Chapter 1289: 1290We are all sinners
Leaving the Tang Empire in ruins and a white land... This seems to be a good idea. At that time, the homeless people will have no choice but to seek help from the Tang Army, which will undoubtedly stop the Tang Army from attacking.
In addition, a city with a population of nearly one million will immediately collapse without water and electricity. After the Tang army occupied such a city, they had to find ways to restore order and appease the people... They would not be able to allocate troops to strangle the retreating Qin army.
In any case, the Qin Army will not destroy the cities under its control. They will just execute such crazy orders before retreating, so for the Qin Army, there is almost no price to pay.
Emperor Qin Yingduo looked at Liu Zhian. What he said was indeed cruel, but in his opinion, it was indeed feasible.
It goes without saying that the effect is natural. As long as the Qin army really kills it when it retreats, the Tang army will definitely end up in a mess.
Countless messes will inevitably plunge the Tang army into a quagmire, and they will slow down their attack, which is equivalent to giving Qin a chance to recover.
"Then...General Liu Zhian...the front line will be left to you." Ying Duo stood up and stared into Liu Zhian's eyes.
"I will live up to my command!" Liu Zhian also looked at Emperor Qin Yingduo and promised with assurance: "The people of the Tang Dynasty can only get a piece of white land! A piece of ruins!"
…
On the deck of the aircraft carrier Viva Dorne, a group of damage control personnel were putting out the fire next to a hole opened by a huge explosion.
They used water pumps to pump out seawater and spray it on the edges of the charred deck holes, trying to get the water into the hangar below and lower the temperature inside.
The carrier-based aircraft parked next to it had been damaged. The Stuka lay crooked on the deck. The landing gear on one side had been broken, and the folding wings had been deformed and could not be used at all.
"Report to the general! The fire has been basically controlled." After hanging up the phone, the captain walked behind John Cleeves, stood at attention, saluted and reported the "good news."
“How many aircraft carriers are left that can still take off aircraft?” Having almost lost all his strength, John Cleeves looked at the chief of staff and said.
"Commander..." The chief of staff was already in a panic. At least as far as he could see, almost all the warships were on fire, and almost all the warships had been hit by missiles.
Battleships are somewhat better, at least they are still "rough-skinned and thick-skinned", and most of them will not sink for a while.
But aircraft carriers are finished. Compared with battleships, their armor is thinner and the things inside are more dangerous.
The battleship's ammunition depot and boiler are all below the waterline. As long as they are not implicated in detonating them, they are actually quite safe.
The aircraft carrier contains ammunition for the aircraft, fuel for the aircraft, and the aircraft carrier's own fuel and boilers. The amount of flammable and explosive materials is almost twice that of a battleship.
Coupled with poor management, inexperience of damage control personnel, and unreasonable design, big problems may arise if hit by a missile.
The key is that it is not a matter of one or two missiles, but that they may be attacked again at any time...
“There are still Wuyang aircraft carriers and Neverwinter aircraft carriers that can still fight. They are lucky and have not been hit by missiles.” After a pause, the chief of staff said heartbreaking words. Of the entire fleet, 10 aircraft carriers and 10 battleships, only two aircraft carriers are left alive. This loss is no longer something any country can bear.
At that time, the Navy's Combined Fleet suddenly lost four aircraft carriers at Midway Island, and the country's destiny was basically ruined.
It is conceivable that Qin and Dorne lost 10 aircraft carriers in one go. What a tragic failure it was.
"Boom!" Just as he was speaking, a Qin aircraft carrier exploded on the far side. Huge flames shot up into the sky and lit up the surrounding sea.
A small destroyer was next to the aircraft carrier, its deck illuminated by fire as bright as day. This destroyer is struggling to salvage people who fell into the water around the aircraft carrier. The scene looks quite tragic.
The aircraft carrier Hillens, which had escaped disaster before and was only injured, was not lucky this time. It was hit by two more Harpoon missiles and turned into a powder keg.
The hangar exploded, and the aircraft inside also exploded and burned. Eventually, the ammunition depot and fuel also exploded. In just a few minutes, the aircraft carrier sank to the bottom of the sea together with more than 1,400 officers and soldiers on board.
The reason why there are only more than 1,400 people on board is because earlier, the pilots and some officers on board were transferred to other aircraft carriers to serve as reserve units for aviation combat power.
One battleship after another was sunk, and the combined fleet was now in disarray. It's still dark, so the previous counterattack plan is out of the question.
John Cleves's clamoring plan to turn the battleships was actually a more reasonable option at the time. At least the sacrifice of the battleship fleet is likely to give the aircraft carrier fleet a chance to escape.
But the Tang army's attack was too fast and the interval was too short. Before the relevant combined fleet commanders could make up their minds, another round of attacks by the Tang Army began.
The result is now like this: the battleships that had a chance to turn around and serve as cannon fodder were sieved by missiles together with the aircraft carriers they were supposed to protect.
Several battleships of Qin are sinking, but the destroyer Courage is unscathed and is now fishing for people next to the sinking aircraft carrier.
They have been so lucky that they have not been hit by an anti-ship missile so far. What they don't know is that they were indeed locked by a Harpoon anti-ship missile before, but the missile malfunctioned and fell into the sea halfway. .
"We will all become sinners." John Cleeves sighed, his eyes having lost their luster: "Since the Dornish Admiral Strauss took charge of the Dornish naval fleet, the Dornish navy has never failed. …”
"General..." The chief of staff had been calling John Cleeves commander, but seeing the other party's current state, the chief of staff subconsciously called him general.
"The combined fleet is finished... We can't even see the sun rise... The entire fleet will sink here..." John Cleeves held on to the chart table and shook his body slightly: "Listen to me... let the destroyers and cruisers disperse and retreat immediately. Well...this is the only way to leave something for the two navies."
The chief of staff also knows that this may really be the only way. At this time, ordering the fleet to disperse and flee actually had nothing to do with the commander's will. Anyone who is calm knows that at this moment, the combined fleet has no chance of winning.
"Let the Neverwinter and the Five Suns retreat at full speed immediately! I hope the other side will not find them... Don't look back and evacuate at full speed." John Cleeves grabbed the chief of staff's hand: "You go too! Go to the Neverwinter immediately ! I’ll leave the rest of the ships to you!”