The commander of the Italian Navy's Second Expeditionary Fleet, Roberte, was rejoicing that the Dante had sunk another enemy warship, when the captain of the Queen Margaret, Ram, shouted in shock: "Oh no! Commander, look at the U.S. Navy fleet, they have given up their position in the battle line and are speeding behind our second battle line! ”

Shocked by this, Robert picked up the telescope and quickly looked behind him through the viewing window in the bridge, and sure enough, as Ram said, the remaining warships of the U.S. Navy fleet were already at full speed, heading for the back of the second line of battle of the Italian fleet.23[wx].

Originally, the 13 ironclad battleships opposite the U.S. Navy fleet had begun to cross-cut and seize the "T" prefix below the second battleline of the Italian fleet.

Roberte shouted angrily: "Damn Americans! What are they going to do? He even gave up his battle line! Abandon your responsibilities! ”

It was an Italian major who ran into the bridge and shouted: "Your Excellency, the Americans have sent a flag saying that they can no longer resist the fleet of the enemy's ironclad battleships on the opposite side, and can only move closer to us, hoping to get the support of our Italian navy." In addition, the commander of the American fleet, George? Dewey sent a banner saying that the situation was already very unfavorable for our two navies, and that our two navies could consider retreating. ”

Ram anxiously asked, "Commander, what should we do now?" ”

Roberte roared even louder: "These damn American cowards! Tell them, we Italy will immediately send warships to support them, and we must contain the enemy's 13 ironclad battleships! ”

Then Roberte ordered urgently: "Let the Dante on the second battle line." and the Kashma on the first battle line, withdraw from our battle line and go to join the American fleet. We must block the enemy's 13 ironclad battleships, and we must not let them cut cross-cutting into our backs, otherwise our Italian fleet will be attacked on its back! Send a flag message to the Americans, tell them to hold on, and our US-Italian combined fleet will definitely achieve the final victory! ”

George? Dewey received the flag from Roberte, and saw that two Italian all-steel battleships had come over to join his fleet, and thought about it for a long time. Until Henrytt, the captain of the Indiana, asked, "Commander, are we going to retreat behind the Italian warship?" ”

George? Dewey actually had the idea of retreating in his mind, but by this time Italy had already sent two more all-steel battleships to support him. And just leaving his comrades in arms to lead the American fleet to retreat, he is returning to the United States, and the parliament will not spare him.

George? Dewey sighed and said, "Order to stop retreating, turn around and stop those hateful ironclad battleships!" ”

It was 9:10 a.m. Both sides have completed eighteen rounds of salvos from the main guns. At this time, the battle line of the First Fleet of the Northeast Navy and the first battle line of the Italian Fleet were already 4,000 meters apart.

After eleven rounds of salvo fire from the main guns, the two sides fired seven more rounds of salvos from the main guns, so that the casualties of each of the two sides of the battle were not small.

The all-steel battleship Xiande, which had extinguished the fire by the First Fleet of the Northeast Navy, had just returned to the battle line when it was hit by a 305-mm main gun shell from the Italians, which penetrated the 76-mm armor on the deck, and the shell exploded only after hitting an ammunition compartment, causing hundreds of 150-mm secondary artillery shells in the ammunition compartment to explode. Although it didn't blow up the rough-skinned and thick-skinned Xiande in two at once, it also blew up the bottom of the Xiande. A large hole of almost 10 meters appeared.

At the same time, the Xiande also ignited an uncontrollable fire, the captain Huang Hong saw the situation of the Xiande, and reluctantly ordered the officers and men of the ship to abandon the ship, and finally the fire of the Xiande burned to an ammunition compartment of the main gun shells, and after detonating hundreds of 240 mm main gun shells, the Xiande broke into two after a more violent explosion and quickly sank into the sea. However, at this time, nearly 500 officers and men on the Xiande had escaped from the sunken warship with Captain Huang Hong, and nearly 150 other naval officers and sailors died heroically.

Captain Huang Hong sat on the lifeboat, looking at the place where his warship sank, his face was very depressed, and he said to the other officers and soldiers of the Xiande on this lifeboat: "Grandma, it's so unlucky!" It was not easy for Lao Tzu to become the captain of an all-steel battleship, but he was sunk in his first battle at sea! Alas - why am I always the one who gets hurt! ”

Huang Hong was first mate of the torpedo cruiser Chaohai, which sank in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Later, Huang Hong was transferred to the old ironclad ship Yunhai as the captain, and as a result, the Yunhai became the only warship sunk by the Naval Academy fleet at that time in the Battle of Jinzhou Bay.

Huang Hong thought with some self-deprecation that he had participated in several large-scale naval battles experienced by the navy, but why did his warships sink because he didn't worship God when he went to sea? Huang Hong decided to lead the warship to sea in the future, and he must find a temple to worship in advance.

The German-built all-steel battleship Xiande, commanded by Huang Hong, with a full load displacement of 11,780 tons, became the fourth warship sunk by the Northeast Navy.

When the ironclad battleship Feilu of the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy was cutting across the second battle line of the Italian fleet with the entire Second Fleet, the two all-steel battleships of the Italian Navy, the Dante and Khima, and the American fleet that had returned to fight them, rushed over to intercept their 13 ironclad battleships.

One of the Kahima 305 mm main gun shells penetrated the waterline armor in the front of the Flying Deer, and exploded in the torpedo launch bay in the front of the Flying Deer, detonating 16 600 mm torpedoes in the torpedo launch bay, blowing up the entire front of the Flying Deer, and the captain of the Flying Deer had to immediately order all the officers and men of the ship to abandon the ship, and the Flying Deer persisted on the sea for 15 minutes before disappearing into the sea, becoming the fifth warship sunk by the Northeast Navy.

The city-class all-steel battleship Pyongyang was also destroyed by a single 305-mm main gun shell, and a double 305-mm gun turret with a 40-caliber caliber was destroyed, and two 203-mm shells pierced the deck. caused a fire, but the damage control personnel of the Pyongyang brought the fire under control, so that the Pyongyang could continue to fight on the battle line.

Not a single one of the other all-steel battleships of the First Fleet was unharmed. It's just that the injuries are not serious, and they can't affect the combat effectiveness. Among the remaining seven large fast armored cruisers of the Second Fleet, the Xinghe and Xingsheng were also not lightly injured, and their hulls were hit by a lot of seawater.

After losing the Flying Deer, the Third Fleet managed to seize the T-shaped head of the Italian fleet's battle line, although the other 12 ironclad battleships were also wounded. But the injuries were not serious, and they did not affect the combat effectiveness.

If it is said that these 7 rounds of main artillery salvos have caused a lot of losses to the Northeast Navy. Then the Italian Navy and the US Navy in these 7 rounds of salvo fire from the main guns can be described as a broken bone.

The Queen Elena, the lead ship of the Queen Elena class all-steel battleship of the Italian Navy, was hit by two 305 mm main gun shells and three 240 mm main gun shells in succession. In the end, the fire reached an ammunition compartment for the main artillery shells. The remaining 305 mm shells in the ammunition compartment were detonated, and the Queen Elena was almost blown in two, and within 10 minutes, the Queen Elena sank to the bottom of the sea with at least 300 Italian naval officers and sailors, and the other more than 300 Italian officers and sailors on the ship successfully escaped.

With a full load displacement of 13,995 tons, the Queen Elena became the fifth warship to be sunk by the Second Expeditionary Fleet of the Italian Navy.

The Italian Navy's Queen Elena-class all-steel battleships came to Asia a total of 4, so far 3 have sunk, and the last Sergio has not escaped its fate.

The Sergio was choked by the all-steel battleship Changchun, and one 305-mm main gun shell from the Changchun pierced the Sergio's 203-mm waterline armor. It went straight into one of the Sergio's main gun ammunition compartments before exploding, detonating dozens of 305-mm shells. The violent explosion broke the entire keel of the Sergio, which broke in two and quickly sank into the sea, becoming the fifth warship sunk by the Second Expeditionary Fleet of the Italian Navy, and all four Queen Elena-class all-steel battleships that joined the Second Expeditionary Fleet were sunk.

So far, there were only five wounded Queen Margaret-class all-steel battleships left on the first battle line of the Italian fleet, the Queen Margaret, the Angelo, the Dejo, the Sirio and the Giancarlo.

Because the second battle line of the Italian fleet did not have the support of all-steel battleships, the remaining five large fast armored cruisers of the Dotenaro class were beaten by the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy, and one more was sunk.

The large fast armored cruiser Diegory was continuously hit by 5 210 mm shells that pierced the waterline armor and deck armor, and exploded inside the hull of the Diegor, igniting a sky-high fire, so that the damage management personnel of the Diegory could not control the fire at all, and finally the fire burned to an ammunition bin of the Diegor, detonating hundreds of 203 mm shells in the ammunition compartment, and the Diegory stubbornly held on for 15 minutes before disappearing into the sea. Nearly 400 of the 600 Italian naval officers and sailors of the Diegory managed to escape.

The Diegory became the sixth warship to sink in the Italian Navy's Second Expeditionary Fleet. The other four Dotenaro-class large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of 9,700 tons on the second battle line, the Dotenaro, Pia, Peraë and Raphael, also suffered serious injuries.

The two all-steel battleships of the Italian Navy, Dante and Khima, together with the remaining fleets of the US Navy, blocked the cross-cutting of the battle line of the Italian fleet by the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy, and were also severely beaten by the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy.

The Italian Navy's all-steel battleship Dante, which was already seriously injured and had a speed of only 15 knots, was hit by 4 305 mm main gun shells in a row, and the last 1 305 mm shell penetrated its 203 mm waterline armor and detonated 6 boilers of the Dante, and the fire that ignited was not at all controllable by the Dante damage management personnel, and finally the fire burned to the ammunition compartment, and with an earth-shattering explosion, the Dante slowly sank into the sea. It became the seventh warship to sink in the Second Expeditionary Fleet of the Italian Navy.

The Indiana, the flagship of the U.S. Navy's Asian squadron, was hit by a 305-millimeter shell that fell into the sea 3 meters away from the warship, and the explosion of the shell formed a near-miss, and the shock wave caused the sea water to expand rapidly, tearing the Indiana's underwater armor, forming a large mouth nearly 8 meters wide, and the sea water poured into the Indiana like a tidal wave. Dewey immediately ordered Henry Tell, the captain of the Indiana, to immediately send someone to seal the incoming cabin, but soon the captain of the ship, Henry Tell, regretfully told George? Dewey, it was too late to close the inlet cabin, and the ship had to be abandoned immediately.

The Last Commander George? Dewey and Henry Tel, the captain of the USS Indiana, sat in a lifeboat, and more than 20 U.S. Navy soldiers rowed the lifeboat and began to row towards the U.S. Navy's all-steel battleship Illinois, while the other 300 or so U.S. Navy officers and men who escaped from the Indiana could only sit in lifeboats and wait for the end of the naval battle.

George? Dewey sat on the lifeboat, his face looked much older at this time, he had a feeling of despair, even his flagship was sunk, Henry Tel looked at his commander's expression, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, and didn't say anything to consol, because it was useless to say anything at this time, and the defeat of the United States and Italy in this naval battle was decided.

Henry Tell turned his gaze to the warship Indiana, which he was sinking, and his eyes revealed sadness, watching his beloved Indiana disappear into the sea without holding out for long, becoming the eighth warship sunk by the Asian detachment of the United States Navy, Henry Teller let out a long sigh.

George? Dewey heard Henry Ter's sigh, and then he came to his senses, looked at the location where the Indiana sank, and made a decision in his heart, this time he didn't think about anything, he had to leave this ghost place with the rest of the American warships immediately, so he said in a hoarse voice: "Henry Tell, let everyone work hard to row to the Illinois, I must go to the Illinois immediately!" (To be continued......)