Suhaila and the other four landing sites were smooth sailing, but Xu Zhonglin's main fleet encountered a little trouble. The 381 mm tubes of the Veneto class are very powerful, but the rate of fire is slow, and in order to ensure a smooth landing, the heavy cruisers have been transferred, and now there are only light cruisers and expulsions in his escort formation. The destructive power of these auxiliary ships on the dock was simply not enough, and they could not do anything in the face of heavy Austro-Hungarian patrols.

So soon, more than two dozen Austro-Hungarian warships bravely rushed out of his encirclement under fierce artillery fire, and together with the dozen or so warships that had been dispersed on the periphery, they formed a force that should not be underestimated.

"Admiral, two Scharnhorst-class battle cruisers have been spotted in the south, thirty-two thousand kilometers away from us!"

"Get up there, get as close as you can, sink them!" It is basically unrealistic to hit a moving warship at this distance, and it is the best way to catch turtles in an urn while the other party is not fast when the other party has just left the port.

But then Elena reported: "Admiral! The Austro-Hungarian formations on the periphery all rushed up! There are a total of eight heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers and a large number of destroyers, and the other side may be about to launch a lightning strike! ”

!

Neurotic! A good cruiser, thinking about lightning strikes every day. Someone feels like they're not playing the same game with Austria-Hungary.

"The capital ships crossed and reunited in formation, with six battle cruisers lined up on the outside, and all light cruisers went forward, blocking in front of the battle patrol to resist the other side. The destroyer went to lightning strike those two battle cruisers! ”

Xu Zhonglin ruled out the compound column formation is a helpless choice, the bay area is too narrow, there is not enough room for detours, the purpose of the cross and vertical is to allow the battle cruiser to use the hull to resist the battleships at a critical moment, and the battleship must ensure that it is in good condition to deal with the twelve capital ships of Austria and Hungary. At this time, there were no escort warships around the opponent's two battle cruisers, and it was relatively safe for Barcelisa to launch a lightning strike.

The first shot fired in this naval battle was the sister of the Zhiyuan and Jingyuan, Daogari, as a battle patrol with reduced armor protection, with nine 381mm guns as powerful as the Veneto class, and scored in the fifth round. A high-explosive shell from the main gun accurately hit a Leipzig-class light cruiser, which collapsed directly on the surface of the sea and did not move.

With the hit of this shell, one after another Austro-Hungarian battleships exploded on the water.

In the end, there were less than 20 Austro-Hungarian warships that could successfully launch lightning strikes, and there was no need for Xu Zhonglin to command, the Italian light cruisers and destroyers on the sea automatically turned on their searchlights to search for torpedo tracks, anti-aircraft machine guns and rapid-fire guns kept firing into the water, and the main guns also roared at the retreating Austro-Hungarian fleet. Six battlecruisers bravely stood in front of the battleship, using their bodies to protect the safety of their teammates.

The battlefield seemed to be very fierce, and from time to time ships exploded and sank, but in fact, Austria-Hungary had no chance of winning at all. The number of auxiliary ships on both sides is evenly matched, and the auxiliary ships should never try to defeat the main ships in a situation of equal power. Thirty or so hounds can never beat the other thirty or so led by a dozen lions.

Xu Zhonglin stared at the direction of the battlefield motionlessly, and Elena was a little curious: "What are you looking at?" ”

"Don't you think it's all beautiful? The duel between steel and steel, the collision of wills and wills, the contest between the brave and the brave. Xu Zhonglin, who already knew the result, naturally looked relaxed, and still had time to understand life.

Elena nodded: "I don't think, in fact, these sacrifices can be avoided. The brown-haired ship's chestnut pupils showed sadness. These lost lives are their own kind.

Xu Zhonglin nodded: "I'm sorry, this is all my order." I know you're trying to say that they should fight the deep sea, and it's not worth dying in the midst of a human strife. ”

"Oh? You're the kind of admiral I have ever seen the most cherished shipwive, and sometimes I even think that you dote too much on your ship's mother, don't you think so? ”

"Originally, I thought so, I was killed by a few gophers outside Casablanca, and I didn't understand them, the ship's mother is such a beautiful creature, why do you have to be so fly-trapped? But you know, if it wasn't for Teresa's luck last time, I might have lost her permanently, and frankly, I can't imagine the consequences, and I don't think I can afford to lose any of you. So, after that time, I thought that if Teresa and her sisters had the battlecruiser hull at that time, it wouldn't have been so dangerous at that time. To put it bluntly, it is still my responsibility as the Admiral, and I don't have enough resources to transform and improve your strength. After that, I figured it out, I'm just a little admiral, and it's my responsibility to ensure that the shipwrecks around me survive, as for others, where can I care? ”

"So you want to make sure we survive by constantly grabbing resources, right?"

"We?" Xu Zhonglin did not answer, but smiled and looked at Elena.

Elena turned her head: "Casualties report: Seventeen enemy ships were sunk, eleven were captured, three of our ships were sunk, fourteen were wounded, six of them were slightly damaged, and two battle cruisers were hit by torpedoes and could not continue the battle. ”

"The wounded returned to Hong Kong in a group, and the prisoners were escorted by the way."

The damage was not significant, two of the three sunken ships were sunk by torpedoes, and the other was hit by the main guns of the bow of the opposing heavy cruisers, which unfortunately lost power and were blown up. The remaining ten seriously damaged warships, including the two battle cruisers, could be repaired as long as they returned to port and recovered their hulls.

Elena frowned, a little worried: "However, with the loss of seventeen auxiliary warships, what will our escort formation do?" ”

Xu Zhonglin waved his hand, with strong confidence: "Didn't you see the dawn?" This is Xiao Hang's mother's time, now, let's deal with the Austro-Hungarian capital ships. ”

On the side of the Austro-Hungarian capital ship, the two battle cruisers were already paralyzed on the sea, and the eleven little cute creatures such as Barcelisa implemented a two-sided lightning strike tactic, that is, they launched a lightning attack charge on the two battle cruisers from the east and south directions at the same time. Then try to release the torpedoes at the same time. In this way, no matter how maneuvering and dodging the opponent, they will never be able to escape the torpedo net they weave.

Of course, this tactic is also limited, this time there are very few auxiliary ships escorting the two battle patrols, plus they have just left the port, the speed cannot be increased, and the detour space is about equal to nothing, and it is almost a live target. Even so, Xu Zhonglin strictly stipulated that Barcelisa and her sisters could only release torpedoes at a distance of 18,000 kilometers recently. The oxygen torpedo could ensure a high speed of 40 knots at this distance, and relying on the numerical superiority of hundreds of rounds, it was forced to live two battle patrols with a total of five torpedoes.

And the eleven destroyers such as Barcelisa and Roman Luna were unscathed.