Chapter 428 Sea Battle Six, The Last Step

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On the afternoon of April 11, several fishermen on Sibilu Island who were weaving fishing nets stood up, staring at the black smoke off the southern sea, listening to the dull thunder, and even forgetting the time.

"The sun is covered, the sky is dyed black, and the blue ocean is full of strong smoke. Even the fish don't want to stay there and drink the sea water stained with blood and toxins."

It doesn't matter who said these words. The important thing is that the black gunpowder used by the Russians did bring great trouble to Long Guozhang. A total of more than 800,000 tons of steel collided in the smoke and explosion. The thick smoke brought by more than 200 chimneys even completely blocked the sight of the observer, even the three watchers. The motorcycle ship also had to temporarily sail out of the smoke mass to avoid accidental injury.

"You have to get out of here."

This is the common aspiration of Foxum and Nebogatov. Like all Russian sailors, they have lost the confidence to win and even the desire to continue fighting.

All I have left is the idea of escaping from this damn sea.

At 3:10, while the sailors were climbing Alexander III, under the call of the high Andre flag and the urgent flag, the remaining 20 capital ships of the three Russian battleship detachments and two cruiser detachments began to break through to the west desperately. Under their lead, a large number of them were hunted down by eight Jinghai-class ships. The small warships that quickly entered the sea also began to gather around and prepare to leave by force.

Looking at the Russian fleet desperately accelerating away, Long Guozhang suddenly took out a lighter, put it down on the cigar, and asked, "How's the Duke and Fengtian?"

"The left rudder of the Duke is seriously damaged, and there is no way to sail by itself."

"After entering the water on the port side of Fengtian, it has restored its balance through starboard water injection, but the speed has dropped a lot."

"This is the current loss report of the ships. I have notified the tugboats behind, and they will arrive tomorrow morning."

As soon as Tan Xiaozeng grabbed the loss report, Long Guozhang quickly grabbed it and breathed. In this wave of attacks just now, except for the two ships that needed to withdraw from the battle, only Lefei reported that he lost one destroyer when blocking the small cruisers and destroyers, and the losses of the other ships, especially the capital ships, were not serious.

The loss was unexpectedly small. Originally, he thought he would pay the price of at least one capital ship, but the injuries of Duke and Fengtian were not too serious, and the latter even had a certain combat effectiveness.

As for Le Fei's loss, it is also well controlled. After all, he has to face nearly 30 fast-fast small cruisers and destroyers, and after the explosion of the Crown Prince, a large number of armored cruisers in the Russian army rushed in which direction, if the fighting spirit and command center of the Russian sailors had not been destroyed. It is estimated that the loss will be much greater.

"Order Le Fei and Lan Jianshu to leave a few ships to protect the Duke and Fengtian, and clean up the battlefield to save those who fell into the water."

"Order the second batch of aircraft to take off and provide reconnaissance and guidance."

"Order the first team and the third team to regroup, direction 270, speed 22 knots."

"Block them!"

"Order the second team to pursue."

"The destroyer detachment, give up entanglement and rush to the Badu Islands at full speed to block the exit of the Strait!"

With the quick and short order, the bridge of the Jilin became busy again. The orders were sent to the ships quickly through the radio waves. When the second batch of four hummingbirds jumped from the surface of the water, Long Guozhang looked at the sky. Suddenly, he lighted the cigar that had been extinguished for a long time, squinted at Tan Xiaozeng, and tilted the corners of his mouth: "Tonight will be very fine. Cai."

Tan Xiaozeng laughed and said, "If I were a Russian, I would rather continue the decisive battle."

At 7:30 p.m., the seven main ships that were chasing after handing over the pursuit task to the three Dukes, they completed the formation again. At the same time, the speed was increased to 22 knots, and the large-scale maneuvers were carried out to the west,

Looking at the fleet that was gradually moving away, Li Mo shook his head and did not continue to let the Honolulu catch up. For him and Chen Ping, who knew all the battle plans, the following scenes could even be outlined in their minds.

From the beginning, the Admiralty Department knew how difficult it was to eat up to 65 Russian fleets in one go if it relied on a head-on decisive battle alone. In history, when the Russian Second Pacific Fleet also lost its advantage, it finally managed to escape part of it, but this time neither he nor Long Guozhang planned to let go. One ship back.

"Is Salisbury coming soon?"

"It's almost time. You can arrive in Hong Kong in ten days at most."

Li Mo's eyes turned to the three observation ships. There was no doubt that when Salisbury arrived, a tough marathon negotiation would begin, so he had to establish enough capital for the negotiations before that.

The destruction of the Russian fleet is only the first step. Compared with the decisive battle at sea, the land war is more worrying.

As if he had seen through Li Mo's thoughts, Chen Ping went to his side and whispered, "Your Majesty, don't worry, Yan Fu has gone to Angarsk in person. If there is no delay, maybe Zhao Long's place has also started."

"Let's go and see them." Li Mo withdrew his eyes and turned to the Fengtian and Duke, who were leaning together, and said with a smile, "One against two, Beiyang still left people!"

With Li Mo's words, the Honolulu began to sail towards the two ships. At this time, there were only a few burning Russian ship wrecks, smoke, explosions and twisted steel left on the sea, which embellished the sea into the hell of the warship.

The first team of the Russian army was completely destroyed. The second team lost two, and the third team also lost two. In addition, five cruisers, including the Rurik and Navarin, Russia lost 15 capital ships in just two hours, and the second-class cruisers and destroyers lost as many as ten, that is to say, Nicholas II. The fleet that has lost more than one-third of all the national resources.

And the battle is not over yet. When they are chased like sheep like a trap, Russia's dream of becoming a naval power will be completely abnant!

At five o'clock sharp, the reorganized main fleet of the Xinhua Empire caught up with the remaining Russian fleet fleeing to the west. Ten minutes later, the seven capital ships that occupied the advantage of the game once again grabbed the T position.

Due to the uneven speed of the ships of the Russian fleet, warships kept falling all the way, especially the remaining eight auxiliary ships, including the medical ship Oryol, which was full of Russian noble women, and finally hung a white flag under the chasing Jinghai-class muzzle. After all, they were not combatants, so they were killed. In this sea, it's better to surrender on your own initiative.

"13,000 kilometers, speed 15 knots, West Soy."

"Gain fire!"

When the gun chief raised his red neck with a telescope in one hand and a telephone in the other, he saw the Sisoy with a displacement of 10,400 tons gradually magnifying in his pupil, he roared again.

It seemed to answer the gun chief who had not stopped his voice since the beginning of the battle, and even his mouth began to crack white, and 65 naval guns roared again.

Although Sisoy is only incorporated into the third battleship formation, it is actually only an armored cruiser. Although it has two double 305 mm guns, its maximum range is only 10,000 meters, and it can't even be counterattacked in the face of dense shells.

Although the captain tried his best to command the warship to sway east and west to avoid shells, he was still a little reluctant under such fierce firepower.

At 5: 05, the observer of the Jilin reported that when the water column was found behind Sisoy, the fate of the warship had been fixed, because once there was a cross-fire in the naval battle, it meant that the front sight had been adjusted, and all it lacked was luck.

Sure enough, in the next round of sniping, several observers reported the news of the hit at the same time. The violent explosion first rose from the bow. When the second shell fell 30 seconds later, the two thick chimneys almost disappeared. After only two kilometers of running forward, the Sisoy disappeared on the sea. .

The shells continued to fall, but the counterattack from Russia was not a threat at all. It seemed that it was exhausted by the fierce war. The shells fired by the Russian sailors were far from the exact surname at the beginning of the war, and even the near loss of the bomb did not appear, but formed a water column wall hundreds of meters away.

The Xinhua Navy gunners without pressure are getting easier and easier to fight. Just a minute later, the good news came from the Dalian. The second ship of the Poltava class, the Sevastopol, was hit by two consecutive 254mm armor-piercing shells. The armor-piercing shells weighing 250 kilograms were thin and thin main armor, one of them was from the conning tower. Sweeping through, the second-class battleship with a displacement of 11,800 tons lost its command without even shouting, and rushed straight to the suddenly sickle-like Xinhua naval battle line like a headless fly.

But the Dalian did not grab this credit in the end, because the Jilin also targeted this prey. Generally speaking, because the flagship is responsible for the safety of the headquarters, it is often the least credit after a battle, because it is necessary to constantly maneuver to avoid the falling shells, but this time the Jilin is a big bargain. Sevastopol has long had no power to fight back. As for the more than a dozen 152mm guns on him that were still firing, they were not even qualified to sweep the ashes for the Jilin. When the ten cannons hit a miraculous 50% hit rate, the 400 kilograms of shells directly interrupted the warship and overturned. On the sea.

After losing two capital ships again in just a few minutes, Fok-sam, who took over as the fleet commander and raised the flagship flag, trembled. He knew that if he ran back so straightly, he would probably be sent to the bottom of the sea without waiting for the nearest neutral port Banda Aceh.

So he immediately gave an order that made him extremely regretful, and finally buried the whole fleet: "Continue to turn right and enter the Strait of Mendingway from the nearby Si Bora Island."

The Mentaway Strait is located between Sumatra Island and the Mentaway Islands. The widest part is about 90 kilometers, but this is not a good waterway. The Mentaway Islands are a series of broken islands with more than 70 islands. There are also many reefs in the Mentaway Strait, so He hopes to use the cover of the coming night to break through the cover of geography.

After seeing the new flagship of the Russian fleet, Victory, plunged into the strait, Long Guozhang suddenly extinguished the cigarette butt: "cut off the back!"

Lefei is undoubtedly the fastest. The good acceleration surname of Jinghai class has been perfectly reflected. As soon as the order was issued, six Jinghai-class light patrols have rushed out.

"The distance is seven kilometers."

"six thousand meters."

"At two o'clock, a Russian cruiser."

"Five thousand meters."

"Left rudder, torpedo launch!"

A rapid shout did not make Le Fei's mind hot, and even turned a deaf ear to the water columns and explosions nearby. When they entered five thousand meters, the six Jinghai-class did not use the traditional method of naval guns to open the way, but suddenly turned right at the same time, and the port was almost raised high. There was a soft sound from the two five-pack torpedo tubes at the same time.

"R Torpedo!"

Since the beginning of the war, the Xinhua Navy has not used torpedoes, so after seeing dozens of white waves suddenly pulled out on the sea, the Russian sailors knew that the other side also had torpedoes.

After several years of development, the spear heavy thermodynamic torpedo has also made great progress. Although the 550mm caliber has not changed, the effective range has reached 6,000 kilometers, and the speed has increased to 40 knots. As for the loading, it has been abnormal to 200 kilograms of standard TNT explosives.

The torpedoes that once fan-shaped roared made all the Russian sailors scream. Whether it was the thick main gun or the smallest machine gun, almost aimed at these monsters with long white tails and hissing.

On the Nicholas I, the large and small secondary guns were almost open. Everyone's eyes widened, and a drop of cold sweat slid down his back. The shell of the Maxim machine gun jingled on the deck like running water. The efforts of the sailors were not in vain. They only heard a bang, and a huge splash exploded hundreds of meters away, raising The spray even exceeded the height of the mast.

But when the sailors had just wiped the sweat on their foreheads and hit a death, the excitement of death had not passed, but the second and third torpedo had roared over the explosive splash and hit the port of Nikolai I.

This may be the most amazing scene recorded in this naval battle. The cameraman on the Sihai shook the handle and faithfully recorded the picture with film.

Two consecutive spears plunged into the middle of the hull like javelins. Only two groups of water that were bulging almost at the same time continued to expand, and then suddenly exploded. 400 kilograms of TNT and the cavity effect it formed were completely released. The huge explosion lifted the nearly 10,000 tons of warship out of the water, and then along The front and rear bridges were broken into three pieces, and the huge splash when the stern fell even directly submerged a 300-ton Russian destroyer and pulled it to the bottom of the sea.

"Boom."

This picture stunned everyone who saw it, so that the picture of hitting several other warships in a row in a few minutes could no longer be seen. Everyone stared at Nicholas I's huge ship hitting the water, and then sinking into the abyss little by little in the whirlpool of the explosion.

When four consecutive slow-speed cruisers and destroyers were hit by torpedoes and sank into a mass of scrap metal into the bottom of the sea, six Jinghai-class and the three subsequent Dalian-classes have successfully inserted into the neutral area opened up by the torpedoes, cutting off the Russian fleet into two parts.

Except for the only ten fastest capital ships and three fastest Warrior-class cruisers who crossed the strait and entered the Minterville Islands, all other ships were blocked outside.

At 5:00 p.m., Long Guozhang ordered Ji Rushan and Le Fei to launch an attack on these unlucky guys, while he continued to pursue with four Jilin-class ships and three duke-class ships who took the lead in entering the Mingdawei Strait from the east side of Si Bora Island.

The first unlucky thing is Alexander II, the sister ship Nicholas I, which has the largest displacement left. After a shell hit Ninghai by him, it was sandwiched in the middle by Dandong Dalian.

Eighteen main guns were almost in the process of destruction. It took only three minutes to let the old one sink by the warship chosen by Nicholas II at the last moment.

After eliminating the biggest threat, three Dalian-class heavy patrols, six Jinghai-class and six cooperative defense-class launched a massacre. In the face of the opponent with the remaining maximum displacement of only 5,000 tons and no more than 203 mm of naval guns, these fast-speed guys almost became hungry wolves.

The Koryo, like its remaining companions, are the last two of the four Bolinga-class large gunboats. This small warship full of French style, with a displacement of only 1,330 tons, is equipped with two L35/203 mm guns, which makes the height of the dry side only 1.5 meters away. It seems that it is almost pressed into the water.

But it is precisely because of this inconspicuousness that a defense-class destroyer was hit hard and became the second warship of the Xinhua Empire to die.

When four 203mm shells suddenly rushed out of the gun, the huge recoil made the deck of the Goryeo and its partner Beaver sink into the water at the same time, but their shelling was not ineffective. The defense class aimed at 3,000 meters away was directly penetrated and exploded, and only 31 people were rescued. .

The sudden explosion shocked everyone. Only then did they remember that they forgot the two small gunboats that could be bombarded with the cruisers. The nearest Zhenhai immediately rushed over. Twelve 152mm naval guns and four 130mm secondary guns roared continuously, from 6,000 kilometers to one kilometer, straight It was not until the two ships were completely blown up that they turned the rudder.

This scene immediately made all the remaining Russian captains' eyes twitch. After the Ushakov was overturned and sink, the remaining seven cruisers, including Bayan, Parada, Diana, Novak, Pearl, Diamond and Emerald, all raised white flags and surrendered.

So far, except for the eleven capital ships and three cruisers that escaped into the islands, the rest of the Russian warships have been cleared.

When the night gradually opened in the explosive smoke, a large number of bubbles suddenly appeared on the sea at the northwest exit of the Mingdawei Strait. Six dark cigar-like monsters suddenly rose from the bottom of the sea. After turning the "one eye" on the shell a few times, they quickly drove to Bidu Island in the southeast.

The last step is left for the triumph waiting for the 400 million people of the empire

(to be continued)