I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 1014 Demonstration
The main battlefield is located 150 kilometers east of Malta.

British Deputy Commander-in-Chief Ives paced anxiously in the command room of the HMS Duncan.

(The image above shows the pre-dreadnought HMS Duncan. Compared to the London-class, the main improvement was the reduction of the frontal armor thickness to increase speed, but this only increased it to 19 knots.)
"Still no news?" Elvis asked.

“No, General,” the communications officer replied. “I think they have most likely been defeated and surrendered, as the telegram said.”

“Impossible! The main French force is right in front of us.” Avis didn’t believe it. “How could they defeat the squadron and force them to surrender? That’s three battleships and two battlecruisers!”

The communications soldier didn't know how to answer.

Although they received the last telegrams sent by HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen before their surrender, Rear Admiral Ives refused to believe it.

At that moment, the staff officer standing in front of the radio loudly reported: "General, a telegram from General Winter."

Major General Elvis's expression relaxed: "I knew it."

We finally made contact; their radio must have malfunctioned during the operation.

He hurried forward and took the telegram.

But after glancing at the contents, Major General Elvis was stunned.

I saw it read:

"Although I'm reluctant to say this, it's a fact we have to admit, Elvis."

"We were unable to defeat the French fleet. We misjudged the situation and made a serious mistake."

"The fleet has nowhere to go now. Surrender, Avis. There's no point in continuing to fight."

Major General Elvis's expression changed, and he asked the communications officer, "Have you confirmed that it was sent by General Winter?"

“Yes, General,” the communications officer replied. “We have verified your identity.”

Major General Elvis's face darkened, and he replied:

"You've already committed a shameful traitorous act, so there's nothing more to say!"

“Tell the French that we will not be like you.”

"I will lead my troops to continue fighting until victory is achieved!"

General Winter replied: "You don't know what happened. Charles said he would demonstrate it to you."

"Demonstration?" Major General Elvis looked puzzled. "What demonstration?"

Suddenly, the lookout on the mast shouted, "Airplanes! Enemy planes!"

Rear Admiral Elvis peered out of the cabin and saw more than 20 small black dots appearing in the sky, flying towards the fleet in a triangular formation.

"Is this what they call a 'Charles demonstration'?" Major General Elvis chuckled dismissively. "They intend to use machine guns to penetrate our armor?"

General Winter's telegram arrived in time:
“I know what you’re thinking. You think these planes only have machine guns. But that’s not the case. They’re bombers, bombers with bombs.”

"Each bombing is equivalent to you being hit by enemy naval guns once."

"No, in fact, their damage is far more severe than that of the naval guns."

Major General Elvis's expression changed slightly, and his gaze returned to the increasingly large black dot in the sky, half believing and half doubting.

Are they bombers?

A bomber carrying bombs?

Impossible. Even bombers would have a hard time hitting warships with their bombs, as long as the warship is in motion.

"Full speed ahead!" Major General Elvis ordered.

Full speed ahead! Full speed ahead!

……

The crew relayed the orders down the line.

Major General Elvis's idea might be correct.

Previous bombers, such as the Caproni, could also carry bombs to bomb warships, but the error in dropping bombs while flying at level was at least 200 to 300 meters, and the error increased with the altitude.

Warships travel on the sea at 19 knots per hour and also perform evasive maneuvers.

Under these circumstances, it would be wishful thinking for bombers to hit or destroy the heavily armored battleships.

But this idea is outdated.

Soon after, Major General Ives was surprised to find that the bombers flying high in the sky were diving at high speed toward the warship.

Machine guns and cannons roared from the warships, and anti-aircraft fire was in full swing, but to no avail.

Then, amidst a deafening engine roar, bombs were dropped one after another nearby, blasting water columns tens of meters high on both sides of the warship.

Although the three bombs missed their target, they still shocked Major General Elvis.

The impact point was only a dozen meters away from the warship. Such accuracy is undoubtedly "precision bombing". How did they manage to do it?
"Boom!" Two loud explosions.

Caught off guard, Major General Avis was thrown to the ground by the violent shaking. The glass on one side of the command cabin was shattered by the shockwave and fell to the ground with a crash.

A flying shard grazed Major General Elvis's face, leaving a thin, bloody gash. Red blood trickled down his cheek like tears.

But Major General Elvis was oblivious; he was still reeling from the shock of the enemy bombers' precision.

At the same time, he understood what had happened to the squadron led by General Winter.

Now, the same fate that General Winter has encountered has befallen him.

Major General Elvis struggled to his feet and found that there were planes everywhere outside, including "Camel" and "Jenny A".

They chased down seaplanes everywhere, shooting them down one by one. In no time, the sea was covered with wreckage and debris from seaplanes.

The pilot's blood and body attracted sharks, which fought fiercely over the corpse in the water. Occasionally, a survivor could not escape the sharp teeth of these beasts.

Then the fighter jets changed targets, gliding lightly over the warship's hull. Amidst the roar of machine guns, dense bullets struck the armor with a series of clanging sounds.

Finally, it extends to the gunners operating the "bang bang" guns.

Before the gunners could react, one second they were busy loading ammunition, and the next they were screaming and trembling as they collapsed on the deck with more than a dozen shocking bloody holes in their bodies.

Major General Elvis was dumbfounded.

The communications soldier, swaying unsteadily, delivered General Winter's telegram to him.

“Now you know what happened,” General Winter said.

"Please believe me, they didn't use their full strength. The bombs used for this bombing only weighed 50 kilograms. They still have 250 kilograms of bombs, and even 500 kilograms."

"In addition, there are torpedoes. Yes, their planes can also launch torpedoes."

"You know what those warships mean!"

Rear Admiral Elvis sighed. He had served in the military for decades and considered himself very knowledgeable about naval warfare.

But I never imagined things would turn out like this:
The enemy's attack came from another dimension, from the air.

The warships were completely powerless against them!
(Note: Since aircraft carriers were first deployed on the battlefield, the combat mode has become "three-dimensional." During World War II, many naval guns and secondary guns were removed and replaced with anti-aircraft firepower. In modern times, the primary mission of destroyers has become air defense, followed by anti-submarine warfare, and lastly anti-ship warfare. Anti-ship warfare is usually carried out by carrier-based aircraft, and ship-to-ship confrontations on the surface are rare.)
(End of this chapter)