At dawn on January 23, 1545, Liu Ergou, who was still asleep, was woken up by Wu Shaoli, the captain of the Fa Zhan, "Liu Zhi, the reconnaissance ship of the third formation, discovered the joint escort fleet of the navies of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Black Bear. ”

The Varzhan belongs to the German Bavaria-class all-main gun battleship and is the flagship of the third formation of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

Wu Shaoli had always been Liu Ergou's second mate, and later Liang Baozhong, the first mate who had followed Liu Ergou for many years, was transferred to the flagship of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, the Fuxing, as the captain, and Wu Shaoli was promoted to Liu Ergou's first mate.

After Liu Ergou was promoted to the commander of the third formation, Wu Shaoli was promoted to captain.

When Liu Ergou heard this, he immediately turned over and sat up from the bed in the cabin, "How far is it from us?" ”

Wu Shaoli said in a deep voice: "It is about 50 nautical miles away from the third formation, and Song Zhi has already issued an order for the main formations to immediately move closer to the third formation. ”

Liu Ergou said while getting dressed: "Convey Song Zhi's order to the various teams of our sixth formation.

One more sentence, if anyone drops the chain for Lao Tzu in this battle, don't blame Lao Tzu for turning his face and being ruthless! ”

Wu Shaoli said: "Liu Zhi, don't worry, the brothers all know the significance of this naval battle to our Zhou family, and they are all determined to die.

From the captain of the ship to an ordinary sailor, all of them wrote suicide notes. ”

Liu Ergou had already dressed at this time, "This battle is not only very important to our Zhou family, but will even affect the balance of power between humans and beasts.

If our Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet loses this naval battle, then the vast ocean will become the backyard of the beast country.

The newly established Jingzhou Town, Yuzhou Town, Lanzhou Town, Weizhou Town, and Kezhou Town of our Zhou family will also be completely cut off from the mainland of the Han and Tang Empires.

So in this naval battle, our Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet must win, and it must be a big victory! ”

Although the Zhou family set up five new feudal towns in the western continent, under the pressure of the Six Events Alliance, none of the main formations of the Zhou family's southwest coastal defense fleet were stationed in any of the ports of the above five feudal towns.

The Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet sent only a few garrison fleets, mainly all-steel battleships, to a few ports in the five feudal towns mentioned above.

This time, in order to start a decisive battle with the joint escort fleet composed of the three navies of the Golden Lion, the Red Tiger, and the Black Bear, the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet gathered all the main forces together.

Once the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet is defeated, even if it is a crushing victory, it may cause the sea passage of the five feudal towns of Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Lanzhou, Weizhou, and Kezhou to be cut off.

Not long after the reconnaissance ship of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet discovered the joint escort fleet of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Black Bear navies, the reconnaissance ship of the Golden Lion Imperial Navy also discovered traces of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

In the bridge of the Dragon Lion Battleship of the Golden Lion Imperial Navy, Kuzier, the commander of the First Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Golden Lion Empire, said to Greed, the captain of the Dragon Lion: "Although I don't think that the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet dares to go to war with the joint escort fleet of our three spirit countries.

However, the desire to defend people is indispensable, and all teams are ordered to immediately enter a state of combat readiness.

If the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet blocks the joint escort fleet, I don't mind getting back to the field! ”

Kuzir said to find the field, which means to find the field where the last defeat of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Silver Wolf Three Kingdoms Joint Expeditionary Force was found.

The captain of the Dragon Lion, Greed, had a very relaxed expression, and Greed did not think that the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet would dare to go to war with the joint escort fleet of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, and Black Bear navies.

"Commander, do you need to inform General Jestu of the Red Tiger Empire, and General Jert of the Black Bear Empire?"

Kuzir nodded, "Tell them to get their fleets ready, and you can't go wrong with being careful." ”

At 9 o'clock in the morning of the 23rd, near the Dragon Whale Island of the Barbarian Empire, two large fleets met.

The captain of the Dragon Lion, Greed, held a telegram with a solemn face and said to the commander Kuzier: "The Zhou family's southwest coastal defense fleet refuses to give way to the channel.

And it is claimed that the front is a no-sail zone set up for the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, and if we continue to move forward with the combined escort fleet, it will be equivalent to declaring war on the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet. ”

Kuzier said with a gloomy face: "It seems that I underestimated the courage of the person in power of the Zhou family, and immediately reported the refusal of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet to give way to the shipping lane, and immediately reported it to General Jestu of the Red Tiger Empire and General Jert of the Black Bear Empire.

Then send this matter by telegram to His Excellency the Governor.

Thanks to the fact that I didn't really bet, otherwise I would have lost this bet. ”

In the Governor's Mansion in Morning Star City, the second capital of the Golden Lion Empire, Governor Kosno has been waiting for the latest news from the joint escort fleet of the three navies since the reconnaissance ship of the Golden Lion Imperial Navy discovered the traces of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

After receiving the telegram from Kuzir, Governor Kosno's face suddenly became very ugly.

"Raf, do you think that with the joint escort fleet formed by our Golden Lion Empire, the Red Tiger Empire, and the Black Bear Empire, can we defeat the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet?" Governor Kosno asked Lieutenant Admiralty Raff in a deep voice.

Originally, Governor Kosno asked the Royal Navy of the Golden Lion Empire to gather 180 battleships with all main guns and 100 battle cruisers to join the joint escort fleet, on the one hand, to urge the Red Tiger Empire and the Black Bear Empire to send more capital ships, and on the other hand, to be able to surrender without a fight.

As a result, the Zhou family's southwest coastal defense fleet was very faceless and directly prepared to fight hard.

Raff hesitated for a moment and said, "Governor, the reason why our Golden Lion Empire's Royal Navy was defeated by the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet was not to take revenge was because the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet itself was very strong.

The more important reason is that he is afraid that after fighting with the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, he will be taken advantage of by the Navy of the Red Tiger Empire and the Navy of the Black Bear Empire.

Now that the navy of the Red Tiger Empire and the navy of the Black Bear Empire are tied to our Royal Navy of the Golden Lion Empire, why not take the opportunity to solve the Zhou family's southwest coastal defense fleet?

With the size of the joint escort fleet of the navies of the three countries, the odds of victory are still very good.

Even if it is defeated, it must be able to severely damage the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, so that our Royal Navy of the Golden Lion Empire will not be a loss! ”

The words of Admiralty Vice-Chancellor Raff made Governor Cosno make up his mind, "Immediately send a report to Kuzir and defeat the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet at all costs!"

Don't care about the loss, our Golden Lion Empire can afford it! ”

For the Zhou family's Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, it can be said that no beast country will look pleasing to the eye, if it weren't for the contradictions between the various beast countries and the fact that the navies of the various beast countries contain each other, maybe a certain beast country would have been unable to help but attack the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

The top leaders of the Golden Lion Empire are ready to take advantage of the fact that the navies of the Red Tiger Empire and the Black Bear Empire have joined the joint escort fleet to have a decisive battle with the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

And the high-level leaders of the Red Tiger and the Black Bear actually have the same thoughts.

So the commander-in-chief of the Red Tiger Empire's naval fleet, Jestu, and the commander-in-chief of the Black Bear Empire's naval fleet, Jerte, respectively received telegrams similar to Kuzir, the commander-in-chief of the Golden Lion Empire's naval fleet.

Due to the size of the fleets of the two sides, the two sides coincidentally formed three battle groups each.

On the side of the joint escort fleet of the three navies, the three battle groups are naturally the Golden Lion Empire Royal Navy Battle Group, the Red Tiger Empire Royal Navy Battle Group, and the Black Bear Empire Royal Navy Battle Group.

On the side of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, under the arrangement of the commander-in-chief Song Limin, the first formation, the second formation, the ninth formation, and the tenth formation were the first battle groups to meet the battle group of the Royal Navy of the Golden Lion Empire.

With the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th formations as the second battle group, it will face the battle group of the Royal Navy of the Red Tiger Empire.

With the fourth, sixth, seventh, and twelfth formations as the third battle group, they will face the battle group of the Black Bear Empire's Royal Navy.

The strength of the third battle group of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet is actually the strongest, after all, the capital ships with 380 mm guns or 381 mm guns are all equipped with the third battle group.

Song Limin hoped that with Tian Ji's horse racing method, he would first defeat the battle group of the Black Bear Empire's Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy of the Black Bear Empire sent a total of 120 battleships with full main guns, 60 battlecruisers, 50 all-steel battleships, 50 large armored cruisers, 140 light cruisers, and 180 destroyers this time.

Among them, 120 battleships with full main guns, including 20 Spitfire-class, 70 Idol class, 12 Regret-free class and 18 Restraint class, and 60 battlecruisers, including 12 Swift class and 48 Sea King class, are also very strong.

In addition, the 50 all-steel battleships of the Royal Navy of the Black Bear Empire, although they have been downgraded to secondary capital ships, they also have a certain combat effectiveness and can even participate in the battle line bombardment.

The third battle group of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet, the fourth formation is the left lane, the sixth formation is the middle lane, the seventh formation is the right lane, and the twelfth formation is the rear road reserve, and the momentum is fierce towards the battle group of the Black Bear Empire's Royal Navy.

When the third battle group of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet and the battle group of the Royal Navy of the Black Bear Empire were about 15,000 meters apart, the large-caliber main guns of the capital ships of the two sides began to bombard.

In the rumbling of cannons, a constrained-class full-main gun battleship of the Black Bear Empire's Royal Navy became the first warship of the Black Bear Empire's Royal Navy to be sunk.

And this constrained-class all-main gun battleship is also the first warship to sink in this naval battle of Dragon Whale Island.

The restraint class is the first all-gun battleship built by the Black Bear Empire, with a full load displacement of 22,000 tons, a maximum speed of 20 knots, and is equipped with four twin 45 times caliber 300 mm main guns.

Immediately after this naval battle, the second sunken warship soon appeared, and it turned out to be a constrained-class all-main gun battleship of the Royal Navy of the Black Bear Empire.

As soon as the battle started, two battleships with full main guns were sunk on his side, which made the face of the commander of the First Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Black Bear Empire, Jert, a little ugly.

"Order a few battle lines, close the distance, and aim for me!" Jert whispered to the Spitfire's captain, Vetido.

The Spitfire is the lead ship of the Black Bear Empire's Spitfire-class all-main gun battleship, with a full load displacement of 37,800 tons, a maximum speed of 21 knots, and five twin 45-caliber 380 mm guns.

Due to the size of the fleets of both sides, some of the tactics that were common in naval warfare were no longer suitable for this naval battle.

The two sides can only rely on their own strength to fight hard, and the comparison is, who can hit the cannon accurately, whose warship is stronger, of course, the key is who has more warships.

The officers and men of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet can be said to have grown up through one naval battle after another, and in terms of combat level alone, they are no longer weaker than the naval officers and men of any beast country.

Moreover, the main gun shooting rangefinders equipped on the capital ships of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet have become more accurate after the transformation of the Ganyang Arsenal, which has also greatly improved the hit rate of the main ships of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet.

The reason why the Zhou family's Ganyang Arsenal was able to transform the main gun shooting rangefinder was due to the fact that Zhou Rui obtained a variety of all-main gun capital ships and battle cruisers from the lottery system.

These all-main gun capital ships and battle cruisers were equipped with a variety of shooting rangefinders, and the Ganyang Arsenal learned from each other's strengths and weaknesses to finally design a shooting rangefinder with higher accuracy.

As the distance between the third battle group of the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet and the Royal Navy battle group of the Black Bear Empire was shortened to about 10,000 meters, the hit rate of both sides was getting higher and higher.

"Boom-boom-" A god-class all-main gun battleship of the Black Bear Empire's Royal Navy was fired by Liu Ergou's Var Zhan, and a 380 mm shell pierced the broadside armor.

Immediately, this 380-millimeter shell actually drilled into an ammunition bin of this god-class battleship with all main guns, and detonated hundreds of tons of shells in the ammunition tank.

The power of the explosion of hundreds of tons of artillery shells suddenly blew this all-main gun battleship with a full load displacement of 32,700 tons almost in two, and quickly sank to the surface of the sea.

However, Liu Ergou had not yet recovered from the excitement of sinking one of the opponent's battleships with full main guns with one shot, and a large-caliber shell hit the Varzhan with one shot.

Liu Ergou watched as a shell pierced through the armored deck of the battleship with all the main guns, and the hairs on his body stood up.

If you are unlucky, this shell also detonates the ammunition magazine of the Felling Battle, and you may not even have time to evacuate the Felling Battle.

Fortunately, before the war, the Southwest Coastal Defense Fleet had already made arrangements for various situations, and even if he died with the Var Zhan, the command system of the sixth formation would not be chaotic.

It's just that she was blind and just married the third concubine who entered the door, she was a real lady, if it wasn't for the trouble at home, she wouldn't have cheapened herself.

Liu Ergou clung to the handle on the bridge wall and waited for the vibration of the shell to explode, but after waiting for almost half a minute, he did not wait for the shell to explode.

Soon a phone rang in the bridge, and after Wu Shaoli, the captain of the Fa Zhan, answered the phone, he said to Liu Ergou with palpitations: "Liu Zhi, the shell just now fell near an ammunition bin where 380 mm shells were stored.

If it weren't for the fact that this shell was a dud and didn't explode, maybe our battle would have been finished. ”

When Liu Ergou heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "Haha! It seems that Lao Tzu's luck is still so strong!

Tell the 4 gun emplacement commanders of the 4 main turrets to aim for Lao Tzu!

With Lao Tzu to sit in charge of them, if they don't sink the opponent's 4 or 5 capital ships today, they won't be considered to have completed the mission! ”