"Commander, the enemy seems to have disbanded the formation, they are retreating."

When the 2 columns of the First Advance Team of the Allied Fleet were about to turn right, countless flares suddenly fell from the sky, making the sea surface pale, and then the radar officer on the Chester heavy cruiser made a new discovery.

The Germans' twenty or thirty lightning ships scattered their formation and turned the bow and fled.

What's going on? Did the Germans think they couldn't beat it, so they chose to escape shamefully?

Major General Wright and Colonel Cohen were confused by the strange behavior of the German lightning strike ship, and they didn't know what orders to issue for a moment. So the two columns of the First Advance Team continued to move forward along the original route, and ended up crashing into a torpedo net composed of "two gold combs".

"boom……"

Suddenly, the heavy cruiser Chester seemed to be hit by a monster from underwater. As a fire and a huge flood of water rose from the port side, the hull also jumped in a loud bang. The people stayed in the bridge seemed to have encountered a magnitude 8 earthquake. Unpredictable, no one could stand firm and all fell on the floor.

Major General Wright hit the back of his head on the floor. After a severe pain, Venus appeared in front of him. Before he could stand up, he subconsciously asked: "What's going on?"

"Mine! The port side has hit a mine!"

I don't know who answered loudly.

"Damn!" Major General Wright struggled to get up, finding that the ground under his feet was tilting to the left, which meant water was coming into the port side and the hull was losing balance. He quickly grabbed the handrail beside him.

"Fill water into the starboard!" At this time, Major General Wright heard Colonel Cohen, the captain of the Chester, shouting, "Loss, I am the captain, find out the loss immediately..."

"boom!"

Before Captain Cohen could finish his words, the port side of the heavy cruiser Chester was hit by something unknown. Just like before, a loud noise and the hull shaking suddenly.

Now everyone in the bridge knows that they are suffering from a torpedo attack!

Major General Wright thought the team was attacked by a submarine, and was about to order an anti-submarine, but suddenly he heard someone shouting: "God! The Louisville is on fire and is still tilting to the left. Oh my God it is going to overturn! It is going to overturn soon..."

"The Augusta is also burning... Oh my God, it explodes again, we are going to lose this heavy cruiser!"

"Atlanta! Atlanta was also attacked! We must have encountered a pack of wolves..."

Major General Wright heard these shouts and rushed to the platform outside the commander tower and looked around, and then saw a scene that he would never forget for life.

The originally dark sea surface is now full of burning metal hulls, and balls of explosive fireballs are rising from time to time!

Several ships had seriously overturned to one side, and several ships had their bows or sterns raised high, revealing the water!

Major General Wright also saw a broken hull probably the flat-deck-class destroyer Boggs, which was sinking rapidly!

In a blink of an eye, his first advance fleet had been severely damaged, and he, the commander, still didn't know what was going on?

"Commander! We were attacked by torpedoes! A very fierce torpedo attack!" The captain of the Chester, Colonel Cohen, heard a cry of urgent voice. The colonel had just spoken with the loss manager of the Chester and received very terrible news.

"The Chester's ship's entire and sterns were each hit, breaking two large holes, and the torpedo hitting the sterns directly exploded through the power compartment. Now the sea water is pouring in hundreds of tons, and it cannot be blocked at all! The power compartment is about to be submerged soon, we are going to lose power, Commander, we are going to lose Chester..."

He lost his motivation and was torpedoed two big holes... Not to mention a treaty ship like the Chester, it would be dead even if it was replaced by a battleship.

"Commander, please change the flagship." Captain Cohen sighed at last and proposed to change the flagship.

"Then... OK." Major General Wright sighed, and his life was so miserable. He suffered a severe blow for no reason! After returning, he still didn't know how to get criticized, so he might be kicked into the reserve.

"Now those ships are intact?" Major General Wright asked in a low voice.

"Commander, there are now 2 heavy cruisers and 3 destroyers intact." Captain Cohen reported, "The intact heavy cruisers are the Red Caucasus and Kirov..."

Major General Wright was stunned, "Are they two heavy Soviet cruisers?"

...

"Comrade Political Commissar, Comrade Commander, and Commander of the 1st Advance Team, Comrade Wright, reported that the team was suddenly attacked by torpedoes, the heavy cruiser of the USS Louisville and the heavy cruiser of the USS Augusta, the three destroyers Boggs, Greer and Li sank, and the heavy cruiser of the flagship Chester, may also be severely damaged, and the heavy cruiser of the USS San Francisco and the light cruiser of the Atlanta... Now Commander Comrade Wright has moved to the Red Caucasus heavy cruiser and is organizing rescue with all his might."

The 120 T-93 spear torpedo sank three heavy cruisers and three destroyers. One heavy cruiser is probably not guaranteed, and there is one heavy cruiser and one 10,000-ton light cruiser... This record is not too good, nor too bad. However, it is enough to shock the generals and political commissars of the British, American and Soviet countries on the bridge of the Soviet Union.

The battle has just begun and the losses have been so heavy. It seems that today's battle is not easy to fight.

After listening to the tragic experience of the first advance team reported by a Red Navy staff officer, Burganin suddenly thought that the priests arranged by the "US political commissar" McCarthy to board the Soviet ships, these priests can really come in handy now. It seems that McCarthy is also a foresighted anti-G life force. In addition, the Red Caucasus and Kirov were quite lucky, and they were intact. This was related to the arrangement order. The German lightning strike ships increased the amount of advance when launching torpedoes, so the ones hit the front ships in the queue.

"What's going on? What happened to the 1st Advance Fleet? Is it the German submarine?" As soon as the staff's report ended, Burganin asked questions like a bead gun.

"It should be a spear torpedo!" Lieutenant General Fraser of the British Navy gritted his teeth. "The Japanese torpedo have a very large range, which may exceed 20,000 meters... The Germans must have introduced this torpedo."

(The previous article is wrong, Chapter 617 has mentioned that the British army encountered spear torpedoes)

"Comrade Commander," Burganin turned his head and looked at General Ingersoll with a gloomy face, "Do you still want to continue?".

"Of course!" Ingersoll took a breath, "The advantage of the battleship is on our side, and you can continue to fight. Just be careful not to let the enemy get within 25,000 yards."

The "safe distance" is now 25,000 yards away!

"That far? Can I hit it?"

"Yes!" Ingersoll replied, "We have a good radar, and we have 54 406mm main guns, and the enemy has only 16, so long-range firefighting is more beneficial to us!"

...

"His Excellency Marshal, the attack of the T-93 torpedo was successful. The enemy had 4 heavy cruisers and 3 light ships sunk! A great victory!" Lieutenant General Messer, Chief of Staff of the European Combined Fleet, reported to Commander Marshal Lütjens.

"Good job!" Marshal Lütjens smiled, "But the battle has just begun, and it is still a little early to say that the victory is complete. By the way, has the order of the battle and the shelling been determined?"

"Okay, the 1st team will deal with the enemy's main team, the 2nd team will deal with the enemy's combat patrol team, the 3rd team will cover the enemy's main team, the heavy patrol team will deal with the enemy's heavy patrol team, and there are four driving patrol teams responsible for covering the four teams." Lieutenant General Messel replied, "In addition, the shelling order of the 1st team is as follows: Admiral Hippel, Ludendolfo, and Hindenburg concentrate firepower against the first South Dakota class, and the four Venetto class concentrate firepower against the second South Dakota class."

"Okay!" Marshal Lütjens nodded with satisfaction. Lieutenant General Messer's idea was exactly the same as him, concentrating firepower against two American South Dakota-class ships.

Because the four Soviet-class ships had just replaced the US radar and fire control, it was impossible for Soviet soldiers to master them immediately, so the two American battleships were responsible for unified observation and aiming.

Moreover, the European Combined Fleet, which had fought with the South Dakota class, also knew that the Americans' 406mm main gun was amazing, compared with the German 406mm cannon used by the Soviet class, which was quite ordinary.

Therefore, the threat of the two South Dakota-class ships is much greater than that of the four Soviet-class ships! As long as they are sunk or hit hard, the four Soviet-class ships are not worth worrying. Without the American battleships, their 406mm cannons cannot hit the target at all.

At the same time, on the Soviet battleship, which would not be beaten first, Admiral Ingersoll had also formulated the order of combat and shelling.

Now he has 3 available teams (including the 2nd Advance Team). Although he has lost several heavy cruisers, his strength is still far beyond that, at least he thinks so himself.

But he also encountered a problem now, that is, the seaplane reconnaissed four enemy teams, which were advancing in unison, and there was also a long-range night combat fighter jet of the He-219 flying from Ireland in the sky. It was impossible for the seaplane to get too close to throw flares.

So he couldn't determine where the enemy's main force was? But he also had a way to deal with it, just not to confirm it.

Admiral Ingersoll said: "We can do this, the second advance team is in front, the first team is in the center, and the second team is in the back... forming a long column, and at the same time, four patrol teams are responsible for covering. After we fight with the enemy, we will decide the order of the battle."

After such a change of formation, four European fleets that advanced side by side appeared on the sea to fight against the long snake formation of one Allied fleet. The situation was somewhat similar to the Jutland Sea Battle more than 20 years ago. (To be continued.)

: Beat the Americans first:
Chapter completed!