The rate of fire of the 127mm single-barreled modern naval gun can be called a storm, and at a distance of about 18 kilometers, almost every shot is sure to hit! It's like a peerless striker blasting in front of the opposing goal, and a world wave is sent out of his foot - at least, from a distance.

The "Kenya" was completely submerged in the hull of the ship by the thick smoke and flames of the explosion, and even under the rapid maneuver evasion, it was still unable to dodge the shells that broke through the air. Every time it hits, unless it hits the armor of the three turrets, or the armor part of the bridge, there will be a lot of debris that will disintegrate and splash!

Among them, some of them are artillery shell fragments, some are relatively weak hull structures outside, and there are even sporadic blown up anti-aircraft guns, there are also seaplane catapults with little protection behind, and some lifeboats.

In terms of hit rate, the single-barreled guns of a "Burke I" missile destroyer can strike an enemy ship in a unit of time, which is really no less than a light cruiser with at least 12 152mm guns at the level of World War II! And in terms of the effect of the blow, it is even excessive!

In naval battles, the continuous hit of artillery shells will cause great psychological pressure on the sailors on the ship, and it may even collapse directly after a long time - even if the main armor of the battleship is intact.

The most direct effect will be to quickly sweep away the deck superstructure, completely paralyzing the weak observation window, optical aiming, ranging, and even the shooting command system. Later, the radar system will definitely bear the brunt!

In addition to this, the fire caused by the construction on the deck will continue to spread, risking out the damage to the destruction and emergency repairs. It will inevitably be killed on the spot by the shells that come from behind! That kind of casualty speed and number. Even a battleship capable of carrying more than a thousand people. I can't bear it either!

Therefore, when the Americans saw the spectacular scene of a large number of torches in the distant border city, the mood was extremely relaxed. If they continue to fight like this, they will not even wait for their guns to run out of ammunition, or the barrels will be seriously worn, and the battleship will basically be saved!

It's really easy to win this battle!

Stanley was so optimistic at first, but when he calculated. Nearly a hundred shells had been hit, and the ragged battleship, which should theoretically have been reduced to ruins, was still maneuvering irregularly at a speed of no less than twenty-three knots. He felt that something was wrong!

Silently calculated, and confirmed with TAO again, in addition to artillery shells, eight "Whaling Fork" anti-ship missiles and nine anti-ship "Tomahawk" cruise missiles were also fired! The target of the aim is basically the weak armor part of the opponent's waterline, and even tried to penetrate the deck!

But without exception, none of them brought about the decisive destruction of the ideal.

Stanley frowned. Thoughtfully asked, "Edward, can you believe that our missiles will be so bad?" I didn't even get a little impressive results. This is not in line with scientific probability. ”

TAO Edward stared cautiously at the "Kenya" in the distance, which was no longer visible, only a cloud of rolling smoke, and replied thoughtfully: "I think there is a problem." Even if the armor added by the enemy ship in important parts is thick enough, after all, there are still most weak parts, and it is impossible to block the bombardment of the semi-armor-piercing warhead of the anti-ship missile. Could it be that they were so lucky that they didn't get hit with such a weakness once? ”

Unbelievable.

Mathematical probability, although sometimes unreliable, can be counted on in most cases.

Now, the conventional concept no longer works, and the distant battleship is like a god of good luck, and I am stubborn and stubborn in the face of the storm.

The most speechless thing is that they are obviously not disturbed by the explosion and missile attack, and the trajectory of the maneuver is obviously completely controlled, smooth and regular, with a rare timeless flavor. Of course, this can only be tasted by veterans who have fought at sea for many years.

"Their captain is not a fake, it is said to be a member from the Nelson family. Looks pretty helpful. ”

Captain Stanley flipped through the information in his mind, and there was a faint feeling of unhappiness in his heart.

The British's navy was indeed awesome, but that was a hundred years ago. With the glorious curtain of the Victorian era, the glory of the British Empire is gone. The oceans of the whole world are the world of the US Navy, and there is no need for those old things that should have been in the coffin a long time ago to jump out and stir up the wind and rain!

"As a sign of respect for my predecessors, then, I will pay tribute to the strongest representative of the times!"

Captain Stanley clenched his lieutenant and shouted loudly: "Overtake at full speed and go around to the front of the enemy ship!" I'm going to see what other cards they have hidden! Also, the shelling continues! ”

"Yes, sir!"

After Edward gave the order, he reminded him: "But sir, if we overtake directly, we may get close to the enemy ship at a distance of about eight nautical miles, which is already very dangerous. We cannot be sure that enemy ships do not have any long-range attack weapons. ”

Stanley waved his hand decisively: "It's okay! I'd love to see them fight back, otherwise the fight would be too boring! ”

"Understood!"

Edward said no more, in fact he himself thought similarly. The one-sided abuse of the dishes was still a little interesting at first, and more than a hundred shells were fired, which seemed too monotonous. Even if the enemy is tortured because of this, it is estimated that they are numb by now, and no matter how strong they are, I am afraid it will not make them more painful.

The main engine of the "Burke I" is four LM2500s, which have strong power, stable output, fast acceleration, and can maintain the calm and rapid maneuver of a huge warship with a full displacement of up to 9,000 tons. That kind of refreshing feeling is the envy and jealousy of a country with congenital heart disease like the Republic, but it is difficult to get it.

Previously, they had chased after the "Kenya" at a speed of more than 20 knots, and they kept hitting with black hands. Now accelerate sharply, quickly reaching thirty knots, chase each other's positions to level, and begin to overtake.

At the same time, the missile destroyer also maneuvered in a small arc to the left, which would shorten the distance between the two sides for a short time, but with a steady overtake, they said that they would soon be more than ten kilometers away in front of the battleship at an angle of thirty or forty degrees.

That's when it happened. In the operational command center of the USS Kenya. Yang Hao and Captain Nelson slapped the table in unison: "Our chance has come!" ”

They have been waiting for this moment for a long time!

From the beginning of the war to the present. Yang Hao kept pretending to be a god, and casually mobilized the power of "Yan Huangding", threw the piles of steel plates in the second plane to this side, intercepted all the missiles, and avoided fatal damage to the battleship.

In addition, the radar and optical sighting systems on the roof of the bridge must be taken into account to prevent those weak and critical modules from being damaged by shells.

It's not an easy job!

With Yang Hao's keen eyes, coupled with the advanced radar system that he has bought as much as possible. It's just that he can barely distinguish the probability and approximate location of the opposite shelling hitting him. More, simply can't be done.

On the other hand, those missiles that fly at a speed of 0.7 meters can detect their traces one or two seconds in advance with the naked eye, and judge the approximate hit area by relying on radar probability. Then, Yang Hao flicked his fingers in the air, and a large piece of heavy steel plate appeared to intercept. One piece is not enough, then a bunch! In short, missiles must not be allowed to penetrate the weak parts of the hull.

Thanks to the effect of the continuous shelling of the other side, thick smoke billowed from the entire "Kenya", not to mention that the changes that occurred on it could not be seen clearly from a distance. Even when Yang Hao stood on the top of the bridge, most of the time his eyes were black!

That's it. The scene of "steel plate rain" falling out of thin air above the battleship was basically seen by no one except himself. Some of those steel plates, which were more than a dozen tons at every turn, were twisted and shattered by the missiles, and some were in vain, smashing underneath with a clang, causing countless noises and vibrations.

But the crew members hiding behind the heavy armor didn't know that it was the steel plate that Yang Hao had thrown, and they only thought it was a direct hit by a cannonball or missile, or the sound of something falling from the explosion.

In the imagination of many people, the towering bridge is estimated to have been completely blown up! Isn't the hundreds or thousands of tons of steel structure falling apart and having to crash into the sky?

Fortunately, Yang Hao is very experienced in doing this, and the steel plates that fell on the deck or turret were stolen and removed by him, just like the means of a super magician, and the end is "coming and going without a trace", and the magic is empty!

The long period of passive beating was not what Yang Hao and Nelson wanted, but they wanted to counterattack, but with a distance of 18 kilometers, it was theoretically the best killing area for the battleship's 305mm main gun, but the World War II-level naval guns had a hit rate of about 3% at this distance. Coupled with the fire control radar system in the seventies and eighties, it is already against the sky to be able to increase it to 10 percent.

The problem is that the battleship only has nine gun barrels, and theoretically it can hit one shot at a time to be considered extremely accurate. But that requires a group of elite soldiers who have been training together for a long time.

The artillery sailors on board the "Kenya", who came from all over the world to cobble, expect them to reach the level of professional naval gun operators, which is nothing less than whimsy!

In such a situation, even if the accuracy of the ship's guns is guaranteed, the rate of fire will definitely not be able to be raised! In terms of the speed of the live-fire exercise, one salvo can be fired in one minute, which is considered the best level. If it can last for seven or eight rounds like this, it can be called an extraordinary performance!

Now, they have been bombarded for so long, and it is really hard to judge how much combat effectiveness the sailors in the turret can maintain.

It can be said that once the "Kenya" fires, it is very likely that the window for them to strike will be only a few minutes! With the speed and maneuverability of the opposing missile destroyer, they are completely capable of evading it with a high-speed change of direction immediately after discovering that they have been attacked. In addition, smoke bombs, artillery bombing, missile countermeasures, and jamming were used in various ways, and if the battleship could only release a few rounds if it was not good, it would only be able to release a few rounds, and then watch the other side flee in circles.

So they just have to wait for the best time to fire!

The U.S. military is accustomed to arrogance, and when it repeatedly confirms that the battleship is unarmed or that it is impossible to pose a mortal threat to it, it will certainly relax its initial vigilance. Once they make a closer distance and other maneuvers that will benefit their ship's attack, it's the perfect time to launch a counterattack!

Now, here's your chance!

In the thick smoke, three triple 305mm/L50 guns quietly rotated, aiming at the missile destroyer that overtook and tied the formation!

Captain Nelson raised one hand in the air, his eyes widened, staring at the radar screen, and his mouth kept saying, "Steady!" Steady! Don't be in a hurry, keep the battleship on course, aim at the roll angle steadily, aim at it! Ready to go! ”

Rough big hands, slash hard!

The gun commander pressed the switch!

I saw that the nine body tubes of the three turrets outside suddenly stimulated as the hull of the ship rolled back to the best angle and height position carefully calculated! Without a turret artillery, three salvos were fired at the same time, and three rounds of loud bangs were fired in one second one after another!

The raging orange-red fireworks spewed out thick cannon muzzles, and the impact air waves spewed out for a full seventy or eighty meters! An area as long as the entire battleship was completely emptied horizontally, and the water below was blown out of a sunken mirror!

In the blink of an eye, the fireworks shrouded the "Kenya" seemed to be blown out at once, revealing a dilapidated appearance. The ignorant Leng Buding glanced at it, thinking that this guy must be going to the garbage heap.

But on the destroyer opposite, Captain Stanley saw clearly through the large magnification telescope on the bridge, and suddenly exclaimed: "Damn it! They didn't get hit hard! ”

Then he screamed again: "Enemy ship shelling!" Evade now! ”

TAO Edward slammed the table angrily: "Damn! I knew they had a problem! The main gun is actually loaded with shells, this is a joke! ”

When firing but not forgetting to carry out the order, the battleship, which was running at full strength, immediately maneuvered to the right at the extreme angle, and kept as far distance as possible from the battleship.

Both Stanley and Edward were very nervous because they were so close to the battleship, only about fifteen kilometers! With the muzzle velocity of the opponent's 305mm main gun, which is nearly Mach 3, the warhead will be smashed in about 20 seconds! The ship is capable of running a few hundred meters! If the opponent's shooting skill is high enough, he may be able to get out of his left and right dispersion range.

But the problem is that the enemy's shelling will also inevitably calculate the amount of advance and the range of maneuver evasion, and you don't know if you can be fooled! Once you get it wrong, it's like falling headlong into the other party's trap!

With the weak hull of the Burke I, even if it is hit by a shell from the opponent, if it is a 5g heavy armor-piercing projectile, it can definitely be fired into the soul!

The ship's radar was able to pick up the shells and quickly calculate the trajectory curve, but this was useless, and it was too late to make a precise avoidance in just twenty seconds. Not to mention fighting back or something!

Throughout the CIC, all the officers held their breath in unison, staring at the movement outside with round eyes, or staring at the nine points of light that were frantically advancing on the screen!

Time flies! Three rounds of nine shells burst through the air and smashed into the front with a penetrating roar!

The missile destroyer was lucky enough to bet on the range of the first evasion and was not covered by a pot of carefully calculated probability of shooting landing.

They were unfortunate again, this time it was the turn of the "Kenya" to be favored, the first salvo, an armor-piercing bullet passed through the top of the chimney behind, leaving a rainstorm of debris flying in the air, and the huge impact shook the heads of the entire building and made them stand unsteadily!

As a result, a gorgeous counterattack was launched! (To be continued......)