Another World: Naval Storm

Strassburg was the first to appear. Harden wrote in his post-battle report: "We were subjected to a very heavy and accurate bombardment. Salvo after salvo fell at a distance of thirty or forty yards, but none of them hit. Two torpedoes were fired at us, with good aim but insufficient range."

Harden deployed all 12 destroyers to counterattack. One torpedo grazed the bow of the German ship, and another slid under the stern but did not explode. The startled Strasbourg turned its head and hid in the fog.

Harden knew that he had to flee this dangerous place as soon as possible, but before he could leave, the Colon arrived with Rear Admiral Drake Maas on board.

Harden was forced to turn back and engage in battle again. This time he mistook the Colon for a powerful armored cruiser and asked Liam for help.

Liam's response was to ask DiNozzo to send two more light cruisers, but DiNozzo did not want to weaken his own strength. He kept his forces tightly together and sailed with all four light cruisers.

Under the torpedo fire from Harden's fleet, the Cologne had to retreat. Harden headed west again. The repeated round trips over the past four hours must have exhausted him physically and mentally.

Apevin judged from the dense radio communications in the bay that the Talen fleet was strong, so he ordered the battlecruisers to light fires. He asked the commander-in-chief, Admiral Grandin, to dispatch the battlecruisers as soon as possible, and the admiral agreed to dispatch the fleet.

While Harden was busy dealing with the revolving attacks of German light cruisers, Liam and his five battlecruisers and four destroyers were hovering 5 miles northwest.

He had been monitoring the Bay's communications all morning and knew everything, the misunderstanding between Rice and DiNozzo, and that Harden was in trouble.

Drake reinforcements were evidently arriving; already four cruisers had appeared, one of which might have been an armored cruiser, which meant that even DiNozzo's presence was not enough to ensure the upper hand.

Worse still, Liam knew clearly that the Drakes would be able to dispatch battlecruisers or even battlefleet shortly after noon. If he faced the Ocean Fleet, his five battlecruisers would have doubts about their own protection, let alone rescue. In his eyes, the balance of victory was tilting towards the Drakes little by little.

Betty paced back and forth on the bridge of the Lion. As the highest-ranking officer in this operation, victory or defeat depended on his decision.

Liam could not sit idly by while Harden was under siege, but if she advanced, she would expose her five valuable battlecruisers to the threat of mines and Drake submarines.

Although in the subsequent report he believed that the threat of submarines was not great, because the sea was calm at that time and the periscope extended out of the water could be easily discovered, and the underwater speed of the submarine was not enough to track the high-speed battlecruiser, but in fact Liam's decision at the time was correct. Submarines are dangerous assassins, and there are indeed Drake submarines around him.

Liam hesitated and asked for advice from Captain Richard, the captain of the Lion, "What should we do? Please give me some advice. If I lose a precious battlecruiser, no one in Talen will forgive me."

The Royal Navy's sense of honor made Captain Richard blurt out: "We must rescue our brothers!"

So Liam made up his mind, and the battlecruiser fleet began to rush southeast at a speed of 26 knots, which increased to 10 knots after 27 minutes.

"Hold on! Harden!" Liam prayed silently in her heart.

Even at such a high speed, it still takes them an hour to reach the battlefield.

The vanguard destroyer 6 miles ahead of the Linx spotted the Mainz. According to Aperven's order, Mainz only took an hour and a half to get ahead of Harden's squadron, which shows Harden's boldness to run so close.

Mainz crossed the bow of the Talen warship from south to north and launched a broadside salvo, forcing some of the Talen warships to switch to fighting in the same direction, delaying the Talen warships' westward retreat.

Mainz's artillery fire was accurate, with frequent straddles, but none of them hit the target. Eleven Talen destroyers launched torpedo attacks, but they also missed.

20 minutes into the exchange of fire, Mainz suddenly noticed thick black smoke appearing in front of the port side. These were DiNozzo's four light cruisers.

Mainz immediately turned right and escaped, just avoiding the enemy's first salvo. The fleeing Mainz ran into the main force of Harden's squadron. At Harden's command, 20 destroyers deployed an attack formation and rushed towards the enemy ships at full speed. In order to increase the hit rate, many destroyers rushed to within 1000 yards. Mainz, who was attacked from both sides, was constantly hit by shells.

Mainz could only pin its hopes of breaking out on the fierce firepower of its secondary guns, which desperately hit the hulls of the attacking destroyers. Many of the attacking destroyers were severely damaged, with Captain Talen alone losing three men and many more sailors.

Mainz was in a bad situation and could only speed up desperately. After dodging another round of torpedo salvos, it finally opened up some distance. Mainz did not dare to delay and accelerated to hide in the fog.

Harden had not yet escaped, and he was still trying his best to maintain his formation. The Drakes' Strasbourg and Cologne emerged from the fog again and again, and wanted to attack the lone Talen battleship when they saw it. When a large number of Talen battleships arrived, they were forced to retreat. This style of play effectively slowed down Harden's speed.

"It's over!"

Looking at a huge gray ship suddenly emerging from the fog in the west, Harden felt a sense of sorrow and bitterness as if a disaster was about to happen. He stared blankly at the giant ship.

"This is the Lion! Our ship!"

The lookout loudly called out the name of the lion, and the worries of the officers and soldiers of the Harden fleet disappeared in an instant. Liam came, and the other four battlecruisers also appeared in sight one after another.

"I have never been so happy about their arrival. My comrades have come to save us!" said an officer in surprise.

"Me too!" echoed the other officers.

With the speed advantage of the battlecruiser, Liam easily cut off the retreat of the Colon and kept it in sight. At a distance of 6000 yards, the Colon became an excellent moving target and was hit many times by heavy shells.

The damaged Colon bravely fought back with its short 4-inch gun. Under the constant attacks of the Talens, the Colon became a coffin floating on the sea in a few minutes.

A Drak light cruiser suddenly appeared in front of Liam, "Food delivered to your door!" Liam smiled contemptuously.

The scene that just happened to the Colon was repeated again. Colonel Richard ordered the gunner to switch the target. At such a close distance, the snaking dodge of the Drake battleship was of little effect. The Talen battlecruiser fired at a distance of 3000 to 6000 yards for about ten minutes. The number of bullets on Ariadne could not be counted. She was completely enveloped by fire and smoke.

The outcome of the 13.5-inch and 12-inch Talen heavy guns facing two Drake light cruisers was naturally no surprise. The only difference was how many shots it took to sink.

It was a hearty battle, but Liam remained alert. The main force of the Drakes might already be on the way, and the accompanying destroyer also found some mines exposed on the water.

"Retreat one by one! Don't fight too long! Take turns to cover!"

Liam abandoned the doomed Drake cruiser and set off on the return journey, sending a retreat signal to all Talen ships in the bay.