The 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy and the Home Fleet of the British Navy are approaching at high speed, and the distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer. The 12 battleships of the British Navy's home fleet also formed a long battle line, starting with four 'Admiral-class' battleships, and the flagship battleship 'Collingwood' was at the front of the battle line. They were followed by four 'Giant-class' battleships, followed by two 'Ajax-class' battleships and two 'ravage-class' battleships.

In addition, the eight 'Nelson-class' warships of the British Navy were also lined up in a battle line. It's just that the displacement of the 'Nelson-class' battleships is several thousand tons less than that of battleships, and the power of the main guns cannot be compared with that of battleships. Whether to put the battle line of the 'Nelson-class' warships into a decisive battle with the main force of the Chinese Navy, the commander of the British Navy's Home Fleet, George Brown. Admiral Satrus has not yet made up his mind.

As for the other light warships, they also surround the capital ship. The light warships of the Chinese Navy were reluctant to start a decisive battle, and the British Navy had no choice. It is impossible for them to launch an assault on the Chinese Navy, after all, the warships of the Chinese Navy are protected by the naval guns of the capital ships.

"Humph! Since the Chinese want to have a duel with the capital ship first, let's start! I'd rather see how their eight capital ships can deal with our 12 capital ships! "George. Admiral Satrus looked confident. After all, judging by the number of capital ships, the British Navy is going to have an advantage. What's more, there are eight more 'Nelson-class' warships that can be put into battle. The 'Nelson-class' battleship can be regarded as a quasi-battleship, with its 210 mm main gun, which is a battleship of the Chinese Navy. It can also pose a certain threat. At least there is no problem with the superstructure.

At 8:32, both the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy and the Home Fleet of the British Navy began to turn. Now. The speed of the 5th fleet of the Chinese Navy remained at 12 knots. And the speed of the home fleet of the British Navy was only ten knots. However, the British Navy is accelerating. But. The large number of 'pearl-class' cruisers slowed down the home fleet of the British Navy. This kind of warship, which has been in service for a long time, is still used by the British Navy to this day. The earliest 'Xia-class' cruisers and 'Shang-class' cruisers of the Chinese Navy have long since withdrawn from the front-line combat units.

Of course, in the case that the British Navy's home fleet is already prepared, it is unlikely that the Chinese Navy wants to forcibly occupy the T-shaped prefix by Shun lì. Each time, the British fleet followed the Chinese navy in a turn, like two big snakes. Meandering over the sea. The distance between the two sides is also getting closer.

By 9:16 a.m., the distance between the battle lines of the two sides had approached about 10,000 meters. This distance was already within the effective range of the main guns of the battleships on both sides. Of course, it is not very difficult to hit the target at this distance. Therefore, both sides tacitly reduce the distance even further.

At the same time, small airships rose from the battleships of the Imperial Navy. These airships. This will effectively provide the Imperial Navy's battleships with the number of shelling and correct the direction of the shelling, thus ensuring that the Imperial Navy's shelling is more accurate.

"What's that? Airship? What good can that be? When the officers and men of the British Navy watched the airship rise from the battleship of the Imperial Navy, they couldn't help but think of this question in their hearts.

Commander of the British Navy's Home Fleet, George Brown. Admiral Satrus's heart. There is a bad premonition.

At 9:38 a.m. on January 6, 1854, the distance between the two sides had been reduced to about 8,500 meters. Vice Admiral Lu Haipeng, commander of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy, gave the order to open fire. Since you can't force the T prefix. Then the capital ships of both sides can only bombard each other at this distance, just like the warriors in iron armor.

"Keep course. Steady dìng live at this distance. Ships fire! "Lieutenant General Lu Haipeng gave the order.

"Attention gun emplacements, fire!" With the order of the gunner. The battleship 'Emperor Wu of Han' was the first to fire. Five twin 280-mm guns spewed orange-red fire at the same time. Armor-piercing shells, weighing more than two hundred kilograms, roared towards the British battleship in the distance. The huge recoil force directly pushed the battleship 'Emperor Wu of Han' out on the sea.

"Whew! Shout! "A sharp whistling sound was generated on the surface of the sea, and shells fell whizzing and falling less than a hundred meters from the battleship 'Collingwood', the flagship of the British Navy.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The shells exploded on the surface of the sea, splashing columns of water into the sky.

On board the battleship 'Collingwood', the commander of the British Navy's Home Fleet, George Brown. Admiral Satrus's face was not very good-looking. The first salvo of the Chinese Navy, at such a distance, the nearest point of impact was less than 100 meters away from the battleship Collingwood. Such a result, even the British Navy, is not easy to play!

"Fight back! Fight back now! "George. Admiral Satrus shouted at the top of his voice.

On the sea, the sound of artillery rumbles, and the smoke of gunpowder fills the air. The capital ships of the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy and the capital ships of the Home Fleet of the British Navy, you go back and forth, constantly throwing shells at the opposing warships. On the surface of the sea, columns of water rose one after another, and the water splashed on the surface of the sea, making a crackling sound, as if it had rained rain.

The artillerymen on both sides fired the shells desperately. The accuracy of the Chinese Navy's shelling, with the assistance of airships in the sky, became more and more accurate, which made the British Navy feel tangible pressure. In the same way, the British naval officers and men also played a role. Their su zhì was originally the first in the world. Even with the help of airships and advanced gunning systems, the Chinese Navy is only slightly better than the British Navy. It's just that because of the technology of naval artillery, the rate of fire of the Chinese Navy is higher than that of the British Navy. The rate of fire of the main guns of the Chinese Navy can be maintained at one round in two minutes, while the British Navy needs three minutes to be able to fire one round.

Therefore, the rate of fire of the Chinese Navy is 1.5 times that of the British Navy, which effectively alleviates the shortage of warships and keeps the combat power of both sides balanced.

The British Navy has a large number of capital ships, so they undoubtedly have to have some advantage when allocating targets. In order to deal with the powerful 'Western Han class' battleships of the Chinese Navy, the British Navy's 'Admiral-class' battleships and 'Giant-class' battleships were all two against one.

Among them, the battleship "Collingwood" and the battleship "Rodney", which lined up behind, aimed at the battleship "Emperor Wu of Han", the flagship of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy. The battleships 'Anson' and 'Benbao', which were in third and fourth place, set their sights on the battleship 'Emperor Zhao of Han'. In fifth place and Liu Wei's battleships 'Giant' and 'Edinburgh' battleships, the target was the 'Emperor Xuan of Han' battleship. In seventh and eighth place were the battleships 'Birmingham' and 'Liverpool', and the target was the battleship 'Emperor Han Yuan'. The two 'Ajax-class' battleships and the two 'ravage-class' battleships in the back dealt with the four 'Qin-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy.

It can be said that the four 'Western Han class' battleships of the Imperial Navy are under very great pressure.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

At 9:58 a.m., the battleship 'Emperor Zhao of Han' of the Imperial Navy fired the 10th salvo of this naval battle. This time, the salvo, after constantly adjusting its bearing, finally hit the target. A 280-mm armor-piercing projectile fired from the No. 4 turret in the stern hit the battleship 'Anson' of the British Navy. The shells hit the side of the battleship Anson, blew off two secondary guns, and detonated several 105-mm shells, causing the side of the Anson to burst into flames.

However, such injuries are generally not fatal. If the place where this shell hit could have been moved down a few meters, it was estimated that it would have been able to inflict fatal damage on the battleship 'Anson'. After all, once the waterline armor is hit and the hull is torn apart, there is a great chance that the entire battleship will be severely damaged.

"It's a pity! Almost able to inflict heavy damage on a battleship of the British! "On the battleship 'Emperor Wu of Han', the flagship of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy, Vice Admiral Ye Feng, chief of staff of the fleet, said with some regret.

"The battle has just begun, and we will soon sink the British ships. This battle is destined to be a famous battle for the Imperial Navy! The commander, Lieutenant General Lu Haipeng, seemed very confident. Even though the pressure on the fleet was great now, he was not anxious at all.

And the commander of the British Navy's Home Fleet, George . Admiral Satrus let go of the heart that had been hanging on his mind when he learned that the battleship 'Anson' had only suffered minor injuries.

However, then George. Admiral Satrus had to be on the lookout again again.

At 10:08 a.m., the battleship 'Emperor Xuan of Han' of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy fired its 13th salvo, and out of ten 280-mm shells, two of them were very lucky to hit the target. This was also the first time that the battleship hit the target in this naval battle.

Two 280-mm shells, one hit the bow of the battleship 'Birmingham', blowing a large hole in the bow, and at the same time, a piece of shrapnel jammed the A turret in the bow, making it impossible to rotate the A turret and thus unable to adjust the direction of the shelling, which was almost useless. Another shell hit the amidship of the battleship Birmingham, and a chimney collapsed directly, and the speed of the battleship quickly decreased. (To be continued......)

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