"Fire!" With a shout, the loaders began to get busy in the small metal space, and the huge cannon latch was pulled from inside, and a wave of hot air spread through the barrel. The machinery began to roar, the engines began to spin, the chains began to roll, and the space was filled with a cacophony.

Soon, a cannonball rose from the steel tunnel under its feet, and it was pushed up the transport elevator from a few dozen meters under its feet, and then with the rotation of the engine, it crossed the armor protection partition and the thicker layer of the battleship's main armor to the inside of the turret of the main gun.

"Loader!" another shout rang out, and several men scrambled to unload the heavy shell from the elevator using improvised lifting machinery, shouting slogans, and placing the shell on the loading track.

Then, with the operation of the electric machinery, the shell was pushed into the chamber of the 406 mm cannon by a metal rod with a soft head, and the long push rod retreated to its original position with the repeated movement of the machine.

"Charge!" such a huge caliber shell is not a single shell, nor is it a separate warhead and propellant. The propellant required for this shell is basically very similar to the explosive pack, and the loader needs to stack the packet of propellant charge neatly according to the requirements of the firing range, and push the ejector into the chamber again from the ejector lever just now.

Soon, the firing charges were neatly stacked on the reloading track. The main reason why all large-caliber guns cannot fire continuously and must return to a fixed angle to reload is mainly because the ammunition of these huge guns must rely on a complex reloading assistance system, and this system cannot follow the pitching movement of the cannon.

"Whoa!" With a series of sounds, the firing charge was pushed into the chamber of the gun, and then the two loaders skillfully folded the loading track, one left and one right, after all, the gun needs a recoil distance when firing, and if the slide is not put away, it will be smashed by the recoil of the gun.

"Gun No. 1 is loaded! ready!" said one of the non-commissioned officers in the loader, as he returned to his position.

The shooting correction non-commissioned officer over there also put down the phone in his hand almost at the same time, and loudly repeated the shooting Zhu Yuan he had just received: "The angle remains the same! Correct 0 to the left." 2. Wait for the order to fire!"

The artillery angle control team not far behind him repeated his command loudly, fiddling with his hand on the electrically assisted instrument panel as he repeated: "The firing angle remains the same, corrects 0 to the left." 2...... Ready!"

As they shouted, the tail of the No. 1 gun began to sink little by little, which also indicated that the muzzle of the gun was rapidly rising. After regaining the same height as when it had just been fired, the cannon waited motionless.

"Fire!" With an order, a huge roar came from outside the deck, and the entire battleship shook at this earth-shattering roar, and everyone involuntarily narrowed their eyes.

The propellant burst open, forming a thick smoke that covered the sky and the sun, and even blew a fresh wind on the nearby sea, and the huge cannonball pierced the sky and flew towards the target in the distance - and then it finally landed on the sea not far from the target, and exploded to form a column of water dozens of stories high.

In the firing command post near the control tower on the top of the battleship, a non-commissioned officer put down the binoculars in his hand, grabbed the phone next to him, and loudly reported his observations into the microphone: "Gun No. 1! Misses bullets closely! Altitude correction 0." 1！”

On the bridge, the captain of the battleship Washington frowned, staring helplessly at the sea in the distance, he did not expect the Japanese battleship to take the initiative to entangle, and it was impossible for him to get support from friendly aircraft at this time.

You must know that the level of artillery warfare of US battleships can only be regarded as an average level, and the ammunition of this kind of large-scale killer weapon is expensive, and the firing life of the gun barrel is relatively short.

Apparently the Japanese had more faith, having just hit the tail of the North Carolina, and although they did no fatal damage, it was the only time that either side had ever hit an opponent. Relying on their numerical superiority, the Americans used intensive artillery fire to sieve the sea near the Japanese battleship Hyuga, while the Japanese desperately fought back, trying to drag the American troops and prevent them from reinforcing other battlefields.

"Boom!" In the midst of the anxiety, the No. 2 gun fired again, and this shell also did not make any achievements, flying over the chimney of the Japanese battleship and landing behind the Japanese warship, it was still a huge explosion, and it was still a magnificent column of water, but the Japanese battleship was floating on the sea intact.

"The No. 2 gun did not hit the target, and it formed a straddle fire! Keep the angle and continue to shoot! Keep the angle and continue to shoot!" In the firing command post, the observer shouted excitedly, generally speaking, as long as the straddle of the artillery is formed, then the distance to hit the target is relatively close.

Inside the bridge, the adjutant asked Halsey, who was anxious to end the battle as soon as possible, with his hands behind his back: "Sir, if that doesn't work, let's take off the school plane for observation......

In the beginning, it was the American warships and planes that were bullying the Japanese army, so there was no need to take off the school-firing planes to rest the artillery, but now there is a stalemate in the artillery battle, and the artillery on both sides is coming and going, and they are all at a visual distance, so there is no longer the opportunity to delay the firing and take off the school-firing planes -- but now the American warships, although they have obvious advantages, have repeatedly missed, and this makes the first mate have to think of a better way.

"Boom!" Gun No. 3 opened fire at this time, and then a miracle occurred just as the American captain was about to give the order to stop the artillery fire and take off the plane to correct the artillery fire......

The No. 3 gun of the A turret in the bow of the USS Washington hit the A turret of the Japanese battleship's bow turret, and a shell accurately hit the armor steel plate, completely reimbursing one of the Japanese turrets, which also reduced the density of the Japanese artillery a lot.

Seeing that the Japanese warship rose to flames and began to burn, there was a cheer from the American battleship. Although everyone knew that they were using two new battleships to attack an old battleship, and it was not honorable to bully more than less, but after all, it was much better to be able to hit than not to miss, so no one cared about those details and began to adjust the cannon harder.

"Hit! hit! Keep firing! Keep firing!" When the observer in the shooting command post reported, he was so excited that even his voice changed a little. His excitement can be heard, after all, winning the Japanese in the shelling is a very encouraging thing for the Americans.

Such a jubilant atmosphere did not last long, the cheers of the Americans here have not ended, the battleship of North Carolina over there was also hit by the main guns of the battleship Hyuga, and for a time the cheers of the Americans withered, and it seemed that the short-term joy just now was wiped out invisibly with the bullet of the North Carolina.

The battleship Hyuga was, after all, an old battleship, armed with 356 mm guns, instead of the 406 mm guns installed on the four battleships of the US Navy. Therefore, in terms of the penetration power of the shells, it is simply not comparable to the giant artillery of the US army, although the Japanese Navy has hit the US warship twice in a row, but it has not caused any substantial damage to the US warship.

After all, the warships of the US Navy are new warships that have just been launched in 1939, and the Hyuga of the Japanese Navy is already an old antique that was commissioned in 1918. Even after a modernization, it can no longer meet the needs of the decisive battle. So when the Japanese battleship hit the American battleship for the third time, it still did not slow down the North Carolina.

After such an exchange of hits, the Americans also forgot about taking off the school plane, and since they were able to hit the opponent, there was no longer much need to stop shooting and go to the deck to take off the observation plane.

The artillery of both sides was firing at each other, and the Japanese were very accurate, like their teachers, the British, who were very good at naval artillery battles. However, the caliber of their cannons was a little smaller, and they could not inflict fatal injuries on American warships. The Americans' artillery was powerful enough, but they didn't shoot very accurately......

The show continued, and just as the USS Washington had narrowed the distance to 20 kilometers, they finally hit each other again, the middle of the hull of the battleship Hyuga was hit by the North Carolina with a single shot, and the stern of the battleship North Carolina was also hit again.

At this time, both sides paid a heavy price, and the battleship Hyuga immediately burst into flames, and the turret in the middle of the hull instantly became silent. The Americans seem to have hit its important position, and the Japanese battleships, which could barely fight just now, have lost their combat power at this moment.

Of course, the new American battleship North Carolina also failed to pick up the bargain, although it hit the opponent in one fell swoop, and made the opponent basically lose the ability to fight, but it seems that its tail was also hit with problems, and the speed suddenly dropped to less than half of the original.