Chapter 747： Battle of Crete (3)

On the Romanian fleet, Major General Fernandez, who finally caught up with the British transport fleet, let out a long sigh of relief. Because this time I planned to capture this fleet, I wasted so much effort.

If in the end it was sunk because it didn't catch up, the commander of the fleet would lose his face, but it was fortunate to catch up.

I saw Fernandez and immediately gave the order. "The Kurmis and Tinic, along with the Shalik and Gabriti, formed an artillery formation to deal with the battleships in front of them. Dorvaldo led the remaining warships to form a pursuit fleet, and all these transport ships Captives. And invent electricity to these transport ships, if they sink, then the Romanian Navy will have the right to refuse to rescue them."

Yes, for these supplies, Fernandez intends to be shameless.

Although there are not many supplies in this batch, no matter how small the mosquitoes are, they are still fleshy, which can save a bit of calculation. Although many of these materials are not available in Romania, they are always useful.

Following Fernandez's orders, the two battleships with the two cruisers rushed towards the oncoming British fleet.

"Enter 30 kilometers."

On the observation deck, the officer in charge of the observation distance loudly reported the positions of the two parties.

"Continue to approach, and after entering 20,000 meters, the Kurmis and Tinic will begin shelling."

Although Fernandez has more research on aircraft carriers, it does not mean that he does not know how to do basic naval battles. With five old British warships blocking the way, he knew how to fight with his eyes closed.

Sure enough, after the distance between the two sides was close to 20 kilometers, the main guns from Kurmis and Tinic fired the first round of firing.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The 406-caliber main guns fired salvos, and the fireballs from the muzzle showed a huge water pressure wave, and the two battleships were also moved several meters forcibly.

A ton of multiple shells rushed out of the muzzle and attacked five British warships.

"puff!"

The shells eventually landed within 100 meters in front of the warship. Although there were no casualties, the British navy officers and men on the five warships were still in a cold sweat. Because this is a 406 caliber naval gun, as long as one of them is finished.

But all this had no effect on Colonel Corcos, and he ordered. "Order the ships to continue to approach. We approach the enemy within 8,000 meters at full speed and use torpedoes to solve them."

That's right, Colonel Corcos just wanted to use torpedoes to fight. Because of their several warships, no matter how they looked at it, they used pebbles to hit rocks. The only thing they could cause damage to each other was carrying torpedoes. Moreover, all five of their ships carried torpedo tubes, two of which were lightning strike ships, which increased the success rate of torpedo attacks.

But now there is a problem before them, that is, they need to withstand the firepower of the Romanian battleship, and go to the battleship to launch torpedoes at a distance of 5-8 kilometers.

The result of the failure of the first round of the salvo did not affect the mood of the officers and soldiers of the two battleships at all, because it is normal. No one can hit the target with the first round of shooting, unless it is someone who got the goddess of victory. Good luck with this.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

It was another round of shooting, and this time the effect was much better. One of the shells fell on the side of the Antelope, causing its near-missing effect. Fortunately, the near-missing bomb did not cause much damage to the Antelope. Unfortunately, the shock wave caused by the near-missing bomb stopped the Antelope's power, so the Antelope slowly stopped.

In the naval battle, the consequences of the warship being stopped are clear to all officers, so the end of the Antelope is doomed. Even if this is the case, the officers and soldiers of the Antelope still use telegrams to send out messages of good luck to you. And this is also the last telegram sent.

Because of the next shelling, the Antelope, which was specially cared for, was hit by a shell, and a ton of multiple shells hit the poor Antelope. The loud explosion made the Antelope completely explode in two. Of the 217 officers and soldiers on the ship, only one survived afterwards. This lucky man only recovered his life after being pushed away by the blast wave.

The tragic situation of the Antelope did not affect the other four warships at all, because they all knew that this was a charge that was advancing and not retreating. They can also turn all the emotions in their hearts into motivation, and now they only see the four warships in front of them.

"15 kilometers!"

Following the count, the two cruisers also opened fire. As Romania’s new cruiser, Shalik and Gabriti, equipped with three triple 155 main guns, also joined the attack on four incoming British warships. And unlike the battleship’s slow firing speed of the 406 main gun, its 155 main gun fired extremely fast, and saw 155 shells fired at it as if it were not for money.

Immediately, the destroyer Panyan was hit with a peach blossom, especially when a 155 shell hit its torpedo tube. The 533 mm torpedo loaded with the launch tube immediately exploded. It completely blasted the bow of the Panyan ship, causing heavy losses to the officers and soldiers on the ship.

Without waiting for them to complain about it, Pan Yan was about to sink under his head. The officers and soldiers on the ship couldn't care about other things at this time. They jumped into the sea with their life-saving equipment to prevent being caught in the whirlpool by the Panyan.

In a blink of an eye, three of the five warships were left, making Colonel Corcos' eyes red. He stared at the four warships that were making all these miserables.

It's just that he can only put his anger firmly in his heart now.

As they continued to rush forward, Major General Fernandez, who was on the battleship, could not know what the opponent was thinking, and saw him give orders. "Kurmis and Tinick moved away from each other and continued shelling. Let Shalik and Gibriti deal with one ship first from both sides."

With his orders, the two battleships started to speed up, and they would not stay here to give each other a chance to launch torpedoes. Although the distance is closer, I better aim at the opponent. But even sinking these ships would not be as great as the loss caused by a torpedo on a battleship.

Therefore, the distance between the two battleships and the cruisers slowly widened. If the British warships continue to rush towards the two battleships, they will inevitably be baptized by the artillery of the two light cruisers Rick and Gabriel.

But if they rushed to two light cruisers, they would be hit by fire from two battleships. And the speed of the two light cruisers up to 33 knots would put them in an embarrassing situation where they could not catch up.

Faced with such multiple-choice questions, Colonel Corcos made his choice in less than three seconds. "The plan remains unchanged, to launch torpedo attacks on Kurmis and Tinic."

That's right, Colonel Corcos is eyeing these two battleships. Although the speed of these two battleships is as high as 31 knots, it takes too long to accelerate. This is their only chance.

So under the command of Colonel Corcos, the three warships counterattacked the two light cruisers with artillery while continuing to rush towards the battleship.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The rift in the sea became more exciting. Both warships used their own artillery to fire shells at each other desperately, trying to inflict more damage on their opponents. But from the perspective of the results, the two new Romanian light cruisers are even better. The 155-caliber main guns equipped with them can do more damage to their opponents.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

It was another volley of 406 caliber main guns, and this time the shooting was more precise, only one shell directly hit one of the warships. The 406 mm shell directly penetrated the thin armor, smashed into the cabin, and exploded violently close to the bottom bin.

And this explosion is no less than a torpedo attack, directly exploding a large gap of several meters in the bottom of the ship. The turbulent sea water swept away in the cabin like a land where no one was angry. It also made this old ship directly enter the state of countdown to life.

"Nirke, it's over!"

Colonel Corcos, who had witnessed all this, knew the result without seeing it. But they are about to enter the battleship within 10,000 meters, and the opportunity is coming soon.

"Look, the Celsk is slow."

The exclamation of the officer nearby made Colonel Corcos look over. There were scars everywhere on the Selsk, and the whole ship was like a ventilated boiler emitting smoke and dust. And the battered Selsk is indeed slowing down slowly, and without thinking about it, the power system must be malfunctioning.

Now there is only the Karadok at his feet. As the second ship of the Caledon class, the Karadok is equipped with eight 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes. As long as you make good use of these eight torpedo tubes, they can also cause huge damage to battleships.

Colonel Corcos, fearless in his heart, continued to rush towards the two battleships.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

After the Celsk lost power, the two light cruisers completely shifted their targets and began to shell the last Karadok, and the secondary battery on the battleship also shelled it after entering range. More than forty medium-caliber naval guns caused serious damage to the Karadok, and the officers and soldiers on the ship suffered heavy casualties. Even Corcos himself was struck by a shrapnel across his forehead, making him bloody.

He was only determined to die, he didn't care at all, his eyes were fixed on the nearest battleship Tinic.

"Already entered eight kilometers away."

The officer in charge of the observation loudly reported the distance between the two parties, and the observation tool in his hand was stained red with blood.

"Keep getting closer."

Colonel Corcos did not want to launch a torpedo at this distance because he was not sure that he would hit the Tinic. There is only one chance to happen in his own hands, and he can't just waste it like this.

The command of Colonel Corcos caused the Karadok to rush forward two kilometers desperately. All of this comes from the fact that the power cabin did not suffer a major loss, and the hard work of the power crew members is also impressive.

"Seven kilometers!"

"Five kilometers!"

Right now, Colonel Corcos, who had this idea in his mind, immediately issued the order loudly. "Immediately launch a torpedo at the Tinic."

Following the order of Colonel Corcos, the officers and soldiers of the Karadok immediately operated the four combined launch tubes and fired eight 533 mm torpedoes at the Tinic. These torpedoes ran towards the Tinic.

Although the Karadok fired torpedoes, they could no longer see it. Just after it fired the torpedo, a salvo from the Kurmis also came. This time Karadok was hit by three 406 caliber shells and was beaten into three quarters on the spot.

It's just that it's too late now.

"Beware of torpedoes."

The officers and soldiers who were in charge of observing at the observation deck made heart-piercing shouts.

The white lines of the eight torpedoes are clearly visible, and they block the position of the Tinick from moving around.

"Right full rudder!"

Captain Salk, who also observed signs of torpedoes, immediately issued an urgent order. He intends to use the bow of the ship against the incoming torpedoes, and it is best to avoid these torpedoes.

The Big Tinick made a sharp turn and drew a perfect semicircular arc on the sea.

All the firepower on the ship also aimed at the incoming torpedo at the same time, firing desperately. Among them, three torpedoes are the most dangerous. They are aimed at the bow, midship, and stern.

"boom!"

The torpedo aimed at the midship of the ship was exploded by such fierce firepower.

Now that there were only two torpedoes left, the helmsman pressed the rudder to the right, allowing the torpedoes aimed at the bow of the ship to wipe a few meters away from the bow and rush over.

Now everyone's eyes are on the torpedo at the stern.

"It must be avoided, it must be avoided."

Amid the prayers of all the people on the ship, this torpedo flew past the propeller on the stern of the ship. At this moment, everyone's hearts fell, and a huge cheer burst out immediately.

Even Major General Fernandez on the Kurmis heard it, which made him feel relieved of the big rock he was pressing.

After seeing the Karadok launch the torpedo, he was not well. If the Tinic was attacked by a torpedo, then he would bear the main responsibility, because he had sent other warships to seize the transport ship, so that this lucky British warship rushed to the five-kilometer distance of the Tinic to launch the torpedo. Everything is okay, and the Tinick escaped with superb technique and luck.

Now he swears to the Almighty God that he will never take such a radical approach again.

Now that five British warships had been sunk and disarmed, the escaped transport ship appeared before him like a lamb.

The final result was indeed as he wished. With the exception of an ammunition ship and a material ship, the other transport ships had to surrender obediently in the face of the roaring Romanian warship. There is no place for him to hide in the sea. If he doesn't want to be sunk to feed the fish, he can only surrender.

And these confiscated materials and the officers and soldiers who were with the ship only made him very rewarding. It is worthwhile to be a prisoner of thousands of Anglo-Indian infantry brigade.

Of course, he didn't intend to end this way. After sending several warships to **** these materials and the prisoners to return, his fleet still wandered here. We must know that his mission is to block support outside Crete and provide the most critical help for the next landing battle.