Fox of France

The "Cressy" battleship lost half of its firepower and could only rely on the B turret at the stern to resist stubbornly. However, after the firepower density dropped by half, the probability of hitting naturally also dropped. On the other hand, damage to the power cabin also reduced the power of the warship. If a warship loses half of its firepower, it will be impossible to fight; and if it loses power again, it will be impossible to run away. It can be said that if there is no accident, the loss of "Cressy" is already a foregone conclusion.

"Continue to approach, concentrate firepower, and kill him as soon as possible, and then we will support 'Caesar'." Admiral Brues issued such an order.

It cannot be said that Admiral Brues was wrong in making such a decision, because when "Trajan" beat "Cressy" just now, there was a crisis on the side of "Caesar".

Before that, "Caesar" and the others were almost pressing against "Poitiers". "Poitiers" was battered and smoldering. But neither the 150 shells of "Caesar" nor the 127 shells of the super cruiser that helped him could bring a real and decisive blow to "Poitiers".

On the contrary, "Poitiers", after holding his head and being punched for a while, took the time to punch hard, and actually hit the "Caesar".

This is a shell fired by the B turret of the "Poitiers" during the fifth salvo. Before that, the deck of the "Poitiers" had been washed over and over again by various shells, and all the rangefinders had been destroyed. His two turrets are already fighting based on their estimated numbers.

But it's no wonder that the blindness was covered by them.

This 305 shell easily penetrated the armor of "Caesar" and exploded in the power cabin. The 305 shells are so powerful that they killed nearly half of the power of the "Caesar" at once.

In order to ensure the accuracy of shooting, the French had just carefully left the minefield and had not had time to increase their speed. So at this time, the speed of both sides is actually not fast, and the speed of the two formations does not exceed ten knots. Among them, the formation of the French is slightly faster, about 9 knots, and the formation of the British is slower, about 8 knots. Half of the power was lost, at least for the time being, it didn't make "Caesar" unable to keep up with the formation. But over time, there will definitely be problems.

"Trajan" began to shorten the distance with "Cressy" in order to pursue a higher hit rate. In the process, they scored another hit, interrupting one of "Cressy's" chimneys.

However, "Cressy"'s counterattack actually hit a hit. This time they hit the undefended area near the stern, and as a result, the shells penetrated directly from one side to the other, and did not cause much damage to "Trajan", and because the distance was closer, "Trajan" Got the hit again.

The location of the hit was the secondary battery magazine of the "Cressy". The secondary battery magazines on the "Cressy" were not as well protected as the main battery magazines. So it was ignited immediately.

However, the British have done some work on safety. It is better to say that the ammunition depots for the auxiliary guns are separated, and each auxiliary gun corresponds to a small ammunition depot. Send it to sea. In addition, this secondary gun has already destroyed a lot of ammunition before, and it will drop further for you.

However, the explosion of the auxiliary battery magazine caused a fire and cut off the power route of the B turret.

The B turret, together with the two 305mm guns above it, can also be rotated completely by hand, but in this case, its rotation speed is comparable to the earth's rotation. In this way, the turret was almost destroyed. Of course, the British rushed to troubleshoot and make urgent repairs, but, at least for the time being, this turret was useless.

However, the French did not see that the British turret B was temporarily unusable, because the problem of the B turret was different from that of the A turret, and there was no problem from the outside. So the French didn't dare to get too close at this time. However, the British know that the fact that the B turret is not right can't be hidden for long, because if the B turret does not fire for a long time under the current situation, it will be considered a fool, and it can be seen that the B turret is not right. At that time, the French will definitely push forward and directly ride a flying dragon on the face, and then the whole battle will be over.

However, the British bomb lifter was not affected, so the B turret can still be fired, but there is no way to aim it. In other words, the biggest function of the two cannons in the B turret is to scare people. However, considering that the hit rate of cannons in naval battles is not high, even seven or eight rounds of volleys failed to hit a single cannon. Well, that can only be regarded as bad luck.

So even though they knew that under such circumstances, it was impossible for the two cannons of Fort B to hit any targets, the British still fired according to a fixed rhythm. Although it can't hit anything, it can at least intimidate the French.

To say that this approach really worked, although there was no single hit in the shooting of Fort B since then, it did play a role in deterring the French from continuing to approach. And the fact that the B turret is already ineffective is even less beneficial. The advantage is that when controlling the navigation, the need for firepower can be completely ignored. In other words, "Cressy" can avoid French shells more freely without destroying the battle line.

However, the situation of "Cressy" being beaten unilaterally did not change. After avoiding five rounds of salvos from "Trajan" in a row, she was shot again.

Fortunately, it was not a particularly critical place to be hit this time. Although the shell caused more than ten casualties, the damage to the "Cressy" was still limited. After all, the battleship is generally a very strong warship, and it is not easy to destroy it with shells alone. If a battleship removes all the things that can cause fire or explosion, and then let another battleship use artillery to bombard it, even if that battleship has fired all the shells, it may not be able to send it to the sea. Go down to the bottom of the sea.

After another six or seven rounds like this, the French gradually discovered that something was wrong with the battleship "Cressy".

"Captain, look at the B turret of the enemy ship. There is obviously a problem with the direction of the two guns, and they are not aimed at us at all. I suspect that there is something wrong with their aiming and steering system." A combat staff officer first discovered that something was wrong with the British place, and made a report to the captain, Colonel Alston.

Colonel Alston raised his binoculars to observe carefully, and then said: "It's true that it's not too accurate. Let's speed up and further change the relative position between us and them to see how they react."

In this way, the problem of the British B turret was naturally exposed. Judging from the way they fired their guns, there must be something wrong with their rotation and aiming systems.

Captain Alston immediately informed the news to Admiral Brues who was staying in the command tower.

"Are you sure?" Admiral Bryce asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, of course they must be rushing to repair..." Colonel Alston still left a way for his judgment.

"That is to say, if we don't take advantage of this opportunity immediately, we may lose our chance of victory." Admiral Brues' focus is obviously different from that of Colonel Alston, "Then why hesitate? Approach from a safer angle, the closer the better, and completely destroy the enemy ship!"

"The enemy ship suddenly accelerated and came to our flank. Obviously they noticed the problem with our B turret." On the British side, Operations Staff Bill reported to Lord George Kirkburn.

"I saw it." On the bridge, Lord George Kirkburn put down his binoculars, "They are approaching us, and our secondary guns pose no threat to them. However, it is actually an opportunity for us to approach them like this... ..."

The "Trajan" approached to a position less than a kilometer away from the "Cressy". At this distance, her six 203 guns already had a very high hit rate. At this distance, the "Trajan" fired six consecutive salvos at the "Cressy". Each round of volleys achieved a hit rate of nearly 50%. As many as seventeen shells fell on the "Clichy".

The "Cressy" burst into flames, and the fire appeared to be out of control. So Admiral Brues ordered to continue to approach in order to accurately shoot the British B turret and completely destroy the combat effectiveness of the enemy ship. He knew that it would take time to sink this enemy ship. If the combat power of the enemy ship could be destroyed as soon as possible, then he could completely leave this warship behind and surround and wipe out the "Poitiers" behind with "Caesar" and the others. No. This is the most reasonable way of fighting.

"Trajan" continued to approach the "Cressy", and at the same time, crazily poured firepower towards the "Cressy". Finally a shell hit the B turret.

"Okay, it's a success! Now the enemy ship on the opposite side has become a non-threatening eunuch." Admiral Brues said triumphantly, "Now let's change our target and attack the 'Poitiers'! "

The "Trajan" began to slow down in order to bring herself closer to the "Poitiers" a little behind. At the same time, her six 203mm main guns. Also turned to the "Poitiers".

At this time, the "Poitiers" had just scored a hit. One of his 305 shells hit the B turret of the "Caesar", completely destroying the turret. The fire door to the ammunition depot was open, and as a result, the flames of the explosion went down the passage, almost directly detonating the ammunition depot. But in order to extinguish the flames in the ammunition depot, the French had to flood the ammunition depot of the former main gun with water. Fortunately, turret A does not share the ammunition depot with turret B, so the "Caesar" still retains half of its firepower. But this guy also restrained the "Caesar" who was having a good time just now. He even took the initiative to distance himself to protect himself.

As "Caesar" retreated, the other two super cruisers naturally also retreated. Their anti-strike ability is not as good as "Caesar", so naturally they have to stay away. Anyway, the British naval guns had a low muzzle velocity, the distance was extended, and the hit rate was impressive.

Just when "Poitiers" breathed a sigh of relief because it had forced the enemy ship back, six 203mm artillery shells smashed over with a whistling sound.

Of course, this round of salvo did not hit, and even deviated relatively far, but this round of salvo was huge for everyone in the morale of the British army. Because this means that the French have won a comprehensive victory in the heads-up battle of the new battleships, and now they can support other warships. The French victory was almost unshakable.

But at this time, the lookout post of the "Trajan" exclaimed: "I found a British warship, six hundred meters on the starboard side!"

On the starboard side of "Trajan" is the "Cressy", which has lost all of its main guns and most of its secondary guns, and is burning.

But behind the burning "Cressy", two small boats suddenly emerged. Both boats had a long pole propped on the prow, topped by a large trigger mine. This is the secret weapon of the British - mine boats.

The pole mine boat is a wooden structure, without armor, and without any other weapons, and it is equipped with a steam engine with a huge displacement, so its speed is quite fast, the fastest can reach 22 knots, and more importantly What's more, because of its small tonnage and high horsepower, it accelerates very quickly.

Of course, the disadvantage of this kind of ship is also very obvious, that is, they basically have no anti-strike capability. Even the 75mm secondary gun of "Trajan" can directly destroy it as long as it hits one shot.

If it is a normal battle, the distance between the two sides is sufficient, and a ship like this is not enough to die no matter how many times it comes. But now, the hull of the "Cressy" covered them, and the French knew nothing of their existence, so when they appeared, they were already very close to the "Trajan".

To say that the reaction of the French is actually quite fast. Because at this time, the 75mm secondary guns on the "Trajan" were still firing at the "Cressy". Therefore, the direction of their gun barrels did not turn much. At this time, they only need to turn a little bit, and they can fire against the two mineboats that came out.

But the appearance of these two ships was too sudden, and the distance was too close. So although the French's reaction was not slow, they only had time to hit a mineboat. But the other mineboat rushed to the side of the "Trajan" at once, and entered the blind spot of artillery shooting.

The long pole in front of the minecraft began to be lowered. Start sinking into the water with the mines in front. The long pole in front of the pole mineboat is movable. When the target is about to be hit, the operator will lower the long pole so that the mine at the top is submerged in the water to attack the underwater part of the enemy ship.

Of course, if the attack is successful, the result must be that the enemy ship is blown out of the underwater position, and the sea water rushes in; but what about the minecraft itself? Of course, in this close-range explosion, it was blown to pieces. Therefore, the minecraft is actually the earliest kamikaze.