The cruisers belonging to Task Force 21 were all of the "Miami" class, and the task force arranged "Detroit" class air defense cruisers. In terms of naval combat capabilities, the "Miami" class is no worse than the "Detroit" class, and the "Detroit" class is much more expensive to build, mainly for covering aircraft carriers. 12dnetbsp; In terms of combat capability, the "Miami" class cruisers are very close to the initial models of the "River" class of the Imperial Navy, while the later models of the "River" class are a little stronger, mainly in some tactical performance, such as the "River" steering degree is faster, and at the same time, the power system is more powerful and the refueling capacity is better. In all other respects, the difference between the "Miami" class and the "River" class is not much, the main thing is that both can penetrate the opponent's armor at a normal engagement distance and inflict a fatal blow on the opponent. In addition, the relatively old "Trotto" class heavy cruisers have been replaced with new main guns, and their firepower is no worse than that of the "River" class, and they can easily take out the "Miami" class. That is, under normal conditions, all three heavy cruisers are capable of delivering the most painful blow to each other.

In the case of relatively close performance, the quantity, as well as the commander, the wave of the fleet officers and men is the most critical. At that time, the only US heavy cruisers that rushed out with the battleships were as many as 12 heavy cruisers of the Third Task Force, and the strength was different. If you count in terms of the number of artillery, it is 45 against 1o8, and >. is even larger. It's just that there was a big difference between a battle between cruisers and a battle between battleships.

5+ land. After leaving the harbor, in order to avoid entering the range of crossfire of the battleships of both sides. The cruiser did not turn left. Instead, turn to the right, that is, in the direction of the "Ohio". At that time, the battleship "Russo-Russian" was sinking, and the cruiser was more flexible when turning and needed a much smaller turning radius than the battleship, therefore. These five cruisers all interspersed from the north side of the battleship "Russo-Russian" and just used the "Ohio" to block the ground firing boundary of the six battleships in the south.

The actions of these 5 cruisers did not hide from the lookouts on the "Nanning", after the lookouts reported the whereabouts of the enemy cruisers, Chang Jianxin did not let the battleships deal with these cruisers who wanted to escape for their lives, this is not to say that Chang Jianxin had a benevolent heart, but there was no need to send battleships to deal with much weaker cruisers, the two cruiser formations of the third task force were nearby, where could it be possible to let go of the heavy cruisers of the 5 US troops?

Then. The 2nd Ocean Ship Formation, consisting of six "Tsurotto" class cruisers, was located to the south of the battleship formation. According to the new operational arrangement, the task of the 2nd Ocean Ship Formation was to go forward to cover the battleships when the enemy's destroyers were torpedoed, and not to participate in frontal artillery battles. Of course, this cruiser formation can also deal with enemy cruisers. Therefore, after the 5+ "Miami" class cruisers rushed out of the harbor, the 6 "Tsurot" class cruisers, which had been waiting on the periphery of the battlefield for a long time, immediately turned to the northwest and went to intercept at 24 degrees.

From 5++. to 24 knots, it will take at least ten minutes, and within ten minutes, 6 cruisers of the "Solar Terms" class have already arrived in its southwestern direction. In other words, the interception of the 2nd foreign ship formation of the 3rd Task Force can only manage to defeat the opponent at most, and then quickly break through. At the time, though. The 3rd Task Force also had a cruiser formation, which consisted of the 1st Cruiser Formation

At that time, this formation was shelling the US shore defense artillery positions on the ground southeast of the port of San Diego, which was also a new task that Chang recommended to be assigned. When the battleships attacked the main battleships of the US forces, the 1st Destroyer Formation was responsible for suppressing the US forces, and after the existing US battleships were about to rush out of the port, Chang Zhixin ordered the destroyers to prepare for a torpedo attack, but the 1st Destroyer Formation did not immediately participate in the operation to suppress the coastal defense artillery. Subsequently, the destroyer formation withdrew without torpedo attack, and at the same time, because the American battleships appeared at the exit of the harbor. It was not possible to move to the southeast to fight with the 1st cruiser formation, and could only make a big *** around the battlefield. As a result, there was a considerable delay, and when the American cruisers rushed out, they had not yet reached the position of the 1st cruiser formation, and they were not able to participate in the battle to suppress the shore defense artillery. In addition, the U.S. cruiser formation was fleeing to the west, and the 1st cruiser formation was in the southeast of the battlefield, separated by battleship formations from both sides.

Because of this, Chang Jianxin hesitated for two minutes when arranging for the 1st cruiser formation to also intercept the US cruiser formation, and finally considered that the 6 "Temperary" class may not be able to deal with 5+; : The battleship formation in front did not pose much of a threat, so it was decided that the 1st Cruiser Formation would end its shelling of the US shore defense artillery positions and rush to support the 2nd Oceanship Formation. The delay of the 1st cruiser formation must first go around the main battlefield, which takes at least 2o minutes, and if you take into account the time required to add it, it may take time! It was also for this reason that the commander of the 1st Cruiser Formation did not fully comply with the new order of Chang Jie at that time.

The battle began between two cruiser formations on both sides, and this time it was the American cruiser that had only been added to 16 knots to fire first, and the 24 knots were not able to fire first. At that time, the distance between the two sides was close to 12ooo, which was basically the limit distance that the cruiser's main guns could penetrate the opponent's armor. 12dnetbsp; Gao Voyage made it impossible for his main cannon to wield, and at the same time made it difficult for the enemy's cannonballs to hit. This is actually fairer for both sides. In the first five minutes of shelling, the US 5+ foreign ships basically did not pose a threat to the 2nd foreign ship formation, but wasted a lot of shells. In addition, precisely because of the need to ensure the accuracy of the shelling, the cruisers of the 5 "Miami" class had to maintain a degree of 16 knots, and did not continue to add, the most .: there were able to escape from the battlefield. Probably, this 5+

If it is an experienced captain, he should continue to add it here, regardless of the accuracy of the artillery bombardment, use the artillery bombardment to disrupt the opponent's formation, and take the opportunity to get out of the battle and escape from the battlefield, instead of staying and waiting for death. You must know that when the situation of the battle is unfavorable to your side, and the fleet commander does not ask the cruiser to stay and continue the battle, the best thing for the cruiser is to escape, rather than compete with the opponent for firepower.

At 6:51 a.m., the degree of the 2nd foreign ship formation was reduced to 18, and in order to be able to copy the front of the American formation, the leading ship at the front continued to adjust its course while maintaining a degree of 18. At the same time, 6 ships "solar term +. hit. It was also from this time that the artillery battle between the two sides officially began.

Compared with the battleships, the firepower of the cruiser was much weaker, but there was one thing that the battleship could not match, that is, the degree of the cruiser's main gun projectiles. At that time, the 8-inch guns of the US army were capable of 4 shells per minute, while the 2oo-meter heavy guns of the Tang Imperial Navy could also fire 4 to 5 shells per minute, and the best battleship main guns, without considering aiming, were only 2 shells per minute. In the case of a certain number of guns, the density of shelling of the cruiser was 2 of that of the battleship.

As the engagement distance gradually closes to 7ooo yards left. Fight. Especially when the secondary artillery of both sides was also engaged in the battle, the casualty figure skyrocketed. At this distance, it doesn't matter if it's an 8-inch heavy gun, or a 2oo mm heavy gun. You can use ordinary armor-piercing bullets to pierce the opponent's weak armor. Even 12o meters and 5-inch ground secondary guns can threaten the opposing cruiser. This is also the biggest flaw of the heavy cruiser, which has heavy firepower but does not have enough armor!

At the time of the birthplace of the heavy cruiser, the basic tactic set for it was to carry out artillery bombardment at high sailing and use the degree to avoid the enemy's shells. So as to achieve the purpose of defense. That is, the advantage of a heavy cruiser was degree, and by no means armor. This is somewhat similar to the battlecruisers that have already been eliminated. But the problem is that in a face-to-face artillery battle, the degree is definitely not fast, especially when the commanders of both sides want to defeat the opponent and at the same time are willing to gamble their luck with the opponent, it is even more impossible to fire in the high voyage. In the case of the loss of degree advantage. The armor on the heavy cruiser was weak. Because of this, during the Great War, the navy of any country tried to avoid involving heavy cruisers in artillery battles, and the most important tasks performed by heavy cruisers were to escort aircraft carriers, support 6 squadrons to board 6, and deal with much weaker destroyers in fleet artillery battles. And when it came time to arrange for a small fleet to act alone, the U.S. Navy preferred a faster and more agile combination of light cruisers and destroyers. The Imperial Navy, on the other hand, would have large destroyers form separate formations, and would rarely allow heavy cruisers, which were expensive and "thin-skinned" warships. Fortunately, the large destroyers of the Imperial Navy were not weaker than the light cruisers of their opponents, so the lack of light cruisers did not reveal their shortcomings.

For the officers and men of the cruisers on both sides, there was not much difference between fighting and slaughtering for the next ten minutes or so. As long as you get shot, then there will inevitably be casualties. And as the engagement gets closer, so does the frequency of bullets. At that time, the "Liqiu" received eight shells in one minute, of which three were 8 inches and five 5 inches, which directly crippled the cruiser. The 5 cruisers of the US army were no better, and in more than ten minutes, almost all of them were seriously damaged, and the two ships at the back of the formation had already begun to sink slowly!

By seven o'clock, the 1st cruiser formation joined the battle. Six "River" class ships did not rush over. Instead, it reached the southwest of the battleship formation and had a firing range for firing cannons. When there were still about 11ooo places left in the US cruiser formation, the radar and the seaplanes that rushed over provided the shelling parameters to strike at the US cruiser formation from a long distance. Although the accuracy of the shelling was much lower, the 6 heavy guns on the 54 cruisers were by no means pretty, and the shelling of 4 per minute was no joke. As long as a few shells hit in a single shot, after a few minutes, dozens or even hundreds of shells will hit, and the 5 US cruisers simply cannot withstand such a fierce blow.

It was also a turning point in the battle between the two cruisers, and by about 7:15, less than three minutes after the duel between the battleships of both sides had ended, the battle of the cruisers was over. 5+: There are more than 3ooo officers and soldiers, and no 5ooo survived in the end, that is, more than five-sixths of the officers and soldiers were killed or missing.

The situation of the six "Solar Terms" class ships in the 2nd Western-Ship Formation was not much better, and the "Qiu" and "Lidong" were sunk, and the other four were all seriously damaged, of which the "Bailu" and "Autumn Equinox" were the most seriously injured, and these two warships could not have been spared if it had not been for the sacrifice of the officers and men to rescue them. In the end, after both warships were towed back to the Empire, they were both determined to have no repair value, and were eventually dismantled and disposed of as scrap steel. The injuries of the "Heat" and "Sting" were not minor, and they were eventually repaired, but when they rejoined the fleet, the war was about to end.

At that time, the six "Temperary" class were the last to serve in the main fleet, that is, this was the last battle of the "Temperary" class cruisers on the main battlefield. Although, several cruisers of the "Temperary" class served in the local fleet, as well as in the theater fleet, and held out until the end of the war, none of these cruisers participated in any decent naval battles. It can also be said that this is the "Tsunaki" class cruiser, this kind of heavy cruiser that has served in the Imperial Navy since the outbreak of the Great War and has made great contributions to the victory over the enemy, the curtain call on the battlefield of naval battles, once full of blood, and at the same time wrote the fierce naval battle of the heroic and fearless fighting spirit of the officers and men of the Imperial Navy!

At this point, the artillery battle of the "Battle of Santiago" ended, and after Chang Jianxin learned that the enemy cruiser formation had also been annihilated, his first thought was not to enter the port of Santiago, but how to escape!