July 3, 1932, 10:05 a.m.

The battlecruiser squadron of the main fleet of China, the flagship, the battlecruiser Canton.

"Sir Bo......" The communications officer of the Canton put down the phone with a solemn face, and reported in a heavy tone: "I just received the battle report of the Hood, the British battleships the Emperor of India were sunk, the Iron Duke was sunk, the Ben Bow was heavily wounded and withdrew from the battle, the Nelson was heavily wounded and withdrawn from the battle, and the Rodney and the Hood were hit. The British sank the Japanese battleship Settsu and severely damaged the battlecruiser Akagi......"

That is, only the Hood and Rodney were now left in the British Far East Fleet, while the Japanese side had at least eight battleships capable of fighting. The ratio of strength between the two sides is 8 to 8. However, the Japanese side has two powerful battleships, the Kaga and the Tosa, and they have a clear advantage in strength!

"Sir Bo, do you still want to fight?" The captain of the battlecruiser Canton whispered tentatively.

Bo Fuping glanced at him and said coldly: "Don't fight?" Did you run away? How will you let the Prime Minister speak in front of the British in the future? ”

Premier Chang Da is also thinking about getting a naval base from the British, so that China's main fleet can become the Pacific Fleet! If you see the British Far East Fleet annihilated now, how will Chang Ruiqing speak in the future? Especially now the ratio of strength between the enemy and us is still 8 to 8, although the Japanese have two powerful battleships on the other side, but the intelligence is that their speed is only 26.5 knots, even if the Guangdong class can't be beaten, can't they escape? As for the remaining six old battleships, they are not the opponents of the Cantonese class at all! So this battle is not without a little hope.

The staff officers in the command tower of the Canton had already laid out a picture of the battle between Britain and Japan on the chart platform. The British Far East Fleet was led by the USS Rodney. Behind the Hood, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers were on both sides, fighting and retreating. The Japanese had Kaga as the vanguard. The Tosa was followed by six old battleships, with the battered Akagi battlecruiser at the bottom of the formation. Heavy cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers agreed to be located on either side of the capital ship formation.

"Our six battle cruisers in a single formation, led by the Cantonese, rushed over 13,000 meters from the left flank of the Anglo-Japanese fleet! The 10 destroyers also formed a single formation and placed in front of the right side of the battle cruiser formation, 18,000 meters away from the Japanese ship formation, responsible for diverting the Japanese cruisers and destroyers. ”

"Chief Bo ......"

As soon as Bo Fuping's order came out. All the officers in the Command Tower gasped. Because according to Bo Fuping's deployment, the six Guangdong-class battle cruisers were charging against the battle line of the Japanese fleet! The battle line of the Chinese fleet will be relatively parallel to the battle line, passing about 13,000 meters to the left of the Japanese battle line...... This also meant that 6 Chinese battlecruisers had to line up from the 20 410mm caliber guns of the two Kaga-class battleships!

It's a bit of a gamble......

"Go and deliver the order!"

Bo Fuping didn't seem to intend to listen to everyone's opinions at all, so he gave the order with a calm face. Finally he commanded, "Correspondence officer." Inform Admiral Barkes of our disposition and ask the British fleet to turn 90 degrees to the left while our battle patrol formation is tonguo from its left flank to seize a T-shaped position. ”

"Let the Britons preempt the T-shaped position!?"

After listening to Bo Fuping's words, the naval officers suddenly felt that their eyes lit up, and they realized that their commander of the battle team was really worthy of the title of "the first artillery expert of the Chinese Navy"! Follow his deployment. The formation of Chinese battlecruisers rushed against the Japanese fleet battle line. And the two capital ships of the British turned to the left at the same time.

In this way, if the Japanese ship formation did not follow the British ships to the left, then the T-shaped formation would fall into the hands of the Hood and the Rodney, whose 8 15-inch guns and 9 16-inch guns were not vegetarian! The Kaga, which rushed to the front of the Japanese ship formation, had to shed its skin if it did not die.

If the Japanese ship formation turns left with the British, then the T-shaped formation is the Chinese battle cruiser formation, and although the 54 280mm main guns can't sink the Kaga, they can also beat it to the brim!

At this moment, in the command tower of the Akagi, the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Eisuke Yamamoto was listening to Yamamoto 56 report on the situation of the aircraft carrier squadron with a calm face. All four Soryu-class aircraft carriers were unscathed. That's the good news. However, the two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and eight destroyers escorting the aircraft carrier squadron were all sunk, which is not good news!

Especially the two 13,400-ton Kaohsiung-class. That's a new ship that's only been completed for a few months!

If we count the losses of the main force, the Japanese Combined Fleet has already lost one battleship, four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers in this "Battle of Okinawa...... What a victory! After this battle, the commander of his own combined fleet is probably going to come to an end, right? Eisuke Yamamoto lamented in his heart.

"Commander, just now the Kaga sent a telegram that the six battle cruisers of the Chinese army formed a single column and rushed towards us!"

The communications staff officer of the Combined Fleet abruptly interrupted Yamamoto's report and reported to Eisuke Yamamoto the changes in the military situation he had just received.

"What? Rushing towards us? What do the Chinese want to do? There was an exclamation in the Akagi Command Tower, and then a vote of the elite staff officers of the Japanese Navy began to discuss.

"Why don't the Chinese use the speed advantage to maneuver with us?"

"Yes, they can strike at our heavy cruisers and force us to separate a Kaga-class against them."

"It seems that the Chinese navy does not understand artillery warfare at all, let them taste the power of the Great Japanese Red Navy!"

Eisuke Yamamoto, Fifty-six Yamamoto, and Kantaro Suzuki immediately gathered in front of the chart platform, and their own staff officers put out a model representing the fleets of China, Britain, and Japan.

"It's a T-shaped formation! The Chinese want to seize the T-shaped position! ”

"Baga! The T-shaped position is either for the Chinese or for the British! ”

"Otherwise, we would have to turn left early, but then Chinese and the British would have fled......"

"Can't let them escape!" Eisuke Yamamoto finally gritted his teeth and said, "Let's turn left with the British." Let the Chinese seize the T-shaped position, their 54 280mm cannons can't help the Kaga! And we can't let go of the British Hood and Rodney, at least to beat them to heavy damage...... Otherwise. We will not be able to seize the initiative in the Pacific theater! ”

"Commander, the British are starting to turn left!" The voice of the nautical staff rang out.

Eisuke Yamamoto glanced at the sky outside the command tower, and the smoke rising into the sky in the distance was rapidly approaching, which showed that the six Cantonese-class ships of the Chinese had rushed over!

"The capital ship formation turns 90 degrees to the left!" Eisuke Yamamoto said, "Report the distance." ”

"25,000 meters!"

"Shelling order." Eisuke Yamamoto paused for a moment and said loudly, "All the fire is on the Hood!" Be sure to sink the Hood! ”

"Yes!"

……

"Sir Bo, the Japanese have turned left!"

At about the same time, the navigator of the battlecruiser Canton was also loudly reporting the latest observations. Hear this. Everyone's hanging heart finally let go. If the Japanese give up the T-shaped formation to the British formation, then the six Cantonese ships on their side will face a bitter battle!

"Report the distance!" Bo Fuping shouted loudly.

"24,000 meters!"

"Good! Concentrate your firepower on the Kaga! Be sure to hit it hard within six months. I don't want this Japanese battleship to appear in the Pacific Ocean again! ”

As he spoke, the Chinese vice admiral, whose body was slightly thin, straightened up suddenly, grabbed the armrest beside him with his right hand, and subconsciously looked in the direction where the Kaga was. Suddenly. The air inside the entire command tower almost froze. Everyone held their breath and waited to fight the most powerful battleship in the world!

"23,000 meters!"

"22,000 meters!"

"20,000 meters!"

The navigator kept aloud reporting the distance between the two sides.

Everyone suddenly heard Bo Fuping muttering in a low voice as if he was muttering to himself: "Only the navy that dares to compete face-to-face with the most powerful battleships in the world is qualified to dominate the Pacific Ocean and to claim to be the best navy!" The battle between the capital ships is the real naval battle! ”

Before everyone could understand the profound meaning of these words of this stubborn warship faction of the Chinese Navy, the little vice admiral suddenly shouted: "The shame of the First Sino-Japanese War is snowing today!" ”

"16,000 meters!"

When the navigator reported this number, 54 280mm heavy guns. At the same time, there was a roar. However, the battleship Kaga, which was the spearhead of the Japanese ship formation, did not seem to have spotted the six Chinese battleships in front of it at all, but aimed all 10 410mm guns at the British battlecruiser Hood.

10:15 a.m. The Battle of Okinawa has entered a state of white heat!

The huge bodies of the Hood and Kaga were filled with flames almost simultaneously. The Kaga was hit by the battlecruiser Taiwan, whose bow turret No. 2 hit the Kaga's No. 2 turret with an armor-piercing projectile. Since all five of the Kaga's batteries turned to the right and fired at the Hood, the 280mm armor-piercing projectile did not hit the 11.8-inch thick armor on the front of the Kaga turret, but hit the relatively thin 8-inch armor on the turret flanks, and the weakness of the Kaga-class battleship's heavy firepower and light defense was immediately exposed. The 16000mm armor-piercing projectile, shot at a distance of 380 meters, weighed 330 kg, and the 8-inch armor plate simply could not stop it. In an instant, the interior of the armored turret exploded, and the sweeping shrapnel turned the entire crew into pulp, and the internal facilities of the turret were all distorted and deformed, making the two 410mm thick barrels completely useless.

Unfortunately, the fire doors in the ammunition compartments in the turret ground were put to the test, and the more than 100 giant 410mm shells in the ammunition depot were all unharmed.

But the Hood, which was also shot in the turret, was not so lucky, a 410mm armor-piercing bullet fired by the Kaga pierced through the 15-inch thick armor on the front of the Hood's C turret, and there was a big explosion inside the turret, which immediately lifted the turret weighing thousands of tons into the air, and also ignited a fire by the way, seeing that the fire was about to spread to the ammunition compartment, the captain of the Hood had to order to fill the ammunition compartment in the stern to cool down.

After 2 minutes. The Hood and Kaga were both shot again, and a 280mm armor-piercing shell pierced through the bow of the Kaga, leaking an oil depot. However, the shell did not explode in the Kaga's oil depot, allowing the Kaga to escape a catastrophe. A 305mm shell fired by the battleship USS Soviets Korea (Gangut-class) penetrated the thin armored deck of the Hood and exploded in one of the Hood's boiler compartments, and milky white high-pressure steam erupted from the amidships, forming a jet stream tens of meters high. Immediately afterwards, the battery mount of the No. 1 turret of the Kaga was hit by another 280mm armor-piercing projectile. However, the 330-kilogram armor-piercing shell failed to penetrate the Kaga's 11.8-inch-thick turret armor, but Juliè's explosion still caused heavy damage to the turret, killing nearly half of the crew. The rest were also transported unconscious. Even more serious was the fact that the turret of the No. 1 turret was distorted by the tremendous force generated by the explosion of the 280mm shell, jamming the turret and making it impossible to turn.

"Commander, the Kaga has been hit hard. Turret 2 damaged. The No. 1 turret turret was damaged and could not be rotated, the bow oil depot was broken down, and a large amount of fuel leaked! ”

The commander of the Akagi Tower, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Eisuke Yamamoto, did not hear the report of the communications staff officer, and the commander, who had already made up his mind and was ready to resign after the disastrous victory in the naval battle of Okinawa, just turned his head and asked loudly, "How is the Hood?" ”

"Commander, the Hood was also heavily damaged. The boiler compartment was shot, and the C turret was blown away. But there is still no sign of sinking! ”

"Why isn't it sinking!" Eisuke Yamamoto clenched his fists and slammed the armrest beside him: "Order, concentrate your fire on the Hood, you must sink it!" ”

"But, Commander, the Chinese battlecruiser formation is about to start turning left again!" Yamamoto Fifty-six, chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, suddenly roared at this time. It turned out that six Cantonese-class battlecruisers had already passed directly in front of the Kaga and began to turn left again. Naturally, there is no such thing as a T-shaped formation, but the Japanese ship formation is not necessarily much better, because after the six Chinese battle cruisers completed their left turn, they together with the British Hood and Rodney, and the nine Japanese capital ships were enough to form a two-sided attack, and if the Japanese ship formation concentrated all its firepower on the Hood, then the six Chinese battle cruisers would be able to spank their butts unscrupulously.

"Be sure to sink the Hood!" Eisuke Yamamoto roared with red eyes: "In any case, we can't let this battle cruiser appear in the Pacific Ocean again, otherwise we won't be able to go south with confidence!" ”

"Yes, Commander!"

At the same time, in the command tower of the battlecruiser Canton, Bo Fuping was also loudly issuing orders.

"The whole fleet turns left, 90 degrees! The shelling sequence, the first ten rounds are all aimed at the Tosa! ”

"Sir Bo, do you want to fight Tosa?" After the staff officer turned around and issued the order, the captain of the Guangdong quietly walked to Bo Fuping's side and said in a low voice: "The staff department thinks that we should continue to concentrate firepower on the Kaga, as the saying goes, it is better to cut off one of its ......fingers than to hurt its ten fingers."

"I'm just going to hurt his fingers!" Bo Fuping interrupted his words and said with a smile: "Now that the Kaga has been heavily damaged, it is impossible to go to the battlefield again without a three-month overhaul, and the Akagi is also heavily damaged, more seriously injured than the Kaga, it is estimated that it will take six months to repair, if we hit the Tosa again, then in the next three months, we will be allowed to run rampant with six Guangdong-class battle cruisers in the Pacific Ocean." And...... Our 280mm guns are still not powerful enough to inflict more than enough damage on the enemy, and it is unlikely that we will be able to sink a giant ship like Kaga. ”

Five minutes later, after completing the turn, the six Cantonese-class battle cruisers aimed all 54 280mm heavy guns at the Kaga's sister ship, the battleship Tosa, and the 330-kilogram armor-piercing shells continued to burst out of their guns one after another.

"Hit! Sir Bo, we hit the Tosa! Just two minutes later, the captain of the Canton shouted excitedly, and smoke rose from the deck of the Tosa, which had an empty displacement of nearly 40,000 tons, and a 280mm armor-piercing shell exploded on the deck below the Tosa command tower, sweeping away two 140mm secondary guns, and also detonating several 140mm shells stacked on the deck, which immediately caused a small fire.

However, such damage was not even a minor injury for a thickly armored behemoth like the Tosa. But this shell provided an important coordinate, and as the point of impact was captured by the fire control rangefinders on the six Cantonese-class cruisers, the Chinese battlecruiser formation completed the calibration of the naval guns.

At 10:33, the 54 280mm heavy guns that began to fire again gave the battleship Tosa a taste of the rain of bullets, and in less than 5 minutes, eight 280mm armor-piercing shells hit the hull of the Tosa from a distance of less than 15,000 meters. At this distance, even an undercaliber 280mm naval gun could inflict a huge M armor-piercing blow on a battleship like the Tosa, but the rest of it fell victim to this 330-kilogram armor-piercing shell. Two turrets were pierced from behind by armor-piercing shells, and the huge explosion instantly rendered the four 410mm cannons ineffective. The bottom of the Tosa's chimney was also pierced by an armor-piercing shell, which penetrated directly into the boiler compartment beneath the chimney, and after a loud bang, the Tosa, like the Hood, emitted a stream of white steam tens of meters high and lost half of its power. Another shell hit the command tower, and although it did not penetrate, the huge shock caused by the explosion still caused most of the officers and men in the Tosa's command tower to lose consciousness......