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When the Hiei returned to the linear formation and fired a perfect salvo with the Kongo, Zhang Zhaoyang's mind flashed through him, and he finally understood why Japan had suddenly changed tactics.

The principle also lies in ranging and positioning.

The fire control of warships has very big limitations, and the key is that the length of the ranging baseline is seriously insufficient, because the longer the ranging baseline, the more accurate the calculation of speed, distance and other data, which is a well-known truth, and it is also the problem of why naval guns are difficult to defeat shore guns of the same caliber. Because the land is long enough, a long fire control baseline can be deployed, but at present, the longest rangefinder of the navies of various countries is only about seven or eight meters. In order to solve this problem, the naval powers are developing longer and larger optical rangefinders, and at the same time using various tactics to find a solution, the simplest of which is to shoot at the target from different angles and distances through the maneuver of one or more warships, and to obtain comparative numbers and find the enemy's accurate coordinates through the method of multi-point calculation.

In an era that relies on hand-cranked mechanical computers, relying on manual data entry and modification, this is the best approach.

In fact, when the King Kong class was built, it was considered to install a highly automated Lunpo system, but in the end, for various reasons, Britain did not sell it, and although the Chinese Navy got two outflow of the Lunpo system from Russia, it was not easy to imitate the fully automatic fire control system that integrated rangefinder, azimuth meter, automatic plotter, shooting commander and other equipment, and it was difficult for the navy to die with precision machining capabilities alone, so it was not equipped.

In the absence of sophisticated equipment to suppress the enemy, the quality of personnel became the key to the decisive victory, and Japan took the lead in this regard. But the First Fleet is not without gains, at least Zhang Zhaoyang has been happy to gain experience, but he can't change the embarrassment of the two Anhai-class ships being targeted first.

After several rounds of empty guns, the Japanese Navy's advantages in artillery bombardment, which had been painstakingly practiced for many years, gradually appeared, although at this moment the distance was 20,000 meters. And the speed remained at 25 knots, but the Kongo and Hiei became more and more accurate, and there were several close misses! In addition to the inferior gunnery of the two Anhai-class ships, the inherent disadvantage of the poor accuracy of the triple and double is also increasing this gap, and the battle situation is sliding in a direction unfavorable to the First Fleet.

"Yoxi, that's good."

After his own fleet fired a straddle shot, Nozaki Kojuro smiled for the first time since the start of the battle. He believed that as long as there was enough time and no more accidents, he would be able to take out the First Fleet sooner or later, and it would be worth it even if it caused a war. Because after the loss of two Anhai-class, there will be a large gap in China's northern coastal defense. Even if the two Combined Forces class battleships were transferred, it would not help, because the four battlecruisers that Japan had purchased from Britain could also be renovated and put into service.

The problem is that time is not in his hands.

16:57 minutes. Kojuro Nozaki receives bad news. The Kurama telegram said that the cruiser Tsukuba, which had been salvaged by China after the Battle of Qingdao without even changing its name, was discovered, and the number of destroyers pursuing it reached 6!

In terms of the strength of a single ship, the Tsukuba can't beat the Kurama, but the six destroyers are a force that should not be underestimated. More ants can bite an elephant to death, let alone a destroyer with torpedoes. Once Kurama is hit and loses speed, it will definitely not be able to return to the Sasebo base. So there are only two choices in front of him, the first is to gradually send his 3 ships to support the Kurama, so that the two Kongo-class ships will have no "bodyguards" around them, and the cruiser Qingdao and 7 destroyers in the distance will definitely join the battle circle to divert fire for the capital ships. It is necessary to share some of its energy against these small, high-speed warships. The second option is to settle the battle immediately! But if you want to solve it quickly, you need to close the distance and reduce the speed at this time, the distance is about 20,000 meters, and the speed is always 25 knots. In this situation, it is difficult to hit the opponent even if you want to hit the opponent with a straddle shot, and only by dropping to 22 knots can the accuracy of the artillery be guaranteed, and it will be closed to 15,000 meters. But in that case, the accuracy of 18 American-made naval guns could also be greatly improved.

Kojuro Nozaki hesitated. It's not that you can't slow down, but Jutland has proven that battle cruisers are not actually suitable for confrontation in arrays. Speed is its only life, and closing the distance and reducing speed means that the chance of being hit by enemies is also greatly increased. How many shells can the 203mm armor of King Kong and Hiei withstand?

"Your Excellency, the second chimney of the Kurama has been hit, and Yoshioka Fanzer Osa said that the speed has dropped to 20 knots!"

The second shout of the communications officer completely blocked Nozaki Kojuro's way of relying on distance and the quality of sailors to win, and he made up his mind and gritted his teeth: "The Great Japanese Empire needs our courage!" Turn 15° to the right, close the distance, and sink them! With his roar, Kongo and Hiei deflected their bows to the right at the same time.

The rapidly approaching enemy made the Yasukai nervous, and the previous shelling had already told everyone that the Japanese navy's gunnery was far better than its own, was it with the movement of the enemy ship or? The officers all looked at Cheng Biguang, the first vice admiral of the Chinese Navy to make a round-the-world voyage, who was also sweating profusely.

With the movement of enemy ships, it is undoubtedly an admission that it is inferior to the opponent, and the Kurama will join safely, and the First Fleet may return to Arthur intact, but what is the face of the navy? The navy, which doesn't even dare to fight a bloody battle to the end, what will Yang Qiu and the Congress think? What will the 40,000,000 people in the country think? So even if the cruiser is not suitable for the formation, at this moment he must risk his life!

"Turn left 5°! Pass the order down. ”

Cheng Biguang poked the saber into the deck, his eyes were red: "If you lose the technology, you can't lose morale, and the Japanese want to deceive me that my gunnery is not perfect, but its pigskin is not thick enough!" Fight with him! ”

"Fight!"

"Fire!"

"Boom, boom, boom."

Nozaki Kojuro took the initiative to approach, Cheng Biguang competed against each other, and the artillery battle finally entered the white-hot after half an hour of long-range entanglement! "Prepare for the secondary gun." Zhang Zhaoyang grabbed the phone and gave an order, once they entered 15,000 meters, their secondary artillery could not watch the show, even if they could not penetrate the main armor, they could suppress the enemy's secondary artillery and sweep the deck and the fragile buildings on the upper floor.

When the nearest 120 guns set the angle according to the coordinates he provided, the Zhenhai suddenly shuddered, and a thick fireball suddenly rose from the back of the deck!

"The stern, it's the stern damage management team! Turret, turret number three reports the situation. ”

"Water dragon, give me water dragon."

"Brothers, put out the fire!"

The sudden flames that burst from the stern of the ship caused the Zhenhai to mess around. The damage management team that had been on standby for a long time braved the terrible artillery to rush to the position where it was hit, and the flames and smoke instantly obscured the entire rear deck, and even the view of the No. 3 turret was affected.

"How? Debrief, turret No. 3 debrief! Zhang Zhaoyang was also in a hurry, ignoring the sound in the telephone, shouting and asking about the situation, and a moment later the No. 3 turret came to report: "The stern of the ship has been hit in an unprotected place, our guns can fire, repeat, can fire." ”

"Then call me!"

The gunner's shouts drowned out all sounds. The No. 3 turret of the Zhenhai ship soon fired a new salvo with the whole ship. Seeing that the No. 3 turret was unharmed, Zhang Zhaoyang also clenched his fists happily, his face turned red and jumped to his feet and shouted: "The distance is 15,000 meters." Fire at full speed. ”

The sound of thumping secondary guns rang out, and they were as dense as fried beans at a very fast speed, and the main guns needed to fire a salvo, but the secondary guns did not have this rule, so the gunners were full of energy. Hit the enemy with expensive American-made armor-piercing bullets without hesitation! The sides of both sides exploded completely, and as soon as one fireball was extinguished, a second fireball burst out, and from a distance, the sides of the two fleets seemed to be on fire. The spectacular, beautiful, and terrifying scene made everyone's scalp tingle, but at this moment, for the soldiers in the fierce battle, the negative emotions of worry, fear and nervousness have long been completely gone, and the more intense and focused.

Because, this is the moment that belongs to the battleship! They were told from the moment they stepped on deck. There will be such a day!

"Speed, they've slowed down! Trajectory correction, wind speed 3, angle 270 boom! Zhang Zhaoyang hasn't finished shouting yet. The second 356mm armor-piercing shell hit the Jinhae again, and this time it was the front of the No. 1 turret that was hit! The British monkey version of the armor-piercing bullet and the frontal steel plate slammed into each other, and the impact and explosion even deflected the bow slightly by a few meters, and when the fireball rose, everyone was in a heart! The Zhenhai has a total of 3 turrets, and it would be even worse if one was lost.

This time. No matter how the gunner and everyone shouted, there was silence in the No. 1 turret. It wasn't until a few minutes later that the flames cleared and the No. 2 turret was informed. The frontal 360mm inclined turret, which was built with the King Kong class in mind, withstood the test, and the old British armor-piercing shells only scratched a terrible crack in the armor, but did not penetrate the shells. However, this shell also seriously injured the No. 1 turret, not only many people in the artillery squad were killed, but one of the barrels was also broken by the shell. Although the first time the spare gun squad rushed into the turret, it was not until 10 minutes later that the turret was back into service.

Zhang Zhaoyang didn't know that the No. 1 turret had suffered a heavy blow, and the violent impact just now caused his head to hit the steel pipe, and the corner of his eyebrows hit a finger-wide bloody cut. Blood trickled down the mask and fascinated his left eye, and he quickly touched the blood with his sleeve to lift the telescope again. But it was this glance that made him forget all the pain, and shouted into the phone excitedly like a child.

"Hit! Observation Point 5 reported a hit, 5 meters in front of the chimney of target No. 3, a clear fireball! Confirmed, obvious fireball! Dog's widows, let's eat grandpa's cannonballs! The confirmation of the hit on the phone and the excited roar at the end undoubtedly shocked the spirit of the Zhenhai, which had eaten two shells in a row! Even the soldiers in the engine room shook their fists fiercely! The gunners even showed the strength to eat, aiming at the Hiei and firing again and again, while the secondary guns poured shells at no cost, hoping to continue to expand the results.

Nozaki Kojuro's face suddenly became heavy, and the bullet of the Hiei undoubtedly cast a shadow over this battle. As he thought, the accuracy of the opponent's shelling increased significantly after the distance was closed, and the secondary guns were added to the rear upper deck, which was immediately hit like a dog, and although these small shells could not really threaten themselves, they could destroy the exposed soldiers and equipment.

But he didn't regret taking the initiative to give up the advantage, because the No. 1 turret of the Zhenhai had obviously been hit hard, and the Hiei, which was fighting against it, had already gained the upper hand, and the momentum was still on his side! Sure enough, a few minutes later, he got the good news again, and the deck reported that the King Kong had also hit the target. A 356mm armor-piercing shell accurately hit the port side of the Anhai traffic boat, the shell not only pierced the chimney, but also detonated the gas tank there, and from a distance, the center of the Anhai hull seemed to bloom like an orange flower, and the human body, debris and flames scattered in all directions.

"Well done!"

The Japanese officers who had experienced the Battle of Tsushima knew very well what would happen after the gas tank was punctured and exploded, and the fire instantly covered the amidship deck, and from a distance, it looked as if a piece had been bitten off. One can imagine how much chaos there will be on the Anhai at this time, but it doesn't take long for them to be happy. The King Kong was also shocked!

The fire-filled Anhai returned to the enemy with two 305mm armor-piercing shells. According to the report of the mast lookout, one of them even hit the waterline armor belt in the middle of the turret No. 3 or 4 of the King Kong for the first time! The 203mm British armor belt exposed its vulnerability, completely unable to withstand the continuous penetration of this armor-piercing projectile, and if it had not been for the ill-luck of passing by the ammunition depot, it might have recreated the scene in Jutland. But even so, there was a whirlpool in the sea on the starboard side of the Kongo, which meant that the armor had been completely penetrated and the sea water was frantically pouring into the hull.

Hundreds of Japanese lost sailors flocked to the wounded positions, and the speed of the Kongo, which was unable to carry out a crisis similar to the British upgrade of the ship's protection after Jutland, was affected by financial constraints. There is a tilt on the starboard side!

A fire broke out in the amidship of the Anhai, and the King Kong entered the water, at which time Cheng Biguang and Nozaki Kojuro could not retreat, because the artillery battle was like this. Once you open the stance, no one can run as much as you want, you have to wait for your chance.

At 17:25, the Anhai was hit again! This time, like the King Kong, it was hit by two 356mm shells on the waterline main armor belt. Zhang Zhaoyang, who was not far from the position where he was hit, felt the whole process of the armor belt being torn, and he first felt a shake under his feet, and the 233 mm Krupp carburized armor arranged at an angle was obviously unable to stop this level of attack. However, there was still a problem with the fuse of the armor-piercing shells sold by the British to Japan, and it was an indisputable fact that the picric acid explosives were too sensitive, so the subsequent sound of continuous penetration of the steel plates was not heard, and the shells exploded after penetrating the main armor belt.

The explosion knocked him to the ground, his left arm smashed against the rangefinder bracket with a cracking sound, and the blood at the corner of his brow cracked again, and a large amount of blood flowed out. Flames began to burst out wildly from everywhere.

"Firefighting! Hurry up and put out the fire! ”

Zhang Zhaoyang endured the pain, got up and looked to the right, only to see that the secondary cannon that had been penetrated had completely disappeared. Flames were flowing from inside, and the phone was cut off at this point, so he had to climb up in pain, hoping to learn about the damage and report the news to the bridge. After stepping into the penetrated part, it was a hellish and terrible scene. Everywhere there were debris from the explosion, steel pipes, angle irons were torn to shreds, corpses and moans were heard everywhere. The wires overhead snapped and collided with each other, creating sparks.

Through the gap, the Hiei on the opposite side was still flashing cannon sparks, he frowned, the situation was obviously not in favor of the First Fleet, what should I do?

Comrades-in-arms are still fighting, fighting and fighting!

Both sides have gone completely crazy, and even though the commander began to think about the opportunity to retreat, the soldiers were completely red-eyed! The damaged No. 1 turret joined the battle with two barrels, but the Kongo hit the Yasui again, biting a large chunk off the rear bridge and piercing the stern. The American-style concept of key protection saved the Anhai, and in the end, the shell did not encounter any resistance, and easily passed through the loose defense and fell into the sea.

The pair behind him was even more intense, the No. 3 turret of the Zhenhai did not continue to be lucky this time, although the 356mm shell did not penetrate the frontal armor, but it carried 2 gun barrels, and the explosion also caused the gun mount to twist and stink, and finally the turret lost its effect and lay on the deck crookedly. The Zhenhai was also uncompromised, and an armor-piercing projectile from the ship's No. 2 turret hit the main mast of the Hiei, blowing off the mast directly and pressing it on the rangefinder, so that the Hiei could only rely on the turret and the secondary rangefinder to attack.

The most fierce is the secondary artillery, whether it is a battleship or a battlecruiser, it is impossible to achieve perfect heavy armor and comprehensive protection, so the upper decks of the four battleships were almost all gnawed by each other!

17:40 minutes.

The Anhai and Zhenhai reported that the deck was tilting to the left at the same time, and Cheng Biguang had to order water to the right to maintain balance, while the King Kong and Hiei on the opposite side were also partially flooded, resulting in a decrease in speed by 1 knot.

In terms of the number of hits, Japan was almost twice as high as China, which made the First Fleet not only seriously flooded, but also ignited a fire on the deck, but the protective advantage allowed the two ships to still sail tenaciously on the sea, which made Nozaki Kojuro and the Japanese officers very annoyed, so they ordered to prepare to pull another 2,000 meters to make a final fight!

At the most critical moment, Cheng Biguang, whose command skills were almost completely defeated by him, received two telegrams. One is from the destroyer Hokkaze that is pursuing the Kurama, and the other is from the Jinhae behind it. Captain of the Beifeng, Major Bingwen who participated in the Battle of Jutland, and Adjutant of the Zhenhai deck guns, and Captain Zhang Zhaoyang, a non-commissioned officer of the Navy in the United States.

Both young officers, who had completely different ideas, styles, and experiences, but both graduated from the naval gunnery department, made suggestions to the flagship at the same time.

"It's better to cut off one of its fingers than to hurt its ten fingers!"

As it has so far failed to directly hit the enemy turret. Therefore, the advantage of the First Fleet of 2 more naval guns has become a disadvantage because of the loss of 3 guns, and if they continue to fight according to the old method, then the two ships will not be able to escape the fate of being sunk sooner or later, so they have this kind of proposal.

It's very simple, abandon a certain King Kong-class and concentrate all 15 guns to storm a certain one! This tactic is a complete gamble, because at the same time, another enemy ship will be able to concentrate on shelling without distraction, and the accuracy will become extremely terrifying.

To bet or not to bet?

Cheng Biguang pulled the handrail, his face was distorted in the firelight, and he even nodded to Zheng Zuyi a little hideously.

The order is issued. The main guns of the Anhai and Jinhai were aimed at the King Kong as it tried to keep close, while all the secondary guns were aimed at the Hiei.

Zhang Zhaoyang, who climbed onto the deck, put down the spare phone, tore his clothes with his teeth and fixed his left hand on the steel pipe. First looked at the main turret that turned to the Kongo, and then at the Hiei on the other side, and a big smile appeared on his face.

That's the way, the stupidest and the easiest! Even if you die, you have to pull on a cushion!

"Fire."

Fifteen naval guns roared in unison. This time. The First Fleet sprinkled all the shells on the Kongo! At that moment, the faces of Zhang Zhaoyang and all the sailors were flushed red by the cannon flames, and everyone gritted their teeth and looked resolute! Lao Tzu's artillery skills are worse than yours, his tactics are also poor, and he even has less fucking literacy than you! But what does it matter? Lao Tzu has a probability! Do you understand probability? Mathematical probability! 15000 meters, 15 naval guns! No matter how bad it is, it's bigger than 8 doors!

The entire First Fleet fought to the death at the same time. Kojuro Nozaki also immediately sensed that something was wrong! The 15 naval guns completely abandoned the normal speed and the principle of engaging each other, and smashed at the King Kong at extraordinary speed! In just a few minutes, the King Kong was surrounded by a forest of water columns. Terrible steel fell from the sky with a scream.

"Full speed (full speed), to the left!" The experienced captain of the King Kong was the first to react, but the word evasion was still in his throat, and the hull of the ship trembled violently. The turret, which had not lost any losses so far, finally ran into trouble, and an armor-piercing shell hit the turret of turret No. 2. Although the thickness of the armor here is enough to ensure that it will not be penetrated by 305mm shells, it cannot withstand the force of a violent impact. As a result, all the internal hydraulic pipes burst, and the turret suddenly stuck and the owner could not turn.

Without waiting for the King Kong to return fire a few more rounds, the second shell hit the chimney behind the bridge again, and Nozaki Kojuro's face changed greatly! The entire chimney was penetrated through the roots, and the explosion directly blew the chimney down, and also caused the smoke exhaust pipe below the deck to break, causing a large amount of toxic smoke to pour in, even the forced exhaust equipment could not be removed. According to later statistics, about 67 Japanese sailors were smoked to death!

Why are there so many? Very simple! Because Kojuro Nozaki was afraid of losing speed, he forcibly ordered the boiler to continue to run at full power! As a result, more and more smoke has accumulated inside the ship. It's hurtful! But Nozaki Kojuro really didn't dare to stop part of the boiler, because once it stopped, the speed would inevitably be greatly reduced, and the battle patrol without speed would be the target! For a long time, it was impossible to eliminate the smoke and forcibly full power, which not only led to a large number of people being smoked to death, but also faced the danger of poor smoke exhaust and eventually explosion!

At this time, Nozaki Kojuro was a little panicked.

But he still has hope, and that is the Hiei without the threat of artillery fire. Just as the First Fleet concentrated its firepower on the Kongo, the eight 356mm naval guns on the Hiei began to wreak havoc on the Jinhae, and although the secondary guns could interfere with the shooting, they could not stop the heavy shells from falling! Knock knock knock several times in a row, the entire Zhenhai was exploding, the rear bridge was completely blown away without a trace, and finally even the No. 2 turret lost its effect because it was stuck.

At this time, the battle was no longer fierce, but tragic!

Both sides tried to sink the other side first, but it seems that luck is really not on the side of the First Fleet today, 15 naval guns bombarded the King Kong indiscriminately, but it was still sailing, and the Hiei also went out without burning incense, and the Zhenhai was unsinkable after hitting it again and again.

Seeing that the two sides were dying, and they could already smell the smell of the same end, the Kurama, which caused the trouble, finally appeared not far away at this moment, it was also extremely embarrassed, the upper deck was full of flames, and the speed was reduced to 18 knots.

The appearance of the Kurama made Nozaki Kojuro breathe a sigh of relief, and ordered the rudder to turn eastward in an attempt to protect it and retreat together. At this time, the battle reached the most because of the appearance of their respective armored cruisers! First of all, the captain of the Tsukuba, when he saw the tragic situation of the Zhenhai, he was distressed by the loss and ordered to abandon the Kurama, which had stalled, and forcibly inserted it between Zhenhai and Hiei.

"Boom, boom!"

The Tsukuba helped the Jinhae block the deadliest round of shelling, but it boiled like salt thrown into a pan of oil! As an old armored cruiser of 10,000 tons, it could not withstand the attack of 356mm naval guns at all, and the explosion caused the parts on the hull to scatter in all directions, and the flames suddenly soared hundreds of meters! In the end, it only lasted 10 minutes on the surface of the sea before it broke and sank, and only 211 people escaped from the ship.

Although the captain of the Tsukuba was a bit reckless, no one criticized him in the end, because if he hadn't helped block the shells, the Zhenhai would probably never have been able to return to Arthur.

The explosion and smoke made the Japanese Navy soldiers cry out wildly, and with this result, their efforts were finally in vain, not to mention that the two Anhai class ships have been seriously damaged, even if they can be repaired in the end, it is difficult to say. Just when Nozaki Kojuro was glad that a major gap had finally been carved in the north of China, the stalled Kurama was also devastated.

Taking advantage of the Kurama's eagerness to converge the main forces, Bingwen led five destroyers to rush towards the enemy fleet at a high speed of 30 knots using the Yasukai as a cover, taking advantage of the smoke at sea and the darkening sky. This time he didn't make another mistake and fired all 15 fanged torpedoes in one go.

Torpedo!

It was too late for the Kurama lookout to scream in terror, and when a heavy tusk hit its stern, a scene even more violent than the Tsukuba appeared! The 350-kilogram standard TNT thunderhead detonated instantly, and the sea water expanded rapidly until it rushed out of the sea to a height of 100 meters, and the stern of the Kurama, which was located in the center of the water column, was even more violently raised by more than ten meters, and then smashed into the water and sank, with the bow also raised high!

This scene is so eye-catching! Both the First Fleet and the Japanese naval officers and men forgot about the work at hand. Nozaki Kojuro even pulled out half of the command knife, but the other half was never pulled out. Obviously, the destroyer at night will become very scary, and this is the Yellow Sea, once it is towed, God knows if it will meet the opponent's submarine, so if you don't leave at this time, then both King Kong classes will become very dangerous.

"Release the smoke."

Kojuro Nozaki suppressed his anger and gave the order to retreat with his eyes closed. This order also made the officers' eyes red, and many of them clung to the nearby railings and fixtures and shouted unwillingly. Opportunity, opportunity is in front of you, but you have to give it up. "Next time, I'll kill you all!" A Japanese junior sao clenched his fists and shouted, his voice representing the wish of all Japanese naval officers, but no one expected that this next time would be delayed for 20 years.

Zhang Zhaoyang slowly stood up from behind the bunker, and Bingwen also walked out of the injured bridge, looking at the Japanese fleet gradually moving away in the night, and clenched his fists...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )