Chapter 1,227 The Melee in the Port

Chapter 1227 The melee in the port

"First blood!" This shell penetrated directly into the body of the O-400 bomber, and then blew this wooden structure miracle into pieces! The power of the 88MM high-explosive bomb is absolutely terrifying. After the entire aircraft body is blown to pieces, a dangerous area with a diameter of dozens of meters is formed. Any flying object entering the area will be severely damaged, and the other aircraft is also very miserable. Several holes were punched in the aircraft body by the wreckage of friendly forces. The violent shaking forced the aircraft to give up the attack, hastily dropped the torpedo and climbed away to escape.

As time went by, more and more anti-aircraft firepower was activated. Not only were the British who came to attack by surprise, but even the Turks did not expect that there was such a powerful firepower in their port! Surrounding the immovable battleship St. Stephen, more than three digits of anti-aircraft machine guns, machine guns and large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery of various calibers were wildly tilting around, raining down bullets. Viewed from the air, they even formed a funnel. Shaped barrage! Continuously extending to all directions.

"Holy shit!" Lieutenant Colonel Sauers was a little confused. The whole plan was discussed for a month. Even Lieutenant General Trenchard did not expect that in Constantinople, this forgotten corner would encounter such a dense crowd. Anti-aircraft firepower! Of course, you can also say that the British underestimated their enemy. No matter what, this is also the capital of the Turkish Empire, the largest military port in Turkey, and the home port of the second largest fleet of the Allied Powers... The British aviation force mostly carries out bombing of frontline targets, and the frontline air defense firepower is naturally incomparable to that of a fortress.

The British did not consider how to suppress it when the second bomber crashed into a warehouse next to the port, dragging flames and thick smoke. Lieutenant Colonel Soers finally couldn't bear it. "Order the bombers of the 4th and 6th detachments to kill the anti-aircraft artillery positions next to me! All the bomber units that have completed the attack will be suppressed with machine guns!" And the lieutenant colonel, who was red-eyed with blood, ordered loudly!

However, it is a pity that the bombs chosen by the British this time are very unsuitable for this task. Although the 500KG-level high-explosive bombs are powerful, they are obviously overpowering when facing anti-aircraft artillery positions. At this time, you need a large number of The small-yield bombs want coverage area and area kill, not strong point kill! The machine gun equipped on the British bomber is just the opposite. The 7.7MM machine gun is too weak and can be blocked by just a piece of steel plate, so the air defense suppression effect this time is really not good.

And this time the British encountered more than just problems. When the third team of torpedo planes successfully threw three torpedoes, the British watched helplessly as one torpedo suddenly sank, and a white torpedo made of exhaust gas sank. The flight path came to an abrupt end, and then, with a loud noise, a water column rose into the sky 70 meters away from the St. Stephen's ship.

"Damn it, the Germans not only set up mine protection nets, but also fishing nets!" A shrewd British pilot instantly discovered the problem... Facing the mine protection net can be solved by adding a cutter in front of the torpedo, but when it comes to the fishing net, this is definitely not strong, but it can be used to overcome rigidity with softness and low cost, and several layers of things can be deployed at once.

That would be troublesome. After all, during World War I, there were even submarines whose propellers got entangled in fishing nets and lost power. Submarines were like this, let alone a torpedo! This kind of flexible thing cannot be solved simply by using a cutter. And precisely because of this, it indicates that all attempts to attack the St. Stephen with torpedoes will almost never work!

But this time, after all, they were shooting at fixed targets. Although the Turks tried their best to shoot tons of artillery shells into the sky, without the help of radar and more advanced fire control systems, the hit rate was still quite impressive. When the British used two rounds After the precious 1,000-pound bombs smashed two high-explosive positions into deep pits, the follow-up bomber force finally rushed in through the gaps in the dense fire net!

At 8:50, it was the saddest moment in the life of the battleship St. Stephen. Two 1,000-pound bombs fell from the sky, and one bomb landed in the middle of the hull. The huge bomb just hit the side of the ship! At the moment of the explosion, a huge orange-red fireball erupted. The shock wave generated by the explosion of hundreds of kilograms of explosives instantly swept across half of the deck. A quarter of the outer superstructure was swept away, and pieces of partitions and scaffolding were swept away. Shattered by bombs, the fire spread rapidly in the sea breeze, and within a few minutes, the battleship was engulfed in a sea of ​​fire and thick smoke.

However, the third bombshell caused more damage than the first two combined! The bomb entered the water about 15 meters away from the stern of the hull. The sensitive fuse exploded violently when it collided with the water! Hundreds of kilograms of explosives were detonated 5 meters underwater! At such a distance, the damage caused by nearly 300KG of high explosives is comparable to two mines hitting the same location! A water column hundreds of meters high rose into the sky! The energy generated by the explosion continues to be transmitted around through turbulent waves! Under the impact of high-temperature, high-pressure bubbles and water flow, the armor belts on the sides of the St. Stephen's hull were torn and collided with huge force!

Accompanied by bursts of heart-wrenching sounds of metal twisting and breaking, a large hole of more than ten square meters appeared on the side string. The surrounding hull plates were dented inwards, and even entire pieces of armor were torn off. In just a few minutes, thousands of tons of seawater poured into the unfortunate battleship... The entire battleship gradually lost its balance, and the hull began to sink slowly at a tilt of 10 degrees.

After all, this was an unrepaired warship, and some of the water drain doors were not closed. Without the ability to seal the leaks and drain water, the rear half of the hull of the San István finally hit the bottom! (The water depth of the berth is not very deep.) Half of the stern of the ship was submerged in the sea water, and even the bow of the ship, which had begun to sink due to water ingress, was slightly upturned!

"We seem to have killed this battleship?" Lieutenant Colonel Sauers looked at the battleship St. Stephen that was caught in a sea of ​​fire and smoke. He almost didn't believe his eyes. He had a premonition that he would achieve significant results. , but it’s still a bit unbelievable to see a battleship fall in front of him like this!

"We made history. We almost repeated David's feat of killing Goliath with a sling!" Lieutenant Colonel Sauers said excitedly. However, what he said this time was not entirely correct. It is true that if the battleship hit the bottom as the standard, the British bomber group barely sank the St. Stephen, but this time the sinking was relatively large because it was not completely Destroy and repair are not as difficult as the British imagined!

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