PDLP Chapter 128: Frightened Vincent
Chapter 128: Frightened Vincent
In Vincent's opinion, the Battle of Shipwreck Bay was about to turn into a terrible decisive battle with giant ships and cannons, and he didn't want to get involved in it.
At 21:10, just as the Queen Mary was struggling to fight the Moltke, the dreadnought Monarch, more than a dozen nautical miles away, and Rear Admiral Vincent both received a retreat notice from Arthur Raven to Liam and the flagship of the Grand Fleet located in the waters on the northwest edge of Shipwreck Bay.
"What is Vincent doing? Why did they suddenly retreat? The same goes for the Conqueror, what are they doing?" The first telegram received was vague and the specific situation was still unknown.
"The Conqueror has sent a message to reunite with the Grand Fleet! There has been no second telegram from Vincent yet!"
"I have a bad feeling, something must have happened! Otherwise they wouldn't do this!"
"I'll go urge the telegraph room now and make sure they reply!" Alex also felt that something was wrong and returned to the communications room again.
The battlecruiser Von der Bella was about to sink, so no matter what the situation was, there was no need to retreat in a hurry, right? They were about to annihilate the raiding fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Leo, the hero of the Drake Empire Navy. This fleet had shamelessly attacked the Talen mainland more than ten hours ago and planted the Drake flag on this great land!
Although our side is too large, as long as we wipe out Leo's assault fleet, the honor will still fall on everyone.
Before the battle, the officers and soldiers of the First Battlecruiser Fleet were still fantasizing about marching in military uniforms through the Victory Square and the Triumphal Arch, and finally receiving the welcome and flowers from the people of Tarun at the front door of the royal palace, and being received by the king, prime minister and senior officials.
But all of this was shattered by the Drakes' artillery shells. Major General Vincent now only wanted to escape. The sweet kiss of a girl or the favor of a noble lady were not as important as making the Anjou III run faster.
At 21:15, Colonel Mahak and his team experienced another thrilling roller coaster ride from hell to heaven.
Under the unified command of the latest MK4 central fire control system, the three battlecruisers, Lützow, Derfflinger and Bilo, pointed their huge black hole main guns directly at the fleeing Majestic-class pre-dreadnoughts, and quickly opened fire when the time was right.
In addition, these three battlecruisers were equipped with more powerful weapons, 3mm naval guns. Although they were still smaller than the main guns of the Talen battlecruisers, the 305 24mm main guns emboldened the officers and soldiers of the ocean fleet, whose main gun caliber had always been at a disadvantage.
The powerful firepower of the 305mm main gun made the Drake gunners very happy, and the loading speed was much faster than usual.
At 21:18, shells streaked across the night sky and slammed heavily around the five Tarun warships. The original horizontal formation was torn apart by the varying speeds of the ships. The slowest pre-dreadnought battleship, HMS Bharatthan, located on the right rear side, was hit by the first round of shelling, probably because of its name.
"General, the Bharatasthan has been hit!"
"Do you know the extent of the injury?" Levinson asked in a cold tone.
"Two boiler rooms destroyed!"
"Let the Bharatasthan serve as the rear guard. The kingdom needs their loyalty now!"
The flagship Anjou III was also hit by a near miss bomb and exploded 30 meters to the starboard side. The shrapnel injured at least a dozen sailors. How could he have the time and strength to take care of the Bharatastan?
The Bharatastan was completely hopeless. Its speed of 17 knots was like a snail crawling in front of the battlecruiser, not to mention the loss of two boiler rooms. Now Vincent decided to make use of the Bharatastan to buy time for other warships.
"Haha, the Talens are a bunch of stray dogs! Fire! Hit hard!" Colonel Mahak laughed a little wildly. The Von der Bella still had four 4mm main guns that could be used, but there was really not much ammunition left. The sea water had submerged most of the ammunition depots, and there were only a few shells in the turrets.
The four Talen pre-dreadnoughts quickly passed by the Von der Bella floating on the sea. The Von der Bella was too badly damaged, and its shooting did not slow down the speed of the Talen pre-dreadnoughts much.
Major General Vincent and his fleet rushed forward recklessly, while the Conqueror, which had discovered the Drake warship in advance, had already disappeared.
Marshal Jericho, who was dissatisfied with Liam's result of strangling Leo's raiding fleet, led the main force of the fleet to advance to the northwest side of Ship Burial Bay.
The situation was not very good for Talen, it was just so-so. One battlecruiser and one armored cruiser were exchanged for three battlecruisers of the Royal Navy, which was a big loss. Fortunately, Vincent brought good news. He cooperated with the Conqueror to block the Von der Bella. Under the double attack, the Von der Bella suffered heavy damage and was about to sink. Although the Royal Princess battlecruiser was injured by the desperate Moltke battlecruiser, with the assistance of two Guardian-class dreadnoughts, Liam would definitely kill Leo in Shipwreck Bay.
Victory is imminent, and the death of Leo, an iconic figure of the Drake Navy, can make up for the loss of the previous battlecruiser.
While Marshal Jericho was tossing and turning on the iron bed in the command room, the communications officer on the Giant pushed the door open rudely. He would only barge in without notifying others when the situation was urgent.
"What's the matter?" Jericho stood up and asked while buttoning his military uniform.
"Commander! Urgent telegram from the Conqueror!"
Jericho frowned as soon as he saw the beginning. "Found the main force of the Ocean Fleet? Two Derfflinger-class battlecruisers equipped with 305mm main guns? Is this a trap set by Leo? The Conqueror can only retreat and wants support from the large fleet? Vincent's fleet didn't say a word? Does this mean Vincent is finished?"
"Great!" Jericho laughed in anger, his whole body shaking. "Communications officer, notify all fleets to prepare for battle! Full speed ahead!"
Major General Vincent almost collapsed under the heavy pressure. He sent telegrams for help to Liam and Jericho one after another, and the words were full of despair and fear.
The Grand Fleet could not analyze from the telegrams sent by the Conqueror and Vincent how many warships of the Ocean Fleet had arrived at Shipwreck Bay. They were only sure of one thing, that an unknown number of Drake battleships were coming as reinforcements.
The Grand Fleet cannot be sure of the number of Drake's warships, so it cannot assess whether the Grand Fleet can use its numerical advantage to defeat the Ocean Fleet. It would be very disadvantageous for the Grand Fleet to rashly start a war without knowing the situation, but the battleships in Liam's hands must be saved.
"The 3st Armored Patrol Squadron, the rd Light Cruiser Squadron, the st and nd Destroyer Squadrons, with the st Battleship Squadron as the vanguard, will immediately advance to the battle area; the main force of the Grand Fleet will follow closely behind, and the nd Battleship Squadron and the rd Destroyer Squadron will serve as the rear fleet, maintaining a -nautical-mile range with the main fleet."