Episode 43: Total Annihilation of the Dutch Squadron
With the roar of the air, large and small white water columns rose up dozens of meters to the starboard side of the two Dutch light cruisers.
"Full starboard rudder!" The captain of the Batavia stared at the water column in the distance and ordered loudly, "New heading 240, full speed ahead at 30 knots!"
"Yes! Full rudder to right! Heading 240, full speed ahead at 30 knots!"
The two light cruisers heading due south turned southwest at the same time, and their speed quickly reached 27 knots. Long white waves were dragged out from the bow and stern of the ship, and the black smoke above their heads was also dragged behind them.
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The Ming fleet in the distance calibrated and fired a second salvo. After a while, a group of artillery shells screamed past the heads of the two light cruisers and landed behind them, almost where they were before turning, and again
A column of water rose up.
The stern propellers of the two Dutch light cruisers were churning the seawater crazily. The bows of the ships were heaving together in the heavy downpour, cutting the gray seawater into two huge white waves. The seawater kept pouring onto the front deck, almost hitting the bridge.
On. In this sea state, the two light cruisers were like leaves, and the shells they fired were not accurate at all.
It is already the maximum power. If the weather is calm, it can theoretically drive to 31 knots, but in this sea condition, it can only drive to 27 knots and cannot go any faster. But the same goes for the battlecruisers in the distance.
At the theoretical maximum speed, a lot of power is wasted fighting the waves.
Following the order, fireworks burst out, and the two light cruisers fired a salvo again, but this time the bows of the ships were facing each other. Each ship could only fire 5 guns instead of 10. The firepower was reduced by half.
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Ten rounds of 150mm artillery shells were scattered a hundred meters away from the Ming army's array.
In the high bridge command room of the Gonggong, the squadron commander held a telescope and distinguished the two Dutch light cruisers in the distance. He watched them suddenly turn and sail towards his arms, and his heart suddenly relaxed.
What he fears most is that the other party will turn around and run away. In this way, his fleet will not be able to catch up with them at this distance of eight or nine kilometers. Moreover, with this sea condition and this distance, the possibility of using naval guns to kill them is extremely slim.
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Now, it seems that the opposing commander is making a desperate move. He wants to use the slight speed advantage to get ahead of his own fleet and continue to sail west. In this way, they can dock in Batavia and complete the set task. If they are far away, they can use
Out of the relatively closed Java Sea, they can go north through the Karimata Strait and enter the sea areas extending in all directions. In this way, they can dock at ports in Borneo to the east; and to the north, they can enter the wide South China Sea and dock in French Indochina.
The port can even go to Japan and enter the Pacific Ocean; to the west, you can dock at British Malaya and Singapore; at the worst, you can also enter the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca and go to British Burma and India. However, they cannot go back to their own country, the Red Sea
The two important roads at the Cape of Good Hope were guarded by the Ming Dynasty Squadron.
The commander of the Ming Dynasty fleet stared down at the chart, analyzing the intentions of the enemy ships. The mapping staff continued to calculate various data and marked the new positions of the enemy and ourselves on the chart. Seeing that the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, the two sides continued to move towards
The opponent is pouring cannonballs, but so far, no one has been hit.
"Commander," the captain of the Gonggong said, pointing to the chart, "according to the current speed and course of both sides, we will be at the closest point to the opponent here. The current situation is that we are heading due south, and they are heading southwest.
diagonally, and their speed was two knots faster. Before this point, the distance between the two sides was constantly getting closer. After this point, the distance between the two sides would become farther and farther, and they successfully passed in front of us.
You can flee westward."
The commander asked: "At this closest point, what is the approximate distance between the two sides?"
"It's about 5,200 meters. At this distance, both sides are expected to suffer some damage, and it is estimated that they will launch a round of torpedoes at us here."
The sea conditions are not good, and the firing platform of the naval gun is too undulating, which leads to serious deviation of the accuracy. If it is in calm seas, this distance will already be bloody. With luck, the battlecruiser can rely on the advantage of large caliber to
Kill it as soon as the cruiser is out of range. But now there is only a water column and no fire.
It can also be said that this kind of environment has made the strength of both parties somewhat equal.
…
When the distance between the two sides was still more than 7,000 meters, the firepower accuracy of the Ming fleet greatly increased, and the water columns around the Dutch warship became denser. The commander of the Ming fleet saw through the telescope that two water columns rose up in front and behind the Batavia.
, a thought flashed through his mind: This time it’s going to hit!
Sure enough, at the same time, a flash of light erupted from the front of the Batavia, and the fireball was dragged out with billowing smoke. The Gonggong command room burst into cheers.
"It's a pity that it's just a 127mm shell," the fleet commander asked, holding a telescope. "It's a pity that it's just a destroyer's shell. If it were ours, the Batavia would be basically over."
Before he finished speaking, there was a loud noise, as if being hit by a sledgehammer, and the violent tremor made the officer on the bridge almost fall to the ground.
The commander barely stood up holding on to the chart table and immediately shouted:
"Contact Damage Control and report the damage to me!"
Almost at the same time, the electric bell rang, and the first mate grabbed the receiver and said: "Bridge, speak."
Then he reported to the commander and captain:
"Sir, the damage control center reports that the waterline of the armor belt under the No. 2 turret was hit by a 150mm armor-piercing projectile. The damage was moderate and can be repaired without affecting the speed."
"Very good," the commander put his hat on, grabbed the telescope and looked at it, and murmured, "very good... we must not let them slip away from us today..."
After another violent salvo tremor, the distance between the two flagships, the Gonggong and the Batavia, was less than 6,000 meters.
In the main turret of the Gonggong, the bomb hoist screamed and quickly brought up a new round of armor-piercing shells from the bilge. The loader wore large protective asbestos gloves, a mask, a hood, and pulled the joystick to release a liquefied gas cylinder.
An armor-piercing bullet of average size slid into the barrel. He shouted:
"The No. 1 armor-piercing bullet is correct!!!"
Another armor-piercing bullet was lifted up. He pulled the control lever again, and the armor-piercing bullet slid into the barrel of another gun barrel. He shouted again:
"The No. 2 armor-piercing bullet is correct!!!"
Immediately afterwards, the bomb hoist lifted two large sections of powder packages from the ammunition magazine and slid them into the gun barrel.
"Charge No. 1 is correct!!!"
"Charge No. 2 is correct!!!"
Mechanical sounds roared on the deck, the main gun turret as big as a small house rotated, and the battlecruiser's huge 305mm gun barrel pressed down, aiming at the Surabaya six kilometers away.
On the bridge fire control panel, eight small lights indicating that the salvo was ready were turned on. The gunnery officer shouted into the receiver:
"put!!!"
There was another earth-shattering tremor, and the port side of the Gonggong was plunged into a fireball and thick smoke. In an instant, the seawater waves below the deck pushed out four huge arcs. The thick smoke dissipated, and eight 305mm giant shells had already been fired.
The air roared towards the Surabaya.
A few seconds later, in the distance, three or four giant water columns rose up on the left and right of the Surabaya. At the same time, a huge fireball rose on the deck, filled with thick smoke and fire.
"Well played!"
On board the Gonggong, the commander and captain praised the ship at the same time. They grabbed telescopes and observed the situation of the Surabaya.
A few seconds later, the thick smoke was blown away by the strong wind, and it was seen that the entire bridge of the Surabaya was gone. On the remaining bridge building wreckage on the deck, the steel plates were curled and turned outwards, spraying outward from this large hole.
Fierce fire and thick smoke. Debris from the warship's superstructure smashed onto the entire deck, scattered everywhere. Fire and black smoke were everywhere. The sailors were running on the deck, some with their backs on fire, rolling in pain, and some dragging.
They were putting out the fire with faucets on, and some jumped into the water desperately.
The Surabaya is basically finished. Although its power system, waterline armor, and main gun turret are not damaged, the entire command tower is gone, all officers are killed, the fire control system on the bridge, and the ranging
The system and various control systems were shattered into pieces along with the main building.
Now the Surabaya looks like a bare flat-top ship from a distance, dragging thick smoke and still speeding towards the Ming Dynasty fleet at a high speed of 27 knots. But all the turrets are not rotating, nor are they
Shots were fired. The fire on the deck grew bigger and bigger. Countless sailors climbed over the railings and jumped into the sea. The entire warship fell into anarchy.
…
At this time, the smoke belt above the Batavia changed direction, and the silhouette of the ship slowly lengthened, revealing its complete side. Almost at the same time, its nine main guns (the tenth main gun was on the other side)
Fired at the same time, dense water jets were set off around the Gonggong, and the No. 1 turret on the front deck was hit by a shell. However, the front armor of the turret was the thickest part of the ship. When the smoke dissipated, only a blackened patch and a
Deep pit.
However, after the Batavia succeeded in firing a salvo, it did not continue the bombardment. Instead, it continued to turn and fled in the opposite direction to the northeast. At the same time, it released a large amount of white smoke from its tail, which mixed with the black smoke from the injured area in its front.
Create a smoke screen.
"put!!!"
The gunnery officer of the Gonggong shouted the command again, and the eight main guns roared again. The stern of the Batavia exploded violently, and the speed immediately slowed down amid the billowing smoke.
"Sir!" the observer suddenly shouted, "A torpedo track was found in direction 092! The distance is 300 meters!!!"
The captain quickly walked to the porthole in that direction, took a look, and immediately ordered:
"Full right rudder! Emergency reverse!"
The huge body of the battlecruiser slowed down sharply, and the bow of the ship quickly turned to the right. A stream of faint white bubbles on the sea surface rushed past the bow of the ship.
Just as the captain was sweating, the observer shouted again:
The speed of the giant ship began to increase again, the bow of the ship turned to the left, and soon turned vertically, greatly reducing its area. The bow of the ship was facing the direction of the torpedo.
Another stream of white bubbles stuck to the water and passed a few meters to the left side of the ship.
Not only the Gonggong, but the entire seven warships of the Ming Dynasty fleet were turning, evacuating, and keeping distance from each other at this time, with their bows pointing in the direction of 092.
However, the Gonggong, the largest and bulkiest target, was not hit by a torpedo, and there was even less reason for other agile ships to hit it. Fortunately, all the torpedoes were escaped safely. If it were a battleship, it would be a problem to hit one or two torpedoes.
It's not big, but the Gonggong is a battlecruiser. It only has the tonnage and firepower of a battleship, but its armor is much thinner than that of a battleship. Even being hit by a torpedo is very fatal.
This should be the row of torpedoes fired by the two Dutch light cruisers just now when they were more than 7,000 meters away. After a few minutes of sailing, the torpedoes have now reached the position of the Ming Dynasty fleet. It should be said that their torpedo fire control calculations are still very accurate.
, at a distance of more than 7,000 meters, the two ships fired a total of 12 torpedoes in two sectors. They should be very scattered at this time, and the hit rate was very low. But they still almost hit the Gonggong. This is also because the sea conditions were bad, and the torpedoes
It was discovered only after getting very close.
The out-of-control Surabaya was about to rush into the Ming Dynasty fleet. The Gonggong, Leyi, and Wu Qi bombarded the Surabaya with several bullets, a series of big explosions, and several turrets were torn off.
There was a gaping hole, and raging fire was spitting out from the crack.
Its speed quickly slowed down, and the remaining sailors on the deck were still sparsely jumping into the sea. Suddenly, an earth-shattering explosion occurred in the wreckage of the Surabaya. The hull split into two pieces in the thick smoke, and they were quickly separated.
It sank. The sea water was boiling and puffing out white smoke, forming a large whirlpool.
A few minutes later, the Surabaya completely disappeared. The place where it came from was filled with oil, broken boards, corpses, and a large amount of black smoke. White smoke continued to rise from the water.
"Its ammunition depot was ignited," the fleet commander said coldly, holding the telescope, "In this way, we sunk the Surabaya... Let the destroyers rescue the survivors, Le Yi, Wu Qi,
Come with us and kill the Batavia."
The Batavia was hit by a 305mm shell in its tail and was now severely damaged. Its speed dropped to only a few knots. One of the turrets on the aft deck was torn off, and the other two turrets were also disabled. Now it is billowing with smoke.
The hull of the ship tilted to the right, and it was obvious that it was no longer possible.
The Gonggong signaled it three thousand meters away, ordering them to abandon the ship and surrender.
The signal had been sent, but the Batavia did not respond or hoist a white flag. Looking through the telescope, thick smoke was billowing on the deck, and more sailors were jumping into the sea. The sound was like dumplings being dropped. Very quickly.
, a rope net was hung on the ship, and more sailors climbed onto the rope net and went down to the sea. Several rubber flags were also thrown down. It seemed that an order to abandon the ship had been issued.
"We stop here," the fleet commander ordered, "and ask the Leyi to move forward to salvage them."
…
The Batavia must have seen the signal, but the captain did not dare to return the signal, let alone fly the white flag.
After entering the 20th century, navies of various countries seem to have an unwritten practice. Warships are not allowed to surrender to the enemy. They can only be ordered to abandon the ship after being beaten to the point of completely losing its combat effectiveness. Otherwise, the captain will most likely have to go to war after returning to his country.
Military court. Therefore, before the 20th century, in the history of naval warfare, one country's warships often captured the enemy's warships completely, or even the entire fleet. However, in the 20th century, such situations rarely occurred.
The light cruiser Leyi stopped nearby, lowered the rope net, and the lifeboat was also lowered. Against the undulating water, it rowed to the middle of the Dutch sailors and pulled them up.
Half an hour later, almost all the sailors around the Batavia were rescued aboard the Le Yi. Two Dutch sailors were carrying a stretcher, and a bearded senior officer was lying on it with his eyes closed. This man was Batavia.
Captain of the Davia and commander of the squadron.
"Okay, the real owner has been found," the captain of the Le Yi looked at him and said calmly, "This guy shot down our plane without declaring war, and he will be subject to a military court. At least it is a war crime.
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Then, the Leyi retreated a thousand meters away, and three torpedoes were fired from the deck. The torpedoes sprayed white foam and rushed towards the half-dead Batavia.
"Boom!!!...Boom!!!...Boom!!!"
Three giant white water pillars exploded from the side of the Batavia, and the hull of the ship was exploded again. Fire and smoke rose into the sky. Soon, like the Surabaya, it was broken into two pieces and rolled and sank.
Went down.
In the command room of the flagship Gonggong, all the officers were holding binoculars and watching this scene.
After a long while, the commander breathed a sigh of relief, smiled for the first time, and said with a smile:
"Well done, brothers!"
The relaxed atmosphere quickly spread throughout the entire bridge. There was a burst of applause in the command room. All the officers relaxed their tense nerves and grinned.
"Send a message to headquarters. At 12:50, we will annihilate the Batavia squadron."
The communications staff excitedly sent someone to send the report. The fleet commander said with a smile:
"It's a pity that there is no suspense in this naval battle, and the victory is a bit unremarkable... But Sun Wu said it well. I can't remember the original words, but it means this: This kind of most unremarkable victory is the most ideal
victory."
Everyone in the command room laughed and applauded again. The officers laughed and said:
"Congratulations to Your Majesty, humble ministers, congratulations to Your Majesty!"
"Hehehe, brothers share the same success," the commander smiled, and then gave the order, "Everyone stops the car and lets the damage control center repair our damaged parts. Then, let's go to Batavia!"
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The news that the Ming Dynasty squadron completely annihilated the Dutch squadron in the Java Sea was immediately announced to the world by the Jinling Broadcasting Company of the Ming Dynasty. Immediately afterwards, reporters from various countries in Nanjing opened the doors of the Navy Ministry and the Naval Staff Department.
They were all blocked, and when they saw a senior officer coming out, they surrounded him and asked for information.
The Ming Navy also "leaked" a little bit of information intentionally or unintentionally. Soon, various news came from "unnamed insiders", such as "The Captain of the Batavia admitted to provoking the war in the first place", "The Ming Dynasty
"The Fleet Rescued Two Thousand Dutch Sailors", "The Ming Dynasty Battlecruiser Squadron is Heading to Batavia", etc., etc., spread through the windows of the Nanjing Telephone and Telegraph Office to major newspapers around the world.
The Royal Netherlands Navy no longer has any power in the Far East!
Panic in Batavia. Panic in Amsterdam.
In the German Consulate in Batavia, Xiang Xiaoqiang held Qiu Qiu in his arms, stroking and drinking the soda from the straw, and said with a corrupt smile:
"We can wait until they come to plead with us... So this is called gunboat diplomacy! It's so fun!... Your navy is really good."