Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 157 Little Soldier Deben

"The Moltke was hit, and the hit position was the No. 8 chimney! At 28:, the Drake was hit, and one of the bullets was an underwater bullet!" The two short messages immediately made everyone in the command tower of the Lützow pay attention.

The news was very unfavorable to the First Reconnaissance Fleet. In a naval battle, damage to the chimney, even if it was directly destroyed, was not a big deal. If one was gone, there was still another one. The impact was within controllable range.

What is frightening is that the power compartment is right below the chimney. There are only 40mm horizontal armor and 30mm dome armor above the power compartment of the Moltke. Although they are thicker than those of the same-level Talen battlecruisers, no one knows whether they can withstand the impact of 305mm armor-piercing shells.

"System, call up the status of the Drake immediately!" Leo was extremely anxious.

[Report to the commander, the Drake has suffered heavy damage, the chance of survival is less than 10%, please rescue as soon as possible]

The situation of the Drake is more serious than that of the Moltke. Even though the German battleship has amazing defense and is slightly enhanced by Leo's skills, you can only consider yourself unlucky when you encounter underwater bullets, which are irrational.

Although the Indefatigable and Sana Tiger battlecruisers were sunk in succession at the last moment, bringing the First Reconnaissance Fleet's victory result to a staggering three battlecruisers, this does not mean that Leo can accept the loss of a battlecruiser. In the past, even the sinking of a submarine made him feel sad.

These are all outstanding soldiers of the Drake Empire. They also have families and friends, and are not consumables in the eyes of politicians. As the commander of the First Reconnaissance Fleet, he has responsibilities for the boys under his command and he has the obligation to take them home!

The imperfect ending made Leo's face turn pale, and his cold face told everyone that he was very unhappy.

The retreat of the First Reconnaissance Fleet did not affect the confrontation between the Grand Fleet and the Ocean Fleet. At this time, the North Sea had been ignited by their artillery fire, and the vast battle area was filled with flying shells of various calibers.

The alarm from the buzzer kept ringing on the battleships of both sides. This seemed to be the tenth round of shelling. Gunner Sergeant Deben felt the strong recoil in his body and calculated in his mind that 10 305mm armor-piercing shells had already whizzed out of the barrel.

The small, stuffy turret space and the continuous shooting made Corporal Deben, who was wearing limited protective measures, very uncomfortable. He could only take advantage of the breaks between shelling to relieve discomfort such as tinnitus and dizziness.

The initial velocity of the Drake 305mm main gun shell is 855 meters per second. At a distance of more than 16,000 meters, it takes about twenty seconds for the shell to leave the barrel and hit the target.

The time waiting for the result of the bombardment was very difficult. He couldn't help but think of the equally difficult time more than an hour ago, when the Ocean Fleet came with great momentum, but was beaten into a daze by the battle line of the Grand Fleet.

Although the Ocean Fleet struggled to change its formation in the chaos, the firepower of the Grand Fleet would have been more concentrated if the Second Battleship Squadron had not suddenly appeared. Without the assault cover of General Leo and his First Scouting Fleet, the Ocean Fleet would not have been able to smoothly carry out the battle line and reverse the disadvantage.

Vice Admiral Malawi is not well-known in normal times, but he heard from the old gunner that Vice Admiral Malawi is the son of Marshal Pirtz. Like father, like son. Several times he thought that the Second Battleship Squadron was going to be wiped out.

Deben had admired the Imperial Army since he was a child and originally wanted to follow tradition and join the Army. However, after he read an article in the newspaper that described the Battle of Shipwreck Bay, he resolutely lined up in the long queue in front of the Naval Recruiting Station. The queue was filled with young people who had the same idea as him.

General Leo and the First Scouting Fleet, who have an extraordinary military record, are their idols. Deben had originally dreamed of completing his sailor training and being assigned to serve under his idol and join the world-famous First Scouting Fleet.

Unfortunately, there were too many people who wanted to join the First Scouting Fleet, and the Admiralty would not tolerate this kind of thing, so Deben was added to the Third Battleship Squadron of the Ocean Fleet.

Fortunately, the 3rd Battleship Squadron was composed of new battleships, and his post was the flagship of the High Ocean Fleet, the King Friedrich battleship, which made his regret not so great.

"However, Admiral Leon's face is too scary... It's more uncomfortable than being trapped in the turret now!" Deben thought.

"King Friedrich, at 7:56 a.m., Ajax, ninth round of all main gun fire, long-range ammunition!"

The 305mm main gun had an average firing rate of three rounds per minute, and the shells only took about twenty seconds to fly, which meant that when a new round of shells just crossed the sky, another shell had already spread to the other side of the fleet's battle line, thus forming a cross-fire formation.

Cross-fire calibration is a great test of one's eyesight and judgment, so it is easy to cause inaccurate shooting parameters. However, these technical tasks are easy to handle in the hands of Drake's naval staff, who are known for their rigor.

The information from the watchtower made the gunners of King Frederick very dissatisfied. There was no result at all. This was a slap in their face. The loudspeaker echoed with the King Frederick's gunner's curse: "You bastards! Cheer up and don't embarrass the King Frederick! All turrets should pay attention to receiving the new firing parameters and correct the firing angles! Veterans, take responsibility!"

"The gunner is talking nonsense again. Who dares not to concentrate?" The old gunner who was in charge of the turret in Deben kept making up the gunner's faults.

"Then do you dare to say it in front of the gunner?" Deben asked with a smile.

"You bastard, get to work!" The old artillery commander kicked Deben on the butt and urged him. The artillerymen next to him laughed when they saw this.

"Prepare for the eleventh round of artillery fire. You still have the nerve to smile. Get started!" the red-faced old artillery commander said angrily.

The training of the Drake Navy was very hard, basically one drill every three days and one major drill every five days. The officers and soldiers assigned to King Frederick performed well in all aspects. For example, Deben was recognized by his comrades in gunnery training and damage control, and performed well in the combat cruise training in the Sarmatian Sea at the end of the sailor training.

He thought that there was not much difference between real naval battles and exercises, but when he followed the Great Ocean Fleet and the King Frederick into the historic Battle of Cimbrica, he found that the things he learned were too rigid and the teachings given by the old gunner were more practical.

Just as the pressure of being passively beaten for a long time is completely unfelt during the exercise, the scolding and consolation of the old gunner eased the tense atmosphere; for another example, the torturous several minutes of half-running slow firing of the main guns, due to the long distance of the engagement, the long-awaited cross-fire was delayed, and the angle had to be frequently corrected, etc.