"Their cruisers also turned!"
Right now.
Someone reported another unexpected situation.
John Jervis hurriedly raised his telescope and looked forward.
I saw only a few cruisers of the Ming Navy, leading a group of frigates to turn right in a mighty manner. Judging from the direction of their turns, they would pass directly through the British fleet!
"Commander! We can concentrate our fire on that large armored cruiser!"
Will Smith said.
That warship was theoretically the flagship of the Ming Navy's cruiser formation - the reason why it was said to be theoretical was because Will Smith didn't know if his students would still act in accordance with the theories taught by their teachers.
These scumbags are obviously too messy.
"Well, now we can only beat their cruiser first!"
John Jervis was a little helpless.
He suddenly remembered a Chinese allusion: Tian Ji's horse racing.
After all, Eastern culture was prominent in the West at this time.
The upper-class people always talk about Confucius and talk about Laozi and Zhuangzi.
Not quoting any Chinese classics seems to be uneducated.
That's the situation now.
Daying's superior horse faced Ming's inferior horse.
Ming's superior horse faced off against Great Britain's inferior horse.
Nowadays, the battleships of the British Empire can only fight against the opponent's cruise fleet.
But now, the only thing that can block the encircling battleship formation of the Ming Empire Navy is the cruise fleet on its right wing.
"Let Major General Walker command the cruiser fleet and use a horizontal formation to attack the Ming army's battleships! The speed must be fast!"
boom! !
A huge fireball exploded on the Hong Lie's armored belt.
Of course, the British explosive shells were not enough to break through the armor of a five-thousand-ton armored cruiser battleship.
However, the huge explosion shock wave still swept across the Hong Lie's right deck. The hot air waves were mixed with flying shell fragments, beating all the personnel exposed on the deck to bloody pieces.
at the same time.
Deng Huanzhuang, who was on the command tower, suddenly swayed and was thrown to pieces again.
But the good thing is.
He did not faint directly, but struggled to stand up and continued to direct the battle.
"Drop that mom!"
Deng Huanzhuang spit in a low voice, and the saliva mixed with blood foam stained the deformed deputy's hand.
"Captain! The upper deck was seriously damaged. Two turrets lost their steering function. Many rivets fell off the starboard side of this explosive shell. If it were hit, all the armor plates on the starboard side might be lost!"
His damage control officer panted and came over to report, holding the wound on his head.
The armor of cruisers is not as strong as that of battleships.
What we are now facing is the bombardment of the enemy's battleship's main guns.
If he is hit by another 330mm caliber explosive bomb.
The Hong Lie is likely to be directly sunk!
When Deng Huanzhuang heard this, cold sweat broke out on his back.
On the contrary, Yunori Ito next to him was calmer: "Their next round of bombardment will be in five minutes! Captain, do we want to withdraw from the battle line?"
"withdraw?"
Deng Huanzhuang thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and shook his head.
"No! We can't withdraw! We have to continue to attract enemy firepower! Time! Time is too important to us!"
Deng Huanzhuang adjusted his officer uniform.
"Put on the loudspeaker, I want to speak to the whole ship!"
he shouted.
soon.
Deng Huanzhuang's voice sounded in every corner of Hongliehao.
"Our ship will continue to sail forward, counterattack with naval guns, attract enemy firepower, and buy time for the main fleet!"
"My battleship has already circled the enemy side. Once successful, the enemy ship will be trapped in a place of eternal disaster! We joined the army to defend the country, and we have put life and death on the line long ago. What we are doing now is just death!"
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!!"
"The Hong Lie can no longer hold it any longer!"
Chen Huacheng had a look of pain on his face.
Zhang Bao's face was gloomy.
"Governor, the bombardment sequence has been decided, target number one is the Vostok!"
Zhu Yixian's voice was very calm. After this battle, he could be considered a veteran on the battlefield.
"Execute it!"
Zhang Bao stood up and took a deep breath.
"Concentrate your firepower and bombard the enemy's flagship Dongfang!"
The order was quickly transmitted to the entire battleship formation.
12 battleships.
36 300 mm (100 mm) main guns.
72 180 mm (60 mm) main guns.
108 120 mm (40 mm) secondary guns.
A total of 216 rapid-fire guns roared almost simultaneously.
216 shells rushed towards the Vostok ahead like raindrops.
About ten seconds later.
Shells rained down around the Vostok.
Two hundred and sixteen shells exploded almost simultaneously, churning the entire sea surface and setting off huge waves that almost engulfed the entire Vostok.
The sea is not calm yet.
The second round of shelling has begun again!
"Too fast, too fast"
John Jervis grabbed the deputy with both hands.
His lips were bubbling with anxiety.
There were more than two hundred cannons firing on the opposite side.
On our side, there are only 48 cannons in total.
Although the caliber far exceeds that of its opponents.
But the opponent's cannon is a rapid-fire cannon.
Theoretically, the rate of fire is more than ten times that of the 330mm cannon on our side.
The opponent's ten rounds of artillery fired more than 2,000 artillery shells, and our side could only fire 48 rounds.
This huge gap.
The more John Jervis thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
soon.
The opponent's advantage of having more guns and a faster rate of fire quickly translates into real hits.
A 180 mm caliber explosive shell exploded next to a turret.
fine.
The turret's armor is thick enough.
Withstood this bombardment.
But the British haven't had time to breathe a sigh of relief yet.
The third round of shelling followed.
This time.
Two shells hit the deck of the Vostok.
One of the shells hit the fort directly above the fort, and penetrated from the open-air fort into the area where the gun crew members were.
The huge explosion caused a 330mm caliber explosive bomb that had just been loaded to explode.
A huge explosion overturned the entire fort.
All members of the gun crew died.
"Damn it! Who came up with this idea? Why does the fort have to be in the open air!!"
John Jervis saw a huge turret being overturned.
Suddenly he lost his composure.
A main gun was scrapped like this!
Originally there were few guns.
If you continue to be bombarded by the opponent like this again.
The huge Vostok will sooner or later be disarmed by the opponent.
Is this okay?
and
The opponent's more than two hundred cannons fired a salvo, and almost every round failed to hit one.
This means.
The opponent's firepower can fall continuously on your own side.
As for the volley from my side, it might take several rounds to hit even one.
This is the gap.
Although the opponent's small-caliber explosive bombs cannot pose a threat to the Oriental's armor.
But the successive explosions still brought huge trouble to the Vostok.
Toxic gas and explosion cause fire.
Thick smoke and flames spread across the battleship.
The damage control soldiers on the ship worked hard, but round after round of shelling quickly made their efforts come to nothing.
Within minutes.
Everything on the deck of the Orient was engulfed in flames.
"Governor, the Oriental is already semi-disabled. It is recommended to move the target!"
Zhu Yixian, who was holding a telescope with one hand, felt hot in his heart.
The deck washing flow is spot on! !
In a real battleship bombardment situation.
British ships are no match at all! !
"The next target...the Tulip!"
Zhang Bao's hands were shaking slightly.
Won!
Gonna win! !
It is of course impossible to sink the Vostok, but now the Vostok is on fire. Even if it can be rescued and escaped back to South Africa, it will take at least a year or two for overhaul before it can go to sea!
The Vostok is finished.
Then the next step is
Another 12,000-ton battleship Tulip.
Two hundred and sixteen cannons turned their muzzles.
Aiming at the Tulip!
Boom boom boom!
After several rounds of shelling, the Tulip was almost silenced.
During the third round of shelling.
A cannonball actually got into the cabin through the gap in the turret.
boom!
A huge explosion detonated several large-caliber explosive bombs in the cabin.
Then, a ball of fire shot into the sky.
This giant steel ship with a displacement of 12,000 tons, symbolizing the glory of the British Empire, suddenly shook.
The entire battleship tilted due to the huge explosion, and the bridge just above the cabin was also blown away by the explosion.
All the good Tulip officers who were commanding the battle above were killed! (End of chapter)
