In addition to the battleship Grudge of Conscience, the performance of the two last British "Minotaur" class, which was commissioned in 1905, is also remarkable.

With a standing displacement of 14,600 tons, the Minotau class is undoubtedly one of the strongest in the regular patrol family. The ship is armed with two twin 234 mm (9.2 in) L45 main guns, 10 single 190 mm (7.5 in) secondary guns, 16 76 mm rapid-fire guns, and five 450 mm torpedo tubes. Unlike the Agile Class 2nd Class battleships, the Minotaur-class 190mm guns were packed in 10 single-mounted turrets, and the ammunition delivery and pitch maneuver were mechanically used, which undoubtedly greatly improved the firing rate of these large-caliber secondary guns in actual combat.

As for protection, for the first-class patrol, the Minotaur is not satisfactory. The main armament has 6 inches of armor with sufficient height, the front of the turret is 8 inches, the turret is 7 inches, and the conning tower is 10 inches thicker than the Scharnhorst class. The main deck is 38 mm (1.5 in) thick, and its horizontal protection is slightly weak, but the patrol is originally engaged at a distance of about 6 to 8 kilometers, and the patrol class of medium-caliber shells does not pose much threat to horizontal armor. In fact, the protection of the first generation of British "invincible" and "tireless" two-level war patrols is the result of a comprehensive copy of the Minotaur; It's just that these "perfect cats", which were supposed to be used to hunt and kill the enemy's patrols, were directly exposed to the large-caliber guns of the enemy's capital ships in naval battles. In terms of speed, the ships of this class have successfully achieved the 23 knots speed required for them to achieve when they were designed.

The other two ships of the British were the "Soarer"-class slag protection cruisers, launched in 1898. Its standing displacement is 5650 tons. The maximum speed is 20 knots. Armed with 11 152-mm guns and 9 76-mm rapid-fire guns. Possesses a 76 mm thick dome armor. Even against the German Emden class, which is only 3,800 tons, and the British scum cruisers with no waterline armor, it is difficult to guarantee their victory.

In the telegraph room of the Vendetta, a British communications soldier wearing a headset was rapidly tapping on the keyboard-like machine in front of him. Once a set of signals is encrypted, it bursts through the air through the radio antenna on the guò mast and flies hundreds of kilometers away. Another British fleet, with 2 battleships and 2 cruisers, was now breaking the waves 180 nautical miles away. Chris had informed his allies of the situation on his side, but he didn't expect anything useful from them.

As time passed, the fleets of both sides began to gradually close the distance. Looking into the distance through the telescope, the two German battleships did not show the slightest intention to escape, but turned their hulls sideways; In this position, its three main guns arranged along the central axis can be fully firepowered. Seeing this situation, the surprise on Major General Chris's face was a little stronger, these Germans did not choose to flee in front of their 12-inch heavy guns, this is really the rhythm of God to make himself a second Nelson!

"The order was given, and the fleet turned right two compass points. The speed was increased to 15 knots; We're going to let those stupid Hans know that the sea is definitely not for their land beasts! Chris exclaimed.

The sea breeze blows. Coal mist gushes out, looking down from above, and the two fleets are rapidly approaching each other at opposite parallel angles. The red-and-white St. George flag and the dark silver black vulture cross flag were waving in the wind, hunting and dancing, and the two navies could not suppress the surging battle flames in their hearts more than ten kilometers apart. Following the collision in the Gulf of Helgoland, Britain and Germany, the two powerful powers that represent the current peak of human naval power, are about to collide with dazzling brilliant sparks in the South China Sea on the other side of the world. At present, except for the other side, the maritime power of the rest of the countries is far behind them, even the most powerful industrial country in the Americas!

"Target No. 1 has a distance of 12800 and a bearing of 273; Target No. 2 has a distance of 13500 and a bearing of 276! "In the command tower of the battleship Vendetta, Rear Admiral Chris has been reported from the main control command room on the position of the enemy ship. Unlike the Russian navy, which was devastated after the Russo-Japanese War, Britain is still the richest and richest navy in the world, thanks to its centuries of accumulation and special geopolitical policies: this is evident from the fact that Germany's economy has surpassed that of Britain in history, but its naval spending did not exceed 45% of Britain's in the same period. At present, every old British battleship has completed the upgrade of the fire control system under the opening of the British pound, and the observation and aiming ability and calculation ability have been doubled compared with ten years ago; Compared with the Russian fearlessness that can only be heard five thousand meters away, the British ships of the same type are undoubtedly very different!

Just as Chris was thinking about whether to open fire and use his 12-inch heavy guns to take the lead, the two German battleships in the distance suddenly burst out with orange dazzling flames; Chris was shocked and instantly realized that the Germans had already launched an artillery bombardment first! About twenty seconds later, six majestic water columns tens of meters high rose on the calm sea; The water waves and silver waves collapsed after being stirred at the highest place, roaring and rolling down, white foam rolling, magnificent.

"Shameless Germans, they will only play some abnormal tricks in the design of ships like the lowest vipers!" Seeing this, Chris couldn't help but feel a wave of disdain and anger in his heart. On the "Jane's Ship Yearbook" on his bedside, there was information about the German Scharnhorst-class: this class ship was armed with six twin 283mm L45 main guns, and its firepower was superior to that of any warship below the quasi-dreadnought. Even the battleship "Grudge" he sat on, its four 305 mm guns were slightly insufficient compared to the German ships. For this alternative design of armored cruisers equipped with battleship-level firepower, mostly mounted on the stern, and ready to flee at any time, Chris is completely 10,000 disdainful and angry; He now had only one thought in his mind, and that was to pump these two evil German warships to the bottom of the sea with a thunderbolt!

"Boom!" There was a loud thunder, red light exploded, and the main guns of the British battleships also let out a roar that resounded through the battlefield; Four shells weighing 386 kg roared through the air and crashed into the sea hundreds of meters away from the Scharnhorst, surging into the sky. In terms of single-round momentum, the salvo firepower of the British battleships was not much better than that of the German half-salvo, but in terms of rate of fire, it was far inferior. It took them nearly 50 seconds to reload, and with the impact point right, Shane was able to land a standard half-volley every 20 seconds.

"The four cruisers should stop following the Vendettate, let them go straight to their maximum speed and go to engage the Germans in close combat!" Seeing another row of thick columns of water rising near our own fleet, the waves rolling and pouring down; Chris looked gloomy and turned to the herald next to him. At the current distance of 12,000 meters, in addition to the four 12-inch heavy guns of our own battleships, the two 9.2-inch and 7.5-inch cannons on the patrol could not reach the Germans, let alone the 6-inch burning sticks of the two slag protection cruisers. Although the German artillery fire was very messy at this distance, no commander could accept this situation of being beaten and not returning fire!

With the flying and lowering of the signal flags on the British battleships, the chimneys of the four cruisers began to spit out a large amount of thick black smoke; The bow of the ship splashed and accelerated towards the direction where the German battleship was. The British officers and men showed no cowardice in the ensuing close-quarters encounter with the Germans, facing the powerful 11-inch guns: the glorious history of centuries of domination of the seas had imprinted the "impulse of life" with an offensive will in the hearts of every Royal Navy officer and men. Compared with the rising star German Navy, the British Navy is indeed much superior to its opponents in terms of offensive spirit: in another plane, whether it is Craddock, who launched a decisive attack in the Battle of Cronel, or Hawood, who bravely advanced in the Battle of the Estuary of La Plata, it is enough to reflect the will and arrogance of this maritime nation!

"The British wanted to close the distance in order to get the most out of their two Minotaur-class medium-caliber guns." Looking at the British battleship that was heading straight for him, Spee's heart moved, and he understood the intention of the other commander. Spee had no worries about this situation: the Scharnhorst-class had 200 mm of main armor and 150 mm of upper armor, which was enough to effectively defend against the bombardment of the 9.2-inch and 7.5-inch guns of the British Patrol Units. And as the distance closes, the hit rate of your own 283mm heavy guns will increase significantly, and the powerful power of this large-caliber artillery is definitely not something that the British patrol can resist!

At the beginning of the design of the Scharnhorst class, the German designers followed Qingying's wishes and put frontal combat capabilities in the first place. Only with the offensive and defensive ability to crush the British patrol head-on can the British have to send battle patrols to annihilate them, thus creating an opportunity for the main force of the High Seas Fleet to fight a decisive battle with the British Grand Fleet. Although the speed of the class has been greatly reduced, with an initial design speed of only 20.5 knots, and only 22 knots after replacing the steam turbine, it is well worth it. Due to the limited fuel, the raiding ship is cruising at cruising speed in normal times; Even in battle, there is rarely a chance to reach the highest speed.

"Order, the fleet turned right three compass points, the Scharnhorst continued to attack the British battleship, and the Gneisenau attacked the first British cruiser in the lead!" Shi Pei's eyes lit up and he said loudly. (To be continued......)

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