Lu Han did not have the consciousness of face-to-face battle with the opponent's two battleships equipped with many heavy guns, he quickly ordered to open the distance, at this time the cooling of the cannon chamber was also completed, he immediately issued an artillery order, and at the same time referring to the speed of the enemy ship, slightly reduced ship speed, hoping to improve the chance of hitting a little shelling.

After adjusting the course, the 6 254mm heavy guns on the 501 ship can be put into the next round of attacks on the enemy, the rotating battery at the waist of the cruiser Dujutuin, to be honest, is still a very creative design, at least there is not much shooting dead angle for the front and rear left and right targets, Lu Han also found that the opponent's artillery is very flexible, and he did not deliberately seize the position of the T-shaped direction of the opponent's bow, anyway, keeping a distance is the best plan.

The Dujuturuin quickly felt its own powerlessness, facing a battleship that was superior to its own in range and speed, even Colonel Dokes, who claimed to be experienced, was a little dumbfounded at this time, and the enemy ship that remained at a distance of 5,000 meters made him feel full pressure from the first round of shelling.

In the roar of the giant cannon, the first round of flowering shells smashed from the sky had a close miss of only 20 meters, and his two 240mm caliber guns carried out a counterattack at the maximum elevation angle......

If you want to hit the right one at this range, even if you have the help of the hand of God and give enough luck, just like this, a cannonball that exceeds the effective range will be smashed on the opponent's steel armor, and it is estimated that the effect is just to smash a hole!

At this time, the most important thing is to close the position of the two warships, it is obvious that Colonel Brown on the flagship also noticed this problem, after the first round of shelling, he understood that the other side has an advantage in artillery range, and the distance between the two sides must be shortened to offset the opponent's advantage, with the speed of their two warships, the only option is to flank from both sides, forcing the other side to retreat.

But a two-sided attack also means that soon the two warships will have to fight separately, but after weighing the pros and cons, instead of waiting to be beaten, it is better to fight with all their might, even if they can't drive away the enemy ships, it is better than the current situation! The order to flank on both sides was given immediately!

Lu Han looked at the two battleships on the right side of the ship that were chasing with all their might, and suddenly the course changed a little, and he smiled in his heart, it seems that this French commander is not stupid, and he doesn't want to be consumed like this...... However, if you want to come up and fight, you also have to have strength!

He pursed his lips and said to the soldiers on the side: "Xiao Wu, go down and tell Sù to take care of Lin Sen, the French want to play in circles with us, let him control the distance between zhì and the clipper ship opposite!" ”

In the boiler room of the 501 ship, a sweaty officer and a few shirtless workers were nervously pouring pitch-black coal into the fuel ports of several huge boilers, when a soldier hurriedly ran down and said, "Lord Lu, the driver said to pressurize at full speed, and get rid of the French!" ”

"Okay!" The officer replied loudly, and several workers immediately acted quickly, quickly completing the coal filling and blowing air! The temperature of the entire boiler room suddenly became a little hotter again......

He was called Master Lu De, a student officer of the Mawei Shipbuilding School, who had a strong interest in the technology of the battleship after joining the army, so he was sent by Qin Kai to study in the steam engine workshop, and participated in the process research and development of the Mawei Shipmaster water pipe and fire tube boiler, this time he studied the boiler process with the ship.

Lu De took a sentence given to him by Qin Kai as his motto - "Without investigation, there is no right to speak!" Naturally, he didn't know that this was Qin Kai's quote from a great man in later generations, but for the truth of this sentence, he did feel the necessity of such an investigation!

Although Lu De has not been engaged in technology research and development in the Mawei steam engine workshop for a long time, he often goes down to the battleship and the boilermen on the ground floor to understand and observe on the spot, so that he quickly became a practical expert in steam engines and boilers.

The four German-made fire-tube boilers quickly provided the required kinetic energy for the battleship, and the commander Lin Sen calmly and skillfully directed the battleship to make a large arc turn to the right, which in this case gave enough time for the gun position to shoot and adjust, and it was clear that the order given by Lu Guandao was to keep an eye on the cruiser! What's so difficult about a 16-knots ship with a speed of 501 knots ?!

At this time, the atmosphere in the firing command room was already about to boil, and the result of the last round of firing was almost a little worse, Chen Ying observed the enemy ship that was turning slightly on the opposite side, and at this time, the number of shooting officers at the observation points of position No. 1 and No. 3 had already been transmitted, and the distance between the two sides remained fluctuating between 5,000-5,100 meters. ,

The only thing that has changed is that the course of the enemy ship Dujuturuin has shifted by 15 degrees from before, and after a slight adjustment, it is less than two and a half minutes after the last salvo, and the 501mm heavy guns on the 254 ship roared again!

At this time, the warships on both sides were desperately accelerating, but fighting for speed, it was clear that the cruiser Dujutuin had suffered a big loss, he was only 14 knots of speed, although at this time the boiler room had been pressurized and blasted, so that the speed had reached the limit, but the distance with the other side did not seem to show the slightest sign of shortening.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was almost the maximum range of the ship's guns, and Colonel Dukes decided to try the maximum range of artillery fire, but the black smoke and fire from the guns on the opposite side once again disrupted his plan.

Six 220-kilogram projectiles roared down on the bow of the cruiser Dujuturuin, this time the shells fell very densely, and the huge column of waves set off at the bow of the ship frightened Colonel Dukes, and when the battleship passed through the middle of the column, he could not help but sigh secretly for good luck.

Obviously, the deviation of those shells was very limited, and if this continued, the Dujutuin would be hit sooner or later, so he immediately ordered loudly, "Turn the rudder 10 degrees to the left and maneuver to avoid the enemy's guns!" At this moment, the two rounds of shelling by the Qing State Navy Division on the opposite side have already made him realize what an unrealistic order the task of outflanking the imminent task issued by the flagship!

At this time, the rotating turret in the middle of the battleship completed another counterattack attempt, but the result was undoubtedly useless, and the four shells failed to reach the position of the opponent's battleship at all, and fell far into the sea.

Just as Colonel Dukes was thinking about how to deal with the dilemma in front of him, the officer in the ammunition compartment rushed to him and reported to him a shocking bad news, in the previous round of shelling, an enemy shell that landed on the left side of the bow exploded, resulting in fragments and huge pressure, so that the two steel plates under the waterline on the left side of the bow were squeezed by Yanzhòng, and the forward compartment was already strictly zhòng permeable!

The damage management team is working hard to repair it, and it is estimated that the water inlet will be blocked soon, but a more serious problem makes Colonel Dukes crazy, because the Dujutu Luin is a thin-armored, wooden-hulled double-layer hull, so in the design of the water trap, the French designer is dividing the large position, because in a few minutes, the front bilge has been filled with hundreds of tons of seawater.

In order to enter the bilge for repair, the damage management team had to open the waterproof hatch, which caused the draft of the bow of the ship to become significantly deeper at this time, and the change of the bow water level has directly affected the speed of the battleship! The normal way to deal with it should be to quickly organize the drainage, and the common thing in wartime is to fill the aft compartment with water to maintain the balance of the hull, which can offset the greater drag caused by the sinking of the bow, and then carry out the drain treatment!

However, at this moment, in the face of the enemy who was chasing after him and the flagship Atarant that was crawling on the other side, the original plan was completely impossible to realize, and Dukes immediately made his own decision, since the Qing people used their speed as bait to force Colonel Brown to make the decision to divide the army, he could also use himself as bait...... Lure the opponent into friendly range!

This seemed to be the only feasible way, and most importantly, it was also a way to save the Dujutu Luin, and the battleship immediately received the order to cut the inner arc at full speed! Rather than continue this battle with no chance, it is better to protect himself from now on, he viciously looked at the Qing warship in the distance!

However, the next round of 501 ship's fatal salvo ended Dukes' plan!

Less than two and a half minutes after the last salvo, with the roar of the heavy artillery, a new chain of bullets fell from the sky, and Dukes, who was standing on the bridge and was thinking about how to lure the enemy, was completely shocked by the scene in front of him! The enemy's heavy artillery landed on the left and right of the battleship, setting off a high column of water, and what made him even more unforgettable was that a cannonball hit the rotating turret installed in the middle of the battleship with great accuracy.

Moreover, this cannonball very accurately named the twin gun mount on the right side of the battleship, the top of the gun mount was lifted like a can, and then, the shell smashed through the thin deck, and there was a violent explosion on the roof of the lower cabin, and the ten artillery and officers in the gun mount were directly torn to pieces by the whirlwind of the explosion and the flying shrapnel, and the high temperature generated by the explosion quickly solidified and burned the flesh and blood foam, and thick black smoke rose from the deck. ,

The loss of one turret made Colonel Dukes feel very helpless, but what really made him lose confidence was the next news, hitting the shell on the rotating turret, the fragments produced by the explosion, after penetrating the countertop, actually hit the hinges and gear transmission system of the entire propaganda turret, which made the entire turret completely lose the ability to rotate!

Dukes thought about it for two seconds and immediately gave the order to signal to the flagship that "the artillery is destroyed, request to retreat"! There was no longer any hesitation, and the ironclad ship Atarante sailed away, and in the retreat, it was natural to go in groups to get the maximum survival rate! And on the Atarante, Colonel Brown saw the message sent by Dodux and already understood that there was no way to continue this battle! Immediately turn around and prepare to converge, then evacuate together!

Lu Han scooped the telescope and observed the target in the distance, the heavy cannon that hit the ship's waist did not play any important role, which made him very strange, he did not know about the steel structure of the rotating turret designed by the French, it was so thick that it could withstand the bombardment of 254mm heavy guns...... However, the news released by the observation tower next allowed him to fully confirm the enemy's movement of escape.

The 501 ship did not hesitate to turn around and start to catch up, the battleship's turn, the 6 naval guns immediately began to quickly adjust the corner, which doubled the time between the next round of salvo, when the battleship turned just completed, Chen Ying couldn't wait to give the third round of shelling!

And by this time, the Dujuturuin had already begun to go straight at full speed, and instead of changing lanes, it was trying to dodge the shells from the 501 ship!

In today's artillery battle, up to now, the shooting of the 501 ship can be described as unsatisfactory, and twelve rounds of shelling were carried out, and a total of 72 shells were fired, of which 5 were hit, and 7 were missed.

In this era, even the best elite of the British fleet would never have more than 3% of heavy artillery hits at moving targets at three kilometers, while the excellent shooting officers and artillery crew of the 501 ship achieved a 7% hit rate on a battleship that maintained a full-speed rush!

However, 3 of these shots hit the reconnaissance fast cruiser's firing range of less than four kilometers of direct fire, which somewhat made this achievement a little more watery, after all, the best firing range of the 501 heavy artillery is 4-5.5 kilometers, and in this firing range, even the French Navy, which is known as the second in the world, has no heavy artillery that can match it for the time being.

The thirteenth round of salvo fire, in the earth-shattering roar burst out again, with the defeat of the French battleships, at this time the mood of the artillerymen has been greatly relaxed, and this is the element that obviously affects the artillery play, although this round of salvo bullet chain failed to achieve, but in the re-ranging, sharp turn after the shooting, still achieved two close misses.

Chen Ying carefully observed the enemy ship speeding in front, figuring out the other party's idea of changing the line, at this time the battleship had already bitten the opponent tightly, and the distance measured showed that it had entered the best distance of 4700 meters!

"Fill the first position!" Five seconds later, the second and third positions were followed by a report of the completion of the reload almost at the same time!

"Adjust the elevation angle to minus 5 points, countdown to 5 seconds salvo!" Chen Ying loudly released the shooting parameters, it is already the seventh round of continuous shooting, after this round, it is necessary to stop for a few minutes to water the barrel to cool down, this is the last round! Even if he was already a staunch atheist under the influence of Qin Kai, he also muttered two words in his heart at this time, Ami Tofu......

Now the most calm and calm person on the entire battleship is Qin Kai, he silently records the shooting parameters and shooting results of each round, but it is also inconvenient to use the light brain for ballistic simulation, I have to say, the energy consumed by this ballistic simulation is full of BT level, and the biological energy accumulated by his arduous devilish training is completely useless.

Therefore, he is now cautious in using the logical formulas that are usually performed, and at the same time constantly accumulating the number of shots, although the empirical formula and the firing table for the 501 naval guns are the result of a large number of shots, and the actual combat of Tong Guò has also been tested, but he believes that the richer the number jù, the more it will help to improve the hit of the shelling!

Qin Kai was pondering the number recorded on the table when suddenly someone shouted excitedly, "Zhongla...... Medium! ”

He hurriedly raised his binoculars to observe the enemy ships in the distance, only to see thick black smoke rising from the left side of the tail of the battleship Dujutuin in the distance, and a raging fire rose from the black smoke!

The fourteenth round of salvo finally achieved the result that everyone dreamed of, and the chain of bullets at an angle of 70 degrees smashed the hull of the Dujuturuin, with one direct hit, one on the left side of the bow and one on the right side of the stern. ,

One of the direct hits hit the towering chimney behind the Dujutuluin, smashed directly through the chimney pipe, smashed into the cabin below, and exploded at the position of the first layer below deck, the huge blasting energy completely destroyed the chimney tube on the side, and the two 140mm rapid-fire guns on the left side and the soldiers on the gun emplacements were also swept away, and the battleship with the inner wooden hull structure was immediately ignited with a fire.

After a few shells next to the rapid-fire gun position were grilled by the raging flames, a chain reaction immediately occurred, which produced a huge movement like boiling oil pouring water, and more than a dozen soldiers who tried to put out the fire were immediately swept to the ground by the flying shrapnel! But this exhilarating movement did not cause fatal damage to the Dujutuin.

What really caused the crisis was the near-miss bomb at the bow of the ship with an error of less than 5 meters, which was an absolutely fatal near-miss bomb! Originally, the outer iron hull at the bow of the ship had been broken by a near-miss bullet, and after the all-out repair and reinforcement of the damage management team, the water had just been blocked, but this close underwater blasting was definitely not inferior to a large mine.

The huge pressure and fragments caused by the explosion directly tore the damaged iron shell completely, and after being shaken off from the keel, under the action of strong water pressure and blasting pressure, the fragments of broken iron and shells were rapidly sprayed into the front cabin, and more than ten members of the damage management team who were dealing with the stagnant water inside were caught off guard and died instantly!

What's even worse is that their death did not attract the attention of the bridge officers who were dealing with the fire on the deck of the ship with all their might, after all, the water ingress of the bow bilge had been perfectly controlled in their consciousness!

At this time, in the turret of the 501 ship, the soldiers were scooping a wet cloth mop to cool down the hot gun chamber, and there were soldiers on the outside scooping water cannons to pour water on the gun barrels, this process took about 2 minutes, but other soldiers had already begun to use the lifting machine to lift the shells, so that once the cooling was completed, the loading could be completed immediately!

The interval of more than 4 minutes between the Qing warships that were in hot pursuit gave Colonel Dukes a little respite, and the Atarant finally crawled over slowly, which allowed Dukes, who was powerless to fight back at this time because the rotating turret was destroyed, could finally put his mind at ease......

But what shouldn't happen often happens, the front bilge that was thought to be completely handled is permeable, but not only has it not been treated at this time, but the two large holes with an area of more than two square meters have filled the front compartment with seawater almost in two minutes, and even Dukes on the bridge realized that there was a problem with the ship, because ...... The whole battleship was visibly tilted forward!