Chapter 1165

"The starboard side of the enemy ship is mineed! Sinking! ”

"The enemy fleet on the left flank is turning and is accelerating closer!"

"First Class Combat Readiness...... Level 1 Combat Readiness! ”

Liu Hetu stood on the lookout and looked at the cruiser Brooklyn billowing black smoke in the distance, of course, he didn't know the specific name of this 98-meter-long battleship with a strong American design style, but he was very sure that the minelaying area that Savella had specifically mentioned before was obviously in this area.

And he deliberately provoked the Yankees, and the other party followed him very cooperatively, but here he buried this armored ship that looked like a good tonnage, and now he is more concerned about what will happen to the Yankees next? Shoot yourself with a cannon? Or is it a dumb person who eats coptis and swallows it by himself?

Boom...... Rumble......

In the next second, the answer was already presented in front of him, among the remaining 4 American battleships on the left flank, it was obvious that someone couldn't hold it anymore, on the ironclad ship located in the second battle line, two turrets in the middle of the battleship and somewhat strange positions suddenly spewed out two black plumes of smoke, and the cannonballs whistled!

Lunatic...... Liu Hetu didn't think about it at all, and immediately gave the other party a decisive evaluation, although it was far away, it was enough to see clearly the strange design of the main turret of the ship's waist and side chord, so he had already recognized the identity of the other party - the battleship built by the Yankees, the second-class battleship Texas, which was basically a failed product.

Although the Yankees counted this battleship as a battleship, it was actually an old-fashioned ironclad ship, and the armor should be okay. But this firepower. It's bad enough just from the layout. Strangely, two single-mount 10-inch guns are mounted on the left and right sides of the hull in the middle of the ship, and six 6-inch secondary guns are distributed in the front and rear of the main guns...... God knows what to think!

He didn't have too much to worry about his opponent's gunnery, although he didn't know whether the Yankees had purchased the shooting commander from the British, but his confidence in his subordinates and the Sky Wolf-class battle patrol on the Storm III fire control platform was absolutely overwhelming, these were all veterans of a hundred battles, and they could fully stand the test of actual combat.

The second class battleship of the Texas opened fire first, causing Sampson, who was stunned by the sudden situation in the distance, to almost jump up and curse his mother. However, the discovery of the matter was obviously completely beyond the expectations and control of him, the commander of the fleet, and immediately after the bombardment of the Texas, the four 13-inch guns of the battleship Massachusetts were fired.

"Order, speed up the interception of Chinese warships!" Brigadier General Sampson obviously understood the danger of misfire in this way, and since he had already fired his gun, there was no need to hesitate! At this moment, only by leaving the Chinese behind and thoroughly demonstrating the deterrent power of the US fleet may be able to minimize the influence.

More than 8,000 meters away, Liuhetu also observed the movement of the American fleet at the first moment. He had absolute confidence in the speed of the Sirius-level Battle Patrol. The Yankees would never be able to stop themselves unless they were able to fill the Florida Strait, but since almost every battleship was carrying more than 10-inch guns, this was something he had to seriously consider.

The Yankees' warship construction followed a completely different design path from that of the British Empire, which can be said to be most clearly reflected in the West Coast Squadron under Commodore Sampson...... Almost all U.S. warships are designed to install large-caliber main guns, which is naturally entirely derived from the U.S. Navy's original defensive combat concept.

The 6,300-ton second-class battleship Texas has four 10-inch 35-diameter main guns, the 4,000-ton Monterey defensive armored ship also carries one twin 12-inch 30-diameter main gun and one 10-inch 30-diameter tail gun, and even the 3,900-ton Terror shallow water gunship also carries two twin 10-inch and 30-diameter main guns.

However, in the left flank fleet, in terms of the design concept of the Chinese Navy's warships, in addition to the armor of the Massachusetts, the caliber of the main guns and the design of the second-class main guns, which can still be called a new type of battleship, the three battleships like the Texas, the Monterey, and the Terror are simply the same - the so-called design of small boats carrying cannons originally needs to sacrifice other performance required by the battleship!

Compared with the Chang'an-class battleships, the main armor belt has been reduced from 280mm to 200mm, the armor of the 13.5-inch twin main gun has also been reduced from 300mm to 230mm, and the command tower armor is relatively strongest, only 240mm, however, considering the KB94-2 surface carburized nickel steel armor used by the new capital warships, the overall defense capability is still very considerable.

Even so, Liuhetu is not ready to fight with the Americans today, the main channel is only seventy or eighty kilometers of the Florida Strait, obviously not the most ideal battlefield longer than the speed patrol, at least, if you want to speed up the detour or grab the T-position, it will be difficult to implement here because it is too close to the coastline, but the favorable conditions of a qiē are obviously not given by the opponent, but created by yourself!

"Distance!"

"8,200 meters from the USS Massachusetts, USS Iowa, 10,800 meters from the estimate!" The adjutant in the command room immediately read out loud from the dashboard the number of ranges that had just been completed in the shooting command room.

"Speed!"

"American ships on the left flank, 13 knots, on the right flank, 3 battleships 15.5 knots, are approaching!"

Liu Hetu nodded affirmatively at the adjutant, and he immediately walked in front of the chart, which was about to enter the narrower channel east of Cuba Varadero, and sailed eastward, the narrowest part of which would eventually be less than 12 kilometers...... This will also be very difficult for a fleet to turn around and make a U-turn!

"Turn the rudder 15 degrees to the left, increase the speed to 15 knots, and move forward!" Liu Hetu stretched out his hand and pointed to the left front, and gave the order decisively.

"The Chinese want to run!" On the battleship Iowa, the lookout officer immediately reported the news to Commodore Sampson, and in the distance the Chinese battleship was accelerating to the east.

At this moment, the American battleships on the left flank trailing the Sirius had fired seven rounds of messy fire in a row, and the distance between the two sides was nearly 9,000 meters...... As a result, God knows where all the nearly 70 shells flew!

The main force of the fleet on the right flank, the fleet under Commodore Sampson's command, because it was closely behind the two ships of the Sirius, only the main guns of the battleships in the first and second positions could shoot, but the distance was more than 10,000 meters, and the commodore was obviously clear about this, and if there was a sub-fleet firing indiscriminately there, he would no longer waste shells.

Soon, Liuhetu rushed into the strait east of Varadero with two tails, one after the other, and he immediately gave the order......

"Send a report to Rear Admiral Mao Zhiqi of the Tiankui, the target, the American battleships Massachusetts and Texas on the right flank, turn the rudder 10 degrees to the left, accelerate to 15 knots, sail to the middle of the strait, pull away from the left flank of the U.S. fleet to a distance of 9,000 meters, and then launch an artillery bombardment!" Liu Hetu immediately made a decision, since the Yankees made the first move, then don't blame us for being ruthless!

The sub-flank of the U.S. fleet on the left flank included the battleship USS Massachusetts, the second-class battleship USS Texas, and the cruiser USS Brooklyn, which was capsizing at an angle of nearly 45 degrees, as well as the USS Monterey defensive armored ship and the shallow gunboat Terror.

Brooklyn, which ranked third, was unexpectedly hit hard, and the Monterey and Terror, which ranked fourth and fifth, accelerated to fill their positions, considering that there was already the possibility of being bombed by mines too close to the coastline, at this moment the left flank detachment of the American fleet had slightly deflected its course and followed behind the Sirius and Tiankui

Since both sides are sailing along the Cuban coastline running west-east, in the face of the American warships that are closely following the tail, Liuhetu can adopt the tactic of turning with full rudder to seize the T-shaped top, and use full firepower to bombard the pursuing American battleships, but in that case, the possibility of keeping a distance will also be lost, and the three American battleships and three armored ships on the right flank will have at least 20 minutes to close the distance.

That means that the opponent's right flank fleet of 6 13-inch and 6 10-inch main guns will have nearly 20 minutes to shoot at the approaching Chinese battle patrol formation, and Liu Hetu's purpose is very clear, the 13 fast squadron is responsible for balancing the sea forces of the entire west coast, and he is not willing to be hit in the first order, so he made this mobile order......

"Block C and Block B Block 1 gun emplacement ready...... Single shot school shot! ”

Rumble...... Rumble......

[The New Year is here, I wish you all a happy New Year, good health, and a happy family! ] (To be continued......)