Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 147: Battle of Cimbrica

However, before Colonel Oak could find an opportunity to return to his homeland, a peak naval battle between the Grand Fleet and the Oceanic Fleet had already begun.

The world's second largest navy's ocean fleet, which has suddenly emerged after spending more than ten years, hundreds of millions of dollars and exhausting a generation of naval talents, will challenge the world's number one Royal Navy fleet in the waters south of the Skagerrak Strait in the North Sea and west of the Simbrika Peninsula.

On April 1917, 4, fifty battleships and over two hundred support and auxiliary ships of both sides will engage in a fierce battle in the North Sea. The pinnacle competition of giant ships and cannons will begin. This battle is destined to leave a deep mark in history books.

"Liam, why don't you understand? Not being a dreadnought does not mean being powerful. What matters most is being suitable!" Leo sighed. He was facing his old friend and mortal enemy Liam again. The fleets led by both sides were the fast forces of their respective countries' navies. However, unlike Leo's First Reconnaissance Fleet, whose main ships were all battlecruisers, Liam's First Battlecruiser Squadron was mixed with several dreadnought-class battleships.

"General, Liam has seven main battleships. Should we avoid them for a while?" Some staff officers of the First Reconnaissance Fleet suggested. The two fleets had already exchanged fire, and they had completed the mission of delaying Liam's fleet. Wouldn't it be better to wait for the main fleet to arrive and solve all the problems?

"Such a good opportunity is rare! Not to mention seven battleships, even eight will be enough to entangle Liam. This will force the main force of Jericho's fleet to reinforce, and prevent the Royal Navy in hiding from implementing the blockade strategy and fighting us in advance!" Leo explained patiently, and then ordered the fleet to approach Liam's fleet within meters. This distance made it impossible for both sides to escape easily.

The battlecruiser Lützow versus the battlecruiser Barbary Lion, the battlecruiser Derfflinger versus the battlecruiser Sana'a Tiger, the battlecruiser Bielau versus the battlecruiser Indefatigable and Indomitable, the battlecruiser Moltke versus the battleship Queen Elizabeth and the battlecruiser Flinders, the battlecruiser Drake versus the battlecruiser Otilo and the battleship Dumelin, the battlecruiser Von der Bella versus the battleship Temmler. The two fleets opened up two long intersecting battle lines and bombarded each other at a distance of meters.

"But..." The staff officer wanted to say something but was interrupted by Leo.

"You have just been transferred to the First Reconnaissance Fleet and you don't know some of the situations. I have the final say here! You only need to make suggestions at the right time, and you have completed your job. As for whether you listen to me or not, that is my business! You execute my orders! Understand? Besides, the Liam Fleet is not as scary as you think!" The serious reprimand made the staff officer who asked the questions at a loss. To be honest, in Leo's heart, the Liam Fleet was no longer taken seriously by him.

The Liam fleet had a fatal flaw, which was the three powerful dreadnought-class battleships. The Queen Elizabeth was the first to have problems among the three battleships. During the high-speed sailing and the tangle with the Moltke, some of the boilers were damaged due to long-term high-load operation. The Queen Elizabeth was dragged down by the Drakes, lost 25 knots of speed, and gradually fell behind the team.

At the beginning, the Kingdom of Talen and the Royal Navy had high hopes for this cutting-edge battleship with excellent performance on the design drawings. However, a disappointing thing happened. During the sea trials, the Queen Elizabeth class could only run at a speed of 23.3-24 knots, which did not meet the design parameters at all.

The Queen Elizabeth was rejected by the Royal Navy because it did not meet the design requirements. The shipyard had no choice but to return it to the factory for modification. However, the Admiralty urged it to complete the modification and deliver it to the Navy in the shortest possible time. Faced with pressure, the shipyard played a trick and pretended to modify the Queen Elizabeth before delivering it to the Navy. The Queen Elizabeth could run at a speed of 25 knots, but the shipyard's designers did not dare to tell the Navy that it was due to boiler overload.

Before the Battle of Simbrica, the Queen Elizabeth class was indeed a perfect dreadnought. The 330mm waterline main armor made the Talons no longer ridiculed as thin-skinned and large-filled, while the 381mm main gun and the 25 knot speed after modification were enviable.

Unfortunately, the Talens did not put the Queen Elizabeth into the main fleet, but instead incorporated it into Liam's First Battlecruiser Squadron as a supplementary force. The Royal Navy originally wanted to use the Queen Elizabeth to protect the battlecruisers in Liam's fleet, but it did not go as planned. Although the Queen Elizabeth-class ship has an advantage over the Drake battleships at a speed of 25 knots after the modification, the Queen Elizabeth can be mixed into the battlecruiser array, and the speed becomes the biggest disadvantage.

During the long North Sea campaign, Queen Elizabeth suffered from boiler problems and eventually fell behind.

Although the Queen Elizabeth can be put aside for the time being, the Liam Fleet still maintains its numerical advantage. But it doesn't matter. The Drake Navy has known since the construction of the Ocean Fleet that it cannot compete with the Tarens in terms of numbers.

The Drake Navy has become accustomed to battles with a huge disparity in numbers. After going through repeated battles, most people in the First Reconnaissance Fleet are not afraid. With the support of the goddess of luck and the unsinkable ship, they will eventually win.

"Inform the fleet, no matter how difficult the road to victory is, we must be firm in our beliefs and move forward courageously. Even if the whole army is wiped out, we will never retreat!" Everyone in the command tower of the Moltke was infected by Leo's words, and the blood-inspired Drake naval officers and soldiers worked harder.

The battlecruiser Bilo faced the two battlecruisers, Talen's Tireless and Indomitable, head-on, relying on its strong defensive power to fight two enemies at once without losing the upper hand; not long after, the Tireless, which was hit by another round of bombardment, had to face reality and temporarily evacuated the battle group with its severely damaged hull.

The Drake had been sharing the Talens' firepower for the friendly ships of the First Scouting Fleet. The Otilo took this opportunity to hit the Drake hard, and the fierce firepower made the Drake precarious; the Queen Elizabeth's lagging behind allowed the Moltke to free up his hands and counterattack the Flinders battlecruiser.

The Moltke, equipped with five newly replaced twin 5mm naval guns, launched a beautiful and fierce counterattack. The poor Flinders was hit by two consecutive capped armor-piercing shells. One armor-piercing shell penetrated deep into the hull from the amidships of the Flinders and then came out, destroying many of the various pipes in the amidships.

Another armor-piercing shell penetrated the main armor of the Flinders' waterline and the coal bunker where a large amount of coal was stored. With the relief of the coal bunker, the armor-piercing shell finally lost power after destroying two watertight compartments and the port motor room.

Originally, two armor-piercing shells were not enough to sink a battlecruiser with a displacement of tons, but who knew that the Flinders sank just like that, becoming the first capital ship sunk in the Battle of Simbrika in an unexpected way.