At half past eleven, the radar on the battleship "Canton," which was running at the forefront, was the first to spot the enemy fleet approaching 20 degrees east-south, and four major targets appeared one after another, and they were the four "Iowa"-class battleships. Within five minutes, the radars on all six "New Provincial Capital" class battleships had discovered targets one after another, and the situation of four enemy ships had been confirmed.

"Don't fire yet, get closer!" Chang Jianxin has already begun to command the fleet's artillery battle, "Send out the information of the encounter with the US Task Force 33, and now there is no need to maintain radio silence." ”

The telegram was sent quickly, and the battle would begin within 20 minutes, and no matter how fast the US command system reacted, it would not be possible to provide information on the appearance of Task Force 3 to the front-line combat units within 20 minutes. As a result, there was no longer any need for Task Force 3 to maintain radio silence.

The distance between the two sides was still close, and the six "New Provincial Capital" class battleships had begun to slow down, and all turned their main guns in the direction of port side. The 55-mm 400-mm armor-piercing projectile could hit 21 nautical miles away, but the problem was that at this distance, the Type 23 improved armor-piercing projectile (which was still collectively referred to as the Type 23 armor-piercing projectile later) was a bit difficult to deal with even the main armor on a heavy cruiser, and it could not threaten the battleship at all. They have also received information that if they want to penetrate the heavy armor of the "Iowa", they must at least shorten the distance to within 10 nautical miles, but at the same time, the armor-piercing shells of the US military's MK-7 main gun may also penetrate the main armor of the "New Provincial Capital" class battleship. In the case that both sides are able to penetrate the opponent's armored ground, the artillery battle is all about the accuracy of the artillery bombardment, as well as luck. … Mobile station N

11:46 a.m. The Iowa ground radar also found the target.

"General, six large targets have been found in the north, suspected to be battleships."

Kincaid was taken aback at first. Then he shouted: "Prepare for battle, it must be the third task force." Immediately let the battleships on the left flank come over! ”

The four Iowa-class battleships immediately began to turn to the right, and all of them turned their main guns to the left, which allowed them to return fire and at the same time close the distance between them and the enemy. Two minutes later, the three South Dakota-class battleships five nautical miles to the west also began to turn to the right without slowing down. I want to quickly shorten the distance with the right flank formation and form a complete battle line.

At this time, the U.S. army's right-wing formation was about 12 nautical miles away from them, while the left-wing formation was 16 nautical miles away from them. The U.S. fleet's turn was immediately discovered.

"The fleet turned 20 degrees to the left, let go of the front ship, and immediately opened fire."

The six "New Provincial Capital" class battleships fired their first salvos one after another within a minute, and according to the new orders, every two battleships were to deal with one enemy battleship, striving to form an overwhelming artillery superiority in a short period of time, and this advantage could lead to a higher rate of accuracy.

and much more luck. The time when this round of shelling began was 11:47, and the US right-wing formation had not yet completed its turn, while the left-wing formation had just begun to turn.

At this time. On the battlefield, the "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" shelled the "Wisconsin," the "Nanning" and "Changsha" dealt with the "Missouri," and the "Wuhan" and "Nanchang" dealt with the "New Jersey." And the USS Iowa, which was at the forefront of the US right flank formation, was also the flagship of the 33rd Task Force and was not shelled.

The muzzle fire of the six battleships arrived more than a minute ahead of the shells, which was the signal for the start of the battle, and Kincaid immediately ordered the cannon to return fire. And the tactic he arranged was that the four battleships shelled their respective targets in turn. In other words, at that time, the "Iowa" was the first to shell the nearest "Guangzhou", then "Guiyang", and then "Nanning". The second "New Jersey", which went into battle, remained the "Canton" that was shelled first, and then the "Guiyang". The same went for the two battleships in the back. As a result, the first few rounds of shelling of each battleship hit different targets, and the negative impact on the US military was very huge.

In a decisive battle of the ship's guns, it was quite normal for the first two or three salvos to miss the opponent, and during this time, the lookout would correct the shelling according to the situation at the point of impact. As a result, it is often the case that the two sides will only hit their opponents after several rounds. In fact, this is why the battleships, in a decisive battle, will each choose an opponent until this opponent is defeated, and then choose the second opponent. If you take turns to shell several targets, then you will not be able to correct the shelling parameters through the impact point, improve the accuracy of the shelling, and finally lead to the fact that no opponent can be defeated, and you will be passively beaten.

Now the US forces are in this embarrassing situation, when the "Iowa" fired three salvos at the "Guangzhou" (none of which hit), the "New Jersey" had already completed its turn, so the "Iowa" had to switch to shelling the "Guiyang" behind the "Guangzhou." And after the "New Jersey" fired two rounds of salvos at the "Canton" (none of which hit), the "Missouri" followed, and it had to turn to shelling the "Guiyang", and the "Iowa" in front switched to shelling the "Nanning". It was not until the last "Wisconsin" could catch up that the "Iowa" locked on the "Changsha" as the main target of shelling, the "New Jersey" against the "Nanning", the "Missouri" against the "Guiyang", and the "Wisconsin" against the "Guangzhou". During the period when the US military adjusted the battle line, not only was none of the six "New Provincial Capital" class battleships hit, but all of them fired more than 10 rounds of salvos, firing more than 500 huge shells at the four "Iowa"-class battleships, and even if these shells only hit half of the time, it was enough for Kincaid to lose that slight numerical advantage in the number of main guns.

This artillery battle began with a classic battle on the battle line. In naval artillery battles, the most important thing is to seize the "D" prefix, so that all the side guns can be concentrated against the enemy, and the enemy can only fight with the main guns in front.

During the period when the enemy is turning, there is ample opportunity to crush the opponent and thus gain the initiative.

Before aircraft carriers, line of battle tactics were the basic theoretical basis of naval warfare. In an engagement, any commander will try to seize an advantageous position for the shelling. And in the era of sails, in order to be able to seize this advantageous position. The parties can even be entangled at sea for days. And to the time of battleships, because the speed of battleships increased. Mobility increases, so whoever gets into the shelling position first is more likely to win, and there are very few cases of being at a disadvantage at the start, and ultimately turning the tide of battle!

At the time of the turn of the right-wing formations of the US army. Chang Zhixin has already won.

The "Canton" fired a total of 12 salvos during this period (from the third salvo, the ships fired a salvo, not the fleet salvo), and 11 of the 108 armor-piercing shells hit the target, which was the highest hit rate among the six "New Provincial Capital" class battleships at that time (located at the front of the fleet, the closest distance, and therefore the most accurate shelling). Of the 11 shells, all but two of them landed on the "Missouri" by accident, and the other nine hit the "Wisconsin". It's a pity. None of the seven armor-piercing shells that hit the main armor belt could tear the skin of the "Wisconsin", but only swept away all the secondary guns on the port side of the battleship, resulting in the death of more than 200 American officers and men. Another shot hit the bow of the USS Wisconsin.

The entire anchor compartment was blown away, and the bow of the "Wisconsin" was also "bitten"

A big gap came out. Another shot hit the aft deck of the battleship and exploded into the sailor compartment below, but fortunately there was no one in the sailor compartment at this time. Otherwise, this shell will definitely kill hundreds of US officers and soldiers. And among these shells, the greatest "credit" must have accidentally hit the one in the hangar of the "Missouri" seaplane, which ignited the aviation gasoline here, and as a result, the battleship became a key target!

The "Guiyang" fired only ten volleys, and one of the guns in the armor turret had a problem, taking part in only eight of them (which were quickly fixed), so the ship fired only 88 huge shells, of which 6 hit the target. All six armor-piercing shells hit the "Wisconsin" landlord's armor belt, and the second of the shells hit directly under the battleship's commander's bridge, which would have caused the entire ship to lose command if it had not been protected by more than 500 mm thick armor. Although the armor protected the commander of the battleship in the commander's bridge and did not kill dozens of officers, all of them were wounded, and the battleship was unable to fire an effective salvo in more than ten minutes.

As the flagship of the fleet, the "Nanning" was the best among the four battleships of the "New Provincial Capital" class that entered service in the second batch, and the ship made a total of eleven salvos, the first three salvos were all empty, and it was not until the fourth salvo that the results were achieved. Of the 99 armor-piercing rounds fired, nine hit the USS Missouri, and seven of them hit after the USS caught fire. Unfortunately, the battle distance was too long, except for one armor-piercing bullet that hit the base of the "Missouri" chimney and came to pierce the other 8 armor-piercing shells, none of the other 8 armor-piercing shells could penetrate the main armor belt of the "Missouri", but only exploded a ball of fireball on this battleship.

The "Changsha" also dealt with the "Missouri," and the battleship fired only nine salvos and fired 81 shells, but only four of them hit the target, and all four of these shells were blocked outside the main armor belt, leaving a few more holes in the hull of the "Missouri" and dozens of more American officers and men killed.

The speed of the "Wuhan" shelling was not fast, and it was fired eight volleys, and only 5 of the 72 armor shells hit the "New Jersey", of which the most destructive one made a huge hole in the bow deck of the "New Jersey", and the other shells were not able to penetrate the battleship's main armor belt, but only blew up all the 127-mm secondary guns on the port side of the battleship.

The opponent of the "Nanchang" was also the "New Jersey," but the problem was that the captain of this battleship misread the commander's order, believing that it was shelling the US fleet from beginning to end, so the first five rounds of shelling were all directed at the "Iowa," and after receiving the new order, only three rounds of shelling were carried out on the "New Jersey," and of the 72 armor-piercing shells fired in these eight rounds of shelling, only two were hit in the third salvo of the "New Jersey," which can be regarded as a little success!

As a matter of fact, at this time, the problem of the low quality of the officers and men of the Third Task Force had already become apparent. The highest percentage of shelling hits was carried out by the "Guangzhou", and the "Nanning" and "Guiyang" ships were three ships.

The "Guangzhou" and "Guiyang" were the first to enter service, and most of the officers and men were veterans, while the "Nanning" was the flagship, so the number of veterans was much greater than that of the other three battleships in service at the same time. Judging from the speed of the shelling, the speed of the three battleships behind was obviously slow, and there was even a misreading of the order. If the quality of the officers and men on the six battleships at that time had been able to reach the level of the "Guangzhou," I am afraid that the four "Iowa"-class battleships would have to eat dozens of more shells.

Another problem that was exposed during the battle was that the Type 23 armor-piercing projectiles (improved model) could not penetrate the main armor belt of the Iowa class battleships at more than 12 nautical miles, and even the weakest waterline armor could not penetrate it. In addition, the firing range of the 55 times diameter main gun has been increased a lot, which can make the trajectory lower and more powerful, and the power against side armor has been increased a lot, but the problem brought by this is that the angle between the shell and the horizontal plane when it falls is too small, and the ability of horizontal armor is obviously insufficient! In fact, this also became the main reason why the Navy of the Don Empire immediately replaced it with better armor-piercing shells later.

At this time, Kincaid's mood must be worse than that of Chang Xin. The opponent had already fired ten or so volleys, and he did not see a single enemy ship hit. The "Wisconsin" was almost unable to hold out, the situation of the "Missouri" was not much better, and the "New Jersey" and "Iowa" could not have dealt with six battleships alone. In this case, Kincaid had only one choice, which was to immediately lean in to improve the accuracy of the shelling, and at the same time let the three "South Dakota" class ships enter the battle as soon as possible!

On the sea, the U.S. fleet began to turn again, and Chang Jiexin also decided at this time to give the enemy a little color.