"The enemy ship has entered the firing range! The computer is calculating the ballistic parameters! All main guns have been loaded and ready!" On the bridge of the East Bay No. 1 battleship, the weapons officer was reporting their battle preparations.
As a "new" battleship that is often refitted, the Tang Empire's Bismarck battleship is no longer the same as when it was first taken out.
First of all, a very advanced radar is installed above the main ship island. In addition, where searchlights are installed on both sides, fire control radars are also installed to command its own artillery system.
At a distance of about 20 kilometers, the Tang Empire's precision-machined main gun had raised its barrel and pointed the muzzle in the direction of the enemy's attack.
The catapult in the middle of the hull has used rockets to eject the gunfire correction aircraft dedicated to Dongwan No. 1. After all, the sky will light up in a while. With the guidance of the gunfire correction aircraft, the artillery will only become more powerful. Accurate.
Relying on a more automatic loading mechanism, the Tang Empire's Dongwan-class battleship has a faster artillery loading speed. It combines many of the advantages of battleships and eliminates many shortcomings, which makes its combat effectiveness quite amazing.
The 20-kilometer range mentioned by this weapons officer of the Tang Army is the range at which the shipboard computer can provide firing parameters with a higher hit probability. In fact, the main gun range of the battleships of the Tang Empire exceeds 30 kilometers, and can even approach 35 kilometers.
Because the fully automatic loader somewhat limits the elevation angle of the main gun, the range of the main gun of the Tang battleship is not that exaggerated.
After all, the Imperial Navy of the Tang Dynasty has always advocated "global deployment", so it must adapt to high-standard sea conditions when designing. Therefore, the warships of the Tang Empire did not pursue the extreme in many performance indicators, but were rather mediocre.
"Adjust the shooting angle according to the computer parameters." The captain of the East Bay No. 1 battleship stood on the bridge, feeling somewhat bored.
As the captain of a battleship, it is indeed a bit regrettable that he cannot compete with the enemy's battleships for victory at visual distance.
With the emergence of carrier-based seaplanes, long-range artillery correction has become possible, and the opportunities for artillery fights at visual distance have become much smaller.
After the radar was installed on the ship and Dongwan 1 connected the cables to the shipboard computer and moved it out of the cabin, the artillery battle at visual distance became a complete joke.
During the exercise, against the simulated target, the warship's main gun, supported by the fire control computer, only needed two or three salvos to "approximately hit" the target.
If you give them about five rounds of salvo fire, the target the size of a battleship will be severely damaged in most cases! This is the advancement of technology, this is a complete change in the rules of naval warfare.
In fact, when anti-ship missiles began to appear on destroyers, the battleships of the Tang Empire became a joke: they became human shields, resistant to damage, and the ones to be beaten in exercises...
A combat mission like today's is to stand in front of the aircraft carrier fleet and win the last hour for one's own aircraft carrier fleet!
To be honest, Captain Tang Guo, who was very confident in the protection of his warship, even felt that even if he stood here and let the other side bombard him for two hours, the other side might not be able to sink his warship.
But, no matter how rough and thick-skinned you are, you can't let others beat you casually, right? So the Tang Army's battleship raised its gun barrel and showed its fists.
"The artillery firing parameters have been corrected! You can fire at any time!" the weapons officer shouted loudly.
"Fire!" the captain issued the attack order.
"Fire!" the weapons officer grabbed the phone and repeated the order loudly.
Immediately, outside the bridge window, four flames spurted out almost simultaneously, illuminating everyone's eyes. The light in the darkness even reflected the outline of the No. 2 battleship Dongwan next to it.
The entire battleship trembled slightly, and then the stern of the East Bay No. 2 battleship also spurted flames. The muzzle fire of the four 380-caliber main guns was spectacular. They rolled and steamed, and then dissipated in the distance.
Just before dawn, eight artillery shells weighing more than 1 ton struck from a distance and smashed into the formation of Mirage's main fleet.
Suddenly, pillars of water rose up from the sea. Under the light of the Mirage fleet's fire, the sight of the Mirage sailors was frightened.
"General! We are under bombardment! It is the main fleet of the Tang Dynasty!" The staff officer shouted nervously when he saw the falling water column not far away.
"Order the fleet to turn left! Course 54! Face the enemy on the broadside!" Mirage knew that the final test was coming! The opponent's main fleet has already appeared. As long as it breaks through this line of defense, his fleet will successfully rush into the enemy's landing site.
Now, he wants to take advantage of the artillery of his fleet, and when dawn comes, let the other party experience the power of the Mirage Navy!
"An observation post said that they saw a faint flash of light ahead! It should be the muzzle flash of the enemy fleet!" Soon, another news reached Mirage Feng.
"Very good! We have seen the dawn of victory!" After waiting all night, Mirage Haifeng finally saw the enemy, which of course made him very excited.
The fact that the other party fired first in this dark state was obviously a sign of inexperience: he felt that firing too early exposed the position of the Tang fleet!
Moreover, judging from the water column of the cannonball falling into the water, the opponent's number of warships does not exceed 3 at most! This is great news!
The Mirage Navy has always believed that the total number of Tang Navy battleships should be between 6 and 10. But now it seems that the other party obviously did not invest so many battleships here!
It may be that some battleships were attracted to the north by Mirage Haifeng's fleet, or it may be that the Tang Navy needed to ensure the safety of the coastline and retained some of its forces... In short, at this moment, Mirage Haifeng believed that his fleet, which had suffered heavy losses, still maintained its control. The numerical advantage of Tang's main fleet!
"Great! They only have three, four battleships at most! We still have six battleships! The advantage is still on our side!" Mirage, who had lost all night, clenched his fists excitedly and encouraged himself loudly. Officers and soldiers: "All main guns point to starboard! For His Majesty the Mirage! Fight to the bitter end!"
"For His Majesty the Mirage Emperor!" Others also cheered up and shouted loudly. They had been frustrated for ten hours, and now they finally found the target to vent their anger on!
The navy of the Mirage Kingdom, which was founded on the sea, is well-trained, and its combat effectiveness is actually very powerful. Take them out individually and they would definitely be in the first echelon in the world.
Under the orders one after another, the Mirage naval formation began to turn, its starboard side gradually facing the Tang fleet, and the thick main guns began to point into the distance, raised high.
Compared with the Tang battleships, which only have a 380-caliber caliber, the main gun calibers of Mirage's battleships are much more complicated: they have three types: 460-caliber, 410-caliber, and 350-caliber. The main gun calibers of almost every level of battleship are different.
On the one hand, this is because the Mirage Navy, which does not have its own technology, hastily iterates with the development of technology. On the other hand, it is also because the Mirage Navy is eager to have an artillery advantage.
Just as the Mirage fleet turned, the Tang Navy's second round of bombardment had already fallen. This time was somewhat beyond Mirage Haifeng's expectations, because the interval between Tang army's shellings was indeed too short.
Even this time, Mirage Haifeng thought that the Tang Army's four battleships were divided into two groups and firing alternately... However, he quickly rejected his view, because if the opponent was grouped and fired alternately, the interval would obviously be too long. .
The Tang Empire always had some new technologies, and the faster bombardment speed of battleships was not something that could not be understood. Mirage Haifeng quickly accepted this fact. In his opinion, such little "tricks" were in vain. Because he has an absolute numerical advantage.
In the second round of salvos, the Tang Army's bombardment still failed to cause substantial damage to the warships of the Mirage Navy, but some Mirage Navy sailors still saw some clues.
"The impact point is closer... They seem to be aiming at the Nandao!" A sailor standing on the deck of the cruiser following the battleship Nandao, in charge of lookout, frowned and muttered.
He saw the impact point of the first round of shelling. The shells were scattered around the fleet, and they seemed to have no intention of targeting anyone.
But in the second round of shelling, these water columns were obviously close to the battleship Nandao, which was already on the periphery of the fleet due to its steering.
Although he wanted to remind his superiors that the other party might be targeting the battleship USS South Island, but before he could speak, a Styx anti-ship missile directly hit the cruiser he was on.
Yes, the Tang Army's missile attacks did not stop, and the Tang Army destroyers on the flanks were still following them like ghosts. The explosion engulfed him standing on the deck, and then he had no chance to speak.
The jet of the Styx anti-ship missile finally penetrated the light cruiser, directly blowing off one of its chimneys, taking away all the anti-aircraft guns and other facilities in the middle of the hull.
Thick smoke billowed out of the cruiser, and flames instantly burst out of the hull. There were cries, shouts, orders, and the crackle of fire everywhere.
From time to time there were explosions, and the battleship began to make the sound of steel twisting and collapsing as it burned. Someone ran past the lookout's body without even looking at the seven-year-old corpse.
About two minutes later, the Tang Army's third round of bombardment came from a distance. A shell directly penetrated the chimney of the battleship Nandao, knocking off a small part of the one behind the two chimneys.
The searchlight next to the chimney also flew out, and all the officers on the bridge of the turning battleship Nandao were jumped. Everyone shrank their necks subconsciously, and they all saw... fear in each other's eyes.
——
The second update is later today, you can watch it tomorrow morning.
(End of chapter)
