Maybe the god of fate is a very nostalgic person, in the naval battle of Qunshan Bay, as the most elite five ironclad ships on both sides finally met at the end of the battle, and in this Datong estuary naval battle, the most elite combat power of the two sides also met at the end of the battle, but this does not affect the battle of this sub-battlefield called the pinnacle of the naval battle!

"They're coming." Looking at the figures of the three giant ships that gradually became clear in the distance, Shiki Kayama couldn't help but shudder.

"Tell Commander Tsuboi that they can go and help us keep the bloodline of the Japanese Combined Fleet!" Shiki Kayama said to the herald.

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, the Kurama has sent a signal that it wants to live and die with the flagship." Sanshan Katsumi on the side said excitedly. "We have 4 warships, the tonnage of both sides is about the same, if you count the number of rapid-fire guns, we are not a lot at all, although we can't sink each other, but if the 4 battleships cover each other, there should still be a chance to withdraw to Japan."

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, as long as we hold on a little longer, we will still have a chance to evacuate when it gets dark." A staff officer on the side said. Although Akiyama Shinyuki has been asked to take their respective belongings away, but at the critical moment, survival ** still fills their brains.

"If you're dead, do you want to pull someone else? Order Kurama and Yoshino to evacuate! Execute it now! Shiki Kayama ordered. Time is of the essence, there is no time to explain more to these people.

"Your Excellency, the Empire can no longer afford to lose. There is actually no essential difference between going back to 2 ships and annihilating the whole army, 4 warships can fight together, as long as they can hold out until dark, they can escape. A combined fleet of 4 warships can also be guerrilla. But if only two cruisers remain, then everything is over! "Sanzen insisted on not passing on the orders of Kayama Shiki.

"Then at least give the third commander of Tsuboi Airlines a choice, right?" Birch Mountain Records Knowledge. The officers in front of them have been blinded by the ** who is trying to survive, and they are already a bare-bones commander.

"Yes." Sam Shan self-denial nodded. Then the herald ran out.

"Commander, what are we going to do?" Looking at the ambiguous flags on the Fuji, an officer asked.

"Stay, cover the flagship." Tsuboi Kozo was also very puzzled. Didn't you say that you could talk about it? Why do you have to fight now? And he still gave himself the right to choose, which is simply pushing himself into the fire pit! You have to go, go back, those literati and bureaucrats will definitely say that you have abandoned your allies, you have to leave. Maybe I'll be in it too.

"Tell me about it. What should we do? Looking at the Beiyang Fleet that was getting closer and closer, a drop of cold sweat fell on the three heads of Tsuboi Hangsan.

"Let's go." Akiyama Mayuki was silent for a moment and said.

"Let's go? If Fuji and Yashima are gone, what will be left of the Imperial Navy? If this is the case, our last chance will be gone, and the two lonely ships will be useless. One of the officers shook his head.

"Since we have been defeated, it is better to fight. Being able to survive until dark is not necessarily a way to live. "Tsuboi Kozo looked at the sky outside. It was as if I had made a lot of determination.

"But the speed must not be reduced. In the event of problems such as water ingress after being hit, I advise the fleet to retreat immediately. Inoue said. The meaning of this sentence is very clear, it is okay to help the main fleet, but it must be premised on self-preservation.

"Then get ready for battle!" Then he calmly ordered: "Send a signal to Commander Huashan, and say that we are willing to cover the flagship." However, the right to act alone is reserved. ”

"The Japanese Navy may have to fight to the death." Looking at the four Japanese warships not far away, a smile couldn't help but appear on Luang Weili's face.

"Tell Deng Guanband and Yang Guanband to pay attention to the distribution of firepower. Every ship has to be taken care of. Xu Jie thought for a while and said...,

"Lord Xu wants to keep all 4 boats?" Luang Weili turned his head and asked.

"It's unlikely, it is estimated that Calm Hangsan is also prepared to save them if they can, and if they can't be saved, they will leave, even if they can't be sinked, they must be damaged as much as possible." Xu Jie said helplessly, if Liu Buyun didn't rush forward and Lin Yongsheng's two warships were there, Kurama and Yoshino would also have a chance to defeat them. But now the most they can do is hurt them.

The distance between the two sides continued to close, and the Fuji and Kurama gave up their intention to continue evacuating. The two giant ships made a circle on the surface of the sea, exposing the side chords. Get ready for sidestring firepower. Yoshino and Kurama, after a brief hesitation, followed in a column at the end of the line.

"Ready for battle!" With Xu Jie's order, the three battleships in Beiyang also began to turn, and the routes of the two sides were almost parallel, and the distance gradually narrowed. One artillery cannon after another began to aim at the target, waiting for the opponent to enter the effective range. 3500 meters, 3000 meters. Finally, the main guns of the Tianjin began to fire, and in less than 5 seconds, the six main guns were activated one after another, and orange flames rushed out of the muzzles. 6 ROUNDS OF 227KG SHELLS FLEW TOWARDS THE JAPANESE FLAGSHIP FUJI. Subsequently, four 6-inch rapid-fire guns and 12-pounder rapid-fire guns also began to fire, and the loud sound of heavy artillery and machine guns resounded throughout the battlefield.

And just after the Tianjin opened fire, the Weihai and Lushun also spewed out long tongues of fire. Raining down on the four most elite warships of the Japanese fleet, a rain of bullets of destruction. And the Japanese side is not to be outdone. All the available sidestring guns of the four battleships were firing non-stop.

In terms of firepower, the Beiyang Fleet has an advantage in heavy artillery, with a total of 14 10-inch turret guns, and the average rate of fire per gun can reach 2 rounds a minute. On the Japanese side, there were only 4 9.2-inch terrace guns and 6 8-inch guns, and 2 of them were limited due to damage. As for the 6-inch guns and 4.7-inch guns, the Beiyang side could concentrate a total of 14 6-inch guns and 6 4.7-inch guns, while the Japanese fleet had 18 6-inch guns and 4 4.7-inch guns. The Japanese fleet had a slight advantage in medium-caliber rapid-fire guns.

In this case, as soon as the two sides fought, the fight was extremely fierce. Although the overall firepower of the Japanese fleet is slightly weaker, but after all, there are 4 battleships, and the Beiyang Fleet must divide the firepower equally, and it will not be possible to take care of that one, and in the case that both sides are heavily equipped with rapid-fire guns, even the weakest Yoshino, if there is no pressure, can fire at least 12 rounds of 6-inch shells and 24 rounds of 4.7-inch shells at the other side within a minute! That's more than a ton of shells! Even if the protective belt of the Beiyang battleship is large enough, the bridge is not protected, and it is very troublesome to be hit by a bunch of high-explosive shells and cause a fire!

So Xu Jie's three battleships evenly distributed firepower. The Tianjin had the strongest firepower, and two 10-inch guns and two 6-inch guns were specially deployed to support the Weihai in the rear. The Weihai sent out two 6-inch and two 4.7-inch guns to support the Lushun behind, and together they dealt with Kurama and Yoshino in the Japanese fleet.

Dense shells hit the warships of both sides from time to time, in the long rapid-fire gun battle, the differences between the two warships in the design concept and protection were gradually revealed, Fuji and Yashima although they are armored cruisers, but Fuji itself is an overweight product, and the armor belt is only 9 feet high, and the exposed water is less than 2 feet, although the Japanese fleet does not have a large cruising force requirement and reduces the load, so that the part of the armor belt exposed to the water is a little more, but at most it is only about 1 meter. It can be said that the protection is very limited.

Comparatively speaking, the design of the Yashima is better, with 6 inches of upper armor on top of the main belt. However, the good ones are also limited, at most they can withstand a small cannon like a 12-pound, and the 6-inch upper armor belt is still not enough for a 6-inch or 4.7-inch gun. As for the Kurama and Yoshino in the back, the two Dome Cruisers didn't even have waterline armor, relying on the iron pants of the Dome Armor to protect the vital points, and the Dome Armor of the Yoshino may not be able to resist the fire of the 6-inch gun. …,

On the other hand, in the Beiyang Fleet, the hardened armor extends from the lower deck to the upper deck, and all the side-chord 6-inch gun emplacements are protected by at least 6-inch case-hardened armor, not to mention the 6-inch guns and 4.7-inch guns on the Japanese side, even the 9.2-inch gun's 170+KG shells will not be able to penetrate at all due to the problem of warhead fragmentation. ALTHOUGH THE HEIGHT OF THE HARDENED ARMOR BELT OF 100MM AT THE END IS A LITTLE LOWER, IT CAN ENSURE THAT THE WATERLINE DOES NOT ENTER THE WATERLINE. Nor is it afraid of 6-inch or 4.7-inch guns. In this way, during a long rapid-fire artillery engagement, the gap between the two sides became apparent.

"Comparatively speaking, Garibaldi-class battleships are more afraid of fires caused by hitting the superstructure. The shells of the Japanese fleet had no effect at all on the side chords where hardened armor was used, and the sensitive picric acid shells exploded as soon as they touched the side chord, leaving a small crater and ablation marks on the side chord. Tell us that a shell was once hit here. Looking at the complete side chord of the Tianjin, Jericho wrote in the book.

"And the Japanese battleships were different, not to mention the inability to withstand the opponent's large-caliber shells because of the quality of the armor. But in terms of the protective area, it was completely incomparable with the Garibaldi class, and the small side chord protection area greatly reduced the level of protection of the two so-called armored cruisers, and most of the shells fell on the unprotected middle and upper decks, and after a hole was opened in the hull, they burned in the internal compartments. What's even worse is that the 6-inch rapid-fire gun, which is the main output, has very insufficient protection, and it is lost very quickly under the fierce fire of the opponent. Looking at the Japanese battleship burning in the distance, Jericho couldn't help but sigh. After all, there are 3 of them produced by the British.

The Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese Combined Fleet are trying their best to fire shells at each other, and control the fire on the ship as much as possible, and the difference in protection and fire projection capabilities began to become more and more obvious over time, Japan lost a large number of artillery over time in the engagement, while the output of the Beiyang Fleet has been relatively stable, the balance of victory is gradually tilted, and when it reaches a certain level, a qualitative change will occur!

Thank you Brother Kong Chen for your publicity help. The pinnacle showdown, tomorrow will be the end of the Datong River Naval Battle, everyone support it more~~ (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )