The Veneto-class battleship's 381 mm caliber main gun has a total gun body weight of 102.4 tons, a total length of 19781 mm/L51.92, a barrel length of 19050 mm/L50.0, a rifled section length of 15850 mm, a chamber length of 3071 mm, and a volume of 456.216 liters. The surface of the inner bore is engraved with 96 equal right-handed rifling lines. The negative line is 3.1 mm deep, 8.458 mm wide, and the positive line is 4.0 mm wide. The rifling twist is 30 times the diameter. The types of ammunition include capped armor-piercing projectiles and grenades. The armor-piercing projectile is 1.699 meters long and weighs 885 kilograms. The bottom charge of the projectile is 88 kilograms of TNT. The grenade is the same length as the armor-piercing projectile and weighs 774 kilograms. The propellant is packed in 6 packages with a total weight of 271.7 kg. The normal operating chamber pressure of the artillery gun is 320 MPa, and the muzzle velocity of armor-piercing projectiles is 850-870 meters/second. From the perspective of muzzle penetration power, the power of Italy's 381mm artillery is second only to Japan's Type 94 460mm gun and the American MK7 406mm/L50 gun.
It can be said that the two Veneto-class battleships are the pride of the Italian Navy, and the huge power gained by sacrificing the life of the main gun barrels on such Italian battleships can also be reflected in this kind of suppression operation. The German transport fleet is still on standby. In this duel between the artillery of both sides, it is very dangerous for ordinary transport ships to enter the range.
The British commander who defended Dover Beach was Lieutenant General Harold Alexander. When Germany blitzed Poland, Harold Alexander arrived in France with the British Expeditionary Force and was lucky enough to return during the Dunkirk evacuation. British mainland, and was promoted to commander of the British First Army during the period. After the failure of the Dunkirk evacuation planned by the British government, Lieutenant General Harold Alexander, as one of the few surviving senior British commanders, Churchill was entrusted with the important task of defending Dover, where Germany was expected to attack.
The defeat in France left Lieutenant General Harold Alexander with the German armored groups still fresh in his mind, and it was Lieutenant General Harold Alexander who came up with the idea of placing various obstacles and anti-tank obstacles on the beaches. And he took the initiative to ask Churchill to personally take control of this dangerous area. Although Churchill did not want one of the few senior commanders like Lieutenant General Harold Alexander to be here, because it was very dangerous here. But Dover Beach really needed an experienced commander to take charge here, so it reluctantly agreed to Lieutenant General Harold Alexander's request.
In fact, Lieutenant General Harold Alexander's original destiny should have been steadily rising. If historical development were to follow, he would have become the commander of the British Southern Military Region. Later, he commanded the Burma Campaign on the orders of Churchill and became the commander of the British 1st Army Group. , and then his footsteps will return to Africa in Cairo, Egypt, to succeed Auchinleck as the commander-in-chief of the British Army's Middle East Theater, and eventually become a general as famous as Eisenhower and Montgomery. But now that the German army is aggressively attacking, the British, who are stretched thin due to the lack of senior generals, have to put the few remaining army commanders in the most dangerous position. Lieutenant General Harold Alexander The future fate has now become unpredictable.
Under the command of Lieutenant General Harold Alexander, the British army deployed twenty 380MM cannons here to fiercely fight back against the combined fleet besieging Dover at this time. Facing eight battleships and nearly a hundred main guns with a caliber of 305 mm or more, the British soldiers fought back bravely because they knew that if they could not stop the German troops from landing here. They could no longer stop the German army's advance. The entire United Kingdom will be pierced by Germany's powerful armored groups in a very short period of time.
The main gun shells of both sides came and went, but in general, the British army was at a clear disadvantage. After all, their opponents were much stronger than themselves, and although there was no Bismarck-class battleship from Germany, known as the world's number one, participating in the battle, But there was a steady stream of German Stuka dive bombers in the sky participating in the battle. In front of the Stuka, which could dive at a ninety-degree angle and drop bombs accurately, the targets of these British cannons were too big.
British soldiers had to fight against three-dimensional attacks. In the minds of the British, they had never fought at such a disadvantage. The last time they were hit so weakly could be traced back to the Roman Empire two thousand years ago. It's time. Even when the German army was the strongest and unstoppable during World War I, the British had never been so pessimistic, and now they really think that God has given up on Britain. They chose Germany to replace their original position as world hegemon. For a moment, they suddenly remembered the prophecies that had been spread throughout Britain after the war broke out. Some people who believed in the prophecies in "Centuries" began to become suspicious again.
"What are you doing? Fight back quickly! Behind you is Britain. You need to protect your children and wives now. Cheer up!" Some officers obviously noticed the strange behavior of some people and immediately shouted. Only then did some of these soldiers, who had fallen into fantasy, remember their current responsibilities as fighter planes, and immediately started working in a hurry, waiting for orders at their posts. The officers could only sigh secretly, "The British Empire is indeed not very adaptable to war on land. May God bless Britain!" In fact, some officers had completely despaired of the so-called God.
At this time, Lieutenant General Harold Alexander only hoped that the situation here could last longer, or that the German landing force would move later so that British troops from other areas could arrive for reinforcements. At this time, Lieutenant General Harold Alexander had already conveyed the news to Churchill that the German landing force would land at Dover, and received Churchill's assurance that once the battle began, the entire British army would rush to Dover to fight. , hoping that Lieutenant General Harold Alexander would arrive with reinforcements.
No matter how Lieutenant General Harold Alexander commanded, or how brave the British soldiers were, in general, this was a battle with great disparity between strengths and weaknesses. The British soldiers had almost nothing but their own lives. No, without air force support or naval restraint, they can only fight on their own. They have almost no heavy weapons and only some light weapons to use. It may be that the British spent all their energy on the defense line, but the armed forces fell behind. The German landing troops faced a complete line of defense, but Germany was also trying its best to ensure the lives of the soldiers. Use the air force and navy to help land the army.
After all, the black-faced fleet has the advantage, especially the 381 mm caliber main guns of the Italian Veneto-class battleships in the combined fleet. Every bombardment will have apocalyptic consequences. Although the British are proud of their navy, But not everyone has witnessed a battle between battleships. The British army has been annihilated since the war began, and there are no soldiers with combat experience for Churchill to use. So when I saw the salvo fired by the Italian Veneto-class battleship, I instinctively felt scared. This once again proves that ordinary people are ordinary people and should never think of confronting the army, even if the opponent is Italian.
With an obvious advantage, the twenty 380MM main guns relied on by the British army were pulled out one by one by the combined fleet which had an absolute advantage. There were earth-shaking loud noises, and after the smoke dissipated, only the forts turned into scrap metal could be seen. The twisted barrels and the still-yet-clearing smoke confirmed how heavy a blow this place had just received. Although the United Fleet also suffered losses, they were insignificant compared to the losses suffered by the British.
After waiting for all the British heavy artillery to mute, the combined fleet began to clear the barriers on the coast, giving enough space for the landing German armored groups. With the sound of explosions, those barriers were directly flattened. At this time, both sides also understood that the landing operation had begun. Although they had lost the support of the fort, the British soldiers still used all their artillery to straf the sea.
"It's time!" Guderian shouted, "According to His Majesty's order, the second part of the Blue Plan has officially begun! Order all soldiers to beg them to fight this battle well, because this will determine the fate of Germany and Britain. The fate of nations!"
"Yes, General!" The staff officer seemed to be infected by Guderian's words, and went forward with confidence to deliver the order. Following Guderian's order, thousands of transport ships and barges, loaded with soldiers from the German armored group, rushed to the Dover beach. Despite the obstruction of the hail of bullets, these crew members still bravely moved forward. Many of these people were hit by grenades fired by British soldiers, but they still moved forward without hesitation, forward, and forward again.
Boom, boom, boom..., the deafening explosions seemed to tell these brave soldiers that this would be a journey of death, and only the bravest could survive such a battle. Getting closer and closer to the coast, some low-ranking officers on the transport ships kept shouting to the surrounding soldiers to calm down the nervous soldiers. Someone kept reminding them of the idea, "At the moment of landing, , you must rush to the beach as quickly as possible without any stop, because that will make your lives disappear! Pay attention to the obstacles used to block us during the march, if the firepower is too strong If so, hide behind those obstacles first! In short, you must hurry up. Even if bullets are flying towards you, you must rush forward instead of avoiding them, because you cannot run faster than the bullets!"
Some people use hatred to motivate soldiers, "That is our enemy. As long as the landing is successful, it will mark our Germany's victory over a country that has always hated Germany. It will also be a key battle for Germany to return to the world's great power. Soldiers" Let us, let the blood of the British prove the military might of the German army!"