Battle of the Third Reich

Putting down his hands covering his ears, the bridge gunner Captain Absolon looked at these two huge quad turrets in awe, the pride of the French Navy.

"Nearly shot, one thousand five, left." The captain took the telescope and stared at the black ship shadow on the distant sea. The other party had turned off all deck lights, but it was still exposed on the bright moonlight. Out of the obvious silhouette.

A series of huge white water columns with orange light at the bottom rose into the air, and then there was a faint roar of thunder.

"Go ahead at full speed, fifteen degrees on the left rudder, and order the destroyer unit to advance at full speed to kill the two British destroyers that are in the way. The Marseille, Glory, and Montcalm accelerate to their right wing, and the Algeria follows the flagship, We pushed them towards the coast, and this group of despicable British robbers had to pay the price." Admiral Jean de Lapold, the fleet commander, roared angrily on the command bridge of the Richelieu.

This noble, old-school French navy soldier has been a complete anti-British man since he was young. He has always hated the British for using various means to oppress and weaken the strength of the French navy for decades. It is purely tough against the British. Faction, if no German crosses the bar, the person will probably take the navy fleet and merge with the British one day. This time, he finally caught up with him. For a while, new hatred and old hatred gathered, and the old guy was determined to make a break with the British guy here.

The battleship Richelieu is the end of the history of the development of French battleships and the pinnacle of the development of French battleships. It integrates the technology of building large battleships in France for decades, and condenses the most cutting-edge technical essence and tactical ideas of the French navy. As soon as it was launched, it was undoubtedly listed as the most dangerous potential enemy by the British Navy.

The imaginary enemy designed by the French is Italian. In order to deal with the unruly Italian neighbor Litorio class battleship, France launched a new battleship plan. The overall design continues the style of Strasbourg-class battle patrol, with all the main gun turrets placed on the bow. In this way, while maintaining the maximum firepower density, the length of the armor belt in the key parts can be reduced, which can not only save tonnage, but also reduce the cost. At that time, France's national power was already consumed heavily, and it was unable to afford more construction costs.

However, the Richelieu is still worthy of the name of the strongest battleship in France, and it is worthy of the name of the most famous cardinal in the history of France.

The eight mle1935 380 mm main guns have excellent performance, and the data is only one line lower than that of Italy's same caliber naval gun, but it is far stronger than her German and British counterparts. The Italian gun gained power by increasing the amount of propellant at the expense of barrel life. It belongs to the unique seven-wound fist, which is stronger and weaker, and only the benevolent see the benevolence.

This behemoth with a full load of 48,000 tons, sword sharp armor, the main armor belt is 330 mm thick, and there is also a layer of 18 mm lining and 50 mm dome armor, the protection is powerful. The vigorous power of 150,000 makes this 248-meter-long giant ship easily reach 30 knots, and the top speed reaches 32 knots, which is already the speed of ordinary cruisers. Richelieu was deservedly included in the ranks of high-speed battleships, far behind the pile of conventional battleships of 27/28 knots.

The only flaw of this battleship is that it is too new. As mentioned before, she just shot the salvo at the British fleet. It was her first full-body gun salvo since she was launched, and this battle was also her initial battle.

The home port of the battleship Richelieu is Saint-Nazaire, with the most advanced naval base and shipyard in France. And the largest dry dock on the Atlantic coast, you can repair and build Titanic-class super tankers or huge battleships like the Richelieu.

When the second phase of the French campaign was launched, it was delayed by more than twenty days than in history. Richelieu has finally completed all outfitting work, and has enough fuel and ammunition, is doing the final commissioning and inspection.

The French navy, like the army, believed that there was a problem within the Germans and that the battle situation would change, at least to ensure stability in the current stalemate, there would be no change in the front, there might be a chance to regain the lost ground. Therefore, the French navy decided that it was no longer in a hurry to let Saint Nazaire's two battleships evacuate, and ordered the warships to stay in place and watch the changes.

Because the construction of these two battleships has reached a critical stage, the Richelieu only needs to adjust the loading and fire control system to serve immediately, and the other Jean. Barr’s construction outfitting work has also completed 95 %, only to install and debug the main engine and the main gun turret, you can enter the finishing process. If you leave the home port, the other mooring ports either lack corresponding equipment or parts. The spare parts, armaments, ammunition and supplies of these two warships are stored in the warehouses in Saint-Nazaire and the surrounding area, leaving the home port. These jobs will be stalled.

In view of the misjudgment of the French government, the French navy also blindly felt that the possibility of St. Nazaire’s occupation no longer exists, and Darlang decided to keep the two ships at the home port to speed up the construction and commissioning as much as possible, and A group of naval officers and men were dispatched from each fleet to Saint-Nazaire, and training began while debugging, in an effort to allow these two powerful battleships to join the naval sequence as soon as possible.

But just after Richelieu had just finished the final commissioning work, something unexpected happened to everyone. The Germans suddenly launched a full-scale offensive against the Wei Gang defense line. The French were caught off guard again, and the front-line troops almost collapsed.

Less than a day after the war, thousands of army soldiers who lost their helmets and disarmed their armies poured into the city of Saint-Nazaire. In the port area, there were soldiers wearing brown coats carrying various burdens, sad faces, and empty hands.

The remnants of the army kicked each other, fighting for the opportunity to board the evacuation ship. Even a small motor boat was packed with a row of soldiers. A fishing boat sank directly to the pier due to overcrowding. The fallen army soldiers were dragged into the bottom by heavy military coats without struggling in the water. Dozens of bodies of poor people who had drowned before floated on the water with yellow-brown foam on the side of the pier, but no one on the pier would ignore them, and everyone was using all means to escape.

The army soldiers quickly stared at the Richelieu, and the huge warship was so conspicuous at the berth of the Navy Pier. The army destroyers rushed into the navy base dock, but then they were stopped by the marines guarding the warship. The two sides were excited and pushed each other out at first. Then he began to use fists to launch group fights. The weak Marines were quickly defeated. After the subsequent support of the navy sailors arrived with their weapons, they directly shot a few under the leadership of naval officers. After defeating the vicious army, they regained control of the situation.

Several Army officers who had been watching from the back then hurried to the front and negotiated with the Navy. The rank of this group of Army officers is generally quite high, and there are even two generals.

After the army officers performed a series of orders, threats, temptations, and begging, the orders of the French Naval Command also arrived.

In view of the fact that the Germans were already on the outskirts of Saint-Nazaire, the naval base would be occupied at any time. The Naval Command ordered the battleship Richelieu to immediately carry all the government personnel and family members of the city of Saint-Nazaire, the personnel of the naval base, as well as the important documents and supplies of the shipyard and the command, to evacuate the seaport to Bordeaux. In addition, it is possible to carry part of the army officers in the port of Saint-Nazaire with the soldiers to evacuate as appropriate.

As a result, the battleship Richelieu became a huge refugee ship, carrying officers and soldiers of the base command, logistics personnel, shipyard engineers and their families from above and below the ship, and also stuffed 5,000 army officers and soldiers and a pile of Saint Naze The officials, police, and gentry of Seoul were full of more than eight thousand people, and even the main gun turret was covered with floors and tents, and the towering bridge slowed down the soldiers. From afar, it looks like a monkey mountain in a zoo.

When the giant ship drove carefully into the only deep-water berth in the port of Bordeaux two days later, the shape was bleak and terrified. It shocked the jaw of the French navy general who was welcoming him. What hung his clothes on the gun barrel. The machine guns are already dry with diapers.

As for the Jean Barr, he never reached the port of Bordeaux. The battleship, including the commander of the naval base, only shook his head. It is said that the battleship has been basically completed, but the personnel on the ship have not been in place, and now only a part of the students of the naval military school are training on it.

The other systems of the battleship have been basically installed. It was just a serious problem with the main engine, so it was dragged back to the dock again. The shipyard’s engineers have been working overtime and overhaul. The shipyard has prepared two tugs before, and if it is not possible, it will be dragged out. Tow the boat outside the port to sink.

It stands to reason that this battleship should have already departed. If it hasn't appeared yet, then only think about the worst.

In the end, the Germans published a report on the occupation of Bordeaux, which did not mention the seizure of the French battleships. The French navy commanders were frustrated and also felt some relief. Everyone secretly paid tribute to those brave engineers. admiration.

The Richelieu stayed in Bordeaux for less than a week, watching the German front move forward again, and Bordeaux was also a bit dangerous. Because Bordeaux port is deep inland and the draft is too shallow, there is only a 11-meter-deep waterway, which can barely meet the draft of the Richelieu, but it is not a military port after all, and it is difficult to complete the fuel and ammunition. Once there is a change, this The boat has no chance to run out of the channel, so it is better to leave as soon as possible.

Originally, Darrand wanted to send Richelieu to the Dakar base, because it was the closest naval base to the west coast of France, but Dakar sent a report that German submarines were often found outside the harbour, and asked the local fleet to send some anti-submarine. The ship came, otherwise the two existing light cruisers would not dare to leave the port.

In view of this, Darlang felt that the battleship Richelieu would not have to join in the past. The hot battleship just released, don’t let the German submarine target, the French navy is really a joke.

Darlang changed his doctrine and ordered the Richelieu to depart from Bordeaux, go directly to Gibraltar, sail into the Mediterranean Sea, fill the fuel at the port of Ceuta and sail directly to Toulon. The Richelieu was finally officially commissioned in Toulon and joined the sequence of the French high seas fleet.

At the Port of Toulon, Richelieu completed the final part of the commissioning, and installed the original lack of anti-aircraft firepower. It replaced the temporary 37-mm single-barrel gun with a 40-mm double-barrel cannon. More experienced The soldiers replaced the original reserve, and the high seas fleet command appointed this battleship as the flagship of the fleet, and Admiral Jean de Lapold personally sent his flag to the Richelieu. .

By the beginning of August, the situation had a surprising turn. A large number of spare parts and accessories in urgent need of the French Navy were sent to the port of Toulon. Among them were the shells and a large amount of propellant needed by the Richelieu's main and auxiliary guns.

Even more surprising is that several large trailers actually dragged the barrels of two 380 mm main guns. Looking at the numbers on these barrels, Captain Mazan of Richelieu could not help but inhale a cool breath. This is clearly the barrel stored in the Naval Artillery Bureau of Gavle City, which is the third class for Richelieu. Prepared by the USS Clermontau, Gavler has been occupied by the Germans. How can these gun barrels above be obtained? . . .

Mazan didn't think about it any more, only knowing that his battleship had a spare barrel. That's enough. With spare parts and ammunition, you can start the main gun shooting training. Before that, I was worried about ammunition supply and barrel loss. As a result, I did not carry out a live ammunition shooting. The training simulation was launched. Although the results are pretty good, but true It’s hard to say whether it’s possible to go to the battlefield. After all, the shooting technique still needs to be fed with real ammunition.

On August 15th, Darlang sent an order. As the situation had stabilized and the government urgently needed funds, the high seas fleet was ordered to immediately dispatch a strong squadron to reach the port of Mirskbil. Escorted two Brittany-class battleships and the light cruise of the Albertin to Toulon, these warships carried five thousand boxes of gold withdrawn from the mainland.

Jean De. Admiral Lapold immediately issued an order of excitement, this time he was ready to ride his new flagship Richelieu, and led the new heavy cruiser Algeria and three light cruisers and four Jaguar destroyers Dispatched. By the way, conduct a maritime formation combat drill. After arriving in the port of Mirskbil, will conduct live maritime shooting training on the battle line with two Brittany classes. For the Richelieu, this will be her first live fire training.

After the supply of the fleet was completed, in the afternoon of August 16, they formed a column and sailed out of the port of Toulon. Then, while doing formation training, they quickly moved towards the other side of Africa. After 28 consecutive hours of sailing, the fleet approached Mirskbil Bay.

The goal is on sight. Although the French navy officers and men are tired, they still have high morale. Everyone is talking about how to appreciate the exotic scenery after arriving in Port Oran. Because there are a lot of newcomers in the fleet, who have never left the French mainland before, everyone is looking forward to the destination of this trip.

It was at this time that Richelieu's telegraph office received an amazing news.

"The port of Mirskbil issued an alert to the fleet. They were suddenly attacked by the British navy. The British used torpedo planes to launch air strikes on the warships in the port. The warning also specifically stated that the enemy used British swordfish torpedoes. Aircraft, there should be a British aircraft carrier formation nearby."

The British navy often sent swordfish torpedo planes to wander over the French fleet. This is something every French navy soldier knows and recognizes when turned into dust.

The commander of the French Navy’s high seas fleet received the report and was suddenly furious and flew the coffee cup in his hand. The entire fleet immediately mentioned the combat speed and accelerated towards Mirskbil.

Because it was too late and the other party was attacking by plane, the British aircraft carrier could fly the aircraft at any position, so Admiral Lapold didn’t expect to find the British fleet at all. He just wanted to get to Millskearer quickly. Looking at the loss, it was five thousand boxes of gold, and two valuable battleships.

Just as Lapold stood secretly in the bridge, the destroyer in front of him suddenly sent a message that there was a fleet in motion in the waters ahead, and the other party turned on the navigation light. There should be three to four ships coming from the course and position. Look, maybe it was those British fleets that attacked Mirskbil.

Rapold suddenly felt cold, and ordered the entire fleet to form an assault formation, turning off all navigation lights and heading towards the suspicious fleet at full speed.

Then the scene above happened. The unlucky British fleet hit the murderous French squadron, and the battle between the battleship and the aircraft carrier broke out on the Mediterranean Sea under the night. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and faster!