"Torpedoes launched!"
"Quick, quick... pray quickly!"
"God the Heavenly Father bless us, the Heavenly Father God bless the Chinese and British ships..."
Hong Renkun and Feng Yilong, who were blessed with great luck, also saw the torpedo being launched, so they began to ask God to help them aim.
This time, the Kongming class also spared no effort and released 10 fatal millimeter "big mines" at once, all aimed at the Monmouth, which was aboard Major General Boehmer.
Immediately afterwards, the Warrior-class and the three Guard-class ships following the Kongming also launched torpedoes... The 50 mm or 530 mm steam gas torpedoes were first pushed out of the launch tube by high pressure, and fell into the In the sea water. At the same time as it fell into the water, the steam gas torpedo's motor began to start, and the propeller at the tail of the torpedo also began to rotate rapidly. The rotating propeller pushed the slender torpedo to break through the waves at a high speed of more than 30 knots in the seawater, heading 5,000 meters away. The British warships rushed away.
But it was night, and visibility was poor, so we could only rely on moonlight and occasional flares for illumination. Therefore, the British army did not see the torpedo launch, and it is impossible for them to see the torpedo's wake formed by a large number of bubbles now. Therefore, the British formation did not know that dozens of fatal torpedoes were rushing toward them, so they maintained their original formation and did not take any evasive posture.
It was too late, but it was soon. Boehmer had just regained his feet with the help of his staff, and was calculating how many rounds it would take to hit the Ming army cruiser, which looked to be comparable to the size of a battleship. The millimeter torpedo launched by the Kongming is here!
Moreover, these torpedoes seemed to have become refined. The first torpedo that arrived hit the Monmouth's waterline armor... But the 102mm armor could not block the 102mm torpedo. ? There was only a loud noise, and the waterline armor belt of the Monmouth's starboard amidships opened a hole that even a car could pass in and out. The sea water rushed in!
And the shock caused by the violent explosion knocked Bomei, who had just stood firm, to the ground... This time he fell upside down, and his bald head hit the floor hard. , it was broken at that time, and blood flowed all over the face. But before he could recover from the dizziness caused by hitting the steel plate with his head, the Monmouth shuddered violently again! This time the torpedo hit the bow of the unlucky cruiser. It was still a millimeter "big mine", but this time it was not the armored belt that was hit. Because the armor belt of the Monmouth did not extend to the bow of the ship, when the millimeter "big thunder" hit the thin steel plate, the damage caused was even more shocking. The huge explosion shock wave squeezed the seawater and broke through the steel plate, and then It penetrated several baffles and compartments one after another, destroying almost half of the bow.
The two huge and terrifying holes that appeared at the bow and amidships were of course extremely fatal... resulting in the lives of Rear Admiral Boehmer and all the British Royal Navy officers and soldiers on the Monmouth.
The crazy influx of water soon caused this armored cruiser with a standard displacement of 9,800 tons to completely lose its balance, and it quickly rolled to the right and sank. In just a blink of an eye, the Monmouth completely disappeared in Guadalcanal. On the sea next to the island.
But the sinking of the Monmouth was just the beginning of the Royal Navy's disaster! ….
It was the millimeter "big thunder" fired by the Kong Ming... I don't know how it sailed, but it actually hit the bow of the Bedford following the Monmouth - or the one that didn't. How much armor protects the bow! The torpedo exploded as soon as it touched the steel plate. This explosion directly broke off part of the Bedford's bow, directly decapitating it! Is it okay now? How big is the hole that appears after the armored cruiser is "decapitated"? The sea water poured in like crazy, and there was no blockage at all.
Therefore, the Bedford soon followed the footsteps of the Monmouth, but instead of capsizing, it plunged headlong into the sea and became a diving ship that never floated.
Next is Donegal, which is also a Monmouth-class ship. The 9,800-ton hull looks very strong, but it cannot withstand the explosion of a 530 mm steam gas torpedo - for an armored cruiser of this level, There is not much difference between the thunder and the 530 thunder...that is, one dies quickly and the other dies slowly.
Just point to death.
Three 530mm steam gas torpedoes hit the stern and amidships one after another, and they all hit the bottom of the ship. What they exploded were not holes, but gaps! A "hole" was immediately blown open, and hundreds of tons of seawater poured in, leaving no chance of rescue. However, its captain, Colonel Aspen, still had time to issue the order to abandon the ship. He also saved his life and used his freestyle skills to swim to Guadalcanal Island with a group of sailors. Later, he persisted on this desolate and inhabited island for three full years before he was discovered and sent back to the UK. He was also cordially received by Queen Victoria and Prince Jushi at St. James Palace...
The Berwick armored cruiser soon followed in the footsteps of its three sister ships, but it was much stronger than the first three. It was hit by five 530 mines in a row before sinking helplessly because of too much water. In the sea near Guadalcanal. Before it sank, half the ship's crew had been evacuated. However, most of them were not rescued, but became a meal for the Solomon Sea sharks.
The results of killing four armored cruisers in a short period of time were not expected by the British. Even the officers and soldiers of the Ming Navy were dumbfounded... They usually did not achieve this result when they fired training torpedoes at night during training!
11 out of 50 mines were struck, and 4 10,000-ton armored patrols were destroyed and sunk... When this achievement appeared in actual combat, it was simply a feat of martial arts!
The sea suddenly became quiet, and the cannons on both sides were no longer powerful. After being in a daze for five minutes, Guo Xiaobao came to his senses. After a burst of ecstatic laughter, he loudly ordered: "Guns, target." Change to British destroyer...free fire!"
After sinking the cruiser, of course we can't let go of the destroyer...even the torpedo boats and gunboats, those are also the results of the battle! It is also a tool of imperialism’s aggression and must be eliminated!
Following Guo Xiaobao's order, the naval battle near Guadalcanal began again. Six "kindergarten" class destroyers with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons became the ferocious cruisers and 2,000 ton "big destroyers" of the Ming Dynasty. The goal!
However, these British destroyers were still running very fast, and they did not care about salvaging the British officers and soldiers who fell into the water. When they saw something was wrong, they all turned around and ran away. In the end, only 2 were sunk...but the 4 "baby destroyers" that escaped did not run well and directly led the formation led by the cruiser Kong Ming to the flagship of the Royal Navy's Australian Grand Fleet, the William IV. Nearby.
The Wilhelm IV is a 35,000-ton giant ship with 10 14-inch cannons. How can a large cruiser like the Kongming class dare to touch it? Seeing its hazy figure from a distance, Guo Xiaobao decisively gave the order to evacuate.
And using the moonlight to look at the back of the Kongming-class large cruiser that was about to disappear, William Baga, who already knew that his four armored cruisers had been wiped out by "a handful of torpedoes", was shaking when he spoke!
"Quickly, send power to His Majesty the Emperor. I, we are not going to Pearl Harbor... We are going to surround the point to provide reinforcements. We are going to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands!"
Daluoluo
