The "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang", which are behind the "Nanning", also performed quite well. When the lookout on the "Nanning" judged that the No. 6 enemy ship was the "Iron Duke," the lookout on the "Guangzhou" also judged that the enemy ship No. 7 on the opposite side was of the "Nelson" class. Quite simply, the three main gun turrets of the battleships of the "Tsunaxun" class were all set in the direction of the bow, and when firing, the muzzle flashes were all concentrated in the front, which was a very prominent feature of the battleships of this class, and the muzzle flames were easy to distinguish when engaged at night. But because the night was so dark, the lookouts on the "Canton" could not tell whether it was "Nelson" or "Rodney". Similarly, the lookout on the "Guiyang" made the same judgment.

The "Nelson" class battleships can be said to be very unusual in the large family of battleships of the British Navy. In addition to its main guns, which were all concentrated in the bow direction, the ship was the first battleship to use a flat deck, and the battleship was equipped with a 16-inch main gun, which was the largest caliber main gun in the British Navy. The position of the Nelson-class battleships in the British Navy was as much a transitional character as the status of the Dignity-class in the Imperial Navy. The main difference between the two types of warships is that the Nelson class is too much for powerful firepower and was built years earlier, while the Dignity class is more conservative and designed to leave enough room for future improvements. Therefore, the "Dignity" class has a good performance in the big war, although the four "Dignity" class battleships have been sunk one after another, but they have also dealt a heavy blow to the enemy on the battlefield, and their performance has been recognized, and even many people think that the "Dignity" class is not below the "North Carolina" class and the "South Dakota" class in other aspects except for a little weaker firepower. On the contrary, the performance of the "Nelson" class battleships has been most widely questioned, and the main thing is the powerful firepower that they pursue one-sidedly, or the flashy firepower.

The 16-inch naval gun can be said to be an eternal pain in the heart of the British Navy. Compared to the MK7 type 16-inch naval gun used by the US Navy. The 45 times the diameter of the 16-inch naval gun designed by the British Navy was not only much inferior in power, but also had serious shortcomings in terms of reliability and the longevity of the guns. Later, the British Navy used 15-inch naval guns in the construction of the "Avant-garde" class, all because the performance of its 16-inch caliber naval guns was not up to standard, so that the British Navy had to retreat to the second.

After the outbreak of the war, because the two "Tsunaxun" class ships remained in the home fleet, the combat mission was not heavy, so there was a lot of time for improvement, and one of the key points of improvement was to solve the technical shortcomings of their main guns. Initially, the British Navy was ready to directly import MK7 naval guns from the United States to replace the naval guns of the same caliber on the "Nelson" class. Although the caliber and size of the two naval guns are the same, the practical problems are not so simple, such as the preparation of the automatic lifting machine used in the naval guns, and the maximum recoil distance. And the data such as the diameter of the turret base required for maneuvering are different, so it is impossible to simply replace the ship's guns.

After several years of hard work, the British abandoned the idea of introducing MK7 naval guns, and wanted to develop new 16-inch ground guns for two "Nelson" class battleships alone, which was even more impossible, after all, the development funds required to produce only 18 naval guns were frighteningly high, and there was no time to develop them from scratch. The plan to replace the "Nelson" class with 15-inch guns was also rejected, because the British Navy had a large number of 16-inch shells in stock, and after all the "Lion" class battleballs were sunk, only the "Nelson" class battleships could still use these shells. In the end, the British Navy was only able to manage to solve some major problems, manage to reduce the failure rate of naval guns, and improve the life of the barrels. To solve the latter problem. The British Navy introduced a production line of heavy armor-piercing shells from the United States, replacing the previous high-speed light armor-piercing shells with heavy armor-piercing shells. That's a lot of progress.

Even with so many improvements, the Nelson's performance is still questionable, especially its speed, because the main engine output is too small, and the maximum speed tested by the Nelson-class battleship in the ideal environment of the Thames is only 235 knots when it is in service, if it is a standard deadweight tonnage and in normal sea conditions. Reaching 21 knots is ideal. After improvements, the displacement of the "Nelson" class has exceeded 40,000 tons, which is more than 2,000 tons more than when it was first put into service, and it is impossible to reach a speed of 21 knots.

When the battle began, the lookout on the "Guangzhou" immediately discovered one of the opponent's weak points, that is, its No. 3 main gun turret could not be turned to the angle facing the "Guangzhou" and could only concentrate fire on the "Guiyang" behind the "Guangzhou". That is, at that time the enemy ship No. 7 did not deal with the "Canton" at all. For the "Guangzhou". This is definitely a good thing, but it is definitely not a good thing for the "Guiyang" behind the ass of the "Guangzhou". At that time, in addition to the "Rodney" shelling the "Guiyang", the No. 3 enemy ship, that is, the "Barham", was also dealing with the "Guiyang". Therefore, while the "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" were concentrating their forces on the "Rodney", the "Rodney" and "Barham" were also concentrating their forces on the "Guiyang"!

Battles can be said to be staggered and chaotic, and in this chaotic situation, effective command is the key factor in victory. It can be seen that there was something wrong with the command in the British fleet. It stands to reason that the "Barham" should deal with the "Canton" instead of the "Guiyang", which is further away, but on the contrary, the battleships of the Third Task Force are fighting in an orderly manner in strict accordance with the previously assigned objectives, and the quality of the Imperial Navy at this time is enough for them to win.

The artillery battle began at about 3:27 p.m., and by the time it reached about 3:40 p.m., neither the "Guangzhou" nor the "Guiyang" had achieved anything, mainly because the distance between the battles was too long, and the "Rodney" had been maneuvering to evade, making it difficult for the gunners to effectively aim at the target. But the speed of the "Rodney" became its biggest flaw, and the queue arranged by Summerville also had problems. When the "Iron Duke" was hit by the "Nanning" at 3:43 a.m., the "Rodney" had to slow down to avoid hitting the "Iron Duke", and at the same time had to change course to avoid the "Iron Duke". In this way, it will be impossible for the "Rodney" to give full play to the power of its main guns, and it will be even more difficult to effectively avoid the incoming shells.

At 3:41 a.m., the "Guangzhou" opened the record, and a Type 26 armor-piercing projectile fired from the No. 3 main gun of the B turret hit the base of the B turret of the "Rodney". The thickness of the armor in this part reached 15 inches, and the combat distance at that time was more than 12 nautical miles, and the Type 26 armor-piercing projectile was probably only able to penetrate the armor after 12 inches at this distance, so it was not able to pose much threat to the "Rodney", but its B turret could not turn in the next three volleys, and it was impossible to aim at the "Guiyang".

Five minutes later, the "Rodney" finally began to transfer, and a shell accurately hit the hull under the bridge of the commander of the "Guiyang", this shell was not able to penetrate the armor steel plate more than 400 mm thick in this part, but detonated the small-caliber ammunition in the turret of the nearby secondary gun, causing a series of small-scale explosions. The "Guiyang" was exposed to the flames, and it was probably for this reason that the "Balham", which was supposed to divert its fire against the "Guangzhou", turned its guns to the "Guiyang".

Less than five minutes later, at about 3:48 a.m., the "Guiyang" took revenge. In the eleventh salvo, the shells fired by both turrets A and B were successful. Among them, the armor-piercing shell fired from the No. 2 gun of the Armor turret hit the joint between the B turret of the "Rodney" and the base of the turret. It can be said that luck is extreme, this is the most lethal part of the turret armor defense, this shell directly blew up the turret weighing more than 1,000 tons, killing all the dozens of gunners inside, and at the same time causing the "Rodney" to lose a third of the main gun firepower. The armor-piercing shell from the No. 1 main gun of turret B hit the chimney of the Rodney and the bridge, and the shell fell almost vertically to the ground, penetrating the armored deck only three inches thick before entering the forward boiler room, causing the Rodney to lose at least a third of its power.

By this time the battle had been fought, the "Rodney" was basically hopeless. With a fire on the battleship. The shelling of the "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" is becoming more and more frequent, and the accuracy of the shelling is also increasing. Before 3:56 p.m., that is, after the "Rodney" accelerated around the "Iron Duke" and blocked the "Iron Duke" and "Nanning" at the same time, and was shelled by the "Nanning", the "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" each fired eight more volleys.

In these eight volleys, the "Guangzhou" hit the target three times. The points of hit were on the roof of the A turret, in the middle seaplane catapult, and in the anti-aircraft gun group on the port side of the tail section. The "Guiyang" was even more courageous, and from the third to the sixth, four consecutive salves hit the target, and the hitting points were in the upper right of the bow anchor compartment, the auxiliary gun group in the lower part of the bridge, the right side of the chimney below the waterline, and the right front of the stern helm compartment.

By this time. The "Rodney" has already received 10 armor-piercing shells, and this is the confirmed 10 explosive armor-piercing shells, and perhaps a few armor-piercing shells did not explode after hitting the "Rodney", so to speak, the "Rodney" is basically finished. Its B turret was blown off, the A turret was also opened, there was a problem with the wheelhouse, and if possible, the "Rodney" should have been withdrawn from the battle at this time. But at that time, the "Rodney" had no way out. Especially when it blocked the "Iron Duke" and the gunners on the "Nanning" vented their anger, the "Rodney" was pinned down by three battleships at the same time, and its fate can be imagined!

By 4:12 a.m., the "Rodney" had hit at least twelve more armor-piercing shells. Three of them must have been made by the "Nanning", but they were not recorded in the "bill" of the "Nanning". Because the shells frequently hit the "Rodney", the lookouts on the "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" could not accurately judge the impact point of the projectiles, nor could they determine which main gun hit the target, perhaps precisely for this reason. I mistakenly recorded the results of the "Nanning" on other warships.

By the time the "Nanning" shifted its fire and re-engaged the "Iron Duke", which was preparing to escape, the "Rodney" was already dying, and all three of its main gun turrets had been destroyed. Lost the ability to fight back. The "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" did not show mercy because of this, and the main guns on the two battleships would not change direction until the "Rodney" was sunk. (Fastest update: n).

By about 4:20 a.m., the lookouts on the "Guangzhou" at that time recorded that the "Rodney" had been hit 34 times, while the lookouts on the "Guiyang" had recorded 36 hits. The main reason is that the two battleships are located in different positions, and the observation angle of the lookout is also different, so there will be discrepancies when recording the battle results. But it doesn't matter if it's thirty-four times, or thirty-six times. It is impossible for the "Rodney" to return to British ports. Not to mention this kind of battleship that began construction immediately after the end of World War I, even if it is the "Iowa"-class battleship of the US Navy. After being hit by more than thirty Type 26 armor-piercing shells in an artillery battle, it is impossible to continue to float on the surface of the sea!

At 4:24 a.m., a series of small-scale explosions occurred aboard the "Rodney". The flash produced by the explosion was very obvious at night, and Chang Jianxin also saw it on the "Nanning", and he knew that the "Rodney" had reached the moment of "returning to the light", and it was only one step away from the end.

Five minutes later, at about half-past four, there was a violent explosion on board the "Rodney", and the flames flew into the air, almost illuminating several other battleships around it. This was the last time the "Rodney" appeared in the sight of the officers and men of Task Force 3. The flames of the explosion soon died down, and by the time the night darkened again, the Rodney had begun to slowly sink to the bottom of the sea.

When Chang Jianxin received a radar officer's report confirming that the "Rodney" had disappeared from the radar screen, he breathed a sigh of relief, this was the first British battleship to be sunk, which can be regarded as a major turning point!