Chapter 1254 Sinking

"General, the islanders are completely wasting shells by doing this!" Major General Felix said with a smile on his face.

Lieutenant General Theodore Burchardi was also very happy. The islanders began to waste shells, which undoubtedly indicated that they were impatient. This is undoubtedly good news for the German fleet.

"Continue to close the distance, and after reducing the distance to 20 kilometers, keep this distance! If there is no other need, keep this distance until all these ships of the islanders are sunk!" Theodore Lieutenant General Burshadi ordered.

"Yes, General." Major General Felix nodded.

At a distance of twenty kilometers, the hit rate of the German fleet was not high. But at least it can guarantee that it can hit the warships of the island navy. But if the island nation's fleet wants to hit the German fleet at this distance, it is almost impossible, unless it is full of luck.

This is undoubtedly very beneficial to the German fleet. They can continuously hit the warships of the island nation's fleet while ensuring their own safety. Although the hit rate is a little lower, it can also sink the island nation's fleet as it decommissions over time.

"boom!"

A 380mm artillery shell hit the battleship Nagato again. The shell hit the armor near the waterline. The 305 mm thick armor could not resist the 380 mm shell and was easily pierced.

The weakness of the waterline armor has become the fatal injury of the Nagato-class battleship. Of course, the island navy is not unaware of this. But they have no way to increase the defense any more. After the displacement increased from more than 33,000 tons to more than 43,000 tons, the speed of the "Nagato-class" battleship also dropped from 26.5 knots to 24.3 knots. If the defense of the waterline armor is to be further increased, the displacement may be further increased. At that time, the speed of the battleship will inevitably drop further. In this case, it is not conducive to warships going to sea to fight. After all, if the speed is too slow, it is impossible to keep up with the aircraft carrier.

It is precisely because of this reason that the "Nagato-class" battleship is very dangerous in this battle. Perhaps the island nation's fleet did not expect such a tragic battle between battleships. Their powerful main guns are unable to destroy the enemy at all, but make themselves constantly attacked.

"Your Excellency, Captain, the waterline on the port side has been penetrated, and a large hole with a diameter of more than one meter has appeared!" An officer reported in horror.

"Baga! Plug the loophole!" Commander Tokunagai ordered with a dark face.

After the battleship "Nagato" was refitted, the displacement increased significantly, which also caused the reserve buoyancy to drop a lot. If there was too much water, it was very likely that the battleship would capsize. This made Colonel Tokunagae very worried.

The damage control crews were desperately trying to plug the leak, but with great difficulty. It was hard to block the hole with a steel plate, but the next second, the battleship 'Nagato' was hit again. The violent vibration caused the steel plate to fall off, and sea water poured into the hull again.

When the fierce battle went on to the 28th minute, the battleship 'Nagato' finally came to the end of its life. At this time, this huge battleship has been hit as many as 16 times. Except for two hits to the waterline armor, the rest of the injuries were not fatal. However, due to too many injuries, the battleship was unable to return to the sky and capsized on the sea.

"General, the 'Nagato' has capsized!" Fukurushige reported in horror. Before he became the Chief of Staff of the 1st Battleship Squadron, he also served as the captain of the battleship Nagato. But he did not expect that the battleship 'Nagato' would be sunk so quickly. At the same time, this also made Colonel Fukushige feel a little grateful that he is not the captain at the moment. Otherwise, he might be the one who sank into the icy sea with the battleship.

Lieutenant General Yoshida Zengo's face was gloomy, even though he knew that losses would inevitably occur in war. However, what he never expected was that their losses would come so quickly. Also, those old warships of the German Navy were able to sink their capital ships. Originally, he thought that even if there was a loss, it should have been besieged and sunk by German Navy fighter planes.

"Damn the Germans, their old warships are so powerful!" Lieutenant General Yoshida Zengo couldn't help cursing.

The victory that was thought to be within easy reach now seemed so far away from them, which made Lieutenant General Yoshida Zengo very uneasy, as if their plan would really fail this time.

"General, although the warships of the Germans have been in service for a long time, they should have been modernized. Especially in terms of radar and distance measuring equipment, the Germans are already ahead of the world. Therefore, they It can hit the target at such a long distance." Colonel Furushige guessed.

Lieutenant General Yoshida Zengo agrees with Colonel Fukutome Shigeru's conjecture, but what's the use of thinking about it now? It's too late!

"Order the ships to speed up and find a way to get closer! If this continues, we will be gradually consumed by them!" Lieutenant General Yoshida Zengo ordered.

"But general, the maximum speed of the 'Fuso-class' battleships is only 22.5 knots. If they speed up any more, they may not be able to keep up!" Commander Fukushige reminded.

"Then let the 'Fuso' and 'Yamashiro' stay, and the other warships quickly launch a pursuit! The German warships have been in service for more than 20 years. Even if the power system has been improved, the speed is definitely not much faster. Go! As long as we can further shorten the combat distance with them, the final victory will definitely be ours!" Lieutenant General Yoshida Zengo ordered.

The capital ship of the German fleet does not have much advantage in terms of speed now. Even if it has been modified, the hull deconstruction is too old, and the potential for modification is very limited. Coupled with the installation of a large number of electronic equipment, the displacement has been increased to a certain extent, which has affected the speed of the ship. If these new warships of the Japanese navy are determined to get closer, they cannot stop them.

"Hey, General!" Colonel Fukushige immediately issued the order.

The island fleet began to accelerate further, and the slowest battleships "Fuso" and "Yamashiro" were thrown away, and they could only catch up from a distance. The remaining nine battleships pursued further frantically, trying to increase the hit rate by shortening the combat distance, thus reversing the situation.