readx;?boom......

A huge fireball exploded on the port side armor belt of the armored cruiser Minami Naoli, and it was concentrated by a 16-inch blasting shell! The so-called blasting shells are certainly not designed to penetrate thick steel armor. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info When the fuse of this shell collided with the port side armor plate of the Minami Naoli, it exploded with a bang, and the dazzling fireball almost submerged the entire armored cruiser, and the scorching air wave mixed with the flying alone swept across the port side deck of the Nan Naoli, and all the exposed personnel were beaten into bloody corpses. By the time the smoke cleared, the port side of the armored cruiser had turned charred black, and the thick armor steel plates, although not penetrated, were also badly deformed in the huge blast wave of the explosion, and were deeply recessed inward.

If you look closely, you will find that there are many rivets used to hold the armor plate in place, all of which broke in the explosion just now! If another 16-inch blasting shell were hit in the same position, the armored cruiser would definitely be sunk!

Wang Boen, the commander of the detachment standing on the bridge of the fast cruiser Tianjin, witnessed this scene with his own eyes and was almost stunned. He never imagined that the first salvo of the British against the Nanzhi would be a hit - you must know that 6 British battleships did not participate in this salvo, and only 40 large-caliber guns were firing!

"Commander, the order of the shelling has been worked out, and the number one target is the Empress of India." Zhu Guoguang's calm and calm voice sounded -- this is the difference between a veteran on the battlefield and a newcomer on the battlefield.

"Let's do it!" Wang Boen took a deep breath and regained his composure. "Target number one, the Empress of India! Concentrate your fire! ”

After receiving the order, the gun officer and the communications officer also immediately raised their telephones and sent the order to the various gun emplacements and communication rooms of the Tianjin. As mentioned earlier, the Tianjin is a fast cruiser with a "flagship configuration", with very good communication facilities, and can command the entire formation without the need for a flag.

When the radio waves conveyed Wang Bern's order, the 20 210mm naval guns, 146 155mm naval guns, and 44 140mm naval guns of the entire formation roared at the same time. Orange-red fireballs burst out from every muzzle, and 210 shells were fired in just one salvo!

Shells rained down, and the surroundings of the Indian Empress turned into countless thick columns of water, and the entire sea seemed to boil at once, as if it wanted to engulf the 14,000-ton British battleship!

Soon, the second round of shelling of the Chinese fleet began again, when the shining fireballs lit up one after another. Arthur. Hood glanced anxiously at the two diagonal open batteries beneath the conning tower.

'Too slow...... How can this work! 'Arthur. Hood's head was already covered with beads of sweat, what a hurry! There were at least 200 cannons bombarding the opposite side. And on his side there are only 40 guns. And the opponent's 200 guns are rapid-fire guns, and the theoretical rate of fire is 10 times that of their own 16-inch cannon! That is to say, if the opponent fires 2,000 shells, he can only shoot 40 rounds here...... 50:1Ah!

"Boom ......"

A loud bang was accompanied by a dazzling fireball, turning the "50:1" cannonball into a real hit. A 155mm blaster exploded in front of one of the Empress of India's exposed turrets, but did little damage.

'It's okay......' Arthur. Hood secretly said that it was a fluke that the shell hit the exposed shell baffle from the front, not the conning tower or bridge above the exposed turret, otherwise the scattered shrapnel would have killed all the crew members in the exposed turret below!

Arthur. As soon as Hood thought of this, the third salvo of the Chinese fleet followed! Then there were two thunderous bangs, this time with two dazzling fireballs. The entire battleship shook violently. Everyone in the tower clung to the handrails so that they wouldn't be knocked to the ground.

'The Commander Tower has been shot!' 'Arthur. Hu De said badly in his heart, and hurriedly looked out with his steady body. In the smoke of gunpowder, he only saw that the No. 1 turret below was full of corpses!

"Damn stupid, how can you use the Dew Turret!" Arthur. Hood scolded hatefully - he was scolding himself, because that damn fool was Arthur, the former director of the British Admiralty Ordnance Bureau. Hood! The diagonal open turret and the 16-inch rack gun are both designs that he likes, and he has been proud of them for a while......

"Get the reserve artillery crew up!" Hood shouted. "Go to Turret One!"

It was not practical for him to order, and the soldiers of the reserve artillery group had already filled it in. But there was still no way to catch the next volley. After a roar, another 37 British shells whizzed away. However, Lady Luck did not visit, and this time all 37 shells were missed.

After the British completed one salvo, as usual, there were four salvos of the Chinese cruiser formation. A tenfold rate of fire is nothing more than theoretical, but in real combat. The rate of fire of four or five times is still stable. Four salvos of 210 cannons fired 840 shells, and even with a hit rate of only one or two percent, more than 10 shells hit the battleship HMS Queen! Two of them are powerful 210mm blasting shells!

Although none of these explosive shells could penetrate the battleship's thick armor, nor did they detonate torpedoes (because the Orlando had been reported that the torpedoes had been abandoned), or shells, they did cause a fire on the battleship, which was set on fire by the lifeboats and ropes, as well as the luxurious officer's quarters. Choking smoke and scorching tongues of fire spread everywhere on the battleship. The loss management team members fought desperately to put out fires everywhere, struggling to save their battleship. But their efforts were quickly in vain, as more Chinese shells fell, the bow, starboard deck, port deck, conning tower, bridge, mast, lifeboat, and No. 1 and No. 2 open turrets...... Everywhere it could be hit, everything that could be ignited was burning, and occasionally a few shiny fireballs would rise, and it was unknown whether a 6-inch shell was detonated or something else was exploding. The water jet spewing out of the rubber tube can only be described as a "drop in the bucket" for such a fire!

"Commander, it's time to shift the target." At this time, Zhu Guoguang in the Tianjin Command Tower whispered a suggestion to Wang Boen, the commander of the formation. "The Empress of India is at least a heavy blow, and it can't be repaired in a few months."

Sinking is unlikely. Neither the 210mm nor the 155mm cannon could penetrate the armor of the Empress of India. All that can be asked now is to deal a heavy blow to it, and then this precious battleship should go to Bombay or Calcutta for repairs, and it will not be able to go to war at all in two months.

"Target number two, Remilis, concentrate fire, salvo!" Wang Boen had adapted to the smoke and fire on the battlefield, and calmly gave orders.

More than 200 cannons turned their muzzles at the same time, aiming at the Remilis to the left of the Empress of India, and then there was an overwhelming fire cover. One shell after another, whizzing down on the Remilis, and after just two salvos, a 155mm shell landed impartially on the Remilis's No. 2 turret, and then disaster struck!

Several packets of gunpowder that were about to be filled into the chamber were ignited on the spot, and the fire burned uncontrollably, instantly turning the entire turret into a furnace...... And by this time, a 16-inch blasting shell had already been filled into the chamber!

Unlike the Ming Royal Navy, which used picric acid as a charge, the British Royal Navy used x-shaped starch - an explosive invented by Zhu Jishi himself, and the manufacturer was Jason Holdings, which was founded by Zhu Jishi and is now majority-owned by Zhu Guojie - and the flashpoint of X-shaped starch was 183 degrees Celsius, which was originally a fairly low sensitivity, but the temperature in the open turret, which had been transformed into a furnace, must have exceeded 183 degrees Celsius......

Within a few tens of seconds of the fire ignishing, an incomparably large ball of fire suddenly erupted on the Remilis. This huge ship with a displacement of up to 14,000 tons and carrying the hegemony and honor of the British Empire seemed to have been struck by Thor's giant hammer, and the entire turret disappeared without a trace, and the bridge above the turret was also blown away, and the commander of the warship such as the captain and deputy of the Remilis who commanded the operation on it were all killed! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )