Chapter 704 Atlantic Strangulation War (13)

After a loud "boom", a 356mm shell hit the nearly 30-year-old ship.

If the Ise and the Queen Elizabeth, which were built at about the same time, were to be challenged in a duel, the former is basically no match for the latter. The two sides have similar speeds and similar tonnages. Although the Ise has half as many guns as the Queen Elizabeth (12 vs. 8), After all, the latter is a 15-inch gun, its power is not at the same level, and its range is also longer.

The situation is different after moving the main gun of the Ise to land. The coastal defense artillery, which has no concerns about sinking, can fire unscrupulously. As long as the reinforced concrete turret can withstand the enemy's naval gun attack, but for the Queen Elizabeth class , the situation is much more dangerous. Although the 14-inch shells fired from about 20,000 meters cannot damage the command tower or turret, it is quite difficult to defend against damage to other parts.

The shell exploded between No. 1 and No. 2 turrets, penetrating several decks and penetrating into the power cabin. More than 20 sailors were directly killed in the explosion, and the entire warship's speed was also damaged due to the power cabin. It fell from 24 knots to 20 knots. Before the Elizabeth could recover, another shell exploded at the stern of the ship. Although it did not penetrate the deck, the explosion shock wave destroyed the relevant facilities and secondary guns into a mess.

"Sir, the Elizabeth was hit by a bullet. It seems to be quite injured."

"Damn..." General Ingersoll became anxious. He did not expect the German army in Cape Verde to be so difficult to deal with.

"The distance is too far, and the power of the artillery is not enough to knock off the turtle shells of the shore defenses. We can only further shorten the distance and let the warships mount bayonets." Turner reluctantly suggested, "How about learning the Japanese method and letting the Elizabeth wash the beach? ”

Admiral Ingersoll was shocked and said subconsciously: "It's only a slight injury, but it's not like this, right?"

"Then you have to send more warships to take the risk to suppress the enemy forts, which may cause greater losses. Judging from the water column of the enemy shells, they are 14-inch caliber artillery. It probably cannot penetrate the key defense parts of the ship, but it will not be able to penetrate other places. It’s not safe.”

"This..." Ingersoll thought for a while, then lowered his voice and said, "In principle, I have no objection to letting Elizabeth rush in and run aground, but what will the British say?"

Turner burst into laughter. In the middle of the battle, the commander was still considering this kind of problem. However, he knew the character of the other party, so he quietly suggested: "Let's all rush in. Let's fight with all hands and feet. Let's see if the Germans can concentrate their fire on this already-unknown ship." The injured Elizabeth - it was bombed by the Italians once anyway, and I don’t think it is that strong after repairs. If it is hit and seriously damaged again, it will be our fault. "

Turner's suggestion is very strange: the other warships hide behind, and it is definitely politically incorrect to directly order the Elizabeth to rush to the beach and die, but if everyone attacks together, you cannot blame the formation commander if you are killed by the Germans. In fact, among these battleships that provided fire cover, the Queen Elizabeth class was the oldest. However, it happened to be injured just now. It was filled with smoke and had the most obvious target. If not, who would be hit? In a word, the two Queen Elizabeth-class ships in the Atlantic Fleet that are most suitable for death are the two.

Ingersoll nodded. These coastal defense guns must be killed. He could slowly grind them down from a long distance, but this would take too long, and the Iowa-class 406mm was already dead at a distance of 25,000 meters. I have tried it, but it cannot destroy the enemy fort. If I want to destroy the opponent, I can only take the risk of closing the distance and attack - firstly, the hit rate will be improved, and secondly, the artillery shells will be more powerful. The enemy has a total of 6 14-inch artillery, so just go out and prepare for the attack. He thinks it is not difficult to bear some losses. If the Elizabeth could take out the shore defenses before it was seriously damaged, he would certainly not sacrifice it in vain, but if he was unlucky, he would have to follow Turner's advice.

"Close the distance, 20,000 yards!" Following Ingersoll's order, the entire battleship formation, including the injured Elizabeth, all moved forward, and the sound of "rumbling" could not be heard.

At 13:17, the first German fort was hit and destroyed by multiple large-caliber artillery shells; 8 minutes later, the concrete fortifications around the second fort were destroyed and then collapsed, blocking the naval gun and allowing it to fire only in a fixed direction. , the power was greatly reduced; 54 minutes later, the third fort fired all the shells and was forced to evacuate - these 356mm shells were left over from the Ise and Hyuga, and were not produced in Germany, so a separate launch was launched for this purpose. A production line is also a waste. Japan promised to send a batch of artillery shells as much as possible to replenish it. Unexpectedly, before the artillery shells arrived, Cape Verde had been attacked.

The Elizabeth was naturally the main target of the German fire attack during this process. Fortunately, although it was hit three more times, except for one main gun being blown up, the other losses were not too great. She still gritted her teeth and persisted until the end, successfully escaping. It was stranded and used as a fixed fort. However, there are still unlucky ones. During the swimming attack, the USS California ran into a mine that the Germans had deployed urgently last night. With a loud noise, this old ship, which had sunk once in the Pearl Harbor incident, sank again. Unable to withstand the devastation, the bottom of the ship was directly blasted through, a large amount of seawater poured in crazily, and the warship began to sink slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Damn it!" Ingersoll never imagined that the California would be hit in the end.

"It seems that the California is indeed unlucky." Turner sighed helplessly, "Abandon the ship, the water is entering too fast, and there is no chance of running aground. Let other warships pay attention, there may be mines."

At 14:42, Hoffman in Berlin received a telegram from the front: "All the coastal defense batteries have been destroyed. The US military launched a full-scale bombardment against our army. The firepower is very fierce..."

"The front line can only hold on with gritted teeth." Hoffman turned his head and asked Dönitz, "Apart from the fleet, is there any other way to support Cape Verde now?"

"There are 5 submarines on the way to Cape Verde and will arrive tomorrow night. There are also 14 S boats, 10 of which are left after the last attack on Cape Verde, and the other 4 are mobilized from Dakar. They are ready to launch tonight. Assault; there are still some planes in the Canary direction, but the two sides are too far apart, and the Cape Verde airport cannot be used, so support is temporarily unavailable. "

"Let the S boat attack again and try to destroy a few more warships."

At 15:37, Ingersoll smiled and nodded at the simplified anti-aircraft tower that was bombarded with holes, and asked Turner in a consulting tone: "I think the army can land, what do you think?"

"I agree, the ammunition of each ship has been consumed by more than half, and we need to let the army occupy a stable bridgehead before dark, and strive to launch a full-scale attack tomorrow. "