"We've been able to determine where the opponent is, when will we attack?" Rear Admiral Vito, commander of the battleship Hood, asked. The Germans are not aware of it now, and have been maneuvering at low speed in the vicinity, and in a maximum of 1 hour, the two aviation cruisers of the Germans will be included in the strike range of the 16-inch guns of the Hood! The pre-battle excitement gave the captain an impulse.

"Wait, let's get up slowly, keep a distance of about 40 kilometers, and the attack will start at night. The Germans' radar performance was relatively poor, and it was closer than the range of our strike ship guns. If we attack now, then they can get away with it. We don't have an advantage in speed. Lieutenant General Holland thought for a moment and said.

"But at night, how do we distinguish each other's identities? In addition to the two aviation cruisers, there are 2 large supply ships, which have a very similar radar reflection area. Major General Vito asked.

"Kill them all! The Hood will attack two targets, and the other two heavy cruisers will not be able to defeat the aviation cruiser even if it is 1 against 1, right? Lieutenant General Holland replied. The British fleet waited patiently like a cheetah ready to hunt an antelope, and when night finally fell, the siege finally began! The three battleships began to accelerate, increasing their cruising speed from 15 knots directly to more than 28 knots! The distance between the two sides quickly closes, 40 kilometers, 35 kilometers, 30 kilometers! At this time, the Hood's Type 271 radar could already clearly see the German fleet, and 4 huge light spots appeared on the radar display screen, and when it was close to 25 kilometers, the Germans still did not seem to have found the target! By this time, the entire German fleet was already within range of the British fleet's naval guns. If they had been 25 kilometers apart during the day, the two sides would have already started to play a game. But at night, it seems to be a little farther away!

"General. An unknown large warship has been spotted and is rapidly approaching! When the distance was shortened to 22 kilometers, Crank's flagship Nuremberg finally spotted the British fleet running wildly on the sea, and Cranke was blinded at once! How could a large battleship appear in such a remote place? The British did not have aviation cruisers. Then a large battleship can only be a battleship or an aircraft carrier, and the latter will not come up to fight with their own artillery, then it can only be the former!

How did the British know they were here? Cranke did not ask why his radar had not been able to detect his opponent earlier, because he knew that even with the improvement of radar technology, the German ships still had far less distance than the British. Being able to spot an opponent at 22 kilometers is already very face-saving for you, and the level of performance of this radar is normal! During the day, there is no rangefinder for the coast guard radar to see far! This is really a tragic story, and it is too late to mourn for his own radar. Crake needs to come up with a countermeasure right away!

"Run! Those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come! "Cranke was awarded the achievement of an escape master in the last Battle of the South Atlantic, and he has a talent for clearly evaluating the combat effectiveness of both sides at the first time he encounters the enemy! And in the hundredth of a second that followed, it was decided to evacuate! Cranke concluded in an instant that he was definitely not the opponent of these guys, if in a single case, an aviation cruiser can still tie with a standard patrol in the case of a big luck, then in a 3-on-2 situation, what a small probability it is for you to retreat in a dead-end battle!

The current situation in Cranke is very dangerous, most of the destroyers have gone outside as air defense posts, except for the two aviation cruisers and two destroyers under his command, which are still somewhat combat-effective. The other 2 supply ships can't even escape! "The destroyer released a torpedo to drag the opponent, and all the battleships released smoke to evacuate separately!" At the critical moment, the hapless Crake disbanded the fleet at the very beginning, in the evening. When he couldn't even forcibly release the plane, Cranke walked very simply, without dragging mud and water at all!

However, at this time, the distance of 22 kilometers is already considered a close combat distance for the British Royal Navy! Even at night. Relying on advanced radar and destroyer flares, the British were still able to achieve a relatively ideal hit rate! Two slow-moving transport ships were targeted first. HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Edinburgh first aimed nine 10-inch guns at two German supply ships that were trying to escape by smoke.

Although the two supply ships tried their best to escape, the heavy load and the tragic power made their top speed only 17 knots! This was barely achieved after some fuel and supplies had been consumed. In front of two British elite heavy cruisers, such a speed is undoubtedly on the same level as a turtle crawl! THE TWO DESTROYERS QUICKLY APPROACHED AND FIRED FLARES WITH 114MM GUNS TO ASSIST THE CAPITAL SHIP IN AIMING AND FIRING, AND THE QUALITY OF THE GUNNERS ON THE TWO BRITISH HEAVY CRUISERS REALLY DID NOT SPEAK OF IT, AND AFTER JUST 4 ATTACKS, A STRADDLE WAS FORMED AT A DISTANCE OF 18 KILOMETERS! The success of the straddle fire meant a theoretical hit, and the guns on the two heavy cruisers quickly switched to firing at full speed, and with the help of huge servo equipment, the two cruisers poured a deadly rain of bullets on the target with a high rate of fire every half a minute! Only 7 minutes into the battle, the heavy cruiser Edinburgh got the first hit!

A 10-inch high-explosive bomb weighing 255KG hit the middle of the hull of a supply ship, and after easily tearing open the upper and middle decks, the high-explosive bomb turned into a steel storm that swept the entire deck under the action of the high-explosive charge weighing 20KG inside! The high-speed debris easily cut through all kinds of pipes and wires, and the larger debris even pierced the wall of the boiler room, and the flames and high-temperature and high-pressure steam quickly spread from the power room, turning the small half of the hull into a hell!

And the Dorsetshire was not to be outdone, although he didn't get the starting hit, but he got the first kill! In the fifteenth minute of the battle, a 10-inch shell from the Dorsetshire pierced through the side of the hull of another transport ship, and this shell smashed directly into the warehouse on the main deck of the hull where the torpedoes were placed, and there were more than 20 533mm torpedoes that had not had time to be delivered! Needless to say, the result was accompanied by a series of explosions, and the supply ship disappeared into the flames along with the hundreds of German naval officers and sailors on it, and in just one minute, the battleship was blown into countless pieces. It was then tossed into the air by the exploding storm. Then they fell one after another.

And then, the Edinburgh was unyielding. Taking advantage of the Dorsetshire's ability to deal with the lightning strikes of two German destroyers, the other supply ship was cleanly destroyed with 5 hits. Looking at the slowly sinking battleship, the British hesitated for a moment and sent the destroyer to rescue the German naval officers and sailors who had fallen overboard. By this time, the scene of the two British heavy cruisers came to an end.

"The one we chased and fled to the southwest, his speed is relatively fast, it must be an aviation cruiser!" Captain Vito was not hasty, and after analyzing the trajectory of several targets, he decisively chose to attack one of the fast targets, and eight huge 16-inch naval guns fired the first half-salvo since the beginning of the battle, and a huge fireball erupted from the thick muzzles. 4 shells weighing 1100KG flew out of the muzzle of the cannon with an initial velocity of more than 750 meters per second, and flew towards the target with a piercing scream!

The Hood carefully adjusted its course, closing the distance in the inner circle, and the air cruiser in the distance accelerated its evacuation as it released smoke. However, with the help of radar, the shelling of the British became more and more accurate. Shells fell around the target, and the slender aviation cruiser was soon surrounded by huge columns of water! In this pursuit, the Hood relied on its high initial speed to dominate, while the distant aviation cruiser struggled with rough waves, and the theoretical speed could not be exerted at all in high sea conditions, and the hull flutter and bow wave phenomenon caused by excessive speed seriously affected the ship's navigation.

Plus the center of gravity of the aviation cruiser was already high. And the result of the collision between the high-speed battleship and the waves was that the Hood had not yet hit the other side, and the bow of the Königsberg had problems under the attack of the wind and waves. The huge impact caused the bow of the ship to break, and a large amount of seawater flowed down the gap to the inside of the hull! In such a fatal situation, the Königsberg had to reduce its speed appropriately!

And in this kind of pursuit and escape operation, which can be called the speed of life and death. THE FATE OF THE DECELERATION WAS NATURALLY VERY SAD, AND THE KÖNIGSBERG TRIED TO RETURN FIRE, AND THE SHELLS FIRED BY THE SIX 240MM NAVAL GUNS FELL SPARSELY AROUND THE HOOD. In this fundamentally unequal battle, the Königsberg, which could not walk, soon ushered in his end. A 16-inch shell entered the water less than 20 meters from the Königsberg, after which the hood fell off. The shell hit the target like a torpedo! THE WARHEAD OF THE SHELL EASILY TORE THROUGH THE UNDERWATER INCLINED ARMOR OF THE KÖNIGSBERG LESS THAN 80MM, AND THEN CRASHED HEADLONG NEAR THE AVIATION TANKER! The explosion not only cracked the oil depot, but also cut off several vital steam channels!

"Slow down, get ready to abandon the ship!" When his men reported that the ship's power had lost 40% and that the aviation fuel tank had leaked, the captain of the Königsberg gave an order that was close to surrender. This is unprecedented in the history of the German Navy. This was the first time that the Germans had given up resistance while the main armament of the battleship was still functional. Although the white flag was not raised. But he gave up fighting. The Königsberg began to slow down slowly, and a large number of officers and men, led by officers, lowered the boats on the battleship to transfer personnel. After a brief hesitation, the Königsberg gave up its resistance and asked for two destroyers to come over and prepare to rescue the German naval personnel.

When the Königsberg sank itself. Vice Admiral Holland suddenly remembered one thing, that is, where did the other aviation cruiser go? After the two heavy cruisers knocked out two supply ships, they were entangled by the German destroyers, and after entangled the two destroyers, they suddenly found that the Nuremberg aviation cruiser had disappeared!

To paraphrase a phrase from later generations, that is, Cranke has almost all his talents and skill points to escape, and his attainments in escaping are indeed quite high. When the Königsberg and its two supply ships withdrew to the southwest to avoid the British fleet coming from the southeast, only the Nuremberg did the opposite, he resolutely fled north, and then turned to the northeast! Successfully using the other three battleships to get rid of the British track, by the time the two British cruisers leveled off the other German battleships, the Nuremberg had already run nearly 20 kilometers! Out of range of radar tracking.

Don't forget that the distance between the British and German fleets was about 22 kilometers at the beginning! Affected by the curvature of the earth, the British naturally could not see Nuremberg! And Cranke cut off the radio communication in time, and it was difficult to search by radiolocation! This set of operations is called a classic, and it is known as a model of the evacuation operation of the Navy in World War 2!

"Is this the end of it?" Vito asked a little depressedly, he felt a little disappointed that he had won the victory but did not do his best, after all, there were too few opportunities like this, and it was difficult for the once majestic battleship to regain its former glory on the battlefield where carrier-based aircraft dominated everything. And an opportunity that was so easy to come across turned out to be a sandwich meal!

"Tomorrow the weather will be light, and it will be useless for us to stay here, and even if the planes on the German air cruiser cannot sink us, they can still rely on the reconnaissance advantage to avoid us." Holland suppressed the impulse in his heart or decided to be safe first, although this naval battle was not perfect, but no one denied that the British won, as soon as the weather improved, the Germans who suffered losses will definitely find a way to get back to the field!

Now the German Navy has no pressure, maybe in order to sink its own detachment, send a detachment of 4 aircraft carriers, if that happens, Cunningham's main fleet will not be able to cover it, even if the Fury is powerful, 4 to 2 will die! So, without saying a word, Holland decisively turned to the mainland after taking in the German prisoners, and reported the news to Cunningham, telling the latter that he was talking about it first, you can do it!

Cunningham was also relieved after receiving Holland's telegram, his mission this time seems to have been completed, and now it is considered a complete merit to go back to call it a day, although his main fleet has not fired a single shot since he came out, of course, he can continue to stay in this sea area to block the opponent's only remaining aviation cruiser, but the danger of doing so is a bit greater, after all, he is within the combat range of German 4-engine heavy bombers and DO335 aircraft. And God knows, the German Navy will not send the Grand Fleet out.

Just when Cunningham was about to talk, an accident made Cunningham give up his plan to retreat, because just now, a telegram from the London naval headquarters told Cunningham that another small German fleet had entered the waters near Cunningham's fleet, and it was speculated that there were no aircraft carriers in the opposing fleet! In this instant, Cunningham felt like he was being struck down by a tremendous sense of happiness!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, unauthorized strong reward~~~. Why is the collection growing so fast and the subscriptions so few? The lateral position is very confused. (To be continued......)