The high seas fleet is angry, and the consequences are serious! The past few days have definitely been the saddest days of Essen's life, even when the last battle with the Chinese navy and the last Russian fleet were crippled and sunk in the coastal waters of China, Essen has never been so desperate as today. Because the defeat of the Second Sino-Russian War was nothing more than the eventual loss of Russia's opportunity to set foot in the Pacific. But if you fail this time, then it is very likely that the capital will not be able to protect Russia! After all, this time the German naval target was the Gulf of Riga! The Germans finally got tired of the tactics of a flat push, and they began to attack the heart of Russia! There is no way to retreat yourself!

It is said that the counterattack of the people who have been cornered in despair is very powerful. Rabbits bite when they're in a hurry! But how can the rabbit be in a hurry to take the lion? After seeing the lineup of the German Navy, Essen gave up the plan to fight at the first time, and directly! As many as 60 warships of various kinds of formations were deployed in the Baltic Sea, and a huge escort formation of more than 30 light cruisers and destroyers was like a moon in the hearts of the people, clustering 10 super dreadnoughts, advancing towards the Gulf of Riga without cover, and 6 airships stood guard in the air! As soon as there is a trace of a submarine, a group of destroyers will come out to attack. At least 300,000 tons of steel are speeding at sea. This sense of oppression and force made Essen completely hopeless.

"The first 4 capital ships are very similar to the King-class, but I'm sure they're not King-class, because there are 4 similar ships behind them, and that's probably the ultimate weapon of the German Navy, the guy we were going to destroy last time. But alas, we lost this opportunity, forever. Essen muttered to himself. Holding the binoculars, my hands couldn't help but tremble. He already sensed that this German fleet sortie would never be good. For the first time, the German Navy's ultimate weapon, which had been used against the British, was actually used against the Russians. What a tragedy Essen!

At this time, Scheer finally swept away the depression of the past, and two consecutive defeats brought him great pressure, if it were not for the rapid commissioning of 4 Bismarck-class battleships and filling the gap of sunken battleships, Scheer really did not have the confidence to conduct future wars. Sit in the conning tower of the new flagship, Bismarck, and look at the 10 thick 15-inch guns on the battleship. At this time, Scheer is full of strength! The German Navy has once again gained the technical advantage! This will be his most worthy trump card against the British in the future!

The Samari Islands, which separate the Gulf of Riga from the Baltic Sea, are the gateway to the Gulf of Riga and must be occupied! And the task of the Scheer fleet is to destroy all the forces that dare to stand in their way. Then to cover the retreat of the army, then the Russians now have a difficult choice, whether to hold the main fleet in the Gulf of Riga or withdraw to the Gulf of Finland. Naturally, withdrawing into the Gulf of Finland could temporarily keep the fleet. But the fall of the whole of Riga was a foregone conclusion. And if you stay in the Gulf of Riga, then the Russian fleet will probably only exist in hours! In the face of the absolute superiority of the German fleet, the Russians did not have a single chance!

"The fleet abandons the Gulf of Riga, and we go back to St. Petersburg!" At the moment of the order, Essen sat down in his chair as if he had exhausted all his strength. He had sworn to Makanov that he would protect the safety of the Baltic Sea coast, but at this moment, in the face of the German fleet, which had reached the crushing level, Essen really had no way at all.

"Contact the Baltic Shipyard and the Admiral Shipyard. I need to know how long it will take them to finish! Well, even if you finish a capital ship! Essen's tone was filled with anxiety and despair.

"Your Excellency, Commander. You just asked about it this morning, and the Admiralty replied that a maximum of 2 ships would be completed by the end of the year, and that the 3rd could not be completed due to lack of materials and labor. You know, with the persecution of the German Army, the Duma tilted more resources towards the Army. The adjutant on the side said.

"Tell the Admiralty that they should use the armor and supplies for the third ship on the first two ships, we may never be able to wait for the third. I hope that two more super-dreadnoughts can be added at the moment of the final decisive battle, and only the Izmail-class battleships will be able to deal with the Bismarck-class battleships of the Germans, and that's all. Essen ordered. Tell Kolchak that the Baltic Shipyard must be preserved, and the hope of the Russian Navy must be preserved, and I thank him on behalf of all my naval colleagues! ”

On July 15, 1916, the German fleet finally reached the Sama Islands on the outskirts of the Gulf of Riga. At this moment, the last combatable army of the Russian Navy had withdrawn to the Gulf of Finland, and in the face of the 12-inch, 8-inch and 6-inch coastal defense guns on the Samar Islands, Scheer was very unhappy, and even his desire to fight was weakened a lot. It's just a bunch of local chickens and dogs! Destroy them! Scheer said, glancing at the Samar Islands.

Colonel von Rosenberg led the minesweeping formation to clear the mines, providing a safe passage of up to 2KM wide for the follow-up fleet, and then under the leadership of the battleship Bismarck, the German fleet entered the battle position and began to cruise at low speed to attack the fortresses and targets on the island under the protection of the destroyer.

"Main gun fire!" The gunners repeated the order to open fire, and the largest artillery bombardment of the German Navy was officially launched, with the roar of 40 15-inch L45 guns and 56 14-inch L45 guns resounding throughout the Gulf of Riga, and the rising columns of smoke and flames could be seen even in Riga, and everyone was shocked by the earth-shattering force, and the Russian civilians looked in horror at the continuous fire in the distance, as if they felt the shaking of the earth and the scorching air. An air of destruction and despair spread throughout the Gulf of Riga region. Even ordinary people know that the fall of the Samar Islands is inevitable. The area around Riga will be within the range of the shelling of the German fleet! And under the cover of heavy artillery fire, a large number of German troops will inevitably follow. And the vast majority of Russia's elite is still on the front line hundreds of kilometers away!

The Russian naval shore artillery unit in the Samar Islands tried to resist, and the Russian artillery company at Cape Zeler operated four 12-inch L52 naval guns to return fire, and the long guns spewed out orange fireballs towards the German fleet, but less than 3 minutes after firing, this artillery battery was attacked by the Bavaria, the No. 2 ship of the Bismarck-class battleship, and the eight 15-inch guns quickly found the target with the help of the airship, and then fired at the distant battery at a rate of two rounds per minute.

The Russian 12-inch turret, which was strong enough to withstand the strongest army guns, was so unbearable in the face of the strongest German naval guns that a single shell could smash the entire 12-inch single-mounted turret to pieces. Huge plumes of smoke rose into the air. Violent explosions followed, and in just a quarter of an hour, the most powerful defensive pillar of the Russian Navy on the Samar Islands was destroyed. The strongest support points are collapsing so quickly, and so are the rest of the world. Even some of the 6-inch gun positions were abandoned by panicked Russian officers and soldiers before they could be attacked, and the artillery support for the whole operation was much shorter than expected. In less than one and a half hours, the powerful German fleet cleared almost all the artillery units on the island, and then under the cover of secondary artillery, the German army commandos landed on the Sama Islands and began to expand in depth.

The Russian Navy was not without action, and when the capital ships could not be defeated, Essen still sent submarine forces to sneak attack the opponent. But Scheer was decisive enough to cover the landing of the army and then retreat to Gotland that night. Scheer expected that Essen would not dare to go out at night, after all, Essen's family had little money, and once he met it, it would be miserable! As a result, the Russian submarine pounced, but it was not reconciled and could only continue to cruise around. Unable to pose a threat to the fleet, the Russians decided to send more submarines to attack the German transports. But Scheer's defenses were well done, and there were airships and seaplanes to provide reconnaissance, and the Germans even followed the example of the British to build an aircraft carrier and throw planes on it to search for Russian submarines.

The Baltic Sea is narrow and suitable for submarine operations, but it is also suitable for anti-submarine, after all, the current submarines are generally sailing on the water, if they sail underwater, they can't move in less than two hours, as long as the airship finds the submarine, and then sways on it with peace of mind, and waits until the opponent's submarine runs out of power, it can only float. It's simply a soldier who surrenders without a fight! And in the small space of the Baltic Sea, Russia was not large in the first place, and the submarine force suffered heavy losses under the multiple attacks of destroyers, planes and airships. The ship did not sink a few, but the submarine force lost more than half! Essen didn't even dare to send submarines.

With the cooperation of the German Navy, the German Army, which launched an attack on the Gulf of Riga, made rapid progress, captured the Sama Islands in 2 days, and then launched an attack on Riga. Absolute combat effectiveness is okay, but compared to the German Navy, the gap between them is even greater than the gap between the German and Russian armies! The defenses of Riga collapsed in an instant under the crushing of large-caliber naval guns, and when the vanguard of the German Army landed, they found that it was more of a march than a battle. Those who dared to resist and those who had the ability to resist had been smashed into ashes by the ship's guns. The rest were either frightened or civilians who didn't have time to move. The defense of the entire Riga region almost collapsed, and the Germans finally drove a wedge in the Russian depth!

At the same time, the German Army also launched a general offensive, in the face of the all-out offensive of the powerful German army, even if Denikin's two guards were all invested, it became a drop in the bucket, although it was able to obtain a tactical victory, but under the continuous blows of the Germans, Denikin also suffered heavy losses, a large number of personnel and equipment losses shrank the strength of the Guards by nearly half, even if China provided equipment, it could not be recovered in a short time. Denikin's troops were beaten to pieces, and Kolchak's troops were thrown into this meat grinder!

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