What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 211 Firepower Showdown
But it was too late.

In the game, the Akizuki has a six-tube torpedo launcher that can fire a salvo of Type 93 heavy torpedoes every 100 seconds, and it also has a torpedo reloading system, which boosts its speed to 74 knots.

In six minutes, the Akizuki launched 36 torpedoes in four rounds through its reloading system.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep"

Amidst a chorus of alarms, the Southampton was the first to spot the torpedo.

The mixed formation immediately turned and dispersed, with the bows facing the torpedoes. The first volley of 12 torpedoes grazed past the Southampton at a distance of a dozen meters.

The four warships on the front lines had no time to care about the destroyers; they were desperately steering to avoid torpedoes.

In modern warfare, there's a chance of survival even with a single missile hit, but what if the fragile hull is struck by a Type 93 heavy torpedo?
If it hits the middle, it will break in two on the spot and then take off.
If the bow is hit, then the bow section should be prepared to break off completely and sink.

If it were at the stern, there would be a high chance of detonating the fuel tanks. Philger assured that he could fly off the bridge, but he couldn't even sink with the ship.

HMS Southampton and HMS Sofia desperately tried to evade, while HMS Flower Moon and HMS Pastor Moon, with only 20 knots each, were utterly despondent.

With their mobility, how could they possibly evade? They might as well rely entirely on luck and... artillery!
"Shoot, shoot!"

At Claude's roar, the two frigates opened fire with their 100mm guns at full power, attempting to detonate the torpedoes in the water prematurely.

The first salvo of 12 torpedoes was spread out, and thanks to the warning from the USS Colbert, we narrowly escaped them.

The three boats behind us are far enough away, so there's no need to worry.

The Colbert, lacking support, was hit by dozens of shells, its entire side hull was blasted black, cratered and the shell holes were still visible.

Before Philg could catch his breath, a second volley of six torpedoes arrived, but because they had taken precautions in advance, they simply passed right through the middle of the fleet.

This time he didn't hesitate any longer, and regardless of whether the gentry of Downing Street had given instructions, he directly ordered:
"Fire!"

The MK8 114mm naval gun at the bow had already locked onto the target and was firing shells with a thud under the precise guidance of the fire control radar.

About five seconds later, the Sofia launched all four Harpoon missiles from its right launch tube, and the Flower Moon followed suit by launching two Exocet missiles.

This distance is negligible for anti-ship missiles, but they forgot that the Akizuki was only ten kilometers away.

This was beyond the missile's minimum range; six missiles flew brightly over the Akizuki!

At this moment, the cannons of the four warships also joined the battle. One 114mm cannon, two 100mm rapid-fire cannons, and one 76mm rapid-fire cannon attacked together, creating a massive naval gun battle.

The Akizuki was not to be outdone. Although it was a 1v5 situation, it began to retaliate wildly and aimlessly under Colbert's deliberate leniency. A 100mm shell hit the bow of the Southampton directly, blowing a large hole in it.

Philger immediately broke out in a cold sweat. The Type 42 destroyer's hull was made of steel, but the superstructure was made of aluminum alloy to reduce weight, and aluminum alloy is very flammable.

If the upper level is hit, a huge fire will break out immediately!

We must sink it as soon as possible!
At this point, realizing that the anti-ship missiles were ineffective, the two "Kagetsu"-class destroyers launched four "Mistral" ultra-short-range air defense missiles, which successfully hit the Akizuki.

Meanwhile, the Colbert also reacted and its firing finally became accurate, hitting 9 out of 12 shells in a salvo. In Tang Wen's view, the Qiuyue's health bar was already empty.

When the last 76mm shell from the Sofia hit the Akizuki's ammunition magazine, the Akizuki exploded.

A terrifying red flame instantly erupted on the sea surface, and the boilers of the Akizuki were also detonated, blowing it into three pieces. The stern flew up and was thrown into the air before crashing heavily into the sea. Philger even saw the figure of a person flying up!
The relentless explosion engulfed the Akizuki, then coalesced into a thick black cloud that rose into the sky, with debris even reaching the mixed fleet.

The expanding airflow entered his ears, and Philger felt a buzzing in both ears; time seemed to freeze at that moment.

As a seasoned commander with twelve years of experience, this was his first time on the battlefield. He engaged in close-quarters artillery combat amidst a hail of shells, retaliating haphazardly with the most primitive tactics, narrowly escaping death every second. Just before the explosion, a third volley of six torpedoes was detected, but he had no time to think and gave orders purely on instinct, a decision he still finds somewhat dazed in retrospect.

What's going on today? Why is the USS Colbert here? Why is there a destroyer that claims to be part of the Fourth Squadron of the Combined Fleet?

He was about to ask the commander of the Colbert when he received another warning from Sofia, who was leading the attack, that more torpedoes were coming, estimated to be at least 20 in three waves.

The other three warships were not in danger, because all 20 missiles were heading towards the Colbert and Southampton!
The Sofia attempted to fire a shot at the sea, detonating two torpedoes and creating two splashes of water.

This indicated the torpedo's course and bearing, almost covering the location of the HMS Southampton.

Philger instantly realized there was no way to avoid it.

That strange torpedo is nothing like the Type 93. Its speed is probably 60 or 70 knots, which only a supercavitating torpedo can achieve!

Now, the HMS Southampton has entered the no-escape zone, and the ship's guns won't have time to detonate them; it will take a chance.

I never imagined the ship would perish in this way.

Philger gripped the control panel tightly; he was determined to become the last Royal Navy captain to die in battle.

The other officers on the bridge realized this too, and, pale-faced, grabbed whatever they could to hold them still.

In his final moments, Philger broadcast to the entire ship:

"Many torpedoes are approaching us. There is no time to evacuate. The Southampton is about to die in flames. I will sink here with you. May the Queen's glory last forever... God."

The last word wasn't spoken by Philger; he abruptly stopped, and the vice-captain beside him instinctively exclaimed "God."

A towering ship loomed in front of the Southampton. The Colbert was moving at full speed, cutting diagonally between the torpedo channel and the Southampton, its 180-meter-long hull completely obscuring them.

Robert's voice came through the radio:
"I brought it here, I will not bring you disaster, please live on for us."

“No…” Philg uttered the word silently, and the next second he saw the back third of Colbel unnaturally twist and stick up.

One, two, the heavy torpedoes of the Akizuki were extremely powerful. When the first one hit, Colbert's health dropped to less than 300, and the second one completely sank him.

Of the 18 torpedoes launched in the third, fourth, and fifth volleys, 7 hit the Colbert.

The fragile light cruiser could not withstand such an impact. Before Philger's eyes, she was torn apart from a warship as graceful as a yacht, unfolded like paper, and shrouded only in endless flames and black smoke.

The Colbert was less than 90 meters in front of the Southampton, and the force of the explosion was almost the same. In the blink of an eye, only a small part of the burning steel wreckage remained on the sea surface.

Philg stared blankly at the wreckage, while the first mate reacted and steered the ship hard to starboard to avoid Colbel's catastrophic explosion.

About half a minute later, the fuel and remaining ammunition that had leaked onto the sea surface from the Colbert exploded and burst into flames, which lit up the sky and were reflected on the silhouettes of the four modern warships.

It's sunset now, and the entire sky is orange, as if it's been set ablaze by two sunken warships.

Breathing in the metallic, burnt smell and the stench of fuel, Philger's world turned black and white, and it took him several minutes to come back to his senses.

It has only been a dozen minutes since the Colbert and Akizuki appeared, but it feels like an eternity, and the whole world seems to have changed.

After that instant, Philg became silent and taciturn.

(End of this chapter)