I Became a Captain of the British Empire

Naval battle off Toulon (3)

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The main gun doors of the Breton class that left the harbor flashed all at once. Still shooting at the Indipatigable. The shells fired from the four main guns in the front set up a huge column of water.

“Indipatigable, you’ve been crossed out!”

“The enemy’s marksmanship is also unusual.”

If you are approaching with the player facing this way, the distance will inevitably change from moment to moment. Even in the midst of this, it is acceptable to maintain a narrow gap.

An Indipatigable that turns between water columns to face an enemy destroyer squadron. Unsatisfied, he repeatedly fires at the enemy battleship. However, the hit bullet is not visible.

Soon after, the Indipatigable, which accelerated to full speed, hurriedly escaped the battlefield, ignoring the flying shells.

Opponent has changed.

“Enemy Breton class! Fire at the main ship!”

“Torbay! Maneuver according to your judgment!”

Having said that, I quietly waited for Repulse to move. The admiral’s job is not to interfere with each individual doing this or that.

It just sets the goal of the operation. The methodology of how to do it is up to the guys to figure it out.

“Admiral, I will change course and move from now on.”

“Okay.”

And as far as I know, Tobay isn’t a talent who will disappoint me.

As expected, the Repulse’s ship soon ran furiously.

“The captain is making the right decision.”

“As the admiral said, elites seem to fit.”

“What did I say? You said you were the future 1st Navy Inspector.”

Seeing the surprised face of the chief of staff, I just raised the corner of my mouth and answered.

Admiral Phillips, of course… No, the captain is also a competent enough person. In the original history, he was the person who rose to the position of captain at the time he led Mobile Fleet Z.

However, the current environment is difficult to demonstrate that capability. I can’t say that the skill of the crew is good on a new ship full of problems. It would be better to designate an easy target and not look at the bad side.

As long as you live, opportunities will always come again.

“The 16th bullet, firing!”

The place where Repulse did not stop is right in front of the bow of the enemy ship. Perfect T shape.

Seizing the golden opportunity, the guns roared wildly.

Upon impact, a column of water surrounds the enemy ship.

“It’s a narrow gap!”

“Not yet! Hit bullets have to come out!”

He clenched his fists as he said that to the delighted chief of staff.

I don’t even want to sink. We don’t have destroyers anyway, so we can’t even dispose of torpedoes. I just want to disable it.

An enemy ship that responds. Shells pound the Repulse’s hull.

However, the hull was not penetrated. Even the 9-inch armor did its job from a distance.

“The 17th! Narrow gap!”

“A hit bullet?”

“… Invisible!”

“Damn, what are you doing with this?”

Shots were exchanged several times, but neither side was able to land a critical hit. As time passed, the chief of staff spoke impatiently.

“At this rate, we will run out of main shells.”

“Before that, we need to neutralize them all!”

I screamed and bit my lip.

Is it because the gunnery has changed? The impact is not satisfactory.

“Narrow gap! telling shot!”

“Okay, I guess you’ve got some sense now.”

Fortunately, the bullet hole narrowed little by little and a heat wave was observed.

At the same time, a 34 cm main shell hit Repulse’s side.

A huge echo penetrates the floor.

“Is the damage serious?”

“I blocked it. It’s still a long way away, so that’s okay.”

A confident voice can be heard in the Jeonseong Hall.

I calmed down and stepped back inside the bridge.

The Repulse, which exhibits a high speed of more than 10 knots, still holds the head of the Breton class. Thanks to this, the Courbet-class, which was covered by the line of fire from the lead ship, is still unable to open fire. It’s actually a one-on-one fight, so there’s nothing wrong with repulsing.

“The 20th is fired!”

cross fire. The sound of crushing the air and the impact of the impact at the same time overturned the hull. At the same time, heat waves flashed from the deck of the enemy ship. A Breton class that exhales thick smoke.

After five salvos, the enemy ship’s guns no longer fired.

“Silence the enemy battleships!”

“No, watch closely.”

Of course, this is not the end.

As soon as the words were finished, Bretagne slowly turned the hull.

Reverse the course of Repulse.

“My God, that would get you farther away from us.”

“They must have intended to run away while counterattacking with the rear main gun. It seems like they’ve given up on defeating us.”

But I have no intention of letting go smoothly.

He asked directly at Jeonseonggwan.

“Torbay! What will you do?”

“I will change my mind.”

The beautiful hull breaks the waves and advances furiously. Repulse, which quickly turned to starboard, rotated half a turn.

In the meantime, the central main turret, which put us in line of fire, finally roared.

“Enemy ship firing!”

“don’t mind! You can’t pierce our gloves anyway!”

I said that, but I was nervous inside.

The shells of a battleship are destroyed one by one once hit. If you hit the bridge unluckily, it will be a fatal blow.

Fortunately, the bullet flew over Repulse’s hull and landed on the other side, as if it was re-aiming.

In the meantime, Repulse’s main gun, which had completed its rotation, returned fire.

Again the Breton-class hull is engulfed in a column of water. perfect crossover. You can see debris splashing through the white waves.

The bullets that hit tore the hull of the enemy ship without delay. The shells that did not penetrate the armor also scattered fragments and tore off the ship’s structures.

The messed up mast was engulfed in flames, and black smoke rose from the front chimney.

Even so, the enemy ship’s gunfire did not stop.

A battleship is a battleship until it dies.

“Enemy ship! I respond!”

The last six main guns of the Breton class roar ferociously. However, it was there.

“A shot!”

A huge column of water covered the hull of the enemy ship.

Before long, the sparkling Breton class. Debris scatters and the ship is covered in flames.

“Two hits!”

Flames spread to the rear hull. Black smoke billows from the No. 4 gun turret.

The Breton class stopped moving.

“Do this. Tobay, withdraw! I will join Indipatigable as it is!”

Leaving behind the battleship with fierce flames rising from the chimney, Repulse turned her bow.

But the enemies don’t seem to have any intention of letting us go.

“Eight enemy planes! Keep approaching with this ship!”

A screaming voice is heard from the observation deck. When I raised my head, biplane wings flashed in the sky.

Enemy attack aircraft that broke through the Osprey squadron’s air defense network were rushing down.

A squadron of 4 planes at the head. And a squadron that seems to be trying to cross the torpedo by going back to the stern of the repulse. Judging from the organized movements, it seems like a highly skilled unit. However, there is nothing to worry about.

“4-inch gun, open fire!”

It’s not just the number of main guns that Repulse received.

At the top of the bridge, the semi-circular anti-aircraft fire control device, HACS, rotates. By now, you should be aiming at the approaching enemy plane and calculating its specifications.

Soon, four-inch anti-aircraft guns opened fire, scattering shrapnel across the sky.

Separated from the aft formation, the leading four planes lowered their altitude and rushed at high speed.

However, at almost the same time, countless barrages rained down from the deck.

“Pom-pom cannon fire begins!”

Dozens of anti-aircraft fire covered the sky like a curtain of fire. The enemy plane, caught in the tracer’s net, had its wings torn off and collapsed.

It is the anti-aircraft firepower of Repulse, which has been expanded with an emphasis on pom-pom cannons. As soon as the danmaku unfolds, the leading torpedo bomber unit turns into flames.

“The enemy plane is annihilated.”

“How long did it take?”

“Five minutes.”

“Excellent.”

In just five minutes, the lead formation of the four planes attacking Repulse sank completely into the cold sea.

not a crowd Now, there are dozens of cannons installed on Repulse’s hull.

The number of turrets is one on top of the No. 2 main turret. One each on the left and right of the No. 1 stack and on the left and right of the center deck. And another one in the place where the aft secondary turret No. 2 was removed, and one on the rearmost deck.

A total of 52 gates in 7 groups. There are 5 turrets that can be focused on one side. The turrets installed on top of the main turret are quadruple, but the barrage is still formidable.

Overwhelmed by anti-aircraft fire, the rest of the squadron opted to turn to the other side, only to be intercepted by Ospreys. With the biplane wings being torn to pieces by machine gun fire, the air raid ended prematurely.

The chief of staff said with a dejected expression as he saw the red flag disappearing in an instant.

“That is too much. When we were in the Atlantic, carrier raids were such an annoyance.”

“At that time, I ate everything with two turrets. It’s worth increasing the anti-aircraft guns.”

Watching the smoke blown away by the wind, I answered like a sigh.

It seems like just yesterday that we were roaming the Atlantic Ocean with a main gun that only reached 20,000 meters and a few anti-aircraft guns. Time flies too fast.

“Admiral! Enemy battleship squadron, charge with this ship!”

Meanwhile, three Courbet class ships charged from behind the Breton class, which was engulfed in flames.

Battleships firing their main guns all at once. A huge column of water covered the place where anti-aircraft fire had gone.

Of course, that was to be expected.

I looked at the chief of staff, nodded, and said with a full face.

“Torbay, start as soon as you’re ready.”

Soon, massive fire covered the hull of the enemy ship.

It was clearly larger than the water column created by the Courbet class.

“Indipatigable, the battle begins!”

The distant horizon beyond the Courbet-class squadron.

A huge battleship that looked like a whale spewed out an enormous amount of smoke. In the background, graphite, probably from an enemy destroyer squadron, was coloring the sky.

“The main turrets are said to have been fixed?”

“Looks like there is no problem.”

Well, there seem to be at least six water columns rising up. Judging from the dense impact, it seems to have been resolved on the spot.

Anyway, with this, the formation was completed.

Indipatigable is on the right side of the enemy ship, and Repulse is on the left.

There are countless angles in the world, such as acute angles, right angles, obtuse angles, and sharp angles, but the best angle among them is the positive angle.

Enemies battleships faced with fire from left and right could not easily focus on their targets and were beaten one-sidedly.

A total of three hours into the battle, the Courbet-class lead ship caught in a storm of 16-inch caliber steel was covered in flashes of light.

A roar that would split the sea echoes like a scream. The sound of tearing steel could be heard in the smoke that spread like volcanic ash.

“Enemy Courbet-class lead ship stunned!”

When the sea breeze cleared the smoke, the already beautiful hull was showing off its bright red underside.

Even before the report was heard, Repulse’s crew had all guessed what had happened. The bitter eyes of everyone around him proved it.

“Enemy fleet… I will step down.”

“We do this too. Send a signal to the fleet to withdraw.”

After a long time, the 15-inch guns finally stopped roaring. We all closed our eyes as we watched the clouds of dust rising high in the sky.

* * *

As the day was getting dark, Indipatigable, joined by Repulse, turned towards the Furious in the rear.

Having lost one Courbet-class ship, the enemy fleet struggled back to port, towing the Breton-class, which was about to be scrapped.

“Are you going to attack again after the night?”

“No, just step back.”

He shook his head firmly and answered the chief of staff.

“I have already done everything.”

Smoke still rises from the distant port.

While the French had their infrastructure destroyed and their fleet destroyed, we did not lose a single ship.

… Ammunition is a bit sluggish though. Anyway, this is enough. However, there is still a catch.

It was time to sigh and wipe the cold sweat.

“Entrance in Furious! Based on this ship, a bearing of 340 and a distance of 40,000 found 4 large enemy ships! Speed 28 knots!”

The expected report pierced my anxious mind. After hearing the report from the communication staff, the chief of staff opened his eyes and said.

“Caracciolo class!”

“… That’s why I was trying to leave early.”

An uninvited guest came.