In fact, after the destroyer "Wuzhou" was struck by US lightning, the eight Chinese destroyers that were responsible for the outer defense of the Grand Fleet had already quietly approached the exposed US fleet, and if it had not been for Tang Zhen's consideration of minimizing losses and the telegraphic order not to take the initiative to attack, the Americans would have faced the threat of the torpedo sea long ago.

Compared with the Chinese Navy's rich experience in night warfare, the gap between the two US destroyers is too large, which is directly reflected in night observation and decision-making...... The destroyer Dyer was slightly less than 500 meters ahead of the Guhan behind her, but given the collisions that night navigation can cause, the two ships were in fact staggered by nearly 500 meters.

Of course, the commander of the Daiyer, Major Beer, also knew the danger he was in, and he configured a 12-person observation group in front of the battleship and on the lookout, which is already very important for the Vickers-class destroyer with a total number of only 100 people!

However, the lack of experience in night battles and the obvious lack of training are obviously not something that can be compensated for by simply sending more manpower, of course, this is a judgment without suspense about the existence of the Chinese destroyer fleet, but the Americans did not expect at all that the destroyer formation escorting the four Chinese battleships advanced to a position that they were also surprised by.

The American destroyer, which was trying to make a detour from the right side of the battleship Nebraska, had just rushed less than 4,000 meters into the formation of Chinese destroyers that were moving on the same side as the Chinese in the dark.

The two sides exchanged fire at a distance of less than 2,500 meters, and in this era, the attack distance of the 5-inch high-speed radial rapid-fire gun was close to 10,000 meters, and the hit rate during routine training at this distance was as high as more than 80 percent.

Among the 4 150mm high-explosive shells, 1 directly hit and 3 were missed, and the shell that hit directly hit the twin 100mm bow turret of the bow of the destroyer Dayer, the turret of the American destroyer naturally belongs to the position of key defense, with 5 inches on the front and 3 inches on the side.

However, the Bozhou obviously did not come for a one-shot kill, as a member of the tactical formation, his ultimate function was to achieve a tactical victory, so among the first four shells, 3 were 33 kg of high-explosive shells and 1 was a 30 kg incendiary bomb, and it was this 30 kg Type 05A incendiary bomb that hit the bow and main turret of the Daiye destroyer.

The exploding incendiary bombs instantly lit the entire turret into a large torch, and the bursting accelerant covered the entire front of the battleship like a heavenly maiden.

Without waiting for others to come to the rescue, a series of small-caliber firepower swept from the Bozhou had already struck a series of flames on the hull of the destroyer Daiye, and the exposed American soldiers were knocked to the ground like mowing grass, and the entire destroyer suddenly appeared in the night like a big candle.

"Right-wing...... Enemy attack ......"

"Damage management...... Extinguish the fire on the bow of the ship now! There was a sound of horror from the destroyer Dayer.

Without waiting for the destroyer Dayer to counterattack, in the darkness on the right side, which was still pitch black, a series of artillery fire had been fiercely ignited, and under the background of the cannon flames, the hideous shadows of the four large Chinese destroyers tore through the black curtain, and the destroyer Dayer, which had become a high-speed target ship, survived this first round of shelling, and there was no doubt that it had driven the highest speed before.

The bullets on the battleship continued to burst one after another, constantly harvesting the lives of the American soldiers exposed to the outside, but none of them were fatal to the battleship, and at this moment, the destroyer Daiye made a move that surprised the Chinese warship on the opposite side, and even left the rudder at full speed of propulsion, and then suddenly released two 3-pack torpedoes on the two wings of the stern.

Under the firelight, six white lines flashed out into the night, but the stall and huge roll caused by the sharp turn of the rudder also immediately made the destroyer Daiye pay a huge price, and then the concentrated fire from the Chinese destroyer suddenly ignited a series of cannon flames on the hull of the Daiye......

Three of the four chimneys of the Daiye were blown away by artillery fire in an instant, and one was also shot on the low command tower, and the 37-kilogram armor-piercing shell easily penetrated the 4-inch armor behind the command tower, and a huge opening 2 meters wide was made in the bridge, constantly spewing out black smoke and flames.

"Turn right 30 degrees, accelerate the Z-shaped pursuit, and watch out for lightning strikes!" On the Chinese destroyer, which was intercepting with all its might, the red signal light representing danger flashed several times in a row and rapidly, reminding the friendly ship that it was naturally extremely difficult to distinguish the torpedo launched in a fan shape under the waterline on a dark and windy night, but the navy naturally had a drill for a long time, and more than a dozen sailors quickly rushed to the side to stare at the dark sea!

In the third wave of indiscriminate firing that followed, the destroyer Jingmen, which was the last to arrive, had already rushed from the black curtain on the right flank to the position of less than 2,000 meters from the destroyer Dayer, and the main guns and starboard secondary guns of the Dayer had been destroyed in many places, and the open flames ignited after the explosion on the battleship had exceeded 10 places, because the large angle of roll brought about by the rapid turn of the battleship made it almost difficult for the destroyer to counterattack.

The destroyer Guhan, which followed the Dayer, finally relieved its strength, although the heavy fire of the Chinese battleship in the dark made them feel the pressure of the suffocating version, but the Guhan still turned to attack at the first time, and after making a small angle turn, two triple 15-inch torpedoes on the right chord were the first to be projected, and then, the 100mm and 75mm guns on the battleship opened fire successively.

However, the participation of the destroyer Guhan could not change the situation on the battlefield at all, the warships of both sides were advancing at high speed, and the torpedoes fired by the American ships were silent after they were submerged into the darkness, and the Chinese destroyers on the opposite side did not seem to fire deadly torpedoes at all, even if the distance between the two sides was already within the deadly distance of the torpedoes...... But the two sides exchanged fire at close range, and in addition to the powerful torpedoes, the artillery was obviously more powerful!

In less than 2 minutes of fire, the battle damage of the personnel on the Dayer had exceeded 30%, and what was more serious was that two armor-piercing shells exploded two terrifying gaps on the waterline on the right side of the battleship...... After a series of explosions, the power of the destroyer Deye was already rapidly draining, which made the captain, Major Baker, naturally aware of the danger of destruction.

"45 degrees to the left, evacuate, launch the torpedo installed in the stern!" Major Baker grabbed his blackened military hat and yelled at the microphone, it was pointless to keep fighting, he had done what he was supposed to do as a soldier, the commander tower was left with only the observing officer standing, and the guns on the battleship were almost completely wiped out.

As soon as the order was issued, three shells fired from the Bozhou on the right flank hit the destroyer Dayer, whose speed had seriously decreased, and one of them even penetrated the cockpit located in the middle of the command tower, and at that time it reaped the lives of all the American troops in the cockpit, and a large ball of flames poured into the command room on the upper floor, and the command room was suddenly filled with black smoke, and when I looked out, there was only a large area of flames left.

The Xuancheng destroyer, which was advancing at full speed, had already closed to a distance of 1,300 meters from the right flank of the destroyer Daye without any counterattack at all, and after seeing the enemy ships that were all in flames, it immediately fired three torpedoes on the right flank of the bow in obscenity, and then turned right to outflank the Guhan destroyer on the periphery.

The destroyer Guhan, which was close behind, was relatively far to the inside, and was only attacked by the destroyer Anqing, which was at the forefront of the Chinese fleet on the right flank, although it was hit several times, but it was not fatal, but the condition of the destroyer Guhan was almost wiped out in just a few minutes, and the battle situation was no longer in suspense......

The destroyer Guhan immediately chose to continue to turn and disengage, and even gave up relying on the gunfire of two battleships to cover the practice, but broke into the dark night in the southeast position at full speed, and this move was somewhat unexpected by the siege of the Chinese destroyer group, and the total number of American destroyers was not convinced, after all, in the previous engagement, the Shandong aircraft carrier reported that the American fleet had at least 8 destroyers......

The destroyer Dyer, which was continuing to resist stubbornly on the sea, had already tilted its hull obviously, but in the next moment, the two torpedoes fired by the Anqing hit the Dyer almost at the same time, and the huge energy of the underwater explosion suddenly lifted the American destroyer with a maximum displacement of 1,200 tons out of the water, and the terrifying sound of the explosion tearing through the steel could be heard on the Chinese warships close at hand.

Then, the bow and middle part of the destroyer Dyer were completely shattered by the explosion, and all kinds of steel structures and wreckage exploded into the air like fireworks, and when the huge components with high temperature fell from the air to the sea again, a white mist rose around the wreckage of the battleship, and in less than 20 seconds, the remaining stern part of the Dyer also completely disappeared from the sea.

At this moment, the destroyer Bozhou, which had burst forward, was suddenly hit by a series of artillery fire, and one of the shells even hit the gun mount on the rear side of the battleship, overturning the entire gun mount at that time, and the stern of the battleship suddenly burst into flames! (To be continued.) )