"17,000 meters!"

At 5:38, when Hong Renkun, the observer on the Kongming, shouted out this long-awaited number for Guo Xiaobao, on the sea a few hundred meters away, the twin 320 mm 45 times diameter cannon on the bow of the "Chongming Island" "beggar version battleship" took the lead in firing, and the violent vibration made the standard row of 8,000 tons and the full row of 10,500 tons of the beggar version of the battleship tremble violently, and the muzzle of the gun spewed out dark red flames that made every Daming sailor clench their fists excitedly. But the British sailors on the Dignity on the other side all raised their hearts to their throats.

Many of them had participated in the Battle of Malacca and the Battle of the Gretel Strait, and they knew the power of the Ming Navy! Moreover, the "Chongming Island" was only the first to fire guns, not the only "beggar's version of battleship" to fire guns. The Ming Navy had long mastered the method of concentrating fire, so the muzzles of the 24 320-mm cannons equipped with the 12 "beggar-version battleships" on the sea were all aimed at the battleship "Dignity", which was the first.

After only 2 minutes, a dense rain of bullets enveloped the massive body of the Dignity - it was a straddle shot! At the same time, both the Monarch Rank who had completed the turn and those who had not yet completed the turn began to counterattack with their 10-inch cannons, and the sea was suddenly filled with gunsmoke and cannon rumbling!

Just as the vanguard of the two sides began to exchange fire, something suddenly happened in the sky, and a group of more than 90 fighters, black and pressed, through the clouds, rushed towards the formation of British battleships that were turning in formation on the sea.

"Damn the plane!"

He was waiting to see his own monarch-class, the Emperor of India-class, and William IV-class who violently beat the Ming beggar version of the battleship. What a hatred in Bhaga's heart! I can't wait to put on my wings and fly up to pull out the Ming pilots sitting in those small planes, and bite them to death.

"Air defense! Watch out for air defense!"

William. Baga didn't dare not take the small wooden plane in the sky seriously...... The British Empire has had enough of these little planes!

And with this order of his, the originally neat formation of British battleships began to writhe on the sea. As soon as the ship twisted, the accuracy of the shot immediately went down. But that can't be helped, who dares to be honestly bombed now?

However, the targets of the more than 90 planes that attacked were not the monarch-class who were engaged in a cannon battle with the beggar-version of the battleships of the Ming Dynasty, but the 6 Indian emperor-class and 2 King William IV-class ships following the 11 monarch-class...... After all, they're the real big fish!

In the meantime, has returned to William. The 3 aircraft-carrying armored cruisers in Baga's large formation have also begun to "release pigeons" - although these "pigeon machines" cannot defeat the Sea Dragon 2, and they are not the opponents of Ssangyong 2, but they are not completely useless. At the very least, it can force the Ssangyong 2 to drop the bomb, and it can also pose a certain threat to the more agile Brontosaurus torpedo bombers.

The warplanes of both sides quickly fought in the sky above 6 Indian Emperor class and 2 King William IV class!

The Ming Army's Ssangyong 2 and Thunder Dragon planes had suffered a small loss under the hands of the "pigeon machine" before, and this time they didn't dare to get close to them, so they had to wander around the periphery far away, but the Sea Dragon 2 was not afraid of them...... This is a professional fighter with strong firepower, strong maneuverability and speed! Even if you hang a 100-kilogram bomb, you can turn a "pigeon machine" into a "sieve machine"! ….

But the Wyvern 2 is a biplane after all, and it will take some time to finish the "pigeon machine" in the air.

And just as the fighting and strangulation began in the air, the shelling on the sea surface was already getting more and more intense!

At 5:48, 10 minutes after the 12 "Beggar's Battleships" and 11 "Sovereign" class battleships clashed, with a loud "boom", the Dignity of the Sovereign-class battleship burst into flames, and a 320 mm armor-piercing shell hit its amidship superstructure, although it did not hit any vital points, but the huge hull of 10,000 tons trembled a few times, and then 6 10-inch 45 times caliber cannons also roared and roared, like an enraged beast.

But the Dignity's anger did not bring it higher accuracy of shelling, in order to avoid following the cruisers and destroyers behind the Ming army's "beggar-version battleships".

Launching a torpedo attack, the distance between the British 1st battleship formation and the "beggar's version of the battleship" was ...... For the 6 10-inch guns of the monarch class, it is indeed a little farther. But for a 320-mm cannon of the "Island" class, this distance is just right.

The reason for this is that in addition to the fact that the 320 mm cannon is farther than the 10-inch cannon, the optical rangefinder used by the Ming Navy is better than that used by the British Army, and the artillery staff and calculation soldiers of the Ming Navy have better mathematics, they not only have stronger mental arithmetic ability, but also have a "manual intelligence" calculation tool - abacus! No matter how difficult the calculation is, you don't need to break your fingers......

Although there were only 24 320-mm guns, the Ming fleet was pressed against the British No. 1 battleship formation with 66 9.2-inch guns, and it was not at all at a disadvantage.

In addition, although the 11 monarchs of the British Royal Navy have 66 cannons, they cannot shoot the rate of fire at all because of the immature triple turret design...... This monarch level, bad luck fell on the main gun!

First, the 13.5-inch rack was almost useless because the rate of fire was too slow, and now after replacing the triple 9.2-inch gun, although the situation is better, the rate of fire of the six guns is at most four guns, which is not very accurate......

At 5:50, the Dignity, which was targeted by 24 320mm cannons, finally ushered in its second "shipper"!

This time, it was the waterline armor belt in the bow of the ship that hit hard!

A 320-mm armor-piercing projectile is no joke! Not to mention a veteran ship like the monarchy, even the King William IV is enough to choke on it.

With a loud bang, a huge hole was blown out of the bow of the Dignity, and the sea water rushed into it as if it didn't need money (it didn't need money in the first place). It didn't take long for its bow to sink significantly.

Although the bow of the Dignity did not continue to sink after several compartments were sealed, the balance of the body was no longer there, and the three 9.2-inch cannons in the bow had lost their alignment due to the tilt of the hull.

In addition, due to the large amount of water entering the bow, the speed of the battleship also fell from 20 knots to 17 knots...... It has gradually become a backward existence!

Just one minute later, the salvo of 12 "Island" ships hit the Dignity again, this time a 320mm shell directly hit the bow turret of the Dignity class, and it was a direct breakdown and explosion!

In just ten minutes, the battleship Dignity, which rushed to the forefront of the British battle formation, had already suffered a "first shot" and lost most of its combat effectiveness.

However, the British army had a bad start and it was just beginning! Next unfortunate was the "Emperor of India", the lead ship of the Emperor's Rapid Combat Force.

As more and more pigeon machines are shot down, the shelter of the pigeon machines has lost its effectiveness.

At this moment, a group of Ssangyong reconnaissance bombers finally broke through the air defense network of the "Emperor of India" and sent a heavy armor-piercing bomb into the middle of the "Emperor of India".

After a violent explosion, a very fatal hole was blown out of the chimney and aft deck of the "Emperor of India" ship......

。.

Big Rollo