When the capital ships of China and Britain were facing off, the eight 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy, with a vote of light cruisers and destroyers, went directly around in a big circle and killed the first-class cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers of the British Navy from the other side.

The duel between the capital ships, whether heavy or light cruisers, is inadequate. A single shell from the capital ship can inflict heavy damage on these cruisers, and if you are unlucky, you may even be killed by a single shot.

Therefore, when the capital ships are lined up to fight in the battle line, these battleships are often on standby on the other side of the battle line. Once the capital ship is struck by local lightning, they will immediately drill out of the gap between the capital ships to intercept the enemy's lightning strike ships and protect the capital ships. Or, when they need to launch a lightning strike, they will also obey the order and brave the enemy's bullets to launch a decisive charge. After advancing to the enemy ships, attack with torpedoes.

However, now the eight heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy are directly attacking such ships of the British Navy, which is undoubtedly a hornet's nest. The British Navy's 10 'Monmouth-class' cruisers immediately reacted and slaughtered the menacing heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy. Some of the 'C-class' light cruisers and the 'R-class' destroyers also followed to cover. The other 'C-class' light cruisers and 'R-class' destroyers remained with the capital ship for protection. Who knows if this is a conspiracy of the Chinese? What if they are transferred and the Chinese take the opportunity to launch a lightning strike?

Under such circumstances, a tragic battle began. Eight heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy fought against ten first-class cruisers of the British Navy. Although, the number of both sides is comparable. But in reality, it was a big battle with a huge disparity in strength. The heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy, with their superiority in firepower, speed and defense, tortured the old first-class cruisers of the British Navy.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The heavy cruiser 'Chenlong' of the Imperial Navy, with three triple 50 caliber 210 mm guns, is at a position of seven thousand meters. Fire was fired at the cruiser of the British Navy 'Essex' of the first rank. The hesitant use of a semi-automatic ammunition feeding system allowed the 'Zodiac-class Improved' heavy cruiser to achieve a rate of fire of two rounds per minute. In other words, the heavy cruiser "Chenlong" was able to fire two salvos per minute. The 152 sea surface of the British Navy's battleship 'Essex', at a distance of 7,000 meters, basically posed no threat to the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser 'Chenlong'.

"Damn! Let's take these old-fashioned first-class cruisers against the Chinese's new heavy cruisers, did David Betty get kicked in the head by a donkey? "Lieutenant Commander Tom, captain of the cruiser of the 1st rank 'Essex', began to complain.

Although, the 'Monmouth class' cruiser of the first rank. The numbers on paper seem pretty good. However, the construction of cruisers of this class, which began twenty years ago, is completely outdated. In the face of the Chinese Navy's 'Zodiac-class improved' heavy cruisers, it is almost impossible to take advantage of anything. At great distances, the 50 times caliber 210 mm guns of the 'Zodiac class improved' heavy cruisers were able to easily penetrate them.

Shells fell around the cruiser 'Essex', splashing up columns of water. Wet the decks of the battleship. The 152-mm guns of the cruiser 'Essex' were also firing, and it was a full ten 152-mm guns firing at the 'Chenlong'. But. At this distance, even if you can hit the 'Chenlong', you will not be able to tear through its armor.

"Increasing the horsepower, we need to close the distance with those vile and shameless Chinese. Otherwise, we won't have anything to do with them. Lieutenant Colonel Tom ordered loudly.

"Your Excellency, our speed has increased to 20 knots. That's the highest speed we're able to run right now. Chief Engineer reported. Although, the 'Monmouth-class' cruisers were designed to reach a maximum speed of 23 knots. However, after almost two decades of service, the wear and tear of the parts, as well as the marine life that grows on the bottom of the ship. All of this caused the speed of the battleship to continue to decrease. Even before departure, they cleaned and maintained. But after crossing half the world to the Indian Ocean, it is very good to be able to maintain a speed of 20 knots.

"Captain, the best thing we can do now is to retreat immediately and retreat to the protection of the capital ship's guns. In this case, the heavy cruisers of the Chinese will not dare to be too arrogant. A staff officer suggested.

"Idiot, it's impossible. Our capital ships are fighting with the capital ships of the Chinese, where will there be energy to protect us? We can only rely on ourselves. Lieutenant Colonel Tom said angrily.

At this time, a 310-mm shell crashed straight into the sideways spin of the cruiser "Essex". A 152-mm naval gun was thrown into the sea on the spot. The shells piled up on the side also exploded, igniting a raging fire.

"Bastard, put out the fire! Otherwise, the entire battleship would have burst into flames. Lieutenant Colonel Tom shouted loudly.

The fire extinguishing device of the old warship is not as good as that of the new warship. At the same time, the damage caused by fire will be greater. That's why Lieutenant Colonel Tom was so nervous. He didn't want his ship to be the first first-class cruiser to be sunk.

It's just that many things are not transferred by human will. At this time, a 210-mm shell hit the stern of the Essex. Lieutenant Colonel Tom was shaken to the deck by a violent shock.

"Report the loss!" Lieutenant Colonel Tom shouted.

"Captain! The aft main gun of the stern was overturned, and it was impossible to fire for a short time. A staff officer said.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Lieutenant Colonel Tom couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but fortunately it wasn't fatal. Otherwise, it's doomed.

However, two minutes later, the heavy cruiser 'Chenlong' hit the cruiser 'Essex' again. In this round of salvo, two shells hit the 'Essex'.

A shell opened a large hole near the waterline on the left side of the 'Essex', and the sea water was frantically pouring into the battleship. Another shell hit the bridge of the battleship Essex, destroying a compartment above the conning tower. This frightened Lieutenant Colonel Tom and almost peed his pants.

Subsequently, the battleship 'Essex' was hit twice again in five minutes. The damage management work, which was already very unsmooth, was completely over.

More and more seawater poured in, and the hull of the battleship inevitably tilted. This made Lieutenant Commander Tom have no choice but to give the order to abandon the ship. The cruiser 'Essex' also became the first first-class cruiser lost by the British Navy in this battle.

However, this is just the beginning. The other 'Monmouth-class' cruisers had the same problems as the USS Essex. They were not as fast as the Chinese Navy's 'Zodiac-class Improved' heavy cruisers, making it impossible for them to close the engagement. The Chinese Navy's 'Zodiac-class improved' heavy cruisers can easily penetrate their warships and destroy them at long distances with 50 times the caliber of 210mm guns.

It can be said that the British Navy's 'Monmouth class' first-class cruisers are completely at the point of being passively beaten. Under the constant blows of the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class Improved' heavy cruisers, they were hit by bullets and caught fire, and then sank.

The British Navy also had 80 first-class cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers, and the task of these 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy was to destroy these warships one after another, and when the British Navy's warships of this kind were lost, it was time for the Chinese Navy's lightning strike formation to attack. At that time, yesterday's naval battle will be staged again, and the Imperial Navy will inflict heavy losses on the British Navy in one fell swoop, and then win the entire naval battle.

Now everything can be said to be moving towards the expectations of the Chinese Navy. The British Navy's 'Monmouth-class' cruisers, under the blow of the heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy, were almost powerless to fight back.

The cruiser Cornwall was rapidly heading towards the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser Snake, trying to close the distance between the two sides to four thousand meters. In this way, his 152-mm naval guns will be able to exert great power.

However, before he could close this distance, he had to advance under the heavy fire of the heavy cruiser "Snake" of the Chinese Navy.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

The three triple 210mm guns of the heavy cruiser "Snake" opened fire frantically, and the cannon fire fell like raindrops on the cruiser "Cornwall". Columns of water rose into the sky, making the 'Cornwall' like a small ship sailing on a stormy sea, and it could be overturned by the wind and waves at any time.

"Boom!" A shell exploded in the bow of the first-class cruiser 'Cornwall', and this shell directly cut off half of the bow, making the 'Cornwall' first-class cruiser feel as if it was about to fall off the bow by a giant beast in the sea.

At the same time, the advance of the cruiser 'Cornwall' was inevitably contained.

At this time, shells rained down, and soon the cruiser 'Cornwall' was hit in succession, and the entire superstructure was ablaze.

Ten minutes later, the cruiser 'Cornwall' was so badly damaged that it sank into the sea. Of the 678 crew members on the battleship, less than 100 managed to escape. (To be continued.) )

PS: The fifty-third is here, ask for a monthly pass and a reward!