Napoleon II Reborn - Chapter 558

“Boom!” A shell exploded hundreds of meters to the left of the ‘Azore’, and the water column caused by the explosion fell on the deck of the ‘Azore’, dousing the sailors on the deck thoroughly. Feeling cold. But they didn’t care about wiping, and ran back and forth on the deck, carrying the shells, and then fiercely fired back at the place with naval guns.

It is now 1:00 pm on the 28th. It has been an hour since the 10th and 12th fleets of the US Navy arrived on the battlefield. The French Atlantic Fleet and the US 10th and 12th Fleets fought fiercely again in this sea area.

It’s just that this time, the French Atlantic Fleet does not have the upper hand as it did against the US 4th Fleet before. On the capital ship, the 10th and 12th fleets add up to 8 ships. Other cruisers and destroyers, plus the remnants of the 4th Fleet, are not much less than the French Atlantic Fleet. In addition, Trick’s flagship “Georgia” joined the battle again after fleeing back. [bsp;The comparison of capital ships reached 6 to 9. The French Atlantic Fleet is at a disadvantage.

Moreover, this time the American fleet was so aggressive that it forced the capital ship of the French Atlantic Fleet and had to fight them decisively. Once the capital ships of the French Atlantic Fleet are separated, they will target the heavy cruisers and cooperative light cruisers of the Atlantic Fleet. This made the capital ship of the Atlantic Fleet have to fight.

Kirkbride once tried to prevent a destroyer from launching a lightning strike, but the US fleet had already prepared for it. More than a dozen ‘Franklin’-class warships surrounded the early capital ship. Once the French warship attempted to launch a lightning strike, they immediately entangled it and cooperated with the main force. The frigate drove the French destroyer away. That attack, not to mention returning in vain, also lost several destroyers.

“Boom!” A huge explosion erupted in the battle line of the Atlantic Fleet. The strong guarantee made the warship moving at high speed violently shake.

“Marshal, it’s the ‘Shen Juan’. He was hit on the foremast!”. A staff officer, reporting to Kirkbride. At this time, the “Shen Juan” was a little miserable. He was besieged by the US fleet one after another, and Nong was covered in injuries. Because the “Shenjue” is at the forefront of the entire battle line of the French Atlantic Fleet, and has received many blows. At the same time, because at 12:30, he destroyed the bridge of the “Massachusetts” of the US 10th Fleet with one shot, killing the captain and many officers of the ship. Only one gunnery officer survived, and he is now in command of the battle.

In a rage, the commander of the US 10th Fleet, Archibald, ordered the four capital ships of the 10th Fleet to pour all their firepower on the “Shen Jue”, which made the “Shen Juan” fall into an extreme threat among. Although supported by other warships, they were still hit repeatedly. The simple fact is that the “Shenjuan” belongs to the “Giant Whale” class warship, with rough skin and thick flesh. The armor is much thicker than that of the “Tiger Shark” class battleship, and even thicker than the “North Carolina” class battleship of the US Navy’s capital ship. Therefore, up to now, although it has suffered a lot of shells, including two 305mm naval gun shells, it is still fierce. This is the same even if the superstructure is rotten.

“What about the loss of the God’s Family?” Kirkbride said nervously. Although no capital ship of the Atlantic Fleet has been sunk so far, all warships have been more or less traumatized. Among them, the “Shenjuan” was the most severely damaged. Of course, they also caused the same damage to the US fleet. Intact battleships are almost impossible to find.

“Marshal, the ‘Shen Juan’ reported that the power system was damaged, and the speed dropped by 3 knots. They requested to reduce the speed of the battle line, and they will still lead!” A staff officer reported one by one.

Kirkbride fell silent for a moment, and finally agreed to the request of the ‘God’s Family’. He knew very well that the “Shen Juan” wanted to be a magnet for absorbing shells, so that the US fleet could focus on him and create opportunities for other warships. Sacrifice yourself to complete the purpose of destroying the enemy.

“Very good, sink the ‘God’ for me. The son of a bitch, the skin is thick enough, one more shot, two shots at most, and he will definitely be able to sink him!” New Hampshire, the flagship of the US 10th Fleet ‘ cried Archibald from the bridge of the USS. It has been a whole hour, and the US fleet has not sunk a warship of the other side even though it has an advantage of 3 battleships over the French Atlantic Fleet, which makes him very angry.

Under Archibald’s order, the four capital ships of the 10th Fleet worked even harder. A large number of shells kept hitting the “Shenjue”, forming large and small water columns around the “Shenjue”, making the “Shenjue” seem to be shuttling through a storm.

“Haha! Go up, give me a focus on attacking the ‘God’s Family’, he will be sunk!” Inside the bridge of the ‘Georgia’, Trick laughed loudly. Order the ‘Georgia’ to get closer. His 4th Fleet was completely disabled, only the flagship “Georgia” still had combat effectiveness, and the rest of the capital ships were either sunk or lost combat effectiveness due to heavy damage. This made him very angry, and felt a deep shame.

“Where is the Mediterranean Fleet?” Kirkbride asked. The pressure the Atlantic Fleet is now facing is too great, so much that he can’t hold it anymore.

“Marshal Clarence called to say that they won’t be able to enter the battlefield until two o’clock in the afternoon!” The staff officer replied. Because the Mediterranean Fleet needs to get behind the U.S. fleet, on the one hand, it can make the U.S. fleet face the enemy, and on the other hand, it can also play a role in blocking the U.S. Navy.

“Where’s Marshal Hercules?” asked Kirkbride. Now, although there are only a few dozen warships left in the Strait Fleet and the South Atlantic Fleet, there are a total of 9 capital ships. If they can arrive, then it will inevitably give the French fleet an advantage.

“Marshal Hercules and the others won’t be able to arrive until tomorrow afternoon!” The staff officer replied.

“Damn it!” Kirkbride punched the table heavily, shaking the objects on it. I don’t know who he is angry with. All the fleets of the French Navy have the problem of lack of capital ships. Originally, before the war, there was a plan to double the capital ships of each fleet. But then, for unknown reasons, the plan was shelved. This makes them have to face the current predicament. Kirkbride didn’t know the existence of the ‘Brilliant’ fleet. In order to build the ‘Brilliant’ fleet, the French Navy diverted limited resources to the ‘Brilliant’ fleet. Therefore, Kirkbride couldn’t figure out how the commander and chief of staff of the Admiralty, and even His Majesty the Emperor, could be so short-sighted.

Fifteen minutes later, the “Shenjuan” was hit consecutively by two 305mm naval gun shells. Moreover, these two shells were fired by the Georgia. The ‘Georgia’ approached to a distance of less than 7 kilometers from the ‘Shenjuan’. Contact fired 3 rounds of shelling. In the second and third rounds, shells hit the “Shenjuan” respectively.

These two 305mm naval gun shells ended the life of the “Shenjuan”. A shell accurately penetrated the front deck of the “Shenjue” and hit the ammunition magazine of the front main gun of the “Shenjue”. Hundreds of 305mm naval gun shells in the ammunition depot exploded. Blow up the bow of the entire “Shen Juan” to pieces.

The ‘Shenjuan’, which suffered such a heavy blow, was directly sunk into the sea. However, at the moment before sinking. The rear main gun of the “Shen Juan” still fired the last shell. This shell hit the ‘Massachusetts’ again. Just as the U.S. 10th Fleet put its main target on the “Shenjue”, the “Shenjue” directed all its firepower at the “Massachusetts”.

The shell fired before the sinking of the “Shen Juan” hit the stern of the “Massachusetts”, causing the “Massachusetts” to lose almost half of its power, and the steering gear was also damaged. The “Massachusetts”, which lost its steering function, had to withdraw from the battlefield in advance in order not to be besieged by the French Atlantic Fleet.

None of the nearly 300 sailors on the “Shen Juan” survived and all sank into the sea. The last shot they fired also allowed the “Massachusetts” to withdraw from the battle, once again reducing the pressure on the Atlantic Fleet.

“Damn it, sink the ‘Georgia’ for me and avenge the ‘God’s Family’!” On the ‘Azore’, Kirkbride’s eyes were red.

All of a sudden, the remaining five battleships of the Atlantic Fleet hit the ‘Georgia’ with cannon fodder~www.mtlnovel.com~ In order to sink the ‘Shenjuan’, the Georgia narrowed the distance between the two sides. Although it successfully sank the “Shenjuan”. But it also made his situation not so good.

“Boom! Boom!” A large number of shells exploded around the “Georgia”, and for a while, the “Georgia” was in danger.

“Damn it, retreat! Quickly retreat!” Trick quickly issued an order. Before, when he approached and shelled the ‘Shenjuan’, he was completely in a feverish state. Now, the ‘Shenjuan’ was sunk, and he also woke up. After realizing the current situation, he quickly ordered to escape. If it is slow, maybe the last such capital ship of the 4th Fleet will also be buried here.

However, Trick’s sobriety seems to be a bit slower. Under the siege of the five battleships of the Atlantic Fleet, and at such a short distance, there is no reason why the “Georgia” should not be hit.

Two consecutive 305mm shells hit the “Georgia”. Although it was not sunk, the front and rear main guns were destroyed, and it was only when the other capital ships of the US fleet saw that the situation was not good that they rescued it with all their strength, and the “Georgia” was able to escape from the battle.

Both capital ships sank or lost combat effectiveness, which also made the battle more and more intense. Also more tragic.