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"What's that? Dark clouds? Is it going to rain? "The watchman on the cruiser 'Xinhua' said with a frown, looking at the large dark clouds that appeared in the north. In the event of bad weather, the naval battle cannot continue. Although the displacement of the 'Shark-class' cruisers was up to one thousand two hundred tons, in the difficult sea conditions, the navigation of the battleship itself became a problem, let alone the continuation of the fight. However, this does not seem to be a bad thing for the current Xinhua Navy. After all, the current Xinhua Navy is being suppressed by the British Navy, and the losses are getting bigger and bigger. If the naval battle is interrupted, the Xinhua Navy will have more time to regain its strength.

Soon, however, the lookout noticed that masts had appeared on the northern horizon. Those dark clouds were just the smoke gathering from the chimneys of the battleships.

"The 5th Fleet, it's the 5th Fleet that is coming. Haha, great, this time look at how arrogant those Brits are. The lookout laughed as he didn't forget to give the notice below.

"Good news, Commander. The 5th Fleet, the 5th Fleet arrived on the battlefield. The communications officer immediately reported to the commander of the 1st Fleet, Rear Admiral Wei Yong. Now, the Xinhua Navy is under tremendous pressure, and the fact that the 5th Fleet was able to arrive is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the Navy.

"What? Lu Haipeng's kid finally arrived. Although it took a little longer, it was not too late. Sue sù brothers, this time it's time for us to fight back. Major General Wei Yong said with a laugh. It's not easy, it's been suppressed for so long. The Xinhua Navy was finally able to turn over.

Soon, the fleets of the Xinhua Navy discovered the 5th Fleet, which was rushing to the battlefield. Time. The morale that had been low was once again high. Even with it, the speed at which the ship's guns opened fire became faster, making the British fleet on the opposite side a little unclear. I don't know what medicine the Xinhua Navy has taken, and why it suddenly became strong again.

Soon, however, the British Navy also discovered the existence of the 5th Fleet. The lookout aboard the USS Apollo spotted the huge ships in the distance that were billowing smoke. His mouth opened wide in surprise. Steamships are not uncommon in the West, and many of the merchant ships in some countries have been steam-powered. But. This is the first time that a large group of steam warships has been spotted in a naval battle. Even the British Navy began the development of steam warships many years ago, but it was limited by technical limitations. Nor has it been possible to make a breakthrough. Tightly on some transport ships of the Navy. A steam engine was installed. There is no fully mature technology, so it does not dare to apply it to warships. If something goes wrong, the impact will be great. That's why the British Navy's watchmen were so surprised.

However, the British Navy's watchman did not forget his duty, and he immediately sounded the alarm.

On the bridge of the battleship 'Apollo', Rear Admiral Allen frowned. Right now. The British navy had the upper hand and was about to win the naval battle. It puts him in a good mood as well. But the sudden alarm made him have a bad premonition in his heart.

"What's going on?" Major General Allen asked with a dark face.

A few minutes later, the communications officer replied to him: "General, a group of warships has appeared in the north, which should be the warships of the Xinhua Navy. ”

"Reinforcements from the Xinhua Navy? Could it be that another of their fleets has returned to the battlefield? Major General Allen asked. The Xinhua Navy left a fleet on the battlefields of China, as Rear Admiral Allen knew. If this fleet were to join the battlefield, it would undoubtedly make the two sides evenly matched. In this case, even if the British Navy finally won the battle, its own losses would certainly be very staggering. There was a change in the upcoming victory, which made Major General Allen's face very unpleasant.

"General, it's not the 4th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy. Because those battleships, all of them were steam warships. Now they're hurrying in. The communications officer replied.

"What? Steam battleships? How is this possible? Major General Allen was taken aback. Hurriedly came to the porthole, picked up the binoculars and looked at the sea to the north. Soon he saw the huge battleships, billowing smoke. Suddenly, Major General Allen's face became solemn. Although it is still far away, it is not very clear. However, he sensed that these steam warships seemed to be difficult to deal with.

"Damn the yellow-skinned monkeys, how could they possibly build so many steam battleships?" Major General Allen couldn't help but curse bitterly. You know, even the British Navy has not made a breakthrough in this regard, and the Xinhua Navy is actually one step ahead. The sudden appearance of this steam battleship was not at all expected by Rear Admiral Allen. However, he felt that this would undoubtedly bring huge variables to this naval battle. The victory that they thought was easy to achieve seemed to be far away from them.

"It's no wonder that the Xinhua Navy has not had any new warships in service in recent years, originally they were building steam warships, and they also succeeded. It seems that the technology of the steam engine in the Xinhua Kingdom is no worse than that of the British Empire. General, what do we do now? Lieutenant Commander James, the epaulette of the battleship 'Apollo', asked. His eyes were full of envy when he looked at the steam warships of the Xinhua Navy.

"Humph! Even if it's a steam battleship, so what? We have the upper hand now, and if we keep up the good work, we will definitely be able to win in the end. Major General Allen said through gritted teeth. He knew that now the British Navy could only continue to hold out, and perhaps there was still a glimmer of chance. If you retreat now, all the previous efforts will be in vain. In addition, now their course is downwind, and if they want to escape, it will be a headwind. When the time comes, it will definitely not be able to escape the pursuit of the steam warships of the Xinhua Navy. Rather than that, it's better to give it a go, and maybe there's still a chance. This was the only way Major General Allen could think of it.

"Yes, General!" Lieutenant Colonel James nodded, he also knew that this was the only way, and they had to continue the fight. However, as the 5th Fleet approached the battlefield, they were deeply shocked when the 'Xia-class' cruisers were displayed in front of the British Navy. They were shocked by the sheer hull, the cannons, and the 12 knots when headwinding.

Rear Admiral Allen's face sank like water, and he kept speculating about the performance of the 'Xia-class' cruisers of the Xinhua Navy. In terms of appearance, the displacement of the 'Xia-class' cruisers was roughly the same as that of the British Navy's 'Apollo-class' battleships, with the only difference being that the 'Apollo-class' battleships relied on wind power, while the 'Xia-class' cruisers relied on steam power. In terms of naval guns, the 'Xia-class' cruisers each had two 155-mm guns in the bow and stern, and on either side of the battleship were six 105-mm guns and two 75-mm guns, for a total of 20 guns, four more than the 16 guns of the 'Apollo-class' ships. In addition, the naval guns of the 'Apollo-class' battleships are 4 4-inch naval guns and 12 3.7-inch naval guns, which are equivalent to the 105-mm naval guns and 75-millimeter naval guns of the Xinhua Navy, and are smaller than the main guns of the 'Xia-class' cruisers in terms of caliber. As for the defense of the 'Xia-class' cruisers, Rear Admiral Allen did not know. However, he would soon be shocked by the defense of the 'Xia-class' cruisers again.

"Send a signal to the 5th Fleet and let them join us in the first flanking of the British Navy's 1st Squadron. Let's take out the main force of the British first. Major General Wei Yong ordered. The timely arrival of the 5th Fleet undoubtedly made the Xinhua Navy sweep away its previous decline. Next, it is time for the Xinhua Navy to avenge the comrades who have been killed and injured by those sunken and heavily damaged warships.

At 2:54 p.m., the 5th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy officially joined the battlefield and hit the 1st Squadron of the British Navy. At this moment, after the preliminary battle, only 16 of the 18 'Apollo-class' warships of the 1st Squadron of the British Navy remained.

"Boom!" The cruiser 'Xia Qi', which was the flagship, opened fire first. Four 155-mm guns in the bow and stern, as well as six 105-mm guns and two 75-mm guns on the starboard side, fired simultaneously. The huge recoil force made the hull of the ship shake violently. However, such recoil is nothing at all for the 'Xia-class' cruisers. Not only is the deck covered with a layer of iron armor, but the keel of the battleship is also reinforced with stainless steel, and its bearing capacity is much stronger than that of the 'Shark-class' cruisers.

"Whew! Shout! Shout! "12 shells, under the action of huge kinetic energy, quickly flew towards the battleship 'Apollo'. It's just that the distance is too far, and these shells hit on May Day. But the nearest point of impact was less than 200 meters away from the battleship Apollo. Shells exploded on the surface of the sea, splashing high columns of water.

Rear Admiral Allen and Lieutenant Colonel James on the battleship 'Apollo' changed their faces drastically. Not only because the accuracy of the Xinhua Navy's artillery has improved a lot, but both of them are experts, and it can be seen from the splashing water column on the sea that the naval guns used by the Xinhua Navy's steam warships are much more powerful than the cannons deployed on their 'Apollo-class' warships.

"Damn it!" Major General Allen's face was very ugly. He had now sensed that this time the British Navy was going to be unlucky. The navy of the new country actually has a fleet of hidden steam warships. The reason why the Xinhua Navy hid this fleet is also very obvious, it simply wants to yin the British Navy! (To be continued......)