The cannon roared, and the light spewed like clouds; The roar of the landslide and tsunami, and the rolling column of water, all seem to bring people back to the era of cannon giants a quarter of a century ago, and make every battleship remnant who yearns for force and art boil with enthusiasm.

In the conning tower of one of the largest and slender ships, Nimitz, the commander of the 1st U.S. Battleship Detachment, was looking around with a look of horror on his face; A majestic column of water had risen from the sea less than 100 meters away from his ship, and he was shocked by the majestic sound that was higher than the mast. The Germans had left behind a powerful fleet in the Caribbean Sea and appeared in front of them at this critical juncture, which made their mission of a surprise landing site difficult to achieve. And the excellent quality of the opposing sailors' expression was also completely awe-inspiring to Nimitz; In just a few rounds of shooting, they were able to accurately range their battleship!

According to the reconnaissance report sent back by the seaplane, the enemy in front of him was an artillery detachment of 4 Bavaria-class battleships, which made Nimitz slightly relieved in his anger. The German warships of this class have been in service for a full 20 years, and they are even older than their own Colorado class; The only thing that is commendable is the ridiculously strong main gun firepower. Even compared with its own flagship "New Jersey", which is equipped with 9 406mm L50 heavy guns, the opponent's 12 400mm main guns are even better in projection, you must know that this battleship belonging to the Iowa class is more than 10,000 tons larger than Bavaria! But because of this, Nimitz's mind quickly calmed down; The old capital ships of the German class, which were stacked with such multiple guns, would inevitably have the defect of insufficient protection, as long as their own fire control was functioning properly. It must be the enemy ship that is sunk.

The battleship trembled. The loud bang exploded. In the midst of a magnificent wave of red clouds, the USS New Jersey completed another round and a half of its salvo. After firing, the gun slowly lowered the elevation angle and waited for another round of reloading from the servo-machinery in the rear; The guns on the side slowly raised their muzzles and waited for the central fire control room to report the corrected parameters based on the error of the previous round of fire. Since the mission of Nimitz's trip was to support the shore, he did not expect to engage the German battleships head-on; As a result, most of the ammunition carried by the ships is high-explosive shells, and the number of armor-piercing shells accounts for less than one-third of the total share. Even the new American battleships have a high reserve of 130 rounds per gun, and the number of armor-piercing shells in their stock is categorically unable to support the consumption of traditional full salvos. For this reason, Nimitz could only choose a more ammo-efficient way of fighting; He is counting on now. It was the opposing battleship that was as he expected, a big crispy one, capable of achieving a decisive result in a full 40-round salvo.

"General, should we bring the fleet closer to the adversary, so as to increase the accuracy of the artillery strike?" When the neon-like muzzle light quickly dissipated, a young staff officer aboard the New Jersey couldn't help but say to Nimitz. According to the results of years of training in the US Navy, the hit rate of the battleship's main guns was only about 1.5% at a distance of 22,000 yards (10,000 yards = 9,144 meters); This is not a serious defect in the usual days when a large number of armor-piercing bullets are equipped, but it is a problem that must be faced at the current time when the number of armor-piercing shells is scarce. Even if all the stocks are exhausted, the current American fleet, which carries out long-range artillery bombardment, can theoretically only get 30 to 35 hits; For four German battleships with a standing displacement of more than 40,000 tons, it was undoubtedly quite far from destroying Miè to withstand this damage. Not to mention. The New Jersey and Iowa have been in service for less than four months, and it is still a big unknown how far the novice observers and gunners will be.

And if you close the distance to within 18,000 yards. The main gun hit rate would suddenly increase to 4.2%, which meant that the U.S. fleet could get the expected 90 rounds of 40 salvos. Even taking into account the disadvantages of duds and personnel, it is enough to deal a fatal blow to the enemy fleet. What's more, close-quarters, fast-paced combat is also more conducive to quickly crushing opponents, and it is expected that shore bombardment missions will continue after the battle is over - due to the low latitude, the Caribbean Sea has a decent amount of daylight hours even in the winter months of November. With the furious fire of 6 battleships, the landing ground of the Germans could be turned into a sea of fire in half an hour!

Listening to the staff officer's construction, Nimitz's mind was racing; He fully understands the current situation of the fleet, and the insufficient number of armor-piercing shells is the biggest weakness he hides in the current advantageous situation. However, Nimitz had another concern in his mind, that is, whether the vertical protection of his battleship could withstand the bombardment of the opponent.

Since the U.S. Navy's artillery concept has shifted to long-range shelling since the 30s, the new battleships have focused on horizontal protection in their armor design, without paying much attention to the penetration of vertical armor in close combat. At present, whether it is the South Dakota class, which is still part of the treaty framework, or the Iowa class, which pursues high speed, its built-in main armor belt is all 307 mm inclination of 19 degrees, and there is only a slight difference in the thickness of the outer plate of 1.25 inches and 1.5 inches. According to the U.S. Navy's own tests, the vertical protection of the two new battleships can only withstand shells fired by the South Dakota-class MK6 406mm L45 guns at a distance of 20,000 yards; If you face the Iowa-class MK7 406mm L50 gun, this safety distance will suddenly increase to more than 24,000 yards!

Although the 400 mm gun on the opposing battleship was old 20 years ago, it did not show a revolutionary technical improvement in the field of emotic energy during the naval holiday. Therefore, as long as the new shells are replaced, the power of the old guns should not be underestimated. Once the distance was closer, Nimitz had to worry about whether his ship's broadside defense was sufficient. The penetration of the core module is by no means something that can be handled calmly, and the rampant German submarines and aircraft carriers can launch a deadly attack on the stalled battleship that staggers back.

"Wait a minute. The Germans were bound to be inadequately defended against this old battleship, and our 16-inch cannon was enough to deal a fatal blow to it. In addition, due to the numerical superiority, the four South Dakota-class ships gained an advantageous situation of two against one; They are all warships that have been in service for more than a year and a half, and the run-in of the crew and equipment is at the peak, and their shooting accuracy can be fully guaranteed! After the last two German battleships were heavily damaged by them, the Germans should also release smoke and retreat, after all, they could not know the specific situation of our ammunition reserves, and evacuation in a very bad situation was their only option. Nimitz pondered for a moment, then spoke slowly, "so that we can repel this interception fleet without suffering heavy losses, and then completely destroy the German landing ground with high-explosive shells." ”

Under the orders of Nimitz, the American fleet always maintained a distance from the other side during maneuvers. However, in order to improve the accuracy of hits, Nimitz risked bringing the fleet closer to 21,000 yards away: the theoretical hit rate at this distance could be 2.3%, which is a certain compromise when the ammunition is insufficient. During this period, the German battleships, which were the first to form a straddle fire, undoubtedly took the lead in the artillery battle, and the four ships that were attacked, New Jersey, Iowa, South Dakota, and Indiana, all had violent explosions and fires from the hull, and the rushing and roaring air waves showed the astonishing damage contained in the 400-mm shells. One shell was impartial, breaking through the 38-millimeter-thick outer plate of the New Jersey and striking heavily into the internal 307-millimeter main armor belt; After a thunderous explosion that shook the sky, Nimitz received exciting news from the damage management department. The shell did not penetrate the ship's inclined main load, and its explosion on the outside only destroyed several adjacent compartments and caused a leak in the broadside fuel depot below. Nimitz, who learned the details of the damage management, breathed a sigh of relief, although this was only an individual case, but it was enough to show that the power of the opponent's shells was still within his expectations. Next, it's the stage for your 4 South Dakota-class ships to exert their might!

"Boom!" Accompanied by a burst of earth-shattering thunder, the nine 406-mm guns on the American battleship continued to rush out a uniform red and purple fire dragon: when the half-salvo was used to form a straddle fire on the target, the Americans switched to a full salvo with higher efficiency. Towering Optimus Silver Pillars continued to rise around the German battleships, with the Saxony and Württemberg being particularly critical in the rear. In addition to the opponents they were fighting, there were also 2 American battleships with strong firepower firing at them without interference; A few minutes later, a huge orange and red fireball exploded on their hulls, and the sailors on the American battleship burst into laughter!

"Well done!" Seeing through the telescope that the 2 German battleships behind the queue had risen with obvious flames, Nimitz couldn't help but wave his fist. Although under the intensive bombardment of the opponent's 12 400-mm heavy guns, 4 ships including the USS New Jersey were also hit repeatedly, and the flames burst into the sky; However, judging from the damage reported by the ships so far, it is all flesh and skin injuries and no muscle and bone problems. Now the direction of the battlefield is moving forward step by step according to its own script; After more than 10 shells were hit, the two German battleships in the rear would suffer heavy damage due to the multiple penetrations of the core compartment, and they would have won the naval battle after 30 minutes.

As time passed, however, Nimitz became more and more stunned and agitated. (To be continued......)

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