Chapter 1218 Above the Black Sea (3)

"Are our seaplanes ready?" Lieutenant General Eberhardt, commander of the German Black Sea Fleet, asked in the meeting room of the battleship Queen Mary in the Sevastopol Fortress.

"Our seaplane carrier of the Emperor Nicholas I has been improved. This is an improvement with a cargo ship of 9,240 tons, which can carry 5 seaplanes, plus 1 aircraft on the auxiliary cruiser Diamond. We There are a total of 6 seaplanes that can be used.” Major General Kolchak, who served as the chief of the general staff of the fleet, said as he sent a document.

"The German minefields were almost cleared by us. And because some of the German fleet's warships are going to support Romania, and the other part of the warships are being repaired in the harbor, they are still very relaxed on our guard. At least there is no next step. Mine plan." Major General Nowitzki, commander of the First Battleship Squadron, said.

"But we cannot be sure of the actions of the German submarine." Kolchak said with some concern.

"This is indeed a problem, but we currently have no choice. We can't choose to fight or not. We can only choose when to fight! The British attack will be scheduled on D day, and we will start from late at night on D-1. Sevastopol port attacked! And arrived at the standby area at around 5 am waiting for the signal, the British bombing is estimated to start at 7 o’clock, we will determine whether to take it based on the British telegram and our seaplane investigation. Action." Lieutenant General Eberhardt, commander of the fleet, said.

"This is our first and last chance. If we lose it, then we will not be able to dominate the fate of the Black Sea. We can only wait for the so-called gifts of Britain and France. Therefore, I decided this time 2 Dreadnoughts and 4 We will attack all without fear, and we must go all out!" After a while, the navy seemed to have made a lot of determination.

The main force of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is as follows. The dreadnought Empress Maria and Emperor Alexander III equipped with 12 12-inch guns. Compared with historical battleships of the same name, this warship has exactly the same firepower and similar speed, but with armor protection. Has been enhanced. The thickness of the side chord armor reaches 320mm. The total height has reached a very conscientious 5 meters! The thickness of the upper armor belt and the hull rear armor belt are about 100mm. The thickness of the front of the turret is 305MM, and the thickness of the armor of the turret is 250MM.

Overall, the defense area of ​​this warship is large enough, but the thickness is difficult to satisfy. The speed is quite satisfactory. The theoretical maximum output is 26,000 horsepower. Equipped with 4 Parsons steam turbines, it can reach a maximum speed of 21 knots, but in actual tests it ran a high output of 30,000 horsepower. This class of battleship is indeed stronger than in history, but the strength is limited!

A total of three battleships of this tier have started construction. Two ships are currently in service, and one ship is rushing to work on the berth. It is expected to be commissioned in nine months at the earliest. However, this battleship is obviously of limited significance to the Russian Navy. If this time If you can win, then the new battleship is considered the icing on the scene, and if you lose, then the meaning of building a good one is very limited.

In addition to these two new dreadnoughts, there are two quasi-dreadnoughts Yevstafi and Chrysostom John, equipped with four 12-inch main guns and four 8-inch secondary main guns, and two The former dreadnoughts Three Saints and Rostislav.

The cruiser force has two protective cruisers, the Mercury Memorial and the Kaguer, and the auxiliary cruiser Diamond. The destroyer force has a total of 14 destroyers of various types. This is almost all the possessions of the Black Sea Fleet.

"I still think that unless the British Air Force can guarantee to severely damage two German fast battleships, we have no chance of winning. Even with the so-called joint shooting method, the gap between the Dreadnought and the Pre-Dreadnought is still very large, not to mention we The opponent is the elite super fearless!" Major General Nowitzki said.

"Everyone, what do you think of this? After the British Air Force carried out the bombing, we used seaplanes and destroyers to determine the situation of the opponent's warships before deciding whether it was junior. The bombed German warships will definitely try to leave the port. This At that time we can use the destroyer to approach the reconnaissance." Major General Kolchak proposed a compromise.

"What if the wounded German warship leaves the port and chooses to retreat?" an officer asked.

"Then we will kill the warships in the harbor. Turkey's shipbuilding industry is very poor. Once the warships are damaged, they cannot be recovered for a long time. Time is on our side." Kolchak said lightly.

After some discussion, the Russian Black Sea Fleet's attack plan was finalized. This time the Russians also took out the coffin, 2 Queen Maria-class Dreadnoughts and 2 Quasi-Dreadnoughts plus 2 Dreadnoughts. A total of 6 battleships, in addition to 2 cruisers, 1 seaplane carrier and 14 destroyers. If such a fleet is pulled out and Earl Spey is dead, it will definitely not work. At most 2 hours, the work is over, but this time, with the British aviation team, the Russians decided to take a gamble!

As time passed by, the actions of the British were gradually reaching maturity. They already had a more detailed understanding of the berthing situation of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet ~lightnovelpub.net~ and carried out several night flights. On a king-size sand table located at the base, Lieutenant General Trentchard’s staff marked the landmark buildings along the way one by one. On the other three smaller sand tables, miniature models of Constantinople, Burgas Port and Erreli Port are displayed. The elites of the British Air Force are selecting suitable attack routes according to their respective missions. And assign the target.

"In order to ensure heavy damage to the main force of the opposing fleet, our most important attack target should be at Port Ereli! Therefore, I suggest that at least one V1500 heavy bomber squadron and three FB27 medium bomber squadrons should be deployed for bombing. Throwing at least 24 torpedoes and 48 blockbuster bombs in an attack is likely to severely damage Earl Spey’s direct fleet!" Lieutenant Admiral Stetti, who represents the Navy, said on the side.

"In this case, we only have at most 3 squadrons of bombers attacking two ports?" Lieutenant General Trentchard said in disbelief. According to his plan, the V1500 squadron and 2 dual-engine bomber squadrons were responsible for attacking the Erreli. The earl of the port was directly under the fleet, and the other four squadrons attacked the Allied fleets in Constantinople and Burgas Port in Bulgaria.

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(End of this chapter)