Concentrate all the firepower of the "Piety" and the "Saint" and storm the "Vienna". "On the bridge of the 'Piety', McCain quickly issued an order. Although the five warships of the French fleet were injured to varying degrees, only the 'Vienna' was the most severely damaged. At the same time, because the 'Vienna' has the weakest defense and is also a warship that is easy to sink. Now, McCain no longer expects to defeat the French South Atlantic Fleet. Only when the battle has progressed to this point does he realize that the French Fleet So far, the U.S. 7th Fleet has lost almost half of its combat effectiveness, while the damage caused to the French South Atlantic Fleet is minimal.
If this is converted, it is difficult for the U.S. Navy and the Canadian Navy to defeat the French Navy.
After a short pause, the fierce artillery battle started again. The French South Atlantic Fleet concentrated all its firepower, and after McCain boarded the "Piety" and raised the flagship flag, it began a fierce shelling. Countless shells were stuffed into the barrel, and then fired out. It smashed hard at the "Devotion". Around the "Devotion", large and small water jets exploded. The "Devotion" seemed to be traveling through a storm, with its huge hull shaking endlessly. [bsp; From time to time, shells hit the 'Devotion'. However, they were all small-caliber shells, which could not cause much damage to the "Devotion", at most they would kill the sailors on the deck. Both the main gun and the large-caliber secondary gun are protected by turrets. As long as they are not hit by large-caliber shells, it is generally difficult to cause damage. The bridge is the same. The bridges of the "North Carolina" class battleships are all specially reinforced. The thickness of the steel plates has reached 200mm. It is very difficult to hurt the people inside.
When the French fleet stormed the "Piety", the "Piety" and the "Saint" also launched a fierce counterattack. All the artillery fire went straight to the 'Vienne'. Especially the small-caliber quick-fire guns set the 'Vienne' on fire. After the damage control team was in the process of controlling the fire, they were also slaughtered a lot.
"General, the enemy has directed all their firepower at the 'Vienna', and now the hull has been damaged in many places, I think the 'Vienne' should retreat first!" Elliott suggested. After all, the war has just begun, and if there is any damage in battle, it will be very detrimental to the French fleet. Moreover, the battle with the US 7th Fleet was only the first battle. After that, we will have to face more powerful enemies. If we lose a capital ship, the combat power of the French South Atlantic Fleet will be greatly damaged.
"Well! How about it, I'll go to the 'Garonne' to continue the battle. The 'Vienne' will withdraw from the battle first!" In order to prevent the 'Vienne' from suffering more damage, Bennett adopted Liot's suggestion.
Bennett went to the 'Garon' in a traffic boat, after which the 'Vienne' lowered its flagship flag and withdrew from the battle. The 'Garon' hoisted a new flagship flag and took over the command of the naval battle.
"Damn it, the 'Vienne' wants to run, catch up with me!" McCain roared angrily. I already have one battleship on my side, and the second one is about to sink. And after the "Vienna" was damaged, she actually wanted to escape, of course McCain would not agree.
Under his command, the 'Piety' and the 'Saint' rushed towards the 'Vienna' at full speed. However, this is simply futile. The 'Vienna' broke away from the line of battle and headed quickly to the north, while the battle line headed by the battleship 'Adour' once again continued in front of the 'Piety' and the 'Saint'.
If the 'Piety' and the 'Saint' want to chase the 'Vienne', they will definitely encounter four French ships including the 'Adour' and 'Garonne' during the period of time they turn. The violent bombardment of the battleship. At that time, they will have to bear all the firepower of the four French battleships. McCain couldn't guarantee that he would get lucky and make it through the ferocious rain of bullets. Especially in the case of the 'Devotion' being also injured.
"Damn it! Aim at the 'Adour' and sink her for me!" McCain finally gave up on chasing the 'Vienne' and vented his anger on the French South Atlantic Fleet. Another 'Tiger Shark' class warship, 'Adour'. Previously, the 'Vienna' was the key attack target of the US 7th Fleet. Therefore, the 'Adour' was only hit by a few small-caliber shells, which did not cause any damage, and still maintained a strong combat capability. force.
At this time, there was a sudden violent explosion in the distance. It was the sound of the "Apostle" being hit by the "Swordfish" class fish of the French destroyer formation. The weak 'Apostle' was besieged by more than a dozen destroyers, and most of her secondary guns were damaged in the previous battle. Therefore, it will not be able to stop the French destroyer formation at all.
Facing the fierce siege launched by the French destroyer, and losing firepower and speed, it is no different from waiting to die. The French destroyer formation immediately carried out the fourth round of lightning strikes on the "Apostle". This time, two torpedoes hit the 'Apostle'. Both torpedoes hit the midship of the 'Apostle' one after another. The powerful force broke the "Apostle" into two pieces, and the bow and stern of the ship were raised high. All the people and things on the deck fell into the sea. The 'Apostle' struggled on the sea surface for less than ten minutes in the end, and finally sank slowly into the sea, leaving only a pile of residual debris and a few solitary lifeboats on the sea surface. This is the lifeboat ordered to be released by the captain of the "Apostle" after discovering that he could not escape the lightning strike of the French. However, there were only a few dozen people in total on these lifeboats, and more people sank into the sea along with the 'Apostle', including the captain.
"Boom!" McCain slammed his fist heavily on the table. The sinking of the 'Apostle' hit him hard. Although, when he left the 'Apostle', he knew that it would be difficult for the 'Apostle' to escape the siege of the French fleet. However, the 'Apostle' is the flagship of the US 7th Fleet after all! Even the flagship sank, one can imagine how serious the blow to the morale of the entire fleet was.
"General, shall we continue the fight?" A cold voice rang in McCain's ear. I saw that a brigadier general came to McCain, and he was the captain of the "Devotion".
"What do you mean? We lost so many warships, of course we have to fight." McCain glared at the other party, and then said.
"General, we've already lost Faith and Apostle, and it may not be long before we will lose Piety, as well as numerous 'South Carolina' class battleships, 'Washington' class battleships, and 'Franklin' class battleships. Battleships. And the French, their losses have been minimal since the war started. Besides, our morale is extremely low now. If we continue to fight like this, the enemy will only become stronger and stronger, while we will become weaker and weaker." The captain argued hard. Originally, using the 7th Fleet to compete recklessly with the French South Atlantic Fleet was simply the result of McCain's insistence on going his own way. If, according to the order of the U.S. Department of the Navy, the French South Atlantic Fleet is avoided first, and the French South Atlantic Fleet is flanked after the arrival of the 6th Fleet, perhaps the victory belongs to the U.S. Navy. At least, the U.S. 7th Fleet will not lose so much.
"Are you questioning me?" McCain said coldly.
"No, I just want to save the 7th Fleet." The captain of the "Devotion" said without fear.
The atmosphere inside the bridge became very tense because of the confrontation between the two. Many staff officers looked at the two with fear on their faces. They really didn't expect that at the critical moment of the fleet's life and death, the two would still be in the mood to fight among themselves.
At this time, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com A 305mm naval gun shell hit the front deck of the "Pious", directly destroying one mén 305mm naval gun and two mén 155mm secondary guns. The sailors on the deck were also killed or injured. heavy.
"Okay, order the fleet to retreat!" McCain collapsed on the chair like a leaking ball. He knew that the U.S. 7th Fleet had completely lost this naval battle. He himself was a complete failure.
"Send the results of the naval battle to the Admiralty and General Harold, and let them beware of the French. Especially the French destroyers!" McCain added after giving the order to retreat.
After that, he left the bridge and entered the rest cabin belonging to the captain. Everyone else thought he was too tired and wanted to take a rest, so no one cared so much. After all, during the previous two or three hours of exciting naval battles, McCain had to command the battle, and his nerves were always highly tense, and it is normal to feel tired.
However, a gunshot that followed shocked everyone. When they opened the cabin door, they found that McCain had fallen to the ground. He shot himself in the head with a pistol and ended his life. It can be regarded as an explanation for the failure of this naval battle. If he returned to the United States, what awaited him would, if nothing else, be a trial in a military court.