Chapter 1,481 Before the War 1
Chapter 1481 Before the War 1
boom! An oil tanker that was unable to dodge was hit by a 6-inch artillery shell. The violent explosion ignited hundreds of kilograms of fuel in the vehicle. A fire dragon rose into the sky, dozens of meters high, and the ignited light fuel wave swept away. To the surroundings, it spread rapidly under the blow of the sea breeze, and in the distance, neatly arranged planes were torn into pieces by flying shrapnel and flames. Even the ground staff nearby were turned into ashes.
Various ground facilities have received special attention. The first is the hangar in the distance. The effect of using incendiary bombs to attack these wooden and steel structures is very good. As long as one shell is hit, the entire hangar can be reduced to ashes. Those using stone , the semi-buried warehouse built of wood is more difficult to deal with, but it can be solved with one 12-inch artillery shell. Two of the four important warehouses in this airport were directly hit.
The entrance and exit of the first warehouse was destroyed by three 10-inch artillery shells. It was temporarily unusable, and the other warehouse was a bit more tragic. A 12-inch semi-armor-piercing bullet roared onto the top of the warehouse, directly piercing the thick wood and stone structure dome, and then ignited the fuel inside! With a loud noise, like an earthquake, the entire bunker collapsed. After the smoke dissipated, only a huge pit remained on the ground.
Several planes that had been left on the runway were preparing to take off and run away. Then, amid the flying artillery fire, only two planes successfully took off, and the rest were directly turned into wreckage on the airport. Only one of the two planes that took off successfully evacuated, because the other plane was shot down by two observation seaplanes with large-caliber machine guns!
The whole process was uneventful. After bombarding for about half an hour and pouring nearly a hundred tons of ammunition towards the airport, the entire fleet continued northward and entered Edremit Bay after confirming that there were no mines in the bay. The final showdown between the fleets of both sides is about to begin!
"Your Excellency General, just half an hour ago, Mytilene Airport was bombarded by the German fleet, and now, according to intelligence, the German fleet has entered the Gulf of Edremit, and they seem to be planning to return to Dardanelles from here. Strait." Soon, the news that the airport was bombed was sent to Sir Fisher. After receiving the news, Sir Fisher suddenly had an idea in his mind: "How about we just forget about it today?!"
The only support point of the Allied Air Force was thus removed. The British are also very helpless! Not to mention the aircraft lost at the airport, after losing the support of the airport, the combat effectiveness of the backup fleet cannot be guaranteed at all. Fighting with four super-dreadnoughts under the wings of the Luftwaffe, Fisher felt that today's combat mission Alexander!
"Your Excellency, Commander, the French Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Le Bris, sent a telegram asking how long it will take for us to arrive at the scheduled assembly position." An officer asked.
"It will take about an hour. We will definitely arrive before dawn." Looking at the clock on the wall, it was already past 4 o'clock in the morning. The morning stars had risen. At 6 o'clock, the sky was gradually getting brighter. ,
It is already possible to conduct long-distance sea battles. Now, the French fleet's 4 super-dreadnoughts, 6 quasi-dreadnoughts and pre-dreadnoughts, and 5 armored cruisers have been concentrated near the northern exit of Edremit Bay. According to the length of the entire bay and the speed of both sides, , if the French fleet decides to enter the bay, then the fleets of both sides can enter combat distance at around 7 o'clock!
"To be honest, this kind of fighting environment is very bad. The sea area is very narrow, and we have too many warships. If the other party launches an air attack, it will be difficult for us to stop it. Moreover, although the fighting battlefield is in the strait, we do not have enough Troops and events block the opponent from both ends. Even if we block them during the day, the opponent can still use the night to withdraw from the other side of the strait and then look for an opportunity to return to the Dardanelles."
Sir Fisher said with some embarrassment, to be honest, even though the British also suffered a loss this time, after hearing that Mytilene Airport was attacked, he really didn't want to fight at all. The current Sir Fisher is not the aggressive Lord of the Admiralty in history. Historically, he would have been furious because someone gave up the pursuit after seeing the wrong signal during the Battle of Dogger Sands. But in this plane, the cruel battlefield has taught this Navy Minister what stability means!
"I informed the commander of the French fleet, Vice Admiral Le Bris, of my opinion, saying that our aviation fleet's control of the air is not stable, and it is recommended that it be best to evacuate if a large German bomber formation is discovered." Fisher Er said to a staff officer next to him. “Then ask Admiral Trenchard again and hope he can come up with a response plan.
"What kind of plan!" Almost at the same time that Fisher received the news that the airport had been bombed, Lieutenant General Trenchard also received the news through his own channels that made him feel constipated! The only point of support is gone, and now the short legs in the British and French aircraft are expected to have much cover in the air? This is probably too difficult.
"Tell this old guy Fisher that they had better give up this battle. We have already lost. Now it is time to stop falling and return to this stage. Don't get yourself involved! I will send some twin-engine aircraft to cover the retreat of the fleet. But there is no guarantee that you will not be attacked by the Germans!" Admiral Trenchard was not optimistic about the plan to continue blocking the German fleet.
"We can hold on until 10 a.m. at most. After that, we can't send any more planes anyway, because the remaining planes can no longer reach the war zone due to range issues. Send this telegram to the French to let them know what's going on. The seriousness!" Admiral Trenchard said.
"Your Excellency, the Commander of the British Fleet, Lord Fisher, and the Commander of the British Air Force, Admiral Trenchard, sent telegrams. They do not support us in intercepting the German fleet." A French officer sent two telegrams to Loeb. In the hands of Vice Admiral Reese.
"Haha, those British people thought that the French people died tonight, and they only got rid of a few cheap, dilapidated warships and a group of recruited sailors, so they didn't care? It's so childish and ridiculous. ! The landing battle is about to begin, but we have suffered heavy losses. If we do it again, we will not be able to land on the land of Asia Minor this year! So, this time, even if we lose both sides, we must drag the Germans with us!" Trencha The German Lieutenant General paused and then said: "Tell the British that our determination to attack remains unchanged!"
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