Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 147 The End of the Black Sea Fleet - Part 2

The German auxiliary ships were aware that the secondary guns of the Russa capital ships were still fierce and dense.

So even though they were going to launch a torpedo assault, they didn't dare get too close. They only dropped a few rows of torpedoes in a fan-shaped arc at a distance of 7 to 8 kilometers before quickly creating distance again.

All the torpedoes were pre-set to "low speed, long range" mode, just to try their luck at a long distance.

If the Queen Maria-class battleships could still maintain a relatively high speed of 21 knots at this moment, they would certainly not be afraid of encountering such long-range, low-speed torpedoes.

The problem is that these two main battleships of the Rusa are now not only slow, but also have difficulty turning, and can only go in a straight line.

This kind of movement pattern makes it easy for the enemy to predict and anticipate your movements, making you a perfect target for torpedoes!

When he saw the enemy ships charging with torpedoes, Admiral Eberhardt felt a chill in his heart and was filled with despair.

"Damn it! The enemy has launched a large-scale torpedo attack! Quickly, get the destroyers forward to strafe and destroy the torpedoes!"

At this point, Admiral Eberhardt had no choice but to order his men to use flag signals and lights to force the destroyers to come up and escort the ship, and to fire small-caliber guns into the sea to intercept the torpedoes.

In reality, he was hoping that the destroyers could help the battleships block torpedoes.

After a flurry of frantic maneuvers, several destroyers came up and opened fire on the surface tracks, managing to destroy a few torpedoes.

More torpedoes successfully reached the Rosa Dreadnought, and two of them hit the Rosa destroyers that came to sweep mines. The two destroyers were killed on the spot, essentially dying while taking bullets for the battleship.

However, one torpedo still managed to break through the obstruction and finally hit the Catherine the Great, which was in extremely difficult maneuvering, causing a large hole several meters long to be torn underwater on its port side.

Another two thousand tons of seawater rushed in, causing the ship to tilt to the left and shove its bow downwards, while its right rear end was raised high. You could even see part of the propeller blades on the far right rear end of the ship above the water.

(Note: Like the warships of the Russian Empire, the Russian Empire's warships are also four-shaft propulsion systems, while only the German Empire's warships are three-shaft propulsion systems.)
After being hit by a torpedo, the speed of the Catherine the Great was further reduced to 11 knots, making escape even more impossible.

The distant Moltke and Goeben had closed the distance to 16 kilometers, then turned and entered the battle line, continuing to slowly approach at an angle of about 30 degrees while firing.

20门280毫米50倍径新锐火炮加入战团，竟把露沙人的总计19门305炮压制住了——

The reason why there were 22 guns a moment ago but now there are 19 is that the three guns in the No. 1 bow turret of the "Catherine the Great" are no longer usable after being hit by a torpedo, because the bow has sunk too much and the turret has lost its firing range.

Admiral Eberhart looked at the ravaged warship with a heavy heart. Finally, he made a decision: continue firing on the "Zaringen," which was being heavily targeted! Pour all the 305mm shells over it! Just like when he had targeted the "Viding" before.

Because Admiral Eberhart could see very clearly that the two pre-dreadnoughts were only 10 kilometers away, while the two Moltke-class battleships were still 16 kilometers away.

A difference of 6 kilometers makes a huge difference in accuracy. Although distant targets are more valuable, if I were to engage in a firefight with a target 16 kilometers away while keeping eight 240mm guns at close range 10 kilometers away to keep firing at me, I might not achieve any results today.

Admiral Spee could have immediately ordered the Moltke to retreat upon discovering it was under concentrated fire, thus reducing the hit rate for both sides to zero and wasting his own ammunition and time. Meanwhile, the enemy's eight 240mm guns, located within 10 kilometers, could have continuously fired and weakened him.

This is a very easy calculation to understand.

If we're going to fight, we should fight targets that have a much higher hit rate right now, even if they're relatively worthless.

……

"I didn't expect the enemy general to be so calm. He's trying to take one last person down with him before he dies, sinking the 'Zaringen'! Well then, we'll have the 'Mooch' and 'Goben' get closer, gradually closing in to... 12 kilometers. During this process, we must maintain a salvo and maximize our firepower."

At the same time, have General Su Shun lead the 'Swabian' and 'Zaringen' to quickly create distance! Reduce the enemy's hit rate!

General Spee also discerned the opponent's intentions from their responses, and thus countered their moves accordingly.

As the shells flew, more than a dozen 280mm shells landed on the head of the "Saint-Yevstaffy," blasting this most powerful pre-dreadnought ship into pieces, before it was taken away by an unknown explosion.

Spee chose to kill this one first because, although it was a pre-dreadnought, its propulsion system was intact and it had the fastest speed. Killing it first would prevent it from escaping.

With the sinking of the "Saint-Yevstaffi", the engagement distance between the two sides decreased from 16 kilometers to 12 kilometers.

German 280mm shells began to rain down on the "Catherine the Great," and the two ships of the Lusa finally reduced the "Zaringen" to a floating iron shell, destroying its power and causing massive flooding, making it clear that it was beyond saving.

Eberhardt wanted to finish off the Zarlingen, but the distance between them had widened to a greater extent than that between the Zarlingen and the Moldich. At this point, switching fire to the Moldich would obviously yield a higher hit rate.

Ultimately, Eberhardt calmly weighed the options and concluded that the "Zaringen" was beyond saving in its current state of destruction; at best, it could be towed back as scrap metal by tugboats.

In that case, we should decisively switch our focus to the Moltke.

However, by the time the two ships, Lusa and Lusa, turned their fire on the Moltke, the Catherine the Great was already on the verge of collapse.

Having been hit by a torpedo and then having its bow pierced haphazardly, the ship was already under immense strain.

More importantly, Lusa's dreadnoughts all have a typical "high attack, low defense" tendency.

同样2万2千吨左右的军舰，别国都只能装4座双联装305炮，但露沙人就能塞下4座三联装。

Replacing the twin-gun turrets with triple-gun turrets would require a significant amount of additional tonnage. A quick glance at the Russa's warship design accounts reveals that the tonnage they used to increase the number of gun barrels was mostly cut from the armor.

The main armor of the "Queen Maria" class was only 252 mm, and that of the "Gangut" class was even lower at 227 mm. Neither of these armors could withstand the German 280 mm guns.

As 280mm shells continued to pierce large holes in the "Catherine the Great," the explosions tore through the armor belts and internal facilities, causing the ship to list more and more, eventually capsizing to port.

As seawater rushed into the chimneys and backflowed into the boilers, the Catherine the Great suffered a massive boiler steam explosion that blasted the entire warship into pieces.

The scene immediately turned into a three-on-one fight against the Queen Maria by two Moltke-class and one combat-ready Wichelsbach-class ships.

Fifteen minutes later, the Queen Maria, which had been under concentrated fire, slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.

Admiral Eberhardt abandoned ship and escaped to a lifeboat, but was eventually captured by Demacian destroyers who were cleaning up the battlefield after the battle.

The Lusa Black Sea Fleet still has two Bogatri-class protected cruisers and six destroyers participating in the battle today.

The ships attempted to scatter, but were pursued by the Demacians in separate groups.

Lacking a speed advantage, the Bogatri-class protected cruisers and two Unreasonable-class destroyers were all pursued and killed on their return journey.

However, in the final chaotic battle, the Lusa fleet did not come away empty-handed. Their desperate counterattack sank the Demacian destroyer "Yarhisar" and two torpedo boats.

(Note: "Yarhisar" was the name given by the Ottomans after they bought the German destroyer.)
Only four of the newest, high-speed Novik-class destroyers escaped the Demanian pursuit and temporarily returned to Sevastopol. Later, they wandered around Kerch, Rostov, Sochi, and other places, like stray dogs.

These four destroyers—the Novik, Zvino, Passion, and Wrath—were arguably the last remaining evidence of the Black Sea Fleet's nominal existence, even though their strength was insufficient to accomplish anything. The final results of this major Black Sea naval battle are summarized below:
On the Demania side, the cumulative losses include 2 pre-dreadnoughts (HMS Vidin and HMS Zalingen), 1 armored cruiser (HMS Meddier), 2 destroyers, and 4 torpedo boats (including warships sunk by mines during previous minesweeping operations).

露沙方面，累计损失2艘无畏舰（玛丽亚皇后、叶卡捷琳娜大帝）、2艘前无畏（圣叶夫斯塔菲、波将金）、1艘装甲巡洋舰、4艘防护巡洋舰、9艘驱逐舰（不含3此前被飞艇空袭击沉的那些船）
Regarding personnel losses, since both the "Zaringen" and "Meddier" were destroyed by bombing and then towed back to be stranded and scrapped, most of the crew members were able to be rescued.

In the end, more than half of the crew on the "Vidin" were lost, and only a small number were rescued. The officers and men on the two destroyers and torpedo boats were also mostly lost.

The Demanian side suffered a total of 875 dead, drowned, and missing, and 354 wounded (the "Wichelsbach" class dreadnoughts were rated to have only 700 crew members, so the casualties were relatively small).

The total number of casualties on the Lusa side was 5688, including those killed, drowned, and missing, and 179 injured.

In addition, since many of the destroyed ships in the previous days' air raids were bombed and sunk in the port, and some were even bombed on the slipway in the shipyard, the casualties among the personnel were not significant, and the sailors basically escaped.

Ultimately, when the Black Sea Fleet was destroyed, there were still about 20,000 former naval personnel in the four port cities of Odessa, Nikolaev, Yevpatoria, and Sevastopol. Because there were no warships left to operate, they were subsequently converted into marines by the Luza authorities and immediately took up arms to help the Romanian Front defend the cities.

These 20,000 people included sailors who lost their warships, as well as former ground maintenance personnel, civilian staff, and port and fortress facility operators. Basically, everyone who originally had naval personnel was temporarily transferred to the army, which somewhat replenished the army's manpower.

The entire naval battle came to a complete end before midnight on the last day of July.

As the wheels of history turned into the first dawn of August 1915, the Lussa people's control of the Black Sea had vanished.

……

As the sun rose on August 1st, it ascended from the starboard side of the "Goben".

Lelouch, standing atop the watchtower, was bathed in holy light from head to toe.

As he watched the inky black sea churn beneath his feet, and the fleet continued its advance toward the enemy-occupied territory to the northwest, Lelouch was filled with a myriad of thoughts.

Yesterday's fierce battle ultimately resulted in the two German battlecruisers paying a price.

After all, the two Lusa battleships were completely sunk. In their continued death struggle, the enemy's counterattacks hit the Moltke with 5 305mm armor-piercing shells and the Goben with 2.

The biggest difference between battlecruisers and battleships is that battlecruisers emphasize firepower and speed, while battleships emphasize firepower and defense. Therefore, battlecruisers generally have weaker armor than battleships.

In theory, when battlecruisers and Lusa battleships, which are characterized by "high attack and low defense," engage in a firefight, they should be able to penetrate each other's defenses and severely damage each other.

Fortunately, the Moltke-class destroyers have concentrated their limited defensive armor on the main side armor, and yesterday's engagement was relatively close, with both sides having very flat trajectories, making it difficult to attack the top deck vertically.

The thickest part of the main side armor of the Moltke-class destroyer is 270 mm, which is slightly thicker than the 252 mm of its enemy, the Queen Maria-class destroyer.

In addition, the quality of German steel plates far exceeded that of the French steel plates with their weak industrial base. The three 305mm armor-piercing rounds that hit the Moltke's main armor range and the two armor-piercing rounds that hit the Goben's main armor range actually withstood the impact.

Only the two non-core armor-piercing shells that hit the bow and stern of the "Moldy" caused real penetrating damage, resulting in hundreds of tons of water entering the "Moldy" at both ends, accumulating to more than a thousand tons, and reducing its speed to 22 knots. It needed to return to port and dock for thorough repairs.

The minor damage to the "Goben" doesn't need to be taken to dry dock; it can be repaired on the berth.

The real defensive weakness of the Moltke-class battlecruisers compared to enemy ships lies in their thin horizontal deck armor – a common problem for all battlecruisers worldwide. To save on armor tonnage, battlecruisers dare not skimp on the main side armor, so they have to cut corners on the horizontal deck armor.

对面的“玛利亚皇后级”战列舰，水平装甲其实有76~100毫米，也就是3至4吋。而“毛奇级”只有25~50，即1~2吋。每个位置都比对面薄2吋，而因为水平装甲的巨大面积，省2吋就能省出一千好几百吨的吨位给动力系统。

If yesterday's battle had been like the Battle of Jutland, with both sides maintaining a distance of over 15 kilometers while firing at each other, the Moltke-class destroyers might have suffered much worse damage.

However, the observation and aiming capabilities of the Lusa warships are far inferior to those of the Royal Navy of Burkina Faso. Their warships have only recently entered service and have not yet undergone sufficient training and integration, so their accuracy is insufficient to support them in long-range combat.

Ultimately, they were unable to exploit the weaknesses of German battlecruisers and could only engage them within their comfort zone. There's nothing to regret about such an outcome.

Regardless, the Moltke had suffered damage to its bow and stern armor and was taking on water during the fierce battle, requiring repairs. At present, none of the shipyards in the Ottoman Empire and Romania had a large enough dry dock to accommodate the Moltke-class ships, so there was no point in returning to base now. Admiral Spee then ordered the fleet to continue northwest, heading towards Odessa, despite its damage.

He was hoping the army would perform well and take Odessa as planned within the next few days.

In this way, as long as there are shipyards or repair docks in Odessa or Nikolayev, the Moltke can be docked for repairs.

If there are no 3-ton-class shipyards in the entire Black Sea theater or on our territory, then we'll just seize them from the enemy!
Lelouch stood on the watchtower watching the sunrise for a while, and then Admiral Spee climbed up the ladder and stood next to him to watch as well. He even took a flat, stainless steel flask out of his pocket and handed it to him.

Wine bottles are inconvenient to carry when climbing up and down stairs, so flat stainless steel jugs are much more convenient; you can just tuck them into your clothes.

Lelouch didn't stand on ceremony and took a big gulp of Gin, discovering that it still had a bit of a medicinal taste: "You really trust the Army brothers, daring to sail directly to Odessa in a dilapidated, flooded warship—didn't you even consider that their progress might be delayed, or that Odessa might not be taken for the time being?"

General Spee smiled confidently and calmly: "I don't trust them, I trust you. This plan is your overall coordination of the land, sea, and air forces. How could the Russo people not be defeated?"

Anyway, there's nowhere to repair the ship now that we're back in Istanbul, so we'll continue sailing back to Odessa to support the army. We'll have the old cruisers clear mines while we get close to the shore, then we'll coordinate an artillery bombardment of Odessa to support the army. The 'Mooch' is just slow; its firepower hasn't been damaged.”

"That's truly an honor, to have you trust my plan so much." Lelouch couldn't help but feel a little proud.

Although he was only a colonel, several generals and even marshals followed his plans without any worries.

The fleet continued its journey and returned to the Dniester River estuary at 9 a.m. that day.

On the Dniester River estuary side, there are two more "Wichelsbach-class" pre-dreadnoughts waiting for them. These two ships were left behind yesterday to be responsible for shelling the opposite bank.

Several destroyers also entered the estuary lagoon, along with two older patrol ships tasked with continuing minesweeping.

On the same day that the main fleet turned to annihilate the Black Sea Fleet, these ships were not idle, especially the patrol ships, which continued to carry out minesweeping missions according to the manual and plan. During this time, they swept the minefield forward by nearly 20 nautical miles, and have completely cleared a safe passage to the port of Odessa.

Since that was the case, General Spee didn't hold back. He decided to help the army again and directly sent warships to bombard the barracks in Odessa port.

As for warehouses, dock facilities, and shipyards, those will not be shelled, because General Spee felt that those things would soon be his, and it would be a pity to destroy them.
The only places that need to be shelled are the enemy's troop positions and the army's artillery positions.

When the two new battlecruisers arrived near the port of Odessa, the garrison of Lusa in the city was immediately thrown into a great panic.

The coastal defense batteries of Odessa were destroyed by the first wave of airstrikes by Demanian airships three days earlier.

Therefore, there are currently no heavy artillery pieces in the city with a caliber exceeding 203 mm that can be used to counter capital warships.

"Boom boom boom~"

Twenty 280mm 50-caliber heavy guns, using high-explosive shells that they hadn't had a chance to use in the previous naval battle, unleashed a fierce salvo at the Odessa barracks.

In an instant, large swathes of buildings were razed to the ground, and the soldiers who were caught off guard and left in the barracks were either killed by the bombs or buried alive in the ruins.

(End of this chapter)