The naval battle entered its most intense moment at 1:30 in the morning. At this time, the Zhiyuan and the enemy ship had rushed to within a thousand meters, and the shooting accuracy of the artillery on both sides had reached the optimal position.
The roar of cannons on the North Sea made everyone red-eyed and forget about time and space. Everyone had only one idea, to completely destroy the opponent with cannonballs!
The British fleet in the distance was dumbfounded at this time. The deck was full of officers watching the battle with telescopes. Every loud explosion in the distance could make them tremble.
This was completely different from the traditional form of naval battle. The Zhiyuan showed extremely excellent combat effectiveness. Each of these Royal Navy officers put down their previous arrogance.
"Oh God! Is this an unsinkable ironclad? How thick is its armor? How does our intelligence show it?"
"Report to the Duke, our intelligence personnel have visited the Zhiyuan before. Although they cannot access the core data of the entire ship, through various data analysis of the surface armor, the armor of the Zhiyuan should be about three inches..."
"Impossible!" People exclaimed, "We have done experiments on three-inch iron armor shooting, and it will never achieve such a defensive capability!"
"The French fleet has fired three salvos and fired more than 300 shells, but the Zhiyuan is still fighting? God, what kind of warship is this?"
The Duke of Newcastle held the iron railing tightly with both hands and stared at the bloody battlefield in the distance!
"Xiao Letian, Xiao Letian! You are simply a lunatic. How could you design such a perverted battleship? It is completely against common sense!"
"Pass my order! The fleet is approaching, we must have first-hand information!"
"Where's the sketcher? Where's the camera? Record every scene on today's battlefield. This is necessary information for the Royal Navy!"
Photography technology in this era was not that developed yet. Although night scenes could be photographed, the clarity was not high enough. Therefore, some soldiers and officers within the Navy were trained in sketching.
Their pencils rubbed against the paper, and everything on the battlefield in front of them was frozen on the screen!
The British began to approach the core of the battlefield, which caused panic in the French navy. The Glorious also sent a warning signal to the British while engaging in an artillery battle.
However, Britain was founded on a navy, and the navy would never listen to the French warning. The Duke of Newcastle directly stated, "Tell Hough! We, the Royal Navy, are here to watch the war. What we want is war data!"
"We have no interest in interfering with your war. As long as no one attacks us, we will never fire a single shot!"
When Hof received Britain's response, he was so angry that he gritted his molars with hatred. "I can't control that much anymore! Let our cruise fleet immediately outflank this damn battleship counterclockwise and from the northeast of the battlefield!"
Boom... A shell exploded in the air at the mast of the Glory. The mast where the sail was tied was blown to pieces, and the sailors on top screamed and fell into the sea.
"Leave the landing force behind! Let my cruisers outflank them!" Hof himself didn't even realize how panicked his voice sounded during the roar.
But naval battles are not land battles, battleships are not war horses, and they cannot turn around so easily! Although Hof has twenty cruisers under his command, these battleships were just protecting the army landing on the beach.
These cruisers are the slowest, and even the pressure in the boilers has not been increased enough. It will take at least half an hour to join the battlefield.
Half an hour. Will Xiang Ying give them half an hour? Judging by the crazy energy of the Zhiyuan at this moment, I'm afraid it won't even give him ten minutes!
Xiang Ying on the armored command tower was completely wet by the sea water. His mood had completely entered a state of war, and he was so calm that it was scary.
It was difficult for ordinary people to feel his emotions at this moment. Standing on the armored command tower, he had completely turned naval warfare into a game!
No matter whether the lives of the enemy or ours disappeared, he could no longer move his heart. Even if his most familiar comrades were blown into ashes in the bombardment, his heart would not tremble at all!
In Xiao Letian's words, this is the state of killing. It is the same as when a drinker reaches the state of drinking. There is no longer the feeling of being drunk or sober. The war at this moment is like a dream!
At the beginning, Xiang Ying still cared about the casualties of his men, but now he didn't even care about his own life. He was completely possessed by the God of Death, and only victory was in his eyes!
The enemy has fired six salvos, and the Zhiyuan's bow main gun has fired ten salvos from the beginning to now. Both sides have been damaged, and the distance between the enemy and ourselves is only 600 meters.
The Zhiyuan was still holding on. Six enemy salvos left forty-eight explosion points on the Zhiyuan. More than sixty brothers had already died!
But this epoch-making battleship can still hold on, and its structure has not been damaged to this day!
Even if the armor has been blackened like a black painted face, even if the armor has been deformed and dented by more than three inches, after all, no part of the armor has been penetrated, and the Zhiyuan is as indestructible as Mount Tai!
At this time, Xiang Yingcai deeply realized why this battleship was so criticized by Prussian engineers when it was first built. Many engineers said that Xiao Letian's shooting was completely crazy.
Today I can finally prove that the Zhiyuan is still a crazy battleship designed by a madman!
"Master! Only today do I understand how great you are! Only now do I understand that you really came from heaven!"
"What do you think of such a far-sighted design? How did you build this crazy battleship despite the accusations of so many Prussian engineers and scientists?"
"The facts prove that you are right! Only madmen can change this world. There is only one end for those who stick to the old ways...and that is death!"
Xiang Ying held the brass microphone and said calmly, "Keep the speed and keep the boiler pressurized! The Zhiyuan is moving forward at full speed and piercing the enemy's battle formation!"
"Lin Zhen! Use your guns against the Glory on the port side!"
"Qiu Wei! The stern main gun you are responsible for deals with the Banshee on the starboard side!"
"All other rapid-fire cannons and heavy machine guns fire freely! Penetrate the enemy's battle formation!"
"I'm tired of playing with these battleships, now it's the turn of those cruisers!"
Woo hoo hoo... The Zhiyuan suddenly blew its whistle, white high-temperature steam rushed out of the boiler, and the captain's order was passed to every corner of the ship.
The battle has reached this point, and the Zhiyuan's powerful protective power inspired all the soldiers. All the coal shovelers took off their clothes at this moment, and they were all naked and shook the coal shovels with all their strength!
The blue flames in the furnace spurted out over a foot high, burning all the hair on the bodies of these coal shovelers, withering and turning yellow!
"Fuck... it's so enjoyable! Pour cold water on..."
Such high temperatures made it unbearable for all coal shovelers. Someone had to pour a bucket of cold sea water on him before he could continue working.
The Reach had drained all his potential, and so had these soldiers!
A bucket of ice water and a rush of hot sweat. After this battle, all thirty-eight coal shovelers lay down in the Prussian Hospital with cold to their bones.
In the end, three of the workers who suffered the most severe colds died of the illness in Hamburg Hospital!
Fight, the entire Zhiyuan, everyone from top to bottom is fighting for their lives!
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