Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 149 The Dilemma of the Ocean Fleet

The main guns of the last Iron Duke-class battleships to be commissioned satisfied the fantasy of giant ships and cannons of that era. The caliber of the main guns was increased from 343 mm to a terrifying 381 mm, and the caliber of the secondary guns was also increased to 152 mm to cope with the growing threat of destroyers.

However, these three battleships can only change the problem of insufficient protection to a limited extent. The 305mm side waterline main armor is not enough to deal with the main guns of the Drake Navy battleship with a caliber of more than 9000mm at a distance of 280 meters. In addition, the weak turret armor is also a major drawback.

The two new battleships built by the Drake Empire at the same time, the Caesar class and the King class, took the lead again. The Caesar class battleship was equipped with 10 305mm main guns, and the horizontal armor and bow and stern side armor were strengthened; the King class battleship caught up with and surpassed most of the Royal Navy's main battleships in artillery for the first time. Its 350mm main guns greatly offset the advantage of the Tarens' main gun caliber, and the mm horizontal armor was also the pinnacle of dreadnoughts in the world.

The Ocean Fleet was both lucky and unfortunate. Fortunately, a godsend opportunity was right in front of them, and the Liam Fleet damaged the opponent's battleship Queen Elizabeth and withdrew from the battle at the beginning of the battle. The sinking of the battlecruiser Flinders also made a good start for this naval battle of the century.

Unfortunately, this good start did not last long. Admiral Leon's Ocean Fleet suffered a severe blow from the Grand Fleet. In front of Leon's eyes, the Grand Fleet miraculously completed a T-shaped cross-section on the rough sea. The Drake Ocean Fleet in the column began to suffer the consequences of its formation disadvantage.

The Grand Fleet took advantage of the number of its side guns, with over 180 large-caliber guns raining bullets down on the Ocean Fleet. However, because the Ocean Fleet was turning at high speed, its counterattack firepower in a short period of time was only a few dozen guns. The gap was too great.

"Pay attention to the speed and don't get out of touch. Persistence is victory!" Admiral Leon shouted urgently.

But the time of being passively attacked was very difficult to endure. The Ocean Fleet was lost in the barrage of bullets woven by the Talen people, its formation was disjointed, its command was ineffective, and it was at a loss.

The Oceanic Fleet was in danger. At this time, the Second Battleship Squadron of the Oceanic Fleet, led by Vice Admiral Malawi, appeared behind the side of the fleet. No one knew how these outdated dreadnoughts could run so fast today.

"Order! All troops attack! Save the Ocean Fleet!" Lieutenant General Malawi roared loudly.

The six dreadnoughts rushed diagonally towards the large fleet meters away with an indomitable momentum, trying to attract the attention of the Talen people and buy precious time for the Ocean Fleet so that the Ocean Fleet could adjust and deploy its formation.

The Grand Fleet discovered Drake's Second Battleship Squadron at a distance of meters and hurriedly adjusted its firepower output, with dozens of main guns starting to block the attack.

"General, the Second Battleship Squadron reports! They will buy time for us! In addition, Vice Admiral Malawi also sent a farewell telegram!" The panicked communications officer hurriedly reported the information.

"Hey, how can I explain this to Piltz!" Admiral Leon said bitterly. Malawi's full name is Malawi von Piltz, the son of Piltz, the founder of the Ocean Fleet.

The six dreadnoughts of the Second Battleship Squadron rushed diagonally towards the battle line of the Talen Fleet at a maximum speed of 6 knots. The last time these old guys ran so fast was when they had just entered service.

They will approach the battle line of the Grand Fleet at a northwest course and engage in close combat with the Grand Fleet. As for when to withdraw from the battle, the Second Battleship Squadron has not thought about it.

The time required for the Great Ocean Fleet was enough, and the officers and soldiers on the four Brandenburg-class pre-dreadnoughts and two Friedrich III-class pre-dreadnoughts of the Second Battleship Squadron had to risk their lives.

"Jericho, six dreadnoughts, do you dare let them get close?" Admiral Leon gritted his teeth. You know, each Brandenburg-class ship is equipped with six 6mm main guns, and the Friedrich III-class is equipped with four 6mm main guns, which pose a considerable threat if they get close.

"Reporting to the command tower, the Drake's Dreadnoughts continue to approach, with no signs of slowing down!" reported the lookout on the Iron Duke in the middle of the grand fleet formation.

"Are they crazy? What do they want to do? Won't they just hide?" the captain of the Iron Duke exclaimed. The Second Battleship Squadron charged forward under the fire. He was not afraid of close combat. When they were close, the secondary guns could also fire.

"He wants me to choose! Leon is more fierce than I thought!" Jericho sneered.

Should they continue to bombard the chaotic main fleet of the Ocean Fleet or turn their guns to focus on the isolated attacking Second Battleship Squadron? The former will definitely make the formation of the Ocean Fleet continue to be chaotic and unable to form an effective counterattack. The latter can eat up 6 dreadnoughts in a short time and eliminate unexpected threats.

"What are your orders?" asked the captain of the Iron Duke.

"Of course we want them all! A mere 6 dreadnoughts, the Grand Fleet can handle them! If each ship in the Grand Fleet allocates a few naval guns, they can take down these dreadnoughts!" Jericho sneered.

Although Jericho said it lightly, he still dispatched four battleships to concentrate fire on the Second Battleship Squadron of the Ocean Fleet.

The sound of the artillery was deafening. In less than fifteen minutes, Brandenburg was hit by eight shells, including a 305mm capped armor-piercing shell that hit Brandenburg's horizontal armor twice.

The Brandenburg-class pre-dreadnought battleship's horizontal armor is protected by composite armor, with an armor belt 60 mm thick. The front conning tower has 300 mm thick sides and a 30 mm thick top. Above the waterline, the thickness of the armor belt is slightly reduced from 400 mm in the central part of the ship to 300 mm in the front and rear. If teak padding is included, the total thickness of the armor belt in the strongest area reaches 600 mm, which is the main reason why the Brandenburg can still sail tenaciously in the rain of bullets.

Two armor-piercing shells penetrated the horizontal deck, destroying two compartments and causing a fire.

The Brandenburg was in relatively good condition, but the Friedrich-Wilhelm Kurfürst was in bad luck. Although it was only hit by five shells, one of them fired an armor-piercing shell that penetrated a main gun turret, then tore through the armor and drilled into the ammunition room. In an instant, the ammunition depot was detonated, and the turret and the gun cover were blown into the sky. Nineteen sailors were killed, two compartments were flooded, and one watertight compartment could not be closed.

The Weissenburg was hit by six bullets in the front and rear. A 343mm armor-piercing shell hit the side of the turret of the front conning tower of the Weissenburg, but was immediately bounced off by the 300mm defensive armor, leaving only an ugly dent on the steel plate.

However, another 343mm armor-piercing shell wiped out a large section of the Weissenburg's health bar. The shell smashed through the horizontal armor belt at the stern of the ship. The armor-piercing shell exploded in the stern cabin, causing serious water ingress to the stern of the Weissenburg pre-dreadnought.