Chapter 424: Long-lost Victory (Part 2)

At a distance of 6,000 meters, the Mediterranean Fleet has a very big advantage. There are more warships that can participate in shelling than the US and Canadian fleets, and the hit rate is much higher. The US and Canadian fleets are at a disadvantage.

"Turn 60 degrees left and keep in parallel with the United States and the Canadian fleet." Clarence was very satisfied with this state, so he issued a turn order. He knew that if he continued to fight in this way, the United States and Canadian fleets would sooner or later be dragged down by the Mediterranean fleet.

"Damn it! Despicable Frenchman." Seeing the Mediterranean Fleet begin to turn, Davis understood the other party's intentions. He also knew where the gap between the navies of the two countries was, and knew that this would be very unfavorable to the US and Canadian navies. "Turn left, increase the speed, and bring the distance between the two sides." Davis ordered.

So far, the battle has been going on for half an hour. Under the deliberate actions of both sides, the two fleets lined up in two long queues and drove northeastwards, and launched fierce shellings at a distance of about 6,000 meters. In the past half hour, the United States and Canada have lost two Pennsylvania-class warships. One of them was hit by the 305mm main artillery of the Thor. The weak armor was immediately torn apart, and the entire warship was blown off and broke into two halves. The Mediterranean Fleet. As long as one light cruiser was severely damaged, it had to withdraw from the battle.

Seeing the US and Canadian fleets also began to turn, thinking that they could approach. Clarence ordered the Mediterranean fleet to turn as well, and at the same time, he was planning to give the US and Mediterranean fleet an unexpected surprise.

"Order the destroyer fleet to prepare for lightning strikes on the American fleet." Clarence lowered his telescope and ordered.

The fleet carried out Clarence's order well. Six "Dolphin-class warships left the formation and rushed towards the US fleet. According to the plan, they would launch torpedoes 3,000 meters away from the US fleet. Each "Dolphin-class warship carried 3 torpedo launchers, and six destroyers could launch 18 torpedoes at a time. They had already chosen the targets of the attack. It was the US "South Carolina" class warship "Jefferson" and the "New York" class warship "Washington" that rushed in the front.

Seeing six small warships suddenly appear in the Mediterranean fleet and rushed towards his fleet, Davis was very puzzled. In his opinion, such small warships have no lethality to giant ships like the South Carolina class. The 300-mm thick armor on the South Carolina class warships cannot be used to move 105mm naval guns on these small warships.

Despite this belief, with years of combat experience, Davis still intuitively believed that if these warships were brought close, it would definitely be a great threat to the US fleet. "Do they want to launch a suicide attack? Yes, yes. It must be like this. The despicable Frenchman must have filled these warships with ** and wanted to use these cheap warships to die with our expensive warships." Davis thought. Therefore, he quickly issued a combat order: "The New York class warship and the South Carolina class deputy guns are all aimed at the six warships of the French fleet to shoot, and be sure to intercept them. The Washington class warships are around the main warships to protect the main warships."

Although the "New York" class warships and "South Carolina" class warships of the US fleet use secondary guns to deal with lightning strike formations, this level of strike is still not something that the lightning strike formation can withstand. Even if they are hit by these secondary guns, it is enough for these destroyers to bear more than 1,000 tons. Therefore, they have to advance in the artillery fire, avoiding the falling shells while accelerating.

On the way forward, the Dolphin-class destroyer of "Sea 21" was hit by a 155mm shell, causing the entire warship to ignite a fire immediately and all the power was lost. The fire soon burned to the ammunition depot, and the shells inside immediately exploded. The strong explosive force instantly tore the entire warship into pieces, and none of the more than 60 sailors on the warship survived.

The loss of 'Sea 21' did not scare the other fleets of the lightning strike formation, and they still rushed forward with all their might. The US and Canadian fleets were encouraged, and the shelling became even more violent.

The "Sea 24" first arrived at the predetermined position without any hesitation. After adjusting the direction slightly, he fired three torpedoes at his target, the "New York" class warship, and then quickly changed the course and began to escape. The torpedo dragged long water marks on the sea and rushed towards the "Washington" class at a speed of 20 knots. Then, the "Sea 22" also launched three torpedoes, but this time his target was the "Jefferson" and the South Carolina class warship. In the next two minutes, the "Sea 23", "Sea 25" and "Sea 26" also launched torpedoes respectively. Among them, the "Sea 23" was the "Washington", and the other two targets were the "Jefferson".

Davis didn't expect this to be the case. He didn't know what the big guy was rushing towards his fleet at high speed with water marks on the sea. But he knew that it was definitely not a good thing, and the French fleet would not have risked such a great danger to launch these things at his fleet. Therefore, while Davis ordered the ships to dodge, he ordered the ships to concentrate their firepower to eliminate these threats.

However, it was too late. First, the three torpedoes launched by the Sea 24 had already hit the Washington. In addition to one of them, one of them hit the head of the USS Washington and the other hit the middle of the warship. Suddenly, a huge explosion sounded throughout the sea. The Washington was blown into three pieces and quickly sank. None of the 465 officers and soldiers on the ship survived.

The 'Fried Fish'-class torpedo is the first torpedo developed by the French Navy Arsenal after three years of research. The entire torpedo has a diameter of 426 mm, a length of 1980 mm, and a weight of 523 kilograms. The warhead weighs 175 kilograms, and it is filled with high explosives. The power of this torpedo is equivalent to a 305 mm caliber shell, which is amazing.

Everyone on the battlefield was stunned by the sudden change. The French Mediterranean Fleet did not expect the torpedo to be so powerful. The United States and Canada were frightened to the point of being terrified. It was really surprising that the huge "Washington" sank like this.

Subsequently, the three torpedoes launched by Sea 22 deviated from the target and did not cause any damage to the Jefferson. However, a Pennsylvania-class warship became a scapegoat and was bombed into the sky. But at this time, the lightning strike was not over, and there were still nine torpedoes still on high-speed voyage. The torpedoes launched by Sea 23 no longer existed, so they did not achieve any results. However, the torpedoes launched by Sea 25 and Sea 26 rushed towards the Jefferson.

"Quick, stop them. Damn, turn left and avoid those terrifying guys." Davis gave the order, and the entire battleship was in chaos. Under the dense firepower of the US fleet, two torpedoes were hit and exploded. There were four torpedoes, two of which were avoided by the Jefferson. But one of the other two hit the port side of the Jefferson. Fortunately, the Jefferson was thick in skin and flesh, and only one was blown out.

The big hole caused the hull to tilt to the left, and its speed was only affected a little. But the target of another torpedo was still him. If it was hit again, the situation of the "Jefferson" would be worrying. In this critical situation, a "Washington" class warship stood in front of the "Jefferson". With a violent explosion, the "Washington" class warship was bombed into the sky, and the "Jefferson" crisis was temporarily lifted.

"This battle cannot be fought!" Davis murmured. He knew that it was impossible to win today.

While the US and Canadian fleets avoided torpedoes, the battle confrontation also caused chaos. The Mediterranean fleet seized this opportunity and launched a fierce attack, which immediately sent several US and Canadian warships to the bottom of the sea.

The effect of the lightning strike in the first round of the morning was greater than Clarence expected. Although they lost a destroyer, they sank a New York-class battleship, a Pennsylvania-class battleship and a Washington-class battleship. Even the flagship "Jefferson" was damaged, which was a brilliant result.

Clarence, who tasted the sweetness, then launched the second lightning strike. The effect of this lightning strike was smaller than that of the first wave, because the US and Canadian fleets were already prepared. At the cost of a destroyer, the second lightning strike sank a US Pennsylvania-class warship, a Canadian "Canadian" class warship and two US "Washington" class warships.

Subsequently, the third wave of lightning strike, the fourth wave of lightning strike, and the fifth wave of lightning strike were immediately launched. Under the tactical strike of the French Mediterranean Fleet, the US and Canadian fleets suffered heavy losses, and the battle confrontation was also chaotic. In the confrontation with the Mediterranean Fleet, they were at an absolute disadvantage.
Chapter completed!