Lieutenant General John Nekoba had just stepped out when an even bigger explosion shook his feet! After the explosions stopped, the huge Rodney had begun to tilt. Needless to say, the battleship had been severely damaged.
"Who is the German?" John Nekoba's mind was spinning rapidly, and he kept rushing towards the command room.
"Commander, the battleship has been attacked by multiple torpedoes. The port side has been severely damaged, and the bottom tank is rapidly filling with water." His subordinates reported hurriedly.
"Quickly plug the leak and fire into the surrounding waters!" John Necoba's instructions were actually redundant. The sailors on the battleship were already controlling the artillery.
"Oops, it's the Germans." At this moment, John Nekoba saw several flashes of fire flashing on the sea in the distance. Obviously, other warships were being torpedoed.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Sure enough, explosions quickly came from the sea, confirming John Necoba's judgment.
Amidst the continuous explosions, the battleship Rodney trembled all over again. Then, there was another loud noise from the battleship under its feet, and John Nekoba was accidentally thrown to the deck.
"Quick, quick, commander, the battleship is sinking!" his subordinates said in panic.
"Boom -" John Necoba had no time to issue any order. A fatal explosion came again, and the gods were helpless. Because of this explosion, anyone with experience would know that the ammunition compartment was detonated.
"Order: All abandon the ship!" Amidst the tearing sound of the battleship, John Necoba finally made his voice heard.
"Send a report to London: The Rodney was attacked by a German submarine and the ammunition compartment exploded! The hunting operation in the Far East failed!" As the fleet commander, John Nekoba must complete these tasks before he can abandon the ship.
At this time, a fire had broken out in the power cabin dozens of meters away, and the battleship had sunk halfway. The sailors were hurriedly lowering the lifeboats, and some civilian staff were running on the deck, presumably transferring logbooks and the like.
stuff and some top-secret documents.
If viewed from a high altitude, it looks like another Titanic tragedy.
From the time of the first torpedo attack to the time John Necoba left the battleship USS Rodney, only 23 minutes had passed. And five minutes after John Necoba left the battleship Rodney, this ship that may have made great military exploits
The last mast of the battleship finally sank into the Indian Ocean.
On the sea surface 2 nautical miles away, Dönitz watched all this almost blankly. According to observations, the Rodney only hit 11 torpedoes. Due to the different impact angles and the thickness of the protective armor, only 6
A torpedo penetrated the interior of the Rodney. Unexpectedly, the Rodney sank like this.
"Commander, the Dragon series submarines sent a telegram, saying that they have completed their missions!" Chief of Staff Colonel Friedrich Redsos reported excitedly.
"Where are the results of the Youlong series submarines?" Dönitz asked with concern.
"We are currently receiving telegrams. It will take another 5 minutes to complete the statistics," Redsos said.
"The end of the British has come!" Dönitz thought of this sentence after reading the battle reports of each submarine. The British Royal Navy's Far East Fleet, in addition to Calcutta and Colombo, also has a battleship and
Except for the two heavy cruisers, almost the entire army has been wiped out. Moreover, it seems that not a single submarine of ours has been lost! Oh my God, is this still a naval battle? This is simply a massacre!
"Report the results to the head of state and say that our temporary submarine formation in the Far East sank 1 British Royal Navy Far East Fleet aircraft carrier, 1 battleship, 4 heavy cruisers, 8 light cruisers and dozens of other British submarines and battleships."
Dönitz, who rarely smoked, lit a cigarette on the deck of the submarine in the sea breeze.
Happiness came so suddenly that even the battle-hardened Dönitz felt a little out of sorts.
According to the reported results, the British fleet only had two destroyers, two submarines and some other small ships. Due to their low tactical value or other factors, they escaped the attack of the Dönitz formation.
"Report to the head of state our previous tactical arrangements, especially highlighting the contribution of China's head of state Wu Aihua in this tactic." After taking a few deep puffs of smoke, Dönitz made another arrangement.
"General, do we save these British people?" Chief of Staff Redsos asked.
"No, they will come to the rescue themselves. Order the boats to leave the battlefield and set off towards the Cape of Good Hope!" Dönitz said.
The difficulty in a submarine attack lies in whether the early intelligence is accurate and in setting up an ambush on the battlefield. When the battle actually begins, it is very simple. Just fire a few torpedoes and everything will be fine. You can either hit or sink the enemy ship, or you can dive to your death.
End of the world.
Obviously, Dönitz and the others were very lucky this time. Not only was their intelligence extremely accurate, but also due to the extraordinary performance of this new type of submarine, they were able to approach the enemy ship very smoothly. Until the attack, the British simply did not find any submarine.
near.
"General, I think we should go to Colombo or Calcutta." Redsos reminded.
"No, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, we can move in the direction of Colombo, but we are not going to Colombo. We are going to pursue the transport fleet that passed us in the afternoon."
Dönitz thought further. Colombo or Calcutta are not so easy to attack. Even the mines scattered all over the port will make the submarine unbearable if hit by one. Besides, the main force of the British Far East Fleet has been wiped out. Colombo and
The strategic value of Calcutta has been greatly reduced, and it is impossible to capture Colombo or Calcutta with just a submarine force.
Following an order, Dönitz led his temporary submarine formation, surfaced, and began to head west with all his strength. However, the speed of the "Strange Dragon 1" was 26 knots, while the speed of the "Dragon 1" was only
At the 22nd knot, Dönitz split the formation into two, with the "Strange Dragon" submarine struggling to catch up with the British transport fleet, while the "Ghost Dragon" submarine followed behind.
If possible, Dönitz would never rule out launching a flanking attack on the British transport fleet.
On the morning of January 8, Dönitz finally discovered traces of the British transport fleet due west of Sri Lanka. While ordering the "Ghost Dragon" behind him to follow quickly, Dönitz monitored the movements of the British transport fleet.
.
Speaking of which, this British transport fleet also departed from China, but the port of departure was Shanghai Port. This transport fleet has been operating along the China-Indian Ocean-Mediterranean line for many years, and since Japan has not yet provoked a war,
For more than a year, this fleet has not been attacked; and Lieutenant General John Nekoba did not tell the transport fleet the intelligence that the Germans obtained submarines from China. On the one hand, they belong to two different systems.
, on the other hand, they are also worried that the Germans will be vigilant. If the Germans do not pass through the Strait of Malacca, wouldn't it be like letting the tiger go home?
Because of this, after Dönitz's "Strange Dragon" submarine fleet caught up with the British transport fleet, the fleet was still moving at a normal speed. Previously, the transport fleet had added coal and fresh water in Colombo.
, they only stayed in Colombo for three hours before setting off again. Because Colombo was only their supply place, not their resting place. If the crew of this fleet wanted to disembark and rest, they had to go to the Port of Aden, where they
You can spend one day drinking and drinking.
At dusk on January 8, the British transport fleet arrived at the sea south of Cape Comorin, the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, while Dönitz and his "Strange Dragon" submarine formation departed from the sea about 30 nautical miles south of the British transport fleet.
It passed quickly on the river. The water speed of the "Kai Long Type 1" was 26 knots, far exceeding the speed of the freighter at this time.
The Lakshadweep Islands are a coral island in the southwest sea of the Indian Peninsula. It was officially occupied by the British in 1908. The British stationed a small number of troops on several major islands and reefs, and set up navigation lights for passing ships.
This is British territory, but Dönitz decided to ambush the British transport fleet in the narrow channel between the islands and reefs.
If Lieutenant General John Nicobar could have hinted in the telegram that a British transport fleet passed through the Nicobar Islands a few hours before his battleship Rodney was sunk, maybe this British transport fleet
This would avoid the fate of being ambushed by a German submarine formation. Unfortunately, Lieutenant General John Nekoba completely forgot about this matter.
About 50% of the sailors of the British Far East Fleet were killed in submarine attacks or drowned in explosions at sea, but about half of the sailors climbed aboard through lifeboats and other means three hours after the fleet was hit.
They rested on the islands and reefs of the Nicobar Islands and waited for rescue from Colombo and Calcutta. However, although their lives were saved, they were generally panicked and in a bad mood. Because of this, John Nicobar was busy
Gathering the sailors and appeasing his subordinates, he really forgot all about the transport fleet.
Naturally, the British Secretary of Transport got the report that John Nekoba's Far East Fleet was attacked by a German submarine. However, in the past two years, there have been too many attacks by the Germans. Now is the war period, and there is no one who is not attacked or not attacked.
Therefore, the Minister of Transport did not expect that the British Empire still had an important transport fleet in the Far East.
On the afternoon of January 9, Dönitz's "Dragon" submarine formation, which had been lurking under the sea for a long time, finally arrived at the British transport fleet, and his "Dragon" submarines followed closely behind.
"Entire team dives, advance and attack!" Seeing that the British were less than 8 nautical miles away from us, Dönitz's command boat immediately put away its periscope and moved towards the British transport fleet.
"Two torpedoes, launch!" Dönitz's command boat bit a 50,000-ton cargo ship and decisively fired two torpedoes.
"Boom, boom -" without any suspense, two torpedoes hit the transport ship.
Although it is 50,000 tons, the transport ship can be a transport ship, and its armor protection capability is not as good as that of a light cruiser. Two high-explosive torpedoes got into the transport ship's cabin before exploding inside.
"Boom, boom, boom..." There were explosions everywhere on the sea far and near. Obviously, the fate of this fleet will end on the sea of Lakshadweep Islands.