When the König turned on the searchlight, the German officers and soldiers on the ship also felt something was wrong. The purpose of turning on the light was to find the opponent and kill him quickly. As a result, after turning on the light, he could not see the opponent, but he was exposed. The battle situation had fallen behind.

Success., the König itself did not find the target, Langsdorff did.

The target was unable to tell the König the details. There was no such thing as a data link at the time. So the firepower system of the entire German fleet was split. Langsdorff tried to intercept the destroyer's lightning strike, but the other two battleships still

Concentrate the main firepower on Colonel Couch's two heavy cruisers.

Bang, bang, bang. Realizing the danger, Langsdorff began to command the heavy cruiser Frankfurt to fire flares in the direction of the target. The flares fired from the secondary guns streaked through the air like meteors. But after all, there was no exact position of the target. It burned in the air.

Although the flares occasionally flew near the target, they were never able to form continuous illumination. The German ship

The fleet had powerful naval guns, but it was still unable to deal a fatal blow to the destroyer hiding in the night. At this time, something happened, which caused the Germans to focus their attention on the Kuchi fleet again! One shot 14

The 10-inch shell hit the stern of the cruiser Tabrich Richmond, and the triple 10-inch main gun turret that was spitting out firepower was hit!

The Germans' improved armor-piercing projectile weighing more than 700 kilograms easily tore through the opponent's 10-inch-thick turret armor like a hot knife cutting through butter, and then hit the artillery's pitching mechanism. Maybe it was God's blessing, maybe it was the big gun.

Richmond

Unfortunately, the shell did not explode. However, the huge impact still destroyed the entire turret. Under the violent impact, the shell and the parts in the turret turned into fragments and scattered around in the turret. The hot shrapnel even detonated.

A propellant pack!

Fortunately, the British, who had been lit with firecrackers many times, did not make the same mistakes as their predecessors. They did not stock too many ammunition bags in the turret. At the same time, the fire door was also tightly closed. Although there was an explosion, it was not fatal!

The fire was also limited to the turret. However, such a hit still caused a raging fire in the turret. In this case, even without a destroyer to guide the target, the German fleet 12 kilometers away could easily hit the shell.

On this heavy cruiser!

At this time, less than 7 minutes after the two sides started fighting, the battleship König had already scored a hit. The huge results made Paro, who was first on the battlefield, a little excited, and even forgot that there might be an enemy destroyer fleet around him. The König relaxed

They were on alert and fired at distant targets with all their strength. Even the 150mm secondary cannon was constantly spitting out tongues of fire in the hope of penetrating the opponent's non-nuclear weapons.

The center cabin was used to slow down the opponent or ignite a fire. Under the influence of the König, the heavy cruiser Wiesbaden also concentrated its main firepower on the Tabrichten. The König could fire 2 rounds of fire per minute.

.And the Wiesbaden can launch 3 to 4 rounds of attacks! The two battleships are like volcanic eruptions, pouring bullets into the distance, leaving Langsdorff to continue searching for the assassin in the night.

"During the entire battle, we did not clearly detect the opponent's destroyer within visual range. We also did not find the wake of the opponent's torpedo attack. The opponent's torpedo seemed to suddenly hit the König, with almost no warning." Afterwards, Lansdowne said.

Langsdorff's testimony at an internal meeting of the German Navy once caused considerable controversy, but only those involved knew that Langsdorff did not exaggerate.

"What a good target, what a good trajectory! Apart from being a bit fast, it can be described as perfect!" The König, which kept firing, was as dazzling as a torch in the dark night. According to the opponent's continuous firing, it fired

In the light of the fire, Zhang Yunchu could even see the four twin turrets on the König. Therefore, the identity of this battleship was also revealed. It was either König-class or Bavaria-class, although it was not the latest battleship.

But it is also a fast battleship after all! In order to close the distance with its opponent as quickly as possible, the German fleet almost chose the nearest route. The sailing direction is easy to predict. As the distance got closer, Zhang Yunchu led the fleet to quickly turn parallel to the opponent's fleet route.

.Aimed the dense torpedo tubes on the destroyers at the target, and then when the distance between the two sides stabilized at about 7km, the five Chinese destroyers fired a salvo in a fan shape!

The distance of 7 kilometers is a bit far for ordinary torpedoes. But for oxygen torpedoes with a speed of up to 50 knots, this distance can be covered in just over 4 minutes! More than 20 torpedoes up to 9 meters long are compressed by air

Pushed into the sea. After stabilizing in the sea water, the torpedo engine started to work. After expelling a short wake, the huge torpedo completely disappeared in the sea water. In places where people could not see, more than 20 torpedoes were as fast as piranhas.

Shoot the König in the distance!

Facts have proved that the stability of this torpedo is still bad. Due to the huge vibration when entering the water and the problems of the torpedo itself, at least 6 torpedoes lost control shortly after entering the water. The remaining more than ten torpedoes still followed the planned path.

The route was heading towards the target. At this time, while Paro was still immersed in the excitement of harvesting his first victory since joining the army, he did not know that a fatal attack had arrived. A powerful torpedo that the Germans had never seen before had been exposed.

Deadly fangs!

The first torpedo hit the middle part of the hull of the König, which has the most complete mine protection system. The TDS system designed according to World War I mine protection standards faced a torpedo with a charge of more than 800 kilograms (the Chinese Navy reduced the range and increased the charge).

The warhead was as fragile as paper. The violent impact detonated the explosives in the warhead, and nearly a ton of explosives exploded.

The huge energy generated by the explosion easily tore apart the underwater protection system, and then continued to collide with everything it could touch, releasing terrifying energy! The entire King was as if it had been hit hard by a heavy hammer.

It was generally swaying in the sea water. Even the port side that was hit sank hard into the water! Then it was lifted up by huge energy.

Accompanied by constant explosions and the sound of tearing metal, Paro kept shaking as if it were a house in an earthquake. And this was just the beginning. Soon, the hits of two other torpedoes finally ruined the former ship.

Flagship of the High Seas Fleet! A torpedo hit the rear of the hull. The power of the explosion was so huge that it destroyed the entire ship.

All four drive shafts were broken at the same time. Half of the stern was even torn off the hull. The third torpedo hit very close to the hit point of the first torpedo. In the continuous blast of two torpedoes with more than 1 ton of explosives,

Under the attack, the King's keel and hull finally could not withstand the continuous pulling and impact and were completely broken into two pieces!

It took less than 3 minutes from the first torpedo hit to the sinking of the battleship! The once pride of the German High Seas Fleet came to its end. Under the influence of its own weight and water ingress, the bow and stern of the hull were broken.

It tilts up high and then crashes heavily into the water. It occurs when the hull sinks into the sea.

The huge whirlpool pulled everything that tried to escape its control. The blown parts and the rising water column even flew to an altitude of nearly 100 meters and then fell. Only less than 100 of the more than 1,500 officers and soldiers on the entire battleship survived.

Man! And Paro was lucky enough to survive and face an unknown fate.

The König sank in such a battle that neither the heavy cruiser Wiesbaden nor the heavy cruiser Frankfurt knew what happened. Soon Langsdorff realized that it should be the opponent's destroyer. But from the technical point of view,

On the other hand, Langsdorff still couldn't understand why the other party's torpedoes were firing like this.

There are such high hits at such a long distance, and their power is so huge. Although it is understandable that three torpedoes sank an old battleship, Langsdorf still found it hard to believe that the German three-row torpedo was used.

With its boiler layout and complete underwater defense system, the König would sink so quickly!

"Tell the Wiesbaden to pull away immediately. The other party has a super torpedo. We are still within their range!" Langsdorff didn't even bother to find trouble with the culprits anymore, but

He immediately ordered the fleet to start evading. He didn't know how many torpedoes the opponent fired at one time. God knows whether the opponent would hit the two cruisers with another lightning strike.

Langsdorf even doubted whether there were other submarines in this area. After all, the opponent's attack was so concealed. If the opponent was lucky and the submarine launched an attack next to the König, it might be possible to achieve this.

The effect. So in order to avoid being hit by torpedoes, the upset Langsdorff finally decided to retreat. After all, heavy cruisers did not have battle lines.

The strength of the ship's protection, and in fact Zhang Yunchu did leave more than ten torpedoes unlaunched. These torpedoes were waiting to deal with the remaining German heavy cruisers or to replenish the König! Although Langsdorff's choice was given up

opportunity for revenge, but at the same time, it also avoids being struck by lightning again. After all, when the distance between the two sides is increased, the torpedo's strike effect will be greatly reduced.

The German fleet, which suffered a sudden attack, had to consider withdrawing from the battle. Even the heavy cruiser Tabrichten, which had been hit by one 14-inch shell and three 10-inch shells at the beginning, was spared.

The following German destroyer fleet was forced to release smoke and evacuate the battlefield, and Couch had no intention of continuing to fight with the opponent. His own destroyer fleet

All the torpedoes should have been fired, and the Tabernacle Richmond suffered moderate damage. He would definitely suffer a loss in a direct battle with the two German heavy cruisers. What's more, he had already made a profit in this battle. And now there is still an interception.

In the hope of the German transport fleet, it seems unreasonable to continue entangled with the injured heavy cruiser and the destroyer without torpedoes.

So, because both sides had their own fears, they finally chose to withdraw from the battlefield at the same time. While the Germans gathered the fleet and reported the situation to Admiral Luckner, they also tried to persuade the admiral to order the disbandment of the transport fleet. Because Luckner

I know that after I leave, before the weather clears, this place will be dominated by the opponent's fleet. Even if Admiral Luckner doesn't want to give up, it will definitely be too late to send another fleet for reinforcements.

The fleets of both sides began to disengage at high speed, and the relative speed between the two fleets was as high as nearly 50 knots. Even though the British radar was really useful, after half an hour, the other fleet could no longer be seen on the radar screen.

In the night battle, he sank one of the opponent's battleships in a daze, and Kuchi became a Spartan. He felt like he was floating, as if

Everything seemed unreal. For example, an hour after leaving the battlefield, several medium-speed moving light spots appeared on the radar screen. This fleet was about 17 nautical miles away from me. They were moving southwest.

After comparing the charts, Couch was able to determine that this should be a German transport fleet. They had changed their route and were rapidly approaching Spanish waters.

Although it is not clear why the promised dozen transport ships turned into two or three kittens, this does not affect Colonel Couch's appetite at all. Although the distance between the two sides is a bit far, the distance between the two fleets is about 10 knots.

The speed difference allows the two sides to quickly close the distance. In up to 3 hours, the opponent will be included in the attack range of Couch's naval guns. With the help of radar and searchlights, Couch's two cruisers can easily destroy the target.

In fact, the situation was exactly as he expected.

Two and a half hours later, according to the guidance of radar, the British fleet finally approached the transport fleet. At this time, the distance between the two sides was only about 10 kilometers. The destroyer was further forward, only about 4 kilometers. When the destroyer got on

searchlights and flares shrouded the target

When it was bright, Couch sent a telegram to the other party asking the other party to surrender. The Germans did it simply. While raising the white flag, the people on the ship transferred to the lifeboats and then scuttled the transport ship. This move made Couch very happy.

Annoyed, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Just when Couch was considering whether to continue to expand the victory, the heavy cruiser Tabrichtin sent a signal. Due to the previous battle and high-speed navigation, one of the drive shafts of this battleship was damaged, and the rear main gun was completely unusable.

And because the artillery battle resulted in dozens of casualties, I asked how to deal with it. If the battle was in offshore waters,

Even if it is a battle between large fleets, this warship actually still has a certain degree of combat effectiveness and should remain in the fleet. However, if it is to carry out ocean-going combat operations, although the damage is not very serious at this time, the maximum speed is only 24 knots, and it may

The Tabrichtin, which has other hidden problems, is obviously unable to continue to accompany the fleet in operations.

"Retain the most basic operators, and then have them evacuate to France." Kuchi thought for a while and said. Letting the warships go to France and then retain them is undoubtedly the safest solution. Although the fleet lost one main warship, it still maintained

With mobility, you won't be injured

The battleships were dragged down. And after the evacuation of the Tabernacle, Couch had no intention of continuing to wander around the sea. God knows whether the Germans will send another fleet to kill them. There are only one heavy cruiser and four more.

A fleet of torpedoed destroyers cannot resist the opponent's next wave of attacks.
Chapter completed!