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Text Chapter 900 Cairo (6)

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    Outside Oran Bay, the last ray of golden sun slowly submerged under the sea level.

    Thousands of tons of heavy oil leaked, dyeing the sea area ink.  The huge whirlpool rolled up by the rapid sinking of tens of thousands of tons of steel swallowed England's pride like a black hole.  Admiral Somerville, who was carried by two officers and jumped into the sea at the last moment, was left unconscious with multiple fractures. The Hood, which had cast a huge shadow ten minutes ago, only had a few cabins with the ship's name engraved on it.  Things are still floating.  After several hours of confrontation, counting from the first shell fired, the Strasbourg fired its nineteenth shot, singing the elegy of the empire. The once invincible Royal Navy of the British Empire on the seven seas was like an angel with broken wings.  , fell into the world.

    Revenge!

    Revenge!

    Revenge!

    At 17:25 Dakar time, Vice Admiral John Tovey raised the flagship flag on his battleship HMS King George V.  As the new flagship was confirmed, a z-shaped flag flew immediately.  The word "z" is the last of the twenty-six letters. When the flag is raised in front of a flag, it means a decisive battle!

    Sir Nelson¡¯s descendants did not lower their heads in the face of great sorrow. On the contrary, Lieutenant General John Tovey¡¯s Z-signal ignited the fighting passion in the Royal Navy¡¯s bones.  Before the second phase of the Battle of Millskebire began, Vice Admiral John Tovey issued two orders.  The first, in the name of the commander of Fleet H, ordered the two Avenger-class battleships and two heavy cruisers in Malta to move quickly to Sardinia to block the French fleet's way back home.  At the same time, all British warships in the Mediterranean were ordered to join the battle and fire on any French naval ships seen!  After the order was issued, he immediately reorganized the formation, taking the George V, Resolution and Warrior to follow the Richelieu movement. At the same time, he allowed the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Intrepid to take advantage of the last opportunity before nightfall to send out all available forces.  Fighting planes launch an attack.

    At 17:33, Lieutenant General John Tovey selected the battleship Richelieu as the first target!

    No one knows who fired the shell that hit the Hood. At that time, the four French battleships that broke out were all aimed at the Hood. In addition, the gun data of the capital ships of various countries are absolutely secret.  Therefore, Lieutenant General John Tovey and everyone subconsciously believed that it was the 380mm main gun on the Richelieu that sank the Hood, because it was the only pure new fast battleship, while Dunkirk and Strasse  Forts are actually mini battleships similar to the Deutschland class.

    But whether it was a misunderstanding or a vow to take revenge by sinking France's best battleship, the remaining three British battleships and all carrier-based aircraft vented their anger on the Richelieu.  Thirty-seven Seagulls and Swordfish perished, rushing into the anti-aircraft fire circle and then dropping bombs or torpedoes at close range.  White waves and wakes.  Demonstrate the unyielding determination of the Royal Navy!  Although the Richelieu, commanded by General Suir, rushed left and right, at 18:20, it was forced to a dead end by three waves of Swordfish torpedo planes with ten torpedoes.  After avoiding two torpedoes on the port side, the Richelieu, which had not had time to conduct sea trials, was eventually hit by three consecutive torpedoes on the starboard side.  Especially the second one, which directly hit the stern bottom tank of the ship. A piece of armor fell off due to the explosion and hit the propeller.  As a result, the Richelieu's speed dropped sharply to 21 knots.

    "General, you must leave immediately!" A shrill alarm sounded from the Richelieu, and several officers pulled Jeansur to let him evacuate.  But Jeansur was reluctant to part with the battleship, and in the end the captain had to forcefully order the guards to take away the commander.  The move of General Suir to change the flagship means that the Richelieu, known as the pride of France, has found it difficult to escape the pursuit of British battleships.  At this moment, in order to protect the Richelieu, the Provence, which lost speed after being hit continuously, was covered in flames.  Caught up from behind.  The signal light on the mast flashed, flashing the light signal "For France! Long live Provence!", forcibly inserted across the port side of the Richelieu, and forcibly separated the gunfire of the three British battleships with the hull.

    The Provence, which was on fire, instantly became a magnet for artillery shells. Ten minutes later, two 381mm armor-piercing shells fired by the Resolution pierced the main armor belt from 14,000 yards away.  Not to mention an old battleship like the Provence, not even Dunkirk or even Richelieu could withstand the damage of the main armor belt being torn.  After the Hood.  The Provence exploded instantly and the deck tilted seven degrees within five minutes!  But even so, the Provence still did not give up its covering responsibilities, firing at the British fleet with its only four remaining main guns and secondary guns, while flashing the lights of "Long Live France".

    Until the last moment before sinking, the secondary guns on the stern of the ship were still firing!

    If the British Royal Navy is fighting with revenge, then the French naval officers whose country has failed rely entirely on a naval spirit that never gives up.  Gritting his teeth and fighting to the death.  In the end, the Richelieu and all the French officers almost shed tears and released smoke to bid farewell to their slowly sinking comrades.

    NineteenAt 202:00, the Provence disappeared outside the Oran Bay with 733 naval officers.  In the warm sea less than twenty-five miles away.

    In just over three hours, the British lost the battlecruiser HMS Hood, three destroyers and seven aircraft. The HMS George V, HMS Resolution and HMS Warrior were also damaged. The HMS Resolution also lost a turret.  Similarly, the French Navy also lost the battleship Brittany, the battleship Provence and two destroyers. At the same time, the Richelieu and Strasbourg were both hit by torpedoes, and their speed dropped to less than 22 knots. Only Dunker  The Erke and the seaplane carrier "Commander Taster" survived.  As night fell, the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and HMS Fearless had to withdraw all carrier-based aircraft to stop the attack.  But the battle did not stop because the aircraft carrier could not be dispatched at night. On the contrary, Lieutenant General John Tovey had no intention of letting the French fleet go back, so he immediately ordered a parallel pursuit and at the same time accelerated the destroyers to continuously harass.  Similarly, Jean Sur would not admit defeat and ordered six super destroyers, including the Terrible, to launch a night attack to block the retreat of John Tovey's cover fleet.

    The pursuit continued until the next morning, when the two fleets met again in the Balearic Islands opposite Algiers.

    "Swordfish!" The roaring Swordfish torpedo plane has almost become a nightmare for Jean Sur and the French Navy.  Due to a severe lack of air cover, the French fleet had to rely on a few seaplanes to drive away the British fleet.  But in addition to the Swordfish, the British also had the Seagull fighter and the better-performing Fulmar fighter. They not only shot down three French seaplanes, but also blocked the French fighter jets that came from Corsica for support.

    The roaring British fleet put the French fleet into trouble again. The destroyers protecting the three battleships kept spraying fire dragons into the sky.  "At seven o'clock, three torpedoes! Avoid!" Four Swordfish quickly approached the injured stern of the Richelieu from a low altitude. Although the two destroyers towed behind the fleet to protect them kept firing, they were still dropped by the opponent's torpedoes.  .  "Concentrate firepower. Aim in front of it!" Due to its special design, the Richelieu has no main gun at the stern, only three triple-mounted 152mm naval guns, and the entire ship only has twelve twin-mounted 100mm anti-aircraft guns.  When firing backwards, only eight anti-aircraft guns could be concentrated, and even small-caliber rapid-fire guns were not installed.  So seeing the torpedoes approaching quickly, the sailors had to use anti-aircraft machine guns on the rear deck to shoot in the direction of the torpedoes.

    But this defense is ineffective.  Just when the Richelieu was about to complete its steering and evasive maneuver, the fourth torpedo hit the stern of the ship again.  This torpedo is deadly!  It not only caused the destruction of three of the four propellers, but also caused a large amount of water to enter the stern of the ship.  In order to save the battleship, the captain of the Richelieu had to order water to be injected into the bow of the ship to maintain balance. This caused the battleship's speed to plummet to less than 15 knots!

    At nine o'clock in the morning, we faced the trouble of the Richelieu being hit again and slowing down.  Jeansur ordered the Dunkirk and Strasbourg to also slow down and accompany them.  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lieutenant General John Tovey led three battleships to actively close the distance and launch another artillery attack.  At nine forty, the artillery battle began again. The three British battleships, bent on revenge, completely ignored the threat of the Dunkirk class and aimed all their firepower at the Richelieu.

    At 9:35, the Resolution was hit by Dunkirk and Strasbourg.  Two turrets were destroyed, and after a large amount of water entered the hull, the ship withdrew from the battle under the protection of two destroyers.

    At ten o'clock sharp, just when the British sailors discovered the approaching French cruiser formation, the Richelieu, which was hit by the George V and the Warrior in succession, tilted seriously. Although the captain and the damage control team tried their best, they were ultimately unable to  To save this 40,000-ton behemoth, the ship had to be abandoned.  at last.  To avoid being captured by the British, Jeansur ordered the destroyer HMS Formidable to torpedo the Richelieu after most of the sailors had evacuated.

    At 10:40, the Richelieu sank in deep water fifty nautical miles southeast of the Balearic Islands.  Sixteen hours after HMS Hood was sunk, Vice Admiral John Tovey and the Royal Navy had their revenge.

    The scene of the Richelieu being sunk made the French fleet burst into tears and made General Soul understand.  It is impossible to win with the only two remaining battleships. Even if we can win again, we will definitely be sunk in the end.  So he immediately asked the cruisers to stop entangled and tried his best to protect the two Dunkirks and return home.  But France's misfortune was not over yet.  Just as the fleet was about to cross Mallorca and enter the Corsican air defense circle, two Avenger-class battleships arriving at high speed overnight from Malta blocked the way home.  Faced with the pursuit and interception of five British battleships, Suhr could only change his course, turn around and move towards Sardinia, entering the dangerous Tyrrhenian Sea.  The Tyrrhenian Sea is almost Italy's inland sea, but faced with the impact of two French battleships and a dozen cruisers, the Italian Navy's two cruisers and several destroyers did not even dare to intercept it, and simply opened the door and fled back to Naples.

    After learning that five British battleships were pursuing the remaining French fleet into the Tyrrhenian Sea, Mussolini suddenly smiled.Thinking that they had a chance to force the French navy to surrender to themselves, they immediately sent more than fifty fighters and bombers to intercept the British fleet, and also took the initiative to send a signal to Gensur to allow them to avoid Naples.

    Mussoniri was wrong. France cannot surrender to anyone but Italy!  So Jean Sur directly ordered the gunfire to shoot down the two Italian seaplanes overhead, broke through the most dangerous Gulf of Messina, entered the Ionian Sea and sailed towards the Patras anchorage in neutral Greece.

    The Brittany capsized, the Provence sank, the Hood sank, and the Richelieu sank.

    The George V was injured, the Resolution was seriously injured, the Warrior was injured, the Dunkirk was injured, and the Strasbourg was injured.

    News of the Great Battle of Mirsk Biel ignited the contradiction deep in the hearts of Britain and France!  In particular, the Hood and Richelieu are the naval symbols and symbols of their respective countries!  The two ships were both sunk, completely tearing each other apart. De Gaulle and the Free French became traitors. Even Hitler stood up and accused the British government of its shameless behavior. He also vowed to destroy Britain and defeat the British navy.  Revenge for France.

    "Your Excellency Prime Minister! Please ask your fleet to suspend the pursuit. If this continues, no one will benefit."

    The first time Churchill set foot in Alexandria, Yang Qiu and de Gaulle appeared in front of him side by side.  After the three shook hands with each other, Yang Qiu looked serious: "From your standpoint, and even from my standpoint and that of General de Gaulle, a fleet with unknown enemies and ourselves is not allowed to exist in the Mediterranean. But there has been too much blood, for our common enemy  , I hope to get some time to persuade the French government to use political means to resolve their conflicts."

    How could Churchill be willing to fight? After learning that the Hood had been sunk, he realized that Britain and France might be completely broken.  But it is impossible for him to give up destroying the French navy, because no one can guarantee whether Darlan and the Vichy government will immediately defect to Germany after the remaining warships return.  The Mediterranean is England's destiny and must never be given up!  So he lit his cigar and looked at De Gaulle next to him.

    A pair of deep but angry eyes made Churchill have to consider the future relationship between Britain and France after the war continued completely. So after thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and agreed: "According to the Neutrality Act, Greece can only host the French fleet for forty-eight hours."

    "Mr. President, we will not allow any naval force that is not an ally to operate in the Mediterranean. This is my bottom line and that of England!"

    "I will do my best." Yang Qiu was serious

    (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read it.)
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