Chapter 981

With the sinking of four "United Force-class" battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the disadvantage of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in naval battles has become greater and greater. The combined fleet of the German Navy still has 22 capital ships. But the Austro-Hungarian Navy had only 12 battleships. The advantage of the German Navy's combined fleet has been expanded to 10 ships.

"Redistribute strike targets!" Admiral Hipper ordered.

"Yes, General!"

Now, the German navy has an absolute advantage, and what they have to do next is to further expand this advantage, and then defeat the Austro-Hungarian navy in one fell swoop, and get rid of them all.

After redistribution of strike targets, it became one-on-one with the battleships 'Austro-Hungarian Sovereign' and 'Franz' of the Austro-Hungarian Navy except for the battleships 'Kaiser' and 'Frederick' of the German Navy. ? Joseph I' battleship battle, the rest have become two battleships of the German Navy besieging a battleship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Originally, the performance of the capital ships of the German Navy was far stronger than that of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Now, the Austro-Hungarian navy is facing a siege. This makes it difficult for them to escape the fate of being defeated no matter how hard they try. Unless there is a miracle, otherwise, they will lose this time.

"General, our situation is even more dangerous now!" said an Austro-Hungarian navy general.

Admiral Anton House nodded: "The Germans have too much advantage! It is worthy of being able to defeat the German Navy, the world's most powerful country. Compared with them, we are like toddlers, The gap is too great. Perhaps, we should not have provoked the Germans in the first place, and should not have given them an excuse to go to war. In that case, everything would not be what it is now. But it is too late to say these things now. Our country It has already been destroyed, so we have to fight the Germans to the end."

Indeed, Admiral Anton House now knows that he will lose without any chance of winning. However, even so, he still hopes to fight to the end, even if the whole army is wiped out, he will die a heroic death.

"Yes, General." The general nodded, he understood what Admiral Anton House meant.

Perhaps, among the officers and soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, some people would not want to die. However, most people still have the determination and courage to fight to the end.

The fierce battle continued, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy was completely at a disadvantage.

At 10:35, the battleship Ferdinand I of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was hit. The "Brandenburg-class" battlecruisers of the German Navy are equipped with 410mm main guns. Even if the armor of the battleship "Ferdinand I" is considered later, it still cannot withstand 410mm shells. The shells were exploding after the armor was ripped. A large hole was blown out of the battleship Ferdinand I more than one meter below the waterline. This was just the beginning. Ten minutes later, the unlucky battleship was hit again. After being hit by 410mm artillery shells one after another, the battleship "Ferdinand I" finally couldn't hold on, and soon sank into the sea.

After the battleship 'Ferdinand I' sank, the battleship 'Karl I' soon followed in his footsteps. The battleship "Karl I", which was hit by a total of 8 410mm shells before and after, was completely battered. Unless God comes, otherwise, this battleship can only sink. In the end, the battleship was indeed sunk.

But those battleships purchased from Germany performed better. Although, these battleships are second-hand battleships. However, the performance is still very good, even better than the battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself. It's just that, this time, they encountered the cutting-edge battleships of the German Navy with more powerful performance, so these battleships could not escape being sunk in the end.

However, when they started to sink these battleships, the officers and soldiers of the German Navy were really unhappy. After all, these battleships once belonged to the glorious German Navy. In the last world war, they made great contributions to the German Navy's ability to defeat the British Royal Navy.

Of course, it is now on the battlefield, and the two sides are enemies. The officers and soldiers of the German Navy still had to obey orders and sink these warships.

Prior to this, Admiral Hipper had sent a telegram to the Austro-Hungarian Navy, giving them a chance to surrender. Admiral Hipper assured that if they surrendered, all officers and soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy would receive due treatment. After the war is over, they can all return to their hometowns.

However, Admiral Anton Howes rejected Admiral Hipper's offer. His reply was very simple, with only a few words, that is, for the sake of glory, he was determined to fight to the end.

Under such circumstances, the German Navy Combined Fleet will of course not persuade it anymore. Since the opponent wants to die, let them do so. In this case, it is also respect for them.

With the combined fleet of the German Navy attacking with all its strength, the remaining fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy will not last long.

At 11:04, the battleship Francis I was sunk.

Six minutes later, the battleship Joseph II was sunk.

At 11:18, the battleship 'Leopold II' was sunk.

The successive sinking of five capital ships left the Austro-Hungarian Navy with only seven battleships. Although, the counterattacks of these battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy also caused the capital ships of the German Navy's combined fleet to be hit many times. However, due to the strong defense, the capital ship of the German Navy's combined fleet suffered only minor injuries. Not really mortally threatened.

The only remaining seven battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy are still fighting for the last time. However, this also cannot change the outcome of the naval battle.

At 11:26, the battleship "Austro-Hungarian Sovereign", the flagship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was sunk. Admiral Anton Howes refused to board the lifeboat, but chose to sink into the cold seabed along with his flagship.

What Admiral Anton Howes did was also an inspiration to other officers and soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. This made them choose to fight to the end even though they were at an absolute disadvantage.

Of course, for these diehards, the German Navy Combined Fleet will not let them go. The final result was that all the capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were sunk in this battle.