Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 4: War – Chapter 45: Case Yellow (Day 13- Crimson Sky)

BOOM

A 381 mm, 15-inch shell, splashes against the water nearly 5 kilometers away from RMS Bismarck. Caught by the Belkan flagship's counter-ordinance sensor suite, the shell was allowed to harmlessly miss the dreadnought by miles instead of being intercepted. Much to the chagrin of the remaining crew aboard HMS Howe, the battleship proved too imbalanced to act as a stable firing platform.

With the Howe listing heavily to the starboard side, and little to no engine power, her A-turret is broken with two of her starboard secondary turrets similarly destroyed, it's hard to say whether or not the battleship can put up much of a fight. Her crew is diminished, and the fire control system is too damaged to be reliable. The fact that HMS Howe missed her first shot by five kilometers indicates that her radar and rangefinders were severely impaired. It will take little to no effort at all for the Belkan warships to finish off the Howe. Due to how damaged she is, even the Elbing-class's 128 mm guns can reliably sink her. Still, that will be too easy. A slight against the Pride of the Belkan Reich is not to be ignored.

Leading a detached Task Force of the High Sea Fleet to pave the way forward for the Marines, RMS Bismarck turns starboard while leveling all of her guns in the direction of HMS Howe. Following Bismarck's steps, her sisters: RMS Tirpitz, and RMS Agir, alongside their escort of cruisers and destroyers, similarly point their main and secondary batteries at the stationary Erusean battleship.

"CIC," Admiral Tallulah says through the Bismarck's intercom. "Do we have her?"

"CIC to the bridge. Vessel is identified as a KGV-class battleship. Bearing 198, range of 10 kilometers and reducing. Targeting data is transferred to Gunnery."

The Howe, seeing the undeterred Bismarck and her formation of warships maintaining their approach, is incensed. Despite the risk of heavy return fire, the Royal Navy battleship continues to train their guns, both secondaries and primaries alike. Using a combination of skill and Hail Mary, the gunners on the Howe calculate the approximate distance from them to the Belkan Task Force. Either out of stalwart courage or sheer stubbornness, the surviving officer orders for a full salvo to fire from Howe's remaining guns. From her starboard side, HMS Howe unleashes a resounding six 381 mm and four 133 mm shells. Due to the decreasing distance, it takes around 8 seconds for the two kinds of ordinances to close the remaining gap. By that time, a second barrage of the Howe's remaining starboard secondaries is already in the air.

"Incoming! 7 seconds!"

"Intercept!"

Fed with real-time data from their CICs, the Weapon Departments on the numerous Belkan warships track the flight paths of the inbound ordinances before starting interception. From the largest of dreadnoughts to the smallest of destroyers, the Belkan Task Force opens up their plethora of 30 mm CIWS. For a moment, swords of fire dominate the sky while a brief but noticeable sound of buzzsaws drowns out the atmospheric ambiance. Ultimately, not a single Erusean shell managed to penetrate the overlapping field of fire from the Belkan close-in weapon systems. Out of sheer stupor and desperation, orders come from the top of the Howe to continue the loading and firing of her cannons.

Yet, bored by the ineffective display of HMS Howe, Admiral Tallulah goes on to order.

"I have seen enough. Put her out of her misery."

"Directive received. All warships, fire at will."

At what can only be described at point-blank range, nearly all ballistic weapons of the entire Belkan Task Force open fire. Barring the CIWS, the primary and secondary guns on the four classes of warships constantly bombard the unfortunate Howe. 57 mm autocannons unleash a withering hail of shells at a rate of 18 rounds/minute, and there are dozens upon dozens of these turrets. Lighter Belkan warships also revel in the full usage of the 128 mm and 150 mm dual-purpose guns, firing projectiles nonstop with deep pom-pom sound effects. Then comes the 203 mm and 432 mm gun turrets whose shell tracers are distinctively brighter than any other vessels. Despite being autoloaded like any other gun platform, the larger and heavier shells still have a noticeable delay between salvos. Yet, the devastation delivered on HMS Howe by the heavy cruisers and dreadnoughts is unmatched. If there's a ranking system for damage dealt, then it would probably look like this:

• 432 mm: Shells penetrated the broadside and waterline of HMS Howe. A large explosion occurs in the engine room of the Erusean battleship, thus tearing gaping holes along the center waterline of both the port and starboard sides of the Howe. A couple of shells overpenned the vessel's fore-end, coming through the other side before exploding and causing further flooding. Noticeably, a shell dug deep into the vessel's citadel, right beneath the battleship's bridge, and detonated the magazine of her B-turret. The subsequent blast collapsed the ship's control center into itself.

• 203 mm: Multiple penetrations along HMS Howe's less protected broadside. Due to prior armor degradation, some of the shells managed to severely damage the ships' citadel area, with heavy damage inflicted on Howe's aft section, causing severe flooding and internal fire on the upper decks. Noticeably, Howe's C-turret was decommissioned by a direct hit of 203 mm armor-piercing shell, penetrating through the gap between the barrel and and detonating inside the turret room, killing everyone inside and causing a major fire hazard.

• 150 mm and 128 mm: It's unknown which gun caliber outshined the other. Yet, analysis suggests that both calibers were devastating nonetheless. The 128 mm guns, while not as powerful as the 150 mm, have double the fire rate. Both gun calibers may find it hard to penetrate the heavy armor belt on battleships, yet, they absolutely destroy a vessel's superstructure, fire control system, and delicate turret machinery. The same happened to HMS Howe, being set ablaze by a dense volume of fire with not a single part of her deck left untouched.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

• 57 mm: Small for a dual-purpose gun which also double-up as an intermediate CIWS, the 57 mm Goalkeepers aren't usually the thing one would employ against hostile surface combatants. Yet, when they do, they prove to be no less deadly than the bigger cannons. Owing to their ridiculous reload of 0.3 seconds, the 57 mm autocannons aboard Belkan warships unleashed a withering hail of shells on the poor Howe. Packing enough punch to penetrate even some weak parts of the Howe's armor belt, much less her superstructure, the 57 mm shells casted a storm of fragments and shockwaves that mince biological matters into heaps of gore among the twisted, scorched metals and wood of the Howe.

For nearly a full minute, the Belkan Task Force ceaselessly bombarded the poor Erusean vessel. Unless some managed to jump off the Howe before the attack, there probably won't be any survivors on the sinking, rupturing battleship. If one Bismarck was enough to slap silly the Home Fleet back then, imagine what three of them and an entire unit of escort would do on a singular, yet already heavily damaged warship.

The result is crushing for the surviving Eruseans, both ashore and struggling in the wake of Howe's destruction. If even their battleship was dismissed so easily, then what chance would the other crippled vessels stand against the Reichsmarine? The answer is a resounding none, but with the Belkan Task Force closing in, the survivors of the Grand Fleet must make a choice.

Do they surrender their crippled vessels and save many, many lives that are aboard?

Should they choose to stand and fight like Howe just did?

Or will they abandon their warships and continue the fight on land like the EEF?

So many decisions, so many thoughts, yet little to no time at all to react. For the shadows of the Belkan Task Force are already upon them. Illuminated by the crimson sky above, the Reichsmarine's finest displace the water and debris like a hot knife through butter. The leading vessels, the Bismarck-class dreadnoughts, project an overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere. Their sizes and angular visages awestruck the Erusean seamen, making them fall into the mania and stupor. Sailing dauntless in between their foes' sinking corpses, the dreadnoughts and their escorts demand nothing but absolute submission from their nemesis.

And if there's anyone left daring enough to tempt fate... Well, the dreadnoughts won't mind delivering another devastating blow to keep them down for good.