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The Iowa has broadside armor between 77 mm and 55 mm. Please search on Baidu, and read the latest chapters of popular novels first!' This shell of the Qinghai's hit the part of the armor at 20 mm. However, the armor used by American warships now is rigid surface armor, and it is also Harvey Gang, which is even less comparable to the nickel steel armor used in Europe and the Krupp armor using nickel-chromium alloy.

After the shell exploded, a large hole with a diameter of more than two meters was blown out in the side of the 'Iowa'. Fortunately, this was above the waterline, and it only destroyed a 20-mm secondary gun, killing several sailors. If it were to explode near the waterline, it would have to damage the Iowa.

As the two sides got closer and closer, the shells fired by the "Iowa" gradually got closer and closer to the Chinese Navy battleship. But he himself has much more firepower.

"Dog* raised! The yellow-skinned monkeys chose to fight the Iowa in order to get rid of us. If this continues, Iowa will not be able to hold on! Vice Admiral Benson, deputy commander of the U.S. Navy's West Coast Fleet, scolded.

"Order the fleet to turn, thirty degrees to the right, and we'll speed up and get up!" Mahan ordered. Now, he had three battleships with strong firepower in his hands, but because they were too far apart, he couldn't do anything at all, and he could only watch the 'Iowa' withstand the fierce fire of the Chinese Navy. The three warships, the USS Indiana, the USS Massachusetts, and the USS Oregon, have reached their highest speeds, but they are still a cut short of the Chinese Navy.

"Your Excellency, Commander, let the destroyer detachment attack! Launching a torpedo attack on Chinese battleships with destroyers, even if they can't hit the opposing side, slow them down and give us a chance to catch up! Ben Sen said.

"The Chinese battleships are protected by destroyers on all sides, and we can't get them!" Mahan shook his head.

"Give it a try! If that doesn't work, just let the Iowa withdraw. Ben Sen said. In this way, the four 'Indiana-class' battleships will form a powerful firepower together, and the 'Iowa' will not have to fight alone.

Mahan had some hesitation, the battleships of the US Navy, which were two knots slower than the Chinese Navy, which allowed the Chinese Navy to keep the distance of engagement in favor of the Chinese Navy. Even if you concentrate four battleships and fail to hit the target, it will not be of any use. That's why Mahan planned to use the "Iowa" and "Texas" to delay the Chinese battleships at the beginning. But now, this plan has failed.

"Order the destroyer detachment to launch a lightning strike!" Mahan finally made his decision.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander!" Benson immediately took the order.

The 21 destroyers of the U.S. Navy are organized into three destroyer detachments, each with seven destroyers. After leaving one detachment to protect the capital ship, the remaining two detachments immediately rushed towards the battleships of the Chinese Navy.

Although the destroyers are small in size and have a displacement of less than 1,000 tons, they are very fast, generally above 25 knots. More than a dozen destroyers quickly rushed towards the battleships of the Chinese Navy, trying to act as killers at sea, using torpedoes to severely damage or even sink the Chinese battleships.

"Commander, the Americans have used destroyers to attack!" The captain of the 'Plateau' reported.

"Order our destroyers to attack, stop them. At the same time, be prepared against torpedoes. The main guns continue to fire at the Iowa! Li Dingxin ordered without changing his face.

The 12 destroyers guarding around the "Plateau" and "Qinghai" immediately turned their bows and headed up for the destroyers of the US Navy. The rapid-fire guns on the deck have already begun to fire in ping-pong.

Battles between destroyers are often more brutal than direct battles with capital ships. The capital ship has rough skin and thick flesh, as long as it is not a key part, there will be no problem with one or two large-caliber shells. But destroyers are different, even 75mm rapid-fire guns can inflict fatal damage on them. The destroyer detachment of the US Navy, wanting to break through the interception of the Chinese Navy, launched a lightning strike on the battleships of the Chinese Navy. The destroyer detachment of the Chinese Navy is desperately trying to stop the destroyer detachment of the US Navy.

The battle was very fierce, more than 20 search warships chased on the sea, the destroyers of the Chinese Navy, equipped with weapons more powerful than the destroyers of the United States Navy, most of the destroyers of the United States Navy adopted the British Navy design, armed with one 75 mm rapid-fire gun and two 7 mm rapid-fire guns. The destroyers of the Chinese Navy, on the other hand, have one 05-mm naval gun and two 75-mm rapid-fire guns and two 7-mm rapid-fire guns. It's just that the destroyers of the Chinese Navy have been in service for several years, and their maximum speed is only 25 knots, which is a little slower than the destroyers of the US Navy.

"Boom, boom!" The destroyer No. 3 of the Beihai of the Chinese Navy was hit one after another, and the upper stage of the construction was already burning. However, the Chinese Navy soldiers on the battleship, on the one hand, stopped the damage, and on the other hand, they still launched artillery bombardment on the US Navy. Their opponent, the destroyer USS Barry, had also been hit one after another, especially with a 05-mm shell on the bridge, which directly caused the death of the captain.

The fierce battle continued, and the whole sea seemed to boil, and the battleships were constantly shot, fired, and then silenced. Despite the fierce interception by the destroyer detachment of the Chinese Navy, the destroyers of the US Navy broke through the blockade and quickly rushed towards the battleships of the Chinese Navy. An attempt was made to launch a torpedo within a kilometer.

Plateau-class battleships, in addition to two twin 05 mm guns, also have 0 05 mm caliber single guns; 0 mm single-mounted guns; 2 x 7 mm cannons. These are all sharp weapons against destroyers. As soon as the destroyers of the US Navy approached, the guns opened fire. The shells rained down on the destroyers of the US Navy.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The destroyers of the US Navy, which were charging at high speed, were completely enveloped in a rain of bullets. After being hit by several shells in quick succession, the destroyer was sunk.

At this time, two destroyers of the US Navy broke through the blockade, broke through to less than a kilometer from the 'Plateau', and fired torpedoes almost at the same time. Six torpedoes galloped towards the Plateau in a fan shape at a speed of 25 knots.

"Torpedoes on the left, 6 pcs! Urgently evade, prepare for anti-torpedo combat! ”

The 7-mm guns on the 'Plateau' immediately fired at the rapidly approaching torpedoes on the sea. It's just that the torpedo is too fast and it is difficult to hit. At the same time, the 'Plateau' also began to evade at high speed. Like a wild horse on the loose, the Plateau made a sharp turn on the surface of the sea to avoid torpedo attacks. These 455-mm torpedoes, even if they were battleships, had to suffer heavy damage.

The Plateau had the better luck and managed to dodge four torpedoes, the other two, one of which broke down and sank to the bottom of the sea after running a few hundred meters, and the other grazed the bow of the ship. This made the officers and men on the 'Plateau' breathe a sigh of relief.

The destroyers of the US Navy had only one chance, and after a torpedo occurred, both destroyers were sunk. Two destroyer detachments, 4 destroyers, were eventually sunk, the remaining 6, four were damaged, and only two returned unscathed. And the destroyer detachment of the Chinese Navy was also sunk by four. Both sides suffered heavy losses.

When the destroyer detachment of the US Navy launched a lightning strike, the three 'Indiana-class' battleships of the US Navy were all chasing after each other at high speed. However, the battleships of the Chinese Navy are still in the process of sailing at 7 knots, and even when avoiding torpedoes, they maintain a speed of 5 knots, which makes the 'Indiana-class' battleships of the US Navy unable to catch up with the battleships of the Chinese Navy at all.

However, the battleship 'Iowa' successfully shortened the distance of the engagement to about 5,000 meters. At this distance, the 0 mm naval guns of the 'Iowa' have extremely strong attack power. At the same time, the secondary guns of the 'Iowa' also began to bombard, and the strong firepower caused the 'Plateau' to suffer a lot of losses.

The bridge of the 'Plateau' was hit by a 20-mm shell. However, the more than 00 mm armor of the bridge effectively resisted the shell, but the impact of the shell explosion still injured more than a dozen people, including Li Dingxin. The superstructure of the 'Plateau' was hit one after another, and a fire broke out on the aft deck, so that the main gun behind had to stop shelling. The soldiers on the 'Plateau' also caused dozens of casualties.

However, the results of the 'Iowa' were nothing more. When the 'Iowa' shelled the 'Plateau', it also suffered from the 'Plateau' and 'Qinghai'. The main gun and rapid-fire guns were fired together, leaving the Iowa completely surrounded by a rain of bullets. The superstructure was more like it had been gnawed by dogs, and a raging fire was ignited.

At 4:50 p.m., in a salvo of the Qinghai, a 05-mm naval gun accurately hit the bow of the "Iowa", knocking out the entire capital of the ship, causing the speed of the "Iowa" to be severely affected.

At 4:55, in another volley of the 'Qinghai', two 05-mm naval guns hit the 'Iowa'. Among them, a shell exploded near the waterline of the Iowa, creating a hole more than three meters in size. The raging waters poured into the Iowa, causing the hull to tilt. Another shell hit the main gun in the bow of the Iowa at a 45-degree angle, piercing the armor of the main turret and hitting the ammunition depot. The explosion of dozens of 0-mm naval artillery shells caused the 'Iowa' to break directly into two parts. It sank to the bottom of the ocean in less than two minutes.

Now the number of battleships on both sides has become two to three!

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