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At 5:20 p.m., the U.S. Navy turned again, and the remaining three 'Indiana-class' battleships all accelerated to the east, while the remaining eleven cruisers with combat strength also moved closer to these three battleships, and 0 destroyers cruised around the periphery. The other damaged ships left the battlefield alone. As for whether these warships can escape the pursuit of the Chinese Navy, it is up to their own luck. At the very least, the Chinese Navy had plenty of time to flee the battlefield while the main target was on the battleships of the US Navy.

The captain of the US Navy's second-class battleship 'Texas', which had lost power, had already ordered the opening of the sea valve, and the more than 300 American sailors on the battleship had all boarded a wounded American cruiser, and the Chinese Navy did not attack them. A few minutes later, the second-class battleship, which was more than six thousand tons, sank into the sea.

Although, the remaining US Navy had three more battleships, a cruiser and 0 destroyers, they had already lost the courage to continue fighting. Mahan is now thinking about how to preserve the vitality of the U.S. Navy to the greatest extent and bring back as many U.S. Navy soldiers as safely as possible.

"Your Excellency, the yellow-skinned monkeys have come back up, they won't let us go like this!" Benson said. So far, the US Navy has lost 40 percent of its warships, and the Chinese Navy is obviously not prepared to accept it when it sees a good situation.

"There are still four hours to go before it gets dark, and we can only pray to God to make it until dark. Then we'll be able to escape in the night! Mahan said, feeling a little bitter in his heart. He concentrated all the elite warships of the US Navy, but in the end, it turned out to be like this. This was very difficult for him to accept. However, before the war, he seemed to have expected such an outcome.

"Damn it!" Benson scolded hatefully. It was clear that they had twice as many battleships as the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy, but now they were going to suffer defeat. It's not that they're greedy for life and afraid of death. It's that the difference between the performance of the warships on both sides and the plain performance of the soldiers is too big! If we can return to the United States this time, we must redevelop the navy and build a fleet that can surpass the Chinese navy. Benson thought to himself. He knew that in the major shipyards in the United States, there were orders placed by the US Navy. Merely. These warships are to be put into service. It is estimated that it will have to wait a year or two. Until then, they can only rely on the Chinese navy to flex its muscles in the Pacific.

"Accept it, General Benson. We will lose this war, but we will not lose. Next. We're beating the Chinese Navy! Mahan said. He believed that after the current naval battle, the US government and people will realize the gap between the United States and China, and will inevitably increase investment in the navy at that time. And at that time, it was time for the US Navy to be reborn! With the current industrial strength of the United States. To surpass the Chinese Navy in the number of warships is not a big problem. The key is the performance of the battleship and the simplicity of the soldiers. These American Navy soldiers who have experienced the baptism of war will all be treasures, and he needs to bring them back to the United States as much as possible.

"Commander, the Americans want to escape! Do we want to chase? The captain of the 'Plateau' asked excitedly.

"Chase! Of course, they have to chase, the Americans still have three battleships, and they must be killed. Otherwise, sooner or later it will be a threat to us! Li Dingxin said.

'Plateau' and 'Qinghai'. Immediately chase after the US Navy. With a speed of more than two knots of the US Navy battleship, they were soon able to close the distance between the two sides. At the same time, four heavy cruisers of the 'Chengdu class' also rushed over and lined up behind the two battleships, forming two battleships in front. Four heavy cruisers were in the rear battle line. The rest of the light cruisers and destroyers were guarded in case of lightning strikes by the U.S. Navy.

"Reduce the distance between the two sides to 10,000 meters, and then strike at the three battleships of the US Navy in groups." The Plateau and Qinghai attacked Indiana, and Chengdu and Chongqing attacked Massachusetts. The Kangding and Lhasa attacked the Oregon. It is important to ensure that the combat distance is not shortened to less than six thousand meters, and at the same time. Try to sink your enemies before it gets dark! Li Dingxin gave the order.

The main guns of the 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers were two twin 20-mm 40-caliber naval guns, which were also a strong threat to the U.S. Navy's 'Indiana-class' battleships. The Indiana-class battleships had between 20 mm and 456 mm of armor on the side sides, 2 mm for the turret, 70 mm for the deck and 255 mm for the bridge. The main guns of the 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers, unless they bombarded the thickest section of the broadside, were enough to inflict severe damage on the 'Indiana-class' battleships. Of course, the biggest weakness of the 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers is that their own armor is not thick, and if they are hit by the 0 mm main guns of the 'Indiana-class' battleships, they will either die or be crippled.

At 6 p.m., the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet approached, only 10,000 meters away from the US Navy. In an instant, two 'Plateau'-class battleships and four 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers opened fire. A two-to-one approach was adopted to strike the three battleships of the U.S. Navy to the maximum extent. As long as these three battleships were killed, the U.S. Navy would lose its main force.

"Boom! Rumble! "A large number of shells flew towards the battleships of the US Navy, blasting columns of water on the sea.

"Order the fleet to fight back!" Mahan ordered. Although the U.S. Navy's main guns are completely inaccurate at this distance, if they do not fight back and allow the Chinese Navy to attack, the morale of the U.S. Navy will quickly fall, which is not conducive to the next battle. As for whether or not the warships of the Chinese Navy can be hit, this can only be done by God willing.

"Boom! Rumble! "The artillery battle was very fierce, the two sides went back and forth, and hundreds of kilograms of shells smashed into each other's warships. However, basically these shells fell into the sea, and nothing was achieved except to kill some fish and shrimp.

The USS Indiana, the flagship of the US Navy, which was besieged by two battleships of the Chinese Navy, was undoubtedly in the most dangerous situation. Although after half an hour of fierce artillery fighting, there were still no hits, but there were several shells, and the 'Indiana' was less than 200 meters away. Even Mahan, who commanded the battleship, thought that they were traveling through a rain of bullets and could be hit at any time.

At 6:45 p.m., during a salvo of the Plateau, a shell exploded a hundred meters to the right of the Indiana, and the splashed water column rushed onto the Indiana, plunging several American sailors into the sea and then vanishing. However, this is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that the 'Plateau' has formed a straddle in this salvo, and it is only a matter of time before the 'Indiana' hits.

"Hell! Turn 20 degrees to the left to shorten the combat distance between the two sides! Mahan ordered. At a distance of 10,000 meters, the US Navy was completely in a position of being passively beaten, and its own artillery bombardment could not hit the warships of the Chinese Navy, which was really a loss for them.

"Boom!" A loud bang suddenly erupted, and the heavy cruiser "Lhasa", which was at the back of the entire battle line, hit the rear deck of the American battleship "Oregon" in a salvo, destroying the main gun in the stern of the "Oregon", and reducing the firepower of the "Oregon" by half.

At 6:55, in a salvo of the 'Kangding', a 20-mm main gun shell hit the bridge of the 'Oregon'. The 255 mm armor of the 'Oregon' was penetrated in an instant. More than a dozen officers on the bridge, including the captain, were all killed, which made the "Oregon" lose its combat power due to the loss of command. Although the chief engineer took over the command five minutes later, and the main guns in the bow of the ship continued to fire, the fate of the "Oregon" was already sealed.

At 7:05, two of the four 20-mm main gun shells fired by the 'Kangding' hit the 'Oregon'. One was the port side of the 'Oregon', which was blown out of a hole more than two meters wide near the waterline near the stern. The turbulent sea water poured into the 'Oregon' and the like from this big hole, causing the speed of the 'Oregon' to drop all at once, and at the same time, the hull of the ship also tilted. Another shell hit the main gun in the bow of the "Oregon", completely destroying the main gun, so that the "Oregon" was immediately injured and incapacitated. Although the damage management personnel of the "Oregon" later plugged the gap, because of too much water, the speed of the "Oregon" dropped to a knot, and it could not keep up with the combat formation at all. So much so that after the end of the naval battle, he was captured by the Chinese Pacific Fleet.

After the 'Oregon' was heavily damaged, the 'Kangding' and 'Lhasa' shifted their fire forward and aimed at the battleship 'Massachusetts' in front. Now, with two hours left before dark, if you're lucky, you'll be able to leave the two remaining battleships of the U.S. Navy behind. However, at this time, the luck of the Chinese Navy seemed to run out.

At 7:00, the battleship 'Qinghai' was hit by a 0-mm naval gun in the stern, and not only the main guns in the stern were destroyed, but even the steering gear was damaged. The "Qinghai", which suffered heavy losses, had to withdraw from the battle and return to Hawaii for repairs under the protection of two destroyers.

At 7:40, the heavy cruiser 'Chongqing' was heavily damaged, lost most of its power, its speed dropped to 0 knots, and had to withdraw from the battle and return to Hawaii.

PS: The fourth update is here! Tomorrow's three watches, no update in the early morning! Ask for a subscription!

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