Seeing that the opponent was ready to attack at any time, Liu Da, not to be outdone, ordered the three cruisers under his command to also enter a state of war to respond to emergencies at any time.
In this way, six warships were in a confrontation in the Japanese waters, and the conflict between the two sides was about to break out.
As time went by, both sides became impatient, and finally speeded up and began to seize advantageous positions.
To say that the state of the warships on both sides is naturally the American Olympia cruiser is the best, but the other two light cruisers led by this cruiser are not as fast, so Olympia cannot leave these two cruisers and act alone.
This time Olympia's speed advantage was suppressed at every turn.
On Liu Da's side, in addition to the slower armored cruiser Jiangsu, there are two Forth-class cruisers customized from Geely. The Shanghai and Nanjing can reach 20 knots, so now both sides can be said to be
Evenly matched, the Nanyang Navy led by Liu Da still had an advantage in terms of the number of artillery and tonnage.
It should be said that wars are often caused by accidental factors.
The same is true this time. Although the U.S. Navy has been established for a long time, it rarely participates in wars. This time when it was chasing each other with the Nanyang Navy on the sea to seize a favorable position, a naval gunner was too nervous.
The gun rope was pulled unintentionally, and a 150 mm caliber shell immediately flew towards the Jiangsu armored cruiser.
Lawrence originally did not want to conflict with the opponent, because during this period of confrontation, he had discovered that the opponent's number of heavy artillery was twice as many as his own.
Although his Olympia cruiser can deal with that armored cruiser in a single fight, the opponent is also followed by two more than 4,000-ton armored ships, and his side is both a more than 2,000-ton light cruiser. Compared with his own
The fleet is at a disadvantage.
In the end, things were not at all what he thought. The two sides confronted each other for a while and then retreated after dark. However, the new recruits under his command fired their artillery in advance due to nervousness.
There was no other way out at this time. Lawrence felt that since the cannon had already been fired, he should strike first and gain the upper hand, so he ordered to fire immediately, attacking the opponent's 8,000-ton armored cruiser first, trying to severely damage it first.
Following Lawrence's order, the four 203mm arrow cannons on the Olympia immediately roared at the Jiangsu armored cruiser.
Liu Da's side never expected that the other side would suddenly launch an artillery bombardment, so he was caught off guard.
Because the distance between the two sides was very close, during the first shelling of the cruiser Olympia, a 203 mm caliber shell hit the armored belt of the cruiser Jiangsu. At that time, a piece of armor was shot down. If it were not for its large tonnage,
The armor is thick, I'm afraid this shot has already penetrated it.
Seeing that he was under attack, Liu Da put aside all scruples and ordered all warships to target the opponent's flagship, the Olympia cruiser, for bombardment.
At this time, columns of water swayed around the Olympia cruiser. Just when Lawrence was thankful that the opponent's first round of shelling did not hit him? A 234 mm caliber shell fired by the Jiangsu hit the bow of the Olympia cruiser.
Since the capital of the warship is the weakest armored area, even though the Olympia cruiser was equipped with Harvey steel, it was still unable to withstand the attack of this heavy artillery and was immediately cut off a large section by the shell.
As soon as Lawrence saw this situation, he felt that it could not continue like this. In such a close combat with the opponent, when the opponent's main guns were far more than his own, he was completely at a disadvantage and should use his strengths.
So Lawrence couldn't care less about the remaining two light cruisers, ordered the warships to use full power, and began to race wildly on the sea.
At this time, the Olympia cruiser immediately increased its speed to 21 knots? How could the two light cruisers of the Lewis escort fleet keep up with such speed, and they were quickly pulled away.
When Liu Dayi saw this situation, he frowned a little, but he was not completely helpless. He immediately ordered the Shanghai and Nanjing to move forward at full speed and put them on the flanks of the Jiangsu to resist the Olympia cruiser and make it impossible to pick up the cruiser.
Entering the cruiser Jiangsu.
If you want to fight alone? The Shanghai and Nanjing are similar in tonnage to the Olympia cruiser, but they are really no match for the Olympia cruiser.
Although the main guns equipped by these two cruisers are the same as those of the Olympia cruiser, each warship only has two guns. And although the armor is about the same thickness as the Olympia cruiser, it is only equipped with ordinary armor steel and cannot compete with Harvey Gang.
But now if the two of them are facing the outside world in unison, they can still barely resist the approach of the Olympia cruiser.
Taking advantage of this moment, the Jiangsu armored cruiser also increased its speed and quickly approached the two American light cruisers.
These two American light cruisers have been under construction for some years, and their top speed can only rival that of the Jiangsu armored cruiser.
Therefore, facing the pursuit of the Jiangsu armored cruiser, they were unable to get away several times. In the end, they had no choice but to use close combat tactics and conduct a torpedo attack on the Jiangsu armored cruiser at close range.
But Liu Dake was not that stupid. When he saw the opponent turning the bow and rushing towards him, he immediately made the cruiser Jiangsu draw a graceful arc, successfully avoiding the opponent's approach, and then again
At one time, the four 234mm main guns on the bow were aimed at the light cruiser at the front.
Since all the sailors on the Jiangsu armored cruiser are Liu Hai's biochemicals, their naval warfare technology has reached the pinnacle of this era.
Therefore, when the Jiangsu armored cruiser fired its first main gun, it formed a straddle attack on the light cruiser.
Next, in the third round of shelling, a 234 mm caliber shell hit the light cruiser.
The leading light cruiser only had a displacement of about 2,000 tons. After being hit by the shell on the right wing, a large hole opened in the entire hull. The warship's speed immediately dropped by half, and could only reach about 8 knots.
The hull also began to tilt to the right.
Although the captain of the cruiser immediately ordered the left cabin to be filled with water, bringing the warship back to a stable state.
However, the light cruiser's speed immediately dropped from eight knots to six knots due to too much water.
Now, the Jiangsu armored cruiser naturally wanted to beat the dog in the water. Four 234MM main guns and six 152MM secondary guns fired several rounds of shells at the light cruiser in succession.
After being hit by three more shots, the American light cruiser finally couldn't hold on anymore. It broke into two sections in the middle and quickly disappeared on the sea.
Another American light cruiser, when the armored cruiser Jiangsu concentrated its power on the sunken cruiser, had already approached a distance of about 1 kilometer from the Jiangsu.
At this distance, although it was still a bit reluctant to launch torpedoes, there was no longer any concern. The cruiser immediately used the two torpedo tubes on the bow to launch two torpedoes at the Jiangsu cruiser.
The lookout of the Jiangsu had made a meritorious service this time. He was now very alert. When he saw two white marks on the water, he quickly approached the cruiser Jiangsu and immediately reported the situation to the bridge.
After receiving the report, Liu Da also saw the two torpedoes with his telescope, so he hurriedly ordered the Jiangsu to turn to starboard with all his strength.
Therefore, the two torpedoes narrowly missed the Jiangsu's tail and crossed the sea surface.
After the Jiangsu evaded these two torpedoes, it immediately launched a violent attack on the remaining light cruiser.
Since they were closer this time, the accuracy of the cannonballs was at its highest.
After five rounds of shooting, the light cruiser had been hit by seven consecutive shells, and finally disappeared helplessly on the sea.
At this time, the Olympia cruiser on the other side had also entangled the Shanghai and Nanjing.
Lawrence also received formal naval training, so he was very comfortable operating the Olympia cruiser.
The Olympia cruiser was slightly faster and continuously hovered at the bows of the Nanjing and Shanghai, aligning its flanks with the leading cruiser Shanghai.
Then concentrated artillery shelled the cruiser Shanghai several times.
Because the speed of both sides was too fast, the accuracy of the artillery fire was not good, allowing the cruiser Shanghai to escape the disaster.
But as time passed, a shell finally hit the bow of the cruiser Shanghai, and the 203mm main gun on the bow was immediately blown up.
This time the cruiser Shanghai, the only weapon that could pose a threat to the cruiser Olympia, was also lost.
Xu Chuanlong, who commanded the battle of the Shanghai, saw that his side was at a disadvantage, so he immediately made the Shanghai turn completely to starboard, giving up his leading position to the cruiser Nanjing behind him.
Then the Shanghai distanced itself from the Olivia and used another 203 mm main gun on the periphery to harass the Olympia's actions.
After the armored cruiser Nanjing took the position of the Shanghai, it fired several shots. Although one shell hit the Olympia, due to the special armor of the Olympia, it did not have a penetration effect.
However, the Olympia had to pay attention to the harassment of the cruiser Shanghai at all times, so the accuracy of its several rounds of shelling was not high, so it was still safe for the time being to board the armored cruiser Nanjing.
While the battle between the three warships was intense, the Jiangsu armored cruiser suddenly appeared directly in front of the Olympia cruiser.
It turned out that after Liu Da sank two light cruisers, he saw his two heavy cruisers entangled with the Olympia and was already at a disadvantage.
So in order to guard against the speed of the Olympia cruiser, Liu Da quietly drove the Jiangsu armored cruiser in a big circle and suddenly appeared at the front of the Olympia cruiser. At the same time, he fired the four 234mm main guns on the Jiangsu armored cruiser's bow.