It was impossible to let the destroyers rush directly into the fjord where the situation was unknown, so the torpedo boats operating with the fleet took on the important task of exploring the path.
On a fort on the west coast, after noticing the warning of a red signal rocket, Norwegian officers and soldiers immediately controlled the searchlight to shine on the suspicious ship shadow.
"Start the searchlights!"
"Two o'clock direction! Unidentified ship, sailing at about ten knots!"
A 150cm large searchlight and two 110cm medium searchlights were activated, and the carbon rods inside burst out countless blazing lights under the action of powerful electrical energy!
Most of the light is gathered forward under the action of the silver-plated concave mirror, with a brightness of up to 700 million candelas and a distance of up to 30 to 40 kilometers, as if it were three white light pillars piercing the world.
The two S-type torpedo boats immediately used their own searchlights to "fight back" and reflected the searchlights on the shore defense. Although the brightness was far less than that of the big ones of the Norwegian shore defense unit, it still hindered the other party's observation.
"Ah! Can you identify them?!"
"Damn it! I can't do it!"
"Captain, they are still approaching, we should fire a warning!"
It should be noted that the "torpedo boat" in the German army is not a small speedboat in the conventional impression, but a ship of 800 tons or even thousands of tons, using torpedoes as the main attack method, which is equivalent to a reduced version of a destroyer; The small speedboat is called "Schnellboot", the famous S-type torpedo boat.
[But after that, we still used the customary name to call the strange German warships-the miniature destroyer was called a "torpedo ship", and the S-boat was still called a torpedo boat. 】
At this time, a fort on the east coast also began to use searchlights to illuminate the two torpedo boats in the strait, and used a 57mm field gun to fire illumination bombs at them.
Several Norwegian minelayers were at a loss as to whether to advance or retreat, so they stayed where they were and were on standby.
At this time, the two 150mm howitzers of the Bolanel Island Battery opened fire.
When the rumble of gunfire came, two shells also hit the front of the torpedo boat, splashing tall water columns!
In an instant, the bitingly cold seawater turned into a downpour, covering the two torpedo boats at once, and the sailors outside suddenly became drowned rats.
On the heavy cruiser Peake, the lookout posts and bridge officers all observed the artillery fire from the Norwegian army - the flashing muzzle flash was very conspicuous, and the splashing waves also reflected crystal clear under the illumination of the searchlight pole.
"Send a light signal to ask them to stop any resistance. The fleet aims at the target island and loads ammunition." Rear Admiral Brod ordered decisively.
Lieutenant Colonel Fane repeated the commander's order, and a communications officer immediately relayed the instructions via the ship's telephone.
The lights flickered on and off. After interpreting the language of the lights, the Norwegians finally knew what these uninvited guests wanted.
At 18:27 pm, Oslo time, a telegram was sent to Oslo and the 1st Coastal Defense Area Headquarters. At this point, it was clear to Norway that the invaders were Germans and not British or French.
Major General Gosta, commander of the First Coastal Defense Area, categorically rejected the request to lay down arms and surrender, and instructed his subordinate forts and coastal defense units to be free to fire back after the warning was ineffective.
In fact, the instructions received by the major general were as follows - if the offender is British or French, then keep warning, but not have any overreaction; but if it is German, then resolutely fight back after warning.
Although they knew that the enemy was outnumbered, the Norwegian officers and soldiers still had hope - the terrain advantage of the Oslo Fjord was too great. If the Germans were careless, there was still hope of inflicting heavy damage by surprise and repelling them.
So, about ten minutes later, the Norwegian artillerymen guarding each fort fired a warning fire again.
More than a dozen shells of various types landed near the fleet, including 57mm, 65mm, and 150mm shells, and the splashing water jets were also of different sizes.
Is it necessary to use so many shells for a warning bombardment? Why does it seem like every fort fired a salvo?
But if it was a formal counterattack, wouldn't the artillery fire be too sparse? And the accuracy is too poor.
Although the entire fleet was somewhat confused, Rear Admiral Brod made a prompt decision considering that the impact point of one of the shells was very close to the destroyer on the left front of the fleet.
"This is the attack, now, fire!"
On Bolanel Island, the Norwegian artillerymen completed the second round of loading and were waiting for the order to fire.
However, they saw a series of light spots suddenly flashing on the sea in the distance, about twenty of them.
It was seconds until the dull pop-pop of shells reached their ears that they realized something was terribly wrong.
If a cannonball passes overhead, you will usually hear a sharp whistling sound; but if the cannonball lands nearby, it will make a duller sound.
Several rounds of 203mm high-explosive bombs and more than ten rounds of 128mm high-explosive bombs from cruisers and destroyers landed on the island fort, and the dazzling brilliance completely enveloped the small coastal defense gun position!
A 203mm high-explosive bomb from the USS Peak landed near a 57mm field gun. The explosion of nearly 20 kilograms of explosives successfully detonated several boxes of 57mm shells nearby.
Like fireworks, after the initial explosions, the exploding shells soared into the sky one after another, or scattered in all directions.
In the night, this scene is really magnificent.
The sailors cheered, and the army soldiers who secretly ran out to watch the excitement couldn't help but cheer, and were immediately ordered by the sailors to return to the lower deck.
The performance of the USS Peake's /32 203mm naval gun is very good, but it is much heavier than other countries' naval guns of the same level, reaching 20 tons; the twin turret weighs about 250 tons, which is equivalent to the Northampton class triple turret.
The Pic-class heavy cruiser can actually be regarded as the Hipper-class in this plane, but there are some differences.
Historically, the Hipper class has been criticized for its high cost and weak protection, and people jokingly called it "the navy's deceit."
Her cost exceeds 80 million marks. In comparison, the British London class only costs 5 million pounds - which is more than 60 million pounds when converted into marks.
This is because Germany's upstream and downstream shipbuilding industry chains have almost withered under the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, and have not fully recovered after rearmament, making Germany pay much higher costs for building any large ship.
Today, Deutsche does not have this problem, so the cost of the Pick-class heavy cruiser is exactly 61 million marks.
Her horizontal armor is also stronger than the weak 30mm of the Hipper class - the main deck is 40mm and the ammunition bay is 60mm.
Her torpedo protection has also been significantly improved - the Hipper class has a single layer of 20mm, while the Piccolo class has a double layer of 20mm.
In addition, Deshe has made great progress in steam turbine technology, and the fuel consumption has finally been reduced, allowing the maximum range to reach 8,200 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 17 knots.
But the Germans still have not abandoned the outdated idea of comprehensive protection, and the Pic class still uses a dome armor design.
This may also be her most German flavor.
Bolanel Island was destroyed almost instantly, and the coastal defense artillery suffered heavy casualties. Although there was a missing infantry company here to assist in the defense, it was meaningless.
For a few seconds, the sudden situation made the entire fjord feel lonely.
But ten seconds later, all the artillery deployed at the Oey Island Fort, the Horten Fort on the west coast, and the Moss Fort on the east coast opened fire one after another.
But ten seconds later, all the artillery deployed at the Oey Island Fort, the Horten Fort on the west coast, and the Moss Fort on the east coast opened fire one after another.
The three destroyers immediately maneuvered to avoid it, while the Peake continued to sail in a straight line at low speed, thus returning fire on the Norwegian batteries with the highest accuracy.
In the fjord, two torpedo boats have used light signals to order the three Norwegian minelayers to surrender immediately. But now that the conflict has begun, are the Norwegians really willing to surrender?
The Laugen, with the largest displacement, used its machine guns and 40mm banger guns to fire at the German torpedo boats. The other two minelayers also opened fire after reacting.
Instead of obeying, the other party opened fire on us?
Suddenly encountering strong resistance, the German sailors were surprised and decisively launched a counterattack.
"Damn it! Fire! Kill these die-hards!"
In the roar of "dong dong dong", the shells fired by the 20mm cannon and the 37mm cannon rained down on the largest Laura!
The bursts of explosive fireworks and collision sparks turned the entire ship into New Year's fireworks, scattering sparks and burning debris in all directions.
Such a fierce battle at such a close distance was too dangerous. In order to avoid the torpedo in the blast tube being triggered by the incoming fire, Lieutenant Werner, the commander of the S37 torpedo boat, made an immediate decision, "Prepare the torpedo! Set the depth to two meters, cancel the aiming! Launch immediately!"
"Poof! Poof!"
The launch tube used compressed air to push the heavy G7a torpedo out, and then it fell into the sea with a crisp sound.
The largest minesweeper, the Laura, had lost its combat effectiveness under the concentrated fire. The entire ship was powered off and had only a small amount of power left. Countless fire points caused the fire to spread rapidly.
The remaining two minelayers were only over a hundred tons in weight, and were equipped with only three machine guns. They obviously posed no threat at all.
However, the Norwegian sailors did not want to surrender, they would rather escape.
The two minesweepers turned around as quickly as possible and drew a perfect arc in the strait.
The Germans did not want to kill them all and waste ammunition, so the two torpedo boats stopped shooting at the minesweepers and instead opened fire at the Oui Island battery in front on the right.
But what is unexpected is that the two torpedoes launched by S37 happened to be on the escape route of the Norwegian minesweeper.
Several sailors on the stern of the minesweeper Veda were surprised to find that in the night, there seemed to be a gray shadow approaching from the side.
After a while, they saw clearly that it was a moving wave?
Previously, the torpedoes launched at will by the S37 used the default speed of thirty knots, which made the relative speed of the torpedo and the minesweeper less than nine knots.
In this way, the two are getting closer and closer.
The shocked sailors thought they had escaped and just breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the strange moving waves touched the stern of the boat.
Everyone heard strange noises - the sound of metal colliding with each other from below.
This 533㎜G7a steam gas torpedo hit the stern of the boat, and then its head hit the propeller.
"boom!!!"
The huge energy burst out when the 320kg mixed explosive explodes underwater is extremely terrifying. This special torpedo explosive mixed with hexanitrodiphenylamine and TNT is very powerful.
In an instant, the small wooden and steel-hulled minelayer turned into powder.
The earth-shattering movement suddenly became the focus of the conflict area. Everyone on the Norwegian and German sides looked at the water column rising into the sky.
The sailors on S37 were stunned, and they didn't even know what to say to express their feelings.
Are these Norwegians too unlucky?
Surprised, Lieutenant Werner sighed: "It turns out that if there is a God, he also agrees with our glorious cause."
But God and Lady Luck are always fair. The destroyer Dannenberg was hit by a 150mm high-explosive bomb and hit a 37mm anti-aircraft gun, killing six and injuring eleven. Fortunately, it did not trigger a series of explosions.
The largest Pique has naturally suffered the most attacks, but the 57mm and 150mm high-explosive bombs are not something to be afraid of for a qualified heavy cruiser.
In particular, many of the old fuses in the Norwegian inventory failed. Only three of the six shells that hit the Peake exploded, which hardly affected the battle.
In the roar of the 203mm twin naval guns, the Oui Island Fort, the West Bank Horten Fort, and the East Coast Moss Fort were wiped out one by one.
The horrific high-explosive bombs turned those antique artillery and brave Norwegian artillerymen into scraps of metal and broken limbs.
"Those loyal young men should not die like this." Major General Broad sighed, and then calmly ordered, "Maintain speed and enter the strait."
The first mate, Lieutenant Colonel Finn, hesitated for a moment and reminded: "Comrade Commander, the speed is too low to be effective as a helm. Should we increase the speed?"
Fein was worried that he might not be able to evade in time when encountering unexpected situations in the future - when the ship is sailing at low speed, the steering effect of the rudder is very low, and it can only turn effectively when it reaches a certain speed.
But Brod rejected this reminder. He believed that the fjord was not suitable for maneuvering avoidance. If there was an emergency, it would be better to reverse immediately.
The German fleet continued to advance northward. The other two forts along the way ceased fire after symbolic counterattacks. Only one fort resisted until the end.
In this way, the outer defense line of the first coastal defense zone was easily broken through.
At 1:34 a.m. the next day, the first few minesweepers and torpedo boats had arrived at the inner defense line. As long as we break through here, Oslo, the capital of Norway, will be within our reach.
The strait here is even narrower, and is occupied by an island called Cahomen in the middle.
There is a shore defense torpedo launch pad built in the south of the island. Its location is very tricky - it almost hollows out a cliff wall and carves out a space.
The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Toler, is an enthusiastic and generous middle-aged man, but a tragic car accident four years ago caused him to lose his left leg and only have light perception in his left eye. He could only retire from active service and serve as an instructor for coastal defense cadets.
However, the commander of the Cahomen Island torpedo launch pad had to go for treatment due to tuberculosis, so Toler was ordered to take over half a month ago.
After learning of the German invasion a few hours earlier, he consulted his superiors and then called to recruit his students.
Dozens of students from the Coastal Defense Academy who were awakened from their sleep also temporarily joined the defense to fill the shortage of manpower, but there were still two 57mm field guns unused.
"Can we repel them?" someone asked anxiously.
Toler's face glowed red under the red lighting, and he smiled: "It's enough to do your best."
(End of chapter)
