Chapter 1066: 1067Bernard's Choice
Chapter 10661067Bernard’s Choice
The Tang Empire was actually very lazy and uncharacteristic in naming its warships. The battleships of the Tang Army were generally named only by battleship class, and then only by numbers.
For example, the battleships of the Tang Dynasty were named Dongwan No. 1 and Dongwan No. 2...it doesn't sound like anything, and even has a strong smell of cheapness.
Beiyuan-class destroyers were the most produced destroyers in the Tang Empire. Based on the Fletcher-class destroyers, they increased the tonnage, improved the warship's ocean-going performance, and gave up some speed.
From a practical point of view, the Beiyuan-class is an enlarged Fletcher, with the tonnage increased to 4,500 tons, the number of personnel remaining at around 400, and no significant increase in weapons and equipment.
Therefore, this kind of warship has its own characteristics in many aspects: it can perform missions at sea for a long time, has more anti-submarine munitions, and is equipped with larger generators and more advanced radars.
In order to adapt to more sea conditions, the bridge of the Beiyuan-class destroyer also adopts a more closed design, which can make the working environment on the bridge more comfortable.
As for some captains who like to open all the side doors and direct the battle with the sea breeze, that is another matter.
The Tang Empire produced a total of 100 Beiyuan-class destroyers. Together with the Weigang-class destroyers and Fengshun-class cruisers, they formed the backbone of the Tang Empire's navy.
On the outskirts of the South Island landing site, in the bridge of the Beiyuan 035 ship, the liaison officer grabbed the phone receiver: "This is the bridge command room! I understand."
"Sound the battle alarm...Li He! Go to the captain's room and ask the captain to come to the bridge..." Putting down the phone, the liaison officer on duty loudly issued various orders: "All sailors enter combat status and send telegrams to the main fleet. …We discovered the Mirage Fleet!”
"Marshal! A telegram was sent from the destroyer Beiyuan 035. Their radar discovered a mirage fleet heading south from the north... There are three confirmed ships so far!" Soon, the telegram was sent to Bernard.
"North? This news is different from the U-boat news." Bernard put the message on the command table, frowned and said to his men.
A submarine force had previously discovered the enemy's fleet, which was obviously approaching from the south. Now the enemy fleet has also been discovered in the north, which is inconsistent with the previously expected situation.
"Is there a possibility that the enemy troops will be divided into two groups?" the chief of staff expressed his opinion.
Bernard nodded: "It's possible. It's impossible for the U-boat to lie about the military situation. If you see it, you'll see it... The destroyer squadron also actually discovered the enemy's situation... So it's very possible that there is an enemy fleet in the north. "
"Let the squadron push over?" The staff officer thought of a solution: "Confirm the quality of the enemy to see if it is the enemy's main fleet."
"If so, the squadron may suffer heavy losses." Even with anti-ship missiles as a trump card, it is still too risky to use seven or eight destroyers to fight the enemy's battleships and cruisers.
“Let the squadron continue to maintain radar detection contact with the enemy fleet! Look at the opponent’s movements.” Bernard weighed the pros and cons in his mind and decided that it would be more convenient to use a carrier-based mobile phone.
No matter whether the opponent's fleet is the main force or not, or how many battleships there are, as long as the Tang Empire's carrier-based aircraft overwhelm them, the opponent will definitely suffer losses.
If the opponent's fleet is not the main force, then the Tang Empire will not suffer much loss. If the opponent is the main fleet, the intelligence feedback from the carrier-based aircraft will be more specific and accurate than that of the destroyer fleet.
After all, carrier-based aircraft are meant to fly over the heads of the enemy fleet and drop bombs. It’s clear at a glance how many enemies there are and what kind of warships they are, right?
"Sir! There is a call from the Air Force, requesting us to do our best to support the paratroopers... The 1st Airborne Division has collided with the opponent's armor..." A liaison officer sent another message at this time.
Now Bernard had to make a choice: he faced a similar problem with a general he didn't know named Nagumo Chuichi.
The airborne troops are waiting for air support. The enemy naval fleet is nowhere to be found, and the landing troops are also fighting hard with the enemy.
He now has to maintain suppressive power in the direction of the beach, but also be wary of the enemy's main fleet that may rush over for a decisive battle at any time, and also use his strength to support friendly forces...
The bad news is that his fleet does not have many battleships, which means that there are not many human shields in front.
The good news is that Bernard has many more aircraft carriers than Chuichi Nagumo, and his carrier-based aircraft are also more powerful. "Let No. 1 and No. 2 of Dongwan, who are supporting the landing operations, go south! Join the 2nd Cruiser Squadron and stand by!" After Bernard thought for a while, he decided to follow his own idea: "The carrier-based aircraft will attach bombs and go north. First, put the Let’s kill the enemy fleet heading south from the north!”
As for the battle on land: "Let the paratroopers hold on for a while. Reinforcements will arrive around 1 p.m."
"If the enemy fleet is too close to the landing zone, use Styx anti-ship missiles to drive away the enemy! No enemy ships are allowed to approach the landing zone!" After Bernard finished speaking, he looked at the army liaison officer : "Let Feng Kezhi's troops land as soon as possible."
On the bridge of the destroyer No. 035, the captain had already arrived at his position. He raised his binoculars and looked in the direction where the enemy was rushing, but did not see any target.
They have been in constant radar contact with the enemy ship. The enemy ship is about 35 kilometers behind them. At this distance, they are very safe because the other party does not know their existence at all.
On the side, there is another destroyer following them. The hull number is 083. This is a relatively new warship with only three guns and no torpedoes, but two Styx missiles are installed in the middle of the hull. launcher.
The destroyer squadrons of the Tang Imperial Navy were mixed in this way. Generally, there was one anti-aircraft destroyer, two anti-ship destroyers, and some artillery destroyers.
The earlier-built destroyer No. 035 has not been modified and is an artillery destroyer. It is responsible for peripheral security, target driving, and close fire support in general tasks.
In fact, the Beiyuan-class destroyers are relatively new, because their artillery systems are more advanced and the tonnage of the ships is large enough.
Those real small destroyers, early models, and radars are even obsolete models, and they are now supporting landing operations in shallow waters.
Most of the destroyers whose loaders were busy loading shells for the main guns were early experimental products of the Tang Empire. Relying on the powerful firepower of the cannons on the ships, they were frantically pouring their ammunition into the Mirage defenders.
"A call from the headquarters! Keep the radar in contact. If the enemy approaches the red line area, authorize the use of Styx anti-ship missiles!" The officer who sent the message said loudly: "The carrier-based aircraft units have been dispatched. In theory, we only need to watch the show. ”
“Sounds really good.” The captain nodded: “Let the radar room keep an eye on the target! Don’t let others catch up.”
They don't actually have much advantage in speed. The speed of the Mirage Navy's cruisers is actually not much different from the Datang Empire's Navy destroyers whose speed has been reduced.
If you are not careful, those cruisers designed specifically to hunt down destroyers may actually close the distance and start an artillery battle.
But before that, the destroyers of the Tang Empire will launch anti-ship missiles: As for whether the mirage navy will be caught off guard by these anti-ship missiles, only God knows.
“Understood!” After standing at attention and saluting, the officer went to the radar room to convey the order. On the other side of the sea, Commander Mirage Haiang, the commander of the Mirage Navy cruiser squadron heading south, put down the telescope in his hand.
He has always had a feeling that his fleet has been targeted: this premonition has been present since dawn, making him feel very uncomfortable.
At first he thought there was a submarine following him, but then he accelerated his fleet forward. The submarine should have been thrown away long ago, but the feeling of being spied on still existed.
To be on the safe side, he contacted Mirage Wuzhong, hoping that the Army could send planes to cover his fleet, but the plane Mirage Wuzhong promised him never showed up.
The vigilant Mirage was speeding forward while waiting for the arrival of the Zero fighter. He already knew that the Tang Army had some planes that took off from nowhere and were raging over the landing field, so he did not have the courage to cut into the battlefield before the **** fighters arrived.
At the same moment, on the deck of the Datang Empire Navy aircraft carrier, which was protected by the destroyer fleet, the Stuka bomber with torpedoes was already turning its propeller.
The mission received by the pilots is to attack the Mirage fleet in the north and strive to eliminate this hidden danger: 30 Stukas will perform the mission under the protection of 15 Corsair fighter jets, of which 20 Stukas are equipped with torpedoes and 10 bomb Stukas.
They are just the first batch of attack groups. The second batch of aircraft groups with the same number will take off in 20 minutes. Whether to continue the attack later depends on the damage effect of the previous attack group, and also depends on the specific situation of the northern fleet of the Mirage Navy. scale.
(End of this chapter)