＜ Episode 206 >
North Atlantic, Lexington-class battlecruiser USS Lexington.
“Exclusive to Yanghyun!”
“Exclusive to Yanghyun!”
Admiral Spruance, commander of the Battlecruiser Squadron, sweated.
Russian aircraft carriers searched out the locations of enemy carrier groups, battleship lines, and battlecruiser squadrons.
I don’t know if their location was discovered, but it was said that the Russian carrier group carried out a massive air strike with half of the entire aircraft and broke the spine of the British carrier group.
But the number is small.
There are many battlecruisers in the US Navy. But that doesn’t mean there are more battlecruisers than British and German battlecruisers combined.
How many battlecruisers were produced by Britain right now and how many battlecruisers did Germany own?
If Britain and Germany had an idea, they would have gathered all their fleets to respond, and the US Navy would never have an edge in the number of battlecruisers.
The information sharing of the Russian Navy, which searched for the enemy first, also coincided. There are more battlecruisers they mobilized than the battlecruisers they have here.
If there is hope, the average performance of the enemy battlecruisers is far behind theirs, and even if they are superior, the defense power of the battlecruisers is not there.
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Most battlecruisers cannot counter defense unless they are high-speed battleships. And there are not many such high-speed battleships.
Somehow, there is hope only if the enemy’s main battlecruisers – practically called high-speed battleships – must first be defeated and then annihilate them in a brawl with the rest.
To do that…….
“Admiral!”
“Something?”
“It’s the right time!”
“What?”
Spruance’s face hardened as he saw at least a dozen aircraft peeking through the clouds to reveal themselves.
“Did you say that the Russian Navy definitely subdued the enemy carrier group?”
“That’s not the British Army! This is the German Navy!”
The German naval planes, which went out to block the US Navy in place of the destroyed British carrier group, were targeting the US Navy’s battlecruiser squadron like bees.
***
In the North Atlantic, the flagship of the Russian Navy, the first Stolipin-class aircraft carrier, ‘Stolipin.’
“Start shooting!”
With the command, the anti-aircraft fire flew like rain.
Anti-aircraft guns of various calibers, such as dual-purpose guns, Swedish 40mm Bofors, and Oricons, fired fire, and the fighters that were sortieing on a fleet air defense mission fought with all their might.
According to the doctrine of the Russian Navy, when receiving an air strike, avoidance is attempted when torpedoes or dive bombers are approaching, and if the enemy is a little further away, the principle is to maintain the circle and increase the accuracy of the anti-aircraft attack.
And as if it was quite effective, many of the Royal Navy’s aircraft turned into fireballs and fell to the surface.
“Do they still use biplanes?”
Even though they were not interested in the development of aircraft, they did not understand why the people who made high-performance aircraft such as the Spitfire made such a small aircraft.
Of course, thanks to that, it was fortunate for the Russian soldiers who were hunting ducks.
The slow biplane torpedo bombers could not penetrate even a single Russian air defense system. In the first place, equipment other than anti-aircraft weapons was not even considered, so both the quantity and performance were at the highest level.
The doctrine itself was different from the US military, which installed 8-inch guns on its carrier for self-defense, or the British military, which had 18-inch guns attached to it, even though it was only one door at all. In the first place, all the attack power of an aircraft carrier comes only from the operation of the aircraft, so it was enough to attach only anti-aircraft guns for self-defense.
Instead, the quantity and quality of all firearms were of the highest quality, and the British Navy’s torpedo bombers and dive bombers, who were literally excluded from the benefits of technological advances in the indifference of the British navy dominated by giant gunship, outperformed the Russian counterparts. Years were evaluated as lagging behind.
Of course, they also have equipment that works well. For single-seat fighters, the British Spitfire is better than the Russian. At best, the Russian army’s main aircraft are superior to their low-class fighters, the Hurricane.
Although it is unilaterally behind in twin-engine performance, the only fighter capable of competing with the Do335 in the first place is the German military’s jet fighter, the Ho229. Even that, the reliability of the Do335 is much better. It’s because the jet engine keeps causing trouble.
Well, there are rumors that the US is also developing a twin engine equivalent to the Do335, but the Russian military did not care.
In conclusion, if the German Stukas had flown in, the Russian army would not have been safe, but hunting the canvas-winged biplanes was a simple task if the numbers were too large to handle.
“sky! It is clear!”
“Call CAPs and supply them, immediately form an air strike squadron and an anti-ship attack squadron to sortie! Hurry!”
“What happened?”
“German dive bombers are beating the US Navy. Somehow, since there were no sighting reports, they seem to have moved separately from the British. We need to provide air cover to the battlecruiser squadrons, send a second strike to the British carrier units, and search for German carriers!”
Germany’s number of aircraft carriers is four, including one Graf Zeppelin and three passenger ship remodeling aircraft carriers.
The Russians don’t think that Germany’s army is better than their own, and the navy isn’t too afraid of it, since it doesn’t have much ties to the sea in the first place.
However, even the Russian military feels that only German aircraft are quite intimidating. Although they have won unilaterally on all fronts since the start of the war, they did not dominate the sky.
And more than 100 aircraft is a sufficient number to overturn the charter.
Assuming that fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers are each arranged 1:1:1, even if only 40 dive bombers and torpedo bombers are included, one or two battleships can be incapacitated enough. Carriers are even more dangerous, but fortunately they didn’t aim at them.
From the beginning, it was clear that Germany was a more fearful opponent than Britain in the case of naval aviation. It was clear that if all four ships here were sunk, the Russian Navy’s backbone would be broken and all friendly air superiority would be lost, so the German Navy’s judgment was relieved.
Well, from their point of view, it was a natural act according to the doctrine, but if they had not found the battlecruiser squadron, they would have been beaten without movement.
“Yes! All right! And the first raid…”
“The 1st raid doesn’t do much damage, so I accept it after the 2nd raid sortie! The distance wasn’t that far away, and the fuel probably hasn’t run out already.”
“Yes! All right!”
Kuznetsov hurriedly went to the castle tower and gave further orders to the captain.
“Tell me to hurry so that the 2nd raid can all take off before the 1st raid returns!”
“All right! Admiral!”
Kuznetsov stared at the horizon.
‘Only once.’
If you win this naval battle only once, England is over. Germany is over.
Even if they destroy our fleet, it is not a big loss on a national level. They will never be able to defeat the Empire on the ground, and after France and Italy are all destroyed, they will be locked up in mainland England and starve, which will only delay the time. Even if you’re unlucky, you’ll be downgraded to conditional surrender from receiving unconditional surrender.
However, that doesn’t mean he never went out the other day with a light heart.
He is responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of Russian naval crew members, many of the main ships, and virtually all of Russia’s naval forces.
He must send at least one more soldier who believes in him and follows him home.
And to do that, you have to win.
by any means.
***
US Navy Battleship Squadron flagship ‘San Francisco.’
“firing!”
18-inch guns howled.
The battleships at the forefront of both fleets were all 18-inch class battleships. There were no battleships with 20-inch guns in the UK, and neither did the US participate in the war. Although there are only two 18,9-inch class battleships in the German Navy, they are classified as 18-inch class battleships due to various problems.
The shells flew in and set up a water column around one of the two ships, the enemy lead ship ‘Prinz Eugen’.
“Chorus! No, hit! A fire is observed on the enemy lead ship Prinz Eugen!”
Fireworks erupted from the 19-inch-class battleship Prinz Eugen of the German Navy. An explosion occurred in the 2nd main turret, causing the barrel to droop.
The U.S. Navy’s 18-inch ultra-heavy rounds produced a power comparable to that of 20-inch-class normal rounds. The Prinz Eugen was a battleship capable of counter-defense, but it was not expected that it would also use ultra-heavy shells.
Of course, the firepower of Prinz Eugen is also enough to fit into a US Navy battleship.
– Kwaang!
“Damaged main turret 3! Medic!”
The bombardment that continued to inflict damage on each other finally produced the first loser.
– Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
“Enemy Queen Elizabeth-class slam!”
The fourth Queen Elizabeth-class ship, Burham, was torn apart by the explosion of an ammunition depot.
It was exhausting even by being outdated, but it was unavoidable.
And, the sinking of Barrum was only the beginning.
The U.S. Navy battleship Minnesota, which turned Barrum into a ball of fire, was bombarded by HMS St. Patrick’s artillery fire. Unable to withstand the power of 18-inch shells, Minnesota slowly began to lean.
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Meanwhile, Kansas shells hit the bridge of St. Patrick’s ship St. George’s. The command of the ship was annihilated by the blow, and the US Navy’s hidden cards, which made counter-defense meaningless, several bullets ripped the armor plate of the British battleship and pushed it into the engine room, causing an explosion.
The Russian Navy battleship Petropavlovsk was exposed to excessive firepower for her performance. The battleship, which had lost all its functions as Tirpitz’s concentrated bombardment was applied, began to sink slowly.
After pouring enormous firepower towards each other, several warships were eliminated. There were ships that were sinking, ships that caused an explosion, and ships that were engulfed in flames and drifting.
However, the battleships still advancing and breathing fire were more numerous than the sinking ships.
“Damn, where the hell is the battlecruiser squadron?”
Whether this or that side, the ability to give the opponent a final blow in the current situation is insufficient.
When the sun goes down or one side is seriously damaged, cruisers and destroyers will come, but not yet. Without taking advantage of the dark, the lines are intact, but if you try to engage in a torpedo battle with destroyers, the damage is sure to be huge.
So, in order to inflict that ‘heavy damage’, the battlecruiser squadron had to appear.
A friendly battlecruiser squadron is supposed to grab the enemy’s head and fire crossfire, but where the hell are they doing?
He had no way of knowing.