On the sea, a bloody battle of more than a dozen cruisers is going on.

"Boom!"

Shells from the 152-mm rapid-fire main gun on the Aosta slammed onto the Takachiho, and a 57-mm secondary gun was hit by the explosion, and several crew members at the gun emplacements collapsed in a pool of blood before they could even scream.

"Ambulance!"

A shout sounded nearby, and I saw several shipboard ambulance soldiers carrying stretchers appear in front of me. Their white ambulance suits were covered with various stains, but the bright red blood stains were so conspicuous that they knew at a glance that they had saved many people.

One of the ambulances numbly flipped over with his bloodied hands, and the fallen soldier immediately said to his teammates with his eyelids and chest. "It's hopeless, come back later."

In fact, among them, there were two people panting, but one of the abdomen had a big opening, and the blood couldn't stop flowing out. The other was like a sack that had been punctured, and it had entered the convulsive stage, and the two of them couldn't be saved at first glance.

"Ambulance!"

At this time, the voice of the ambulance was also heard from another position, and the ambulance was immediately summoned.

Don't blame the ambulances for being ruthless, as the battle became more and more intense, the casualties on the ship also increased, and the ambulances did not come at all. Only the lightly wounded can be given priority, followed by the seriously wounded, and the officers and soldiers who died in battle will be talked about when they are done.

And the rescue risk on the ship is also very large, the shells are not long-sighted, like their Gao Chiho before the start of the battle full of twelve ambulance team, now there are only six people who can still work. Several others have either been rescued or will be talked about later.

The situation on the Takachiho is not unique to it, and the warships that participated in the war are basically the same. Naval warfare is not just a collision of steel, but also a fierce consumption of fresh lives.

Of course, there are reasons for the two sides to fight so brutally, and there are reasons for the commanders on both sides. As far as the combined fleet is concerned, after dividing the fleet into two parts, it is ready to contain the death of all the members of the formation. Especially after facing the strength of the Turin level, Ito Yuhyi no longer has the idea of winning all of his previous victories, and a tie is a victory. With the sacrifice of their own containment formation, in exchange for the heavy damage of the opponent's cruiser formation, the combined fleet still has something to earn.

The previous idea of defeating the enemy cruiser and then going to trouble the opposing battleship formation has long been forgotten.

In the previous bombardment stage, the impact of the opponent's Turin-class was too profound, and none of its own warships could withstand the opponent's firepower. It seems that the king of naval warfare is the battleship, and there is not the slightest mistake in this statement.

Thinking of this, Ito Yuhiro couldn't help but say. "If we had known that it would attract the Italians to intervene, we should have waited for the Fuji and Yashima to return home before going to war."

Ito is referring to two battleships that Japan purchased from Britain to deal with the Calm 2 ship, which is a modified version of the Majestic class that is more suitable for Japanese use. The standard displacement reached 12000 tons, it was armed with 4 305-mm guns, 10 guns of 152 secondary guns, and its maximum speed was 18 knots. Although it can't be compared to the Turin level, it can still compete with it. However, these two battleships that Ito Yuhiro has been thinking about are still under construction in the United Kingdom, and it will take at least a year before they can be completed and put into service, so in this war, the Fuji-class will not be able to catch up.

Of course, since the distant water could not quench the thirst of the near, Ito Yuhiro could only rely on the two 10,000-ton ships under his feet, Yoshino and Akitsuzu. So in order to play the role of the two ships, and also to inflict greater losses on the Italian warships, Ito Yuheni abandoned the formation artillery bombardment, and instead adopted a melee to try to leave more enemies behind.

"Good fight!"

A cheer from the ship pulled Vice Admiral Ito out of his musings.

"What's going on?"

Ito, who was still inexplicably wonderful, immediately heard the pleased explanation of the captain Kawara.

"Your Excellency, Vice Admiral, this is the main gun of the enemy ship Venice after being hit by our ship, and the enemy ship has been heavily damaged."

"Nani!"

Ito Yuhiro hurriedly raised the binoculars in his hand to look over, only to see billowing smoke coming out of the position of the main gun on the rear deck of the Venice in the distance, which was obviously the result of being damaged.

"We fought very well, commend the officers and men who broke the enemy's main guns, and order the Qiujinzhou to immediately set fire to the Venice, and we must get a breakthrough from the ship."

In fact, without Ito Yuhiro's order, Captain Hikonojo Uemura of the Akitsuzu had already given the order to fire at the Venice after seeing the situation of the Venice.

Two 10,000-ton warships poured fire on the Venice, making the Venice naturally more dangerous.

As the commander of the interception formation, Rear Admiral Levy knew the danger of the Venice better than others, because he was on the ship. The Venice was really unlucky, the enemy ship's 254 mm shells smashed right on the weakest top of the turret, and the main gun was scrapped after the 254 mm on the top layer was broken. Thankfully, the ammunition room under the turret was unharmed, otherwise the Venice would have been finished.

In the face of such a tragic situation, Major General Levy did not consider preserving the Venice. "Send an order to the Brescia, give priority to attacking the enemy Yoshino, let them let go of the fight, and the two ships of the other side should give priority to attacking the Venice."

He then spoke to Lieutenant Commander Gomes, the captain of the Venice. "Order the battleship to continue attacking the enemy Yoshino, we have no way back."

Gomes, who had been hit by the explosion of the main cannon just now, nodded. "I won't let go of the bastard who hurt the Venice."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his head and yelled at the other officers. "Aim all your guns at the bastard Yoshino, let them taste our wrath, and let these Japanese monkeys know how good we are. Also, let the fire brigade move quickly, I don't want to see this smoke coming out of our battleship. ”

Gomes's words inspired the officers and men of the Venice, who continued to fight back with their guns in high spirits.

Rear Admiral Levy was very satisfied with Gomes's performance, and he deserved to be an outstanding young officer in the navy, and it was indeed very good to inspire the morale of the officers and men.

However, Rear Admiral Levy knew in his heart that although the Venice continued to maintain its fighting spirit by relying on words, the destroyed main guns really reduced the firepower output.

Previously, in terms of firepower, the eight 254-mm guns of Venice and Brescia were not inferior to the Yoshino and Akitsuzu of the other side. And now two are damaged, this is six to eight, they are inferior to their opponents in the output of the main artillery. In addition, there is a little gap in speed, although the Venice has been well maintained by the naval officers and sailors for many years, but the maximum speed has dropped somewhat, and in addition, the maximum speed duration is not as good as before.

Of course, more importantly, the two Venice-class patrol ships are indeed weaker in armor than the other party's British 10,000-ton patrol ship. After all, with a gap of more than 2,000 tons, even if the design is reasonable, in the case of almost the same difference in firepower and speed, it can only sacrifice part of the defense power. And it was for this reason that the Venice suffered a big loss in this naval battle.

In fact, the Venice Improvement Class is not weak, even after nearly eight years of service, it is still very deterrent. However, in recent years, various countries have been outfitted and patrolled in an endless stream, and everyone is coming up with new things, so unconsciously, the Venice Improvement Level has felt that it is not going to keep up with the times.

Regarding the problem that the Venice Improved class has almost fallen out of the first echelon of the patrol class, there has always been a call in the Italian Navy to build new ships, and the two naval ministers are also clear about this. Moreover, the design drawings of the new patrol in the Navy's ship design department have also been piled up.

However, if they want to equip new ships, the two naval ministers can only spread their hands and have no money.

No money is a big problem, don't look at the Italian Navy's military spending is rising every year, but it is spent more. If we exclude the annual maintenance costs of warships, personnel training costs, maintenance and renovation costs of naval bases, and research and development expenses for new technologies, then there will not be much left for the navy to build new ships.

But don't forget, Italy doesn't just rely on patrolling, other warships can't be built. Especially in recent years, Italy has fought several wars, and the navy needs to spend some military expenses on its own in the war.

Therefore, the Navy will be so active in the Sino-Japanese war that will be involved in the Far East. There is no more temptation to make money from fighting a war than this for the Italian Navy, which has been struggling for several years.

Of course, this is all for later, and for the current Major General Levy, winning this naval battle is the most important thing. However, although his side seemed to be at a disadvantage, Major General Levy did not regret engaging in a dogfight-like melee with the enemy.

Because if the enemy breaks through and they attack the convoy of transports in the rear, then it will be an insult to the Italian Navy. And he is not without killer features, and it is still unknown who will kill the deer.