The sea breeze is howling, and the waves are rushing to the sky.

At this moment, the German fleet had completed its turn; The Scharnhorst, who was in the lead, was hunting, and a thick black mist was spewing out from the two thick chimneys. In the process of turning just now, the German fleet had already increased its speed by more than 20 knots, and a large number of fine coal particles that had not burned out were blown directly out of the furnace and discharged from the flue under the action of induced draft fans, forming a smoke that was clearly visible from tens of kilometers away—a characteristic common to all coal-powered warships. The broad, flat bow and aft decks were deserted at the moment; The three imposing twin-mounted main turrets are constantly rotating slightly according to the real-time numbers transmitted from the central fire control room. 11,000 meters away is the soul of this British fleet that is qualified to compete with the two Shane-class: although the firepower of the four 305mm guns is far behind the times, no ship below the dreadnought can maintain its composure in front of it!

With a deafening roar, the three raised main guns spewed out a large area of blood-colored light waves, like a rainbow appearing, and the fire dragon soared into the sky. The 302-kilogram shell burst through the air at a speed of 835 m/s (855 m/s in history, weakened due to the length of service) and roared into the sea, stirring up a huge column of water. The artillery on the fired side slowly lowered its depression angle in the rising smoke, and the German sailors began to reload it in an orderly manner; The other gun in the turret raised its muzzle, and after being corrected by a new round of fire, it erupted again with a thunderous roar like a tsunami. And so on and so forth, every 20 seconds. A towering column of water would rise around the British battleship.

"Hit everywhere. Be the first to strike. Hit hard! ”

In the roar of his own 283-mm heavy gun, Shi Pei, who was wearing a black general's uniform, was in a stirring mood and couldn't help but blurt out Fisher's famous words. As the battle continued, the slightest hesitation before the battle began, Spee, had already been thrown to the island of Java. After their own careful tuning and a large number of live fire, the two Shane were already well-known artillery scorers in the German Navy; At the current position of about 10,000 meters, it is the perfect time for his 6 main guns to exert their power!

"General, are we going to sink that British dreadnought?" After a cannon shot like a galloping horse. Captain Eronson, the captain of the Scharnhorst, couldn't help but ask.

"Our task at the moment is to suppress the battleship with its main gun fire, and to create the conditions for the Gneisenaut to strike at the British armored cruiser. Once the Gneisenor has achieved results, it is not advisable for us to continue the war and immediately return to the Manila base to replenish it. Shi Pei shook his head slightly, always keeping a thought in his mind that he didn't know whether it was fear or reason, and said, "No one knows where the French and Russian fleets and the other British fleet are now, we must ensure the safety of this fleet, and there can be no vacuum in the coastal defense of the Philippine colonies." Other than that. The British 12-inch guns were as superior to us as our 11-inch guns were to the two British armored cruisers. I don't want my ships to be exposed to this kind of fire for long! Being hit by four 12-inch shells is the bottom line for us to continue to hold out in this naval battle. ”

Captain Erenson claimed yes. It was at this moment that the Scharnhorst fired another impressive half-salvo; Due to the adjoining of the main turret in the bow, the observation port of the command tower was also reflected in an orange color in an instant. After more than ten seconds, what rose from the distant sea was finally no longer just the rolling silver waves like snow lions and dragons, but the dazzling red light and vigorous flames suddenly bloomed; The thick smoke mixed with black and yellow during this period is so eye-catching against the backdrop of two towering water columns.

"Okay, that's it!" Seeing his ship open the record, Speiden was overjoyed; The young staff officers could not hide the excitement and joy in their hearts, and suddenly burst into a burst of enthusiastic cheers. After observing the enemy ship being hit, the morale of the German sailors in the main turret was greatly boosted, and as long as they worked harder, it was not impossible to sink the British battleship!

At this time, on the battleship Grudge, it was already a scene of a sea of fire. An 11-inch heavy armor-piercing shell cut through the ship's starboard side of the ship's amidships, smashed through the thin layer of shipbuilding steel at the top, and flew straight into the inner flue of the hull. The 63.5 mm thick horizontal armor steadily protected the high-velocity bullet from hitting the boiler compartment below, but it also triggered the shell's blunt fuse. The thunder roared, the waves of air rushed, and the red-purple-orange light waves surged like a volcanic eruption, tearing apart any resistance that came its way! In an instant, the compartments around the explosion site were torn apart by the shrapnel of the air waves, and the flames were raging; The originally intact flue gas duct was also blown open a shocking hole, and boiler exhaust gases up to hundreds of degrees of heat gushed out of the hole, which was mixed with a large number of suffocating gases and fly ash coal particles, which made the British people appreciate the importance of environmental protection decades in advance!

The water dragon soared into the air, criss-crossed, and swooped down towards the place where the flames licked and spread. The British officers and men gritted their teeth and endured the poison of the sea of fire and poisonous gases, and were fighting against time against the flames. Several mutilated corpses lay in the center of the flames, flesh and blood blurred, intestines rotten, and in some places burned to the point that only the bones remained. Several young soldiers were tortured by suffocating gases, and when they landed, they felt their stomachs churning and couldn't help but vomit all the overnight food. Although picric acid has been used as an explosive charge in artillery shells for more than 20 years, and the toxic fumes produced by warships after being hit by enemy shells are well known, up to now, the damage control units of the navies of various countries are still not equipped with decent gas masks.

In the command tower of the battleship Vendetta, Rear Admiral Chris was listening to the damage report from his subordinates with a look of hatred on his face. This thunderous blow of the Germans directly caused the attrition of 7 dead and 3 seriously wounded sailors; Four compartments were completely blown up, and a large number of exhaust gases from the boiler were spreading from the ruptured flue to the interior of the hull. Although the British damage management force is trying its best to extinguish the fire, it will still take a long time to complete the repair. The only thing to be thankful for is that the shell did not fall into the core compartment, and the battleship's main guns and power were intact. Before he had time to deliver the most vicious curse to the evil German fire control officers, Chris suddenly saw a huge fireball rising from the sea not far away; He looked intently, but saw that the stern of the cruiser Minotaur had been hit with a bang. Massive steel shards flew into the sky like a torrential rain, and waves of fire rushed one after another, enveloping the St. George's naval flag in it!

"Order, the fleet will turn left at a compass point, and in five minutes it will resume its original course!" Chris didn't hesitate any longer, and roared loudly in the command tower; The herald next to him hurriedly saluted, then pushed open the door of the 356-millimeter-thick command tower and ran out. Looking at the stern of the Minotaur shrouded in a sea of fire, Chris already knew in his heart that the Germans' central fire control system must have accurately captured his distance and position, otherwise it would be impossible for both German ships to hit. Although this tactical maneuver adopted by oneself could make the German artillery fire lose its accuracy in a short time, it would also lose the opponent's firing parameters because of this. What's more, the accuracy of the Germans' artillery fire could quickly recover from their losses, as evidenced by the effective hits they had already obtained; Judging from the previous shooting situation, it is difficult for your fleet to hit the average impact point near the target after adjustment!

Machinery roared, and waves surged. A slightly pungent smell of air spread through the conning tower, and Chris, who covered his nose with a wet handkerchief, knew that it must be boiler exhaust leaking from the flue. As soon as he thought about this, his hatred for the Germans increased a little. After a short time, a huge column of water rose in the sea nearly 100 meters away from the Hend, and the colorful shamprapnel made it seem like a steel rain fell nearby.

Not surprisingly, a new round of German shells turned off target, and the British fleet gained temporary safety. By this time, the two Minotaur class cruisers had begun to fire heavily with their 9.2-inch cannons, and the sea area where the German battleships were located was suddenly flooded, but to Chris's disappointment, because the self-loading cruisers were firing at high speeds, they already lacked firepower to cover density, and their accuracy was even more miserable. The German battleships were like butterflies through the rising water columns, never intersecting with the shells.

Not long after, eight columns of water rose near the first German battleship at the same time, and for a time the ship disappeared under the cover of the waves. Chris was stunned for a moment, and suddenly reacted, this must be a Minotaur-class patrol and his own Vendettale, both targeting the same ship. And even at a distance of 10,000 meters, it is almost impossible to accurately tell at first glance whether these water columns are provoked by 12-inch or 9.2-inch shells;

"Sue the Minotau and Shannon, let them concentrate their firepower on the second German battleship, and don't add obstacles to the Haunt's firing obstacles!" Chris ordered again. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the book friend February 30 precept book、PT cat、Knife considered monthly pass support and zhouyu1976's reward and heartbroken call subscription support,The number of subscriptions in recent days has been miserable.╮(╯_╰)╭