Chapter 270: Navy Collision (Part 1)

"The third-class battleship and gunboat followed the flagship to entangle the four battleships of Ilia. The three-masted clutch rushed over and killed all the transport ships for me." The British Rear Admiral ordered. Under his order, his flagship, a second-class battleship, led two third-class battleships and four gunboats to turn, and rushed towards the four "Iberian"-class battleships defending outside St. Peter's port, while the four three-masted clutches took advantage of their speed and turned around and tried to break into the port from the retreat. There were more than 20 transport ships there that had no time to withdraw.

The captain of the Lisbon commanded the Tarragona to go to the port for rescue, while he led the remaining three warships to intercept the British warships that were constantly approaching.

The fierce artillery battle began. Taking advantage of the advantages of artillery and speed, the three "Iberia"-class warships could have easily dealt with the attacks of the British fleet. But now they are different. They cannot retreat because there is a port not far behind them, and the British fleet's target is there. If they retreat, the transport ships without defensive power in the port will definitely suffer heavy losses under the attack of the British fleet. The three "Iberia"-class warships had to cross the ship and fight against the British fleet.

The British fleet also knew its own disadvantages, so regardless of the shelling of the Iberian fleet, they tried their best to pull the distance between the two sides. After 15 minutes, the British fleet finally entered the range, but at this distance, they paid the price of one gunboat sinking and one gunboat seriously injured. The British major general excitedly ordered the fleet to fire. He hoped to kill three "Iberian"-class warships with the advantage of the number of warships and artillery, and then clean up the transport ships without danger.

There are dozens of cannons on each battleship in Britain. Even if one can only shoot on one side, the number of cannons for artillery is very large. Together, the three "Iberian" warships have to face at least hundreds of cannons. Although the power of these cannons is much smaller than that of the Iberian warships, if they are hit continuously, the consequences are still very serious. Almost every time the British fleet fires, the three Iberian warships will be hit by several shells. The bridges, single warehouses, turrets, etc. have been added with steel plates, and there will be no major problems when they are hit, but the deck is different. Under the fierce bombardment of the British fleet, the deck of the "Lisbon" has caught fire, and the sailors on the ship

We are striving to put out the fire, but often when they are busy putting out the fire, the next wave of attacks from the British fleet has arrived again, and many sailors who are extinguishing the fire are killed and injured. "Damn, we can't go on like this anymore. Keep the distance." The captain of the Lisbon commanded. The three Iberian-class warships were too close to each other, and the hit rate of the strikes suffered was very high. At this time of the battle, three Iberian-class warships were injured. Among them, the Lisbon was the worst hit. Not only did the fire catch on the deck, but a big hole was also blown out on the port side, which happened to be near the waterline. Fortunately, even if the damage manager blocked the hole, otherwise the Lisbon would lose its combat effectiveness even if it did not sink.

The British fleet was not having a good time. Although the number of naval guns of the Iberian fleet was at a disadvantage, their power and hit rate were much greater than that of British ships. Basically, every five volleys of Iberian warships made, British warships were hit. The 75mm shells were fine, and the damage was not large. But the 105mm shells were different. The British warships were either killed or injured. On the battlefield, the British fleet has sunk a gunboat, and another third-level battleship was seriously injured. The British major general's flagship also suffered a 75mm shell. Fortunately, the shells were hit in an unimportant place, and only a big hole was blown up the hull and injured a few people.

The other four three-massed clutches rushed towards the port while the Iberian warships and the main force of the British fleet were fighting. But when they were about to enter the port, they encountered the interception of the "Taragona". The four three-massed clutches did not entangle with the "Taragona", but took advantage of their hull's faster speed to flexibly avoid the interception of the "Taragona" and rushed towards the port. They rushed towards the port like a ferocious wolf rushing towards the weak sheep.

Those transport ships without resistance, the captain of the "Taragona" was rushing around. The opponent's three-masted clutch was shuttled in the rain of bullets like flexible loaches. Finally, when the three-masted clutch was about to enter the port, a 105-mm shell hit a three-masted clutch. The huge explosion force of the shell immediately tore the boat apart. But the other three-masted clutch took the opportunity to enter the port. There was no way, the "Taragona" continued to pursue.

The explosion of shells came from the port, and the three-masted clutches began to pour shells onto transport ships that were anchored in the port. Fortunately, due to the tonnage, each of them had only a few guns and was not very powerful. When the "Taragona" arrived, they only destroyed two transport ships.

The Marines stationed in the port were not idle either. Watching the British warships break into the port, they quickly moved out weapons such as mortars and heavy machine guns, and began to pour out their anger at the British warships. Under the double blow of the Iberian-class warships, three three-masted clutches sank, but before they sank, four transport ships were sunk, and the results of the "Taragona" were also injured. Regardless of being injured, the "Taragona" sailed out of the port and went to support the "Lisbon".

Seeing the "Taragona" sailing out of the port, the captain "Lisbon" breathed a sigh of relief. The British Major General felt that something was wrong. Because it meant that the four three-masted clutches had been completed, he didn't know how many results it had caused, but time had only passed so much, it would definitely not be too great. On the other hand, although the Iberian warships were injured and some were very serious, their fleet suffered a lot of losses. The opponent's reinforcements must have been on the way to arrive. In order to save their lives, the British Major General issued an order to retreat.

But unfortunately, it was too late now. When his fleet had just completed its turn, he was facing six Iberian warships, two of which were very large. The major general's heart suddenly became cold. But he still issued an order to break through the northwest direction. He couldn't take care of so much now, and one could escape was one.

Soon, the Bolt fleet's shells began, and countless shells flew towards the British fleet, and the major general's ship was the first to be hit. During the third round of volleys, the second-class battleship was hit by one 155mm shell and one 122mm shell. The unlucky battleship was hit by the keel. After two minutes, the entire battleship broke into two halves and then sank into the sea. None of the hundreds of people on the ship escaped. The battle ended only an hour later, and all British warships were sent into the sea. The Iberian fleet had four "Iberian" class warships injured, among which the "Lisbon" had lost its combat effectiveness.

After the naval battle, the sailors relaxed, and some warships began to rescue the sailors who fell into the water. At this moment, the shrill alarm sounded, and a huge fleet appeared in the northwest direction. Burt immediately ordered the ships to prepare for battle, and at the same time ordered the transport ships in St. Peter's port to retreat south immediately regardless of whether the materials were loaded or unloaded. The Marines on the island also immediately left the coast and temporarily entered the inland to hide. At the same time, they urgently contacted Sucret and asked his fleet to come back to support immediately.

Boult had to be so nervous because the telegram sent from the outpost battleship was on the surface of a huge fleet with at least 4 first-class battleships and 10 steam engine warships, reaching a total of more than 40 warships. Boult guessed that this must be all the warships of the British Strait Fleet or reinforcements from other British fleets. Faced with such a powerful fleet, he had to be cautious. He could only rely on the performance of the warships to consume the strength of his opponent bit by bit, and could not fight against his opponent blindly, otherwise the Iberian fleet would definitely suffer.

Similarly, the British Strait Fleet also discovered the existence of the Iberian fleet. Under the order of the fleet commander Admiral Flex, the fleet quickly prepared for combat and approached the Bolt fleet in battle. Since receiving the invasion of the Iberian fleet, the British Strait Fleet immediately took action. It took only one day to complete the departure preparations and set sail on the evening of the 4th to rush to the Channel Islands. The person who led this fleet was General Flex, the commander of the British Strait Fleet. The veteran general was 61 years old this year, but the repeated defeats of the British Navy made the veteran general very angry, so this time he squeezed out Nelson, who wanted to lead the army to fight, and personally took charge, hoping to teach the arrogant Iberian Navy a lesson.

On the other hand, Sucret, who was shelling the island of Zexi, also received a telegram from Burt for help, and immediately ordered two "Iberian" class warships to provide artillery support and cover for the Marines, and led two other "Bonapart" class warships and six "Iberian" class warships to Guernsey. Guernsey is not far from Jersey, and it will take only two hours to arrive if you advance at full speed.
Chapter completed!