Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 156: The Disaster of the Drake

To be honest, Leo felt a little regretful about ending the naval battle like this. Saving the Ocean Fleet was a meritorious service, and the brilliant results of sinking three of Talen's battlecruisers and severely damaging a fast battleship were enough to allow him to escape the reckoning of Emperor Drake after the war and give him more freedom of action.

However, he still wanted to hold on a little longer and weaken the strength of the Talen Battlecruiser Fleet. The Talen Battlecruiser was an obstacle standing in the way of the First Reconnaissance Fleet. Many of Leo's backup plans could not be implemented with the existence of the Talen Battlecruiser Fleet.

At 8:37, it was already the sixteenth round of bombardment by the First Reconnaissance Fleet. The word "retreat" was about to be uttered. Just as Leo waved his hand to call Dawson to give the retreat order, the news from the watchtower made him decide to wait.

"General, the duel between the Derfflinger and the Sana Tiger seems to have been decided. The Sana Tiger is emitting thick smoke, the hull is tilting to the left, and the steering gear seems to have been damaged!"

"I don't want to hear vague words like 'seem' or 'appear'! Let the watchtower see more clearly!"

On a modern capital ship, the damage control team, gunners and lookouts are always at the most dangerous edge, especially the lookouts. The Derfflinger class battlecruisers are equipped with a large tripod mainmast, which is stronger than the cylindrical mainmasts equipped on the von der Tann and Moltke class battlecruisers, and the protection of the lookout tower is more comprehensive, but this does not mean that the lookouts are safer in naval battles with flying shrapnel.

“The steering gear is not clear, but the Sana Tiger is definitely tilting!”

The lookout on the Lützow leaned out most of his body, carefully observing the damage to the Sana Tiger battlecruiser, while shouting loudly into the command tower opposite the telephone.

"What about the Derfflinger?"

"Here we go...here we go!" The communicator rushed into the command tower at full speed, "Derfflinger confirmed that the steering gear of the Sana Tiger has indeed been destroyed!"

"I only give the Derfflinger one minute!" This was the limit Leo could give. The amount of ammunition continued to decrease. The crazy Drake gunner ignored his physical fatigue and fired at the maximum rate of three rounds per minute.

[Warning! Warning! The main gun ammunition inventory of the Derfflinger battlecruiser is about to be exhausted.]

【warn…】

It wasn't just one ship, all the warships of the First Reconnaissance Fleet were firing shells frantically. The shocking ammunition consumption figures made Leo shudder with fear, but there was no way. The temptation to sink a battleship was too great.

Everyone in the command tower was anxiously waiting for the glorious moment to arrive, and every second seemed like a year.

"Commander's tower! Commander's tower! We have observed that the Sana'Tiger has suffered heavy damage. Although it is still floating on the sea, it is only a matter of time before it sinks! In fact, the Sana'Tiger can already be declared sunk! The Derfflinger fired a beautiful straddle shot, and the side of the Sana'Tiger's waterline was hit continuously. The hull's tilt has exceeded twenty-five degrees! It is beyond saving! Beyond saving!" Several battlecruisers of the First Reconnaissance Fleet observed the situation at the same time, and the lookout of the Lützow immediately notified the commanding tower of the news.

The 25-degree tilt angle made all the self-rescue actions of the damage control soldiers on the Sanaa Tiger ineffective. They couldn't even learn from the example of the Moltke and desperately pump water to the other side to level it.

"The Sana Tiger is finished! General, can we retreat now? I can already imagine the bustling crowds, flying balloons, roads paved with flowers, and of course the sweet kisses of young girls when we return to Port William." Leo looked at Lawrence's nerves. Since landing on Talen and his name becoming known to the people of Drake, his personality has changed a lot. The once serious and upright young man has turned into this funny guy.

"Major Lawrence, if you keep talking nonsense, I will throw you off my battleship! You're making me a little sick now, Dawson, if he keeps talking nonsense, get him away from me!" Leo said with disgust.

"Yes, General! Happy to help!" Dawson said as he was about to grab Lawrence by the collar.

At this moment, the panic-stricken clerk in the telegraph room broke the joyful atmosphere in the command tower, "General! We are in big trouble!"

The sailors in the watchtower on the battlecruiser Moltke performed their duties without any fatigue. While observing the landing points of the Talen shells, they also glanced around at the surrounding situation.

A violent explosion sounded behind the side of the Moltke. As an experienced veteran, the lookout knew what the sound was. He would rather it was an illusion, but the fact is the fact. This is war, not a game. You can't just hit others without allowing them to fight back.

"Commander, the Drake has been hit! The situation is serious!"

The battlecruiser Drake was hit, and the shell grazed the No. 5 turret at the rear and hit the deck below the turret. The horizontal armor at the rear, which had been hit by 305mm and 350mm shells, could no longer withstand the penetration of the Talonian armor-piercing shells, allowing them to penetrate deep into the hull and almost penetrate the armor on the top of the ammunition depot, detonating the ammunition depot.

Thick smoke and fire spread along the path of the armor-piercing bullet. Everyone was rushing to deal with the matter, but the trouble caused by the armor-piercing bullet was not over yet, and an even greater disaster was coming.

Another 305mm armor-piercing shell seemed to be carrying on the will of its predecessor and would not stop until it sank the Drake. It brushed past the side of the Drake and went into the sea.

A more terrifying underwater bomb just appeared. The officers and soldiers on the Drake would rather the shell hit other parts of the ship directly than to see this happen.

The 305mm armor-piercing shell penetrated the relatively weak armor belt below the bow waterline of the Drake battlecruiser. The resistance of the sea was no longer effective and failed to prevent the shell from drilling a large hole with a diameter of two meters and three meters in the Drake's hull, and then exploding deep into the hull.

"Damn it! This happened just when the battle was about to end!" Captain Koro, the captain of the Moltke, said angrily with gritted teeth.

"Is the Drake Navy about to lose a battleship?" Vasir shouted in pain on the Bilo.

The sudden vibration of the Moltke's hull brought Koro back to his senses from his grief. Needless to say, he knew that the Moltke had been hit. He had experienced this feeling many times in the Shipwreck Bay, so he knew it well.

"What happened to the Moltke? Report to me the exact location of the hit and the approximate damage!" Koro reacted quickly. He answered the phone without waiting for the lookout to report.

"The Talens' armor-piercing shells hit the lower edge of the No. 2 chimney between the two main turrets amidships of our ship!" Although the smoke obscured the view, the lookout, who knew every part of the Moltke very well, could still accurately report the location of the damage.

"Goddess of Luck, please bless the engine room to be safe, otherwise your favored Moltke will die here today!"