When the British East India Fleet and the Chinese Combined Fleet made corresponding tactical choices, it meant that the two sides were about to quickly enter the stage of hand-to-hand combat.

One thousand meters, five hundred meters, three hundred meters, it didn't take long for the Yandi to pass through about 300 meters on the left side of the Hector, at this time, five 150 mm breech guns and three 80 mm breech guns on the right side of the Yandi, as well as six 150 mm breech guns on the bow and stern of the ship, a total of eleven 150 mm breech guns, and three 80 mm breech guns fired at the Hector one after another.

The muzzles of the ship's guns erupted with huge flames, and then one after another high-explosive grenades flew towards the Hector, at this distance, there was basically no need to worry about the hit rate, the only thing to consider was whether to attack the waterline deck or attack the superstructure of the attack deck.

At the same time, the Yandi also shelled another British wooden battleship of about 3,000 tons on the left with five 150-mm naval guns on the left and three 80-millimeter naval guns.

If you look down from the sky, then you can see an extremely beautiful scene, that is, the Yandi fired at both sides almost simultaneously, and sixteen 150 mm and 6 80 mm naval guns fired almost at the same time, and the scene was only spectacular, no less spectacular than the salvo scene of those traditional line battleships!

When the Yandi opened fire, the Hector naturally did not sit idle, and almost every few seconds, the Hector also used a large number of naval guns to attack the Yandi.

The seven-inch and five-inch breech-loading guns, the sixty-eight-pounder and thirty-two-pounder front-loading smoothbore guns fired almost at the same time, and the momentum was no less than the salvo of the Yandi!

The two ships were at a distance of about three hundred meters laterally. It was the first and most heroic artillery attack in today's naval battle!

Since both ships were moving quickly in opposite directions. They had a very limited window of fire at each other, taking into account the problem of the rate of fire of the ship's guns. They only have one chance to attack each other on a large scale, and after this salvo, they will face their next enemy.

After the rumbling gun, both ships were filled with gunsmoke, and the decks of the two ships where the shells were flying instantly became hell on earth, and the sailors and gunners who stayed on the upper deck to fight without turret protection were killed and injured in large numbers in an instant.

What's even more frightening is that the sail systems of both sides, each other's sails were almost destroyed by heavy fire, and the main mast of the upper and lower half of the Yandi was broken by a direct cannonball. Then it slammed into the sea, and at the same time the mast fell, it also pulled a large number of sails and ropes, which caused secondary damage, so that a large number of sailors who operated the sails were killed and injured on the spot or fell into the sea.

While the upper deck of the Flame Emperor was in shambles, the Hector was no better!

The overall design of the Chinese and British warships, especially the ocean-going ironclads, is almost the same, because the Chinese ocean-going ironclads are basically copied from the British design, so the Yandi has some shortcomings. The Hector also has it.

The sail system, which had maintained endurance in the past, became a major burden in the decisive battle, and instead of bringing about an increase in speed, it was quickly destroyed in battle, and then caused secondary damage.

The Hector upper mast did not break in the first salvo of the Yandi, though. But those canvases are also full of loopholes, and the air leaks everywhere have lost their effectiveness.

With the development of naval artillery and artillery shell technology, especially after the maturity of howitzer technology. The lethality of wooden warships, especially sail systems, is considerable. As a result, in naval warfare in recent years, the sail system of the sail warship will lose its effectiveness within a short time after the start of the war.

And this result. It directly prompted countries to start developing and putting into service purely steam-powered warships, because at this time, the sail system could no longer bring the advantage of decisive battles, but became a hidden danger.

Of course, this will inevitably bring about a decrease in the endurance of the battleship, but this decline can be made up for with the further development of steam engine technology, and it may not be possible to achieve a endurance of seven or eight thousand or even tens of thousands of nautical miles at will, but it is still possible to achieve a endurance of two or three thousand nautical miles.

Under the pure steam power, the Yandi class can maintain a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles using an economic cruising speed, which is not too high, but it is enough to fight in the western Pacific waters.

Compared with the mess on the decks of the warships on both sides, the core parts of the two sides did not suffer much damage, for example, the side armor of the two sides was basically not penetrated except for being smashed out of small pits, and the gun positions of the side guns behind the armor did not suffer much damage.

Therefore, it can also be determined that after shelling each other, the Hector and the Yandi did not cause any actual damage to each other, except for killing and injuring the sail system and the personnel on the deck!

So they were soon engaged in a new round of fighting, and the Yandi continued to move forward, while the British Resistance was waiting for him in front of him.

The British's Hector is about to face many enemies, including the Yandi-class No. 2 ship Shaohao, and it also needs to go through the gradual baptism of four Pangu-class ironclad ships.

It was a brutal close-quarters battle, with both sides able to rely on thick armor and firepower, and nothing else could be tricked.

When the Yandi crossed the Hector, the reloaded naval guns were already firing a salvo at the Resistance, and the same Resistance also carried out the most intensive large-scale artillery bombardment on the Yandi.

Between the two, the soldiers of both sides once again staged the most gorgeous and spectacular fireworks display!

The same battle took place between the Shaohao and the Hector!

Among the two fleets, the largest and most combat-effective warships fought each other, and the spectacle was enough to make the officers and men of the other warships tremble!

However, the four ships did not entangle each other, but quickly left after one blow, and then each opened fire on the other ships.

When it crossed the Resistance, the Yandi, which was already scarred and had one less mast, did not slow down in the slightest. Rushed directly into the second V-line of the British fleet, and the second and third columns of British battleships were all wooden battleships. Although most of these ships were equipped with steam engines, they became a hybrid of steam and sail. However, their firepower and protection are very different from those of ironclads.

Although the number of guns of these old warships is quite large, they are the kind of dozens of naval guns, but they are basically front-loading smoothbore guns, and the range and power are quite limited.

What happens when this happens?

Their naval guns could not actually inflict actual damage on ironclad ships such as the Yandi, and as for the sailors on the upper deck, they had already been killed and wounded in the battle with the British's Hector and Resistance, and there were few people left. As for the sails, now the Yandi has taken the initiative to lower the remaining sails, leaving only a few slick masts, and at present, the Yandi and other ironclad ships rely on pure steam power for maneuvering.

Therefore, after the current Yandi has experienced some losses in the front, the rest are areas protected by heavy armor, and the armor in these areas is not to mention the front-loading smoothbore guns in those wooden battleships, even those seven-inch rear-loading ship guns may not be able to penetrate it.

But the wooden battleships of the British could not resist the shelling of the Chinese naval guns, these 150 mm, 120 mm and even 80 mm breech-loading naval guns. There is nothing that can be done about the armor of an ironclad like the Hector, but it is accurate to hit a wooden battleship.

After the numerous high-explosive shells were fired, they quickly smashed a wooden battleship estimated to be more than 2,000 tons on the left side of the Yandi, not only sweeping the upper deck. And there were shells that exploded deep into the decks below, and because of the explosion of the powder keg, it was just a round of shelling. The wooden battleship was completely devastated and a large number of gunners were killed and wounded and lost its combat effectiveness. What's more, the battleship also caught fire, and the flames spread to the sails and superstructure in just a few minutes.

Such a serious injury. It can basically be judged that this wooden battleship has completely lost its combat effectiveness, and it may even burn directly on the sea.

After the battle with the Hector and the Resistance, Lin Tongshu, who once felt powerless and even lost confidence, saw the wooden battleship that was on fire, he not only clenched his fists, but this time his tactical choice was right.

Your fleet can't do anything with the Hector and the Resistance, it doesn't mean that you can't deal with these many wooden warships, as long as you clean up these wooden battleships, when the time comes, you will rely on the absolute numerical superiority of the ironclad ships, and you don't believe that you can't knock open the turtle shells of the Hector and the Resistance.

At this moment, the Yandi and Shaohao broke into the British wooden battleship group like two fierce tigers, relying on thick armor to resist the shells constantly coming from the British, as for the upper deck, except for the rotating battery, the rest of the area has basically been abandoned by themselves.

While carrying the shells fired by the British wooden battleships, they also kept shelling the British wooden battleships.

Unlike the British's shells, which could not inflict actual damage on the Yandi, the shells of the Yandi and Shaohao were capable of bringing lethal damage to these wooden battleships.

At this kind of combat distance, which is only a few hundred meters or even closer, there is basically no need to consider the problem of the hit rate of the shells, and one shot can hit without aiming, and as long as it hits, it can cause damage to the enemy ship.

When the Yandi and Shaohao were rampage in the British wooden battleship group, the four Pangu-class ironclad ships also ushered in the bombardment baptism of the British Hector and the Resistance!

However, although the tonnage difference between the two is huge, the protection of the two is comparable, and the Hector cannot cause any actual damage to the internal compartment of the Yandi, and it is also difficult to cause any fatal damage to the Pangu class.

The only disadvantage is that the Pangu-class has fewer artillery, and the combined firepower of the four Pangu-class ships is not as good as the two Yandi classes! With less firepower, it will naturally suffer a little in the fight.

However, this kind of loss did not last long, the high speed of the two sides determined that the contact time between the two sides was very short, and after carrying the bombardment of the British, the four Pangu-class ironclad ships followed the pace of Shaohao, and then directly killed the British wooden battleship group.

At this time, in order to cover the actions of the first column, the second column, which was slower, also took the initiative to come up, and two Nusnail-class ironclad ships and three Zhenguang-class ironclad ships approached the Hector and the Resistance, not giving them room to turn.

Major General Liszt's face at this time no longer has the confidence it had before, but a gloomy face!

Looking at a Zhenguang-class ironclad ship blocking the way in front of him, Rear Admiral Liszt did not hesitate at all: "Crash directly into it!" ”

The Hector had a maximum speed of 12.6 knots, and now it has maintained an extremely high speed in battle, while the Zhenguang-class ironclad ship, as an offshore ironclad ship, is not fast, and the fastest is only eight knots.

If you want to dodge, you can't avoid it at all.

The officers and men of the Zhenguang-class ironclad ship Zhenbei watched the Hector, which was like a mountain, directly loaded onto their battleship, and after a violent movement, the Zhenbei was directly knocked over, and it didn't stay for even half a minute, but sank directly.

At this moment, Hector has also broken a big hole in the bow position, and even exposed the front internal compartment, but it is still some distance from the waterline, and there are no important compartments in the bow, so it will not affect its movement at that time.

Hector ignored the Zhenbei, which had capsized and sunk, and directly increased its horsepower and began to turn, and then began to return to the first column of the Imperial Navy.

Rear Admiral Liszt could not sit idly by and watch his own group of wooden battleships being preyed upon by the first column of the Chinese like lambs.

Seeing that the Hector has already broken out of the interception circle, the Resistance behind it is about to break away!

On the bridge on the female snail, a rear admiral about forty years old took a deep breath, and then said in a deep voice: "Hang the battle flag, this ship will ram the enemy's second ship!" (To be continued.) )