"Hmph! It's finally here, but don't you think it's a bit late?" Kirkbride turned around, looked at the burning American warship on the sea, and said with a sneer. Swallowing the novel Now, except for the 4 capital ships of the US 4th Fleet, all other warships have basically been sunk, and only a dozen or so ships are still under the siege of the French fleet, struggling to support.
"Order, the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 9th destroyer formations are dispatched immediately to encircle and destroy the main ships of the US 4th Fleet. I request that these 4 main ships be sunk or severely damaged before the reinforcements from the other two fleets arrive. ship." Kirkbride issued the latest order.
Under his order, the four destroyer formations, which are still full so far, quickly left the battlefield, and then launched an attack on the capital ship of the US 4th Fleet. It only took ten minutes from when they withdrew from the battlefield to when they formed the queue. [bsp; "In addition, give Marshal Clarence a magic weapon, the Americans are hooked, and they can catch the net!" Kirkbride had a cruel smile on his face. Although the reinforcements that came this time, there were only two fleets, and two fleets did not appear. But Kirkbride knew that the stupid Americans used all five fleets separately, which undoubtedly gave the French fleet an excellent opportunity to defeat them individually. If their five fleets stay together all the time, with their terrifying number of warships, especially the 20 capital ships, they will undoubtedly bring considerable trouble to the French Navy.
But now, they can only be eaten by the French navy one by one. The Mediterranean Fleet has been staying behind the Atlantic Fleet. At present, it is only less than 60 kilometers away from the battlefield. After two hours, it can be put into battle.
Kirkbride's combat intentions are very obvious. When the U.S. Navy divides its forces, it first concentrates its superior forces and defeats or eliminates the Americans one by one, thereby reducing the pressure on the later battles.
"General, the 10th Fleet and the 12th Fleet are here!" A staff officer suddenly shouted.
"Damn it, these sons of **** are finally here." Trixie felt like crying without tears. He never expected that in such a short period of time, his 4th Fleet would be disabled. Although he had this awareness when he was making bait before, he did not expect that the loss would be so great.
"Brace me up, the battle has just begun. Although we lost our cruisers and destroyers, our capital ships still have strong combat power. Next, it's time for us to beat up the French!" Tricker said for The soldiers gasped. After the 10th Fleet and the 12th Fleet arrive, they will be able to assemble 12 capital ships, and there will be hundreds of other destroyers and cruisers. At that time, it will be enough to defeat the arrogant French fleet in front of you.
"General, destroyer, the French destroyer is rushing towards us!" Suddenly, a staff officer shouted on the bridge of the USS Georgia.
Trick picked up the binoculars and looked up. Sure enough, dozens of French destroyers were rushing towards them fiercely.
"Damn it, turn around, break away from contact with the French immediately, and join the 10th and 12th Fleets!" Trick put down his binoculars and roared loudly.
Now, there are not many cruisers and destroyers in the 4th Fleet, and they are still struggling under the oppression of the superior force of the French Navy, and it is impossible to rush to rescue the capital ship. Therefore, Trick had to order to run away.
During the attack on the capital ship of the US 4th Fleet, the four destroyer formations of the Atlantic Fleet quickly assigned their combat targets. Among them, the 1st Destroyer Squadron attacked the 'Georgia', the flagship of the 4th Fleet. 2nd Destroyer Squadron, attacking the 'Virginia', 7th Destroyer Squadron, attacking the 'Kentucky', and 9th Destroyer Squadron, attacking the 'Louisiana'.
"Order the 'God', the 'Tuileries' and the 'Elysee' to return, and together with us, form a new battle line and prepare to meet the American reinforcements!" Kirkbride issued a new order. The command. The four capital ships of the US 4th Fleet fled frantically under the siege of four destroyer squadrons. And the next time it faces reinforcements composed of two fleets, the Atlantic Fleet will not be able to win so easily.
Although the cruisers and destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet still have the advantage, they do not have an absolute advantage. Therefore, it is necessary to use capital ships to fight recklessly with the opponent's 8 capital ships. At the right time, the destroyer was mobilized to launch a lightning strike, dragging the battle to the arrival of the Mediterranean Fleet.
"Boom!" Facing the attack of the French destroyer formation, all the main guns and secondary guns on the four capital ships of the US 4th Fleet rang. It is hoped that the French destroyer formation can be prevented from approaching. Or towed to the destroyers of the 10th and 12th Fleets to protect them.
"Get ready! Launch!" The 7th Destroyer Squadron launched the attack first. Although they were approaching the 'Kentucky' again, a 'Dolphin'-class destroyer was sunk, and a 'Bayonet'-class destroyer was damaged and immediately went to the battlefield. But they finally narrowed the distance to only 4 kilometers away from the 'Kentucky'.
Eighteen torpedoes headed towards the 'Kentucky' in a fan shape at a speed of 30 knots.
"Turn! Steer full rudder! Damn it!" the captain of the Kentucky roared with red eyes. The 'Kentucky' quickly began to turn. At the same time, the rapid-fire guns and machine guns on the battleship began to shoot towards the sea, hoping to destroy the torpedoes launched by the French destroyer.
However, these are in vain. It takes at least two minutes for a huge warship with tens of thousands of tons to complete its turn. And during this time, it was enough for a high-speed torpedo to run a distance of 4 kilometers.
The torpedo traveled rapidly through the sea, leaving white trails on the sea surface. The 'Kentucky' continued to turn. When the French destroyer squadron launched the torpedo, it was facing the left hull of the 'Kentucky'. If the 'Kentucky' could complete the steering and be parallel to the torpedo, then they would have a great chance Dodge torpedoes.
One after another torpedoes passed through the front or rear of the 'Kentucky'. The hearts of all the people on the entire battleship were gripped. I don't know if I can avoid the torpedo attack, I can only ask God to bless.
"11, 12, 13, 14!" On the bridge of the USS 'Kentucky', a young staff officer, with a pale face, silently counted, adding a number for each torpedo avoided. Counting to 16, the 'Kentucky' is still safe and sound. However, before he could count out the last two counts, he heard a violent explosion, and then his whole body was shaken and flew up.
"Have you still not been able to avoid it?" the staff officer murmured.
"Report the loss!" The captain got up from the ground, ignoring the wound on his head, and shouted at the top of his voice.
The whole battleship was full of chaos. Immediately after the first explosion, there was another explosion. On the surface, the 'Kentucky' was hit by a torpedo again.
Everyone on the battleship was thrown up. There were even a few sailors on the deck who were thrown directly into the water.
"Captain, we were contacted and hit the stern and midship. At least 3 cabins were damaged. The most serious thing was the stern. A hole of more than five meters was blown out near the water line. The damage control personnel I can't control it." The navigator stumbled into the bridge, and at this moment, due to the large number of entries, the 'Kentucky' had already begun to slowly tilt.
"Can it be saved?" asked the captain.
The sailor shook his head pale. The entire battleship, the stern and the midship were severely flooded, and it was impossible to block it. The sea water flooded into the power cabin, and the entire warship had lost power, and it was only a matter of time before it sank.
"Then, abandon the ship!" The captain gave the order to abandon the ship with a bitter face. This order, for the captain, may be the most difficult order to issue. Every captain has deep feelings for his warship.
When the 'Kentucky' was besieged and sunk by the 7th Destroyer Squadron of the French Atlantic Fleet, the other 3 capital ships of the US 4th Fleet~www.mtlnovel.com~ were also attacked by the other 3 destroyer squadrons of the French Atlantic Fleet The siege.
However, the ending is not the same. The fate of the 'Louisiana' was even more tragic than that of the 'Kentucky'. Because he turned a step late, he was directly hit by 4 torpedoes, the entire keel of the battleship was broken, and the hull was cut into three pieces. It sank into the sea within minutes. There were more than 200 people on the entire battleship, and only a few dozen people escaped successfully. The rest, together with the battleship, sank into the sea.
The 'Virginia' had better luck. Under the siege of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron of the French Atlantic Fleet, he still suffered two torpedoes, but fortunately, none of the hits were fatal. Although the speed dropped to only 10 knots and hundreds of tons of seawater were poured in, they did not sink. It's just that he completely lost his combat effectiveness and withdrew from the battle ahead of time. And insisted on returning to the naval base on St. Lucia. However, after the failure of the naval battle, he was still captured by the French navy in the base.
The luckiest thing is the flagship "Georgia". Although it attacked the 1st Destroyer Squadron of the French Atlantic Fleet, it wanted to sink it, and launched a full 3 rounds of attacks for this, paying the cost of 3 destroyers being hit. Shen, the price of two serious injuries. But he dodged all the torpedoes unscathed. The entire "Georgia" did not suffer any blows except for the injuries sustained in the artillery battle with the French Atlantic Fleet. This has to be said to be a strange