The Banshee is doomed, and the Pyrenees is about to run aground! Now there are only four French battleships left, the flagship Glorious, the Vauban, the Cecil, and the Cosmos, which are still able to fight!
But they were unable to stop the Zhiyuan's charge. Hoff watched helplessly as the Zhiyuan rushed towards him, the shells grazing the battleship and exploding into sky-high waves in the sea.
Hoff was scared. He was completely controlled by fear at that moment. Without saying a word, he gave the order to turn the left rudder full. The tragic situation of the Banshee completely frightened him!
The Glory's absence from duty caused the fragile battle formation to suddenly lose control. The other three battleships did not know what to do, and without Hof's orders, they had no idea how to defend themselves against the enemy!
Among them, the Vauban and the Cecil were relatively smart. They thought that Hough was about to change the array and wanted to avoid the impact of the Reach, so they followed the Glorious and kept the left rudder.
The three warships simultaneously drew an arc of white waves on the sea. Their strategic intention was very obvious. They just wanted to seize the T-head shooting position again and avoid the collision of the Zhiyuan!
But the Cosmos was not so lucky. The commander did not understand Hof's 'smart strategy', this stubborn and conservative lunatic, and still insisted on firing at the Zhiyuan with his broadside!
Those 140- and 150-caliber artillery poured out shells desperately. In the heavy rain, people could even see the white line caused by the flying shells cutting through the rain curtain!
The Zhiyuan was already riddled with scars. The fierce battle lasted for nearly two hours. More than 80 sailors had died and more than a hundred sailors were injured!
There is no complete area on the entire surface of the battleship. The explosion of the shells has burned ugly scars on the armor. The armor has even been deformed by the bombing, with a dent of three inches!
In fact, according to the tradition of the British Navy, it is no longer shameful for a warship to retreat after such a fight. The record of sinking one ship and seriously damaging another is enough for the Zhiyuan to occupy a prominent spot in the history of naval warfare.
However, the Zhiyuan hoisted the flag of residual blood and started today's decisive battle in the most brutal way, beating the French into confusion without hesitation.
This is really so cruel that I'm afraid I'll be stunned, and I'll be stunned to death!
Hof thought he was the butcher with the butcher's knife in his hand, but he didn't expect that he would suddenly become the fish on the table!
He was completely frightened by the fate of the Pyrenees and the Banshee. At the last moment when the Reach was rushing into battle, he actually started to pull away from the ship with full left rudder!
However, Hof was also a man who wanted to save face. He shouted loudly, "All battleships have full left rudder to avoid the enemy's bombardment! We are not retreating, we are taking the enemy's retreat!"
"Open your eyes and take a good look! Now the Chinese have entered our encirclement. No matter how powerful this warship is, once it enters our encirclement, it will never escape!"
Shameless! Hof's shamelessness made all officers who were proficient in naval warfare tactics blush!
Hof was right, the Zhiyuan was heading into a dead end by itself! The situation on the battlefield just now was very subtle. Six armored battleships were arrayed northwest of Spike Island and dragged the array from the southwest to the northeast!
This T-shaped shooting array just blocked the charging Zhiyuan!
And after this shooting array, there is the chaotic cruiser formation!
The French have really spent a lot of money this time. Not only do they have six advanced iron-clad battleships, but they also have more than 20 cruisers, all of which are fast cruisers that combine steam power and sail power!
They had just anchored off the coast of Spike Island to protect the 30,000-strong Marine Corps in order to defend against a British sneak attack. This was the main force of the army threatening Hamburg. The navy knew very well that the navy alone could not capture Hamburg.
If you want to complete the mission of the French Emperor, you must rely on the cooperation of the army, or in other words, you need the army to withstand the casualties in the final battle!
Therefore, Hoff must ensure the safety of the landing troops, but this also caused a serious consequence, that is, the battleship fought alone!
If Hof had not divided his forces from the beginning, and had allowed the battleships and cruisers to form a shooting front together to fight against the sneak attack of the Reach!
I'm afraid the outcome of today's naval battle will be different!
You must know that although the Zhiyuan has strong firepower and thick armor, it cannot meet the standards of World War I. The armor of more than four inches is invincible in this era, but the structural strength has not reached an incredible level.
You must know that during World War I, the thickest armor of the battleships of the warring countries reached a terrifying 11 inches, which was a full 30 centimeters thick armor!
That kind of protective power is called indestructible and impregnable!
The current Zhiyuan is far from achieving such terrifying defensive capabilities. If the French fleet really concentrates all its firepower to deal with it, the four-inch armor will also be breached!
But there is no regret medicine in this world. It was precisely because of Hof's wrong command that the task force was dispersed, which gave the Zhiyuan the opportunity to make a surprise attack!
But it was obviously Hoff's commanding error, but now he changed his statement and actually said that he wanted the Zhiyuan to surrender?
If we look at the situation on the battlefield, this is really the case! Once the Zhiyuan penetrates the battleship position, and once the Glory completes its left full rudder and takes the Zhiyuan's retreat, then a situation will be formed in which cruisers and battleships are encircling it from left to right!
There is nothing wrong in saying that one throws oneself into a trap, but one cannot be so shameless! This is obviously not something you arranged deliberately, okay? This is obviously the Chinese people who came in fanatically, okay?
Using two expensive battleships as bait? How generous you are, Hof! How on earth should you explain this to the King of France?
But at this moment, Hof can no longer control so much. He only needs to sink Zhiyuan now, no matter how many sacrifices he has to make, it doesn't matter!
Hof seems to be an ideal figure for the officialdom, but his shameless energy cannot be matched by ordinary bureaucrats!
Xiang Ying didn't care at all what Hof thought. All he could do at the moment was try every means to expand the results of the battle, and his eyes were fixed on the lone Cosmos!
The Cosmos is a light battleship with a displacement of only over 3,000 tons. It is said that a battleship of this tonnage is a small ship that can easily turn around. If he wants to escape, he will at least run faster than the Glory1
It's a pity that the captain of the Cosmo is a fanatical soldier. He is a die-hard fan of the Bonaparte family and a die-hard militarist!
In the eyes of such people, war is the only way to resolve conflicts, and victory is the destiny of all soldiers! For the glory of France and the glory of the French Emperor, he really dared to die!
"Keep firing! The enemy is already riddled with holes. We...the brave Cosmo will be the final sword to pierce the enemy's heart!"
"Fight to the end! Never back down!"
Boom boom boom... The Cosmo's cannons rumbled, and gunpowder smoke filled the sea, but he could not stop the Zhiyuan's progress at all!
Almost in an instant, the Zhiyuan rushed within ten meters of the Cosmo!
At this moment, all the sailors on the deck of the Cosmos saw the black muzzles of the Zhiyuan and the terrifying smile of death!
