"Order the ships and prepare for battle!" The commander of the Imperial Navy's heavy patrol formation, Hayashi, gave the order to Brigadier General Ima. Although, he knew that his eight heavy cruisers would not have much advantage over the eight heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy, and would even be at a disadvantage. However, the brave wins. Since we have already encountered the heavy cruiser formation of Little Japan, how can there be any reason to retreat without a fight?

What's more, the Imperial Navy's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers, although inferior to the heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy. However, the performance of the 'Zodiac-class' improved heavy cruisers is a little more powerful than the heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy. If the four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers can play well and sink the enemy ships first, then the balance of victory will gradually tilt in favor of the Imperial Navy.

At the same time, the commander of the heavy patrol formation of the Japanese Navy, Takashi Ando, the captain of the heavy cruiser "Takao", also gave the order to prepare for battle. Although, the previous fiasco of the light cruiser formation and the destroyer formation cast a shadow on the hearts of the officers and men of the Japanese Navy. However, Takasashi Ando believed that their heavy cruisers, with stronger firepower and faster speed, would definitely be able to defeat the heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy. If we can sink a few heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy in one fell swoop, then the previous losses of light cruisers and destroyers will be recovered.

"Send a telegram to the ships and let those damned Shina people know that we are awesome. The heavy cruisers of the people of China are all heavy cruisers of old models, and they are no match for our new heavy cruisers at all. Takashi Ando ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency." The communications corps immediately went to send a telegram.

Two heavy cruiser formations began to rush towards the enemy with great vigour. In order to strengthen the defense and avoid being besieged by the enemy. Takashi Ando ordered eight heavy cruisers to line up in a battle line, with four 'Kaohsiung-class' heavy cruisers in front. Four 'Myo-Advanced' heavy cruisers followed. After all, the seven light cruisers and destroyers of the Chinese Navy are still on the battlefield, and if they disperse and engage in a one-on-one duel with the heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy, in case the Chinese light ships launch a lightning strike, the consequences will be serious. If you form a battle line. At least you can help each other.

The eight heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy, seeing this situation, also immediately made changes, and also formed a battle line. Four 'Zodiac-class' improved heavy cruisers were in front, and four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers were behind. In fact, if the battle line duel was conducted in this way, it would be more beneficial to the heavy patrol formation of the Imperial Navy. The advantages of the sighting equipment and fire control system of the heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy can be better played.

At 7:38 a.m., the heavy cruiser 'Takohsiung', the flagship of the Japanese Navy's heavy cruiser formation. Impatiently, the first round of shelling was launched. Five twin 50-caliber 203-mm guns began test firing.

Seven other heavy cruisers followed suit and began test launches. However, the distance between the two sides has reached 12,000 kilometers at present. At this distance, the accuracy of the Japanese Navy's shelling was noticeably poor, and the impact points of the shells were very dispersed. There was little threat to the heavy patrol formations of the Imperial Navy. In momentum, of course. But it's a big improvement.

"Order the ships to close the distance to 10,000 meters before opening fire. And, keep the distance at 10,000 meters all the time. Brigadier General Lin Xiangjin ordered. At this distance, with the help of advanced sighting equipment and fire control systems, the heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy would have a slightly higher hit rate. And the probability of being hit by the heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy is also relatively small. So, for the heavy patrol formations of the Imperial Navy. Undoubtedly very advantageous.

"Humph! Little Japan actually built a heavy cruiser named 'Kaohsiung', which clearly shows that they still miss the treasure island of the empire! This time, let my mother's heavy cruiser sink the 'Kaohsiung-class' heavy cruiser of little Japan, and also cut off their unrealistic thoughts. Brigadier General Lin Xiangjin said. He was a native of Fujian Province and was very grateful for the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War that year. Japan's forcible occupation of the treasure island has always been disgruntled. Fortunately, the empire later rose, defeated Japan, and recaptured the treasure island. However, the fact that the Japanese specially built a heavy cruiser of the first class under the name 'Takohsiung' undoubtedly shows the ambitions of the Japanese. If all the 'Kaohsiung-class' heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy can be sunk, it will undoubtedly be a big blow to the ambitions of the Japanese.

Five minutes later, the distance between the two sides had already narrowed to 10,000 meters, and at this time, the heavy patrol formation of the Imperial Navy began to turn and maintain this distance. At the same time, the shelling of the heavy cruisers began.

The battle of the heavy patrol formations on both sides reached a climax almost from the very beginning. This is the largest duel of secondary capital ships before the duel between the capital ships of the two sides.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

The heavy cruisers on both sides desperately smashed their shells at each other, trying to sink them. The fierce naval battle on the sea was originally a life-and-death battle. If you want to live, you have to kill them.

Each of the heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy was equipped with five twin 203 mm guns, which gave them a great advantage in the number of main guns. On the other hand, the heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy, the four 'Zodiac-class' improved heavy cruisers in front were three triple 210 mm guns, and the four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers in the back were three twin 210 mm guns. In terms of the number of main guns, the eight heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy were twenty less than the eight heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy, which was only 75 percent of the opponent's. The power of the 203-mm gun and the 210-mm gun, which are fifty times the caliber, are almost the same.

If you look at these data on paper, the heavy cruiser formations of the Imperial Navy were undoubtedly at a disadvantage. However, a real naval battle cannot be won by looking good on paper.

Although the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser formations had fewer main guns, the superiority in sighting equipment and fire control systems made up for this shortcoming, and the Imperial Navy's heavy cruisers' main guns were obviously more powerful than those of the Japanese Navy's heavy cruisers.

"Your Excellency, we are at a loss to fight the people of China at this distance. If we can shorten the distance by another two thousand meters, our firepower advantage will be better played. A staff officer suggested.

"The people of China are not stupid, and they know it. So, they won't watch us close the engagement. Takashi Ando shook his head.

"Instead of doing useless work like that and going around in circles with the Chinese people, it is better to hurry up and smash more shells on the heads of the Chinese people. I believe that the level of gunnery of the warriors of the Imperial Japanese Navy will definitely not be worse than that of the Shina people. Takashi Ando said.

"Yes, Your Excellency." The staff officer nodded.

At 7:55 a.m., the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser "Wuma" was the first to complete the test firing and turned into concentrated fire.

Two minutes later, the heavy cruiser "Weiyang" also formed a straddle and began to enter a salvo.

The strong performance of the two heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy shocked the heavy cruiser formation of the Japanese Navy. After all, the battle had only begun for twenty minutes.

However, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Navy is indeed not to be underestimated. At 7:59, the Japanese Navy's heavy cruiser Myoko also formed a cross-fire on the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser Myoko. Subsequently, its five twin 50x caliber 210 mm guns switched into a salvo, frantically pouring artillery fire on the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser 'Zirat'.

Straddle-firing heavy cruisers were formed, which began to fire salvos, trying to throw more shells over the enemy's head in the shortest possible time, and then sink them.

More and more heavy cruisers formed a straddle fire, but the performance of the heavy cruiser formations of the Imperial Army and the heavy cruiser formations of the Japanese Navy was actually completely equal, and neither was inferior to the other.

"Boom!"

A loud explosion came from the Heavy Cruiser Zirat of the Imperial Navy, and the entire bow was enveloped in smoke. A 203-mm shell fired from the heavy cruiser Myoko of the Japanese Navy hit the heavy cruiser "Zirat". The deck armor, which was only 75 mm thick, did not withstand the heavy shells and was directly blown out of a large hole. However, this is not a big injury for a heavy cruiser with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons.

The next moment, the Imperial Navy returned to color. A 210-mm shell fired from the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser "Wuma" hit the Japanese Navy's heavy cruiser "Maya". The shell exploded on the side of the heavy cruiser 'Maya', blowing off a 127-mm secondary gun and igniting a bunch of 127-mm shells, igniting a raging fire.

At 8:04 a.m., the Japanese Navy's heavy cruiser "Haguro" hit the No. 3 main gun on the rear deck of the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser "Uto". It's just that the 203-mm shell, which failed to tear through the turret armor up to 254 mm thick, was ejected. After the shell exploded, the Chinese Navy sailors on the aft deck suffered heavy casualties.

At 8:07, the Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser "Tsuchi" hit the Japanese Navy's heavy cruiser "Atago". A 210-mm shell hit the bow of the heavy cruiser 'Atago', blowing a large hole. At the same time, a piece of shrapnel jammed the No. 1 main gun turret on the foredeck of the heavy cruiser 'Atago', causing it to lose its ability to turn, which directly led to a one-fifth drop in the firepower of the heavy cruiser 'Atago'. (To be continued.) )

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