Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 205 >

“The bandit approaching! Eighth Northwest!”

“You got the location.”

Captain John Richie of the Invincible-class battlecruiser HMS Invincible murmured and looked up at the sky.

If they had shot it down now, it would have already sent a radio, so it should have been said that the location of the fleet had been discovered.

“The location of the enemy fleet has not been determined yet, but we were caught first, damn it.”

When it comes to battlecruiser captains, at least the information they find out is immediately communicated.

At least under current doctrine, the British Empire’s battlecruiser squadron is the naval supreme strategic reserve. Utilizing speed, it engages in a head-to-head battle with the enemy’s battlecruiser squadron, and captures aircraft carriers if possible. Of course, priority is higher for battlecruisers.

After that, it immediately joins the fleet battles of the main ships and becomes a hammer, and when the enemy battleship line collapses, they also take charge of their pursuit.

In other words, the commanders of battlecruisers, whether commanders or admirals, must have a high degree of autonomy and put the entire battlefield in their head. Naturally, being captains and squadron commanders of battlecruisers also means that they are the most elite of the Royal Navy.

Because the whole war situation can be dictated by their hands.

“The bandit is constantly approaching!”

“It’s a glow signal from the flagship! Dodge freely!”

If the speed drops due to being hit by a torpedo for no reason, the entire battlecruiser squadron can be thrown into hell. And that could lead to the annihilation of the fleet.

And if this fleet is annihilated, it means the defeat of Britain. Even if the Russian army burns London without the US Navy, it cannot be stopped. If we have to say that we have, will the Dutch navy, which has four old battleships and three cheap battlecruisers, stop it, or will the Italian navy, which is struggling with the Yugoslav Navy, which has only those outdated ships, stop it?

“Initiate evasion maneuver!”

“In enemy range! Start shooting!”

Large-caliber anti-aircraft guns flew towards the enemy aircraft. Black explosions rose under the clear sky.

And not a single aircraft was eliminated.

“Damn.”

“Pom Pom Four! Shoot!”

After a while, beams of light rose into the sky. However, it was questionable whether the enemy aircraft had been properly hit.

“Damn, when’s the air support coming!”

Again, just as a battlecruiser is a battlecruiser against a battlecruiser and a battleship is against a battleship, an aircraft must be dealt with by an aircraft. No matter how much anti-aircraft guns were fired, they fired while maneuvering, and nothing was hit.

“The bandit torpedo shot!”

“Avoid!”

That’s never the original. It was just that the squadron that went out for power reconnaissance was attacking.

But it doesn’t block it properly.

“Four torpedo bombers, two bombers, two fighters?”

Bombing is enough to hit you. It’s obvious how powerful a bomb that a dive bomber like that possesses is.

The problem is torpedoes. If you get hit even by one foot, the speed will slow down second to the submergence. Slow battlecruisers are prey.

The wake of two torpedoes continued for a long time.

And the plume of water soared.

– Whoops!

“what? Who was right?”

“Looks like a torpedo detonated a wave!”

It was fortunate. But one torpedo kept flying.

“evasion!”

– Kwaang!

A dive bomber dropped a bomb. A shell that fell on the port side of the deck fired a slow shot as it was.

“Damn it.”

– Kwaang!

“Captain! Indiepatable!”

Richie was startled by the explosion of loud noises and flashes from the successor battlecruiser Indiepatable, but it wasn’t a situation to be concerned about now.

Three torpedoes ran right in front of him.

“Steer to port!”

“I’m going to steer to port!”

Damn it, you’re an outsider. The torpedoes skillfully flew along two lines are flying in such a way that if they dodge one, they will inevitably be hit by the other.

Two shots on one line and one shot on the other.

If so, you have no choice but to move one towards the right side rather than the two!

– Aww!

“You have been hit!”

“What is the situation?”

“The bulge has collapsed. Flooding is being reported! The pump is running!”

“Damn it, make an emergency repair right away.”

“The speed is going down.”

“About 3-5 knots is acceptable.”

The Invincible class is called a battlecruiser, but is actually a high-speed battleship. The maximum speed is 32 knots.

How could this 49,000-ton giant ship sink with a single torpedo…

– Kwaang!

“what?”

“It’s a torpedo!”

“where?”

“It is not true! A column of water is being observed from the indometer!”

“Damn it, damn it.”

Things got messed up.

“The bandit approaching! Another eight!”

“When are those damn things going to send air support!”

***

“The bandit approaching! The number is… 150 groups!”

A scream resounded through the bridge, and the crew rushed out.

“fighter plane! Launch the fighter now!”

“The bandit is very fast! damn it! Torpedo bombers…”

they all looked A number of aircraft entering the torpedo course…

“Give up take-off! Fight back with anti-aircraft guns!”

Even if the watch wasn’t bad.

If it wasn’t for the damn weather and sea fog in the North Atlantic, the sight-seeing would have discovered the enemy’s approach earlier, and would have launched a fighter plane and responded with ease. Of course… Even if you add up all the fighters here, you’re still behind those guys. Does this have an anti-aircraft gun?

No matter how much he burst into anger, the situation did not change.

-bang! bang! bang! bang!

The large-caliber anti-aircraft guns blew like crazy, and the pom pom guns flew in with a pom pom sound.

“I got one!”

A torpedo bomber hit by an anti-aircraft gun crashes. However, from an objective point of view, the accuracy rate was too low.

The whole fleet is firing anti-aircraft guns, how can they not get hit like this? No matter how much evasive maneuvering, aiming is disturbed…

– Kwaang!

I turned around, wondering if it was a dive bomber, but it was a fighter that was stuck in the water behind me.

The few fighters that had been involved in the fleet air defense were overrun and burned down.

“The bandit torpedo shot!”

Like a field made by a farmer in a furrow, white wakes were drawn in a straight line through the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean.

They were obviously targeting aircraft carriers.

Then the communicator’s voice was heard.

“Why don’t the battlecruiser squadrons launch CAPs…”

“Tell me not to be mean! 150 aircraft attacked this side! It’s almost the same size as the whole of our air force! Don’t be stingy with the 8th, and tell them to block it with anti-aircraft guns! It looks like you can launch a fighter in this situation!”

Saying so, the admiral sharpened his teeth.

“Damn, I didn’t mean to be the bait!”

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Most of the world’s doctrinal aircraft carriers are ranked in the low to medium attack priority. But 150 planes are put in here and only 8 floats there?

‘Did they make a mistake?’

Originally, this squadron should have gone that way, and the 8th squadron over there should have come this way, wouldn’t it?

Then a shout was heard.

“The bandit dive!”

“What… what?”

the clouds are thick The weather in the North Atlantic, which looks like it could be stormy at any moment, is unbelievably harsh compared to the Pacific Ocean. Waves, which Pacific coast countries feel rough, are common in the North Atlantic.

And through the thick layer of clouds, at first glance, a number of dive bombers equivalent to one or two squadrons are revealed.

“Oh, no!”

Damn, late detection because of the clouds!

Before giving any orders, the bomb was detached from under the wing of the dive bomber.

“Victorious torpedo hit!”

“Hermiz Pitan!”

“Unicorns are under attack!”

– Whoa, whoa, whoa!

“What else!”

“Allied ships collided!”

A friendly heavy cruiser on an escort mission was hit in the side by a destroyer. It really wasn’t bizarre.

The destroyer whose bow was crumpled and the heavy cruiser that had been hit in the side unintentionally became the shield of the Four-Mid-Double. All but one of the torpedoes rushing towards the Four-Middle were hit with their body.

It wasn’t difficult to shed the other foot. Of course, the torpedoes that had been evaded unluckily could give other friendly ships whose formation was completely disorganized due to their autonomous evasive maneuvers, but they didn’t have enough time to even think about it and move.

The Illustrated Class is the Royal Navy’s main aircraft carrier and the newest aircraft carrier. Even though an aircraft carrier is no less valuable than the latest battleship, it was never, never, ever, a ship that could be easily lost.

The enemies decided that it would not be easy to hit an armored carrier with a dive bomber, so they mainly aimed at the Illustrated class with torpedo bombers. Of course, it wasn’t that the dive bombers didn’t target them at all, but…

“They are all quite veterans! Damn, I’m going to kill everyone who said that the US Navy’s air force is not as good as the Royal Air Force!”

However, that shout was also temporarily erased by a huge explosion.

“Damn it! Furious!”

That was literally it. I don’t know if the ammunition depot or the fuel tank had exploded in an air strike by a dive bomber, but a huge mushroom cloud was soaring into the sky from where the Furious was.

No one thought that there would be any survivors in the Furious, which was rapidly disappearing into the sea, split in two.

“It’s a rush from Victorious! Being hit by a torpedo and submerged in the engine room! It’s slowing down!”

Without paying any attention to it, the torpedo bomber bit Victorious tenaciously. Three torpedoes flew right in front of Victorious’s nose, one of which barely missed and the other failed to hit.

However, the last shot exploded near the engine room, causing massive flooding. This will slow you down and make it easier for you to be exposed to enemy firepower.

As it is an armored carrier, even if it has strong resistance to dive bombing, it is no different than being reduced to a fixed target. When a battlecruiser or torpedo bomber attacks, there is no other way than to just abandon the ship and run away.

“no…..”

As the admiral collapsed, the staff hurriedly shouted.

“Admiral! The bandits are back! Right now we need to send reconnaissance planes to check the location of the enemy fleet and launch the raid!”

“How much is left?”

Furious was terrified. Victorious was hit by a torpedo and stopped, but the aircraft appears to be able to take off. Four Me Doubles are fine. Hermiz’s flight deck was smashed and Unicorn’s on fire.

It is unknown whether the unicorn’s fire can be extinguished. However, once it is suppressed and the flight deck and hangar are intact, Unicorn, Four Me Double, and Victorious aircraft can be sorted out. If the planes in the unicorn hangar are in good condition, the maximum is 143. You can pay it back in full.

“Now that the scouts have been directed, the enemy carriers will be positioned sooner or later! We must immediately order all surviving carriers to prepare for raids!”

The moment the words fell, there was a roar. A unicorn causing an explosion was seen in their bewildered eyes.