Chapter 180 Smile

Since the declaration of war between China and Japan, the whole world has been paying attention to Japan and China. The former, after decades of efforts, defeated Qing and Russia, and became a powerful country that attracted the world's attention. After the restoration, the latter gave up all domestic problems and sought military strength, so as to revive the name of a great power. .

Battle by sea!

Observers all over the world believe that for China or Japan, the real decisive battle is not on land, but on the sea, but on the sea.

The British magazine "Technology World" published on December 9th discusses the battle of the sea that may break out at any time in the future, which is destined to be the events that the world's attention.

"This upcoming naval battle will have an unprecedented impact on history! The focus of naval warfare is to control the sea power. Like Britain, the empire on the island has similar geographical conditions. Here, it is not to belittle the value of the Japanese army, which is impossible to break through the defense line of the Yalu River, but the victory in the land war should only play an auxiliary role in this war. For China and Japan, only by obtaining the right to control the sea can they win the war. In a metaphor, it can also be said that for China, which has a superior army in this war, even if they occupied the whole of North Korea, they only won the Battle of the Nile, and the Battle of Trafalgar has not yet begun. If Admiral Nilsson loses to Admiral Vernuvei of France, the British army will not be able to play any role on the Tunisian peninsula, just as it can't expect the Duke of Wellington to win in Waterloo.

What will happen if Liu Guanxiong loses to Dongxiang Pinghalang in the naval battle? Then having an elite army and repeated victories will only become a glorious past..."

After a peneting discussion, it also compared the two fleets.

It began to compare with the decisive battleships of the two sides. Japan has nine warships (including five new warships), while China has 11, and China has two Zhiyuan-class giant ships, which is at a disadvantage in terms of number. However, five of the eleven warships owned by China are on their way home, and two are floating warships in the deep sea, which is also China's disadvantage. In terms of the quality of naval officers and soldiers, Japan has a slight advantage in this regard.

China exceeds Japan in terms of the number of warships and the number of cannons above nine inches. The number of Japanese armored cruisers and the number of rapid-fire guns below eight feet have an advantage, and the material conditions of the battle between the two sides are basically the same. In fact, the Chinese Zhenyang Fleet is divided into two fleets, one is the first fleet stationed in the mainland, and the other is the second fleet composed of British and German old warships and cruisers urgently purchased after the declaration of war.

And this gives Japan the opportunity to break through and avoid the confluence of the first and second fleets of the Zhenyang fleet.

In the comments, this naval battle is defined as "a naval battle carried out by modern fleets on the premise of destroying each other."

Under the premise that the material conditions of the two armies are basically the same, the quality and technology of the officers and soldiers using these materials will determine the victory or defeat of this naval battle. It is impossible to quantify all these things, so it did not continue to comment.

"The facts of the encounter in the South China Sea prove that the quality and technology of Chinese naval soldiers are by no means as vulnerable as the world imagines, and their fighting will is not inferior to that of any navy!"

While commenting like this, it also believes that it is also very excellent at this point. After all, for the world, the Japanese navy just won a great sea battle seven months ago, and in this sea battle, the Japanese navy won a huge victory with almost zero damage, which is enough for him to have the capital to be proud of the countries.

The most important point is whether the second fleet of the Zhenyang Fleet can safely reach Sanduao, and whether the Zhenyang Fleet can fully participate in naval battles is directly related to whether the Chinese navy can win. That's why the world pays so much attention to the second ship of the Zhenyang Fleet of the Royal Guards Navy of the Chinese Empire. The team.

On December 20, at 15:02 p.m., with the first shot of the Jiyuan ship, the naval battle of the South China Sea began.

15:03 minutes, after two proofshoots, the seven warships of the Second Fleet formed the first volley, targeting the combined fleet flagship "Shikishima". At this time, the "Shikishima" was turning forward to the enemy and had no power to fight back.

"The shooting of the Second Fleet is accurate and fierce."

Lieutenant Colonel Wick of the British Royal Navy standing in the command tower of the Shikishima? Dulus looked at the bullet column that completely surrounded the "Shikishima" and the flames that kept blowing up on the side of the "Shikishima" and couldn't help praising it in his heart.

A grenade, perhaps a grenade of about 6 inches, exploded on the front deck of the bridge. At the moment when the flames rose, the steel fragments flew into the conning tower from the observation window. In an instant, several officers and sailors were hit by shrapnel.

"It's really Nelson of the East!"

When looking towards Dongxiang, Wick? Dulus couldn't help praising in his heart. At this time, Marshal Dongxiang was still standing there, and beside him was a junior officer who was hit in the head by shrapnel and his brain splashed. He was even less than a foot away from him, but at this time, he still stood there with an unchanged face.

"...The first volley, a ten-inch shell hit the starboard No. 1 152mm secondary gun gallery in front of our ship. The shell immediately tore off the armor belt of our ship and exploded inside the turret. The No. 1 gun was immediately destroyed, and the backup ammunition was martyred..."

From the officer's report, can you say a fluent word to Wick? Duluth couldn't help admiring the Chinese gunners 12 kilometers away. Their gunfire was really... too accurate!

At this time, the "Sshikishima" hasn't fired yet! It even takes him a few minutes to complete the turn, and it even takes more than ten minutes to fight back.

It seems that the Chinese have played a role in the training of long-range artillery warfare.

"Hmm!"

Dongxiang, with a blank face, just nodded.

He, who was full of confidence, would really start to worry. He really didn't expect that the firepower of the Second Fleet was so fierce that it would take five minutes to complete the turn, which meant that he could not fight back at all, and how many sangulations would the Chinese find out in these five minutes?

At this time, Dongxiang even began to consider whether it was not wise enough to turn before the five Chinese battleships!

But at this time, Higashigo Heihachiro has no choice!

His eyes stared at the water columns that formed nearly lost bullets. As an admiral, it was just the rising column of water, but it made him see some undetected details.

If the shell falls into the sea, it will blow up a huge water column. The water column stays in the air for about 5 seconds, while the shells fired by the Chinese navy are divided into two types. There are large water columns, which can stay in the air for more than 7 seconds, and this water column is yellow-green from the root to half the height. For this color, Dongxiangping Hachiro is very familiar with it. This is a bitter sour explosive. The lower gargle explosive used by the joint fleet is also a bitter sour explosive. After the end of the Battle of Tsuima, the whole battle area was completely dyed yellow.

Another water column with a slightly smaller height can only stay in the air for three to four seconds, and this kind of water column is white from the root, which means that it uses other types of explosives, and the amount of loading is very limited. This is an armor-piercing bullet!

In the near lost bomb, nearly half of the white water columns are not large. As for those large water columns, from the analysis of the size of the column, it should be 150 mm shells.

"Wow!"

In just a few tens of seconds, Dongxiang Heihachiro, who made a judgment, breathed a sigh of relief.

This means that to some extent, you don't need to consider the damage caused by near-ball loss. If it explodes in seawater, the impact force is 800 times that in the air. Under such an impact force, it only takes a few times to make the enemy ship's hull, especially the connection rivets. Fatigue is produced and broken, and the near-lost bullet is better than the direct hit effect. This is the reason why Yiji Xinguan was adopted at the beginning, and it can even be said that it is one of the reasons for the victory of the horse sea.

At this time, Dongxiang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief from the unexpected discovery. If the Chinese navy used high-explosive bombs, then these nearly lost bombs were enough to cause cracks in the hull of the Fushima.

It seems that the facts also prove his judgment. After the end of the first round, there was no news of the "Skishima" entering the water. Only the port No. 1 gun was hit, the gun position was destroyed, and the ammunition was martyred, and the damage was bearable.

"Very good!"

The unimaginable hit rate made Cheng Biguang praise it vigorously.

"Five hard, you must sink "Shushima"!"

Almost at the moment when his words came out, another loud noise sounded in his ear. The volley of the main gun in front of Dingyuan only made a scorching flame and a hot stream rush into Dingyuan's command tower. This was the second round of volley!

Although the 254mm main gun used by the Dingyuan-class warship can only fire 500-pound shells, which is less powerful than the 800-pound shells fired by the 305-mm cannon, compared with the 305-mm main gun, its rate of fire is higher, which can reach a rate of fire of 3.5 rounds per minute, which can not only be preemptive, but also The gunners of the Second Fleet gave full play to the best results they could achieve in training along the way.

Especially after the first round of shooting, the opponent's passive beating and the effect of hitting the enemy ship quickly calmed down when the gunners of the Second Fleet shouted excitedly, and they began to aim and shoot like gunnery exercises. In order to further enhance the hit rate, the crew of the 3.5-meter cursor rangefinder at the top of the mast mobilized the magnification wheel one after another. With the help of several sets of optical lenses, they magnified the Japanese warship 12,000 meters away by 20 times, which has reached the maximum magnification of the rangefinder.

"Sir, we should switch to flowering bullets!"

Almost after the second round of sip shooting, Zheng Rucheng immediately put forward his own suggestion. He wanted to use high-explosive bombs to form a near-lost bullet, which has increased the habit of harming Shikishima, and the flowering bomb is just a personal habit.

"Flower bullet!"

Cheng Biguang frowned and looked at the front main turret preparing for the third round of volley. He shook his head.

Everything is beneficial and naturally cheating. The ten-inch naval gun has a low elongation and the rate of fire is faster, but the shell is too light, the amount of high-explosive ammunition is limited, and the near-lost bullet kills is small, which is the biggest shortcoming of the ten-inch naval gun.

"The caliber of the cannon is too small, and the nearly lost bomb is less than 5 meters, which will reach the expected damage! With armor-piercing bullets, even if it is a round of s volley and a hit, it is enough to hit "Shikishima"!"

"20, 21, 22..."

When Cheng Biguang refused Zheng Rucheng's suggestion, the Chief of Staff of the Second Fleet counted the dropped bomb with a stopwatch.

After accurate ranging, the rate of fire, which has always been emphasized by the Second Fleet, began to play an efficient role, and the hit rate brought by high rate of fire was also shown.

In just over 20 seconds between the first round of volley and the second round of volleys, the Japanese sailors on "Sushijima" fully showed their quality. On the deck of the falling bomb burning, at the moment when the high-pressure water dragon scattered the flames, the sailors pushing the wooden mop desperately dragged the flames with wet sand. The instinct produced by strict training made They moved very fast, and in just a few seconds, a few flames on the deck were swept away.

Chu... When the sharp shell roar came again, the sailors of the deck damage team immediately looked for concealment. When the shell plane came, the roar of tearing the sky and even the explosion were covered up. After the second round of sangulation, the battleship "Shikishima" had been completely covered by dozens of meters high water column. Surrounded by the ship, the ship was surrounded by columns of water, higher than the chimney, and then splashed on the body. Occasionally, those sailors will find something flying in front of them with a flash of light or a dark shadow, which is scattered shrapnel.

The second round of volleys of the Second Fleet only landed on the hull with only a few explosive bombs, which made Wick, who was assigned as an onlooker? Duluth was relaxed. Although he was watching the battle, he really needed to be prepared to die here.

" Maybe I could still take a picture of the shell flying over just now!"

In a relaxed mood, Wick took a picture? Duluth was also in the mood to joke. He said with a smile that he said so because he had a camera, but it took a lot of courage for the military officer to board the bridge in the battle for the purpose of watching the battle, but he didn't care much.

At the same time, Dongxiang, standing on the bridge, did not use a telescope but silently stared at the port. It's not very useful to use a telescope at this time. Today's weather is very good and the view is very wide. In this state, you don't need a telescope, and it's enough to look at it with the naked eye.

However, he still had a telescope hanging on his chest, and Dongxiang, with a solemn expression, looked up at the sky. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was to the west.

At this time, Dongxiang picked up the telescope, looked at the Second Fleet in the west, and then shook his head again.

When Dongxiang looked up at the sky, Cheng Biguang also looked at the sky. He knew that he was in the west.

"When will the sun begin to set in the South China Sea?"

"Hur, from 17:20 to 50!"

Hmm!

Nodding, Cheng Biguang understands that he still has an hour left. Naval battles have always been a war of technology and calculation. The battleships are battleship construction and artillery construction, but the most important thing is precision calculation. It is not only the calculation of gunnerships such as ranging, but also the calculation of various natural conditions. Impact on naval warfare.

In the naval battle, living in the west is undoubtedly at a disadvantage, especially when the western sky is very clear. When the sea level is clear, the side outline of the fleet in the west will be completely captured, and the opponent's landing point is also easy to identify, and as the sun sets in the west, this problem will only become more and more serious.

After the third round of swooping, Cheng Biguang gave an order with his right hand.

"3 degrees right!"

"3 degrees right!"

The order is repeated, and the three-degree turn will not affect the next artillery battle, but the most important thing is that Cheng Biguang understands that he must seize the natural advantage, at least when everything is still urgent, to get rid of the disadvantage he will face in an hour.

Three-degree turn, from the perspective of 12,000, there is almost no change, while the second fleet is constantly flying towards the "fu dao" like artillery training, the third round, the fourth round, at least three rounds per minute, which is far beyond the rate of fire of any main fleet decisive battle.

15:04 points, the third round of slam shot, Shikishima, who was still reshooting, was unilaterally attacked. The explosion around the warship was earth-shaking, and the port side of the Shikishima, which had been completely on the muzzle of the Second Fleet with the port hull, was constantly hit as if it had been hit by a huge hammer again. The port side gun, the side gun, and even the side gun were broken before firing.

After the armor-piercing shell penetrated the fleet, the torn armored steel fragments and the steel fragments after the explosion of the shell splashed everywhere in the ship, sweeping the sailors to the ground like mowing grass, and the blood flowed into a river on the deck and between the cabins in an instant.

"Oh..."

When the fourth round of sangulation shells came, a loud bell-like sound shocked everyone again. This was definitely the port armor belt accurately hit by the ten-inch shell.

A 10-inch soft steel armor-piercing shell accurately hit the position of the port side armor belt near the waterline. The giant-like armor-piercing shell collided while breaking through the armored steel, it produced kinetic energy impact, breaking the fixed "Cshikishima" armor belt and dozens of soft steel rivets on the ship plate. The armor-piercing shell first penetrated the armored steel and connected The ship plate was penetrated again, and the trajectory of the lower tilt accurately hit a boiler. At the moment of breaking through the boiler, the shell exploded inside the boiler. The 5 kg of TNT may not be very powerful, but after the explosion in the boiler, it maximized its power.

In an instant, the sailors who were shoveling coal in front of the boiler rushed to them with white fog. This was the boiling water in the boiler. The boiling water and fragments exploded on their bodies, and their skin was scalded in an instant, and the following fragments were like God's favor, sending pain to them. Before the scream, they took their lives...

The sailors in the port boiler room were all knocked to the ground like dominoes. At the same time, the boiler explosion also splashed countless debris in all directions, and the shock wave of the internal explosion directly hit the bulkhead. The side of the ship, which was damaged by the rivet fracture, was hit hard again. After that, a bigger opening was torn open, and the sea poured along the gap of dozens of centimeters into the boiler chamber shrouded in boiling water and flames.

"The port side boiler compartment exploded and entered the water!"

Although he has great respect for Dongxiang, after the explosion of the fleet, the flames gushing out of the ventilation pipe and the smell of old eggs mixed with water and coal came to his face, even at this time, Wick? Duluth also foresaw that Dongxiang was about to lose his flagship!

"The goddess of victory smiled at Cheng Biguang!"

(to be continued)