Iron Cross Fire

The fleet lined up in several rows and sailed towards the south of the Black Sea.

They stayed away from the coast, so that people on the shore could not see them; they also kept radio silence along the way, so that the enemy could not monitor their information.

But this did not last long. As they sailed longer and longer at sea, they were getting closer and closer to the coast.

The Bulgarians discovered them first, and then passed them on to the Turks.

Enver ordered the local citizens of Istanbul to deploy mines in the strait, and sent a small fleet to observe the movements at all times.

They also rebuilt the previously abandoned coastal defense guns and pulled them all to the periphery of Istanbul for defense. The power of these guns is absolutely trustworthy, and then they only need to wait for the Russian fleet to come in.

Turkey's preparations have been made quietly, and the Russian sailors who are still sailing on the sea are still unaware of this and are still staying on the deck in melancholy.

At dusk on May 26, the outlines of several warships appeared on the horizon, and the afterglow of the sunset shone on the metal on the ship, making the whole ship look extremely bright.

The Turks noticed them quickly, and the officers quickly gave orders, and several heavy guns opened fire.

But without exception, all missed. In addition to the poor quality of the artillery, Turkey's industrial production also had considerable problems.

The fleets did not care about the shells that could not hit them at all, and continued to sail towards the strait. Instead, the sailors on the top were very panicked and wanted to get down.

After finally calming down, the survey institute on the deck discovered the mines floating on the sea.

He shouted for the ship to turn around, but it was too late.

The seven warships at the head of the fleet all touched mines, and there was also an unlucky ship. After being blown up, the ship flipped uncontrollably, and then touched another mine again, causing serious damage to the hull, and a large amount of seawater splashed into the cabin. Soon the ship merged with the Black Sea.

The Turks on the shore saw signs of chaos and continued to increase the firepower suppression of the coastal defense artillery.

The Russian fleet, which had already suffered heavy damage from mines, had nowhere to hide and had to passively endure the bombing, although few guns hit the target.

The front of the formation was completely blocked, and it was impossible to turn around unless they really wanted to be trapped in the Black Sea.

The naval officer gritted his teeth, put his hands together, and issued the last order:

"Go! Ignore the sunken ships and enemy fire, go!"

The fleet, which had just been in a mess, gathered again, lined up in a long snake formation and rushed straight to the strait.

Such a reckless move will definitely pay a heavy price. Several warships were silent again because of touching mines.

With 50 ships left, the first ship in the naval queue finally arrived at the entrance of the strait.

The Turks did not put up any obstacles in the strait, which made them very happy and sailed faster.

Until nearly half of the ships passed the entrance of the strait, Turkey still had no obstacles. It seemed very likely to break through the strait, and everything was possible.

Seeing that he was about to sail into the Sea of ​​Marmara, the Russian naval officer opened his fingers excitedly and wanted to slap the table.

But he couldn't open his hands, and he used a lot of force to separate his hands. When he looked carefully, he found that his hands were full of sweat.

The officer exhaled, opened his eyes and showed a long-lost joy, and his heroic laughter became louder and louder.

But he suddenly felt his body tremble, looked around, and found that the whole world was tilted.

What happened! Why is the warship damaged!

The experienced officer immediately found the problem, but there was no time for him to react. The surging waves broke his cabin. Just when he wanted to open the door to go out, he found that it was leaking everywhere and fell to the ground bitterly.

The turbid sea water broke through the hatch behind him and swallowed up all the steel.

The flagship fell!

Several warships in the distance saw it and fell into panic. They couldn't see anything in the darkness, the only fire was extinguished, and the whole fleet was in chaos.

No one saw how the flagship fell, but no one cared. At this moment, everyone fled in all directions, and the fleet fell apart.

The Turkish officer on the shore sneered, and then gave another order, and the sound of hundreds of artillery firing resounded on the sea.

The coastal defense guns outside Istanbul were just bait, and their main function was to randomly fire and attract attention.

The real effect was the hundreds of artillery deployed on both sides of the strait. If the dense firepower hit a ship, it would definitely sink it instantly.

However, as the sky gradually darkened, the Turkish artillery on the shore could not see clearly and began to fire randomly. Some shells even hit the friendly artillery on the opposite bank, causing dozens of casualties.

The Turkish officers hurriedly stopped the bombing and asked people to bring the artillery closer before firing.

They found that the Russians did not resist, and even the turrets above did not twist at all. Combined with previous experience, they believed that they had no shells available.

A few minutes later, all the artillery had been deployed. The officer ordered the port to turn on the lights to find the ships on the sea, and fired another flare at the same time.

Several lights were turned on instantly, and together with the dazzling white light in the sky, the Russian fleet lurking in the darkness was caught.

They were no longer in chaos, and it seemed that a new flagship had been chosen.

The Turks missed the best time to bomb because of the previous accident, but no one was discouraged. After all, these Russian fleets would sink here sooner or later.

At the officer's command, hundreds of artillery pieces fired one after another.

Countless shells rushed towards the ship, smashing one pit after another on the steel plate. Some shells were fired accurately and hit the explosives in the ship directly, causing a secondary explosion, and the ship broke in half and sank into the sea.

However, no matter how miserable the Russians died, the artillery fire on the battlefield never stopped, but intensified.

More artillery was pulled to both sides of the strait to bomb the fleet from high altitudes, causing more ships to sink.

Only seven minutes later, there were less than 20 warships left in the huge Black Sea Fleet. Excluding those that were incapable of action, only eight warships could move.

The Russian officer who was temporarily elected recalled something, his eyes lit up, and while observing the battlefield with a telescope on the deck, he put his mouth close to the ear of his staff and whispered something.

Then several warships exploded instantly, steel bars scattered into the sea, and flames shot up into the sky. The raging flames spread to the land relying on the oil on the sea surface until they burned some grass on the shore, and the fire spread rapidly.

The Turkish artillerymen who were still firing were frightened by this formation, and they fled without caring about their artillery.

Seeing that this trick was effective, more immobile ships also blew themselves up in the same way. Soon the sea was full of flames.

The only five warships that were able to move took the opportunity to escape, while saluting the flames behind them.

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