"Order, use the Chongming ship and the Yongan ship as the lead ships..."
Following the orders of fleet commander Zuo Xiaotong, the battle formation of the fleet was constantly adjusted.
The Chongming ship and the Yongan ship are both Taiyuan-class armored cruisers. Yongan is the capital of Shandong Province, and Chongming is the administrative seat of the New Guinea territory. Its place name comes from Chongming Bo Ganhui, who was also a general under Zheng Chenggong. It is separated from the Chenggong Islands.
Looking at the sea.
Although they are armored cruisers, the 254mm main guns of the two ships are not much inferior to those of battleships. After all, the ten-inch main gun of the British was once the main gun of the second-class battleship.
"Raise the Z flag!"
After completing the formation change, Zuo Xiaotong issued the order to raise the Z flag, which seems to have become a habit during the decisive battle of the Imperial Navy.
At the same time as the "Z" flag was raised, the flag bearer began to play the slogan - hundreds of millions of people are looking forward to everyone's hard fight!
In the armored fire control room at the top of the mast of the battleship Victory, Li Jieyun was staring at the opponent in the distance while measuring distance. At this time, he was awkwardly using his eyes to observe through the left and right eyepieces at the same time, while adjusting the adjustment button without turning.
—This is the characteristic of the stereoscopic rangefinder. It is the latest achievement of Imperial optical technology, but it is very awkward to use. The image seen by both eyes is the image of the same target formed by both ends of the rangefinder. Gaze intently into the distance.
Target, he continuously manipulated the rangefinder wheel to move the diamond-shaped cursor in the eyepiece back and forth.
Done!
When he saw the diamond-shaped cursor coincide with the image of the target, Li Jieyun immediately read out the latest distance number aloud.
"Sir, the Imperial fleet has been discovered!"
September 13, 4:35 in the morning.
A powerful deep shout came from the lookout hands of the dreadnought battleship in front of the USS Iowa. The officers began to adjust the observation instruments and telescopes, and they even seemed a little excited at this time.
Because they know very well how powerful they are - in the pre-dreadnought era, the "Iowa" was definitely the king. It has two twin 305mm naval guns at the bow and stern, and eight 203mm secondary guns.
The main gun and six 100mm secondary guns are comparable to the two "Huizhou-class" ships in the Imperial Navy in terms of firepower alone.
But even the best pre-dreadnought is still a pre-dreadnought.
"Twelve ships versus nine ships, the advantage is mine!"
Before Admiral Schroeder could finish speaking, his brows suddenly knitted together. The distance was now even closer, the sea surface was as smooth as a mirror, and the Imperial South Pacific Squadron had completely revealed their ships.
Although the distance is far away, you can see the enemy's six battleships. Although they are in a line of battle, the distance between them is very close, so close that it almost gives people the illusion that they are one warship.
.
"What are they going to do?"
When Schroeder, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was puzzled, at this moment, on every battleship of the South Pacific Squadron, the well-prepared gunners were gearing up to load the 254mm or 305mm capped armor-piercing projectiles one by one.
Entering the gun chamber, the turret rotates and points at the enemy ship. At the same time, the thick barrel rises to the maximum elevation angle, pointing maliciously at the opponent.
Moreover, the damage control team is already in place. They are squatting at the hatch, ready to attack at any time. Whether a warship can defeat the enemy depends not only on the accuracy of the cannonballs, but also on whether the damage control team is excellent. An excellent team.
The damage control team's well-coordinated watertight cabins are enough for warships to survive brutal naval battles.
Suddenly, the damage control soldier who was at the hatch felt a wave under his feet. The next moment, the deafening sound of artillery came over, and the fierce gunfire swept across the deck.
Everyone's hearts tightened, the long-awaited battle finally began!
"17,000 yards away!"
The moment the ranging officer sent the distance reading, Admiral Schroeder frowned.
The enemy ship opened fire!
so far!
In the U.S. Navy's gunnery drills, the farthest shooting distance was within 12,000 yards, but now the Imperial Navy started bombarding at a distance of 17,000 yards.
Can it be hit from such a distance?
It takes 22 seconds for a 305mm artillery shell to fly 16,000 meters. Standing in the command tower of the flagship battleship USS Victory, Zuo Xiaotong held a telescope in his hand. Next to him, the young first officer held a stopwatch to count.
"...20,21,22,2..."
Finally, two clouds of water rose up about a hundred meters away from the Iowa.
"One more chance!"
At this time, Zuo Xiaotong's heart twisted into a small ball. He knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - as early as five years ago, with the invention of new positional rangefinders and calculation disks, the Imperial Navy
The artillery battle distance increased from 12,000 meters to 16,000 meters, and a warship even hit the target ship 20,000 meters away.
These 4000 meters are their advantage!
Although the advantage brought by technology is only for a few minutes, if you seize the opportunity, you can deal with these Americans severely.
"As expected of the Imperial Navy, its artillery skills are so capable at such a long distance..."
After praising him, Schroeder ordered.
"Boost!"
Just when Schroeder gave the order to try to close the distance and close to the position where he was good at fighting, the Imperial Navy warship conducted two more rounds of shelling. After passing two rounds of calibration, finally, the shells hit harder and harder, and the third round of shelling
, it was directly hit as a near-miss.
It was at this time that the gunnery officer of the battleship Victory let out an angry shout, and the shells of the four 305mm main guns suddenly came out. At the same time, the other five battleships of the Second Fleet fired eight 305mm main guns.
The gun, 12 254mm main guns and secondary guns fired at the same time. This was their first salvo.
Ten seconds later, the Royal Navy's "Bafleur" accompanied the lead ship. The British sailors on the deck of the "Bafleur" battleship and the officers in the command tower all saw the sky tearing through the air.
With a flash of light, the shells accurately landed around the "Bafleur". Almost one-third of them were near-misses. At the moment when the white water column soared into the sky, there was a loud but harsh impact in the violent explosion.
When it came out, it instantly drowned out the sound of the explosion.
When the sound of metal collision came, everyone's expressions changed. The battleship was hit!
"boom……"
A cloud of smoke suddenly exploded from the No. 1 gun position on the port side of the "Bafleur" just below the command tower, and the smoke cloud from the explosion violently spat out in all directions.
At the same time, more violent explosions continued to explode on the port side of the "Bafleur" and near the port deck. The "Bafleur", which was cared for by the concentrated firepower of six warships, became the most favored ship on the sea for a while.
The red man - the whole thing turned red!
The red ones smoked, the red ones turned black!
In the fiery red smoke, black smoke rose into the sky. In the violent explosion, some lifeboats were even blown into the sky...
This chapter has been completed!