The red-eyed Odd kept urging his subordinates to speed up, this order made the crew cry without tears, big brother, our battleship can't be faster, you listen, the squeak of the hull because of the speed is too fast can play a symphony!

When the three whales finally entered the range of the main guns, two transport ships had already sunk in the pursuit of the Hangzhou, and the charge of unfavorable escort was inevitably placed on the head of Rear Admiral Aodeh.

The gunners urgently calculated and aimed their guns at the Chinese warship, but before they could fire, they saw the warship accelerate again, from less than ten knots when they shelled the transport ship, to twenty knots in a short time, and it continued to accelerate. The Three Whales had only time to fire four shells before they had to enter the pursuit again.

The shell fell more than 300 meters behind him, and the Hangzhou could confidently and boldly continue to pursue the rest of the transport ships, and according to this tactic, it was impossible for the French warships to pose a threat to themselves, and the Hangzhou could completely destroy all the transport ships and then turn around to deal with this unrelenting warship.

In the case of gaining sea supremacy, the destroyer's ability to block the sea route is several times stronger than that of a submarine, and it only takes less than 20 shells to sink a transport ship and shoot at close range, so that the precious supplies and soldiers on board can sink into the deep sea, which is not too cost-effective!

The current situation is no different from gaining sea supremacy, the warships of the enemy country cannot catch up with the Hangzhou, as long as they do not die and the fuel is sufficient, the Hangzhou can crisscross the sea, even if the tiger whiskers of the expeditionary fleet dare to tease. Speed is the king of destroyers and cruisers, and the advantage of speed in the duel of capital ships is not obvious, which mainly depends on factors such as the caliber of the main gun and the thickness of the armor. In the duel of small and medium-sized ships, the advantage of speed was too obvious, and the Beiyang Fleet in the First Sino-Japanese Naval War was actually defeated by the Japanese's fast cruiser detachment.

At about 2:30 p.m., Rear Admiral Ode finally realized that he was doing useless work, and that eight of the convoys had already been killed. The three whales followed the Hangzhou quickly, but by the time they got closer, the Hangzhou had already sunk the transport ship and pulled away again. If the Hangzhou doesn't want to fight itself, the three whales will never be able to catch up with it.

At this time, the navigator reported an extremely disappointing news, after more than an hour of high-intensity sailing, the power system of the three whales was overwhelmed, and the boiler was completely paralyzed. The three whales lost their ability to maneuver. After gliding slowly for some distance, he floats on the surface of the sea and can only wait for rescue.

After ordering the radio operator to send out a distress signal, Rear Admiral Ode waited in despair, and even if the other warships received his own distress signal, they did not know how much time it would take. The previous briefing stated that during this time, four warships of the Far East Fleet sailed in the South China Sea, and only three Whales carried out escort missions, and the rest of the warships were on reconnaissance missions, but in the direction of east, south, and north, and it is not known how many hundred nautical miles away from here. The fleet at the port also had more than 500 nautical miles accordingly. It only takes more than three hours to come, and the daylilies are cold at that time.

Don't sit still! The two 5-inch main guns and six 3.5-inch rapid-fire guns equipped with the Sanjo Whale were not damaged at all, and the firepower was sufficient, although the battleship's counterattack ability was weakened due to the loss of maneuverability, but at least it could cause a lot of damage to the Chinese warship.

Lu Bei had no intention of going head-to-head with this cruiser, and after destroying the last transport ship, the Hangzhou turned back to the position of the three whales, a distance of about four thousand meters. Lu Bei handed over the command to the first mate, Lieutenant Shen Lan.

Shen Lan didn't know what Lu Bei was going to do, it was to test himself. Or do you want to let yourself command? In this case, as long as the Hangzhou detours to the weakest point of the firepower of the Three Whales, and gets close to the rear firepower, it is okay, do you want to see your own joke?

Shen Lan's prestige on the Hangzhou even surpassed that of Lu Bei, and under his order, the Hangzhou sailed over from the flank, and in this direction the three whales had only two 3.5-inch guns that could be aimed at the Hangzhou, while the five main guns on the Hangzhou could fire without any scruples. And to have an absolute advantage in range - not much more difficult than sinking a transport ship.

At a distance of two thousand meters, Deep Blue ordered to slow down and shelled the three whales at this position, only one shell hit the opponent in the first round of test firing, and the accuracy of the 127mm gun decreased at this distance. Shen Lan thinks that as long as the density of firepower is increased. and the task will be done.

The two 3.5-inch guns on the Three Whales were unable to return fire, and not a single shell hit the Hangzhou in ten minutes, but it itself was hit by fifteen shells, the side of the hull and the ship's buildings were full of fires and potholes after the explosion, and the bottom of the hit began to leak, and the damage management personnel were risking being hit to repair it.

Just as Rear Admiral Odd and the crew of the Three Whales were waiting for the judgment of fate, an unexpected joy lifted people's spirits, and a cannonball luckily hit one of the secondary guns of the Hangzhou, although it did not cause fatal damage to the Hangzhou, but finally had a result. The 3.5-inch shell dropped too badly after flying a distance of two thousand meters, and the hit could be said to have been completely accidental.

If it hits the flank armor belt, it will definitely cause greater damage to the ship, the 3.5-inch shell is not very powerful, but the armor of the Hangzhou is thinner, and the unparalleled speed is obtained at the expense of the power of the gun and the thickness of the armor, and the Hangzhou cannot withstand any blow.

The young Shen Lan began to look flustered after the Hangzhou was hit, the enemy's warships were constantly hit, but they just didn't sink, and without hitting the key parts and the two 3.5-inch guns, Shen Lan didn't know what to do, the beads of sweat on his forehead and his slightly trembling hands showed his nervousness. The sailors looked at Shen Lan, expecting him to bring some changes, but Shen Lan's nervous and silent expression affected his subordinates, and the accuracy of the cannonballs fired decreased.

Lu Bei walked behind Shen Lan, patted him on the shoulder, and said softly: "Your caution is not a mistake, every captain can choose the tactics he wants, don't affect your judgment because of accidents in battle, as a captain, the most important thing is to have a firm faith, let the soldiers believe in the belief that they will win!" ”

At this time, Shen Lan finally knew where the gap between himself and a captain was, in battle, a qualified captain not only has tactical literacy, flexible mind, rapid reaction ability, the ability to observe the overall situation, but also has a stable psychological quality, which is very clear in the textbook, but it is another thing to apply it in practice. If you don't stand in the perspective of the commander and take responsibility for winning or losing, you won't feel this pressure.

In fact, the only reason why Shen Lan was not promoted was his psychological quality, and his superiors had to wait for this excellent officer to mature as soon as possible, and he had the advantage that other naval officers lacked, that is, the will to dare to attack, which was what the superiors appreciated most about Shen Lan.

After the psychology quickly stabilized, Shen Lan also played a special role, and he keenly felt a detail, that is, the Hangzhou was equipped with a heavy torpedo with a range of 3,500 meters, and now it was in an ideal torpedo attack mode. At a distance of 2,000 meters, the Hangzhou could use torpedoes to attack the stationary Three Whales, and if it was bold, it could continue to advance 500 meters, and the accuracy of the torpedo attack would be higher after the firing range was shortened.

Ten minutes later, a heavy torpedo hit the waterline of the three Whales, sending the old French cruiser to the bottom of the sea, along with countless shipwrecks.

The damaged parts of the Hangzhou were quickly repaired, and one secondary gun was damaged and two gunners died, which was a great shame for Shen Lan, but Lu Bei believed that although such a loss could be avoided, it was also worth it. In the future, after Shen Lan became a feared captain and fleet commander on the sea, he continued to sink enemy warships, led the navy to victory after victory, and washed away his shame with meritorious service.

During the 15-day sweep of the South China Sea, the Chinese navy sank a total of 35 Allied transport ships and seven warships, forcing the French Far East Fleet to take refuge in Cam Ranh Bay and not dare to leave the harbor, and limiting the British Far East Fleet's range of activities to the waters south of Malaysia to Singapore. Before the start of the naval battle, the Chinese navy thoroughly mastered the sea control in the South China Sea, giving the fleet a vast battlefield depth.

When the Hangzhou returned to Zhanjiang to rotate with other destroyers, First Officer Shen Lan was promoted to captain and became the captain of the destroyer Hangzhou. Captain Lu Bei, the former captain of the ship, was promoted to lieutenant and served as the commander of the second destroyer detachment. The Hangzhou was the most fruitful, sinking not only a French cruiser, but also nine transport ships destined for Manila, the highest total tonnage of any sortie ship in a single battle.

The expeditionary fleet, which had been replenished in Bombay, left port on 5 July, and the fighting in the South China Sea was beyond the reach of the British and French Far East fleets. For Admiral Natal and all the officers and men of the expeditionary fleet, this battle was not only a grudge between countries, but also a grudge of personal opinion, and the officers and men who held their breath regarded this battle as a war of revenge. (To be continued.) )