As the sun rises in the east, off the coast of Manila, the Royal Navy's Asian Fleet finally arrives.

Klaus's eyes were blood-red, and he didn't sleep all night, and he came to the bridge for the first time, looking at the Chinese dragon flag over the Xinqi Mountain Fort opposite, and suddenly became angry.

"Burlesten!"

Klaus yelled and gave the battlestations, but he knocked out two of his front teeth last night and spoke to the battlestations as Bulsitsen.

"Chief's name is Burlesten!" Ryan, the adjutant at Klaus's side, hurriedly sent someone to call a signal soldier named Burler Stiessen.

"Fack!" Klaus was so angry that he vomited blood, and because of his gentlemanly demeanor, he had to say slowly: "Ryan, I mean prepare for battle!" ”

"Ahh It's sir! Ryan was stunned for a moment, then understood, and immediately shouted: "The whole fleet will enter the battle state immediately, everyone is ready!" ”

"Prepare for battle!"

Orders were issued step by step, and the sailors of the entire British Asian Fleet quickly got busy.

At the same time, the Chinese Navy's overseas Chinese escort fleet stationed in Manila Bay also received information that a combat order had been issued and was actively preparing for war.

The boiler was pressurized, the whistle resounded in the sky, the shells were loaded, and the battle flag was quickly raised and fluttered in the wind.

Deng Zhilong and Lin Changlong separated, one sat in command of the capital ship, and the other went to the Fish and Radium Boat Brigade to prepare to launch wolf pack tactics.

It's a pity that the overseas Chinese fleet didn't bring submarines over, otherwise it would have one more chance of winning and one more killer weapon to use.

The main channel has long been covered with water radium, and the new and improved water radium has greatly increased the explosive power, and a large number of tests have been carried out on ironclad ships. The destructive power is enormous. The trigger has also been improved so that it is no longer easily destroyed by enemies.

Water radium was the first barrier, but Deng Zhilong did not intend to sit still, but boldly sent three ironclad ships and five dome cruisers to fight.

It is not a decisive battle, the key is to lure the enemy deep and give full play to the huge role of water radium in repelling the enemy. Heavy damage to enemy ships.

Of course, there are risks associated with taking the initiative. However, Deng Zhilong had no choice, because the premise of the Shuilei defense line was that there were shore defense fortifications as a support, so that the enemy ships could not search the Shuilei area with peace of mind. But now the artillery on the Xinqiao Mountain Fort is basically the infantry support artillery of the Chinese Army, the largest caliber is only 155 mm heavy howitzer, which cannot pose a lethal penetration threat to the British main ironclad ships.

So Deng Zhilong had to take the initiative to fight. Attracted the attention of the British fleet.

Sure enough, the sound of artillery rang out, dozens of battleships of the British fleet fired a salvo, and the battle flames and thick smoke billowed on the Xinqi Mountain Fort.

The Chinese Shence Army was forced to withdraw its artillery and was unable to play its role in coastal defense.

Soon, Deng Zhilong led the main fleet out of the port, which immediately attracted the attention of the British fleet.

As soon as Klaus saw the Chinese Navy. Immediately, the enemy was very angry when they saw him, and immediately ordered the British fleet to adjust its formation. With six ironclad ships as the central detachment, the central detachment was heading towards the Chinese fleet, and then two detachments were deployed on the left and right, with two ironclad ships as the head and the cruisers following up, interspersed and encircled the Chinese fleet from the left and right flanks.

This naval tactic was very clever and would force the Chinese fleet to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the British fleet.

But Klaus overlooked a problem. That is, he treats the Chinese fleet as if it were the navy of a traditional country. As everyone knows, the Chinese Navy has already been taught by Li Weiguo on tactical issues and has learned some classic naval battle tactics from the era of giant ships and cannons.

At this moment, Deng Zhilong would never go to a decisive battle with the main force of the British fleet. The gap in the number of capital ships on both sides is too large, and once entangled, it will definitely suffer a big loss, so Deng Zhilong's tactics are just lure, and the target is the right flank detachment of the British fleet.

"Report the distance!"

"8000 meters away!"

"6500 meters away!"

"It's 5,000 meters away!"

This distance was already within the effective range of the 305-mm main guns of the Chinese Navy, and Deng Zhilong quickly ordered.

"The left rudder is full twice, and the starboard side is ready for artillery fire!"

The two fleets were moving opposite each other, and the right flank detachment of the British Navy was on the left side of the Chinese fleet.

At this time, the Chinese fleet quickly made a large left turn, facing the British right flank detachment in a T-shaped horizontal position, while the main turret rotated, and the starboard auxiliary gun was loaded together to complete the firing preparation.

"Full rudder left once!"

"Full rudder left twice!"

"Starboard artillery fire ready!"

Deng Zhilong raised his right hand high, and then fell suddenly.

The adjutant immediately shouted into the voice pipe: "The main cannon fires!" ”

There was a loud bang, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and the No. 1 main gun in the bow of the Weiyuan ironclad ship took the lead in firing.

The cannonballs whistled and fired at the lead ship of the British Navy's right-wing detachment, and a few seconds later exploded on the surface of the sea hundreds of meters away, stirring up a huge column of water.

This is a bow gun shot, which is intended to correct the shooting elements so that the other guns can more easily hit the target.

This cannon immediately frightened the British Royal Navy, and the main guns of the Chinese Navy battleships had a long range and great power, instantly refreshing their worldview of naval warfare.

On the bridge of the ironclad ship of the first class Iron Duke, the flagship of the British Navy, Vice Admiral Klaus, commander of the Asian Fleet, showed a trace of solemnity in his eyes.

He still clearly remembers that during the naval battle at the mouth of the Yangtze River in China five years ago, although the Chinese Navy also had ironclad ships and 305 mm main guns, the range and power were not as good as the one just now.

"It seems that in the past five years, the main gun power of the Chinese Navy has increased a lot, and if this continues, I really don't know what will happen to the future of the British Imperial Navy!"

"The Chinese Navy must be killed and China's rise must be stifled, otherwise there will be no place for the British Empire in this world!"

Lieutenant General Klaus has a very far-sighted view of the international situation, which coincides with that of some far-sighted British high-level officials. Because of this, he was not exiled and remained commander of the Royal Navy's Asian Fleet.

But what he didn't know was that the forging and cutting technology of this era was not high, especially the precision machining of artillery barrels, which was the most cutting-edge technology representing a country's military industrial strength, and it was very difficult to improve.

Before the eighties of the 18th century, the barrel of the 305-mm gun was already the maximum limit of the production and processing technology of the main gun of the Navy. It's like leveling up a game, it's easy to start with, but the harder it gets the way you go. Historically, Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, but it was not until 1923 that it stopped importing naval gun barrels from Britain and realized independent production and processing. It can be seen that the naval industry is a symbol of a country's comprehensive industrial strength, and the naval gun barrel is the top technology of the naval industry, which is not easy to obtain.

It is not easy for the Chinese Navy to break through the blockade of the British military industry and successfully develop a 305-mm naval gun, and it depends on the wisdom and efforts of Chinese engineers to succeed.

But this can only show that the Chinese Navy has caught up with the British Navy in the field of naval artillery, but at most the two sides are on the same starting line and have not opened up the gap.

The reason why Klaus had such a big reaction. The main thing is that he overlooked one thing. Five years ago, the 305 mm guns used by the Chinese Navy were mounted on shallow water heavy turret ironclad ships, because most of the hull was submerged below the water, so the ballistics of the main guns fired almost close to the sea level, and the direct fire of the guns could not be far away from the curved guns.

The 305mm gun that Klaus saw just now was actually the 305mm gun five years ago, but this time the Chinese Navy's warships were changed from shallow water to offshore water, the main gun was very high from sea level, and had a maximum firing elevation angle of 45 degrees, plus the further improvement of the ****** formula. The more full combustion resulted in a significant increase in range and power for the same 12-inch gun. This caused Klaus to have a visual miscalculation.

"Report the distance!"

"4500 meters!"

This distance was still not within the effective range of the British Navy's 120-pounder gun, and Klaus was disappointed.

"Keep the fleet moving at full speed!"

"This fleet is moving closer to the right flank detachment, and the left flank detachment is speeding up the detour!"

"Fire immediately when you enter a distance of three thousand meters, no need to ask!"

At this moment, the Chinese naval fleet in the distance opened fire again.

This time, it was no longer the Weiyuan that shot alone, and the other two ironclad ships, the Laiyuan and the Pingyuan, also fought sideways. Shoot along with the flagship.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The front main guns of the three ironclad ships, Weiyuan, Pingyuan and Laiyuan, opened fire one after another, and the huge sound of cannons seemed to be about to come to a thunderstorm, shocking people's hearts.

The shells still fell into the sea, stirring up three huge columns of water.

However, it's closer than before.

This is a red flag. Klaus knew very well that after a few rounds of fire, the ships of the Chinese Navy would lock on to the British battleship, and then there would be an overwhelming salvo of artillery.

But it's useless to be in a hurry!

The range of the main guns of the British Navy was insufficient, so they could only stare dryly and passively be beaten.

Not only that, but the British sailors of the ships were also nervous, their own ships were within the range of the enemy's guns, but the enemy ships were not within the range of their own guns.

Isn't this the rhythm of watching being beaten?

When did the arrogant Royal Navy of the British Empire fall to such a state, the military spirit was suddenly shaken.

"Four thousand meters!"

"Hurry! Hurry up! In another kilometer, we can shoot back! ”

Just as Klaus was looking forward to the battle distance, the Chinese fleet had completely seized the T-shaped horizontal position against the British navy's right flank detachment.

This is a speed advantage, the cruising speed of the capital ship of the Chinese fleet is 14 knots, and the maximum combat speed is 18 knots, which can last for half an hour, which is enough to seize a favorable firing position at a critical moment.

I saw black smoke billowing from the chimneys of the ships of the Chinese fleet, which was clearly accelerating.

Originally, the fastest speed of the British Navy's right flank detachment, the Destruction, was only 13.8 knots, and at first it was not unintentional to observe the speed of the Chinese fleet at 14 knots, but when the Chinese fleet suddenly accelerated to seize the T-head horizontal position, the commander Beckman was dumbfounded, and it was too late to get rid of it.

Knock knock! Knock knock!

At the moment of seizing the T-head horizontal position, the Chinese fleet, which had already completed five shots, finally fired a salvo of firepower.

This time, the three ironclad ships of Weiyuan, Pingyuan and Laiyuan, with a total of six twin 12-inch main guns, a total of twelve giant cannons fired in turn, and the shells were concentrated on the Doom.

Boom! Boom!

Huge columns of water instantly rose on the sea around the Doom, reaching a height of 100 meters, like a water dragon soaring into the sky.

Twelve 305-mm shells hit six, one of which hit the bow, three hit the amidships, and two hit the stern. Six shells, all armor-piercing, pierced five huge holes in the Doom's broadside armor wall, sending out billowing black smoke and sparks. Another shot pierced the stern coal storage room, and although it was not a blasting shell, it also caused a large fire, and smoke billowed from it.

The captain of the Doom was so frightened that his face was bloodless, and he hurriedly ordered evasion, and organized personnel to repair the wounds and extinguish the fire.

Klaus, who was in the distance, saw all this through the telescope and was also shocked.

"What kind of shell is this? How can there be such a strong penetrating power? ”

As a destruction-class ironclad ship, the armor is 240 mm thick, and it was actually pierced by the main guns of the Chinese Navy in one shot.

The most terrifying thing is that the Chinese Navy fleet fired a salvo of firepower, and the hit rate was as high as 50%, which is even more incredible.

Klaus did not know that the Chinese Navy's naval guns had already installed an early optical aiming system, and with the assistance of a mechanical aiming system, it took five rounds to achieve a salvo hit rate of more than half of the results. On the other hand, the naval guns of the British Navy only had old-fashioned mechanical sights, and even if they were fired ten times, the hit rate of a salvo could not be higher than 20%.

"Why does the Chinese Navy always create some miracles, why not our British Imperial Navy?"

Envy, jealousy and hatred are just appearances, and at this moment, Klaus suddenly felt an inexplicable nervousness and fear in his heart.

Klaus shook his head and regained his senses.

During this period, only a dozen minutes later, the three ironclad ships of the Chinese Navy fleet conducted another salvo of secondary artillery fire.

The main gun and the secondary gun are not fired in a salvo at the same time, mainly because of the problem of the warship design and roll cycle in this era, the huge ironclad ship hull has a roll cycle of more than ten seconds, and the Chinese ship engineers are also groping forward, so the current technology can only ensure that the main gun and the secondary gun are fired separately and salvo separately to ensure that the roll cycle does not affect the shooting stability of the naval gun.

This restriction is not only limited to Chinese warships, but also to ironclad ships of other countries such as the United Kingdom, which requires more time and technology to solve the problem.

The role of secondary guns on warships of the Chinese Navy is to strike at the superstructure of the enemy's capital ships and kill and injure personnel.

Each ironclad ship had eight 150mm secondary guns on its side, a total of twenty-four, and a one-time fire salvo aimed at the superstructure of the Doom.

Bang bang!

Doom was shot one after another, this time no longer armor-piercing but explosive, causing a lot of damage to the superstructure, which lacked armor protection.

In an instant, steel shattered, sparks shot out, and clouds of fiery mushrooms rose into the sky. The blast wave of the explosion wrapped in fragments in all directions, causing huge damage to the British sailors, causing a large number of casualties in an instant.

Hundreds of British sailors were extinguishing the fire in the coal tank that was originally on fire in the stern, but two 150-mm blasting shells fell and exploded, which not only blew up these British sailors, but also fueled the fire in the coal tank, which was out of control.

The fire grew bigger and bigger, and the keel wrought iron in the center of the stern was quickly burned out of shape, and the personnel could no longer get close.

The Doom quickly sounded the banner of "This ship is heavily damaged, withdraw from the battle sequence", and then left the other warships of the right flank detachment and stopped the ship to extinguish the fire.

Just half an hour after the start of the battle, the Chinese fleet inflicted heavy damage on a British 10,000-ton ironclad ship, and its morale was immediately boosted.

However, by this time, Klaus's home team and the left wing detachment had quickly closed the distance.

Deng Zhilong did not get carried away, after getting the good start, he accepted it as soon as he saw it, and immediately ordered the fleet to turn around and return at full speed.

"The enemy fleet is preparing to escape!"

Klaus also saw it, and was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

"Fack! Catch up with me! ”

The British fleet suffered a great loss, and naturally refused to let the Chinese fleet go back, and immediately pursued it at full speed.

Deng Zhilong saw that the British were chasing after him, and immediately smiled, his plan to lure the enemy was successful.

"Inform the Radium Camp and get them ready to respond!" (To be continued.) )