The destroyers encountered a storm-like attack, completely dismissing the remaining three American destroyers' plans to approach hand-to-hand combat, and the destroyers of both sides were not at the same level in tonnage and armor at all, and unless they launched a torpedo attack, they had no chance of winning.

Commodore Lucius naturally saw the key to the battle situation, Chinese the destroyers on the flanks were undoubtedly a big trouble, but relying on the remaining three Vickers-class destroyers, facing Chinese destroyers with nearly twice the tonnage, and the other side was obviously more proficient in night battles than the US Navy, it was obviously difficult to achieve the effect he needed in a head-on confrontation......

At this moment, as the commander of the fleet, Brigadier General Lucius naturally knew the bad situation of the battle, the battleship Louisiana was quickly sunk, which means that the US Navy has lost the ability to turn the tide of the battle in long-range engagements, and the actual situation is far worse than the current results, and the firing commander on the flagship, Lieutenant Colonel Weir, has confirmed that it is almost impossible for the fleet to effectively counterattack in this night battle situation.

Even with Chinese flares for night battles, the U.S. Navy, which is not trained to do so, is still unable to make an effective counterattack, so there are not many options in front of Brigadier Lucius...... Fortunately, it seems that the Z-shaped tactical maneuver carried out by the battleship Delaware has paid off, and the loss of the battleship Louisiana has also given the fleet an important buffer time, and after steering adjustments, the two American battleships have completed their tactical deployment, at least ...... At present, you can use full-side firepower against the enemy!

"Target, 50 degrees to the left back...... Destroyer! Lucius looked at the dark night and gave the order decisively!

Just now the Chinese carried out three consecutive rounds of rapid salvo fire on the Delaware battleship, but the Delaware battleship successfully avoided the coverage area after turning maneuver, at this moment, the Chinese fleet in the distance suddenly stopped attacking, just when Lucius was surprised, less than 5 minutes later, in the dark, a series of dense and continuous artillery fire rushed into the sky, there is no doubt that the Chinese fleet after adjustment and fired a series of school projectiles.

In the darkness of the left flank, with the main fleet, several artillery flames flashed out, and the two Chinese destroyers were firing flares, but this immediately attracted an intensive counterattack, and the long-standing Brigadier General Lucius immediately gathered the dense main and auxiliary guns on the remaining two battleships and fired intensively in the direction of the Chinese destroyers in the dark.

The distance between the two sides is about 9,000 meters, and for today's 150mm and 120mm secondary guns, they are completely within the strike range, especially when the shooting commander has been popularized to the gun position, the 7 150mm and 50x diameter secondary guns on the side of the battleship Delaware, and the 8 150mm secondary guns owned by the battleship Nebraska almost immediately set off a series of steel storms.

Even the main guns of a battleship that did not have a chance to be launched frantically joined the counterattack at this moment, which immediately put the Yongzhou and Heyuan destroyers in a difficult situation, and the roaring shells of various calibers poured almost at a speed of at least 3 rounds per minute to their own direction.

In particular, when the main guns of the American battleships joined the bombardment, the earth-shattering cannon flames and the thunderous sound of cannonballs could be said to be enough to make the thin-skinned Daqi completely become a target ship......

The Yongzhou under Zhou Bui's command was obviously unlucky, although it had escaped at least four rounds of shelling, and the battleship had turned and maneuvered at least a thousand meters away, but a 120mm shell flying from nowhere accidentally smashed on the front deck of the battleship, and the explosion immediately set off a fire several meters high.

The damage management team immediately rushed out of the cabin, took water pipes and water guns around the fire, and extinguished the damn fire in less than 1 minute, but this obviously fully exposed the location of the Yongzhou again, and then Zhou Bui received a torpedo alarm again, and the sweaty steering maneuver could be avoided, but the dangerous atmosphere immediately put the Yongzhou in an extreme situation again.

Two U.S. destroyers that suddenly appeared fired fiercely at the Yongzhou at a distance of less than 5,000 meters, and a few small-caliber shells that hit immediately made the Yongzhou's damage management operations busy, and the 100mm, 50 times diameter main guns installed by the U.S. Vickers-class destroyers could not shake the 5-inch main armor of the Changbaishan-class destroyers, but they still posed a great threat to the parts that were not protected by the key.

"Withdraw! Full rudder steering, simultaneous firing of No. 3 and No. 4 torpedo tubes! Zhou Bui made a decision almost without hesitation, the other party's purpose is self-evident, and his combat purpose at the moment is no longer to continue to fire flares, continue to survive, and let the opponent's artillery fire continue to be exposed, which is the greatest support for the battleship formation!

At the moment of turning the rudder, the Yongzhou ate two more shells, and a large fire broke out on the rear side of the command tower and the stern gun profile, but black smoke was immediately sprayed from the side side, which quickly obscured part of the ignition point, making it impossible for the American destroyers following to observe accurately for a while...... And at this moment, on the destroyer Heyuan, which had never taken the initiative to fire and had not been hit in the dark, several black shadows flashed and quickly sank into the turbulent sea!

Seeing the black smoke suddenly coming out of the stern of the Chinese destroyer, Commodore Lucius was also stunned, this was obviously not the result of an artillery hit, and it was impossible for the battleship fuel to make such a dense smoke, this was obviously a new naval tactic...... The Chinese's excellence in naval tactics gave him a great shock in a few days of fighting.

"General, the enemy ships are rapidly withdrawing, and the horizon is seriously disturbed, making it difficult to make accurate observations!" The shooting officer immediately corroborated Brigadier General Lucius's judgment.

"General, I propose to let the destroyer formation continue the pursuit, maintain pressure on these two Chinese destroyers, in order to gain time for the fleet to maneuver!" The staff officer on the side also immediately gave advice, and now the trouble in front of the fleet is not small, although the Chinese destroyers on the flanks have been set on fire, but the two American battleships have been completely beaten out of passivity at the moment.

The shells that were constantly whizzing from a distance did not form a dense strike coverage, and it was obvious that the other side was patiently calibrating, but China, which was obviously in control, was not in a hurry at the moment, at least not as when the battle began, and it was a dense half-salvo...... But this in no way means détente......

Brigadier General Lucius didn't have time to make a decision, and suddenly the distant sky was bursting with flames, and the blow was no longer expected!

"Maintain cannibalization, 3 rapid salvos!" On the battleship Guangzhou, the shooting commander Han Cheng calmly pressed the electric launch button, the battle has reached a decisive moment, the destroyer who broke forward laid the cornerstone of victory for the fleet at a huge price, and what he needs to do is to let the blood of the robe not flow in vain, and let the enemy who dares to challenge the rights and interests of China pay the price.

Almost at the same time, with the five twin 13-inch main guns firing fiercely, the huge hull of the battleship Guangzhou, which was moving at a speed of 20 knots, also shook suddenly, and the battleship suddenly moved nearly 10 meters to the left side under the action of huge anti-recoil, and the roll of the hull involuntarily increased a little, and in the huge turret, with the gun bolt violently opened, the brass ****** barrel smashed on the armored floor with a clatter, and a pungent smell of gunpowder smoke filled the small space.

But is this like a boom? The 370-kilogram shells had already been hoisted by the bomber, and slowly loaded into the chamber under the impetus of four gunners, and then four groups of ****** barrels weighing no less than the weight of the warhead were then hoisted up, and the huge cannon chamber was pushed high again by the mechanical device.

"Gun emplacement A is ready ......"

"Gun Position B Ready......"

“……”

A series of commands roared in the turret, and on the central fire control platform of the Tenglong in the command tower, the green light representing the turret loading lit up almost in a few seconds, and after glancing at the two changing curves on the data deviation drum, Han Cheng pressed the warning light that was ready to fire again...... A few seconds later, the skyrocketing artillery fire tore the sky again.

"Countdown to 22 seconds...... Another officer next to the fire control platform immediately reported loudly and pressed the clock at the same time!

But at this moment, a burst of fire suddenly rose from the left front of the 2 American battleships! (To be continued.) )