Perlitman thought he was dreaming, but after only a minute, he realized that it was all true!

A 240mm armor-piercing projectile burst through the air with a low-stretch ballistic curve and smashed hard above the bow waterline of the battleship, causing a loud sound from the violent impact, so that he could not hear any other movement in his ears while standing on the flybridge. The violent earthquake made him mistakenly think that the hull of the ship had been damaged, and his heart and liver flickered together, as if he had stepped on the air!

More shells are coming!

The banner of the "St. John" was too clear, and it rushed closely, so it naturally became the focus of all artillery priority attacks. The four cannons on Liugong Island all fired at him in a concentrated manner, and at a rate of one shot a minute, they continued to throw heavy iron lumps one after another.

The Krupp guns of the Germans were so powerful that they were recognized all over the world. Under the devotion of Li Hongzhang, who was willing to spend a lot of money, these heavy artillery, which often cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels, spread all over China's maritime frontier from south to north, with a huge number and an astonishing deterrent effect.

The British before relied on the power of the state to rampage, unscrupulously drilled everywhere, and no one dared to say that his brother was not a place, and he was also not afraid of those coastal defense artillery that threatened him.

But now that the war has started suddenly, the reliance in their hearts has collapsed, and the golden sign of the British Empire finally has a time when it can't be opened. And what's worse is that this danger is coming so violently that they are unprepared and can't accept it at all!

The first warning shelling had already made the British gentlemen furious, and they thought that the battleship would be able to scare them into a safe place by firing back. But I didn't expect to provoke a more violent counterattack, and the scene of the shore defense artillery going crazy together was really amazing. Although they are basically armor-piercing shells. It can not tolerate stability, and it has good dìng. The rate of fire is also fast!

Perletman exclaimed twice, and the feeling was very different!

The officers and soldiers on the eight British battleships were even more surprised and couldn't close their mouths!

They are counted as one by one, and since they joined the navy, they have been rampant all over the world, and they hardly need to use artillery, as long as they show their flags, they have to obediently give way and bow their heads.

Based on this, the "Chinese fleet" that preserves the huge interests of the Far East. Basically, they are some old, weak, sick and disabled old warships. Those large-tonnage advanced warships launched in recent years have basically been deployed in the Indian Ocean for a generation from home, and at best they have run to Malacca.

The British sailors and officers of this fleet were also accustomed to a comfortable life, and they usually wandered back and forth between Shanghai and the Tianjin Concession when they had nothing to do, taking turns to spend their days on vacation. Especially after the opening of the American Concession in Tianjin, the bizarre, drunken and gold-obsessed inside, and countless tricks and enjoyments not only emptied their pockets, but also consumed their fighting spirit.

Today, there is one that counts as one. My hands and feet were numb from the shock of the cannon fire that erupted in the distance, and my head went blank. I don't know what to say about the upheaval ahead.

However, the frequency of counterattacks is guaranteed quickly!

As the world's largest naval force, there is no doubt about the professionalism of the British, even if only instinctive reactions remain, they can still quickly exert the power of naval guns.

Each of the eight battleships opened fire with their main guns as fast as they could, ignoring not only the falling shore defense shells. With the level of archery in this era, there is basically no need to consider it at a distance of 5,000 meters, and the low hit rate is terrifying.

But what the British didn't know was that the strength of Weihaiwei's defense at this time was not just the secret visit fort that Li Hongzhang had set up back then! In addition, the troops under the command of Yang Hao, although there is only one regiment of infantry, they not only have their own artillery battalion, but also the large-caliber heavy artillery of the reinforced divisional artillery regiment!

Not only artillery, but also the advanced optical ranging and aiming equipment attached to the artillery unit has superior performance that cannot be matched in this era. They set up at a high place to observe the target ships separately, reported the number of yuan jù to each battery, and then converted the strike coordinates to be many times better than the original Qing artillery method of basically relying on Mongolia!

Weihaiwei is such a critical place, of course Yang Hao can't let it go. At the same time as reorganizing the ships of the naval division, the standardized training of the artillery of each battery has already begun. Now, it's finally their turn to make a difference!

A large number of artillery soldiers who had participated in the Liaodong war against Japan and trained their hands with millions of shells in Dalian and Jinzhou are now among the batteries. With the assistance of the artillery of the revolutionary army, they first brought out the performance of the shore-based Krupp cannon to the extreme. Under the attack of concentrated fire, it is enough to pose a great threat to the British army!

If Pelitman had retreated and led the fleet to withdraw immediately after the shore artillery had opened fire, he might have escaped.

But the arrogant commander, enraged by such a hostile offense, had always concluded that the defenders here would inevitably crumble and succumb to his strong oppression, and stubbornly ordered the ships to move on. In this way, the only way to survive was blocked.

The skilful coordination and superb archery skills of the eight British battleships quickly came into play after the initial shock. The main guns of each battleship were aimed in one place, and they kept firing in the smoke of gunpowder, especially the use of a large number of grenades, which soon exploded into boiling flames on Liugong Island!

The north and south forts followed, covered in ferocious artillery explosions, and the violently burning vegetation caused thick smoke, which swept like dragons under the strong winds of the seaside, dancing wildly, and looked like a hellish volcano!

The view on the turret was blurred, and the speed of aiming for the counterattack decreased, as if it was confused by the British naval guns.

This made Perletman so pleased with this that he continued to stand proudly on the flybridge with his saber in hand, convinced that no shell could threaten his safety.

However, he did not notice that the French and Russian ships, which had been separated by two wings in the shape of geese, had slowed down and lagged behind, protruding their eight warships out of the way and suffering all artillery fire.

Seven or eight kilometers apart, the primitive artillery accuracy was pitiful. Many of the shells in the Beiyang Naval Division's reserve were of unsatisfactory quality at all, and the trajectory of the shots was unstable, and the probability of hitting was low and terrifying.

This qiē gave the British the illusion that it was nothing more than some futile resistance. When the ships of their own side continued to press forward and were able to use all their firepower to cover the attack, their collapse was only a blink of an eye.

That's when it happened. Mixed with a roar. Suddenly, there was an unusual whistling struck!

Perletman's ear drums ached from the screaming. He opened his eyes suddenly, and was surprised to find that a flash of light suddenly erupted in the sea on the left side, less than two hundred meters away from the flagship! Immediately after, a loud bang hit, and the movement made his chest feel stuffy, and his heart felt an invisible impact!

The majestic column of water rose into the sky, and the astonishing power that could be seen by the eye made the head of His Excellency the Major General buzz, and he knew what it was - a high-powered cannonball!

Or a shell loaded with the latest high-powered smokeless charge! I don't know how strong armor-piercing power it can be. But the power of the explosion alone was enough to threaten all eight ships.

The most important thing is that this explosion revealed an astonishing message -- the coastal defense force on the opposite side is by no means just a group of backward Qing troops, but a powerful force with Yang Hao's lineage!

When the Japanese attacked Rizhao, they were crippled by the extremely powerful shore-based artillery. What the hell did it, no one witnessed with their own eyes. But the effect of the blow has already been known to the British. According to the analysis, it includes cannons with a caliber of more than 150mm!

And none of the eight warships that came today could withstand being in close proximity. A 150mm grenade or armor-piercing blaster that hits and explodes at high speed!

The artillery of the Qing army with inferior marksmanship, the British could not care. Those who are unprofessionally illiterate do not pose much of a threat.

Yang Hao's descendants of artillery are too terrifying. Fight hard with warships, and the unfortunate thing is that it may be themselves.

Pelitman couldn't hold back his strength, and ordered loudly in a panic: "Quickly notify all the warships and retreat immediately!" Hurry up, hurry up! ”

He shouted loudly, but it was too late!

The first shell was test-fired, and the calibration deviation of the explosive pyrotechnics was smashed, and the second shot after the adjustment was smashed in a blink of an eye!

"Boom!"

The astonishing explosion seemed to be close at hand, and the heads of all the officers and sailors of the "St. John" who shook were buzzing together. Margery hid in the armored command tower, and kept muttering: "I knew, I knew it would be like this!" Damn bastards, you have to suffer a big loss to know how to repent! ”

He desperately drew a cross on his chest, praying that the Almighty God would show his might at a critical moment and bless them safely from this deadly danger zone.

Prayer seems to be unordered! Another loud bang erupted outside, the battleship trembled violently, a series of miserable howls erupted, and a blazing firework roared through the cracks into the command tower in a clanging collision, almost roasting Margery into jerky on the spot!

Mr. Counselor was trembling all over, and he was almost scared to pee! He knew very well what this meant, the battleship was hit by a shell!

It wasn't long before several sailors rushed in carrying Pelitman, and a military doctor rushed up in a panic and sprinkled expensive hemostatic powder from China on his wound as if he didn't need money.

Margery glanced at it, his heart trembled again, and he cried out in a lost voice: "Why is Your Excellency the Major General so seriously injured?!" ”

Major General Pelitman's appearance is miserable! The neatly combed hair was burned in half, and the remaining seven long and eight short charred black curls clinged to the scalp. Half of his beard was burned, and his exposed cheeks were covered with blisters.

His crisp uniform was full of holes, and several cracks cut horizontally from the sides, tearing his shirt and pants like strips of blue cloth, revealing his hairy body and many shocking cuts of blood!

Although it was only a short period of time, it is estimated that the blood on the body of His Excellency the Major General has flowed out at least a few dozen ounces, otherwise how could he be dyed red, and the sailors carrying him seem to have been splashed with red paint?

The second mate gritted his teeth and shouted, "Damn the Chinese guys, their grenades are too powerful!" ”

Just now, a shell hit the foredeck, not only tearing open an astonishing large crack, a large number of fragments and sweeping shock waves and flames on all sides caused the planks to burn, but also killed and wounded the exposed crew of the ship.

Rear Admiral Pelletman was exposed to the flybridge and drowned in a pile of debris, not only stubble and shrapnel from wood, but also a wave of air that rushed forward from above, breaking a thigh.

"This poor unfortunate bastard, if you had listened to my advice, this would not have happened!"

Margery almost uttered a word of schadenfreude, but was immediately overwhelmed by the worry in his head. In the face of such a terrible blow, will these battleships be able to dodge?

Obviously, it's hard!

It's right between the mountains backed by the military port. A whole battalion of heavy artillery pulled out of position. Scattered and concealed under camouflage nets. Of these, there are 12 130mm cannons alone. In addition, there are 6 122mm howitzers!

These powerful guys, which are absolutely not seen in Tianjin and even other places, have really strengthened Weihaiwei's defense force. Among the army equipment of the world today, this is almost unimaginably terrible equipment!

Twelve heavy guns with a range of more than 27 kilometers are now only ten kilometers away, and their armor-piercing ability is amazing, and the explosion is enough to kill!

The "St. John" was the focal point of the strike, and when the first shot was hit, one of the main guns was damaged. A few shells followed. Whether it is lost from the front or from both sides, the fragments are enough to bring about the destruction of several soldiers and part of the hull structure.

When one of the shots accurately hit the amidship, it was poured into the lower level of the cabin, and the boiler was blown up, causing a fire that began to sweep the whole ship, announcing that this battleship that had been rampaging in the Far East for many years would finally enter the end of its existence!

Counselor Margery and Perletman were immediately sent off the lifeboat by the sailors and sent away in the back!

Just a few hundred meters after they had run out, a shell hit the foredeck battery, causing the ammunition rack to explode with a loud bang. Tear off a large piece of an armored battleship of thousands of tons on the spot and start pouring water and sinking!

At this time. The other battleships had already been frightened by the frantic blows of shore-based firepower! Seeing the flagship catch fire and explode, he hurriedly turned his head and fled.

But almost all of them are old ships that are too far behind, and their poor maneuverability is outrageous! To put it bluntly, in terms of the effectiveness of frontal combat, even if the Eight Great Yuan does not use the two ships of Dingzhen, they can still be cleaned up.

And now there are so many terrible blows, it is extremely difficult to turn around in a hurry! Especially without the flagship command, the order is chaotic! One of the cruisers panicked and turned head-to-head with the other, only to crash into the other's waist and make a gorgeous disembowelment!

Before it could react, a 240mm armor-piercing bullet bravely poured into the hull from the side, making a hole as thick as a person!

The solid iron bump that could not explode had limited power, but it could not hold the hole just near the waterline, and immediately began to fill the water. Other artillery pieces that tasted the sweetness followed, and it didn't take long for seven or eight large and small holes to be opened in succession.

The continuous kinetic energy impact, the guide zhì several injuries collapsed together, and the left side of the battleship formed a crack two or three meters long, and the grunt water caused the hull to tilt, and the speed of the ship plummeted!

In such a situation, the loss of speed and maneuverability is a live target! The cannon group, which was stingy in firing speed, finally seized the opportunity, and dozens of 85mm shells were smashed down one after another, blasting the hull to pieces, and the raging fire quickly devoured the steel and wood structure.

The battleship, named "Edgar", lasted less than ten minutes before sinking to the bottom of the sea!

The other "Leander", which was damaged by it, was not much better, first drilling holes with more than a dozen armor-piercing shells, then being targeted by 130mm shells, turning on its side in place, and finally sinking with the flagpole pointing down.

The remaining five ships were covered with many solid armor-piercing bullets, which looked scarred, but none of them were fatal. After they turned smartly, they deliberately fled the hull of the ship due north of the burning warships, and used the smoke to cover their figures.

After a few minutes, they ran out of the range of most coastal defense guns, and only the four guns on Liugong Island had the brightest firing range, and together with several 240mm guns on the Beibang Battery, they continued to catch one and die.

The cannon group was immediately divided into four, and each of them locked on to a battleship in a company, and opened fire and bombarded it with life, and in just a few minutes, the five battleships that barely ran out of less than a kilometer each hit multiple shells, causing a fire!

Among them, the "Kolesinto" and "Machuri" were successively caused to pile up ammunition, and the battleship was blown up on the spot, and most of the crew members were killed in one go.

The other three battleships relied on their agility and agility to run at the front, and they were never killed by shells, and it seemed that there was a great hope of escape.

But just when they finally ran fifteen kilometers away from Liugong Island, thinking that the shore-based artillery would not be able to reach it, and the cannon group had actually begun to slow down the speed of the attack, several slender and fast warships suddenly appeared on the sea on the west side!

Three "Weihai-class" frigates! Hidden in the waters behind Xiaoshidao before, it created the illusion of the emptiness of the defense of Weihai Weijun Port. But at the height of the battle, it quietly rushed out, just in time to block the way of the three British battleships that had escaped!

To this day, foreigners have not figured out how many "Weihai-class" frigates there are. The true number is not known except for the certainty that more than one is known.

This time, the British also knew that the main forces of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Yang Navy were mostly in Jiaozhou Bay and Rizhao Port, and a few were cruising between Tianjin Dagu and Lushun. With such a space, they dared to come to the door to "receive" Weihaiwei in accordance with the treaty of the Manchu court.

But they can't figure it out, those slipways at the Rizhao shipyard can be mass-produced to build corvettes. Such a little guy with a displacement of more than a thousand tons, it only takes three months to complete the main body in sectional manufacturing, and it is not fast to launch into service in six months.

As of today, the second batch of four "Weihai-class" frigates have been launched one after another, and they will be able to enter service in two months. However, in order to cover the operation, they were organized into two fleets and indiscriminately filled with them.

So there was the sudden appearance of these three frigates!

1,300 tons against 2,300 tons of hulls, and 127mm single-barreled rapid-fire guns against 150 or even 210mm main guns, it seems to be quite a loss.

But when the three frigates began to fire at a speed of more than a dozen rounds per minute from a distance of 10 kilometers, and the British were stunned to find that those slender battleships not only ran fast, but also had a high accuracy of shelling!

While the warships of other countries scattered and fled, the three British battleships struggled in vain for nearly half an hour before being sunk one by one.

At this point, the "Chinese fleet" in the British Far East was completely annihilated! (To be continued......)