under Betty's blows, and the three Chinese foreign trade fast battleships have strong combat power in addition to the Gneisenau and Julius Caesar, and the other two Turkish battleships have lost about half of their firepower, and even so, the Julius Caesar is still being taken care of by the Revenge and the New Zealand at close range, and the Julius Caesar has destroyed 2 capital ships in a row, with serious ammunition consumption, and the battleship itself has also suffered some damage, Although it was temporarily supported by heavy armor, it took a long time. Something is going to happen.
At the same time, the three Count Cavour-class battleships and the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the back were also resisting the attacks of the British and French fleets, and the three super dreadnoughts of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were okay. It was a draw with the three French provincial super dreadnoughts, but the three Earl Cavor class battleships were obviously not the opponents of the British dreadnoughts, although the British were almost the second most dreadnought among the countries, but they were also super dreadnoughts! The 10 12-inch 45L guns on the Earl of Buffalo can't do anything to people. However, the 343MML45 heavy gun, which was replaced with armor-piercing shells, posed a real threat to the latter.
Now Tycho had a very difficult choice, whether to help the fast fleet out of danger, or to help the Count Cavour-class battleships behind him? Things are not going well on both sides. The fast fleet has been fighting continuously for a long time, and it is in danger of being suppressed by a strong enemy. And the three dreadnoughts in the back are the Italians' own battleships! Faced with such a choice. Tycho hesitated for only a minute before deciding to come to the aid of the avant-garde fleet and defeat the annoying Betty's fleet first.
It turned out to be the right thing to do. The reason is simple. In terms of value, the remaining 4 battleships of the Fast Fleet are obviously more important than the next 3 Count Cavour-class, not to mention the fact that there is also the only 15-inch gun capital ship in the Italian Navy. For the sake of the most powerful of warships, Tycho could have given up two Earl Cavour-class ships. Besides, if Betty really let the avant-garde fleet be routed. Then Betty's fleet will be cut cross-cutting in front of the main fleet of the Entente. The scene that the Entente fleet suffered just now will be staged again, but this time the Allies do not have the extra combat power to organize the opponent, once the fast fleet is defeated, then the entire Entente fleet will be in danger, and the two 15-inch naval guns of the revenge class are very powerful!
"Damn fellow!" Betty's eyes lit up looked at the Caraccino and Roma, which were killed halfway through. It was these two guys who turned the victory in hand into a floating cloud. Betty is really unwilling. The opponent's fast fleet has reached its limit, and it seems that it will be hit hard after a while, but at this critical moment, two disruptors came out. Let it all come to naught. Betty figured that she wouldn't be able to take advantage of her side if she continued to fight. But as a result of melee combat, it's not easy to get out, even if you can't beat it. I'm going to have to go on it too!
I have to say that the last super dreadnought designed by Vittorio Kuniberti is really strong, and the defense is slightly stronger than that of the king level, and the firepower is similar to the king if you don't consider the slightly worse walk. AT CLOSE RANGE, THE TWO BATTLESHIPS HAD AS MANY AS 20 350MM GUNS, PUTTING A LOT OF PRESSURE ON BEATTY. With the addition of two Italian battleships, it has directly become 6 to 4, and the two revenge-class battleships have become the focus of care! Two Turkish warships, already heavily damaged, attacked the Australia, the Gneisenau against the New Zealand, and the Julius Caesar and two Italian battleships attacked the two for revenge.
Although the revenge-class battleship is very strong, it is not guaranteed to face 3 powerful capital ships at the same time in close combat, and the armor protection of the revenge-class is not as good as that of the Longxiang, and the Longxiang can resist, which does not mean that the revenge-class can resist! But fortunately, because of the proximity, most of the shells of the two Italian battleships were photographed against the superstructure.
The turret lives up to its name as a cannonball magnet! THE AVENGER'S FRONTAL TURRET WAS SUBJECTED TO THE HEAVIEST ATTACK SINCE THE START OF THE WAR, TURRETS 1 AND 2 WERE CONSTANTLY HIT BY SHELLS, AND ALTHOUGH THE 350MM MAIN GUN WAS SLIGHTLY INSUFFICIENT IN THE FACE OF THE 15-INCH TURRET THICKNESS, THE REVENGE'S FIREPOWER WAS QUICKLY LOST DUE TO REPEATED IMPACTS.
"Our situation was critical after the two Italian battleships joined, and the Revenge was like a fighting hoplite, constantly attacking the opponent with its own cavalry, while at the same time protecting the opponent from the attack with a shield against the ground, a cannonball hit the front of the No. 1 turret, thank God, the shell was bounced off, and then exploded on the deck next to it, and the turret was still slowly turning. While we were cheering, two more shells hit the No. 1 turret, one of which blew one of the barrels into the sky, while the other hit the junction between the turret and the turret, and with the loud explosion of the turret No. 1 was completely stuck. Soon, the same situation fell on turret No. 2. It took the Italians less than 10 minutes to lose half of the Revenge's firepower! An officer aboard the Revenge recalled.
The Royal Oak was not in a good situation, and although the Vengeance helped him block many guns, the dense rain of bullets still turned the superstructure of the Royal Oak into a huge torch. The rangefinder located at the top was smashed to pieces at the first moment. THE LOWER FIRE CONTROL ROOM WAS ALSO PENETRATED BY A 350MM GUN, AND THE PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT INSIDE WERE DIRECTLY INTEGRATED. The British tried to counterattack with the sighting equipment equipped on the turret, but with the continuous knocking of the heavy artillery, the turret broke down, but the parts on it were almost completely useless.
However, at the same time that the two Revenge ships were besieged, these two battleships deserved to be the first-class capital ships of the British Royal Navy, and the two Revenge ships also left some gifts for the Caraccino and Roma! One of the twin turrets of the Roma was pierced by 15-inch shells, and although it did not shine as a detonation of ammunition, the entire turret was completely destroyed. A triple turret of the Roma was concentrated, and the deformed turret stuck the turret and was temporarily unusable. The superstructure was also cut enough, but it was clear that the other side did not have as much projection as its own, and in this counter-fire, the Allied fleet relied on the dual superiority of numbers and firepower to gain the upper hand. In this local battlefield, the Allied Fast Fleet was finally retained because of the addition of Tycho.
"A pyrrhic victory. A real pyrrhic victory. "After continuous battles, in addition to the battleship Caesar the Great, the remaining three Huaxia foreign trade fast battleships have almost lost their combat effectiveness after experiencing high-intensity battles and tragic close-range hand-to-hand combat, and the 27 main guns of 9 turrets have reached their maximum, and even 6 can not be used! The capital ship in the best condition still has 2 and a half guns on it, two of which are really usable, and the other half has a problem with the pitch servo, which seems to only raise the muzzle to no more than 11 degrees. Completely scrapped. For these three warships, the battle was nothing for them.
The Allied Rapid Fleet was beaten enough, the British suffered heavy losses, and after a bloody battle, two Avenger-class battleships with the Australia and New Zealand finally escaped the chaos after sacrificing a large number of destroyers and torpedo boats. Betty pressed her wounded abdomen with one hand, squeezing to contain the pain caused by the wound, while looking effortlessly at the fleet in the distance! "Fortunately, the remaining battleships are still floating on the sea." Betty smiled wryly. The battleship in the distance could no longer be seen from the appearance of the heroic posture of the voyage, and the twisted and bent brackets, the broken bridge and the deck after the fire told people how fierce the battle had just been. The Australia and New Zealand was completely scrapped. The two battleships leaned about 12 degrees to the left. The Revenge class is better, the watertight structure of the hull remains intact, but the part above the waterline can already be called a garbage heap!
Did the battle be won? In the first half of the battle, the Allied fleet successively defeated four super dreadnoughts at the cost of losing one battleship, and successfully kept the fast fleet that had been in danger. Such a battleship is enough to be called a miracle, so much so that in the eyes of outsiders, the remaining thing is to crush the remaining battleships of the other side. But in fact, this is not the case, because when Lin Yongsheng, Spee and Tycho beat each other violently, the other part of the Allied warships has been crushed by the opponent! Thomas's remaining ultra-dreadnoughts and the French are happily cleaning up the Italian dreadnoughts and the Austro-Hungarian fleet! Tycho saved the fast fleet, but at the same time, the other fleet was abandoned, and they had already paid the price in blood! War is in a way an exchange!
Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward, as well as the book friend Light Nazi and the book friend recruitment monthly ticket support ~~~. (To be continued......)