Torpedoes passed through?

The people in the bridge were a little stunned, first in disbelief, and then the great joy made them boil. Except for the commissar at the helm, everyone on the bridge rushed to the porthole, wanting to see what the torpedo that frightened them looked like.

What else can a torpedo look like, a long columnar object, in fact, everyone mainly can't believe that they will be so lucky. Who would have believed that Lieutenant Commander Shacken would make such a low-level mistake, and there was no need to think that it must have been a mistake in determining the depth, and the torpedo was set at the wrong depth, which mysteriously allowed the Mercury Memorial to escape.

Looking at the brisk torpedo that was going farther and farther away, even Eberhardt had a feeling of being reincarnated, and he waved his hand at the torpedo as if to be unlucky, and then walked back to his command position.

"The battle isn't over yet, let's give this group of white army puppies a little color!"

With the old man's voice, the officers and soldiers on the bridge came back to their senses and escaped the catastrophe, but the battle was not over yet, the Ascade was still firing continuously, and they were not disturbed in any way, and they fought very accurately during this time!

First, a 75-mm gun emplacement at the rear of the good stern of the Mercury Memorial was blown up, killing more than a dozen sailors on the spot. The violent explosion deformed and bent the barrel of the 75-mm gun, and several 75-mm grenades flew out of the ground under the action of the shock wave, and another sailor from the adjacent gun position was knocked unconscious on the spot. The violent explosion also caused a fire, which would have almost caused a chain reaction if it had not been for the timely handling of the damage management team.

And that's not all. At the time of the turn of the rudder on the Mercury Memorial. Another miraculous shell even hit the conning tower directly. Thankfully, the Mercury Memorial Command Tower was well armored enough that the grenade only left a small dent in it. If the main gun of the Ascade had been a little larger, such as a 203 mm caliber one, then there would definitely be more than a small pit left in the conning tower, and all the people of Eberhardt and his party would have to be put on the pot.

Of course, to tell the truth, luck with this bullet accounted for the vast majority, and it can only be said that the gunners of the Ascade ran shit luck. In naval battles. Generally speaking, bridges, especially conning towers, are more difficult to hit than artillery magnet turrets due to their high position. And the more the capital ship, the thicker the armor in this position, and the problem of being hit is not too big.

Even, after careful study and analysis, the British Royal Navy decided that it was completely unnecessary to maintain a command tower with large thickness of armor. Starting with the George V-class battleships, the thickness of the conning tower was reduced from the 300 to 400 mm level to about 100 mm. In order to save weight and increase the stability of the ship.

But there are exceptions. Especially for the Russians, I don't know if the character is too bad or a little too bad. Accidents are always encountered in naval battles. In the Russo-Japanese naval war, the tragic mine-striking shipwreck of Maklov, which had just improved the Pacific Fleet, was a bit of a back. When Wittefti led the Pacific Fleet to break through and was about to succeed, he was hit by a completely unreasonable shell on the bridge, and there was no reason to explain the failure of his life.

So, again, you can have nothing in a naval battle, but you must not be without luck. Undoubtedly, Eberhardt was lucky, and he escaped two times in a row, which seemed to mean that if he didn't die, he would have a blessing.

Eberhardt's luck was Garanin's misfortune, because of the distance, he didn't know that the Lieutenant Admiral Sarkin almost ended the Mercury Memorial, because he didn't have much hope of letting the destroyers attack in the first place. As a hardened conservative, he doesn't particularly care about small ships such as destroyers, in his opinion, those are cannon fodder, and the biggest role is harassment, and if you want to win a naval battle, you have to rely on big ships and huge guns.

Therefore, he ordered the two destroyers to attack, which actually meant to harass the Mercury Memorial, that is, to disrupt the rhythm of the Mercury Memorial and give his artillery a chance to defeat the enemy.

In a sense, Kalanin's purpose was also achieved, with the attack of Lieutenant Shestakov and Lieutenant Colonel Saken, the rhythm of the Mercury Memorial was indeed disrupted, and this time in order to avoid torpedoes seemed to be in a hurry, and was almost picked up by Kalanin.

"Damn it!"

Garanin put down the binoculars and began to curse his mother, he almost wanted to sing when the Mercury Memorial was shot in the bow just now. But who would have thought that when the smoke from the explosion cleared, the Mercury Memorial would be almost unharmed, which made him disappointed, and viciously issued a new order:

"Fire, hit hard, with armor-piercing bullets!"

When Galanin ordered a change of ammunition, the Mercury Memorial was also quickly adjusted, and just now it narrowly escaped, although the big guys were sincerely glad, but, inevitably, they must have been angry with the culprits Lieutenant Shestakov and Lieutenant Colonel Sarken. There was no need for the commander to cheer him on, and the artillerymen consciously made every effort to let the two destroyers go to the sea to fish.

I don't know if it was the relationship between the character and the return, the gunners of the Mercury Memorial finally found the right head, and after two volleys, the Lieutenant Commander Sarken, who was just about to turn the rudder and escape, was hit with a stick - a 152mm grenade accurately hit its stern, and as a ball of orange flames rose, the old destroyer's hull visibly shook.

Then, the speed of the Sarkham dropped significantly. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the small-caliber rapid-fire guns on the Mercury Memorial fired one after another, directly knocking the Lieutenant Commander Sarkin into a sieve.

The old destroyer was half-paralyzed on the surface of the sea, struggling to move forward very weakly, and what awaited him was the more merciless rain of bullets from the Mercury Memorial.

After paralyzing the Lieutenant Commander Sarken, the Mercury Memorial crews immediately turned their attention to the Lieutenant Shestakov, and most of the shells flew towards the cargo, which was also in danger for a while.

However, the Lieutenant Shestakov had a little better luck, for it had escaped some distance and was like a slippery loach. Although he was hit several times. But most of them are small-caliber grenades. With scars and billowing smoke. It staggered out of the battlefield.

The situation on the battlefield then changed to one on the Mercury Memorial and the Askard, and the two sides constantly saluted each other with shells, but both lacked the ability to defeat the enemy with one blow. However, at this time, the commanders of both sides thought that the situation was very good, and they both thought that they could win this naval battle!

The main reason for Eberhardt's judgment was that the Relentless and Fury, who had withdrawn from the battlefield to reload their torpedoes, had finally returned. They rushed at full speed, and with their speed they were soon able to occupy a favorable position, and it was entirely expected that the Ascade would be torpedoed out.

The same. The main reason for Kalanin's confidence is also reinforcements, the old gunboat Donetsk finally arrived on the battlefield out of breath, although the tonnage of this gunboat is not grounded, but the firepower is still considerable, at least on paper the firepower is more bluffing - this gunboat is equipped with two 203mm guns in the gun frame under the bow, in line with Kalanin's theory that whoever has more guns and who has the caliber is the master.

In addition, the Diamond, which has been playing soy sauce since the beginning of the war, also returned to the battlefield unhappily under the strong order of Garanin, and if you look at it this way, the strength comparison between the two sides seems to be still three to three!

But the Ruthless and the Furious soon got Galanin to understand. There is no point in counting heads, it is the quality that matters. The chief engineers of the two destroyers had already gone away. The long-cherished high Volga was also added to the boiler, and the turbine unit with a maximum output of 25,500 horsepower exploded in an instant, soaring to more than 29,000 horsepower in one breath, so that the maximum speed of about 34 to 35 knots increased sharply to nearly 37 knots!

This speed is desperate, at least to the Askod's gunners, the large-caliber guns in their hands are really ineffective at shooting such small and fast targets, and the small-caliber rapid-fire guns are basically unable to damage this 1200-ton destroyer in a short time.

The Ruthless and the Fury braved the Ascade's hail of bullets and rushed forward with all their determination, and that decisiveness and determination made Garanin smell a hint of danger. The rear admiral spat angrily on the bridge: "Kill them, quick!" What are you eating, be precise...... Do you hear me, aim! You don't fucking know what aiming is! , where do you shoot, it's the sea, it's an empty sea like Siberia!! ”

As Galanin jumped, Eberhardt was also cheering for his gunner's atmosphere, "Hurry up, hurry up!" Suppress them, give them a little color, and be sure to cover the Ruthless and Fury! ”

At the roar of the commanders of both sides, this small-scale naval battle finally came to an end, and the Ruthless and Fury bravely rushed forward 20 chains, and shortened the distance by about 5 chains before a beautiful rudder, and fired 20 torpedoes in one salvo.

Note this number, which is quite desperate, 20 torpedoes at such a close distance have basically blocked all of the Ascade's escape routes, and unless the captains of the Ruthless and the Fury also make the mistake of setting the depth too deeply, it is only a matter of time before the Ascade is destroyed.

In the bridge of the Ascade, a desperate Garanin roared a high-pitched note of more than an octave: "Left full rudder!" ”

But such shouting was meaningless, as the first torpedo hit the bow of the Ascade accurately, and in the next few seconds, the Ascade's narrow hull ate three torpedoes in a row!

The almost incompressible waters of the water brought out the power of the torpedo, and three columns of water tumbled near the bottom of the ship, heralding the end of the Ascade. Under the water, the Asked's hull was torn open by three large holes of more than ten meters, especially the one that hit the bow, which directly broke the keel, and with the creaking cracking sound, the head and body of the Askder gradually separated.

The icy sea water poured into the cabin in an instant, and the unprepared sailors were drowned before they could call for help, and even Kalanin did not have time to give the order to abandon the ship, and the six-thousand-ton cruiser capsized in a matter of minutes after being hit by a mine.

Standing on the bridge of the seafaring ship, Eberhardt quietly watched the Ascade in its last moments, as an old navyman, he still remembered the scene when the Ascade was in service, and that day was more of laughter, almost everyone thought that the new cruiser would die to defend Russia's maritime frontiers. The honor of the Russian Navy will be defended.

But. No one thought of it. The cruiser, which had been given hope, would eventually be sunk by its own people, in a sense, this is the sorrow and shame of being a soldier in a time of national turmoil.

Therefore, Eberhardt was not at all happy about this victory, he took off his military hat and silently looked at the rapidly sinking Ascade, wondering whether he was in silent mourning or praying.

"Lower the lifeboat. Save! ”

When he returned to the command tower, Eberhardt dropped the sentence and turned away, so much so that the commissar swallowed back what he wanted to say yet.

The Ascade sank, and Donetsk, which had not yet fired a single shot, knew that there was no hope of escape, so he raised the white flag as soon as possible. The Diamond wanted to smear the soles of its feet with oil, but it was not 1904, when it was a relatively fast new ship, and now, the speed of 19 knots was not enough in front of the Ruthless and the Fury, and even the Mercury Memorial could eat him steadily. After a short chase game. The Diamond also reluctantly raised the white flag.

Admiral Lieutenant Shestakov was a man, and the captain gave the order to open the sea valve while abandoning the ship. Ten minutes later, the old destroyer also followed its flagship and kissed the seabed of the Black Sea.

However, this skirmish naval battle will not determine the fate of the Black Sea Fleet, and to put it mildly, no matter who wins or loses Eberhardt and Garanin, it has no impact on the overall situation. They are not decisive people, but those who can decide the fate of the Black Sea Fleet, who are gathering in Sevastopol at this moment.

There was a different kind of atmosphere in the bay of Severnaya (which can also be translated as the bay of Severnaya), and from noon onwards a heavy feeling weighed on the sailors, and although the harbor seemed calm, there was always a feeling of mountain rain coming.

The sailors were very sensitive, the last time they had this feeling was in November 1917, and the last time it was in February 1917, and every time they had this feeling, it meant that the sky had to change.

"How long will it take for the fleet to land?" Nikolai glanced out the window at the port and asked a little anxiously.

Beside him, Skoropatsky confidently said: "It's only been more than two hours, and my allies have come up with the best ship for me!" ”

Nikolai glanced at the goods, he did not have the slightest affection for Skoropatsky's so-called allies, as an Englishman, and he would never cooperate with those bastards if it were not for the basis of common interests.

"Right-watch!" Nikolai said noncommittally, "A quarter past six! ”

Skoropatsky showed off his gold pocket watch: "Six-fourteen, but my watch is a high-end German product, never faster than a second, my watch is the standard!" ”

"Whatever!" Nikolai snorted, "At eight o'clock we meet at the Nikolaev battery!" ”

Skoropatsky nodded, put away his pocket watch, and left without saying a word. Glancing at the back of the carry, Nikolai snorted contemptuously, and then ordered his men: "Get moving, it's time for us to say hello to the fleet committee!" ”

The location of the fleet committee is the former Black Sea Fleet Command, and in this afternoon, the committee members looked extremely irritable, and the direction of Odessa lost contact with them since noon for some reason, and there was no news of the Mercury Memorial.

"I said a long time ago, that little kid is not reliable at all, and he should never have been allowed to go to Odessa in the first place!" A committee member angrily began to accuse Li Xiaofeng.

The other sneered, "What's the use of talking about this now...... And as a commissioner sent by the Central Committee, as the leader of the All-Russian Cheka, can we oppose his decision? Now, the most important thing for us is to find out the situation in Odessa and pray that Comrade Andrei is safe, otherwise how will we explain to the Central Committee! ”

Immediately, one of the commissioners suggested: "Should we send another fleet to Odessa, maybe the situation there is more complicated than we think!" ”

The first member immediately objected: "How can warships be used now, and what if the sailors mutinied?" Isn't that a hand-over warship to the enemy? We must not do such stupid things! ”

"Then what do you say!"

Without hesitation, the first member replied: "Continue martial law and hold your troops still!" ”

"Isn't that just waiting!" Immediately, some committee members sarcastically said, "Is this different from now?" You're! ”

The first committee member immediately became angry, slapped the table and jumped up: "Who do you say!" ”

"I said ......"

The quarrel between the two men was immediately interrupted by a knock on the door, and a correspondent came in and reported: "Comrades of the Commission, there is a comrade from the Cheka outside asking to see you!" ”

The conference room fell silent, and the first committee member, who was still angry just now, frowned and asked, "Comrade Cheka? What's the matter with him? ”

The correspondent replied in 1510: "According to him, intelligence on Odessa and updates on the activities of the counter-revolutionaries in Sevastopol were brought......"

The committee present glanced at each other, and they were all a little surprised, this message and information came a little suddenly, and it always gave people a strange feeling.

"Can this person be identified?"

The correspondent replied: "The comrades of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Cheka have been asked to check his documents repeatedly, and there are no problems." ”

The commissioners exchanged glances again, and soon ordered: "Let him in!" ”

A few minutes later, when the door to the conference room opened again, Nikolai, who was disguised and make-up, walked in with a determined step, as if he had smelled the fragrance of victory...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow again and thank you to the very powerful Juventus and Comrade Potato in seconds!