I Became a Captain of the British Empire

Battle of Makassar Strait (2)

US Asian Fleet, light cruiser Memphis.

On the bridge illuminated by Repulse’s searchlights, Memphis’s captain, Colonel Collingwood, was in a similar dismay.

“Why is there a battleship here?!”

He raised his hand in front of the dazzling lights and shouted in a panicked voice.

A huge shadow looming behind the searchlight.

The large turrets and triangular masts belonged to capital ships.

The operation officer, who had been hesitant next to him, was the first to come to his senses and said,

“Enemy! Captain! We must respond right now!”

“Damn it, it’s a trap! They were in an ambush!”

The captain, who thought the enemy he could see in the dark was a cruiser, had no choice but to think so. The operative shouted again at the panic-stricken superior.

“Captain! The distance is 3,000! We must attack!”

“… shoot! Crush whatever you have!”

The 6-inch guns on the forecastle deck were the first to fire.

A deck that sparkles with heavy gunfire.

The cannonballs flying in a yellow line hit the side of the enemy ship. However, the bullet only ricochets powerlessly with sparks.

Looking at it with a desperate face, the captain realized again that the enemy ship was a battleship.

“Enemy ship! Turn the gun this way!”

“Run at full speed! You have to run away while brushing aside!”

A light cruiser rocking and turning. Missing bullets set up water columns everywhere.

Holding on to the handrail on the shaking bridge, the captain shouted into his gun.

“Are the torpedoes ready yet?”

“Currently aiming!”

“Okay, hit them all in unison as you pass by! You must not leave even one foot behind!”

thud-

The hull hit by the shells shakes violently.

A 4-inch secondary shell penetrated Memphis’ turret.

Watching the smoke pouring out from under the bridge, the captain clenched his fists.

“We need to stop them from counterattacking! All batteries, as soon as they are loaded, beat them up!”

The gun barrel, which had been emitting fire vigorously, raised its head in an instant.

* * *

Same time, Repulse.

As shells pounded the hull, the bridge was filled with panicked voices.

“Enemy ship! Defense 035! Distance 3,000… No, 2,500!”

“Respond! Reply!”

Kugung-

A volley of 4-inch auxiliary batteries lit up the deck.

The acrid smell of gunpowder wafted all the way to the bridge. It’s a familiar smell, but the situation makes me frown.

The 15-inch main gun turret is still running. For the time being, only the auxiliary battery can be used.

As soon as I was impatiently stamping my feet, an explosion and sparks rose from the deck of the enemy ship.

“Bu-cannon hits! Enemy No. 2 main turret silenced!”

“Enemy ship, defense 045! Maneuvering to the starboard side of this ship!”

In the searchlight, the enemy ship passed Repulse’s side at full speed, leading a plume of fire.

A salvo of fire covering the hull. Right after that, the sound of steel splitting hit my ears. A deck of repulses that oscillates finely.

“Enemy bullet hit!”

I peeked out the window, but the hull was intact.

Repulse’s armor can withstand the main gun of a light cruiser. But they don’t just have main guns.

“Admiral, enemy cruisers are still approaching!”

“I’m going to fire a torpedo! Torbay! Are you listening!”

“Yes, Admiral!”

The answer that can be heard in Jeonseong-gwan. It is an urgent voice.

“They’re trying to fire torpedoes!”

“I know!”

A squeak – a tilting noise.

Immediately the floor shakes. Repulse’s player spinning across the waves.

The moment I was anxiously holding on to the railing, I heard another voice from the left.

“port! Lookout report! Defense 280! Distance 2,000! Enemy cruiser, approaching this ship!”

“You showed up again?”

Damn, wasn’t there one.

When I turned my head, I could see through my binoculars full of ferociously charging cruisers.

The ship’s cannon fires on the sharp bow. Shock across the bridge.

“Torbay! What are you doing!”

“I’ll respond with a bupo!”

A voice that can be heard in full force. But soon after, the sound of breaking steel echoed through the bridge.

Kugu Palace –

sparkling shards.

Holding on to the railing of the bridge, I looked at the signal deck where the flames were barely flowing.

“Port-side bupo Silence!”

The secondary turret, whose gun barrel was miserably bent, was burning fiercely.

The chief of staff and the aide-de-camp speak alternately while blinking their eyes in despair.

“Admiral! If we continue like this, we will be attacked from both sides!”

“It is dangerous because it is close combat. Let’s evacuate to the command tower for now.”

“Command and control comes first, Adjutant! If I run away, the entire fleet is in danger!”

After that, go straight to the Jeonseonggwan.

“Torbay! Respond with Pom Pom Po!”

“yes?”

“The distance is close! Anti-aircraft gun fire!”

The light cruiser currently approaching the port side is visible to the naked eye. Keep approaching while shooting the gun, and now it’s a yard that is different from the effective range of Pom Pom Po.

All available firepower must be mobilized.

cooung-

Just as he was about to press on again, sparks flew down the right side of the bridge and flames soared.

“Admiral! Are you okay?”

“I’m okay! Report the damage first!”

An adjutant who supports me when I stumble.

As I followed him, I saw the perforated outer observation deck. A hideously distorted railing.

“If they fell even a little bit, they would all die.”

It was the chief of staff who muttered while swallowing dry saliva.

Dangerous. It is not unreasonable to be shot at the bridge at this distance. Otherwise, the headquarters may be annihilated.

I hurriedly spoke to Jeon Seong-gwan.

“Tobay, take care of starboard first.”

“yes? But the main gun turns faster on the port side!”

“Do as you say. I have an idea. Just keep shining with the searchlight.”

“… All right.”

Make sure to read from noble mtl dot com

Perhaps it was because of the interference with the operation of the ship, it was a very unpleasant voice.

But the situation is so urgent. There is a reason you have to do this.

Repulse’s deck swayed immediately. The hull, which turned wide again, thrusts its bow toward the light cruiser located on the starboard side.

“Enemy ship! Shoot again!”

A cruiser still firing furiously. A rising water column covers the outside of the window. Occasionally, a bullet bounces off the control tower under the bridge and sparks fly.

“port! Enemy light cruiser! Change course!”

The cruiser on the left saw us turn and revealed her broadside, possibly intending to fire a torpedo.

The long hull made for cruising the ocean is reflected in the searchlight as it is.

Round and round, something protruding from the side of the hull rotates. Looks like it’s about to launch a torpedo. The moment I close my eyes… .

A storm engulfed the ship.

It was an instant thing.

The shells that flew from the rear of the Repulse literally pierced the enemy cruiser from front to back.

At least four hits.

One shot hit the bridge directly, crushing the entire superstructure to the mast, and two shells tore the hull from side to side. The rest of the shells swept through the side batteries, scattering sharp fragments in all directions.

Thin gloves sliced like tofu meat.

“An enemy cruiser… Sinking!”

Soon there were two large explosions in the bridge and stern, and the cruiser tilted sharply to port.

The fire spreads over the heavy oil flowing like blood.

When I turned my head to the rear of the Repulse, where the artillery fire had come from, a huge shadow appeared over the pitch-black smoke.

“Indipatigable!”

The Indipatigable appeared majestically through the smoke of the volley. The gun barrel, which had been staring at the prey it had slain, quietly returned soon after. towards starboard.

Flashing fire again. Nine 16-inch Japanese ceremonies illuminate the surface of the water like lights. Beyond the rolling waves, the light cruiser left in front of Repulse was swept away by a column of water. Enemy cruiser hurriedly turning.

Taking a deep breath and wiping the cold sweat, I let out a small sigh. It was a really fleeting moment.

“Admiral, you told me to leave the cruiser on the port side… .”

“I knew it would be the case with Phillips. There’s no way you don’t know the meaning of the searchlight.”

The chief of staff stands still with his mouth wide open. He immediately let out a confused cough.

In fact, looking at the power difference, the situation wasn’t bad from the beginning.

There are two battlecruisers here.

However, due to the lack of communication with the aft ship in an urgent situation, Phillips could not decide who to kill first.

So if you designate the target first on this side, the problem will disappear. This is a tactic that is possible because each captain has a high level of proficiency and the Royal Navy is open to their own improvisation.

“Indipatigable, fire flares!”

On the deck of the aft battlecruiser, a 6-inch secondary gun set up a gun barrel and fired something shiny.

A flare soaring through the sky. The sea between the Repulse and the light cruiser brightens.

Above the black waves, a white wake was approaching.

“Admiral… It’s a torpedo!”

“Torbay! watching?”

“Torpedo, dodge!”

answer right away.

Right after the voice came down to the former castle hall, the huge body swayed.

“Wake Approaching! Distance 500!”

A white wake that flew like a shot.

It’s like a giant barricade approaching. Gyeonsi’s voice gradually becomes tinged with astonishment.

“Street 300!”

Repulse, which was leaning to the right, turns slightly to the left again. The floor shakes violently. It’s hard to even stand without holding on to the railing. I hear someone rolling on the bridge.

While the vibrating deck regained balance, the torpedo was right in front of us.

“Street 100!”

A chilly sensation ran down his spine. But the wake only darted on either side of the narrow fore deck.

something that happened in an instant.

The staff, who had been staring blankly at the torpedo tracks, sighed in unison.

“I avoided… .”

“Good work, Captain.”

When I spoke in a tired voice, only a low reply was heard from above.

“thank you.”

The sea still roared with gunfire, and the surface of the water was still glistening with burning debris.

* * *

At the same time, heavy cruiser ‘Augusta’.

A cruiser with gun barrels erected in the dark.

While the bridge was filled with only the sound of rapid breathing, the officer holding the communicator turned his head and said firmly.

“Marble Head, sink!”

Admiral McVeigh did not respond.

It was a fact that I knew without reporting it. In the bright eyes, there was a burning hull that lit up the night sky.

“It wasn’t a division fleet… ?”

Holding on to the railing of the bridge, the admiral muttered with a bewildered face.

It was a mistake.

Seeing only enemy heavy cruisers and destroyers, they mistook them for a small squadron. Because of this, the destroyer figured out their location, turned to the side, and attacked them at once.

however,

“I would have thought it was the main unit of the Royal Navy… .”

Clenching his fists, he murmured quietly.

As Memphis confidently approached the enemy’s flank, something too massive to be called a cruiser appeared.

It was a mistake not to have thought that the capital ship would be deployed to such a narrow sea at night.

“Admiral, the enemy is estimated to be at least two battlecruisers.”

“I know. What about Memphis?”

“I do not know. It is not visible anywhere.”

“I’m not dead… .”

No explosions, no fire smoke yet to be seen.

At least life would be safe.

However, Marble Head was unfortunately not so lucky.

“I would rather have passed on like this.”

However, whether he regretted it or not, the reality did not change.

Two of the three cruisers had already been hit. The only power left is his flagship. The destroyer squadron continues to engage fiercely, but it won’t last long with the addition of cruisers.

The admiral thought quietly as he closed his eyes while clenching his fists.

Eventually, he made a decision.

“Captain! Where are the enemy battlecruisers?”

“yes! The standard bearing of the ship is 350! Distance 6,000!”

“Approach up to 3,000 and fire. Aim for the triangular mast battlecruiser ahead.”

According to intelligence, the ship the Commander fluttered was definitely the battlecruiser Repulse with a triangular shield. Beating him up would definitely disrupt the chain of command.

‘Then I’ll have a chance to escape.’

As long as the location has been discovered, even if it secretly escapes, there is a high possibility that it will face an air attack from an aircraft carrier when the day is bright. It would be better to just take a shot and run away from here.

“What are you doing, Captain! Follow orders!”

“Admiral, the enemy ship… !”

The captain raised his hand in bewilderment and pointed forward.

Only then did the admiral look out the window.

pop-

Bright yellow flares rose above their heads.

“… damn it.”

In the beams of light illuminating the bridge, the admiral quietly gnashed his teeth.

Two battlecruisers filled the binoculars. The black muzzle flashes for an instant.