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

Chapter 1037 Precise Lead Time
Vice Admiral Freddy finally understood why the German fleet, knowing they were in a disadvantageous position, still insisted on breaking through without changing course.

They also understood why the two German Bavarian-class battleships relentlessly pursued the Barham under heavy fire, even when they were at the edge of their firing range and it was almost impossible to hit it.

They are not designed to hit targets, but rather to create conditions for aerial "torpedo planes" to launch torpedoes.

But by then it was too late, and Lieutenant General Freddy had no choice but to tough it out.

"Anti-aircraft fire," Lieutenant General Freddy ordered. "Shoot them down."

In fact, he didn't need to give the order; the gunners and machine gunners on the warship were already prepared.

The German UWD seaplanes, which were converted into torpedo planes, were much slower than the French ones. Especially when they entered attack mode, they could only maintain a stable speed of about 90 kilometers per hour, giving them a great chance to be shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

But it turns out they were overthinking it.

Suddenly a whistling sound came, and a reconnaissance seaplane, which had been preparing in the air, swooped down in a dark shadow, its machine guns firing wildly at the anti-aircraft fire on its side.

The crisp sound of bullets striking the shields and deck almost drowned out the screams of the machine gunners and artillerymen.

The British sailors dared not delay and hurriedly added a batch of machine gunners, but before they were ready to fire, another reconnaissance seaplane approached with a whistling sound and sprayed bullets.

This was something Admiral Scheer had rehearsed: once the seaplanes gained air superiority, they would fully cooperate with the "torpedo planes" attack.

"Let's make one thing clear." At the pre-war mobilization meeting, General Scheer said to the pilots with a serious expression:

"Your machine guns can't destroy battleships, but 'torpedo planes' can."

"Therefore, you must do everything in your power to ensure the safety of the 'torpedo planes,' even if it means crashing into enemy anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft cannons."

"It's worth it. You will become heroes of Germany, and your families will be well taken care of!"

As he spoke, General Scheer picked up a roster that listed the families of all the pilots.

He added, "I assure you in my own name that they will be protected by the state!"

……

"Boom!" A seaplane crashed into the warship's cannon, followed by another, the explosions echoing as if cannonballs had hit the "Barham".

Before long, the few anti-aircraft weapons on the Barham were all engulfed in flames, machine guns and cannons were knocked over and some ammunition even detonated.

Clearly, even if the fire is extinguished, these machine guns and anti-aircraft guns will be unusable.

“This is insane!” Lieutenant General Freddy shouted. “They’re a bunch of lunatics.”

A quick glance revealed that the torpedo plane was already close enough to launch.

The first group of four approached, and Vice Admiral Freddy noticed that they were in pairs, one group attacking directly, while the other group set its sights ahead of the ship at an angle.

This was the German torpedo planes taking a lead, and Lieutenant General Freddy understood their intention: once the Barham made a sharp turn to evade, the two torpedo planes in front could perfectly finish it off.

"Hard to starboard!" Lieutenant General Freddy ordered.

This order came as a surprise to everyone. Usually, warships would choose to move away from enemy aircraft when dodging torpedoes, as this would increase the warship's maneuvering time.

But Lieutenant General Freddy did the opposite, "hard right rudder" was the direction to get closer to the enemy aircraft.

The first mate was taken aback for a moment, but didn't dare hesitate and immediately relayed Lieutenant General Freddy's orders:
"Full right rudder!"

"Full right rudder!"

...Just as the warship turned, the German "torpedo plane" launched torpedoes into the water. Two white lines, like the dorsal fins of a shark, swept across the surface of the water, pointing directly at the side of the warship.

One of the torpedoes grazed the stern of the warship, its trajectory altered by the water flow from the propeller.

Another torpedo hit the hull, but it failed to detonate because the warship turned at a large angle in time.

The crew on the warship heard a muffled thud, and only after a few seconds when there was no explosion did they finally relax.

The remaining two torpedo planes misjudged the Barham's turn and lost their chance to drop bombs, so they had no choice but to take off again.

"Return to the queue," Major General Freddy ordered.

While doing so might invite concentrated fire from two Bavarian-class super-dreadnoughts, it was clearly much better than facing more than 20 torpedo planes alone.

So the Barham turned around and headed towards its own column, which was more than ten kilometers away.

They can rejoin their group in just over ten minutes by walking towards each other, which will greatly reduce the danger.

But the "torpedo planes" were clearly not going to let the tiger go, and four more slowed down and approached its side at low altitude.

……

Major Conrad felt he had met a formidable opponent.

The Barham seemed to have extensive experience in dodging torpedoes, knowing that even if it was hit by a torpedo at a steep angle, it would likely not explode.

This is actually risky, because no one can guarantee that it will explode if it hits a target, and people usually choose a safer approach.

Now we are in trouble.

No one could be sure whether the USS Barham would evade to the left or to the right, and even if four torpedo planes attacked simultaneously, they might not be able to hit it.

More importantly, the USS Barham can reach a speed of 26 knots when operating at superpowered speed, which even exceeds that of some destroyers.

Looking at the British naval fleet lined up on the other side, Conrad immediately signaled to hand over command to the deputy captain, then pulled the nose of his plane away from the fleet.

He calculated the speed of the fleet from the air, stared at the empty space left for the "Barham" in the fleet, and even flew along the direction of the fleet to estimate the time.

He then silently calculated in his mind, using the intervals between British warships as his "benchmark," and even the machine guns and cannons below roaring all at once could not affect his "exploration" and attempts.

Then, Kondra lowered its altitude at the right moment, maintained stable flight for a period of time, dropped the torpedo under its belly, and then swung its tail to pull up.

……

Just as the Barham once again shook off the combined attack of four torpedo planes, all the crew members cheered.

They will be able to "rejoin the team" soon.

Once back in the fleet, the anti-aircraft firepower will be much greater than it is now, and with other warships blocking both sides, it will be difficult for torpedo planes to "squeeze in" and launch precise attacks.

That means they are safe.

However, just as the Barham was about to return to formation, a crew member suddenly shouted: "Torpedoes, port torpedoes..."

"What's going on?" Lieutenant General Freddy's expression changed. There were clearly no planes on the port side, so why were there torpedoes?
Before he could figure out what was happening, a muffled "boom" came from the port side, which stirred up a wave, and the "Barham" ship rocked violently.

(End of this chapter)