Before Yang Yonglin could say the answer, a young staff officer shouted excitedly, "Under such a position, it is difficult for the enemy's wounded warships to escape!" ”

"That's right. www.biquge.info Yang Yonglin didn't care about the other party's rudeness, but nodded his head in approval, and at the same time educated everyone again, "The head of state has said more than once, 'It is better to cut off one finger than ten fingers to hurt the enemy.'" This is definitely a wise saying, it is better to sink ten American battleships than to sink one! ”

However, another staff officer was worried that the enemy would change back to a single column, because of his solid knowledge, he knew that the parallel warships could not be too close, the US military had a short range, and coupled with the problem of blocking the field of vision, once the Chinese fleet went around to the flank to attack, it would be difficult for the other two columns of the US army to participate in the battle, so it was indeed as Yang Yonglin said, as long as the side went around to the flank, it only needed to deal with one column at the same time. But the problem is that it is not so difficult to change the third column back to a single column, and if the enemy does that, won't the Chinese main fleet have to face the lateral shelling of 15 American battleships at the same time?

Who knew that Yang Yonglin smiled after hearing this, and replied, "Then let's change back to the T-shaped tactics, anyway, let's drive fast, and the initiative is on our side!" ”

"But after all, we have to go around in circles on the outside, and people can do it on the inside, if you do this, I'm afraid that this naval battle will become hide-and-seek between the two sides, and the battle will drag on for a long time, right?" , the staff officer did not smile, and frowned slightly.

Yang Yonglin's evaluation of that staff officer was suddenly lowered by a notch, but he still explained, "What are you afraid of if it drags on for a long time?" Now it is the enemy who is in a hurry to seize time, if we cannot be destroyed as soon as possible, how can we stop the landing in the west? We can afford to drag it out, but the Americans can't afford it, so I think that the enemy will definitely not change formations, and would rather bite the bullet and let us hit a column on his flank, but also divide the victory and defeat as soon as possible. At least, they won't change formations like this until they suffer a big loss and realize that they have no chance of winning. ”

Yang Yonglin's judgment was not wrong, but Vice Admiral William Soden Sims was not an ordinary figure, and after he found that changing back to a single column would only lead to the enemy "swimming but not attacking," although he was forced to re-adopt the formation of the three columns, he commanded the three columns to appropriately stagger their positions, so that as long as the situation was not right, the main fleet of the US army could change back to the formation of a single column in a short time.

"It seems that the enemy's commander is not a fuel-efficient lamp! Moreover, being able to complete the maneuver so skillfully without making mistakes seems that the training of the US Navy in the past ten years has also been really hard work. After Yang Yonglin observed such a change through the telescope, his face became solemn, "In this case, you can only knock out one and count one......

Since it was now eight Chinese battlecruisers fighting five American battleships, in order to suppress the enemy and prevent him from comfortably exporting with all his might, Yang Yonglin ordered the four rear battlecruisers of the main fleet to suppress the four American battleships in a one-on-one manner, while the Xuanyuan and other four battlecruisers concentrated their artillery fire on the "Wisconsin," the most advanced ship in the column. This battleship, like the other battleships in the column, was the oldest of the American active battleships, the Chilshaji-class, and although the main guns and fire control had been replaced, the design flaws could not be remedied, and its defensive capabilities could not be compared with the other two levels.

The armor, which was only 9 inches (229 mm) thick at its thickest, was completely unable to withstand the 16,000-meter distance of the new 305mm guns on the Chinese Legendary Battle Cruiser (after previous battles, this was the most advantageous engagement distance estimated by Yang Yonglin, which could not only limit the hit rate of enemy artillery strikes, but also prevent the enemy's wounded warships from escaping easily). ), and its relatively weak damage management ability makes it more susceptible to sinking after being damaged.

And because the cost is too high, the construction of new ships is fast, the Chilsage-class battleships have not replaced the power equipment, so many years, can only barely run at a speed of 16 knots, if it is hit hard by having to withdraw from the battle, then the speed will be even slower, it is bound to be difficult to get rid of the pursuit of the Chinese legend-class battlecruisers with a limit speed of more than 27.5 knots, Yang Yonglin chose it as the target of attack, it is undoubtedly very reasonable.

Vice Admiral William Soden Sims was not unaware that the third column was the weakest, but he still had to expose it, because the turning of multiple columns was a big problem, and if the third column, which was the slowest in the middle, would be limited in order to ensure that the formation was not chaotic, and the speed of the other two columns would also be limited, that is, he would tie his hands and feet, and if any of the captains were in a hurry to cause chaos, the consequences would be even more unimaginable, and Vice Admiral William Soden Sims would have no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils.

Well, Vice Admiral Sims chose to do this, in fact, there is another reason that cannot be made public, he now has a bad premonition about the outcome of this naval battle, and the loss of a few ships is also a few of them, of course, rather than the outdated Chilshach-class battleships rather than the other two more advanced and powerful new battleships.

Vice Admiral William Soden Sims' hunch was very accurate, when the Chinese Eighth War Patrol completed the school shooting, the battleship Wisconsin, which was attacked by concentrated fire, quickly fell into a deep situation, it was really in dire straits, not an analogy......

At 14:12, a salvo of the main guns fired by the "Chiyou" battle patrol achieved an impressive result of three hits, of which the shell that landed on the deck and was ejected was not enough, but the other two caused quite serious consequences.

An armor-piercing shell pierced the upper armor belt of the battleship Wisconsin and exploded in the coal bunker, and the high-temperature flames generated by the combustion of aluminum powder quickly ignited the coal burning inside, causing a serious fire, which was a fiery ......

The other shot fell into the water near the side of the battleship Wisconsin, and then continued to travel at high speed for several meters, hitting a certain part below the waterline, although the speed has been attenuated, but it still did not take much effort to penetrate the 229mm thick waterline main armor belt, with a violent explosion, there was a huge breach there, because the position was below the waterline, the sea water immediately poured in, and the turbulent water rushed those American officers and soldiers who tried to block and the repair equipment they brought, The captain could only order the compartment to be closed to prevent further flooding, and at the same time fill the other side of the warship with water to balance the center of gravity to avoid capsizing, and as a result, the draft of the battleship Wisconsin quickly deepened by a large margin...... (To be continued.) )