In the early morning of June 1, on a mountain in the eastern part of San Miguel Island, German soldiers covered in mud were lying on the edge of the trench and looked ahead with a shocked expression. In the field of view, two huge fleets of dozens of warships each set out from afar, firing each other with powerful heavy artillery. Huge columns of water kept rising from the sea, and smoke surged one after another, and then spread out under the blow of the sea breeze. Hundreds of fighter jets chased each other and opened fire. When they lowered their altitude and approached the enemy fleet, the warships on the sea would fire violently. Large and small artillery shells were built in the airspace at different heights and directions...

According to German custom, the collars of these soldiers were embroidered with the unit number, "340", which means the 340th Infantry Regiment of the German Army. They were wearing yellow-green camouflage field uniforms and waterproof boots equipped for the attack on Britain, and holding the latest m1927 semi-automatic rifle. A few days ago, the troops boarded the ship from the northern French port. At that time, everyone thought that the destination was England. After the ship left the port, the soldiers learned from the officers that their landing location was actually in the Azores, more than a thousand kilometers away!

Landing in Britain was to participate in the battle, and landing in the Azores also to participate in the battle. Although the German soldiers were surprised, they did not fall into a state of discouragement or confusion. They endured the torture of a long voyage and landed on San Miguel Island with high fighting spirit and neat military appearance. However, no one expected that what awaited them would be terrifying artillery fire from the sea. On the night of May 31, fierce shelling of the US and British fleets turned San Miguel Island into a land of death. Despite the dispersed and hidden measures, thousands of German troops were still killed, and countless injured.

Because he was worried that the fierce shelling of the enemy fleet was the prelude to launching a landing attack, as soon as the sky was dawn, the German command of San Miguel issued an order to guard the troops to enter the frontier positions. When the German officers and soldiers who were ordered to station the fortifications in the east, southeast and northeast entered the positions with trepidation, they saw a scene that they would never forget, which many people could never imagine.

In such a typical fleet battle, the large-caliber artillery of the main battleships of both sides became the protagonists. Although the US naval construction started later than Britain and Germany, relying on the strong strength of the world's largest industrial power, they were no less than European powers in the field of naval technology. When the newly-entered German dreadnought was still equipped with 12-inch naval guns, the US New York-class battleship had already used 14-inch naval guns, and this type of ship cannon was used.

The technical indicators are better than the British naval gun developed at the same time. Since then, the Pennsylvania class and New Mexico class have continued to use 14-inch naval guns, and the main gun configuration has been changed from dual to triple, greatly increasing the firepower intensity. The Colorado class and South Dakota class have skipped 15 inches and directly equipped with more powerful 16-inch guns. The only first-class battlecruiser in the US Navy so far, the Lexington class, boldly used 18-inch cannons.

Britain lost half of its colonies due to its defeat, and its economy fell into a long slump. The confidence of this old empire was finally not as strong as it used to be. Since the 16-inch naval gun developed by its own country never met the expected technical indicators, the monarch-class battleships designed and built after the war still used Queen Elizabeth-class 15-inch naval guns, but changed four twin-mounted turrets to three triple-mounted. After learning that the Germans planned to install 16-inch naval guns on the Tirpitz class and German class, the British Navy simply gave up its plan to develop new naval guns on its own and instead purchased the main guns of warships from American allies.

Although the Germans who won the last war were much richer, under the conservative thinking of pursuing anti-sinking performance and balanced design, they still gradually upgraded from 14 inches to 15 and 16 inches step by step until the Germanic-class battleship known as the "ultimate battleship", the Germans used 18-inch naval guns for the first time, which did not prevent them from entering the war track with sufficient confidence. At the high-level meeting to decide whether to launch a war against Britain, the three German naval marshals voted in favor.

The Battle of San Miguel continued to heat up amid the rumbling cannons. At this time, the "Germany" was not only an important combat force of the Allied fleet, but also played the role of the brain center. On its combat bridge, General Lars, the chief of staff of the fleet, continued to provide important combat messages to General Bernke through his own observations: "The Prussian fired a cross-fire! The Hannover fired a little... The "Silesia" also fired a cross-fire!"

Considering the number of its main battleships, Bernke did not adopt the "multi-in-one" tactics that the German Navy has made good use of, but instead ordered each ship to launch a counterattack. Standley's fleet commander's flag was still flying high on the mast of the "South Dakota", but the black smoke rising on the ship obviously affected the transmission of combat commands. The combat formation of the US and British fleets at this time was a bit chaotic. At the forefront of the fleet, it was not the strongest Great Britain class, but the Colorado class and Queen Elizabeth class.

"The 'Hesse' hit the enemy ship... The fire ignited on the front deck of the enemy ship!" Lars' slightly trembling voice attracted the attention of the officers around him. According to the experience of the Battle of Flanders and the Battle of the Faroe Islands, as long as the first result was obtained as soon as possible in the battle, there will be a second, third, and then a complete defeat of the enemy fleet.

Captain Brigadier General Hermann Dance held up his telescope and maliciously speculated with a slightly raised expression on his lips: "The enemy ship is surrounded by a large amount of smoke, and it seems that it is seriously injured. If its main ammunition depot explodes..."

Unfortunately, this assumption has not become a reality. Soon, the German USS. Germany fired a huge main gun again. After a while of waiting, Brigadier General Duns said excitedly before Lars: "The German USS. The enemy ship hit the enemy ship, and the enemy ship's headquarters exploded, and its bridge may be over!"

Lars reminded from the side: "The Colorado-class is equipped with a 45-diameter 14-inch main gun, which is characterized by excellent protection. Both the commander tower and the turret are well protected by heavy armor."

American ship designers seem to be born to like to make some extreme actions. Their battleships have high speed, strong firepower, and defense, but they can be too bad. Their battleships can move slowly, but their firepower and defense are very impressive. Since the New Mexico level, the maximum thickness of waterline armor of American battleships of all levels has reached 13.5 inches, that is, 343 mm, and the front armor of the turret has an astonishing 18 inches, that is, 458 mm, and even the commander tower has 16 inches.

Duns replied, "Okay! Then let's see if it is its strong protection or our strong attack."

The conversation between the two made people feel that the battle situation was optimistic, but it was not the case. Around the "Germany", the large-caliber shells fired by the enemy fleet were constantly arousing huge water columns, and the sea surface became rough. The waves formed by the falling water column continued to pounce on nearby warships, and were instantly smashed by solid steel.

Regardless of the outcome of the Battle of San Miguel, the courage and courage of General Bainke is commendable for his 7 battleships against the enemy's 12 battleships. The reason why he dared to attack was not only because the enemy's flagships were temporarily lost to command capabilities, but also because San Miguel Island was of great significance in the Battle of Azores, and it was absolutely impossible to lose...

The communications officer sent a telegram. Lars glanced at it and immediately reported to the fleet commander: "Sir, the 'Zepplin' call is coming, and the second wave of bombers is gathering and is expected to arrive at the battlefield in 5 minutes."

"The entire fleet turned left with a prayer point, and the speed increased to 22 knots!" Bernke gave the order in a cold tone.

At the current distance, the shells of the Allied Fleet have a good hit rate. Turning left means getting closer to the opponent. Once both sides are within the effective distance of each other's visual range-finding instruments, the hit rate of the German warship will increase, and the enemy's shooting accuracy will also be greatly improved.

Seeing that Bainke was so decisive, Lars did not hesitate at all.

After conveying the order, he turned around and Bainke stood there motionlessly.

As the distance between the two sides narrowed, the shells landed on the nearby sea became more and more threatening. The atmosphere in the "Deutschland" bridge became solemn. Lars and Dent no longer quarreled, but paid attention to the changes in the battle with an extra serious expression.

With a loud bang, the "Hannover" became the first German battleship to be fired by enemy artillery. A 16-inch armor-piercing projectile hit the warship, which had been in service at a horizontal angle of nearly 15 degrees. Such shells were huge in speed, mass and power. The stern of the "Hannover" sank and a secondary gun turret flew into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, another shell hit the Hessen. Although the front armor of the warship No. 2 turret was not directly penetrated by the 406mm armor-piercing projectile flying from 15,000 yards away, the violent explosion made the two main guns silence.

Seeing that the losses of his own fleet were gradually increasing, Bainke on the "Germany" still looked at the US and British fleet in the distance. The enemy's naval guns were the number, and his battleships showed the advantages of high firing rate and high precision without any weakness. The fire balls and black smoke rising from time to time mean that the other party was under the same pressure.

"The 'Deuts' hit the enemy ship again, and the enemy ship No. 3 was shot, and a violent explosion occurred. The black smoke rushed into the sky. It must be done, it's done!"

The officers were relieved by the relief of the relief of the officers, but then, their world seemed to collapse suddenly, all their senses were twisted, their legs could hardly support their bodies, and their heads were buzzing and the experienced officers immediately realized that their warship had been hit!

Commodore Duns leaned against the bulkhead to avoid falling. He turned around and looked outside the porthole. The smoke of the explosion came from the middle and rear of the battleship. Although the large-caliber armor-piercing projectile was very powerful, as long as it did not hit the ammunition depot, it would be nothing for a super battleship like the "Deutschland" with a full load displacement of 56,000 tons. If it really hit the ammunition depot, it would have to think it would be unlucky.

In fact, a 406mm armor-piercing bomb penetrated through the non-main armor belt area between the German deputy command tower and the chimney No. 2. During the violent explosion, the flue, pantry, officer's bedroom, toilet, sailor's cabin, bathroom, and equipment warehouse in this position were all devastatingly hit. A large hole was also blown out of the upper part of the No. 4 boiler cabin. The entire warship was safe and safe, but the open air anti-aircraft guns and the double-equipped 20mm machine gun positions were covered with blood...

Before his command team could fully recover from the horror just now, General Bainke ordered loudly: "The entire fleet turned right and the speed increased to 24 knots!"

Lars was still a little confused about the decision of the fleet commander. After conveying the order, he asked tentatively: "Sir, please forgive me for being stupid. How much role can a small-scale maneuver play in such a large-scale artillery battle?"

Bainke glanced at him lightly, his lips moving: "Get the enemy's attention."

Lars was so smart that he realized the key points at once, and his eyes immediately turned to the northern sea.

In the waters north of San Miguel Island, under the command of the mighty general Max Bastian, the "Markensen", "Hedenburg", "Hellingen" and the accompanying cruisers were rushing to the side of the US and British fleets at a speed of 30 knots. No major ship on the opposite US and British fleet could compete with these German battle cruisers in terms of maneuverability.

Compared with other countries' combat patrols, the biggest advantage of the German combat patrol is its excellent protection ability. The early design and construction of Moltke, Seidlitz, and Fringer, the armor thickness of key parts is comparable to that of other countries' dreadnoughts. Their protective performance withstands the test of actual combat. It can even be said to be one of the key factors for the German Navy to win a series of naval battles from 1914 to 1915. The Markens and Earl Tirpitz class built after the war continued to carry forward this feature, in May

Before the dust of Japanese maritime battles settled, people firmly believed that the German battle patrol could still defeat the opponent in fair and equal battles, including the American Lexington class with the largest caliber naval guns. Perhaps only the British Admiral class had the opportunity to break this "myth". Although the sinking of the "Earl of Tirpitz" caused a considerable blow to the German Navy and its battle cruiser troops, people did not think that the design of the warship was wrong or the commander made a wrong decision, but blamed the loss on bad luck.
Chapter completed!