What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 210 Warning (3600 monthly votes in March)

The Type 42's radar is extremely sensitive, capable of detecting targets hundreds of kilometers away...

Never mind, without the radar officer's report, Philger went to the bridge, set up his binoculars, and saw what was happening:
Two unidentified ships are exchanging fire!
They appeared at a distance of about 10 kilometers, and were about 10 kilometers apart. The two warships faced each other and kept flashing fire, making for a very intense scene.

The Colbert could fire six turrets simultaneously from one side, each turret taking only three seconds to reload, and could unleash 240 127mm shells per minute.

The Akizuki's three twin 100mm gun turrets were equally formidable, with a firing rate of one shot every three seconds, capable of firing 120 shells per minute.

Their turrets did not fire in salvo, but were designed to fire at intervals. The intuitive feeling was that there were flashes of fire every minute and every second, and shells were flying in the sky at any time.

The radars of all the warships in the mixed fleet were beeping urgently, and the fire control radar showed that the unseen sky was filled with high-speed flying shells.

Although we don't know where these two unknown ships came from, which country they belong to, or what type they are, there's no doubt that now is not the time to concern ourselves with those things.

Without hesitation, Philger issued the order:
"All ships are on combat readiness. Two unidentified vessels are engaged in combat 10 kilometers at the 7 o'clock position. Attention, this is not a drill. Attention, this is not a drill. This is not a drill!"

Full speed ahead, hard left rudder, anti-aircraft missiles ready!

The European navy has not yet completely degenerated into armed yachts. Most mid- to high-ranking officers joined the navy under the shadow of nuclear war, and the maintenance of ships is still in good working order. Overall, the quality of the navy is still quite high.

Under Fielder's command, the Southampton turned fully to port, entering its highest operational state, and the helicopters that had taken off were withdrawn to stand by.

At this moment, two "Flora"-class and one Santa Maria-class frigates also hurriedly sent inquiry messages and quickly entered combat status.

Two supply ships and one dock landing ship immediately withdrew from the battlefield to avoid being affected.

For Philger, who was on the bridge, the immediate priority was to determine the identities of the two unidentified targets.

Is it some kind of civil war between black men in Africa? How can they fight with such ferocity?

"bang bang"

"bang bang"

"bang bang bang"

About five minutes had passed since the two warships were spotted, and the artillery battle was still ongoing. The two unidentified warships were approaching them according to their radar tracks!

"Unidentified warship! Unidentified warship!"

"This is HMS Southampton, Royal Navy. You have posed a threat to our ship! Cease fire immediately, or we will retaliate!"

A second warning: Cease approaching, cease firing! Otherwise, we will retaliate!

Philger wanted to order the ship's guns to fire warning shots, but he only had one 114mm gun with a rate of fire of 25 rounds per minute, putting him at a clear disadvantage compared to the other two sides in the battle.

Damn it, judging from the fire, they either have a dozen or so cannons or super-high-rate-of-fire naval guns, which is not good news either way!

HMS Southampton lacks anti-ship missiles and can only carry Seagull lightweight anti-ship missiles via its shipborne helicopters, but now...

Once the helicopter lands and takes off again with anti-ship missiles attached, his ship will be sunk by naval guns!

Philger quickly called for the other three escort ships. By this time, the faster-moving Sofia of Western Spain had already turned around, its bow pointing towards the combatant, and was powering on the two quadruple Harpoon missile launchers.

But how many naval battles have occurred in the last fifty years?

You could easily count how many captains, outside of exercises, have given the order to fire at a target.

The captain of the Sofia posed the problem to Philger:

"Colonel Philger, we cannot confirm the target. Firing requires permission from the fleet flagship."

"keep alert!"

Philger didn't dare to fire recklessly. He had already sent someone to report back to the mainland requesting assistance, but he didn't know when the gentlemen in Downing Street would send back a message.

Now, he can only try to outmaneuver the other party.

...In real naval battles, friendly fire can occur.

Thanks to the game mechanics, World War II ships also have accuracy comparable to, or even greater than, modern warships.

Tang Wen and Kimura Susumu were "fighting each other," recklessly unleashing artillery fire at each other.

They could just tilt their guns slightly and make the shells land accurately around the enemy. Only occasionally would one or two shells graz the enemy, but that was no big deal.

The Colbert was originally supposed to be piloted by Robert, but Tang Wen couldn't resist the urge and took over the piloting himself.

I must say, standing on the bridge and personally directing the intense artillery battle, watching the cannons just a dozen meters away roar and spew flames, launching a shell that travels at twice the speed of sound towards its target, is incredibly exhilarating.

The power of the 127mm rapid-fire cannon should not be underestimated, and Tang Wen was soon forced to put on headphones.

[Robert: Commander, they are issuing a warning to us!]

Tang Wen nodded. Now that the Colbert was close to forming a mixed fleet, it was time.

"That big ship has been hit!"

A gasp rang out from the bridge. The Colbert was less than 6 kilometers from the Southampton. Just as they were about to fire a warning shot, a shell from the Akizuki hit the Colbert.

Four 100mm high-explosive munitions hit the port side of the Colbert, exploding in an abnormal burst of light.

Fortunately, this was nothing for a light cruiser. The Colbert immediately activated its engine overload and, with the added speed boost, charged toward the mixed formation at a speed of 41.6 knots.

At the same time, a string of English with a strong French accent came through the radio that Philger had called many times:

"This is the Navy C611 Colbert, I am Captain Robert. We are under attack from the Combined Fleet and request backup!"

Then the sentence was repeated in French, and then the Colbert continued to fire back at the Akizuki.

The entire mixed formation heard Robert's urgent cries for help, then fell into confusion:
What does it mean that the Combined Fleet chased down the Colbert in the Suez Canal?
The Combined Fleet has been dead for fifty years, isn't the Colbert just a museum now?
However, as they drew closer, Captain Claude of the "Moonlight" noticed something was wrong.

"Don't fire! That's Colbert!"

Claude had served on the Colbert for six years and had long felt that the ship looked familiar; now he was absolutely certain.

This is Kolber, there's no mistake!
Although he was unaware of the surreal reality before him, he could not watch a German warship be sunk by his own side, especially since he had already seen the flag on the Colbert.

"Cease fire! Let's ask him!"

Philger was also surprised and uncertain. He naturally recognized the Colbert and had even conducted joint exercises with it before!

But what's going on now!

"Colbert, please stop for inspection! We cannot verify your identity!"

"It's too late! The ship I'm fighting is a reconnaissance destroyer from the Fourth Fleet of the Combined Fleet. Sink it quickly, or the main force of the Fourth Fleet will arrive!"

The Fourth Fleet has two aircraft carriers and two Yamato-class battleships; we can't escape!

"Wait! Spread out! The Japanese destroyer has launched a torpedo!"

Yamato?

torpedo?

Philger immediately thought of the Japanese Type 93 torpedo, that thing had a range of 40 kilometers!

"Fleet, disperse!"

Philger roared, then grabbed the radio:
"Unknown destroyer! Immediately declare your nationality and purpose and cease fire, or we will launch missiles!"

(End of this chapter)