At 1:45 a.m., the roar of the nine 4oomm guns on the "Guangzhou" marked that Yan Shiqi had thrown his main force into battle. By 1:50 a.m., all four battleships in the 31st battleship formation had found their targets, and then raised their gun barrels and fired more than a ton of armor-piercing shells at the battleships in the American fleet.

There are two types of armor-piercing shells used in the main guns of the battleships of the Tang Empire, one is the Type 21 armor-piercing shell that was in service in the year of the 21st year, that is, the year of the war. This armor-piercing projectile weighs 1o5o kg and contains 1oo kg of explosives, and its charge can be said to be the largest of all similar armor-piercing shells in the world, and even the charge of the 46o mm armor-piercing bullet used later by the "Yamato" is far inferior. In fact, this is an armor-piercing projectile designed by the Tang Empire in the early days of the war mainly to deal with the Japanese battleships such as "Fuso", "King Kong", and so on, to be precise, it should be a semi-armor-piercing projectile.

At that time, the armored defense of battleships such as "Fuso", "Kongo", and so on was notoriously bad, and the Japanese battleships except for the "Yamato" did not use the armor laying method of key protection, and were still fully protected, so the main armor belt was not thick enough, and the quality of its armor steel was notoriously poor. Therefore, even the Type 21 semi-armor-piercing shells can still easily defeat the Japanese battleships, and even the Type 17 armor-piercing shells used in the "Dignity" class can easily penetrate the main armor of Japanese battleships. When it is not necessary to continue to increase the armor-piercing ability, increasing the charge is an effective way to increase the power of the shell. However, the Japanese combined fleet was soon over, and with the exception of two innocuous naval battles at Ryukyu Island with a few old cruisers at the beginning of the war, the battleships of both sides never had a chance to meet. As a result, the Type 21 armor-piercing projectile basically did not come in handy. Shortly before the United States entered the war, the Tang Imperial Navy appeared, and the Type 21 armor-piercing shells were quite sharp against the American battleships before the "Colorado" class, but they were a little powerless in the face of the new battleships after the "North Carolina" class.

The Type 23 armor-piercing bullet came into being. Because the armor-piercing projectile was finalized at the end of 23, it was called the first batch of mass-produced task forces of the Third Task Force, just in time for the "Battle of the Mariana Islands". However, at that time, the Navy still had a lot of Type 21 semi-armor-piercing shells, so in the operation of annihilating the "Z Fleet", Type 21 armor-piercing shells were still mainly used, and Type 23 armor-piercing shells were only used for more than 1oo.

The Type 23 armor-piercing projectile weighs 12oo kilograms, making it one of the armor-piercing projectiles with the largest weight-to-diameter ratio. In fact, "heavy shells" (referring to the large ratio of the weight to caliber of artillery shells) were a tradition of the U.S. Navy during World War I. The Navy of the Tang Empire still did not like heavy ammunition very much, because heavy ammunition lowered its firing, lowered the initial time of shells, and would also reduce the number of ammunition reserves. On the question of whether degree or weight is important, the Tang Empire has always been biased towards degree, that is, armor-piercing shells with a high muzzle are more effective.

Actually, this point of view is not entirely correct, in long-range artillery battles, the ability to survive heavy ammunition is good. And the remaining energy is large. On the contrary, the armor-piercing ability is better, which is why the US Navy focuses on heavy ammunition.

The Type 21 armor-piercing shell is a "light bullet", although in previous battles it has been proven that the power of this semi-armor-piercing projectile is enough against older battleships. However, it was a little powerless in the face of new battleships with thicker armor and stronger defenses in the navies of various countries. In the tests of the Tang Imperial Navy, the Type 21 armor-piercing projectile was even difficult to penetrate 35o mm of armor steel plates at a distance of 1o nautical miles, while at that time, the three new battleships of the United States, as well as the new battleships of Britain and France, had a thickness of more than 35o mm, some reached 4oo mm, and some parts were close to 45o mm. Obviously, the Type 21 armor-piercing projectile will not be able to deal with the main warships of other countries at all.

In desperation, the Tang Empire urgently launched the development of a new armor-piercing projectile. And it didn't take long for the results. In fact, a large number of old technologies were used on the Type 23 armor-piercing projectile, the biggest changes were a reduction in the charge (only 18 kg), an increase in the weight of the shell, and the introduction of a copper cap.

The biggest advantage of the cap is that the shell will not bounce off when it is at a large angle, and it can still move in a straight line and penetrate the armor, which does not help much in armor-piercing ability (unlike the armor-piercing shell cap that was worn decades later). And in the test, the Type 23 armor-piercing projectile could easily penetrate 42o mm of high-strength armor steel at a distance of 42o nautical miles. The penetration rate of 44o mm armor steel plate has reached about 70%, which is already very ideal.

This time, the main guns of the four battleships of the 3rd Task Force all used Type 23 armor-piercing shells, and all the unused Type 21 armor-piercing shells were sent to the rear to be used for teaching purposes (in fact, many of them were later used in ground support, and their 1oo kg ground charge could be used as high-explosive shells).

Yan Shiqi is very confident in the Type 23 armor-piercing projectile, the frontal armor of the "North Carolina" class turret is only 16 inches (4o6 mm) thick, and although the frontal thickness of the "South Dakota" class turret has reached 457 mm, other key parts are at most about 4oo mm, and the Type 23 armor-piercing projectile has a 30% chance of penetrating 45) mm armor at a distance of 1o nautical miles.

The "Canton" was the first to shell the "North Carolina" at the forefront of the US fleet

, from the beginning of the fourth salvo, the target was transferred to the "Washington". The "Kunming", which followed the "Canton", joined the battle from the third salvo, and the "North Carolina" was the first to shell, and from the third salvo (the fifth salvo in total) aimed its guns at the "Washington". The rearmost "Guiyang" and "Chengdu" joined the battle from the fifth salvo and kept shelling the "North Carolina". At this time, the two ships were 12 nautical miles away from the "North Carolina".

At 1:48 a.m., when the first batch of huge shells fell, Kincaid on the "South Dakota" immediately noticed that it was no longer a 2oo mm shell, but a 4oo mm shell! The size of the water column produced by the explosion of the two shells when they fall into the sea is completely different, and the explosion sound of the shells when they explode is also very different. At this moment, Kincaid became nervous, the battleships of the Tang Empire were at most fourteen nautical miles away from them, but the problem was that at this time, none of the battleships on the radar showed the battleships of the Tang Empire!

It was not just Kincaid who was in a hurry, but all the officers and men on the American warship were in a hurry. The radar showed targets at a maximum distance of 11 nautical miles, but now there was no trace of enemy battleships on the radar. The four cruisers were well aware, but those four cruisers were no threat to the battleships. Fighting with a cruiser is almost a waste of valuable ammunition for the main guns, and most importantly, where are the battleships of the Tang Empire?

At 1:58 a.m., the lookouts on the "North Carolina" and the "Washington" both showed a flash of muzzle fire in the southeast direction, but the distance was indeed too far, and the frequency of the flashes was so low that it was impossible to accurately calculate the distance. Kincaid couldn't hold his breath either.

On the one hand, he ordered the cruiser formation behind him to follow, and the secondary guns on the battleships continued to deal with the cruisers, while the main guns all shifted to the direction from which the enemy battleship's huge shells came, and shelled in the direction of the muzzle flash. At the same time, he also made the fleet turn five degrees to the left to close the distance as much as possible.

That is, at this time six of Kincaid's battleships began to sail in a direction due south. On the other side of the battlefield, the course of the four battleships commanded by Yan Shiqi was 25 degrees, and the distance between the two sides was actually not able to shorten quickly. Yan Shiqi knew this very well, and the radar on his battleship could clearly identify the six battleships on the opposite side. And judging by the fact that the enemy fleet did not react for half a day. It is difficult for the radar on the US warship to detect a target at a distance of 12 nautical miles, let alone return fire.

Therefore, Yan Shiqi once again made the fleet turn 5 degrees to the right. Keep the distance between 12 nautical miles and about 14 nautical miles, even if it is difficult for armor-piercing shells to penetrate the main armor belt of enemy ships at this distance, there is always a chance and they will not be hit by enemy shells.

Just after two o'clock, the "North Carolina", which was the first to be hit and was bombarded by 18 huge guns from two battleships, was shot. A Type 23 armor-piercing projectile was fired from the "Chengdu", hitting the secondary artillery group on the left rear of the "North Carolina" B turret, and blowing up the two 127-mm twin secondary guns here. Although the Type 23 armor-piercing shell failed to penetrate the main armor belt of the "North Carolina", it detonated all the shells in the secondary turret, and the unfortunate battleship burst into flames. It took ten minutes for the U.S. military's damage management personnel to extinguish the fire, but in those ten minutes. The opponent can now land five volleys.

In the next five salvos, the "Guiyang" continued its efforts and hit a Type 23 armor-piercing shell below the bell-of-the-waterline of the "North Carolina", and the shells concentrated the battleship's landlord's armor belt after passing through about 15 meters of seawater. It is a pity that at a distance of more than 12 nautical miles, the penetration rate of the Type 23 armor-piercing projectile against the 12-inch armor plate is only about 50%, and this is still below the waterline, and the armor-piercing projectile did not penetrate the main armor belt of the battleship, so that more than 10 American officers and soldiers in the vicinity were shocked to death. Dozens of people were injured.

Then, the shells fired by the "Chengdu" hit the "North Carolina" again. The shell accurately hit turret A, when the muzzle of the "North Carolina" was already pointed to the left front, and the shell hit the front of the turret, and the frontal armor of the turret was the thickest, and the Type 23 armor-piercing shell still failed to penetrate the armor, only making the turret unusable for half an hour, and the No. 3 barrel was blown up crooked, and it could no longer be used.

At the time of the "devastation" of the "North Carolina", the sister ship "Washington" that followed closely behind it did not have a good time. The "Washington" was attacked a little later, but it was against the two battleships "Canton" and "Kunming," and the shelling of the two ships was much more accurate than that of the two sister ships behind the buttocks, and in particular, the accuracy of the "Canton" shelling was almost unimaginable.

The first salvo of the "Guangzhou" against the "Washington" was completely empty, and in the second salvo, one shell landed about 15o meters outside the port side of the "Washington", and the shell traveled dozens of meters under the sea surface before exploding. The third salvo named the "Washington", and a shell hit the base of the battleship's No. 1 chimney and, after passing through the upper deck, exploded on the battleship's main armor belt. Although the shell was not able to penetrate the horizontal armor plate (the angle was too large), it also blew up a dozen compartments in the vicinity into ruins, and at the same time destroyed the ship's No. 1 chimney, and the effect of this shell will be shown later. The salvo in the fourth round was still all off target. In the fifth salvo, another Type 23 armor-piercing projectile accurately hit the rear mast of the battleship, directly breaking the rear mast. It was on the rear mast that the radar of the battleship was mounted, and the "Washington" immediately turned into a blind man.

The accuracy of the "Kunming's" shelling was not as accurate as that of the "Guangzhou", and in the four rounds of artillery firing of the "Washington," only one shell was hit, and this shell hit the base of the battleship's B turret. Although the shells did not penetrate the armor of the turret base (the turret base is a key protection area, since the ship's main gun ammunition bay is below), it caused the rotation mechanism of the B turret to be broken, and the B turret could only turn 75 degrees to the left!

At 2:15 p.m., the problems of the "Washington" were exposed, because the No. 1 chimney was broken, the four boilers located in the No. 1 and No. 3 boiler compartments could not reach their maximum output, and the battleship could not reach the fastest voyage of 27 knots. By 2:18 a.m., the ship's degree had been reduced to 25 knots.

At this point, Kincaid was faced with two options, either to withdraw the USS Washington from the battle, or to reduce the size of the fleet. Obviously, neither the former nor the latter is a good option for Kincaid. If the degree of the fleet is reduced, it is easier for the opponent to keep his distance, and he can take out the six battleships in his hand more calmly. But if the "Washington" is to leave the formation, it means that the fleet will lose one-sixth of its combat strength, and the "South Dakota" will definitely become the target of the next strike, or the "North Carolina" will be bombarded by four battleships, and I am afraid that in less than half an hour, even the "North Carolina" will be finished. When the time comes, he will have to fight four or four, and it will be against four battleships that are more advanced than the "South Dakota" class.

To this extent, Kincaid made a "smart" choice, he let the two "North Carolina" class battleships still shell at the distant muzzle flash, and at the same time let the four "South Dakota" class turn 15 degrees to the left again and rush in the direction where Yan Shiqi was!