Chapter 292: Fighting hard all day and night, ninth update
At 10 a.m. on the 10th, Huang Tao ordered two squadrons of the Far East Yellow Sea Fleet to launch an attack on the cruising French High Seas Fleet, which was in a marching formation at the time.
At that time, the 1st and 2nd armored fleets of the French High Seas Fleet were traveling on the right wing of the main fleet, while the 3rd Armored Ship Group and Cruiser Group were on the left wing. The transport fleet of the French High Seas Fleet was traveling in the center. On the 9th
After 11 o'clock, French Admiral Rogers ordered the High Seas Fleet to change its formation into a battle formation because at that time, the High Seas Fleet also discovered the following reconnaissance motorboat.
Subsequently, the formation of the French High Seas Fleet changed. The two armored battleship groups on the right took the initiative to move closer to the left, and even drove directly in front of the 3rd Armored Group on the left. The entire French High Seas Fleet became a single-row column. However,
At that time, the speed of each ship was different, and the commander, French Admiral Rogers, did not clearly stipulate whether each warship should go slower or faster.
This resulted in the battleships of the fleet being either fast or slow, resulting in a great chaos. Then in the early morning of the 10th, French Navy Marshal Rogers did not know whether it was a sudden whim or whether he judged that the Far East fleet might use a horizontal formation.
The French High Seas Fleet came to attack him, so he took the initiative to order the French High Seas Fleet to change into a horizontal formation, and the French High Seas Fleet began to perform complex maneuvers again.
At this time, everything was obviously not over, because not long after, he was overly worried that the battle formation would be discovered by the Far East prematurely. French Navy Marshal Rogers once again ordered the entire fleet to return to its original marching and patrolling formation, and the French High Seas Fleet once again caused great chaos.
, everyone from the ship commander to the sailors scolded French Navy Marshal Rogers bloody in their hearts.
At around 3:40 a.m. on the 10th, Deng Shichang, who commanded the main force of the Second Squadron of the Far East Yellow Sea Fleet, spotted the French High Seas Fleet on the right front. At this time, the High Seas Fleet was already lined up in a single file and formed a marching patrol formation. Deng Shichang immediately ordered to intercept the French fleet.
On the route of the High Seas Fleet, before the battle, Deng Shichang sent a radio signal to all the battleships in the squadron: "Winning or losing in South Asia, this battle must be fought with all your strength!".
But this time, French Navy Marshal Rogers was about to issue an order to change into a battle formation, but it was too late to realize it, because the Second Squadron led by Deng Shichang, after cutting off the route of the French High Seas Fleet, immediately came about 100 meters away from the High Seas Fleet.
In the sea area of 5-8 kilometers, turn directly to the left and draw a big U-shape.
However, during the turn of the Second Squadron of the Yellow Sea Fleet, the warships of the Second Fleet of the Yellow Sea Fleet were basically under the gunfire of the French High Seas Fleet warships, which was enough to threaten the safety of the fleet, and a considerable number of the main ships of the Second Squadron were also
It was impossible to attack because the line of sight and shooting angle were blocked by its own ships. If Deng Shichang ordered this action, it was against conventional naval tactics at the time.
However, at that time, the French High Seas Fleet was in the chaos of changing formations. Although French Admiral Rogers had already ordered the firing of artillery, the result was only blind shooting in the dark, which was a waste of ammunition and lost an advantageous fighter opportunity.
The Second Squadron of the Yellow Sea Fleet completed
After a sudden turn, they first concentrated their firepower to cover the flagship and main battleships of the French High Seas Fleet. This naval battle lasted less than 2 hours. Deng Shichang took the initiative to order the withdrawal of the battle, while the flagship Lotte commanded by French Navy Marshal Rogers
The Wolf was seriously injured and forced to withdraw from the battle early.
Why did Deng Shichang withdraw from the battle shortly after it started?
Because he received an order from the fleet captain Huang Tao to lure the enemy deeper. In the first battle, French Navy Marshal Rogers was seriously injured, and several other main warships were also damaged to varying degrees. However, the command ability of the French High Seas Fleet was not
Completely lost, but falling into chaos is inevitable.
The battleships of the French High Seas Fleet constantly tried to escape from the interception during the battle, but due to their heavy load and slow speed, they never succeeded. However, the Far East warships gave full play to their advantages of fast speed, maneuvered quickly and agilely, and occupied the direction of the French High Seas Fleet.
From a favorable position, they continued to carry out fierce bombardments, and the two sides then engaged in a small-scale melee amidst the smoke.
In this battle, the French High Seas Fleet was sunk and damaged more than ten ships. Just like this, when the French warships tried to pursue the Second Squadron of the Yellow Sea Fleet, at about 6 o'clock in the morning on the 10th, heavy fog appeared in the South China Sea, and the Yellow Sea Fleet
There was a separation from the High Seas Fleet, and finally Deng Shichang had to order to slow down and conduct left and right cruises, giving the French High Seas Fleet a chance to catch up.
At 8:30 in the morning, the heavy fog in the South China Sea ended, and the French High Seas Fleet immediately attempted to pursue the Second Squadron of the Yellow Sea Fleet at full speed. However, at this time, the First Fleet of the Yellow Sea Fleet, which sailed out from another diagonal angle, arrived, and both sides immediately
The war started in this sea area, and the French princes, who were attacked from both sides,
The naval fleet frequently staged strange incidents during battles, such as one's own people attacking one's own people and other undue mistakes. In addition, after the commander French Navy Marshal Rogers died of serious injuries, the entire fleet lost command, and finally some warships chose to escape.
, attempting to head to a neutral seaport.
The naval battle that day lasted from morning to night. The Far East Yellow Sea Fleet continuously dispatched more than 57 torpedo ships and 60 destroyers to carry out torpedo attacks on the remaining French High Seas Fleet. The battle lasted until 6 a.m. the next day.
Xu, the last few remaining battleships of the High Seas Fleet
, fled towards the Strait of Malacca, but was pursued by the Far East Yellow Sea Fleet. In the end, the French High Seas Fleet, with less than 5 warships left, hoisted the white flag. However, due to unclear weather, the Yellow Sea Fleet continued to attack the High Seas Fleet, and then the remaining warships of the French High Seas Fleet hoisted the white flag.
The Far Eastern flag signifies surrender.
In this great sea battle in the South China Sea, except for 13 ships of the French High Seas Fleet that fled to the Strait of Malacca, the rest of the warships were wiped out, including those that were sunk and captured by the Far East Navy, and those detained by neutral countries were not included.
During the war, the total tonnage of French naval ships reached 370,000 tons, 14,830 casualties and 2,917 prisoners.
The Far East Yellow Sea Fleet lost 13 torpedo boats, 6 destroyers, 3 cruisers, 1 battleship, 27 seriously damaged battleships, 3 stranded, and all other battleships were injured, with only 1,117 killed and 2,587 injured. However,
In the face of such a powerful opponent as the French High Seas Fleet, the Far East Yellow Sea Fleet still paid a heavy price, but it was still much better than France. After all, the total tonnage difference between the Far East Yellow Sea Fleet and the French High Seas Fleet was 150,000 tons.
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