Chapter 458: The Battle of the Atlantic between China and the United States VII

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After the Denver Battlecruiser, the flagship of the Mengte fleet, was sunk, the other five American battlecruisers immediately retaliated against the Imperial Chinese Navy like crazy. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Without Mengte's command, the five U.S. battle cruisers were divided into two teams, one team used the Springfield and the Atlanta to contain the live firepower of the Sui Wendi and Sui Yangdi, and the other team turned around with the three battle cruisers of the Nashville, Columbus, and Pittsburgh to chase after the heavily damaged Jin Huidi.

Wang Shouchang had insight into the enemy's intentions and immediately turned around to intercept him, but was unexpectedly blocked by heavy artillery fire from the USS Springfield and Atlanta. Although the two Sui-class battlecruisers reached speeds of up to 34 knots, their fragile armor still did not dare to send them to the guns of the enemy ships. Wang Shouchang had no choice but to continue to deal with the Springfield and Atlanta, hoping to concentrate firepower to destroy the two enemy ships as soon as possible, and then go to the rescue of the Jin Huidi.

At 11:35 a.m., the US ships Nashville, USS Columbus, and USS Pittsburgh approached the position of 15 kilometers of the Jinhuidi. The battle patrol of the Emperor Wu of Jin hurriedly broke away from the formation and turned around to block the American ships, hoping to attract the firepower of the American fleet and cover the Emperor Hui of Jin from the battlefield.

The Jin Wudi alone faced the three American battle cruisers of the same level, and in less than ten minutes of the exchange of fire, the No. 3 turret was destroyed by a 356-mm shell. The firepower was originally at a disadvantage, and after the loss of the No. 3 turret, only two triple guns remained, but they had to face the attack of 24 356mm guns from three American ships.

At 11:39, after a volley of fire from the US ship Columbus, a 356-mm shell hit the Jin Wudi again. The starboard waterline of the Emperor Wu of Jin was pierced by a cannonball, causing a hole more than 3 meters wide, and the seawater poured into it violently, and the watertight compartment failed, and the battle cruiser of Emperor Wu of Jin immediately leaned to the right and sank at a speed that was seen.

Three minutes later, the officers and men of the Chinese Imperial Navy on the Emperor Wu of Jin failed to repair the ship, and the captain immediately ordered the ship to be abandoned. Five minutes later, the battlecruiser Wudi of Jin sank, becoming the first super-large battleship in the history of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

In order to save Emperor Jin Hui, the Battle Patrol of Emperor Wu of Jin sank, which made Wang Shouchang very annoyed.

After the U.S. military sank the Jin Wudi, morale was greatly boosted. In particular, the Columbia was like a doping, quickly chasing the Jin Huidi who was evacuating, intending to get credit again. Similarly, the Nashville and Pittsburgh were not to be outdone, intensifying their pursuit while firing artillery at the Jinhuidi, which was 18 kilometers away.

On the other side, Wang Shouchang commanded the two battle patrols of Emperor Wen of Sui and Emperor Yang of Sui to take revenge on the US army. Three salvos of fire were prepared in two minutes, and more than fifty tons of shells were concentrated on the Springfield.

At 11:43 a.m., a 381-mm shell fired from the main gun of the Sui Yangdi Battle Patrol No. 2 hit the port side waterline of the Springfield. The shells instantly pierced the Springfield's 228 mm thick armor belt, piercing through four layers of armored compartments and tearing open a hole more than four meters wide. Flames and black smoke erupted from the breach, and as the pressure weakened, the sea poured violently into it, and the Springfield quickly tilted to the left. The U.S. military failed to manage the damage and was forced to abandon the ship.

Three minutes later, the battlecruiser USS Springfield, armed with eight 16-inch guns, sank.

At the same time, the Atlanta, which was following the Springfield formation, also received a 381-mm shell, the No. 2 turret was destroyed, and the hull caught fire. The captain of the ship waved the flag that his ship had been heavily damaged and withdrew from the battle sequence, turned around and fled. Wang Shouchang did not chase the Atlanta, but turned around to rescue the Jin Huidi.

Although the Jin Hui Emperor faltered and retreated to the northeast, the three US battle cruisers fired four rounds of fire salvos in a row, and not a single shell hit her, which made the US officers and men on the three ships furious.

The captain of the Jin Hui Emperor originally wanted to withdraw from the battlefield, but when he saw the three American battle cruisers in hot pursuit, although he was lucky enough to avoid the deadly attack, if he went further, he was afraid that he would be caught up by the enemy ships. He saw that Wang Shouchang was rushing to the rescue, so he decisively ordered the battleship to turn around and sail back towards Emperor Wen of Sui.

At 12:07, Wang Shouchang led the Emperor Wen of Sui and Emperor Yang of Sui to come to the rescue, relieved the siege of Emperor Hui of Jin, and engaged three American war patrols.

The roar of artillery was deafening.

The enemies of both sides are very red when they meet, and they are all desperate tactics that do not want to die. The U.S. forces dispatched several destroyers to try to fire torpedoes close to the Jin Huidi, but were stopped by four light cruisers of Wang Shouchang's fleet.

The two sides fought again for about 20 minutes, and at 12:25 the Sui Wendi was hit by a 356-mm shell, and the second half of the island was destroyed, igniting a monstrous fire. At the same time, the US ship Pittsburgh received a 381-mm shell, the command tower was blown up, and all the commanders were killed. The Columbus was hit by a 15-inch cannonball fired by Emperor Yang of Sui, and the violent explosion flattened the island in half, and the American troops suffered heavy casualties, the fire engulfed the battleship, and the smoke covered the No. 3 and No. 4 turrets behind the island, and the firepower was suddenly reduced by half.

Just when the battle between Wang Shouchang's fleet and Meng's special fleet was at its worst, the main fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy led by Li Dingxin rushed to the battlefield and entered the battlefield.

When Wang Shouchang saw the main fleet coming, he immediately ordered his subordinates to continue to kill the enemy, but Li Dingxin's subsequent order to Wang Shouchang was to withdraw from the battle sequence. Wang Shouchang was very dissatisfied with this and felt that Li Dingxin was robbing him of his credit. However, the fire on the hull of Emperor Wen of Sui became more and more intense, and he was worried that his flagship would be burned, so he had to carry out the order and lead the ninth team out of the battle sequence.

Wang Shouchang's Ninth Battle Patrol Detachment successfully completed the mission, repairing the battleship in the rear, and coming forward to rescue the Imperial Navy engineer maintenance ship and naval hospital ship.

Li Dingxin's tactical purpose was not only to eliminate this US battle patrol detachment, but also to eliminate the battleship detachment of the Meng Special Fleet, which had been thrown 40 kilometers away.

At this time, the five squadrons of the battleship echelon of the Chinese Imperial Combined Fleet, with a total of twenty super divine bow type battleships, had completely surrounded the entire Meng Special Fleet from five directions: northeast, east, southeast, south, and southwest.

Li Dingxin personally led the four Ming-class battleships of the First Squadron to take the lead, and directly inserted into the junction between the US battle patrol detachment and the battleship detachment to block their rendezvous.

The appearance of the main fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy immediately frightened the US Navy. In particular, the appearance of four Ming-class super battleships made the US military panic.

"Knock knock!"

The American battleship detachment immediately opened fire, and nearly 100 shells whistled and fired at the four Ming-class battleships. The ten battleships of the battleship detachment of the Meng Special Fleet were all of the Divine Bow type, equipped with 12-inch guns, and could not penetrate the powerful armor protection of the Ming-class battleships up to 450 mm.

The four Ming-class battleships, relying on their strong armor protection capabilities, simply withstood the fierce attack of the US artillery fire and quickly sailed towards the depth of the US fleet. According to Li Dingxin's tactical arrangement, the four Ming-class battleships will penetrate in depth to disrupt the formation of the US fleet and create fighters for the other four battleship detachments of the Combined Fleet, which are approaching the US fleet from all directions.

The Ming-class battleship, which reached a speed of 30 knots, broke through the waves and quickly approached the American fleet. Vice Admiral Willemus, commander of the battleship detachment of the Meng Special Fleet, initially thought that four battlecruisers were coming at him, but he soon realized that the several 305-mm shells fired by his side could not cause penetration and major damage after hitting the opponent. He immediately understood that this was not a battlecruiser, but the "legendary" Ming-class battleship of the strongest Ming class battleship of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

At 12:17 p.m., the First Squadron of the Combined Fleet encountered three American battle cruisers fleeing from the northeast while interspersing in depth. Li Dingxin immediately ordered the main gun to open fire.

"Knock knock!"

The main guns of the four Ming-class battleships opened fire, and the 18-inch cannon let out a deafening roar. Shells weighing 1.8 tons roared and smashed into enemy ships.

"Boom!"

A moment later, a series of explosions sounded, and a huge column of water hundreds of meters high rose on the surface of the sea, and the waves splashed thousands of meters away, like a storm in an instant.

Ming-class battleships with radar systems were more accurate in directing fire from the central fire controller, and the first round of shelling sent shells to a position less than 100 meters away from the US ship. The 18-inch shell exploded violently, setting off a huge wave more than 10 meters high, fiercely slapping the side of the US ship, causing it to tilt at an angle of more than 30 degrees, and was almost overturned by the huge wave.

Two minutes later, the four Ming-class battleships fired a second salvo of fire. A 456-mm shell hit the left side of the U.S. battle cruiser Atlanta, instantly penetrating the armor protection only 228 mm thick, and exploded after continuously penetrating seven layers of armored deck.

There was a loud "boom", like a thunderbolt on a sunny day. I saw that the original convex part of the Atlanta battle patrol was instantly blown into a concave shape, and the violent explosion hit Bo and set off seven or eight hundred meters high smoke and flames, straight into the sky, and immediately turned into a huge fiery red mushroom cloud.

The Atlanta Cruiser was completely destroyed after only one shot from a Ming-class battleship. The 210-meter-long, 35,000-ton giant ship immediately broke off from the amidship and sank at a speed that could be seen. None of the more than 1,400 US officers and soldiers above were spared.

Faced with this monster, which the U.S. Navy called a pervert, Willemus did not report any idea of victory, and seeing that he was surrounded by the main fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy, he had only one thought, and that was to escape.

"After the second detachment was broken, the first detachment headed for 170 and withdrew at full speed."

Willemus had only one thought, and that was to sacrifice the Battle Patrol Detachment and the Second Battleship Detachment in exchange for his safe withdrawal from the battlefield with the First Battleship Detachment.

However, when it comes to the fat in the mouth of the Chinese Imperial Navy, how can it be easily spit out. Li Dingxin had already made all kinds of tactical plans to completely annihilate this US fleet.

The Atlanta was sunk by a single shot, and the U.S. Columbus and Pittsburgh battle cruisers were even more frightened, quickly turning southeast and trying to get out of the battle. At this time, the four Song-class battleships of the Third Squadron of the Combined Fleet of the Chinese Empire had already attacked from this direction.

Four Song-class battleships fired from the inside out at the two heavily damaged American battle cruisers, each with four triple 16-inch guns, and a single salvo of fire delivered 48 shells weighing a ton. Although they failed to achieve the first hit, they successfully forced the two US battle cruisers to change course in order to avoid the attack and sail in the direction of the second battle group of the combined fleet.

At 12:31, the USS Columbus came under fire from a salvo of four Yuan-class battleships. The hull, which had already been heavily damaged, was hit directly on the port side by a 432-mm shell, and the hull suddenly cracked and opened a large hole more than three meters wide, and a large amount of seawater poured into it, and the battleship immediately tilted and began to sink.

The sinking of the USS Columbus was imminent, and the four Yuan-class battleships adjusted their targets and locked onto the USS Nashville.

"Knock knock!"

The four Yuan-class battleships concentrated 36 17-inch guns to attack the Nashville fiercely, and the shells fell around the Nashville, raising huge columns of water, and the huge waves of the explosion crashed on the side of the Nashville ship, causing it to shake violently. Although it missed, the 17-inch shells, even if they were close-range shells, posed a great threat to the Nashville Patrol with less than 230 mm armor.

The commander of the Nashville battle patrol was already frightened, and seeing that he could not escape, he ordered the white flag to be raised, and sent an international general photoelectric signal that his ship was incapacitated, and surrendered to the Imperial Chinese Navy.

At the same time, the Pittsburgh Patrol Cruiser, which had been heavily damaged, also lost its ability to return fire because of the death of its commander, and after being besieged by four Song-class battleships of the Imperial Chinese Navy, it knew that there was no hope of escaping, so the American officers and men above chose to sink themselves.

By 12:35 p.m., five of the six battle patrol detachments of the Meng Special Fleet were sunk, one was captured, and the entire battle patrol detachment was wiped out.

After eliminating the U.S. battle patrol detachment, the Imperial Chinese Navy went all out against the battleship detachment of Willemus.

Since Willemus's battleship detachment was all early Divine Bow type battleships, with an average speed of only 20 knots, compared with the surrounding Imperial Chinese Navy battleships, the speed difference was nearly ten knots, and it was almost impossible to escape. At the same time, the Imperial Chinese Navy dispatched all super bow type battleships, and the two sides were not of the same level in terms of main gun firepower or armor protection capabilities, and Willemus knew very well that he had no chance of winning at all.

At 11:11, the four Ming-class battleships of the First Squadron of the Chinese Imperial Combined Fleet attacked the main formation of the Willems fleet at the fastest speed, forcing the broken fleet left by Willems to be split in two with strong firepower. The four Tang-class battleships of the Third Sentai and the eight Song-class battleships of the Fifth Sentai attacked the first warboard of Willemus from the left and right flanks respectively, blocking Willemus's escape route and forcing Willemus to fight a decisive battle with the Imperial Chinese Navy.

The battleships of Willemus were only 12 inches in caliber and 300 mm in armor, while the main battleships of the Imperial Chinese Navy were also in 15 inches in caliber and 360 mm in armor. The disparity in strength between the two sides was huge, and Willems almost fell into despair.

After the Willems fleet was divided by the Chinese Imperial Fleet, the ten battleships were divided into seven parts, and they were fiercely attacked by the Chinese Imperial Navy, facing the danger of being divided and annihilated.

Half an hour after the battle between the two sides, each of the ten battleships of the Willems fleet was heavily damaged, the hull was riddled with bullets, and more than half of them caught fire. At the same time, several cruisers and destroyers that served as escorts were also destroyed, either sunk by a single shot or severely damaged and unable to fight.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Willemus' flagship, the North Dakota, was sunk. Willemus narrowly escaped to the battleship USS Mississippi. At the same time, the US battleships Virginia and Rhode Island were also heavily damaged and basically incapacitated.

Under these circumstances, the American forces had lost the will to fight, and Willems saw that he was powerless, so he ordered the entire fleet to surrender.

At 2:17, Willemus led the remnants of the 14 warships of the Mengte fleet to surrender to the Imperial Chinese Navy. The Imperial Chinese Navy ceased fire and sent troops aboard American warships on safari ships, taking full control of the Meng Special Fleet