Shouhei's battle order is next! After that, there was a sudden silence in the officer's room, and after that, the two staff officers turned around and ran out of the conference room, rushing to the signal room and the telegraph room, preparing to send signals to other warships.

"Everyone, winter is ready, once the battle begins," Green Forest, the horn will play a key role! China's rise in this war, willing to share the same enemy with you! ”

Lupin threw down the pencil he had been holding in his hand. Then he glanced at the officers and left a word. He walked out of the conference room with the adjutant, and then. There was a sudden jubilation in the conference room, and the officers were almost dancing with excitement.

I heard cheers from the conference room behind me. The corners of Lu Ping's mouth also showed a slight smile, and his subordinates could have such a high fighting spirit, and he, the commander of the fleet, was indeed worthy of a smile, and he was very pleased.

But the smile was only fleeting, and Lu Ping knew very well that the stakes were high. Although the Dutch fleet had only two cruisers and two gunboats, and its strength was weak, Lupin did not dare to slack off, and he went to the battlefield in the mood of welcoming a large-scale naval battle.

Lupin rushed to the bridge with his adjutant and personally commanded the fleet to sail.

At this time, the sea has been stormy, but for the "green forest." and "Red eyebrows." For such a large warship, it is still possible to maintain combat effectiveness in such sea conditions, and now Rupin is worried about those ships that are similar to the Dutch "Geldland." The "sea" cruisers of the same class as the colonial cruisers, those "sea" cruisers had a displacement of less than three thousand tons. It is a medium-sized warship, and its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced in high sea conditions, and the turbulence of the waves will not only affect the accuracy of the ship's gun shooting, but may also make it impossible for some ship's guns to shoot.

It is precisely because of this that after Lupin boarded the bridge. The first order was to ask the signalman to signal the light and ask, "The sea is deep, the sea is deep, and the sea is thick." Three ships, what is the condition of warships in the current sea conditions.

The three ships quickly sent back a signal that everything was normal. Lu Ping relieved himself, and then asked another cruiser, the "Hai Analysis", about the status of the warship. I also received an affirmative answer, and after that, I asked the "Red Eyebrow, Trumpet" that followed the "Green Forest" sailing.

"Green Forest", "Red Eyebrows", "Sea Depth, Trumpet", "Sea Chip", "Hairong", "Hai Analysis", a total of six large and medium-sized warships, now, these six warships are all the main force of the first squadron of the Chinese Navy in the South Seas, whether it is naval gun firepower or fleet displacement, are far away from the Dutch fleet, this battle, although Lu Ping is very cautious, but full of confidence.

The battlefield chosen by Lu Ping is the coastal waters of the port of Belilyang, the confrontation between the Chinese and Dutch fleets in the past few days, every day during the day, the Chinese fleet will appear in the waters near the Belli Ocean on Bangka Island, swimming back and forth, and the Dutch fleet will also follow the action, where the Chinese fleet goes, the Dutch fleet will follow, and once it is night, the Chinese fleet will often stay away from the coast, and at this time, the Dutch fleet will not follow the action, but just swim in the coastal waters of the Belli Ocean. Guarding the port, sometimes Rupin would lead the fleet to wander around the coast of Belliyang in the middle of the night. It was by virtue of this method that he practiced the reflexes of the Dutch fleet and made the other side relax their vigilance.

The other day, the commander of the Dutch fleet had been warning his subordinates that "the wolf is coming." But the Dutch sailors saw that the "wolves" were just coming and wandering around, and then running away again, so that they gradually relaxed

Fear. But now, the "wolf" is really coming, and this time, it is not a wandering circle and leaving. This time, the "wolf" will pounce and bite hard at the throat of Dolan .

This is a real night battle, a night battle at sea. This is a severe test for both sides of the battle, after all, the light is not good at night, fighting in such conditions, and also fighting in the face of undulating waves, it depends on which side has better fighting qualities.

In order to strengthen the night vision of naval officers and soldiers, the Admiralty has even specially formulated a recipe to enhance their eyesight, and carrots have become the most common vegetable in the naval canteen, so that naval officers jokingly printed a carrot on their pillowcases.

Of course, no matter how strong a person's eyesight is, it is impossible to challenge the laws of physics, and to fight in an environment lacking light, it is necessary to rely on good training and suitable combat equipment, and those flares equipped with naval warships are specially designed and manufactured for the purpose of completing night combat tasks, and their performance is very good, which is enough to ensure the smooth operation of night battles.

Before the fleet turned around, Lupin had given the fleet an order to control the lights, and now. All the warships turned off unnecessary lights. Even the searchlights were not turned on, and the ships moved forward by moonlight, and in order to prevent collisions, the distance between the ships was widened. And keep the voyage at eleven knots.

The watchmen on the mast of the warship were in charge of reconnoitering the whereabouts of the enemy ships, all of whom had the best night eyesight, and the telescopes in their hands were also the best.

Lupin was standing next to the bridge intercom. As long as he looks at the target of the soldier, he is the first to know that the target is accurate

Finally, the shouts of the lookouts came from the intercom.

"Now the goal! The position is small, the distance is small! ”

Lu Pingxun walked to the side of the bridge, raised his binoculars and looked at the dark sea in the distance, several staff officers and adjutants were also looking, but they didn't see anything, there was no light on the sea, and there was no shadow of the ship.

Just as everyone was trying to search for the target, the shouts of the lookouts came from the intercom. "Target confirmed! Two cruisers! Two gunboats! We are heading in the same direction as our ship! ”

Lu Ping admired the night vision of the lookout soldier very much, because he still didn't see anything, although the bridge was not as high as the mast, but after all, it was also high, standing here and not showing the target, Lu Ping's night vision did have some problems, and those staff officers were afraid that they were also somewhat night blind.

"Walking in the direction of our ship, and there is no light, is it us?" One of the staff officers was a little worried.

"Why don't you shoot first? This distance. Most of our naval guns are effective in attacking. Another staff officer suggested.

Lu Ping groaned and vetoed the advice of the staff officers.

"Nope! Wait until you get closer. Command each ship to load the medium-caliber naval guns with flares. Load the large-caliber naval guns with armor-piercing shells, and once the battle begins, the fleet concentrates its fire on the nearest enemy ship first. ”

Lupin's order was given, and the signalman quickly conveyed the order through a light signal, but since Lupin did not order the fleet to take position, the ships still followed the flagship to the south, facing the Dutch fleet.

At this time, the two fleets were five thousand meters apart.

After a few more minutes, Lupin finally saw the Dutch naval detachment of four warships, and quickly gave the next order.

"Ships measure distances! Keep following the flagship action! The flight has been raised to fifteen knots! ”

When the distance between the two fleets was reduced to 4,000 meters, Lu Ping finally gave the order to fight.

"Turn the rudder! Course! The main guns of each ship were aimed at the enemy ship, and after the flagship opened fire. The ships followed with a salvo! After the round salvo, the flares are fired, and then the ships make a second salvo! ”

With this order, the First Squadron of the Chinese Navy in the South Seas adjusted its course again, changing from south-southeast to due west, and the column was swinging out, and at the same time, the turret on the warship also began to rotate, and in the sonorous sound of mechanical friction, the muzzle of the gun slowly turned to the south, and the gun body was raised, and the azimuth and altitude angle of the naval guns were adjusted according to the shooting elements calculated by the sergeant in the firing command cabin.

In the moonlight, the Chinese fleet's action of adjusting course was very eye-catching, which aroused the alarm of the Dutch fleet, but it was only fear. After all, in the cat and mouse game the other day. The commander of the Chinese fleet also adjusted the course in the same way.

The Dutch fleet also made corresponding tactical moves. The formation was changed, and the navigation was also due west

Standing on the bridge, Lu Ping had a full view of the tactical movements of the Dutch fleet, and couldn't help but admire the tactical literacy of his Dutch counterparts, but this did not affect his determination to start the war, and before all the warships of the Dutch fleet adjusted their course, the command of the commander of the Chinese fleet was issued.

"Main gun, salvo!"

Lu Ping shouted softly, and the staff officer standing by the intercom immediately conveyed the order to the gun position.

"Ann! Rumble! ”

There was a deafening loud bang, accompanied by a blinding flash, and the huge warship also shook, and the powerful muzzle shock wave left several huge shock waves on the surface of the sea, stirring up a burst of mist, and six deadly warheads made of steel broke free from the rifling and flew into the sky, drawing a graceful arc in the night sky.

As soon as the flash of the muzzle disappeared after the salvo of the main guns of the "Green Forest", the "Red Eyebrows" also fired a salvo, pouring a rain of bullets on the Dutch fleet, and then the other ships also opened fire and bombarded the cruiser at the head of the Dutch fleet with their main guns.

In a matter of seconds, the silence on the sea was broken by the sound of cannons, and later, the dark night sky suddenly brightened, and all the warships fired flares onto the course of the Dutch fleet, completely exposing the four Dutch warships to the dazzling light of the flares.

Under the white light of the flares, the large and small columns of water that caught the Dutch fleet could be seen. Since the first salvo was not preceded by flares, the distance estimation error was large, therefore. In the end, only two shells hit the Dutch cruiser directly, and both were medium-caliber shells. One of them hit the ship, the other hit the turret, and due to the armor-piercing shells used, although the explosion was not strong, the shells had penetrated the armor of the warship, enough to immediately plunge the Dutch cruiser into chaos.

"All ships concentrate on fire concubines and fire freely!"

Lu Ping calmly gave the next order. Just after his order was given. The counterattack of the Dutch fleet also began.

Thus began the Battle of Belliyang.