"The distance of the enemy ship is more than 24,000 yards, loaded with high-explosive shells, half a salvo is prepared, and the ...... of firing is calculated"

In the firing control command room of the US warship "Lexington," Major Perry calmly and forcefully issued one command after another, putting the warship's firing command system in a steady and orderly rhythm. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Near the western headland of São Miguel Island, the three German battle cruisers had already shown off their slender stature, and judging by their orderly firing positions, it was a premeditated engagement.

Before Major Perry's officers could finish their calculations, the cannon flames flickered in the distance, smoke rose, and three German battle cruisers opened fire one after another.

In the battle bridge under the fire control command room, Vice Admiral Thomas Hart, along with the captain of the ship, and other officers looked in the direction of starboard with serious expressions. The two Mackenson-class ships that suddenly appeared must have been hidden north of the headland, a position that the two American outpost destroyers could not observe, and when the American battle patrol detachment entered the firing range, they "jumped" out of the concealed position to catch the Americans by surprise in a state of preparedness. This successful deployment did give them an edge over the rest of the battle, but Hart showed no panic on his face, as the opponent was only Mackensen, not the Count Tirpitz, known as the "Battle Patrol Killer".

The German Navy's Mackensen-class battlecruisers were originally planned to be built five, but the latter two changed their design, giving birth to the Count Tirpitz class. The Tirpitz Earl is often regarded as an improved version of the Mackensen class, but the relationship between the two cannot be summed up simply by an upgrade. During World War I, the German Navy's Derfflinger-class battleships slaughtered in all directions and got the reputation of "super battleship", and the Mackensen-class that began construction after the war was an enlargement and optimization of the Derflinger-class, with its main gun upgraded from 12 inches to 15 inches, the overall protection capacity increased by 30%, and the speed was basically the same, while the Tirpitz Count class was specially designed and built for the Lexington-class of the United States. They feature a new 16-inch gun capable of penetrating any part of the Lexington class from a distance of 25,000 kilometers, and are equipped with all-oil boilers and turbine steam turbines, and have a top speed of 3-4 knots higher than the De Fllinger and Mackensen classes. In order to resist the 18-inch main guns of the American War Cruisers, the Tirpitz Count reduced the area of the key protection area, increased the armor thickness of the key protection areas, and added an additional layer of horizontal armor, so that the German Battle Patrol was more suitable for fierce naval artillery battles than any previous class.

One-on-one or two-on-two, the Tirpitz Count class was sure to defeat the Lexington class, and the reason why the Americans did not rush to launch a new battle cruiser plan was because they had six Lexington classes, and the Germans only had two Tirpitz Count classes. In the technical assessment of the US Navy, three Lexington-class ships are enough to cope with two Tirpitz Earl classes, and as for the German Navy's Mackensen-class, the Americans have no reason to think that the 52,000-ton Lexington will lose to the 36,000-ton Mackensen class in equal numbers.

At 24,000 yards, which translates to about 22,000 meters, the American and German war cruisers have entered the effective range of their opponents. At this time, the scorching sun was in the sky, the observation and aiming conditions were basically equal, the German battleships did not appear in sight, and the American battleship group could not cover the German battle cruisers' positions, so this battle was destined to become a fierce, cruel but relatively short competition.

The first round of German battle patrol fire was the rotational firing of the main guns, the so-called semi-salvo, the impact points were loosely distributed around the American battle patrol detachments, which at first glance seemed unthreatening, but had already begun to make some of the senses perceive the breath of death. Observing where the shells had landed, the seasoned Germans quickly fine-tuned the firing parameters and fired again before the American Trenchers could open fire. Before the shells fell, the three American battle cruisers let out an earth-shattering roar.

The US ship's first round of half-salvo fire chose high-explosive shells instead of armor-piercing shells, not because they lacked confidence in their shooting accuracy, but because they wanted to deter their opponents in terms of momentum, knowing that their 18-inch main guns were the largest and most powerful naval guns of this era, and their shells weighed 1. 5 tons, which is exactly twice as many as the German-made 15-inch naval gun!

The German battle cruisers fired first, and the speed of the shells was slightly faster than that of the opponent, 12 shells corresponded to 12 water columns, and its lateral dispersion control was excellent, only 2 rounds were slightly out of the cross-section of the American battle patrol formation, and the longitudinal dispersion was also ideal, and the farthest deviation was about 100 meters, and the closest was able to threaten the American crew in the open combat position.

Although the opponent's main gun was "only" 15 inches, Thomas Hart did not dare to be careless, he knew what would happen if his battle patrol was hit by an enemy's armor-piercing shell, and he also knew that the rigid and rigorous Germans had always been stable in shooting, and if he let his battleship move at a constant speed to improve the accuracy of his own guns, he would probably be the first to be shot, so he waved his flag and ordered the 1st Battle Patrol Detachment to adjust the speed and course.

With its strong power output, the Lexington-class with a full load displacement of more than 55,000 tons was able to advance at high speed like a light cruiser of 5,500 tons, but its oversized size caused considerable obstacles to its maneuverability, and its steering radius and steering speed lagged behind the British and German battle cruisers, which were not so fast -- no one in the United States, whether it was an American shipbuilding engineer or an American naval general, felt that this would become a fatal flaw on the battlefield, and when they realized that the threat from the air was growing day by day, High mobility means that when the probability of successfully evading bomb and torpedo attacks increases, there is no way to drastically change the performance of the Lexington class.

The 12 high-explosive shells hurriedly fired by the American battle patrol were scattered around the German battle patrol formation, and the kinetic energy of these heavy shells themselves was quite amazing, and the violent explosion pushed the water column that was stirred up higher and farther away, and what they saw and heard made the German officers and men deeply shocked, making them feel timid, but they did not break their will, but instead stimulated their combat potential, especially those officers who were responsible for ranging and observing and calculating parameters, they were deeply aware of the terrible power of the enemy ship, Only by hitting them as quickly as possible and disintegrating their combat power is the only way to survive!

After a slight adjustment, the three German Battlecruisers fired a full salvo from port side in turn.

For the ships participating in the war in 1914, 22,000 meters was the limit of effective range, but after nearly 20 years of development, the naval powers have long since left this limit behind. Most of the capital ships of the United States, Britain, and Germany, which are fiercely fighting in the waters off San Miguel, have the ability to carry out over-the-horizon attacks against targets 30 kilometers away, as long as they can receive effective firing guidance. Because of this, it is difficult for a battleship equipped with 18-inch naval guns to bully an enemy warship equipped with 15 or 16-inch guns by taking advantage of the absolute range, and effective firing accuracy is still a key factor in determining combat efficiency.

Leaving the rumbling cannon behind him, 24 15-inch armor-piercing shells slashed through the air with huge kinetic energy. At this time, the US ship had already carried out maneuvering, and the officers and men on the ship were a little nervous when they heard the piercing screaming sound getting closer and closer, but few people could judge in advance the approximate landing point of these shells, and it would be a completely different situation if they were replaced by veteran British officers.

Drills were no substitute for actual combat, and the United States was absent from the last major war, saving them from fighting the Allies if they were not well prepared, but it also had many adverse effects on their military development. Listening to the high-pitched whistle of the rapid attack, Lieutenant General Thomas Hart, who was standing in front of the porthole, felt faintly uncomfortable, but it was not until the column of water stirred up by the enemy shells appeared on the surface of the sea near the port that he realized how accurate the enemy's artillery fire was.

The terrible crackling sound filled his ears, and before the aftermath could dissipate, Hart hurriedly asked his subordinates to check on the status of the ships. He was slightly relieved to learn that none of the three battle cruisers had been hit, but the officers under his command immediately reported that the "Constitution" had been hit by a near-miss, and the hull might have been damaged to a certain extent, and his eyes suddenly widened: "This is only the third round of shelling!" ”

The American officers on the bridge of the battle ship were speechless, and only a British naval lieutenant who came to the exchange said sadly: "Otherwise, how could the British Royal Navy lose to them one after another?" ”

Vice Admiral Hart, who was a little further away and did not seem to hear the British officer's words, looked at the distant sea with incredulous eyes, and without the help of high-powered telescopes, he could only see the outline of the island, and could not distinguish the German ships that were very close to the island.

The situation is not good, it is very bad, but if you retreat like this, even if you do not fall into the notoriety of a "runaway general", you will leave a bad psychological baggage, and you will inevitably be affected by this to make a wrong decision against the German battleships - Vice Admiral Hart is in a dilemma and hesitates, and as a fleet commander, even a moment's hesitation in the course of the battle may put his fleet in danger.

The first round and a half salvo were not very effective, and the three American battle cruisers then launched a second round and a half salvo, and the explosive high-explosive bombs violently stirred the sea near the western end of San Miguel Island, turning up a large amount of sludge from the bottom of the sea, and disturbing the sea surface where the German battle cruisers were located, but this did not have any substantial impact on the Germans, and the three German battle cruisers were cruising in a westward direction, not hurrying or slow, and they fired another round of salvo fire that still maintained the confidence of their officers and men Keeping opponents will be terrified with accuracy.

Perhaps blessed by the goddess of victory on the Brandenburg Gate, both the "Hindenburg" and the "Herringen" actually hit this round, and the "Herringen" came with a double cannon - two shells hit the enemy ship's amidship and tail respectively, and both fell into the enemy ship through the armor. Before the explosion took place, the American officers and soldiers who happened to witness the scene had already heard the sound of heartbreak......

(End of chapter)