69novels Chapter 594
Chapter 594
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: 0.080s Scan: 0.037sFrom the perspective of combat performance, battleships, especially battlecruisers with extremely high speed, are indeed a powerful weapon against aircraft carriers.
Due to their own characteristics, aircraft carriers have poor firepower, weak protection, and large deck area. They are thin-skinned and large-filled, making them the best prey for battleships!
Therefore, the common tactics of various countries at this time are to use battlecruisers to approach aircraft carriers at high speed, and then use the main guns of battlecruisers to wash the aircraft carriers. The deck area of aircraft carriers is very large, and the armor is generally not thick. As long as they are hit, even if they cannot be sunk, they can effectively destroy the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers.
Once a large hole is blown up on the deck of an aircraft carrier, fighters cannot take off and land before repairing it. The main combat effectiveness of an aircraft carrier is the fighters on it. Once they cannot take off and land fighters, the aircraft carrier will immediately lose most of its combat effectiveness.
Therefore, various countries have developed some special weapons based on the combat characteristics of aircraft carriers, such as incendiary bombs, submunitions, and armor-piercing shells.
At this time, the British army had roughly determined the position of the German army based on the route of the German seaplanes, and the fog on the sea was gradually dissipating, so Major General Holland planned to take advantage of the last chance of the fog to quietly approach Hans’ aircraft carrier and sink it.
In order to avoid being escaped by the enemy, Major General Holland did not stop and wait for the three Revenge-class battleships, but took the Hood battlecruiser and rushed towards the Germans first!
He was very confident in the combat performance of the Hood. If the German aircraft carrier was waiting for them in front, the Hood’s strength could destroy it.
If they were unlucky and encountered the main fleet of the German army, especially the Bismarck and Tirpitz, they could also use their high speed to protect their own safety, thereby avoiding excessive contact with the enemy, and they could also hold the enemy on the periphery and prevent the enemy from escaping.
In short, in Major General Holland’s idea, there was no problem with the Hood’s forward tactics, and there would be absolutely no danger!
After all, as a battlecruiser, they could just run away even if they couldn’t win!
This idea was good, but he encountered the Bismarck battleship!
The speed of the Bismarck battleship was not slower than that of the Hood!
“General, the British are speeding towards us!”
Every move of the British army was under the surveillance of the German radar, so when they began to move towards the German army, the German radar had already discovered their intentions.
“Have their aircraft carriers moved?”
Lütjens was not worried about the British surface ships. He was more worried about the enemy’s aircraft carriers. He was worried that when fighting with the enemy’s surface ships, they would be attacked by enemy air fighters. In that case, the situation would be very unfavorable to the German army!
“The two aircraft carriers did not seem to move, but the air search radar found some aerial targets approaching us!”
Lütjens thought for a moment:”Continue to retreat, let the four warships including Scharnhorst speed up to approach our aircraft carrier, and our ship will cover the rear!”
The Bismarck is equipped with Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles, which are the most advanced anti-aircraft weapons of this era, so compared with other ships, they are the least afraid of air attacks. If there are not many fighter planes dispatched, Bismarck can handle it. What he is most worried about is the enemy’s saturation attack!
The number of Sea Sparrows is limited, and there are only 8 missiles in two launch devices, which is also troublesome to fill, so they can only deal with no more than 16 fighter planes at a time. If the number of enemy attacking fighter planes exceeds this number, they will have to rely on the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship to protect themselves.
And anti-aircraft guns are… This weapon is not very high, and the enemy’s aircraft has a high probability of breaking through and completing the attack.
After receiving the order, the German fleet continued to retreat, and although they ran very fast, they were still detected by the seaplane on the Hood!
Around ten o’clock in the morning, when the fleets of Nimitz and Spruance had just joined, the battlecruiser Hood was the first to catch up with the Bismarck.
After Rear Admiral Hood discovered the Bismarck, he was shocked!
He thought he was chasing an aircraft carrier, but it turned out to be a battleship!
And it was the two ace battleships of the German army!
“The enemy’s aircraft carrier must be behind, and the Bismarck must be the last one to leave!”
The judgment of the British army was surprisingly consistent. Almost everyone believed that Bismarck’s mission was to leave and intercept them, so as to protect the safety of the aircraft carrier!
Therefore, Major General Holland immediately gave an order for the Hood to fire at the Bismarck.
If you want to eat the German aircraft carrier, you must kill these German battleships that are leaving behind!
What’s more, the Bismarck battleship is still the last one to leave. If the Bismarck battleship is sunk, then the Hood can prove its strength and prove that they are the real world number one, and Major General Holland will become a combat hero!
Almost no mobilization is needed. The British soldiers on the Hood battleship are all in high spirits and full of fighting spirit!
They all know who the enemy ship opposite them is, and they all know what it means to them to sink this enemy ship!
So there is no need for others to encourage them, they are already excited!
“The enemy ship’s position is 35 degrees northeast!”
“Distance 22 kilometers!”
“Speed 28 knots!”
“Prepare to calibrate and fire two shells from the front main gun!”
“All set!”
“”Fire!”
Boom – the huge recoil generated by the 381-meter cannon caused the entire battleship to tremble!
When the shell left the muzzle, the burning orange-red flame illuminated the nearby sea surface, and it looked as if the sea surface was on fire!
From the air, the slightly raised muzzle seemed to be a bright flower blooming on the sea surface, and waves were raised on the entire sea surface. The water surface near the muzzle was flattened by the huge shock wave like a smooth mirror, which looked magnificent!
No one went to appreciate this beautiful scenery. The 1,800 pairs of eyes on the British warships were all staring at the four shells fired from their warships, flying towards the enemy warships in the distance!
It is quite difficult to hit the target directly at a distance of 22 kilometers.
The reason is that, on the one hand, because the distance is too far, there is a slight deviation in the aiming angle. After the shell flies out, as the distance increases, this deviation will gradually magnify, resulting in a situation where a slight error leads to a huge mistake.
On the other hand, the enemy ships being hit are not dead targets after all.
They will not stay there and be hit.
They will maneuver and evade.
At a distance of more than 20 kilometers, the time a shell flies in the air will exceed 40 seconds or even a minute.
With such a long time, even a person can walk dozens of meters on foot, not to mention the speed of the ship is close to or even higher.
Even for warships that can travel more than 30 knots, one minute is enough for them to move more than 100 meters!
Therefore, the hit rate of the navies of various countries is not high at this distance, not to mention the first calibration!
Boom!
Four shells, two in front and two in the back, actually formed a cross-fire, surrounding the Bismarck in the middle!