Flames poured out, and smoke rose into the sky.

Inside the Queen Elizabeth's hull was already a hectic scene: the undamaged induced draft fan was running wildly under the urging of British sailors, struggling to pull away the deadly poisonous smoke and blazing steam that filled the boiler room. Dozens of damage management team members braved the unbearable heat to extinguish the flames in the boiler room that were strong enough to melt gold and iron; However, since the charge of the 380 mm shell was far superior to that of any previous shell, the raging flames could not be completely controlled for a long time.

Inside the command tower protected by 280 mm armor, Thomas's face was as heavy as water: after the loss of a full 6 boilers, the battleship could now only run 23 knots even with strong pressure ventilation, which was undoubtedly an extremely heavy blow to the Queen, whose actual speed was already lower than the design value. Looking at the German fleet in the distance, which was getting closer and closer, Thomas had a glint of hatred in his eyes, and said loudly: "The fleet turns a compass point to the right, and each ship distributes firepower in turn, taking the opening of the flagship as the offensive order!" ”

The British fleet snailed across the sea, and its tail stirred up a large white froth of water. In the 782-ton 381-mm twin-mounted turret, British sailors were engaged in intense reloading operations and correcting the firing angle according to real-time numbers from the central fire control room. Due to the rapid development of large-caliber artillery in this dimension, the British military industry was stimulated to step up its own research and development operations: the 381 mm Mark I naval gun, which was originally put into service in early 1915, was delivered to the Navy in late 1913. The gun was the pinnacle of British military industry in World War I: it weighed 101.6 tons and could shoot 871kg shells at a speed of 752 m/s. And in longevity. The gun has an excellent performance of 335 rounds. Its accuracy dispersion is also quite impressive. Current. The British Fast Fleet had a total of 30 guns of this type, and this is why Thomas dared to challenge the German reconnaissance fleet!

After firing a character shot, the King's long-range bombardment became probabilistic: the heavy shells thundered down around the Queen Elizabeth, but four rounds of attacks failed to achieve results. Seeing this situation, Thomas couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, it seems that this kind of combat method of using air calibration to carry out long-distance artillery bombardment, its hit rate is not much higher than that of normal engagement, and the damage of a close miss and a direct attack of his own warship is not unbearable. Wait until the main lookout reports a distance of 18,000 yards. Thomas gave the order to open fire; A moment later, a deafening roar resounded through every corner of the battleship!

"Boom!" The salvo of eight 381 mm guns can only be described as earth-shattering, and the thick and long muzzles of the guns burst into flames, and a brilliant neon of red and purple suddenly appeared on the sea. After completing the shot, the heavy naval guns slowly lowered their muzzles, and dozens of gunners began to work intensively on reloading. Due to the different bolt structures, British guns, which did not require brass auxiliary airtightness, were slower to reload than their German counterparts: even the most skilled guns took 38 seconds to reload a 381 mm round. However, with the increasing distance of today's naval warfare, the requirements for the rate of fire of large-caliber naval guns that rely on calibration to obtain results have gradually decreased, and the speed of 1.5 rounds per minute is enough to be considered qualified.

With the flagship Queen Elizabeth firing violently, the capital ships of the British rear fleet, which had long been ready to attack, broke out into a long-pent-up roar: for a while, the sea was like thunder. The clouds danced wildly, and its magnificent scene made every admirer of the cannon giant ship boil with their blood. And it wasn't long before that. The guns of the main ships of the German fleet in the distance also burst into flames, and a deadly shell was fired into the clouds thousands of meters high. After a half-year silence, the passionate clash of cannonballs and steel armor was once again staged between these two fleets, which represent the highest level of the current navy. Although it is difficult to reproduce the scene of the divine battle in the previous decisive battle in the North Sea on the current scale, in the technical field of warships, both sides have scaled new heights, leaving the other forces on this planet far behind without any suspense!

The red-purple flame swept through, and the cloud and water column soared into the air. In an instant, the waters near the main warships of both sides were boiling: the king vs. Queen Elizabeth, the elector vs. war-weary, De Fringer vs. Brave, Seydlitz vs. Tiger, von der Tannen vs. the royal princess, Balfos vs. Australia, and all kinds of large-caliber guns composed a magnificent music belonging to the era of coal and steel. The artillery fire of the German reconnaissance fleet was as accurate as ever, and the British and Brazilians, who were beaten 7 to 1 in the decisive battle of the North Sea, were also brave and brave, and regained their accuracy in live-fire training with the sea for most of the year. From the fifth salvo onwards, the cannonballs that thundered and fell with the sound of thunder were no longer the only destination of the sea; With the fierce collision between the armor bullets, a monstrous wave of light like a volcanic eruption suddenly burst out from the place where it hit!

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the Queen Elizabeth, which led the fleet, was hit hard again; A 380-millimeter bomb fired from 14,000 meters away hit the bow deck like a comet. With the thud of the fuse at the bottom of the bomb, a large area of the forward deck of the battleship was instantly blown apart and rolled up, and the fragments soared into the sky; More than 20 British sailors didn't even have time to snort, and they were torn to pieces under the baptism of countless whirling shrapnel, as if they were being tortured by Ling Chi. The blazing flames ignited a large amount of debris in the nearby sailor's cabin, and the twisted and broken deck was covered in blood and mutilated internal limbs. Looking at the roaring flames on the foredeck, the damaged sailors holding fire hoses all felt their scalps tingle; Judging from the destructive power of this shell, the caliber of the main gun of the new German battleship is definitely above 350 mm, which is undoubtedly a serious challenge for its own side!

Thunder roared, red light burst out; In the next round of massive volleys, the Queen Elizabeth was also colored. A 381-mm shell slammed into the auxiliary gun position of the amidships on the starboard side of the King, and the orange-red flames produced by the violent explosion soared straight up dozens of meters high, like a huge fire chrysanthemum bursting into the air. The six gunners of the No. 2 secondary gun position, who bore the brunt of the blow, were blown to pieces on the spot, and the surrounding cabin space also suffered a catastrophe in the face of the fierce and unparalleled explosion waves. However, since the middle deck below the King's gun frame was 130 mm thick horizontal armor, it could definitely be described as indestructible in World War I; Therefore, the sailors in the core cabin only felt a violent vibration of the battleship, and the operation of various core machinery was still the same.

"Damn the British, their gunnery is at least a notch higher than the last time they fought!" Looking at the towering water column rising again around his ship, Hipper said angrily. At present, the opposing warship has formed a straddle fire on the King; This means that as long as God did not deliberately oppose the British, then the normally distributed shells will inevitably inflict another heavy blow on themselves in a short time.

Do I need to turn the rudder to avoid it? The thought crossed Hipper's mind. Judging from the dogma manuals promulgated by the Navy, turning to evade after being covered by enemy naval guns is undoubtedly the basic element that a warship commander should have; However, in the midst of naval battles with roaring artillery, this is not an absolute golden rule. At present, the King has also locked the opponent into its average impact point, and the frequency of four-and-a-half salvos has been increased to one round every 20 seconds, and Hipper has every reason to expect his heavy naval guns to perform the same feat. If you turn around, although you can avoid the opponent's artillery fire, the shooting elements you have found so far will also be invalidated. What's more, Hipper, who is familiar with the power of the ship's main guns and the layout of the armor, has full confidence in the offensive and defensive capabilities of the King: even if he is carrying out a frontal hard shock against Maimang, Hipper's heart is completely fearless!

As if to confirm Hipper's suspicions, a 381-millimeter shell flew from the sky and suddenly hit the King's main armor belt 3.2 meters above the water. With the gorgeous arrangement of 350 mm and 18 degrees of inclination, even the 15 and 16-inch new guns of World War II in later generations had to weigh the distance and course angle first; And now even the British artillery that has not yet entered the Green Bullet period is not to think about it, even the classic Mark I. type. In a sharp hissing that cracked the teeth, the soft quilt cap armor-piercing bullet was bounced into the water without any suspense; Although it formed a near-miss after the explosion, the damage caused by this shell was undoubtedly charged with the smallest amount. German sailors were trained to pump water or plug leaks with their hands, and dealing with such injuries was a trivial matter for those who had been trained to deal with such superficial injuries.

Hearing the message sent back by the damage management department, Hippel couldn't help but nod with satisfaction. The main armor belt of the King class was indeed as strong and solid as Qing Ying had guaranteed, and it was also reliable and eye-catching enough in the face of British artillery with unknown performance. In this way, he has no worries. Although the other warcruisers do not have the same anti-sky protection as the king-class, they all have the last anti-wolf underwear of the dome armor; In order to sink them through artillery fire, it is necessary to get a lot of hits and cause a large area of water. Although the Moritz had previously been bombed by an underwater bullet that had blown up an ammunition depot, this was a highly unlikely event that was not sufficient to be a major consideration in naval warfare. The only thing that is not known now is what the defense capability of the British new battleships is: their own 380 mm guns have a penetration depth of 16,000 meters and 390 mm at the test site, and I wonder if the British, who have a certain course angle, can withstand it? (To be continued......)

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