The sound of artillery was deafening, the light and flames exploded like fireworks, and the German and British destroyers immediately launched a fierce artillery battle 6 kilometers away. Unlike the battering ram-like bombardment of battleship cannons, the 5-inch cannon is better at the rate of fire, as long as the fire control finds the right distance, followed by a dense barrage of 5-second rounds. Soon, the destroyers on both sides were surrounded by water columns, and the German armored superdrive took the lead in this close-range dog-fight with the advantage of fire control.

"Boom!" A 128-millimeter shell slammed into the rear superstructure of the British destroyer "Ashanti" like a raging lion and a tiger, and the searchlight in the first part was immediately blown to pieces, and countless fragments and hot waves rushed in all directions. And because ten meters behind the explosion point was the battleship's No. 3 twin gun position, the British sailors who were losing ammunition and firing here were killed and wounded devastatingly. But in the blink of an eye, screams erupted on the deck, blood rained, and all the gunners were swept away in a pool of blood by shrapnel; Those wriggling and erosive stomach and intestines made several newly enlisted recruits retching and vomiting!

Before the British sailors could recover from the tragedy that had happened at gun position No. 3, the second wave of shells from the German armored overdrive had already rained down on them like a torrential rain. With the violent shaking of the hull and the loud thunder of the clear sky, a column of fire and pitch-black smoke rose from the nose and tail areas of the Ashanti. The shell that hit the bow exploded in the sailor's cabin above the waterline, destroying the cabin and causing a fire, but the situation at the stern was rather unoptimistic: the shell hit the side near the waterline, where the power of 3.5kg of high-energy explosives tore hundreds of holes. The sea rushed unceremoniously into the ship, and its turbulent and ferocious speed made the British damage management team almost feel like the sky had fallen.

"Damn it, haven't they found the target's firing parameters yet?" Seeing that his own shell once again crashed into the right front of the target warship, Captain Ruby, the captain of the Ashanti, couldn't help but jump and roar. At present, the firepower of their own and the other side is both 8 doors and 5 inches, and it stands to reason that there will be no big difference, but the reality is that the Germans have entered the effective firing stage at a very fast speed, and their fire control level is almost comparable to that of a light cruiser! Could it be that the difference in caliber of 120 mm and 128 mm between 0.3 inches of artillery can produce such a big difference on the battlefield?

Captain Ruby was distracted and cranky, and another cannonball thundered the destroyer Ashanti, the hull of the ship shook violently, and the explosion seemed to tear people's eardrums. Thankfully, the area hit by the shell was also the broadside hull of the non-core compartment, which blew up the canteen. Just as Captain Ruby gritted his teeth and was about to give the order to turn to avoid the enemy ship's gunfire lock-on, the navigator who had been staring at the enemy ship with a telescope suddenly cheered and shouted hoarsely: "Hit, we hit!" ”

Ruby's heart perked, and he hurriedly grabbed the telescope on his chest and looked at it: at this moment, the distance between the two sides was less than 6 kilometers, and the outline of the German destroyer, which looked like a light cruise, could already be clearly recognized. In the hull part of the other party's front side near the deck, there was indeed an orange-red fireball mixed with black smoke burning, and Ruby, who had excellent eyes, could even see the small figure running on the other deck, and it was obviously the damage management team that risked fighting the fire!

"That's it! As long as we can slow down these 2 German destroyers, then the support fleet that will come later will be able to wipe out these evil German battleships like pinching bugs! Ruby clenched his fists and said loudly, "At the same time, send a telegram to report the situation here to your superiors." It is unlikely that these two German destroyers, which appeared from the northeast, were a small detachment sailing out of the North Sea, more like the vanguard of a large fleet. There's a good chance that the prey we're looking for is around here. ”

Artillery fire roared, bullets rained down, and a telegram was soon launched from the mast antenna of the Ashanti. Ruby pressed down the fear that he might be reimbursed by the other party in an instant, and began to carefully observe the effect of the shelling. In his experience, battles between destroyers were largely a matter of luck: because both sides were unarmoured and streaking, the scales of victory would tip in her favor if one of them landed enough crucial hits. In the column of water, Ruby suddenly saw a dazzling fireworks bloom on the side side of the opposing warship, and his heart immediately swelled with strong excitement, secretly saying that the power compartment of this German warship must be finished. However, in just a few breaths, Ruby was shocked to find that the explosive fireball had dissipated like a light mist of smoke; And in that hit area, only a scorched yellow trace was left, and even black smoke did not appear from it!

"What's going on?" Ruby was dumbfounded, and his brain's mind was completely in a state of panic. It took him a while before he realized that the fire he had seen was not coming from inside the enemy ship, but from the explosion of his own 120 mm semi-armor-piercing projectile on the surface of the enemy's hull. However, this conclusion made Ruby feel even more incredulous: in the pre-war tests of the British Navy, this 50-pound (22.86kg) semi-armor-piercing projectile could penetrate 76 mm of homogeneous armor vertically at a distance of 6 kilometers! It was precisely because of the excellent performance of this shell that the British Navy did not continue to improve the caliber of the destroyer's main gun like other countries - in any case, its penetration depth was enough to deal with all destroyers, so there was no need to spend more weight on the weapon system.

However, now, this shell actually exploded in the outer shell of the German battleship, which can only show that the opponent has strong armor, so that the shell of its own shell is impenetrable and has exploded prematurely. But what destroyer in the world can have armor? In pursuit of a high-speed cruise, the destroyer's surplus weight has long been eaten by the power system and hull structure, down to the bone: not to mention the direct attack of the power compartment against shells, even the 20 mm steel plate that resists shrapnel, the designers could not wrap a layer in the most critical compartment of the ammunition depot!

"It must be that there is something wrong with the fuse of that shell, it must be!" Ruby muttered, desperately trying to soothe his frightened heart with words, "As long as you hit again, you will definitely achieve the desired harvest!" ”

"The latest destroyer of the British has only changed from a husky to a slightly more ferocious shepherd. In the face of the lions of the German Navy, their fate can only be one death! Captain Z9 said confidently after learning that the shell that hit the B battery had failed to penetrate its 70 mm armor defense, and that the shocked rotating mechanism could be repaired quickly. Six minutes into the battle, the British destroyer had been beaten by itself to the point of flames and tilted hull, while the German ship had suffered only unrelated skin wounds.

The three shells that hit the broadside, the main horizontal armor, and the gun mount were all blocked by the thick armor. And those who servo the 128mm main gun, because they stay in a closed turret, prevent the killing of external shrapnel. At this time, the battleship only had less than 30 tons of water ingress due to the vibration and cracking of the hull. Although this kind of battle that relies on hardware performance to crush the enemy is not very glamorous, but the British Navy was different back then and only relied on numerical superiority to run rampant in the sea?

Less than three minutes later, a huge blood-colored ball of light suddenly exploded on the sea, and the British destroyer "Bedouin", which was fighting a difficult battle with Z10, was instantly enveloped in waves of fire and thick smoke, and a broken twin gun flew vertically into the air at an altitude of nearly 100 meters. After all, Lady Luck did not always favor the British: the bilge of the Bedouin's storage torpedo warhead was patronized by German shells, and the detonation of eight 533-mm torpedoes tore the battleship to shreds on the spot, leaving none of the ship's 250 officers and men alive.

Hearing the sound of a landslide and tsunami explosion in the distance, the captain of the Z9 destroyer pursed his lips with some displeasure. In the past nearly ten minutes of battle, it was obvious that the gunnery of his own battleship was superior, and at this moment he had beaten the opponent to a serious water stall, but the character bullet of Z10 helped them win the Toad Palace and take away the glory of blood that should have belonged to them. He pondered for a moment, his eyes flashing sharply, and said, "The main gun will pour two more rounds of artillery fire on the enemy ship." Torpedo tubes No. 1 and No. 2 on the starboard side are ready, and after a minute fire is carried out at the target. ”

At this time, the destroyer Yashanti no longer had the sassy demeanor before the outbreak of the battle. The deck was littered with charred and shattered steel, and the dead bodies of British sailors in white shirts were strewn with them; The entire stern of the ship, along with the rear bridge, was ablaze, but there were no more damage crews to rescue them. Today, the sea is calm, but the blue waves are almost reaching the open deck of the warship; The battleship's firepower was almost completely destroyed, and only the last two 120-mm guns remained, and they were still dying under the control of a few lightly wounded.

"Boom!" The cannons on the British ship let out a reluctant roar, and a 120-mm shell was loaded directly on the bow waterline of the Z9 destroyer. However, when the fire exploded and the smoke cleared, only a scorched yellow mark appeared on the surface of the German ship's 60 mm 20-degree inward inclination. Seeing this scene, British Captain Ruby couldn't help but feel dizzy in his head, and all thoughts were discouraged. The armor tonnage of the opposing destroyers is so surplus that even the reserve buoyancy can be immune to direct artillery shells; With such a huge gap in the performance of ships, it is difficult to make up for it in quantity! (To be continued.) )