"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The three triple 50 caliber 210 mm guns of the Imperial Navy's 'Ugly Bull' heavy cruiser fired wildly, orange flames flashed in the muzzles, and nine shells flew towards the 'King Kong' battle cruiser with a roar. When the cannon was fired, the flames from the muzzle of the cannon dispelled the darkness, revealing the figure of the battleship. But then, the battleship disappeared into darkness again.

"Order the ships to open fire at the maximum rate of fire!" Colonel Shen Shoukun ordered. The gap between the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers and the Japanese Navy's 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers was too great. The only advantage, the great powers, is the rate of fire. The 210 mm main guns of the 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers are rapid-fire guns, capable of firing up to three rounds per minute. The Japanese Navy's 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers had a rate of fire of only one shot per minute. In other words, the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers fired three volleys, while the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers fired only one salvo. If we want to talk about the amount of shells delivered per unit of time, the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers are not necessarily worse than the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers. Of course, the 210-mm main guns of the 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers were difficult to penetrate the armor of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers. And the 356 mm main guns of the 'King Kong-class' battlecruisers, as long as they hit, can cause the 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers to suffer heavy damage with one shot. If you are hit continuously, you are at greater risk of being sunk.

The Imperial Navy's four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers began to fire at the Japanese Navy's four 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers at their maximum rate of fire, which gave the Japanese Navy a taste of what it means to rain bullets.

Because it was a night battle, visibility was insufficient. Both sides could only determine the position of the opposing ship based on the glow of the gun's muzzle, and then carry out artillery bombardment. This makes it possible to make mistakes when shelling. This makes it difficult to hit the target.

"The shelling of the people of China is really ferocious. However, the main guns of their heavy cruisers. Can you threaten our battle cruisers? Major General Naoe Nakano sneered.

"General, theoretically, the heavy cruisers of the China people are equipped with 210 mm main guns capable of penetrating our broadside armor, deck armor and secondary gun armor. It's just that the people of China were afraid of our 356-mm guns and did not dare to get too close. So, the possibility of them penetrating our armor. Very little. Matsuoka Xiuzang Daisa's face was proud. He is very confident in the battleship he commands.

The Kongo-class battlecruisers had only 203 mm of side armor, 70 mm of deck armor and 152 mm of secondary turret armor. These are the weak points of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers. The 210 mm main guns of the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers were fully capable of penetrating these armors. However, it is a bit difficult to deal with the main turret and command tower of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruiser. The armor of the main turret was up to 230 mm thick, and the armor of the conning tower was also up to 254 mm thick.

Of course. Such a defense is very weak in front of the Imperial Navy's 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers and 'Longfei-class' battlecruisers. Even the armor of a two-stage battle cruiser could not be compared.

It was with this mentality that the Japanese Navy had the audacity to engage the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers. It's just that soon they will know that the 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy are not as weak as they imagined.

In night battles, the hit rate is extremely low, and you want to hit the opponent's battleship. A lot of the time it's just a matter of luck. Of course, if the frequency of the cannon is a little higher. A little more shells were dropped. Of course, the probability of hitting an enemy ship is naturally a little higher.

At 3:58 a.m., a shell fired from the heavy cruiser "Zirat" of the Imperial Navy scored the first hit in this artillery battle. A 210-mm shell hit the side of the battlecruiser "Haruna". Unfortunately, however, it did not hit the waterline. The shell exploded on the side side, piercing a secondary shell. destroyed this 152-mm secondary gun, and at the same time ignited a raging fire.

The fire that ignited on the battlecruiser Haruna undoubtedly looked like a lighthouse on the sea under the darkness of night, completely revealing his location. Gave other warships of the Imperial Navy, targets for fierce attacks.

"Great! Orders were given to all ships to concentrate their fire on the battlecruiser Haruna, which was on fire. Colonel Shen Shoukun immediately issued a new order.

The remaining three 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers immediately turned their guns and opened fire on the 'Haruna' battlecruiser. For a time, the battlecruiser "Haruna", which was subjected to concentrated fire from four "Zodiac-class" heavy cruisers, was in a worrying situation.

Although, the 210 mm main guns of the 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers could hardly cause fatal damage to the 'Haruna' battlecruisers. However, that possibility is still there. If the superstructure of the battlecruiser Haruna were completely destroyed, the combat effectiveness of the battlecruiser would also suffer a great loss. After all, a lot of the equipment of modern warships is mounted on masts. For example, once these devices are damaged, it will be even more difficult to hit enemy warships.

"Hell, telegraph to the battlecruiser 'Haruna' to extinguish the fire as soon as possible. Order the other three battle cruisers to intensify their attacks and relieve the pressure on the battlecruiser Haruna. Major General Naoe Nakano immediately ordered.

"Yes, General." Matsuoka Shuzo nodded.

"Yaga, damage control now! Within five minutes, the fire had to be extinguished. "The builder of the battlecruiser 'Haruna', Hiroshi Osa Funagoshi, roared angrily.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The damage management personnel on the battlecruiser "Haruna" rushed into the fire with a water hose in tow, wearing a gas protection area. But even with gas masks. Flames ignited after an artillery shell explodes, often highly toxic. Soon the damage control personnel who rushed into the fire were poisoned.

However, the rest of the damage management personnel continued to fight the fire. They all knew that if the fire was not extinguished quickly, the battlecruiser Haruna would become a target for the Chinese Navy's concentrated fire, which would bring them even greater casualties.

The battle cruiser Haruna paid the price of more than a dozen casualties to extinguish the fire. However, before the whole ship could breathe a sigh of relief, the Imperial Navy's shells hit the battlecruiser Haruna again.

A shell hit the stern of the battlecruiser Haruna, and once again burst into flames. This time, the Imperial Navy replaced the armor-piercing shell with a high-explosive shell. Since the 210-mm main gun is difficult to penetrate the armor of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers, it is better to use high-explosive shells to directly sweep the deck and superstructure of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers.

As a result, the battlecruiser "Haruna" was sad. The fire, which was finally extinguished, ignited again, making the battleship a magnet for shells once again.

"Damn! Those Shina were concentrating their fire on the Haruna. Major General Naoe Nakano's eyes almost burst into flames. If the battlecruiser 'Haruna' had three longs and two shorts, his fate would have been very miserable, and perhaps the Admiralty would have directly asked him to apologize.

Although, the four 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers of the Japanese Navy also worked hard and fired fiercely all the time. However, even the Japanese Navy had a very difficult time hitting targets in a night battle. So much so that although they wasted a lot of shells, they did not achieve any results.

The battlecruiser Haruna probably became the most unlucky battleship in this naval battle. Five or six 210-mm shells were hit in a row, although they were all high-explosive shells and did not cause fatal damage to the battleship, but the superstructure was blown into a mess, and even the rear mast was blown off, crushing the No. 3 turret on the rear deck, making the turret unable to rotate, causing the battleship to lose a quarter of its firepower.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the battlecruiser "King Kong" shuddered violently. Major General Naoe Nakano suddenly felt nervous.

"What's going on? Have we been hit? Report a loss? Major General Naoe Nakano shouted loudly at the top of his voice.

"General, a shell hit the conning tower. Fortunately, the armor of the conning tower was relatively thick, and it did not cause any losses. Two minutes later, Matsuoka Shuzo reported.

"Yaga! Fight back, fight back immediately. Let the people of China know how good we are. Major General Naoe Nakano roared like an angry lion. At the same time, he was also a little scared. Fortunately, it was the 210 mm main gun that hit the 'King Kong' just now, and if it was a 305 mm gun or a 343 mm main gun, the 254 mm armor of the 'King Kong' bridge would probably not be able to resist it!

The battle was very fierce, and the four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy and the four 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers of the Japanese Navy came and went, and the battle was in full swing. What makes people unbelievable is that although the four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy were small, their performance was very eye-catching, and the four 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers of the Japanese Navy that directly hit them were miserable.

It's just that the power of the 210 mm guns was too weak to inflict lethal damage on these 'King Kong-class' battle cruisers. Otherwise, the Japanese Navy's 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers would suffer a crushing defeat.

Although the Japanese Navy's 356 mm main gun is fierce, it cannot be hit, no matter how large the caliber of the main gun is, no matter how powerful the shell is, it is useless! (To be continued.) )

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