"What's that?! A destroyer?! ”

The Honolulu spotted the Chang-eup, which had been the first to break out of the smoke curtain, and in order to lock on to this dangerous target, the captain immediately ordered the searchlight to be turned on.

Two beams of light appeared one after another, shooting towards the rapidly approaching Ming destroyer, and the snow-white light illuminated the bridge and hull of the Changyi clearly, as if it was a performer in the spotlight.

The captain of the Changyi raised his hand to cover his eyes while issuing a series of orders, "Order! Reflective, reflective! The stern of the ship is smoking, and the left is full of rudders! ”

The ordinary Dinghai-class destroyer immediately turned on its searchlights to reflect the Honolulu and used a smoke generator to drag a thick cloud of gray-white smoke across the sea.

She swerved sharply to the left as she pulled the smoke, and the arc soon blended with the smoke, and the battleship tilted so hard that the sailors clenched at whatever they could grasp.

Soon, the Changyi disappeared into the wall of billowing smoke that it had released.

A few dozen seconds ago, the destroyer Fanchang also rushed out of the smoke curtain that was gradually dissipating, and suddenly saw the Honolulu that was shooting at each other with a searchlight with the Changyi.

She immediately attacked the light cruiser with all available weapons, and the single 128mm naval guns and the twin 38.4mm anti-aircraft guns roared.

The Honolulu's superstructure burst into flames, shattering glass and shattered scraps of steel.

The Fanchang, which was attacking the Honolulu with all its might, was immediately subjected to heavy shelling from the nearby destroyer USS Grayson, and in an instant, the water jets splashed in all directions!

"Boom! Rumble! ”

Two 127mm shells hit the middle of the ship, and the shells exploded inside after penetration, causing many casualties.

Previously, the three Ming light patrols set fire and severely damaged the Phoenix light patrol, so that the latter interrupted the command for a while, leaving only unorganized sporadic counterattacks.

Now they were ready to turn their guns and work together again to annihilate another target in their sights, the destroyer Benham.

But what they never expected was that the Northampton Heavy Patrol locked the Qiantang River Light Patrol through the smoke curtain that was about to dissipate during this period.

As soon as it left the smoke curtain, the Northampton fired the first salvo at the Qiantang River, which was less than seven kilometers away.

The triple 203mm main gun was pointed at her in unison, and dazzling flames erupted from the muzzle!

A few seconds later, huge waves rushed from both sides of the Qiantang River, and one of the shells effortlessly pierced the side of the No. 1 turret.

"Boom !!"

The violent explosion instantly tore apart the triple 144mm naval gun turret, and a piece of turret wreckage was lifted off and smashed into the bridge, killing a Guantong soldier and getting stuck in the window.

The three Ming light patrols hurriedly turned their targets and tried to work together to suppress this heavy patrol.

At this distance, the 144mm naval guns of the Ming Navy, which were designed to efficiently hunt destroyers and light cruisers, were rather embarrassing.

Because of the design of high diameter, high bore pressure and high muzzle velocity, the body of the anti-detonation bomb is thicker and the charge coefficient is low. Originally, the caliber was smaller than the mainstream 6-inch naval guns, so the power of the anti-explosive bomb was even less.

Shells rained down on the Northampton, and every now and then a shell hit and exploded.

But this was only a thunderstorm and a small rain, and the damage to the Northampton was minimal.

Five minutes later, her eleventh volley delivered a heavy blow to the Qiantangjiang.

"Boom—"

The bridge of the latter exploded violently, bursting into a dazzling flash, and countless fragments fell into the sea one after another like scattered flowers of the Heavenly Maiden, and the Ming sailors of the surrounding warships witnessed this terrifying scene.

Most of the officers, including the captain, were killed on the spot, only a small number survived, and the entire battleship was suddenly out of command, and the sailors on the battle positions were greeted by neighboring officers.

The battleships on both sides hastily stopped firing because they were previously blocked by smoke curtains, which was undoubtedly a good thing for the originally unfavorable side, after all, there was no need to carry 406mm armor-piercing shells through the strait to form a formation.

But now, as the battle progresses, the Ming army is about to get involved with the U.S. fleet with a bold impact, and both sides have left the previous position of the smoke curtain one after another during the voyage.

"Half a salvo, put."

"Order!"

Another reason why Liu Zaiyao and other generals decided to make this decision after careful consideration was ammunition.

Don't look at the Yuanjiao-class battleship is an old lady who has been in service one after another in the sixteenth year of Zhichang, but after all, it is also an important weapon of the country, and the Naval Ordnance Gezhi Research Institute has also developed a new type of ammunition for it to improve its combat power.

The weight of the new 352mm armor-piercing projectile has been increased to 648 kg, and the muzzle velocity is also 795 m/s, which can reach a penetration depth of about 350 mm at 12 km.

As a senior capital ship commander, Liu Zaiyao knows that the thickness of the broadside main armor belt of the Colorado class should also be the traditional 13~14 inches of American battleships, which means that the Motokari class can also effectively penetrate the opponent in close combat.

In actual combat, the hit rate of night artillery battles was much lower than the training results, and the battleships of both sides took turns firing volleys at a distance of less than 10,000 meters.

The blast wind when the main gun was fired rolled up in gusts of waves, and shells as heavy as cars smashed into the sea and set off a monstrous column of water!

"Sir! Enemy destroyers are still approaching! ”

Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher is now in a very different situation, but he still maintains the composure and composure necessary for an admiral.

"Our destroyers will stop them." He said calmly.

In his opinion, the TF-12 fleet still has a great advantage, and the Northampton can deal with three Ming light cruisers with one enemy and three on its own.

He believed that his own corvette would be able to contain a few Ming destroyers that were fearlessly charged—which was not a problem in theory.

Aren't the Chinese very particular about geography when fighting wars? The history of wars in the East and the West proves that it is absurd to rely on brute force alone to overcome geographical disadvantage.

If the situation continued like this, it would be impossible for the Ming fleet to break through the interception, and then it could only retreat with regret, and the TF-12 fleet successfully completed its mission.

The clock came to 1:59, the 22nd minute after the battle began.

"Knock knock—"

A deafening roar was heard, and the Maryland fired her fourth salvo.

Suddenly, the lookout saw a conspicuous burst of fire from the Yuan Seal in the distance, and immediately realized that the salvo had hit.

"Oh-"

"We did it!"

"Well done!"

The bridge of the Maryland erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

Because of the inconsistencies in coordination, the Yuan Feng and the Yuan Ding set fire to the West Virginia together; The West Virginia and the Maryland are fighting their own battles.

In the next two rounds of salvos, the Maryland was successfully targeted, and the Yuan Feng was hit by 4 406mm armor-piercing shells in a matter of minutes!

Her bow anchor chain compartment was destroyed, a chimney was blown up, fires broke out in many places throughout the ship, and the bridge was hit.

A large hole was opened in the side of the bridge, and all the officers and men in the chart room were spared, the deputy captain and the chief navigator were both killed, and Liu Zaiyao in the command tower also knocked his head due to the violent vibration, and his face was covered with blood.

"Where's the chief soldier?!"

"Call the medic here!"

"Report! Observed a shot in the bow of an enemy ship! ”

The West Virginia, which was set on fire by two Ming battleships, also suffered some damage, and she was hit with five 352mm armor-piercing shells.

The hit C turret had a mechanical failure and could not rotate; One of the underwater bullets exploded after penetrating a compartment in the rear of the hull, damaging one of the propeller spindles next door and forcing it to shut down.

At this time, a seaplane that had been hovering in the night sky for a long time flew over the warring sea again, and some 12.7mm tracer bullets swept past it and pierced the starry sky.

It dropped two aerial flares in quick succession, and the light of both of them overshadowed several artillery flares floating in the sky.

In an instant, the entire sea was illuminated as if it were daylight.

More than a dozen destroyers from the two sides were entangled, maneuvering, chasing, and firing at each other, firing and dropping torpedoes while releasing smoke screens.

The sea was filled with the white tracks of slow-moving torpedoes, and the intensity of the naval battle was indescribable, and the surrounding sea was illuminated red by the fire that ignited after the warships of both sides were injured......

"His grandmother's legs! Where did Wang Shenxing go? Haven't got in touch yet? The captain of the Beipanjiang light cruiser clenched his fists and scolded.

The battle seemed to be at a stalemate, and the officers and men of the Ming fleet thought of the four destroyers who had broken away from the fleet and taken the southern channel before entering the strait.

The promised surprise of the enemy and a roundabout side attack, why hasn't it appeared yet?!

The lightning strike detachment, which had been silent, had been struggling to advance in the shallow waters that dotted the reef, and could not turn on the searchlights for concealment, so the four destroyers lined up in a column could only sail cautiously at a speed of 14 knots.

Half an hour ago, the Qinshui was scratched by a reef and the bottom of the hull caused a water leak, which made everyone even more worried.

As the naval battle began over there, the radio band was filled with messages from both sides of the enemy, and the sailors could also see the distant flames on the sea to the northeast.

In charge of leading this detachment was Wang Shenxing, the captain of the Yunhe super destroyer, who thought about it for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "I can't care so much...... Speed! Reinforcements must be rushed as soon as possible! ”

The Yunhe increased its speed to 29 knots, and several sailors used small hand-held signal lights to give orders to several ships behind, and the other three destroyers also understood the meaning and accelerated one after another.

The four destroyers sailed at dangerous speeds, and from time to time the sailors heard "clicks" and "clangs" as the reef touched the hull.

Everyone was scared, for fear of crashing into a large reef and going straight to the end.

Suddenly, the officers and men of the Longchuan felt a violent tremor, and everyone staggered, and there was a piercing shrill sound of steel twisting and breaking in their ears.

"Ahhh Damn it! The navigator gritted his teeth as he got up, "It must have hit the rock!" ”

The smoke and thunder officer hammered the bulkhead with regret and annoyance, and also scolded that this time it was a blood mold.

At a speed of dozens of miles, it collided violently with a coral reef, and a breach was pulled out of the side of the Longchuan's hull, and the sea water poured in.

She then hoisted the signal flag "There was an accident on our ship" and slowed to a halt.

A few minutes later, just as I was about to leave this hellish place, bad things were happening.

Unbeknownst to it, the Qingyuan suddenly jolted and slowed down suddenly, and many people were caught off guard and injured.

Then everyone realized that it was stranded, and inexplicably rushed to a small island that was only slightly above sea level and almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

The captain ordered to reverse the car and try to get out of the trap on its own, but it was not effective, and the Qingyuan moved back very slowly.

As a result, only the super destroyer Yunhe and the damaged Qinshui were left in this detachment.

After leaving here, the two accelerated to 35 knots, and galloped towards the sea of war.

At this time, more than half an hour had passed since the start of the naval battle, and the fleets of the two sides were inextricably separated and fought fiercely together.

Wang Shenxing calmly analyzed the current situation, and he decided to separate the two destroyers and use their own ships to attract the enemy's attention, and the Qinshui first sailed eastward for some distance and then turned back, breaking through the flank of the US fleet.

Nine minutes later......

"Poof! Burst! ”

Several shells landed in the sea near the battleship Maryland, and the sailors quickly noticed that the shells were coming from the other direction.

"Unidentified target found, 290 direction, 21000 feet away."

"Is that a cruiser?"

"I don't think so, that's supposed to be a fleet destroyer."

Major General Frank took a look at the binoculars and quickly gave instructions, "The port side secondary gun will concentrate on controlling the attack." ”

The three twin 127mm high-level dual-purpose guns on the port side of the battleship Maryland immediately turned their muzzles and pointed at the Yunhe about 7,000 kilometers away.

The American generals thought that the Ming destroyer had slipped from the front by taking advantage of the chaos, so they didn't pay much attention to it - because she didn't speed up to get closer, but just fired from a distance, maybe because the torpedo had already been fired?

The operator of the XAF experimental radar noticed the presence of two waveforms on the oscilloscope, which he thought should be reflected secondary echoes.

Suddenly, he noticed that the two waveforms were more separated, and it was then that the operator began to wonder if he had made a mistake.

"What? And maybe a ship? ”

A major staff officer on the bridge was puzzled, and looked at the Yunhe, which was constantly firing cannons, and did not see any suspicious ship near it.

Obviously, the discernment skills of a staff officer cannot be compared with that of a professional lookout post.

The destroyer Qinshui had most of the lights turned off at the moment, all the blinds were tightly closed, and the second livery scheme she used was a camouflage paint with a dark blue base and light blue shards.

By this moment, she had turned on the engine overload, and four high-pressure boilers and two steam turbines were producing up to 71,000 horsepower, driving the destroyer towards the Maryland at a speed of up to 40 knots.

At 2:42, it was not until the two sides were more than 4,000 meters apart that the lookout post, which had been nervously watching the fighting situation ahead, noticed something unusual.

The huge splash from the bow breaking through the waves as the Qinshui sailed at high speed reflected the fire from the Yunhe as it opened fire, thus revealing herself.

"Enemy destroyer !!"

Suddenly spotting a Ming destroyer appearing nearby like a ghost, the officers and men of the Maryland were shocked.

"Oh God! It's like a ghost! ”

"Damn! Where did it come from?! ”

Major General Frank, who has been calm from the beginning to the present, was also in a state of desperation, and he was speechless for a while.

Now all the measures are too late, and one can only pray that the destroyer is torpedo-free.

The beam of light from the stern searchlight covered the Qinshui, and the American sailors could clearly see a series of torpedoes plopping out of the launcher......

[Picture]

(End of chapter)