Within five minutes, the "Beihe", "Nanjiang", "Luhe" and "Yuejiang" were lined up in a row, each completing three rounds of salvo fire from all the main guns.

Just observed, there are as many as six direct hits that can be confirmed!

Because the first salvo was a miraculous cross-fire and a direct hit, the "Beihe" shelling efficiency reached the extreme, and all three salvos achieved results, at least three of which were directly confirmed by visual confirmation, and the hit rate reached an astonishing one-eighth.

The "Nanjiang" adjusted its aiming point in time, achieved results in the second round of volleys, and hit again in the third round of volleys.

The sixth result belonged to the "Yuejiang", but it was only a matter of luck, because the other shells fired by the ship all deviated by more than a thousand meters.

Unfortunately, the impact points of the six hits were on the façade of the superstructure and the main gun turret of the "Fame".

Although the bridge was completely blown up, and the A and B turrets were paralyzed, the "Prestige" did not sink, and did not look like it was about to sink.

Probably woken up, and before the "North River" fired a fourth salvo, the "Prestige" released a smoke screen.

Without He Yongxing's order, Gui Boyong adjusted his tactics.

Still led by the "Beihe", the "Beihe" concentrated artillery fire on the enemy's fleet ships, and the "Counterattack" was completed on the same day as the "Prestige" and was completed a month earlier.

The artillery fire was still fierce, but luck was much worse.

At 10:07, he hit the sixth volley before he hit the first direct hit.

The point of hit was in the middle of the "Counterattack", between the two chimneys. Although far from the ammunition depot of the main gun, it is quite possible to damage the flue.

This cannon will not kill the "Counterattack", but it will also make the "Counterattack" suffer from emphysema, don't think about getting up quickly.

The "Counterattack" then released a smoke screen and followed the "Prestige" to turn away from the battle.

During this period, several enemy ships fired several salves and half salvos, but the deviations were very large, and at most they posed some threat.

In order to cover the retreat of the "Prestige" and "Counterattack" in front, and also to complete the tactical turn, let the following warships keep up, and the "Tiger", which was originally ranked third and is now the lead ship, also fired smoke screens with secondary guns to create a smoke screen area in front of the route.

At this point, only four battleships remained of the 1st Battle Patrol Detachment.

The battle has thus entered the stage of catching and killing.

At about 10:10 a.m., when the "Tiger" broke out of the smoke screen and challenged the "Beihe" to dominate the battlefield with its first salvo of all main guns, the combat distance was less than 11 kilometers.

For battlecruisers with little protection, this is definitely a distance between killings in seconds.

Regardless of the caliber of the main gun or the thickness of the armor, as long as it hits a vital point, such as the ammunition depot of the main gun, it will definitely be able to kill with one hit.

"Control the engagement distance, don't get too close!" At this time, He Yongxing reminded Gui Boyong to be precise, to be precise, to tell Colonel Zhang Zhuguo, the captain of the "Beihe", to accurately grasp the course and speed, and not to take the initiative to hit the opponent's gun.

Although the "North River" was also a battle cruiser, it was very different from the previous battle cruisers and was closer to a fast battleship.

The amount of armor used alone exceeded 8,000 tons.

In a sense, the standard displacement of up to 46,000 tons is the inevitable result of ensuring speed and firepower, but not wanting to reduce protection. Although the thickness of the armor cannot be compared with that of the new battleship, according to the original design standards, the thickness of the armor in the main parts can block the direct attack of the dreadnought's main gun, that is, the twelve-inch armor-piercing projectile, and the core parts such as the conning tower and ammunition depot can withstand the fourteen-inch armor-piercing projectile.

The main guns of the remaining four battle cruisers of the 1st Battle Patrol Detachment were all thirteen.5 inches!

In other words, as long as you maintain an ideal engagement distance, you can at least ensure that you will not be killed instantly.

Actually, He Yongxing is a bit redundant.

Even if he didn't say it, Gui Boyong knew to remind Zhang Zhuguo that after all, it was the duty of the operations staff officer to command the fleet in artillery battles and maintain a favorable position.

"Don't forget, send someone to replace the white staff officer back. The mast has a strong wind, so it is overkill to let him stay on it, and it is more valuable here. He Yongxing seemed to have a sudden thought, probably worried that Gui Boyong would forget, so he reminded Gui Boyong before he walked away.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

Gui Boyong knew very well that He Yongxing had already remembered the young and frivolous staff officer.

Although the encounter with the 1st Battle Patrol Detachment was not the credit of Bai Zhizhan, and he did not have the ability to influence the situation of the battle, it was only through his judgment and bold suggestions in the discussion that everyone had relevant expectations and was able to complete the preparations for the battle in advance.

Only one point later, the White Stop War Medal for Outstanding Service should be awarded.

At this time, inside the lookout.

After several practical operations, the rangefinder was finally used freely in the hands of Bai Zhizhan, and Bai Zhizhan figured out the primary responsibility.

Lookout and ranging have nothing to do with artillery fire guidance, and the main task is to observe the impact point of the shell.

Not only the impact point of the shells fired by the ship, but also the impact points of the shells fired by the enemy ship.

In this way, it is possible to issue a warning in time after the enemy ship has formed a straddle fire, so that the ship can break out of the area covered by the enemy ship's shelling through tactical maneuvering.

Fortunately, three enemy ships failed to form a straddle fire on the "Beihe".

When the deputy lookout climbed up, Bai Zhizhan had just finished his surveying work, and all the shells fired by the enemy ship "Tiger" landed on the starboard side of the "Beihe," and they were all very far away, the nearest one was about 1,000 meters away, and there was basically no threat.

"Brother Bai, it's time for you to go down!"

"What!?"

Looking back, Bai Zhizhan saw the deputy lookout standing behind him.

Although the observatory can accommodate six or seven people, there are only four jobs, and even if there is only one more person, it seems a bit crowded.

"Brother Bai, if you have a chance, let's drink together again!"

"No problem, I'll treat you next time."

Saying that, Li Mingbo took the initiative to hug Bai Zhizhan.

This move made Bai Zhizhan very embarrassed. Two big men, there is no need to be so affectionate, but it's a pity that the lookout is only so big that they can't be avoided at all.

"Brother Bai, do a good job!"

After patting Bai Zhizhan on the shoulder a few more times, Li Mingbo let go of him.

Bai Zhizhan had already unbuckled the safety rope and turned sideways to give up his position.

At this moment, a sharp whistling sound was heard in the air.

For Bai Zhizhan and the others, the kind of sound that can make people's hairs stand on end is really familiar, it used to appear every few minutes, but not once was as sharp as it is now, and it disappeared from a long distance, not coming this way.

That's right, that's the sound of shells coming in.

After flying more than ten kilometers, the speed of the shell was already below the speed of sound, but the whistling sound indicated that the shell would soon hit it.

Between the lightning and fire, Li Mingbo grabbed the buckle of the seat belt that was untied by Bai Zhizhan and hung it on Bai Zhizhan's waist again.

Almost simultaneously, an explosion occurred.

Before the explosion could be heard, Bai Zhizhan had been thrown into the air by a huge force and flew out of the lookout.