Chapter 375 Teachers and Students

Equivalent!

Looking at the observation window and the column of water rising nearby, Moro felt as if his whole body was about to explode!

As a non-commissioned officer who has just joined the fleet for three months, it is the first time he has seen the naval gun roar so unscrupulously, so he doesn't know why this idea flashed in his mind. Although he is not majoring in command and artillery, as a navy, he still has at least common sense.

While the blood is boiling in the sound of cannons, he also knows very well how difficult it is to fight in such a dangerous storm, with visibility of only about 10,000 meters! He didn't know whether the rangefinder he had just repaired was broken again, but the error of at least 300 meters confirmed that it was not suitable for fighting under such weather conditions! Because the old gunners often boast that they can embroider at this distance when training!

The embroidery is fake, but there will never be such a big deviation!

But at this moment, there is no room for turning back and adjustment, and no one can easily leave. Even if there is a huge wave immediately, you must grit your teeth and stick to it. This is like the lions and tigers in the fight. Whoever shows timidity first is equivalent to leaving his back to the other party, so the two sides can only continue on two nearly parallel battle lines. Yes, go down!

Even if the hit hasn't appeared yet!

Boom...

The main gun swept by neatly again, and in a few seconds, the four Duke-class secondary cannons in front of them also roared, but the ensuing enemy shells also fell straight down, bringing a thick column of water. At the same time, it also stirred up the already rough sea more and more chaotic, and the huge waves even made more than 10,000 tons. The steel beast became a small slamboard in the storm, ups and downs.

On the contrary, this swing makes it extremely difficult for the gunners to aim. Four or five consecutive rounds of volleys are far worse. Although there is one more battleship than the enemy, this advantage is minimized under such sea conditions.

Phillyteman knows more about his disadvantage. In addition to one less battleship than his opponent, the old-star battleship is born with the biggest disadvantage!

That's the displacement!

The old star was originally designed to curb the expansion of Russia and Xinhua in the Far East. Although the guns and armor are of the battleship level, in order to allow warships to enter the Yangtze River waterway, the displacement and depth of water intake were strictly controlled, which caused a serious shaking in the harsh deep-sea environment. The accuracy of the naval gun has dropped to an unbearable level.

If it weren't for the other party's investigation, if the other party hadn't had a mysterious long-distance contact method, he would never have chosen to enter Luzonhai, let alone choose to fight in such a harsh climate!

The only way to solve this disadvantage is to shorten the distance!

"The right rudder is five degrees."

"The right rudder is five degrees!?"

Phillyteman's order, when all the officers in the command tower were stunned, what were they going to do? The other party has one more battleship than himself, and there are 16 second-level main guns to cheer, taking the initiative to get closer! What on earth is Lieutenant General going to do?

"The secondary gun is shooting in a hurry!" Felitman didn't seem to see the surprised eyes of the officers behind him. After giving the new order again, he immediately went to the chart and began to calculate.

In his order, the bows of five neatly arranged Old Star battleships began to deflect quietly, firing a large number of 152mm naval guns and rain and fog at the same time, making this subtle deflection unnoticed.

Boom!

In front of the narrow observation window, it was full of heads, and the soldiers in the preparation group crowded together. Looking at the columns of water on the sea like angry dragons going out to sea, everyone was sweating in the palms of their hands.

Who is more lucky and who will hit the other first?

Although the new reading rangefinder has not played its maximum role due to rain and fog, it should always have some effects, right? When this idea rose from everyone's heart and fell, he even began to imagine the scene of celebration in his mind. A huge explosion suddenly sounded from the side of the Antarctic Star deck, and the fire that rose to the sky suddenly caught everyone's heart.

The one who was shot first turned out to be the Antarctic star!

This accident, not to mention being suffocated by Moro and other Antarctic Star sailors, even the officers in the Ducal Command Tower. They all know that they have failed to use the rangefinder to gain the upper hand, but they still didn't expect that the Antarctic Star would be shot first!

In particular, the Antarctic Star is also a meritorious battleship under the command of the commander!

Thinking of this, everyone looked at Ji Rushan at the same time, but he didn't seem to notice those eyes. Looking at the five old stars with countless fires bursts on the side of the telescope, his eyes suddenly alarmed.

"Give me the latest ranging data!"

After the implementation of the new operational regulations, the commanders of each fleet generally do not directly command the artillery battle in the decisive battle, but are under the command of the gun officers of the headquarters, while the fleet commanders are only responsible for formulating tactics, assigning tasks and other major tasks.

This can not only reduce the pressure on the commander, but also make the fleet more professional, but the problem is that the Duke lacks a large-scale special rangefinder of Jinghai class.

Without a special large rangefinder, the captain can only rely on the sextant and other equipment, and then combine with the turret rangefinder to locate the other party. Usually, this method is enough, but the sea conditions at this moment determine that it is difficult to find the subtle changes in the other party's bow by these means alone!

When the turret reported the data, the nautical staff was stunned. The British fleet not only did not open the distance to avoid the gunfire, but also used the rain and fog as a cover, used the secondary cannon to fire quickly to attract everyone's attention and took the initiative to quietly close the distance!

The decisive courage of Phillipman and the courage of the British sailors are obviously beyond the imagination of most officers!

"Left rudder five degrees, full speed!"

Ji Rushan suddenly shook off the calculation results handed over by the navigation staff, and the corners of his mouth were raised. Although Felitman played a little trick, he obviously underestimated the courage of the new Chinese!

Meet on the narrow road, and the brave will win!

The radio signal from the command tower not only did not disturb everyone, but also aroused the courage of the gunners. When the Duke also began to deflect the bow, the six battleships suddenly burst out from the port side of each ship like an enraged hedgehog.

Boom!

When both fleets began to approach and a large number of secondary guns joined the artillery battle, casualties finally began to appear.

After the Antarctic Star was hit on the starboard side by a 305mm shell, the Rising Star was also heavily shelled. Filitman was obviously familiar with the two British-built battleships and gathered most of the secondary guns to prepare to sink them first! Countless fireballs exploded from the Qixing, making the 12,000-ton battleship suddenly shaken. Although most of them were 152mm shells that could not penetrate the main armor, the dense rain still made the Qixingshi a little breathless.

But after the two Arctic star battleships suffered a key hit, the first fleet with four Duke-class as the main force also dealt a heavy blow to the other side. The first unfortunate thing was the fifth ship Ocean of the old-star battleship.

The battleship, which had just been in service for two years, was jointly attacked by Prince and Zonggu, and a 305mm armor-piercing shell from Zonggu's turret completed a fatal blow. Although it was through the rain, the observer clearly saw that the explosion exploded from the starboard side of the ocean, and the distance exploded. The explosion lifted the deck and hit the turret at its tail, so that the turret did not hit a single shell in the subsequent battle.

But I'm glad that it hasn't begun to permeate, but the Qixing, which has been taken intensive care of, has been hit hard. Two 305mm naval guns hit the No. 1 turret of the bow almost at the same time. While the violent explosion ignited the turret, fragments also swept through the front of the conning tower. If the armor of the conning tower were not thick enough, maybe this It will make the Qixinghao completely lose its command!

With a heavy blow to a battleship on both sides, the battle suddenly entered the most **. After approaching seven kilometers, the two commanders coincidentally chose to turn the rudder to maintain this distance. Countless shells passed through each other in this distance, and sparks burst from each warship.

The fierce artillery battle made it impossible for Morrow to keep his breathing smooth. When he saw with his own eyes that the chimney of a British battleship in the distance disappeared in the distance half of the explosion, the bad luck quietly hit the Antarctic Star again.

In the shrill explosion and the sharp roar of the shell, a 305mm shell that should have landed in the distance of the Antarctic Star ghostly jumped. The body suddenly jumped under the tension of the sea and plunged into the main armor of the Antarctic Star. After passing through it, it suddenly turned up and got out of the deck. It hit the front of the No. 1 turret!

Although it did not penetrate the armor layer with a thickness of 330 mm on the front of the turret, it left a huge hole, and the huge explosion caused the turret weighing hundreds of tons to vibrate violently several times.

"God!"

Looking at the No. 1 turret filled with gunpowder smoke, looking at the big hole after the explosion on the deck, and a curved barrel, Morrow could not describe the mood at this moment. He only felt that his whole body was about to collapse!

When the sight fell behind the turret, which should have been locked, but the hatch was half-open at this moment, his eyes suddenly turned red!

I only saw a figure stumbling out of the hatch. Before he took the last step to leave the turret, which was already full of thick smoke, he fell crookedly at the door, with blood in his mouth and nose like a spring.

Blood spread around the deck along the rain, forming a small stream of blood, dripping into the sea from the gap of the deck.

"Save people!"

In Moro's dullness, a voice behind him suddenly shouted. The first medical officer wearing the Red Cross armband rushed out of the hatch, and Moro quickly followed him into the smoke.

The smell of choking was permeated in the turret, and all the light bulbs on the wall of the tower had been broken. When Moro skillfully found the emergency light, the scene in the turret suddenly made his hands and feet tremble!

A corpse lay horizontally and vertically, with no wounds and no damage. Only the blood began to coagulate in the mouth and nose. The huge vibration did not hurt the turret, but it shook all the heart, spleen and internal organs of the members of the gun group.

The medical officer opened everyone's eyelids. Moro saw that the medical officer, who was as serious as steel, sobbed like a child at this moment. Every time he turned his eyelids and pressed his chest, he left deep tears on his cheeks.

Moro stared at the reserve gun group and the damage management team and began to remove them. Suddenly, he wanted to pull them. He couldn't accept this fact. You know, a few hours ago, they were playing tricks on themselves because they wanted to take off their clothes and repair the rangefinder in the rain, but now they have become a corpse with residual temperature. .

"There is another barrel that is intact and can be fired! Wait, Moro! Moro! The rangefinder lens is broken and needs to be replaced! Is it okay? Is that okay!" While Morrow was still sluggish, a shout suddenly woke him up, and he nodded vigorously.

"Group two, start cleaning up!"

The reserve gun team shouted and rushed into the turret and began to clean up the damaged areas in the turret. Morrow also carried the repair bag and quickly climbed up the turret. When he went up, he found that the Antarctic Star had left the battle line, and the brother ship in the distance had also bloomed a lot of light.

The cool blood just surged up again. He knew that the Antarctic Star must be repaired as soon as possible, because his comrades-in-arms needed help! Even if there is only one barrel left, no matter how low the launch speed is, the Antarctic Star cannot be a bystander at such an important moment!

Stimulated by blood and explosion, Moro replaced two shots under several temporary assistants in just a few minutes. When the reserve gun team reported the repair through the telephone, the Antarctic Star hung the battle flag again!

"Let's go back!"

In the chaos and shouting, Moro did not know why he walked into the observation position and became a rangefinder, but when he squeezed close to the narrow observation position and looked at the enemy in the foggy lens, he suddenly forgot his original identity and suddenly roared: "The distance is 12,000 kilometers, the speed is 16 knots, the wind Speed up..."

When a string of data was reported from his mouth and gathered into a point under the rapid synthesis of the calculator, the remaining main cannon roared again and joined the roar of blood and fire!

It can't go on like this!

In the command tower of the Duke, Ji Rushan clenched his fist, and the British Far East Fleet opposite showed stubbornness and tenacity. In the case that the Ocean lost its combat effectiveness of a main gun, it abruptly supported it and used the No. 2 turret of the stern to hit the Star!

And Felix showed the decisiveness and boldness of an excellent naval commander. He took advantage of the conditions of low visibility in the rain and fog and extremely poor sea conditions to quietly deflect the bow, and finally found that the seven-kilometer line was crushed by the consequences!

His decisiveness raised the artillery accuracy of the British fleet to a terrible level. He took advantage of the global navy with hundreds of years of maritime tradition to teach a novice a lesson. In the face of bad sea conditions, he turned the disadvantage into an advantage, completely submerged the advantage of his own rangefinder, and gave the young new A lesson for Chinese admirals!

Pang!

A violent fire mass rose again from the middle of the Qixing ship. The huge smoke cloud made Ji Rushan's nails almost pinch into the flesh. Although it was expected to fight very hard, and I knew that the British navy was much better than the previous opponents, but I didn't expect that in the case of one less battleship, the other party and himself. It's a good fight!

"Must change!"

"Command!" Ji Rushan took a deep breath and issued a new order in everyone's gaze: "Qixing Star, the Antarctic Star broke away from the formation and pressed into five thousand meters!"

The battleship duel has extremely strict regulations, and the invisible battle line is almost insurmountable, so in the bombardment, unless it is hit hard like the Antarctic Star just now, it must be temporarily withdrawn from maintenance, otherwise no one dares to cross the line easily!

But this order actually requires the two ships to take the initiative to break through this line and approach the opponent!

This is undoubtedly an adventure. This is not the first time this tactic has appeared in the Xinhua Navy. It has also been revealed in the battle of the Daxia Islands, that is, to find a magnet for the other party's gunfire.

Cannonball magnet!

In the order, the already damaged Antarctic Star and Qixing Star accelerated their departure from the formation and advanced decisively under the pressure of gunfire. When their huge bodies were getting bigger and bigger in the rain and fog, almost all British naval guns were subconsciously aimed at the two charging battleships.

The shells exploded from every corner of the deck, countless soldiers were blown off in the gunfire, and the blood even stained the whole deck!

But this scene did not make Felixman feel happy. Instead, he shouted in horror, but there was a lack of radio, and it was full of smoke and rain outside. The signal flag alone could not stop the gunners with red eyes in a short time. Except for the old man, the other four battleships were still pouring cannons on the two ships. There is a posture of not sinking and vowing not to give up.

Just as the bow of the Qixing star was sunk again by a 305mm shell, and the deck was almost pressed into the sea, the counterattack finally came!

After a large number of shells and explosion interference were suddenly missing, the four duke-class ships became more and more accurate, and the elegy of the old man's star 4 ship Goliath was sung after only three rounds.

When 16 203mm shells roared by, the following 16 305mm shells accurately hit two, one of which directly broke through the central main armor layer and drilled into the boiler chamber. The huge explosion triggered the boiler explosion, and the terrible pressure generated instantly broke through the most critical. The dome of the key was torn into a large hole three meters in diameter in the middle of the hull.

The sea water, which had been rolling, suddenly found a catharsis, and nearly a thousand tons of seawater poured in in just a few minutes, making the Goliath suddenly lose its stability, and the rapid right-leaning speed of the deck suddenly dropped to ten knots!

Just as the four Duke-class began to point the muzzle at the next target, the most painful scene appeared on the battlefield. After the struggling Antarctic Star was hit by several consecutive shells, it finally could no longer be supported. When a 152mm shell drilled into the tail turret from the crack, it detonated the newly upgraded. After the launchers and two shells, the 12,000-ton battleship burst into flames, and the stern of the ship suddenly broke into two pieces.

After the event, everyone knew that the explosion was so fierce that Captain Yang Tai had no time to give the order to abandon the ship. In the end, 285 officers and soldiers on the ship escaped less than 40 people!

But at this moment, the Antarctic Star did not give up because of the fracture of the stern. The only main gun left in the stern was raised in the stern. When the hull began to sink quickly, the ship was still pouring shells for a moment. This scene made Felixman and all British [***] officials begin to numb.

Looking at the Antarctic star that began to sink, Ji Rushan bit his lower lip tightly, and a drop of blood oozed from his fingers. He knew every soldier on the ship. He knew the strength of the Antarctic star, so he continued to arrange it for the most difficult task after suffering a heavy blow. Although he knew it was dangerous, he had no choice but to divert the enemy's artillery fire and create conditions for collecting fire!

The sinking of the Antarctic Star seemed to have been splashed with cold water on everyone in the First Fleet. The cry of revenge suddenly resounded through every warship. Perhaps Morrow, who sank into the cold seabed with his beloved warship, did not know that just a few minutes later, the four Dukes of the Four Dukes responded to the Antarctic Star with a perfect artillery shell. Enmity.

Revenge has a nice name, but it was taken care of by four dukes without successfully avenging Goliath this time. Two consecutive 305mm shells may not be fatal, but the five 203mm shells that followed were successfully smashed into the ammunition compartment wrapped in thick armor. The design defects in the British watertight cabin made the battleship pay the heaviest price. Its fate was almost the same as the Antarctic Star. It disappeared into the sea in a violent explosion after only a few minutes of holdings!

Suddenly, the two fleets seemed to have returned to the same starting line, and both of them were seriously injured. At this time, Felitman began to understand that he could no longer win and must withdraw as soon as possible!

At 8:15, Filletman ordered the fleet to accelerate, and sent a destroyer to inform the cruisers in front of him to come to support, and at the same time, Rushan also issued a decisive battle order at the same time!

Around the Bus Strait, the two fleets launched a fierce competition. In order to protect the smooth passage of the remaining four capital ships, the British cruiser formation showed the demeanor of a century-old sea breeze. They were like sharks in a sea of fog, charging desperately around their opponents.

And the First Fleet with four Vladivostok-class as the core is also tit-for-tat, and the twenty-four main guns are almost constantly roaring!

The battle suddenly became white-hot!

In the face of the melee, the radio advantage of the First Fleet has finally been brought into play. Although the total number is small, it can be connected through radio waves, especially the defense-class destroyers that participated in the decisive battle for the first time. With a speed of up to 30 knots, it can always cause chaos in the enemy.

At 2:30 p.m., the British Far East Fleet was hit hard. After the sinking of Revenge, the Goliath, which dragged its sloping body to break through under the protection of two cruisers, tasted the power of the spear heavy torpedo for the first time, but it did not even notice when six consecutive torpedoes approached under the cover of the rainstorm.

The huge explosion formed a huge expansive water ball on the side of the body of the Goliath. After throwing more than 10,000 tons directly out of the water, it hit the sea surface heavily. In just a minute, it broke and sank into the seabed more than 2,000 meters deep.

But it is not alone. When the second wave of two defense-class destroyers rushed in and fired twelve spears again, the two British first-class armored cruisers, which had lost their protection targets and were hit hard together and soon disappeared on the sea.

This scene made Phillyteman's eyes flawed. Although he had already issued a worry and warning about the fast destroyer, he did not expect to be attacked by them.

At the same time, the heavy cruiser of Vladivostok was also attacked by an old man and two first-class cruisers. Although the old ship was full of firepower, it could not stop the attack of 305mm heavy shells. After being hit by the rear bridge and causing an explosion, Captain Xiao Tianzhi had to order a temporary withdrawal from the battle, and Finally, an hour later, the ship was abandoned.

At this time, Ji Rushan knew that if he continued to fight, he would probably lose more, so he decisively issued a retreat order.

At 9:10, the First Fleet of the Xinhua Navy withdrew from the battle, which relieved the already overwhelmed Phillyteman and took the fleet through the Bus Strait to Hong Kong.

At 2:30 p.m., when the most blue Jianshu returned to the fleet with the last three chasing defense levels and the achievements of sinking four British torpedo ships and a second-class armored cruiser, the two-hour naval battle finally came to an end.

In terms of results, although Britain paid the price of two battleships and two first-class armored cruisers, it still succeeded in forcing its opponents to give up the pursuit and cross the Bass Strait.

Although the First Fleet sank four enemy capital ships and six torpedoes and two second-class cruisers, it also paid for the sinking of the Antarctic Star, the complete loss of combat effectiveness, and the heavy loss of the sinking of the Vladivostok.

Although it is not perfect, and the cost is even much larger than expected, this new fleet has successfully resisted the overall superiority and has hundreds of years of naval tradition, which is known as the powerful impact of the world's first navy.

Few people will know that it is said that Britain is the first in the world, and it is completely different from facing the world's first navy and fighting. Many things cannot be reflected in the huge number of fleets and total tonnage on paper!

The British navy's tenacious style, excellent personnel quality, and Felix's naval skills in the face of unfavorable situations are not comparable to the Xinhua Navy, which has only been established for less than ten years, especially the huge pressure when fighting with them, which makes the fleet's strength not fully exerted.

Although the result is a little regrettable, the gains are also unimaginable. What a proud record of forcing the Far East Fleet to escape in panic is, the lessons and experience gained in this battle alone are enough to benefit the new generation of young officers such as Ji Rushan!

This is a battle between teachers and students!

As usual, the teacher showed not only the tenacious naval style, told the world why the British Royal Fleet could become the world's first fleet, and also told everyone what a century-old navy is!

And students also interpret the value of sacrifice, and the courage to be fearless in the face of strong enemies, and even dare to take the initiative to challenge!

Perhaps the result of this naval battle is no longer important. The important thing is that the Xinhua Navy, which developed on the shoulders of the great powers, has told the whole world through this naval battle!

In the East, a young fleet that dares to challenge the world's first is rising! ......

(to be continued)