I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 1029 1029: Unless the French Run Out of Bombs

English Channel.

The conspicuous giant, "Warspite," was the first to be besieged by bombers, with over a dozen bombers launching successive bombardments amid sharp screeching sounds.

After the Mediterranean battles, the French Army had adjusted their aerial bomb carrying strategy.

This was analyzed by the fellows from the aircraft manufacturing plant that originally produced race cars.

Dorne raised a question while examining the data: "British battleships have a serious flaw; their armor is entirely along the sides, while the deck is only 25mm thick."

"Yes." His assistant Robert compared the data: "Some areas are reinforced to 50MM, and key areas like ammunition depots and oil tanks are thickened to 76mm."

(Note: During World War I, warships were rarely attacked from the top, as most naval battles involved ship-to-ship gunfire, resulting in armor being concentrated on the sides. Thus, the side armor was 330mm, while the deck was drastically thinner at 25-76mm; the deck armor was not for shelling, but to prevent fragmentation after shell explosions. In World War II, it was thickened to 76-127mm.)

Dorne found it strange while reviewing battlefield reports: "Most places only have 25mm thickness, and a bomber's 50kg bombs, coupled with dive acceleration, should be able to penetrate, so why do most bombs explode outside the hull?"

Robert pondered for a while, explaining with bombing data: "Most of our bombers dive at 70 degrees, Dorne, causing the bombs to hit the target at an angle."

Dorne suddenly realized.

Furthermore, the aerodynamic design at the front of the bombs also plays a role.

But this cannot be changed.

A 90-degree dive is basically reserved for stationary targets like bunkers and fortresses; it's nearly impossible to drop bombs at 90 degrees on moving targets like evasive warships.

Unless, at the moment of bombing, the target ship coincidentally travels under the drop point.

After considering for a while, Dorne offered an opinion: "If the 50kg bomb under the wing is ineffective, we must use the 250kg bomb under the fuselage to effectively penetrate—so why not replace it with a 500kg bomb?"

War often works this way, the battlefield conditions and data are fed back to the military industrial staff after a battle, they identify areas needing improvement and make adjustments accordingly.

Thus, the bomb mounting plans for bombers were divided into two types:

One type continues to attack cruisers and destroyers with four 50kg bombs on the wings and a 250kg bomb under the fuselage, just like before.

The other type attacks battleships, carrying only one 500kg bomb under the fuselage, with skilled pilots concentrated into this elite group.

Currently, the group attacking the British "Warspite" is the elite squadron, maintaining the tactic of four or six aircraft diving at the target in sequence.

But without "carousel" style successive attacks, each carries only one bomb with only one chance of attack.

Perhaps due to differences in bomb weights, or maybe the Warspite's maneuvering was wildly unpredictable, adjusting both direction and speed made it difficult for warplanes to anticipate its movements.

This caused the first four bombers to miss the target accurately.

The squadron commander Carter cursed as he took charge; he pressed the nose of, his aircraft down toward the target while six friendly aircraft were diving on the "Warspite."

"Come on, my darling." Carter muttered to himself as he maneuvered the bomber toward the target: "You can't see me, right?"

Indeed, that was the case.

Major General Louis, commanding on the "Warspite," was distracted by the squadron of six bombers, unable to notice the bomber diving from their flank.

He even believed that the diving bomber was not targeting himself, as its nose was pointed toward the empty sea ahead.

"Full speed ahead!" Louis changed the speed, and then waited for a while, estimating the timing, then shouted: "Hard to port!"

"Hard to port!"

"Hard to port!"

...

The battleship perfectly avoided the attacks from the six bombers.

The first bomber realized missing the opportunity and chose not to drop, struggling to climb back into the sky with its 500kg bomb.

The second bomber adjusted its direction and dropped, exploding a water column a hundred meters away from the ship's starboard.

Major General Louis secretly felt pleased, suddenly sensing a shadow streaking with a screech overhead.

Before he could realize what was happening, a bomb fell from the sky.

"Boom!" A loud explosion echoed.

The entire ship shook violently, it seemed to jump up, and the glass of the command cabin shattered instantly, scattering everywhere.

Vice Captain Jason's carotid artery was cut by a sharp piece of glass, with blood gushing like a fountain, he hurriedly pressed it with his hand, but to no avail; red blood continued to seep through his fingers.

He looked at Louis in terror, hoping Louis would lend him a hand.

But Louis didn't even glance at him, crawling back up by grasping the handrail.

Louis quickly scanned around, focusing on the bow where the bomb hit, which was now ablaze.

"The auxiliary oil tank was hit."

"Auxiliary oil tank is on fire!"

...

Major General Louis exhaled in relief.

The main oil tank of the "Queen Elizabeth"-class battleship is located in the midsection.

The bow and stern contain only a small amount of fuel, mainly for ballast and emergency supply, so the fire could still be controlled.

But before he could feel entirely relieved, the sound of bombers once again echoed overhead.

Major General Louis immediately realized he was doomed; being hit made everyone on the ship a bit slow.

And it was this momentary lag that made him the target of the enemy bombers.

Sure enough, a bomb precisely hit the mid-deck of the "Warspite."

"Boom!" Another loud explosion, flames erupted almost simultaneously with the blast.

Soon explosions ensued, the oil depot and ammunition sequentially erupted, and the "Warspite" was instantly engulfed by a sea of flames, fires shot skyward, with rising black smoke resembling a mushroom cloud.

...

London War Office Building.

As the communications officer reported "the 'Warspite' was sunk by the enemy," everyone was stunned.

The world's most advanced "Queen Elizabeth"-class battleship, with 330mm thick armor and 391mm caliber main guns, was utterly defenseless against enemy bombers!

At this time, they seemed to understand what happened to the Mediterranean fleet.

It wasn't General Winter's cowardice, nor was it Major General Avis's timidity, but because they were powerless against the French bombers.

After a brief silence, Prime Minister George, pale-faced, asked: "What can we do? Order the fleet to proceed?"

"No, Prime Minister." The Minister of Military Supplies answered: "That would lead to our fleet's total destruction, the entire second fleet, and the 'Queen Elizabeth' would not be spared!"

English Channel is over five hundred kilometers wide, it takes the fleet over ten hours to cross at full speed.

No warship can withstand this unless the French run out of bombs!