Chapter 340 What is that!
The sea, like a blue amber, can't see the head.
Looking up, even the sky seemed to be blue, the sea breeze was gentle, the white clouds were leisurely, and various shapes were changed.
"This is a rare good weather for Nanyang." After withdrawing his eyes and muttering to himself, he quickly climbed the gangway and drilled into the narrow bridge.
"How long will it take?"
"Mr. Lieutenant General, at our current speed, it will take about three hours to have a round with the Dutch East India Fleet."
After listening to the report, Felitman immediately picked up the telescope and walked to the left side of the bridge.
In the distance, there is a fleet that is not much inferior to the British Far East Fleet. It not only has six main battleships, but also four cruisers, two of which are the Jinghai class, which has just been launched and delivered.
Looking at the fleet running side by side, not only did Felitman's eyebrows deep, but the staff around him were also a little overwhelmed.
Because no one expected that as soon as the fleet crossed the Taiwan Strait and entered the South China Sea, it encountered the other party's torpedo ship, and then the other party's torpedo ship did not leave, and the fleet caught up with it.
This has to remind people of the scene where they intercepted the Japanese fleet in the high seas of Micronesia. Obviously, they have a way of contact that no one knows!
Phillyteman even had an impulse to go to the opposite warship immediately to see how these yellow-skinned guys contacted and communicated, and they could accurately find themselves on the vast sea.
This is really a magical land with too many incredible places. These descendants who claim to be dragons have a history of thousands of years and have a longer history than any other country in Europe. While they have created amazing wealth, they also seem to contain some kind of mystery.
And that Li Mo seems to have this mysterious power, or can always be favored by the goddess of luck. At the moment when Britain was determined to intervene in the Far East, the Boer conflict broke out.
On the one hand, there is a Boolean full of gold and diamonds, and on the other hand, there is the rich Far East. How to balance has become the biggest headache in China, which can be seen from the successive telegrams sent in China.
It is impossible to give up the Far East, but it is even more impossible to give up South Africa!
Therefore, the envisaged countries ended up working together without any problems, but in order to curb the expansion of Xinhua, he decided to work with the Netherlands to quickly seize Kundian Port with an overwhelming military advantage, forcing Li Mo to return to the negotiating table.
However, with the encounter of this fleet, this plan has been full of twists and turns. Although Britain is not afraid of war, and it is not afraid of itself, the rapid occupation of Kundian has become a bubble, unless it defeats the other side head-on!
Firitman will not doubt that he can defeat the other party, but the loss must be very heavy. At present, if there is a major loss at this time, I'm afraid it will be cheaper for other countries, and it may even threaten Britain's interests in the Far East.
What worries him more is that Sampson obviously doesn't know this, and may not think about it. He knows the surnames of those Dutch people very well. They are naturally impulsive. Sometimes it is seen as fearless and decisive, but sometimes it's terrible.
"Order the torpedo ship to leave the formation and rush to Natuna at full speed." Felitman thought for a thought and ordered.
With his order, four torpedo ships in the fleet rushed out of the formation. These small guys were very fast, like a run-and-out Mustang.
"Commander, are you worried about the Dutch?" The adjutant asked.
Filtman nodded quickly and did not hide his inner worries. Once the Dutch were hot-headed and saw his weaker power, he would not wait to attack first. I'm afraid the situation would become bad.
"I hope Sampson is not impulsive." Phillyteman turned his head, handed the telescope to the service, and walked to the chart table--
Boom...
A column of water rose from the sky next to the Ussuri with the explosion, and the waves kept beating the hull, making the heavy patrol seem to be swaying in the storm.
The hydraulic sound came out of the triple battery. When the three huge shells were raised, the gunner immediately pressed the switch, putt quickly stuffed the shell into the gun barrel, and then stuffed two pieces of propellant.
The naval gun that needed to be flattened when loading was quickly raised. The gunners kept correcting the muzzle according to the coordinates in the telephone. A few seconds later, only a bang was heard, and the whole turret was suddenly filled with smoke and dust.
Before it was too late to see the results, the naval gun was leveled again.
load, aim, fire.
Over and over again, it is mechanical and boring, but as long as you see the fire bursts and hear the earth-shaking sound when they roar, everyone's blood will boil.
Six main guns fired at the same time, making the heavy patrol seem to have been pushed horizontally. The huge recoil force moved the hull more than a meter, and the shock wave when the gun ejected from the bore formed six whirlpools on the sea.
12,000 meters.
At this distance, the four cruisers did not have the opportunity to play except the main gun. Even the Jinghai-class double L47/130mm gun with enough range did not open fire, because at this distance, the small-caliber gun is purely a waste of shells.
Even the 203mm main gun is also of little use. This is already the tenth round of volley, and nothing has been achieved except for bringing up some water columns.
The scattered British and Dutch fleet on the opposite side was also clear, and did not allow the secondary guns to participate in the artillery battle. To everyone's slight surprise, the main gun range of the five cruisers on the opposite side was not much worse than on their side.
Ye Zugui frowned. This is a piece of news that must be known to the general as soon as possible. The naval battle of the Daxia Islands has made all countries pay attention to the important surname of long-range shelling of warships.
However, they still don't seem to have much improvement in the rate of fire. The five armored cruisers still fire at a speed of one round per minute, and the speed of their own three-armed guns of the same caliber is much faster.
Fortunately, I still have the Jinghai class. The 152mm naval gun is not very powerful, but the high rate of six shots per minute still hit a column of water around the Tulip, which also caused great panic to the other party.
"The right rudder is ten degrees."
In the tulip, Sampson held the swaying bulkhead and shouted. There was no determination on his face. He knew that the other party's naval guns were powerful and that they were very fast, but these were all things on paper. Only when he really faced them did he know that it was so fast.
Seventy-two shells fall every minute, which is simply a bullet screen!
"Boom..."
A flame broke out on the ship that accelerated to avoid shells and quickly deflected. Sampson hurriedly looked back and saw a fireball rising between the two chimneys in the middle, overturning several soldiers there. Fortunately, from the firelight, it did not go deep into the interior of the ship.
Sampson's hanging heart was just half down, but then several shells accurately hit the hull of the Tulip, one of which even exploded not far from the conning tower.
The explosion rose from under the deck, and the scattered deck fragments jingled on the thick bulkhead of the conning tower, scaring everyone into a cold sweat.
What made Sampson most angry was that the guy opposite was obviously a cunning bastard. After sending a cruiser to entangle the British, he aimed the remaining three at himself!
"Bastard!"
"Bastard!"
The same scolding was also remembered in the command tower of the Ussuri. A firelight on the hull of the USS Ninghai, which was responsible for entangling the two British cruisers, hurt everyone like a needle!
After all, Britain is Britain, not Japan and the lonely Tsarist Russia without experience of large warships. Both the quality of sailors and the ability of officers are much stronger than the two. After the Jinghai class was repeatedly studied, they obviously found a way to deal with it. The two cruisers were very separated, in order not to prevent Jing The sea level gives full play to its firepower advantages.
"Order Dinghai to give up the attack and support Ninghai at full speed!"
"Right full rudder, ready to close the distance, order the Manzhouli to move with our ship!"
Ye Zugui gritted his teeth and gave the order. Obviously, if he didn't get closer, it was impossible to solve the Tulip quickly, so he chose to take risks.
At the same time, the Tulip, which was almost unable to lift its head by dense shells, breathed a sigh of relief, and the 72 shells poured every minute were overwhelming.
"Your Excellency, they are starting to get closer!"
But before everyone could relax, the first mate shouted. Following his fingers, Sampson quickly saw the waves of the two Vladivostok-class bows getting bigger and bigger. This scene immediately made him feel bad. Judging from the process of the battle just now, the gun speed of the other party was significantly higher than his own, and it adopted a unique Triple suit, so the firepower of the main gun is comparable to that on its own side, but the rate of fire is much higher.
"Left..." Before Sampson finished speaking, a series of fires broke out again on the side of the two Vladivostok-class cruisers. When he was young, he subconsciously raised his telescope. When a few black spots appeared in his eyes, his face suddenly changed!
Several columns of water rose to the sky from both sides of the ship at the same time, which made everyone's hearts up.
Cross-shoot!
The other party formed a cross-fire around the Tulip for the first time!
This is an extremely dangerous signal. Once a cross-fire is formed, it means that the shooting Zhuyuan has been very accurate after the adjustment of the previous rounds, and what is lacking is only luck.
And after forming a cross-fire, it means that the main gun can fire at full speed without scruples!
Sure enough, before everyone could wake up from the shock brought by the cross-fire, the other party had played a second round of salination. Before the smoke composed of twelve black smoke and fire light had faded in the screen, the tulip under his feet suddenly trembled, and the stern of the ship also raised two huge masses of smoke at the same time.
Sampson didn't even care about his own safety. He rushed out of the conning tower and looked back. He saw that the left side of the stern seemed to be bitten off by something, and the sea around him was forming a whirlpool there!
The cabin is flooded!
Everyone's hearts suddenly thumped. For the steel warship floating on the water, there is nothing more terrible than the water in the cabin. Once there is too much water and it cannot be discharged in time, it can almost be announced that it has sunk.
"Quickly, close the water tight cabin, start the No. 4 pump, order the Camacho, the Orange cover, and shoot at full speed!"
Sampson's hoarse roared through the whole Tulip. The three Dutch cruisers immediately opened fire, like an enraged bull, and the two intact partners were immediately blocked in front of the Tulip and protected the flagship with their bodies.
It is worthy of being a long-established European maritime power. The speed of response is very fast. When it gets closer to 8,000 meters, it means that the main guns of both sides can penetrate the main armor of both sides. At this moment, it depends on whose luck is good!
The rumble of gunfire tore the whole sky, and the smoke of gunpowder even obscured the sight of both sides. The difference between the cruisers and battleships finally appeared. These big guys with good mobility and generally reached a speed of 20 knots were far more flexible than the battleships. In addition, they lost the Jinghai class and were dragged by the British cruisers. The most important optical rangefinder has been lost, so both sides can only rely on the luck and ability of the gunner at this moment.
"Boom..."
In the distance, a fireball on the Manchuria cheered in the command tower of the Tulip that took 30 minutes to continue to enter the water. Although the Camacho and Orange have already been scarred, as long as they persist for a while and wait for the return of the Tulips, the Netherlands still has a numerical advantage!
"Full rudder, we..."
"Go back." Before the two words were said, Sampson was like a goose stuck in his neck, and his eyes protruded, because he saw a fleet of three large warships and two torpedo ships in the smoke in the distance.
And!
They are flying the blood cloud dragon claw flag!
"Boom..."
On the sea around, a column of water larger than just now rises to the sky. Every experienced sailor knows that it is a huge column of water that can only be formed by at least 305 mm shells!
Sampson had no time to think about it. Even the two bruised British cruisers in the distance knew that it was impossible to win, and they turned around and began to distance themselves from their opponents.
Ye Zugui quickly grabbed the fighter plane and ordered the two Jinghai-class ships to give up the entanglement and use the speed to block the retreat of the Dutch cruisers. At the same time, the two defense-class destroyers of the special gangsters that finally arrived were at a high speed, sprinting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Sampson also knew that he must not be able to win. He was about to take the initiative to retreat, but the six fireballs that suddenly exploded in the distance made him settle down again.
That's...!
God, what kind of monster is that? It actually has six 305mm main guns when the bow is against the enemy! โโ
"Speed up! Damn it!"
In the crowded and narrow bridge of the Viper, George was sweating anxiously, and the smoke in the distance filled his eyes. Obviously, this was the thick smoke formed when at least ten capital ships fought.
And in this sea, the battle of ten capital ships can break out, only the Netherlands and the two British cruisers and their opponents who went to contact!
Unfortunately, the mast of this Havok-class torpedo ship was too short to see the details of the battle more than 20,000 meters away, so Captain George could only stamp his feet and complain.
In fact, Viper is very fast. This kind of torpedo ship with a displacement of more than 400 tons can fly at an enviable high speed of 27 knots, but at this moment, everyone feels that it is not enough.
Ten minutes later, when the Viper rushed into the smoke, everyone was stunned by the scene in front of them!
Two Dutch cruisers and two domestic cruisers were fleeing everywhere, and the Dutch cruiser Camacho was like a rag doll thrown into the sea of fire. A violent explosion rushed up from every part of the ship, and in the distance behind it, eight main guns exploded a fireball on one hull at the same time!
What is that! ......
(to be continued)