Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 154 The battle continues

They only knew that torpedoes were extremely powerful and that one or two hits could disable or sink a powerful warship, but they never mentioned the actual naval battle records written in the ship's log.

They forgot the fact that the 12th Destroyer Fleet, which was closest to the Grand Fleet at the time, had already passed the Grand Fleet and lined up in the northeast to meet the enemy, and they also deliberately ignored the objective factor of time.

It would take at least ten minutes for Talen's 11th Destroyer Squadron and the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron to form an attack formation, and because of the distance they would have to take five minutes or even more to cross the battle line of the Grand Fleet before they could engage the enemy.

"Admiral Liam chose to cross the battle line from the outside when she couldn't catch up with the First Scouting Fleet. And it was indeed under the command of Admiral Liam that the First Battlecruiser Squadron sank the Drake and severely damaged the Moltke in the subsequent naval battle, thus saving some face for the Royal Navy." This is what some naval officers said to Liam.

Liam was also criticized by many people after the Battle of Simbrica. Some newspapers specifically quoted the Xunyang idiom "embroidered pillow" to describe him. However, there were still a small group of people defending him, but their voices were too small and were eventually drowned out by the surging voices of the crowd.

The ocean fleet, whose battle line had just been formed, was finally about to display its full strength.

"Retreat!" The First Reconnaissance Fleet's mission has been completed. It is nonsense for Leo to talk about attacking the Grand Fleet from both sides. With the range of the Ocean Fleet's main guns, the shells can pass over the Grand Fleet and land around the First Reconnaissance Fleet that is traveling parallel to it. Leo does not want to be accidentally injured.

The First Reconnaissance Fleet fired artillery and smoke bombs at the highest speed as it passed through the 13-kilometer-long battle line of the Grand Fleet. The Talens only fired less dense shells, and everyone was surprised at the Grand Fleet's slow reaction.

"The Empire's counterattack is imminent. Let's leave the battlefield to the main fleet!" Leo said seriously, "Liam should be nearby. It's time for us to stop them. Let's finish this duel!"

"Soldiers, the time has come for a fight to the death!" Leo's voice spread through the radio and loudspeakers on the Lutzow to the entire fleet. His murderous words aroused the bloodiness in the Drake people's bones.

The gunners were eager to load the gun barrels with shells; the damage control team was on standby in the cabin, with their tools ready to be wielded at any time; the boilermen kept feeding fuel into the boilers for combustion, and the entire fleet was moving at the fastest speed.

"At 8:21, we spotted the Talen light cruiser fleet sailing due east in the northeast direction, but their smoke columns were too thick and numerous. We suspect that Liam's fleet is right behind the light cruiser fleet!" The lookout reported the situation on the phone while looking through a telescope.

"Get ready for battle! Liam is behind them!" Leo's God's perspective told him everything.

Of course, the Talen light cruiser fleet also saw the Drake fleet flying the Iron Cross flag. In order to avoid being hunted by the battlecruisers and to get out of the way of the battlecruisers of both sides, the light cruiser fleet fled the range of the Drake battlecruiser fleet as quickly as possible to avoid being affected.

At 8:23, as the Talen light cruiser fleet quickly sailed away, the number of battleships of the Liam fleet that appeared was restored to eight. After a simple repair, the Queen Elizabeth and Otilo rejoined the st Battlecruiser Squadron formation.

But because of the drag of the Queen Elizabeth and Otilo, the speed of the entire 1st Battlecruiser Squadron has been reduced, which is not good news for the Talen Fast Fleet, which has the advantage of speed.

Liam believed that numerical advantage was important, and the firepower advantage of the Queen Elizabeth and Otilo would make up for the lack of speed.

"Haha, Liam, the T-head belongs to me. Are you ready to withstand the bombardment, my friend!" Leo laughed loudly.

Liam's reaction was quick, but Leo still seized the advantage of formation. The 65-degree angle gave the First Reconnaissance Fleet a numerical advantage in the main gun duel.

At 8:25, it was too late for Liam to adjust her fleet to sail parallel to Leo's First Reconnaissance Fleet, and the artillery battle began with the Lutzow opening fire first.

Eight 305mm shells flew towards the Talens' First Battlecruiser Squadron amid the tremors of the Lützow battlecruiser.

"? Liam's fleet is a bit slow, so let's slow down and maintain the angle advantage!"

"That's good, this will improve our shooting accuracy a lot!" Dawson nodded in agreement.

The first round of exploratory bombardment is over, and neither side has achieved any results. This is normal. It is like this at extremely long distances. Both sides need to calibrate step by step and approach step by step.

After three rounds of all-main-gun fire, a few near misses by the Drakes gave the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron a fright.

At 8:31, Drake's gunners, who had suppressed their impatience, shot more and more accurately. Finally, in the eighth round of shelling, the Derfflinger took the lead at a distance, and the No. 1 turret at the bow of the Sana Tiger battlecruiser was hit.

The Sanaa Tiger battlecruiser is an improved version of the Lion. Its main improvements are made to the hull, boilers and main guns, but there is no change in its protection, which is still as thin as the Lion battlecruiser.

The 229mm frontal turret armor of the Sana Tiger was like a pancake in front of the 305mm armor-piercing shell. The armor-piercing shell directly penetrated the turret armor, and then tore through the first horizontal armor of the Sana Tiger, which was only 25mm thick, and then drilled deep into the hull. Fortunately, the propellant loading room protected by the horizontal armor was fine, otherwise the Sana Tiger would have been destroyed by this armor-piercing shell.

Two minutes later, the Indefatigable, a fellow sufferer of the Sanaa Tiger, suffered the same fate: both were hit by bullets in different positions.

The Indefatigable was hit by the No. 4 turret at the rear of the ship, and its power system also had major problems. Originally, the Indefatigable could withdraw from the battle, but Liam disagreed. He believed that since the Queen Elizabeth and Otilo were still fighting, the Indefatigable had to stay in order to maintain the advantage in the number of main guns.

There is no regret in this move. Liam needs to pay the price for his order.

After that, the Indefatigable was once again easily shredded by the Drake's 305mm armor-piercing shells on its less than 76mm upper armor belt. The thin sloped dome armor and explosion-proof compartments could not stop the Drake's armor-piercing shells with high kinetic energy. After smashing two large holes in succession, the armor-piercing shells penetrated deep into the ammunition depot.

The explosion was inevitable, and a violent explosion occurred in the underwater part of the stern of the Indefatigable, and the ammunition depot was detonated. The huge shock wave lifted the steel plates and seawater into the air tens of meters in the flames and smoke.