In fact, there are still many problems with the early design of the free wind class, and the multi-expansion steam engine used in it has a relatively short lifespan, and it can no longer be used after more than ten years of service. www.biquge.info By this time, Datang steam turbine technology was already very mature, and the development of gas turbines was also extremely rapid. Therefore, the free wind of the mid-modification was replaced with a steam turbine.

It's just that Datang quickly retired these free winds, so the modified steam turbine was actually more experimental in nature, and it didn't use any too high models, so it only increased the speed to 20 knots. The Liberty Wind class frigate has a small displacement, and it is very easy to run out of 20 knots, which also makes the Freedom Wind class frigate still enjoy a certain speed advantage in the face of the British Royal Navy's warships, after all, the fastest frigate speed of the Royal Navy is only 16-17 knots, and other warships are generally about 14 knots.

Ramsey was overjoyed when he saw the two Tang Navy frigates break away from the battle line and suddenly appeared, even though he was a little worried about its speed. Rather than sinking the capital ships of the Tang Dynasty, Ramsey was more pragmatic in believing that the sinking of the Tang ships was a victory for the Royal Navy. The 6 9-inch naval guns carried on the Africa are larger than the caliber of the main guns of the Dingyuan class and the Pinghai class, and the maximum firing range is 10,000 yards, which is also the latest and strongest weapon of the Royal Navy.

At this time, the two Datang frigates attacked at high speed, and the bow was facing the ships of the Royal Navy fleet, and Ramsey was almost in a state of joy. Of course, he rarely worried about the four cruisers of the Datang in the rear.

"Is it a tactic? Abandon the frigate, let's attack the frigate, and at the same time seize a better battle position, is this the calculation of the commander of the Datang Navy? Ramsey was secretly worried, but he still decided to attack the two Tang frigates first. He had plenty of time to fight for a favorable position with the four Datang cruisers.

As soon as the two frigates came within 10,000 yards of the Africa, Ramsey eagerly ordered to open fire. The two British cruisers, with 9-inch heavy guns, three on each side of the port, adding up to six, fired at the two Datang frigates almost simultaneously, demonstrating the excellent training and combat qualities of the Royal Navy.

Duan Qing and Liu Yuan watched several shells whizz away from the cruiser Jingyuan. Falling around the two Liberty Wind-class frigates, the bombs spread quite a lot, and the nearest one was nearly 70 meters away from the Datang frigates. Duan Qing and Liu Yuan didn't show any disdain for this, this was a relatively normal phenomenon, at such a distance, the chance of getting a hit was very low.

Duan Qing was not nervous, and said, "This is the British who can't wait to tell us that they already have such a long-range artillery." ”

During the North American Revolutionary War, Datang had several small-tonnage warships. The combination of speed and long-range artillery made the British Royal Navy lose face. After that, the navies of the European powers had to endure the range of the Datang Navy, which was more than twice as long as theirs, and was beaten by the Datang Navy like a kite.

Liu Yuan said: "The British were able to create this kind of long-range artillery not thanks to our technology. ”

This sentence is also true, Datang has exported a number of medium and large-caliber naval guns to Britain and other European countries, including 203 mm Armstrong naval guns and more advanced models. The British first copied the Armstrong configuration successfully, and then improved it many times. In the end, the current level of technology was formed, comparable to the naval artillery of the 19th and the actual sixties and seventies. Such naval guns were used until the First World War, and it can be said that they are still very powerful.

Of course. The rate of fire of the British's naval guns was very slow, and it was impossible to count on the relatively primitive annealing guns to be able to fire rapidly. Therefore, when the second round of shelling of the Royal Navy warships still did not achieve any results, the two frigates of the Datang Navy had already entered their own preset attack range.

The Free Wind unintentionally opened fire, but fired a wave of torpedo fans.

On the side of the British, it was not possible to see the torpedoes fired by the frigates of the Datang Navy very clearly. After all, unlike shelling, which has cool sound and light effects, torpedoes can be said to be a killer in silence. The Royal Navy naturally knew about the existence of torpedoes, and even they had begun to trial produce practical torpedoes, after all, Datang did not export similar products, and there was no place to copy them. But when a few white lines rushed underwater. Ramsey knew immediately what had come his way.

“torpedo！” Ramsey exclaimed, he was terrified in the face of torpedoes, because the British Royal Navy lacked the necessary training to deal with torpedoes, so even if they dodged, the helmsmen did not know how to avoid these terrible torpedoes.

With a few loud bangs, three torpedoes successfully hit the enemy ship. Among them was the cruiser Irriger, which was lined up behind the Africa, and the 533-mm torpedo easily penetrated the Irriger's hull armor under the waterline, and the delayed fuse finally caused the torpedo to explode violently in the compartment. Although neither the ammunition depot nor the boiler was detonated this time, a large amount of seawater poured in frantically, and the water ingress of the shaking Irritable was difficult to control!

Ramsey's face turned pale, and he realized that he still underestimated the Tang people a little. The Tang people always have so many surprises that the Royal Navy is at a loss.

The two high-speed assault frigates released another wave of torpedoes, this time hitting two, and after this round of lightning strikes, the two free winds immediately went away. However, one of the Free Wind was not very lucky, and was hit on the deck by a 9-inch shell at a position of more than five thousand yards, destroying one of the main guns and some secondary guns.

Duan Qing's eyes were cold, he could see that the damage caused to this frigate was not small, although it would not sink it immediately, but it had already caused serious injuries, not only lost firepower, but also had a certain decrease in speed. He naturally understood that such a situation was inevitable, but he was nevertheless determined to teach the British fleet a hard lesson.

When he was a little panicked by the torpedo tactics, the four Datang cruisers had already occupied the T-shaped head and aimed their guns at the enemy, Ramsey closed his eyes with a pale face, his end was already imaginable, but he still decided to fight.

"Set off smoke bombs and evacuate this sea area immediately!" (To be continued.) )