Chapter 496 Strong!

@@@@@@@@@@@ "The first-class armored cruiser Qiangsheng."

"Two Nelson-class battleships, Agamemnon, Lord Clyde."

"Apollo-class second-class protective cruisers, four."

"Adventure-class third-class reconnaissance cruisers, two."

Next to Abu Musa Island in the southwest of the Strait of Hormuz, thirteen large ocean-going cargo ships were blocked in the Persian Gulf by three British cruisers, allowing Wang Ping, who was hiding in the bridge and looking at the British fleet in the distance, to make detailed observations and records while frowning.

He used to be a Beiyang torpedo ship. Later, he took off his military uniform and entered the Pacific Freight Company. With his familiarity with navigation, he quickly became the captain of the fleet. He took the sea route from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. In addition to his previous naval service experience, he was familiar with warships in various countries. It is said that he could take the British navy Even the smallest destroyers are recited.

With the start of the Balkan war, the Ottoman Empire faced several attacks, and Europe officially began an arms race. His task became heavy. Originally, he was going to transport this batch of supplies directly to Istanbul, but because of the British, he blocked the Suez Canal and deliberately prevented the arms ships from passing through. He took the opportunity to attack the Ottomans and weaken the old empire that might help Germany, so he had to discuss with the Ottomans and unload the goods in Kuwait and ship them by land there.

To be honest, he is not satisfied with the unloading in Kuwait, because the Ottomans may not have enough months to transport 13 tons of ships of weapons and supplies inland. Fortunately, there are more than 200 trucks in the oil field, which can finally help them.

But he just frowned at that time, because the Ottomans had paid the money, so it was said that it was there, so there was no need to ask him.

It's just that he didn't expect that when he returned home, he was intercepted by the British fleet. He was not only shot and killed two buddies, but also blocked in this narrow waterway.

Although the power of the cargo ship radio is insufficient, fortunately, there is a high-power radio station in the Kuwait oil field, which can quickly contact the country. However, although the country has replied that I will wait patiently for the rescue with all my strength, looking at the British, this time it is obviously to rely on the situation to bully others, avenge the Gilberto Islands, and even completely Xinhua drove out of here and gave up the idea of building the Baghdad Railway.

So I'm afraid it won't be easy to break this situation, especially here is the sphere of influence of the British navy. For example, whether it is supply or logistics, it has obvious advantages.

What kind of warships will be sent in China? Just look at the two battleships and monsters with a displacement of 14,200 tons, which are higher than cargo ships. If you want to solve the problem, you need at least battleships!

So will the navy send battleships to cross nearly 3,000 nautical miles here?

Wang Ping was thinking about it when the radio station in the bridge suddenly made a beeping sound, which immediately surrounded everyone. Because it was not a special and complex military password, it was only used for everyone's daily contact, so the telegram was quickly translated.

"Captain, the rescue fleet has arrived in the Gulf of Oman. Please provide the number and model of the British fleet immediately."

"Quick, send it according to this." As soon as the telegrapher finished speaking, Wang Ping handed over the record in his hand. After a moment, the radio rang again. The telegrapher said, "Captain, the rescue fleet asked us to return to Kuwait immediately."

Return to Kuwait? Don't save us?"

"Yes, let's just go back like this. It's not for nothing!"

"What, are there not enough warships sent by the navy?"

In the bridge, everyone talked about it, but Wang Ping, the only one with naval experience, his eyes lit up and waved his hand: "Go to prepare and leave immediately. The navy is going to war!"

"War? Here it is!"

This sentence immediately made everyone shout. This is Persia, and it's also the Indian Ocean outside?! The navy really has to protect itself and go home regardless of the consequences! Suddenly, everyone was excited and worried. Fortunately, Wang Ping was experienced and immediately appeased everyone to sail first.

A few minutes later, the thirteen cargo ships blocked in the Persian Gulf began to make a fire. This scene immediately made the British fleet, which was monitoring in the distance, call the flag to ask, and Major General Cameron of the Indian Fleet in the bridge of the USS Johnson frowned.

"Yes, sir, they want to leave."

"Report, the Rainbow asked if it was going to be intercepted."

The shouts and inquiries sounded in Cameron's ears, but he quickly raised his arms: "Gentlemen, let them go. We are not butchers, and the Chinese fleet should be nearby!"

"What, the Chinese are coming? How is it possible? It's only the sixth day now. Can they fly?

"Nothing is impossible!" Cameron interrupted everyone's comments and buttoned his collar. As an aristocratic officer who had received a good education from the British Empire, he needed to maintain his manner in battle.

Seeing his habitual action, the bridge suddenly became quiet, and everyone began to be busy. As he buttoned up, a series of orders were immediately issued.

The first to leave the fleet were two Adventure-class three-class protective cruisers, Adventure and Careful. As the fastest small cruisers in the fleet, their mission is to help Cameron determine where the enemy is located as soon as possible.

As the two ships quickly passed by the Qiangsheng, the core two first-generation new battleships have also slowly leaned over, and then four Apollo-class second-class cruisers also joined in, and two groups were protected by the capital ship.

Major Cameron turned around and looked at the fading Xinhua fleet. At this moment, he did not know that it was precisely because he let the fleet go and did not carry out the massacre, which inadvertently saved the lives of the 675 sailors on the Qiangsheng.

At the same time, Li Xiuyan on the Weiqing issued the first order. The right rudder entered Hafach Point and moved along the coastline of the Oman Peninsula, which protruded into the Strait of Hormuz, while reducing the speed to 15 knots.

Taking the initiative, it is not because I am afraid of receiving a telegram to learn that the enemy has three capital ships and four second-class cruisers, but because the power group has been sailing at a high speed for five hours in a row, and it is necessary to check it carefully before receiving the enemy.

Li Xiuyan opened the chart table. Because the destroyer has no reading command tower, the navigation bridge is almost the command post, so many facilities are similar to that of submarines. For example, the chart table can be folded. Usually, it can be folded on the bulkhead when it is not needed, and it can be opened when needed.

The fleet left safely, and the British fleet did not carry out a massacre, which made him feel relieved. Originally, he thought that the British would use the fleet as prisoners to blackmail themselves, but now it seems that the British Empire is at least a little demeanor.

This news made him make a decision that was criticized by later naval researchers for a long time, not to use torpedoes in non-emergency situations!

This decision was later quarreled, and even post-war European scholars could not study it thoroughly, because what the new generation captain of Xinhua did in the back was simply more terrible than that of the devil. He almost buried Europe alone, so he thought that he did not have a demeanor, nor a big picture, let alone Fearing a full-scale war between the two countries, the argument that there is a shortage of torpedoes in a hurry occupies the majority.

In fact, Li Xiuyan is indeed facing the problem of insufficient torpedoes in a hurry. Wei Qing has four spear type 2 torpedoes, two of the partner ships Li Mu and Bai Qi, four Tian Dan and three Sun Bin, but one of them is still insufficiently loaded training bombs.

If it is a war, then this kind of equipment means that they can go home, but now he knows very well that the navy is powerful and has not thought that five destroyers can solve the conflict crisis and destroy the British fleet. The reason why they come is not only to show their rapid existence and show their muscles, but also to give themselves. The opportunity to exercise should be clearly known to Britain.

The fleet was detained, and the empire was very angry!

However, the torpedo is not enough. It doesn't mean that there is no killer mace. In fact, he has a key good thing in his hand, that is, the semi-armor-piercing shell that has just begun to be equipped!

The so-called semi-piercing shell is actually the name set by Xinhua itself. This kind of shell is not developed for the main gun, but specially developed for the 152mm and 130mm fast-fire guns.

With so many years of development and actual combat experience, the navy has accumulated enough experience and found many shortcomings, one of which is the problem of rapid-fire secondary artillery ammunition.

The shells of the 152mm naval gun are not bad. Because of the large amount of equipment of the light patrol, heavy-weight armor-piercing shells have been specially developed for it. However, after actual combat, it has also been found that the characteristic armor-piercing shells are not omnipotent, especially in the face of small targets, which are not even as good as high-explosive bombs, because the enemy's thin equipment. A will only let the shells pass through.

As for the 130mm rapid-fire gun, it is not equipped with special armor-piercing shells at all. This is not a lack of technology, but that the consumption ratio of armor-piercing shells is too uneffective, because the price of a capped armor-piercing shell is more than three times that of ordinary shells. What's more, no one will take the 130mm gun to deal with large warships, plus 130 Millimeter shells are not sub-loaded but complete, which is very troublesome to replace.

So in recent years, the L47 130mm naval gun itself has been changed again and again. It has developed into the third generation now. The accuracy and speed have been improved a lot, but the bullet has not made a big breakthrough.

However, this situation was finally solved not long ago, mainly because of the emergence of special carbide steel. After the Ministry of Science and Technology came up with a harder alloy steel, it solved the big problem for the equipment department. Moreover, as the destroyers and protective cruisers of various countries are getting larger and larger, a special restrained ammunition is also needed. It was this kind of semi-piercing bullet that came into being.

To put it bluntly, in fact, the shape of the shell has not changed much, but it weighs two kilograms, and the warhead is more slender, but the interior has changed a lot. Under the condition that the loading remains unchanged, special cemented carbide steel was used as the core for the first time, making the head of the shell more sharp and harder. .

According to the test, the power of the explosion after using this shell is not reduced, but the armor-piercing thickness has been significantly improved. It can penetrate the 152mm armor commonly used in various countries within 6,000 kilometers, and because the penetration is not so strong, it is rarely a direct drilling dilemma.

And the biggest advantage is that the price of this kind of shell is only a little higher than that of ordinary armor-piercing bullets. As the navy currently has the most equipment, the total number of about a thousand first-class rapid-fire guns. The ammunition consumption of the 130mm gun is extremely amazing, so the price has not increased much, but the power of the new shells has increased significantly. The military immediately placed a full 500,000 purchase orders.

However, it is said that the guys in the equipment department are not satisfied. They are preparing to fill the shell with a more powerful explosive developed by a patented formula called Hei Sojin bought from German scientists, and strive to make this Xinhua's unique semi-armercing shell become the nemesis of all small warships.

As the latest generation of destroyer, Weiqing has a three-door double L47/130mm naval gun, and is also the main force to deal with the enemy's small targets, so it naturally enjoys the treatment of the first batch of equipment.

This time, the five destroyers carried this semi-piercing bullet, each with 50 guns, so when he saw the British fleet information sent by the fleet, he immediately filtered two powerful battleships and took the Qiangsheng as the first target!

It's very simple. Although it has two abnormal 234mm guns, it is only 152mm thickest in other places except for the 305mm Harvey armor on the powerful and excessive hull!

Strong!

At 10:15, Li Xiuyan looked at the fragmentary islands in the Strait of Hormuz, hooked the corners of his mouth, and immediately selected the first assault target, and ordered to return to Section 25 again!

(to be continued)