"The USS Qiangsheng 1st class armored cruiser. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)"

"Two Nelson-class battleships, USS Agamemnon, HMS Lord Clyde."

"Apollo-class second-class protective cruisers, four."

"Adventure-class third-class reconnaissance cruisers, two."

Thirteen large ocean-going freighters were blocked in the Persian Gulf by three British cruisers near Abu Musa Island in the southwest of the Strait of Hormuz.

He used to be a Beiyang torpedo ship pipe belt, and then took off his military uniform and joined the Pacific Freight Company, relying on his familiarity with navigation, he quickly became in charge of the fleet, full-time to take the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, plus the previous experience of naval service, so he is very familiar with the warships of various countries, and it is said that he can carry down even a small destroyer of the British Navy.

With the start of the Balkan war, the Ottoman Empire faced several attacks, and Europe officially began the arms race, his task became heavy, originally this time was to directly transport this batch of supplies to Istanbul, but because the British made trouble, blocked the Suez Canal and deliberately did not allow the arms ships to pass, so as to take the opportunity to hit the Ottomans and weaken the old empire that could help Germany, so he had to negotiate with the Ottomans and unload the goods in Kuwait and transport them by land from there.

To be honest, he was not satisfied with the unloading of goods in Kuwait, because the Ottomans were afraid that it would not be enough months to go inland to transport 13 10,000-ton ships of weapons and supplies, but fortunately there were more than 200 trucks in the oil fields, which could finally help them.

But he only frowned at the time, because the Ottomans had already paid the money, so people said that unloading there was there, and there was no need to find him *** heart.

It's just that he didn't expect that when he returned home, he was intercepted by the British fleet, and not only was he shot and killed two guys, but he was also blocked in this narrow waterway.

Although the power of the cargo ship radio is insufficient, fortunately, there is a high-power radio station in the Kuwait oil field, which can quickly contact the country, but although the country has replied that it will wait patiently and will go all out to rescue, but looking at the posture of the British, this time it is obvious that they want to bully others and avenge the Gilberto Islands, and even completely drive China out of here and dispel the idea of building the Baghdad railway.

So if you want to break this situation, I'm afraid it won't be easy, especially since this is the sphere of influence of the British Navy, whether it is supply or logistics, it has obvious advantages.

What kind of warships will be sent to the country? Just looking at those two battleships and monsters, the general displacement is as high as 14,200 tons, and the freeboard is higher than the freighter, at least the battleship is needed to solve the problem!

So will the Navy send battleships to come here across almost three thousand nautical miles?

Wang Ping was thinking about it, the radio station in the bridge suddenly made a ticking sound, this sound immediately made everyone around, because it was not a special and complex military code, just a shortcode used for everyone's usual contact, so the telegram was very translated. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

"Captain, the rescue fleet has arrived in the Gulf of Oman, please provide us with the number and type of the British fleet at once."

"Send it according to this." After the telegraph operator finished speaking, Wang Ping handed over the record in his hand, and after a while, the radio rang again, and the telegraph operator said: "Captain, the rescue fleet has asked us to return to Kuwait immediately. ”

"Return to Kuwait? Don't save us? ”

"That's right, let's just go back, it's not in vain!"

"What, isn't there enough warships sent by the Navy?"

In the bridge, everyone was talking nonsense, but Wang Ping, the only one with naval experience, had his eyes lit up and waved his hand: "Go and prepare, leave immediately, the navy is going to war!" ”

"War? Over here! ”

This sentence immediately made everyone shout, this is Persia, and it is also the Indian Ocean outside?! The Navy really wants to recklessly protect itself and go home! Immediately, everyone was excited and worried, but fortunately, Wang Ping was experienced, and immediately calmed everyone and drove the boat first.

A few minutes later, thirteen cargo ships blocked in the Persian Gulf began to catch fire, and this scene suddenly caused the British fleet watching from a distance to call the flag to ask for a flag, and Rear Admiral Cameron of the Indian fleet in the bridge of the Qiangsheng frowned.

"Sir, they want to leave."

"Report, the Rainbow asks if it's going to open a cannon to intercept it."

Shouts and inquiries rang in Cameron's ears, but he raised his arms very quickly: "Everyone, let them go, we are not butchers, and the Chinese fleet should already be nearby!" ”

"What, the Chinese are coming? How can it be? Now on the sixth day, will they fly? ”

"Nothing is impossible!" Cameron interrupted the conversation and buttoned up his collar, as an aristocratic officer with a good education in the British Empire, he needed to maintain his demeanor in battle.

Seeing his habitual action, the bridge suddenly fell silent, and everyone began to get busy, and as he buckled the buttons, a series of orders were issued at once.

The first to break away from the fleet were two Adventure-class three-class protection cruisers, the Adventure and the Careful, the fleet's fastest small cruisers, tasked with helping Cameron determine where the enemy was.

As the two ships passed by the Qiangsheng at a high speed, the two first-generation battleships in the core had also slowly approached, followed by four Apollo-class second-class cruisers, and they were protected by the capital ship in pairs.

Rear Admiral Cameron turned his head and looked at the Chinese fleet that was gradually moving away, he didn't know at this moment that it was precisely because he let go of the fleet and did not implement ***, and inadvertently saved the lives of 675 sailors on the Qiangsheng.

At the same time, Li Xiuyan on board the Weiqing gave the first order, and the right rudder entered Cape Hafah and advanced along the protruding Strait of Hormuz on the Oman Peninsula close to the coastline, while the speed dropped to 15 knots.

He was not frightened by receiving a telegram that the enemy had three capital ships and four cruisers of the second class, but because he had been sailing at high speed for five hours in the power group, and he needed to check it well before engaging the enemy.

Li Xiuyan opened the chart table, because the destroyer does not have a command tower, and the navigation bridge is almost a command post, so many facilities are similar to submarines, such as the chart table can be folded, and it can be folded up and pasted on the bulkhead when it is not needed, and it can be pulled away when needed.

The fleet left safely, and the British fleet did not implement *** made him breathe a sigh of relief, originally thought that the British would use the fleet as a prisoner to blackmail themselves, but now it seems that the British Empire is at least a little graceful.

This news made him make a decision that was criticized for a long time by later naval research scholars, not to use torpedoes in non-emergency moments!

This decision was later overturned, and even post-war European scholars could not study it thoroughly, because what this captain of the Watson Dynasty did in the back was simply more terrible than the devil, and he almost buried Europe alone, so he thought that he was not graceful, nor did he have a sense of the overall situation, and he was not afraid of a full-scale war between the two countries, but that he set off in a hurry and did not have enough torpedoes.

In fact, Li Xiuyan was indeed faced with the problem of a shortage of torpedoes in a hurry, the Wei Qing had four Lance-2 torpedoes, the partner ships Li Mu and Bai Qi only had two, Tiandan had four, and Sun Bin had three, but one of them was still a training bomb with insufficient charge.

If it is a big war, then this kind of equipment means that they can go home, but now he knows very well that the navy is powerful and has not thought that it can solve this conflict crisis and destroy the British fleet with five destroyers, and the reason why they are here is not only to show their speed and show their muscles, but also to give their people a chance to exercise, is to let Britain know clearly.

The flotilla was seized, and the empire was angry!

However, the torpedo is not enough, it does not mean that there is no killer feature, in fact, he has another key good thing in his hand, that is, the semi-armor-piercing projectile that has just begun to be equipped!

The so-called semi-armor-piercing projectile, in fact, is the name set by Hua himself, this kind of shell is not developed for the main gun, but specially developed for the 152 mm and 130 mm rapid-fire guns separately.

After so many years of development and actual combat experience, the navy has accumulated enough experience and discovered many shortcomings, one of the key of which is the problem of rapid-fire secondary artillery ammunition.

The shells of the 152 mm naval gun are good to say, because of the large number of equipment of the light cruiser, so a heavy cap-piercing shell was specially developed for it, but after actual combat, everyone also found that the special cap-piercing shell is not omnipotent, especially in the face of small targets, and it is not even as effective as a high-explosive shell, because the enemy's thin armor will only let the shells pass through.

As for the 130-mm rapid-fire gun, it is not equipped with special armor-piercing shells at all, this is not a lack of technology, but the consumption ratio of armor-piercing shells is too uneconomical, because the price of a capped armor-piercing shell is more than three times that of ordinary shells, not to mention that no one will use 130-mm naval guns against large warships, plus 130-mm shells are not divided but assembled, and it is very troublesome to replace.

Therefore, the L47 130mm naval gun itself has been changed and changed over the years, and it has now been developed into the third generation, and the accuracy and speed have improved a lot, but the bullet has not made a big breakthrough.

However, this situation was finally solved not long ago, mainly because of the emergence of special cemented carbide steel, after the Ministry of Science and Technology made a hard alloy steel, it solved a big problem for the armament department, and as the destroyers and protective cruisers of various countries are getting bigger and bigger, so they also need a special restraint ammunition, so this semi-armor-piercing bullet came into being.

To put it bluntly, in fact, the shape of the shell has not changed much, but it is two kilograms heavier, and the warhead is more slender, but the interior has changed a lot.

According to the tests, the power of the explosion after the use of this shell does not decrease, but the armor-piercing thickness is significantly increased, and it can penetrate the 152 mm armor currently commonly used in various countries within six thousand meters, and because the penetration is not so strong, it rarely appears to be directly penetrated.

And the big advantage is that the price of this kind of shell is only a little higher than that of ordinary armor-piercing shells, as the navy is currently equipped with a lot of first-class rapid-fire naval guns, the total number of about 1,000 first-class rapid-fire naval guns, the ammunition consumption of 130 mm naval guns is extremely amazing, so the price increase is not much, but the power of the shells has risen sharply, so the Admiralty immediately placed a purchase order of 500,000 pieces.

However, it is said that the guys in the armament department are not satisfied, and are preparing to use a patented formula called Hei Suojin bought from German scientists to develop a powerful ** filling shell, and strive to make this semi-armor-piercing shell of the only one in China become the nemesis of all small warships.

As a destroyer of the first generation, the Weiqing has three twin L47/130mm naval guns, and is the main force to deal with the enemy's small targets, so it is natural to enjoy the treatment of the first batch of equipment.

This time, five destroyers carried this kind of semi-armor-piercing shells, and each gun had fifty, so when he saw the British fleet information sent by the fleet, he immediately filtered two powerful battleships, and instead took the Qiangsheng as the first target!

It's very simple, although it has two perverted 234mm naval guns, but on the hull that is too powerful and tall, except for the command tower, which is 305mm Harvey armor, the total thickness in other places is only 152mm!

Strong!

At 10:15, Li Xiuyan looked at the scattered islands in the Strait of Hormuz, hooked the corners of his mouth, and immediately selected the first assault target, and at the same time ordered to return to the 25th section again!

！ ~！