Chapter 32 Is this the third largest navy in the world?
() Just before the "Mikasa" exploded and sank, the Russian fleet was seized by the Japanese battleship formation, and was hit and attacked its two flagships. It was in a state of chaos and no command and was passively beaten. Who knows
The Japanese battleship "Mikasa" suddenly exploded and sank. The Japanese battleship formation also experienced a small chaos and stopped shelling due to this unexpected incident. This is equivalent to giving the Russians timely help. After all, they are the third largest naval power in the world.
When fleet commander Roger Stevinsky was injured and unconscious, the second-in-command Major General Nobogatov immediately raised the command flag on his flagship and took over the command of Roger Stevinsky.
The Russian battleship formation and cruiser formation, while releasing smoke, adjusted their messy formations. During the brief ceasefire period of the Japanese fleet, they slightly opened the distance from the Japanese fleet, and gradually restored the formation of the battleships, starting to have a purpose.
The and Japanese fleets began to confront her.
As the saying goes, good fortune never comes singly, and misfortunes never come singly. The Japanese had just lost their flagship Mikasa, and the Russians seized the opportunity to adjust the disrupted formation. After the war started again, the Japanese's good luck was gone, and several rounds of firings failed.
The Russian warship was not hit, but the Russians' luck began to improve. In the second round of firing, two 12-inch shells hit the front turret and control tower of the Japanese battleship Shikishima.
The Shikishima battleship is an improved version of the British Majesty-class battleship. It was built by the British Thames Iron Works. There are four ships of the same class, namely Shikishima, Mikasa, Asari and Hatsuse. Among them, Hatsuse
During the sneak attack on Port Arthur, it hit two mines in a row and sank in the Bohai Sea. The Mikasa exploded and sank just now. Now the only battleships of this level are the Shikishima and the Asahi, which followed not far behind.
This battleship adopts the British design. The turret and command tower have 275 mm armor, the sides are 225 mm, and the deck is 110 mm. The Russians’ 12-inch caliber 40-times-caliber main gun fires shells that penetrate armor.
The capability is over 300 mm, so the front turret and control tower of the Shikishima were directly penetrated by the Russian ship's shells and exploded internally.
The Japanese Navy has always been known for its hard training, strict discipline, and bravery in combat. However, one problem is that when the battle is fierce, Japanese gunners like to stack explosive packets in the turret to speed up the loading.
This desperate spirit can be praised, but this behavior brings devastating consequences.
After the Shikishima's front turret was penetrated, the shell exploded violently inside the turret, which ignited the propellant pack inside the turret. Then, following the loading machine, the flames of Shimase gunpowder directly entered the ammunition below.
Curry.
Just a few seconds after the Shikishima was hit, its front hull suddenly expanded at a speed that could be discerned with the naked eye, and then a ball of flames erupted from the inside of the front turret, and the entire turret was directly blown up.
It fell into the air, and the bow of the Shikishima was also blown open, like a popsicle, with the tip bit off in one bite, and the bite was not very good and not neat at all.
No matter how advanced a warship is, it is impossible to sink it if such a big hole is blown from the inside. As more and more seawater pours into the hull, the Shikishima begins to lower its head, and the sailors on the ship begin to dive toward the sea.
The lifeboat was lowered, and it seemed that the captain of the Shikishima also knew that his warship was hopeless.
The sinking of the Japanese Navy's Shikishima greatly inspired the confidence of the Russian navy's officers and soldiers, and also greatly dampened the Japanese Navy's originally high fighting spirit. Originally, the Russian fleet had three more battleships than the Japanese fleet.
I was stunned by the tactics of the Japanese fleet just now and lost two flagships. Now the Japanese also lost two battleships. Both sides are back on the same starting line. The Russians have more ships and cannons, and the Japanese have fewer ships, but
The training level is high and the shooting accuracy is much higher than that of their Russian counterparts.
The Japanese and Russian fleets were already in a parallel state at this time. In addition to the battleship formations in front starting to fight each other, the cruiser formations behind the two sides also began to fight against each other. Coupled with the addition of various destroyers and gunboats, the entire sea became a pot of porridge.
There was smoke and firelight everywhere.
Rear Admiral Misu Sotaro, the acting commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, stood on his flagship "Rijin" cruiser, holding the telescope on his chest with both hands, looking at the dozens of ships from both sides fighting on the sea, with an abnormal expression.
heavy.
Rear Admiral Misu is very aware of the current situation. The Japanese fleet's warships are inferior to the Russian fleet in quantity and quality. Taking advantage of the Russian fleet's long-distance attack, its performance and combat effectiveness have declined, coupled with the sudden attack of the Japanese fleet,
The formation of the Russian fleet was already in chaos, and victory was in sight. Who would have thought that Commander Yamamoto's flagship Mikasa was suddenly hit by a bomb and exploded, causing the Japanese fleet to panic instantly. The Russian fleet took advantage of this chaotic period to organize an effective attack.
They counterattacked and sank the unlucky Shikishima. Now the Japanese only have 3 battleships left. Although the cruiser formation has suppressed the Russian cruisers, if they want to deal with the battleships, they must rely on the firepower of the battleships and cruisers.
Far from it.
"Order the destroyer fleet to launch a torpedo attack on the enemy." Rear Admiral Sansu thought for a while and finally issued a second order.
"Your Excellency, in this case, it will be difficult for the destroyer fleet to get close to the enemy's battle formation, right..." The chief of staff next to him had some opinions on Sansu's order. When the opponent's battleship formation was in order,
If a destroyer is sent to conduct a torpedo attack, it will be difficult to achieve effective damage, and because the opponent's firepower is concentrated, the attacking destroyer will suffer heavy losses.
"Execution, for the victory of the empire, this is a necessary sacrifice." Rear Admiral Misu did not hesitate and still insisted on his order. In fact, he also knew in his heart that launching a torpedo attack at this time would basically let the destroyer die, but in
When the Russian fleet focused on attacking destroyers, Japan's battleship formations could gain valuable breathing time and proactively adjust from being passively beaten.
After receiving the order from the acting flagship, the commander of the Japanese destroyer fleet, Lieutenant General Guazo Gaiyoshi, raised the Z-flag on his flagship Tsushima protected cruiser, and took the lead in accelerating, leading eight destroyers to launch an attack on the Russian battleship formation.
Charged.
The Tsushima protected cruiser is the first cruiser built by Japan itself and has been in service for just one year. Since it is a protected cruiser, its speed is not the first, only 20 knots. Soon, the destroyers on both sides ran out
At high speed, it gradually surpassed Tsushima and quickly inserted into the Russian battle formation.
The Russians were immersed in the excitement of escaping from death and sinking an opponent's battleship. The six remaining battleships had basically restored their battle formation and were attacking three Japanese battleships 6,000 meters away in wave after wave.
The shells were pouring. At this time, it was suddenly discovered that several destroyers of the Japanese fleet were rushing over from the left front at high speed, intending to use torpedo attacks. The Russian destroyers did not show weakness, and five destroyers immediately passed the battle line.
, facing the Japanese destroyer, the six Russian battleships also switched more than half of the secondary battery firepower on the ship, and began to intercept the Japanese destroyer that was rushing over.
Although the Japanese destroyers were very brave and accelerated desperately against all kinds of large-caliber shells, due to the distance between the two sides and the concentrated fire from the other side, three Japanese destroyers were hit halfway through the charge.
After catching fire, they withdrew from the battle. The remaining five destroyers were still twisting their hulls like they were drugged, and while releasing smoke, they rushed towards the distance where the torpedoes were launched.
Although the Russian Navy ranks third in the world, its training and quality are far from this level. In addition, as soon as the war started, it was in a passive position and the psychological quality of many commanders and sailors also declined greatly. See ri
Regardless of its own safety, the destroyer rushed towards it like a madman. The captain of the battleship Nicholas I, who was in the middle of the Russian battleship formation, became a little timid. Without waiting for the fleet's order, he decided to evade the torpedo attack in advance and began to attack him.
Turning the rudder to the right, the Orell following it also turned in confusion.
Originally, if the Russian battle formations concentrated their firepower on the Japanese destroyers, and if our own destroyers rushed up to fight, the Japanese destroyers would have little chance to reach the distance of firing torpedoes. Who would have thought that the Russians themselves would mess up first?
The three battleships behind them turned to evade in advance, causing the density of artillery fire to drop a lot. The three battleships in the front saw that the brothers behind them had begun to escape, and their military morale began to become unstable. The originally low hit rate became even more disastrous.
Taking this opportunity, the five remaining Japanese destroyers dragged their wounded bodies and made a final sprint. They turned and dropped more than 30 torpedoes 500 meters away from the Russian battleship formation.
Seeing that the Japanese destroyer dropped the torpedo, the remaining three Russian battleships that were still holding on to the battle line couldn't stand it any longer. They immediately began to accelerate and evade, and rushed to help their battleships intercept the Japanese destroyers. The Russian destroyers were defective.
The dilemma was over. Without the firepower of our own battleships to contain it, the Japanese battleships turned their guns in unison and directly turned these Russian destroyers into fireballs.
