Chapter 731 Heavy losses
If the situation cannot be opened at this time, as these covering forces are gradually lost, the ironclad ships in East Africa will also face a situation of being unable to support themselves.
At this time, the Second Fleet, which Vice Admiral Kerry had high hopes for, was also facing its own dilemma. The British ships had a numerical advantage, which forced the Second Fleet's surrounding tactics to be terminated just halfway through.
“Rear Admiral Anton, the enemy ship blocked our direction, what should we do now?”
Rear Admiral Anton did not speak, but carefully observed the battlefield. At this time, Vice Admiral Kerry's First Fleet had gradually fallen into disadvantage, so the Second Fleet must bear greater responsibility.
Seeing the disparity in strength between the two sides, Rear Admiral Anton carefully analyzed the problems faced by his side now. That is, it is impossible to continue to implement the surround plan, and returning to support Vice Admiral Kerry's First Fleet will not be effective. , but it will delay the fighter opportunity.
"All warships, turn on the power to the maximum, attack to the right, break through the enemy's blockade, each ship acts as a unit, and has only one goal, which is to attack the central area of the enemy's main fleet. No matter what method you use, I only need Result." Anton ordered.
Following the decentralization of power by Lieutenant General Kerry, Major General Anton decentralized power again. This time the Second East African Fleet is truly fighting on its own.
However, Major General Anton's strategic goal is very clear, that is, to disrupt the British army's conventional offensive posture at all costs and relieve the First Fleet. If the First Fleet is wiped out, the Second Fleet will only die.
The Hamburg has a total displacement of about 6,700 tons. It is the ironclad ship of the Second Fleet second only to the Trieste. After receiving the new order, Captain Sberg did not hesitate to order: "Increase the ship's speed to the maximum. Drive more than thirty miles to the southwest with all your strength, aim your artillery at the British ships ahead, and fight a **** path!"
At almost the same time, the Second Fleet began a state that was unimaginable to the intercepting British army, that is, the East Africans were crazy!
The British gunner on the Gray Fox asked: "Which direction should we shoot now?"
After the command of the Second Fleet in East Africa was delegated, the ironclad ships of the Second Fleet, including gunboats, showed off their unique abilities and were in no order. This made the three British armored ships responsible for interception instantly confused about which target to hit first.
“Attack the armored ships first, and then deal with the gunboats, pick the bigger ones!” said the commander of the Gray Fox.
But at this time, three East African ships took the lead in opening fire, all targeting the Gray Fox. They thought the same as the British at the first moment, which was to hit the bigger one.
After the delegation of command, many ships chose their own opponents or strategies to achieve their own goals. Among them, the Pace was the main force, and its target was the Gray Fox, while the other two were gunboats.
Although the gunboat is easy to sink and has low defense, its firepower is not weak. It is called a mobile fort. At this time, three large and small warships focused on the Gray Fox at the same time, making the Gray Fox difficult to parry although it was powerful.
A shell from the Gray Fox directly hit the Pace, but the East African gunboat Hermann and the Pace hit the Gray Fox at the same time, and the gunboat Margaret took the opportunity to get to the left of the Gray Fox. It was less than two hundred meters away from the side and successfully penetrated the Gray Fox's side armor.
Its 305mm main gun successfully penetrated the hull of the Gray Fox. This shelling directly caused the Gray Fox to shut down, and the internal power system suffered a huge impact. Subsequently, the three ships continued to exert firepower, and the Gray Fox announced that it was withdrawing from the battle.
However, relative to this loss, East Africa finally opened a gap on the left wing of the British navy. Trieste and Hamburg dragged the two intercepted British ironclads, and the other four warships of the East African Second Fleet took this opportunity to enter. The hollow area to the left of the British fleet.
The ironclads dragged by Hamburg and Trieste were unable to return to rescue. At this time, the main force of the British fleet was trying to beat the drowned dogs of the First Fleet in East Africa. The influx of four East African ships caused the British main battle order to be cut off. At this time, the Second East African Fleet could completely eat up the flank of the British Navy. However, due to the previous order of Rear Admiral Anton, it must directly attack the British at all costs. The main center of the British navy began shelling. At the same time, in order to prevent being hit, the four gunboats came towards the British army at high speed, taking an unorganized route.
The turmoil in the rear of the British army instantly attracted the attention of Lieutenant General Kerry, and he knew that the Second Fleet must have played a role.
Immediately ordered: "Stop attacking the British head-on. The remaining ships will be divided into three directions to find attack targets, completely disrupting the British rhythm."
As a result, the command of the First Fleet was also delegated to various ships. At this time, the East African Navy was completely disorganized, and the disintegration of the First Fleet also caught the British fleet off guard. In addition, there were four East African "flies" causing trouble in the rear. Now chaos began to appear on the British front.
Commander Grafton of the Royal Naval Expeditionary Force had noticed something was wrong, but it was too late to make adjustments at this time.
He could only order the British warships to rearrange themselves with the Giant as the center, but after the order was issued, the effect was not good.
East African ships played the trick of "Qin King circling the pillar" with the British on the sea, and they fought independently, with British ships as the main body, attacking wantonly.
At this time, the British army and East Africa as a whole have become a complete mess. In this close contact, if the artillery is fired, it may not hit the enemy, but friendly forces.
Of course, the British ships are large and strong, and they can choose to collide with the East African ships. However, even at such a close distance, the East African Navy still chooses artillery as a means of attack. Now the East African Navy cannot distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and it just grabs the big ships and bombards them. .
And the British ships were large and numerous, and they were mixed with East Africa, so they were naturally easy to be hit. It was not easy for the British to counterattack these "running around" East African warships.
Moreover, Britain had already been at sea for several days at this time, and had only rested in Somaliland before, so it was said to be exhausted.
In this state, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force plummeted, especially their mental activity. After successfully disrupting the war situation in East Africa, everyone was finally brought to the same level.
Time came to about ten o'clock in the morning, when the war finally came to an end with the arrival of East African reinforcements.
Archduke Ferdinand personally led the remaining main force of the East African navy and came from the home port of Bagamoyo. By this time, both the British army and the East African navy were exhausted and unable to fight anymore.
After seeing the East African reinforcements, Commander-in-Chief Grafton did not hesitate to issue an evacuation order, but he was still bitten by the reinforcements, leaving the British cruiser Hyderabad behind.
At this point, the Battle of Lamu was completely over, but both sides suffered heavy losses. Almost a quarter of East Africa's navy was destroyed in this battle. Two ironclads were sunk, six gunboats were lost, and the remaining ironclads were basically injured. Friedrich Although the ship did not sink, I am afraid it will be decommissioned soon.
Three British Expeditionary Force ships were sunk, four were seriously damaged, and two were captured. This meant that half of the expeditionary force's combat ships were wiped out in East Africa, especially the two captured warships, which made Commander-in-Chief Grafton very unhappy. willingly.
(End of this chapter)