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

Chapter 1018 The Gap in the Real Battlefield

The USS Duncan, where Lieutenant General Ives was stationed, was still under bombing by enemy aircraft.

Perhaps in an effort to exert pressure, the French have increased their bombing intensity, shifting their focus from targeting only the HMS Duncan to other warships.

Two nautical miles away, the battleship HMS Exmouth, a ship of the same class, was under attack by more than ten bombers.

French pilots seemed to have gained experience; they first used fighter jets to precisely "clear" the few anti-aircraft defenses on the warships, such as machine guns and "bang-bang" cannons, and then the bombers could safely bomb them.

But soon, Major General Elvis realized that their purpose was not just that.

Just as Major General Elvis was being bombed and was in a terrible state, another swarm of planes flew in from the sky, almost obscuring half of the western sky.

Major General Avis was surprised; the French actually had so many planes?
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that those were old-fashioned Caproni bombers, about 30 of them, which looked like a very large formation due to their fuselage.

But then he thought about it again, and Major General Elvis's pupils involuntarily dilated:
The name "Caproni" means torpedo.

Without the cover of the Camel fighter jets, and with the anti-aircraft firepower on the warships largely destroyed by enemy aircraft, the fleet would be unable to withstand the attack of the Caproni.

Sure enough, the next second the Caproni bombers lowered their altitude, flying almost close to the sea surface, and searched for targets in pairs.

After a period of steady flight, they released torpedoes into the water one after another, instantly creating bright white streaks in the seawater.

At the same time, the French fleet also launched a counterattack:
The battleships unleashed their full firepower from the rear, firing shell after shell at the British fleet. One volley was followed by another, with no regard for whether the shells hit their mark; their only goal was to get the shells around the fleet.

Instantly, columns of water dozens of meters high shot up from the British fleet. The water evaporated rapidly in the heat of the shells, creating a mist in the air that interfered with the British ships' visibility.

At the same time, the French destroyer approached the British fleet at high speed, firing as it advanced to cover the torpedo boat as it charged toward the British fleet.

This is the most classic harassment tactic of the French "Green Water Navy," which Lieutenant General Aves has witnessed countless times during the operation.

"Counterattack!" Lieutenant General Ives shouted, "Organize the defenses, and take cover from the torpedoes!"

Normally, the British naval fleet can easily handle the situation.

The counter-attack tactic involved battleships changing course to maintain distance from enemy torpedo boats while continuously bombarding them with artillery fire, while destroyers weaved back and forth between the two, physically "driving away" these fly-like torpedo boats with their artillery.

Although the enemy torpedo ships were fast, they were helpless against this tactic and had to give up their attack. Otherwise, they would likely have been almost completely destroyed before they even reached the target battleship.

But this time is different.

Major General Elvis felt he was under attack from all sides:

Enemy bombers were diving overhead, swooping down with terrifying roars and dropping bombs with pinpoint accuracy.

Enemy fighter jets strafed them at close range. After firing their machine guns and cannons, they turned their attention to the lookouts and communications soldiers on the mast.

There are also torpedoes dropped by Caproni bombers underwater, which are constantly approaching their target.

On the sea surface, the enemy fleet launched an attack...

Then Major General Elvis suddenly noticed that there were new gull-wing fighters dropping torpedoes into the water.

God, what are all these?
Major General Avis felt surrounded by enemy bullets, bombs, and torpedoes, with no way to dodge them. His only options were to withstand the bombs or catch the torpedoes by hand.

"Boom!" "Boom boom boom!"

……

With a series of loud explosions, columns of water shot skyward from the sea once again.

The whole world was in chaos. The once orderly formations turned into individual battles, with warships dodging each other on their own. They could not communicate or command each other, and although they were still in the same sea area, they were like a pile of loose sand.

Rear Admiral Ives got up from the shock of the explosion. The surroundings were a mess. The HMS Exmouth had been hit by a torpedo and was slowly coming to a stop with a slight tilt.

Next, two inverted gull-wing torpedo planes came into view, approaching from the left side of the Exmouth and releasing two torpedoes in succession.

(Note: During World War II, a tactic for torpedo attacks on warships was developed: attack the side of the target warship that is flooding, thus accelerating its sinking due to loss of balance. Otherwise, attacking the other side to balance the flooding might save the ship or even preserve its combat capability.)
"Boom!" Two more loud explosions.

The Exmouth was beyond saving. With a screeching sound of steel being pulled apart, the ship tilted more and more severely and sped up, finally crashing into the sea and creating a tsunami-like wave.

The sailors on the ship fell out one by one like beans being poured out, screaming, calling for help, and crying.

Then suddenly everything was gone, leaving only the wreckage of the warship slowly sinking into the water. The huge propeller at the stern was still spinning in the air, as if grasping at the last bit of hope for survival, but in the end it disappeared into the sea.

Major General Elvis was dumbfounded.

A battleship, a battleship with a standard displacement of 13600 tons, a battleship that was enough to threaten a small country, was sunk so easily, without even having a chance to fire.

Then several more cruisers and destroyers were hit by torpedoes.

That was an attack launched by a French torpedo boat.

With a loud bang, a destroyer was hit by the main gun of an enemy battleship. The superstructure burst into flames, and debris flew everywhere.

Major General Elvis muttered to himself, "Damn it, this isn't war, this isn't fair!"

He seemed to be saying that naval warfare should be ship-to-ship and gun-to-gun, and that introducing air power is shameless cheating, which is not what naval warfare should be like!
"General!" The first mate stumbled up, holding a telegram in his hand:
"Orders from London: The Prime Minister orders you to attack Malta Airport."

He also said that this was the key to our army's victory, and that we must hold on.

"Our forces are already organizing reinforcements; it's a powerful fleet of dreadnoughts, and our goal is to destroy the French Navy!"

Elvis didn't answer the telegram. He stared blankly for a moment, then chuckled.

"Destroy the French Navy? They're still thinking about destroying the French Navy?"

"What are these bastards thinking? They should come and see for themselves."

"The Royal Navy is finished, it's all over, Britain is finished!"

……

This is not actually the fault of the London command.

The battlefield was developing and changing too rapidly, and the fragmented information in telegrams made it difficult for the command to truly understand the disparity in strength on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)