Betty's "Republic" has always been the most combat-ready of all Chinese capital ships, hitting the "Frederick the Great" 6 times in the 31st salvo. One of them landed on the horizontal deck behind the left rear of the bridge of the ship "Frederick the Great". Directly smashed the turret of the third secondary gun and penetrated the horizontal armor below. It eventually exploded about two chambers away from boiler room No. 1.

In the 33rd volley, the "Republic" once again gave the opponent a taste of pain. Two armor-piercing shells landed on the top of Frederick the Great's A turret with unmistakable accuracy, easily tearing through the armor up to 225 mm thick, and finally exploded in the turret, completely destroying the turret.

After taking out a turret, the Firepower of the "Frederick the Great" suddenly weakened.

After three consecutive rounds of counterattacks, the "Frederick the Great" failed to receive results. The "Republic" hit the opponent again in the 37th volley.

This time it was the German flagship "Wilhelm the Great", the hit point was behind the C turret of the "Wilhelm the Great", the armor-piercing shells still penetrated the horizontal armor of the ship, and a lot of deck fragments were blown up, but they were not able to cause more serious damage to the hull. The armor-piercing projectile did not explode after entering the hull, and the lookout saw only the fragments that the armor-piercing shell bounced after hitting the deck, not the fragments that exploded.

The Germans at this moment can be said to be soulless!

The fuse of this shell actually failed, otherwise the hit point was between the helm compartment and the ammunition compartment of the C turret. The armor-piercing projectile eventually stopped at about the second deck above the No. 3 propulsion shaft, so as long as the fuse worked properly and the armor-piercing projectile exploded, the "Kaiser Wilhelm" would inevitably suffer heavy damage, and even lose half of its propulsion capacity.

It is a pity that the armor-piercing projectile was not able to detonate.

The gunners of the "Wilhelm the Great" were also the best trained in the German fleet. At about the same time, a 403-mm armor-piercing shell hit the right side of the hull of the "Republic", between two chimneys. In continuous penetration of the open deck with horizontal armor. and three compartment partitions, and finally an explosion occurred under the turret of the No. 3 secondary gun on the left side of the hull. As a result, not only was the No. 3 secondary gun turret blown away, but a hole about three meters in diameter was blown out on the left side of the hull. And the point of the explosion was below the waterline, which eventually led to the flooding of five compartments on the left side by seawater.

Although this armor-piercing projectile was not able to inflict heavy damage on the power equipment of the "Republic". But the five compartments were flooded, which increased the hull by at least a thousand tons. Moreover, Xu Zhenpeng had to order to inject 600 tons of water into the three compartments on the right side of the hull to maintain the lateral balance of the hull.

The current "Republic" can no longer maintain a top speed of 33 knots!

The flagships of both sides come and go, you give me a punch, and I will immediately return you an elbow.

However, the two battleships of the "Republic" class at the very end of the fleet were already at their last moments.

At 12:01, the "Reading" and "Nation" could no longer keep up with the pace ahead.

Fourteen minutes earlier, five 380-mm armor-piercing shells had hit the "Reading". All four hits were on the hull of the Read, and two of the armor-piercing shells exploded below the waterline of the hull, causing nearly a quarter of the hull compartment on the right side of the hull to be flooded with seawater. The other two armor-piercing shells blew up the two secondary gun turrets on the right side of the "Reading Power", and caused damage to the rear chimney, and the smoke exhaust was restricted, causing toxic smoke to pour into the hull, and finally making it impossible for a large number of damage management personnel to reach the damaged parts of the hull in time, delaying the time for damage management and rescue, and further aggravating the damage to the hull.

The "Nation" in the back was no less frustrated, three armor-piercing shells penetrated the horizontal deck and eventually exploded on the right side of the hull. The explosion of armor-piercing shells near the C turret made the "Nation" suffer enough. After three successive compartments were flooded by seawater, the captain had to order a water injection into one of the compartments on the left side of the hull to prevent the ship from tilting to the right. In addition, the gunners in the C turret were completely scrapped, and there were no replacement personnel, as a result of which the "Nation" directly lost a third of its firepower.

"We're almost done!" This is almost the idea of most Chinese sailors.

"They're too strong, but we won!" The German sailors were in a great mood!

By this time, the six Chinese battleships had drunk a lot of seawater.

Of the 17 armor-piercing shells that the worst "Reading" received, three hit the hull and exploded below the waterline inside the hull. Fortunately, the three armor-piercing shells were all hit more than 25 meters apart, so the wounds were all manageable. Eventually, with nearly a third of the compartments on the right side of the hull flooded, the captain had to order the five compartments on the left to be filled with water to ensure that the angle of the hull's right tilt would not negatively affect the main gun fire. Three of the other four armor-piercing shells hit the hull superstructure, and all exploded after penetrating horizontal armor, and one of them damaged the No. 1 steam turbine, causing the "Reading" to lose a quarter of its power. Another armor-piercing shell hit the C turret, but fortunately the fire door to the ammunition compartment was closed at the time, otherwise the damage caused by this armor-piercing shell would have been much worse.

"Nation" is the worst to look at, the front and rear bridges have been knocked out, the superstructure has been largely flattened, and the hull deck level is less than a meter from the sea. The most dangerous armor-piercing shell came from the "Mackensen", this armor-piercing shell exploded in front of the isolation armor, although the shrapnel did not penetrate the isolation armor belt with a thickness of nearly 300 mm, but the violent blast shock wave directly damaged the three nearby armored decks, and affected the integral turret in the rear, so that the A turret of the "Nation" could only point to the left side of the hull.

Another armor-piercing shell hit the lower edge of the frontal armor of the C turret and, after ricocheting, smashed open the open deck, eventually exploding after hitting the horizontal armor. Although it was not able to penetrate the horizontal armor and did not enter the ammunition bay, the explosion of the armor-piercing shell caused several pieces of horizontal armor to curl and deform, jamming the C turret, making it impossible to rotate and therefore unable to aim at the target, which was equivalent to losing combat capability.

But, just as the script of the story suggests, just as the Chinese fleet was about to become a footnote to the Germans' brilliant exploits, just as the other warships before it, a burst of intense artillery fire suddenly came from the right side of the Germans.

Betty almost collapsed in her sailing chair: "They're finally here!" ”

Luth's face turned white in an instant, but soon, he turned his face to look inside the bridge, and said to everyone in a calm tone:

"Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to serve with you on this great battleship, and together we fight against the most formidable enemy. We have shared weal and woe, and achieved world-renowned achievements, and now is our glorious moment! Gentlemen, Germany is with us! ”

The muffled thunder in the distance continued, and what was seen on the sea was a "burning cloud" dyed red by the flames of the muzzles. At the last moment, the Germans were faced with almost all the capital ships of the Allied Navy. After the arrival of the main fleet of the Entente Navy, the Chinese fleet gave up its position and licked its wounds outside the battlefield.

From time to time, a dizzying red light flashed on the smoke-filled sea, and cannonballs flew like meteor showers over the doomed German [***] ship, and the flames from the violent explosions illuminated it as bright as day. In the light of the fire and the smoke of gunpowder, you can see the Allied battleships that have just arrived at the battlefield sailing at full speed to their positions, and you can also see the faint light of the bow when the waves are splitting.

In the operational command hall of the Admiralty in London, Rear Admiral Evans went out for a while and then returned here.

"Is Betty still at war with the Germans?" Study asked, a little uneasy.

"Yes." Rear Admiral Evans nodded and said, "We've heard that the Republican has been sending out messages all the time. ”

"Looks like the battle is fierce!" Prince Louis said.

"Betty must have played very hard." Lord Hamilton, on the contrary, appeared much calmer than the Chief of Staff and the Admiral, "Our battlefleet will soon see the Germans." ”

And at this moment, an officer with a telegram excitedly ran into the operational command hall.

"A telegram has been sent from the battleship 'Revenge'! They have already engaged the German fleet! ”

At this time, in the command room of the "Kaiser Wilhelm", Admiral Lut had tidied up his coat and hat, put on his medal, and was about to walk out.

For him, the only thing he could do now was to wait for destruction to come in battle.

"You're going to the bridge? Checkmate? An adjutant said in a hoarse voice, looking at his commander with a desperate gaze

"I think it's good to get some fresh air." Admiral Ruth smiled mildly and said.

Hearing his words, the adjutant, who had a depressed face, returned to his original appearance, straightened up, took the coat of Admiral Lute, and said, "Sir, your overcoat. ”

"Do you think I'll need it again?" Ruth muttered inwardly. But he didn't say anything, but smiled and nodded, took the coat, and draped it over his body.

Shells were still screaming around them, huge warships were swaying and jolting in thunderbolt explosions, and white columns of water were rising high above the sea.

"Here comes the battleships of the British and Americans, General." Frank saw that Admiral Lut was coming, saluted, and said.

"I see it, Colonel." Ruth said.

On the battleship "Revenge", Vice Admiral Bern looked at the German battleship struggling to fight back in the rain wall, and a vicious smile appeared on his face.

For Lieutenant General Bern, today it is finally possible to avenge the shame of Deland's defeat and avenge Admiral Jericho.

"Sir, the U.S. fleet has arrived." "They were to the north, and I saw the Nevada. ”

"I didn't come this time, did I?" Lieutenant General Bern looked at the sea and sneered.

On the American battleship "Nevada", the helmsman heard a calm rudder command from the microphone: "10 degrees to the left." ”

The helmsman turns the rudder and repeats: "10 degrees to the left." ”

On the gun control tower, the gunnery officer heard the captain's voice from the headset: "We are turning to the left, and as soon as we reach the firing gunwale, we will immediately open fire." ”

The gunners looked down, and the "artillery ready" lights lit up.

So, from the binoculars, he stared at the silhouette of the "Kaiser Wilhelm". When the gunwales arrived, he immediately gave the order in a loud voice: "Fire!" ”

On the side of the bridge of the USS New Mexico, the flag of the U.S. fleet, U.S. [***] officers watched the battle with binoculars. Below them, the fourteen-inch cannon slowly turned, the muzzle gradually rising to the maximum elevation angle, followed by an earth-shattering loud bang and violent vibration. The salvo begins! Brown smoke erupted from the muzzle of the cannon, quickly dissipating with the wind, and the cannonballs flew out with the mission of spreading death.

"Close bullet! Damn close bullets! An American [***] officer said, and before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the sound of a second salvo. In the gap between the shells flying towards the target, he was silent. When he spoke again, he shouted excitedly: "Hit! Hit! The second salvo hit! His words were again interrupted by the roar of artillery, and he tried his best to aim his telescope at the target. This time, another American [***] official in charge of observation opened his mouth: "Hit again!" He exclaimed excitedly, "They can't hold on any longer!" ”

When the Americans' second salvo hit the "Kaiser Wilhelm", the German naval officers in the engine room heard a loud thunderous noise. The lights in the room flickered and flickered, and the damage crew members kept running back and forth.

"Our connection with the bridge has been broken!" One of the officers shouted.

His voice was suddenly interrupted by another loud bang. The lights flickered again.

"We've lost contact with the chart room, sir!"

Smoke began to emerge from the ventilation ducts into the cabin, one after the other, thicker and thicker. After a while, the cabin was filled with smoke and the lights were even dimmer. A loud bang shook the entire warship one after another, and bursts of air waves set off larger and thicker smoke balls. Suddenly, there was a crackling sound, and part of the slats collapsed from the bulkhead, as if countless demons and monsters had been released from hell in order to destroy the ship. The shadow of death instantly enveloped the entire warship, the lights became dimmer and the smoke became more and more intense.

While the guns of the "Wilhelm the Great" were turning and aiming, the shells fired by the "New Mexico" fell around it, and before the "Wilhelm the Great" opened fire, the salvo of the British battlefleet also stirred up countless columns of water around it. As soon as the "Kaiser Wilhelm" opened fire, with a loud bang, a shell hit the second turret in its front. The blast rushed onto the bridge with debris, and the buildings on the bridge were instantly destroyed. Everywhere there were twisted horns, pillars, and disorganized fragments; Among the broken steel and broken iron lay many corpses, among them were Captain Frank and Admiral Lot, who wore the glorious Cross.

The hull of the "Kaiser Wilhelm" had been so badly wounded that it had almost lost its original shape, and smoke was spewing violently from all places. Superstructures such as chimneys, masts, bridges, and so on were torn off. Under the thick smoke, on the gloomy and gray hull of the ship, you can see tall red tongues of fire bursting out. What frightened people was neither smoke nor fire, but the tall columns of water that rose one after another around the "Kaiser Wilhelm". The main and secondary guns of the British and American battleships were pouring a large number of shells on it. "Kaiser Wilhelm" did not for a moment not be surrounded by a column of water that had almost missed. On the devastated hull of the "Kaiser Wilhelm", from the bow to the stern, shells exploded one after another, and the smoke of the fire erupted outwards like a volcanic eruption. The two turrets in front of the German battleship were finished, one had the roof removed, the muzzle of the gun was raised high, and the muzzle of the other hung limply down to the maximum depression angle. However, the turret closest to the tail was still firing. There was a cannon that suddenly fired a string of shells at the "New Mexico" in the distance. In the midst of the fire and smoke, some of the valiant gunners were still desperately trying to load, aim and shoot. On the surface of the burning ship, there were still a few figures flickering, unbelievably alive in the flames and explosions. They climbed over the dilapidated decks and jumped from the flaming warship into the rolling sea.

The decisive struggle of the Germans did not make the Allied fleet better, at this time "Wilhelm the Great" has lost its combat effectiveness and has become a torch floating on the sea, but still insists on refusing to sink, seeing that the flagship has lost its command ability, "Frederick the Great" raised the command flag and continued to insist on fighting, the German fleet has made a desperate determination at this time, all the warships have started all their artillery fire, desperately shooting at the Allied fleet, and then the Allied battleships that arrived on the battlefield obviously did not have a "republic" The resistance of the battleships of the class was quickly inflicted terrible losses under the desperate attack of the German fleet.

The battleship "Nevada" was the first allied battleship to be sunk, and at 13:10, the American battleship that rushed to the front exploded in a fierce salvo of the German fleet, and the battleship with a displacement of 27,500 tons and the controversial "key protection" design concept at the time could not withstand the bombardment of the German battleship's 403-mm guns, and sank into the sea with more than 1,000 US naval officers and sailors on board.

The sinking of the "Nevada" gave the American fleet a great shock, and they did not expect that the Germans, who had been crippled by the Chinese fleet, would still have such a strong combat strength, and at 13:18, the sister ship of the "Nevada" "Oklahoma" became the second victim. Shortly after the sinking of the "Oklahoma", the German battleship "Byrne" was finally unable to hold out due to too much water ingress and sank under the bombardment of the British and American battleships.

(To be continued)