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Within this distance, it can be said that the Intrepid has nothing to do with the three mosquito ships, and can only rely on one frigate and four gunboats to block the enemy's attack.

"Fire!" Lin Guoxiang yelled loudly, and the only remaining eight secondary guns on the starboard side sprayed flames at the same time, and the shells hit the port deck of the Intrepid one after another, finally tearing a gap more than one meter wide there.

At the same time, the remaining two main guns of the Guangjia also participated in the attack, focusing on the superstructure of the Intrepid. The four torpedo compartments at the bottom were all opened, and the sound of explosions was heard endlessly. Explosion!

The Hengkai also crossed the hull, hitting the frigates and gunboats around the Intrepid with its side artillery, trying to attract the opponent's firepower with all its strength.

Hamilton was shocked, and had already been protected by the sailors in the command tower. He shouted angrily: "Protect the Intrepid! Let the warships move closer here!"

Both ends of the T-shaped formation of the Far East Fleet approached the dreadnought at the beginning. The artillery pressure faced by the three Jiangyuan ships was extremely huge, but the formation of the British ships had been completely disrupted by this time.

From this moment on, the battle situation began to change.

Liu Buchan seized this rare opportunity and ordered all the warships to move forward at a speed of 10 knots. At the same time, he ordered Zhaohe, Yangwu, Yingrui, Chaoyong, Nanrui, and Nanchen to quickly insert from the left and right directions. Support the Jiangyuan three ships caught in the firepower of the British ships.

Yangwu led Gao Tengyun to shoot at the British ships while approaching Jiangyuan at high speed, but the protective cruiser Severn blocked its way.With a displacement of 4080 tons, the Severn not only has perfect dome protection, but also adopts advanced underwater designs such as watertight cabins.On the other hand, Yangwu did not install side armor, and only a layer of copper plate was laid on the upper part of the boiler room as a protective deck.There is a world of difference in the protection capabilities of the two.

However, even the firepower that the Yangwu has always been proud of is not as good as the Severn.The two 203mm main guns of the Severn are arranged in the two balcony turrets, while Yangwu is still a product of the era of shipboard guns, and the main guns are arranged in the cabin under the first deck.In addition, the Severn has as many as 10 152mm secondary guns, not only the caliber of the secondary guns is larger than that of Yangwu, but the number of secondary guns is twice that of Yangwu.

This is not a one-on-one duel of equal strength at all. Even if Yang Wu hits the Severn, the shell will be blocked by the dome armor after entering the hull and will not cause fatal damage. The shells from the secondary artillery were enough to cause major damage to Yang Wu.

Severn quickly adjusted the angle and fired the cannon first. The flying 203-meter caliber shell just hit the rear deck of the Yangwu and ignited the ammunition in the cabin below the deck. Fireballs shot out in all directions, and a fireball exploded above the starboard side of the ship. At the entrance of the cave, the fire burned rapidly with an unstoppable momentum.

Gao Tengyun ordered the sailors to fight the fire, and fired back fire at the same time. Since the opponent's side deck was very thick, Gao Tengyun ordered to increase the elevation angle and concentrate firepower on the upper tower of Severn.This strategy really worked. The broadside rapid-fire guns and machine guns hit the target one after another, smashing the tower of Severn into a honeycomb shape, and many British sailors were killed in the intensive artillery fire.

Ying Rui and Zhao He are planning to support Yang Wu, but they encounter the Orion and the Warspite oncoming. The addition of these two warships makes Ying Rui and Zhao He suddenly restrained everywhere.Orion and Warspite are equipped with the same steel-faced armor as the Dingyuan class, and even the protection method used is the same iron-clad fort design as the Dingyuan class.As an equally powerful existence, although the armor around it seems to be less than that of Dingyuan, it has a high speed that Dingyuan does not have.If described by the arms in ancient warfare, Dingyuan can be regarded as heavy infantry wearing thick armor, while Orion and Warspite can be regarded as heavy cavalry wearing armor but still not losing mobility.

Fortunately, at this time, Nan Rui and Nan Chen received Liu Buchan's order to temporarily change course and join the battle group.Chaoyong continued to support the three Jiangyuan ships that were trapped.With five vs. four, at least they can get a little comfort in terms of numbers.The battle situation fell into a stalemate for a while, and the artillerymen of the warships on both sides were using their fastest speed to shoot out the shells in the barrels.For a moment, the sea was filled with thick smoke, raging fire, loud noise, broken hull, and mutilated corpses.

At this time, Liu Buchan led other ships headed by Dingyuan, driven by high horsepower, about to rush into the Far East Fleet formation, and soon cut a column of the British army into three sections. Liu Buchan's tactical purpose is very Obviously, it is necessary to divide and annihilate the British ships.At this moment, a scuffle was about to begin.

However, the British Navy once again demonstrated their tactical qualities as the overlord of the sea. Before they were cut into three sections by the Chinese fleet, they quickly disconnected themselves, and the three sections of British warships quickly turned around on their own. A large column It became three small verticals.

At this time, several Chinese warships headed by Dingyuan and the British ships formed a side attack.The Triumph, Victory, and Tong'an ships are all ironclad ships with side guns whose firepower is far greater than that of the bow. At this time, they are facing three Victoria-class ironclad ships.The three British ships were larger in tonnage, while the three Triumph ships had sharp artillery. As a result, the two sides were attacking and defending each other, passing each other at high speed.At this time, Dingyuan and Weiyuan were already surrounded by 6 warships, while Zhenyuan, Hurricane and five gunboats surrounded the opponent's flagship Intrepid.

Zhuang Mingwu, the leader of the Triumph, was faced with a choice at this time. The three Triumph ships he led had just passed the large column in the area. At this time, should they go back to rescue the besieged Dingyuan and Weiyuan, or continue to move forward?The third Triumph ship was already very close to the place where the fifth ship Yangwu fought with the British ship. Zhuang Mingwu looked back and finally chose to move on. Even if he went back to rescue the two ships Ding and Wei at this time, it would not be of much help. Busy, and if you add your own tactical unit to the fleet that is fighting fiercely, it will play a decisive role.

Zhuang Mingwu quickly played the banner of "accelerate the speed and follow me", and ordered the engine room to adopt forced ventilation and increase horsepower to drive forward.Below the deck, under the dim light, the engine room was roiling with heat.The engine room has entered a state of high pressure, and the officers and soldiers are sweating profusely in the high-temperature working environment, constantly filling coal into the boiler.However, Triumph, Victory, and Tongan are ironclad ships after all, not cruisers, and their speed is only 13 knots, which is not much faster even after forced ventilation.

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Soaring Front: The First World War Chapter 224 Sea Hegemony 5

The current situation on the battlefield is: the five warships Yangwu are fighting with four British warships; the three warships Jiangyuan, with the support of Zhenyuan, Hurricane, and Chaoyong who just killed them, have boosted their morale, and the six warships have taken the Intrepid Surrounded by groups; Dingyuan and Zhenyuan did not lose the wind in the battle with the six British ships.Now, a large battlefield has become several main sub-battlefields, and whoever wins a sub-battlefield first will develop a more powerful situation for the winning side.

In order to increase the speed of the ship, Zhuang Mingwu had an idea and ordered the marines to move the air blower to the furnace to continuously blow air into the furnace to promote the full combustion of coal and increase the speed of steam generation. Suddenly, the speed of the warship was slightly increased.The Triumph Triumph rushed into the middle of the fighting fleet in one go.

At this moment, the Orion and the Warspite attacked the smaller flat armored ships Nanchen and Nanrui with their dense rapid-fire guns on the sides, while Severn launched a confrontational battle with Yangwu and Yingrui.Hajime was tied with the smaller but more powerful Black Falcon.

Although they are German cruisers, Nanchen and Nanrui have good defensive capabilities among cruisers of the same level, but the two ships with a displacement of less than [-] tons cannot withstand the powerful Orion and War Spite.

A 234mm shell fired from the war-weary pear-shaped main turret directly penetrated into the Nan Rui's ammunition depot, which was only protected by a layer of thin armor, and immediately triggered a terrible red flame. The strong explosion almost lifted the right side deck, fierce In an instant, the flames rushed up to a height of 30 meters, and Ye Chen and more than 50 sailors were killed on the spot by the Nanrui horn pipe.

Seeing the tragic situation of the Nanrui, the Nanchen tried to avoid it temporarily, but he ignored the speed of the Orion and the war-weary terror. The two ships concentrated their firepower offensive, which was bound to send the Nanchen into the bottom of the sea.

Zhuang Mingwu saw that the situation of Nanrui and Nanchen was extremely critical, so he resolutely commanded the three Triumph ships to rescue them.The addition of the three warships brought an immediate turn for the situation in this divided battlefield. The Triumph three warships came from behind, and the rear of Orion and Warspite's ships became the most enjoyable targets for the three warships. From this angle, Orion and War weariness has no ability to fight back at all.

"Turn right, quick, quick!" Warspite's commander Stephenson shouted angrily. He planned to turn the warship sideways and use the side guns on both sides to deal with the two Narui ships and the third Triumph that were flanking the front and back.

But Zhuang Mingwu didn't give him any chance at all, commanding the Triumph to chase the war-weary stern in circles like a lantern, and at the same time use the side artillery to continuously attack the war-weary rear deck.Shengli and Tong'an sandwiched Orion from left to right, and the rapid-fire guns and machine guns on both sides quickly turned Orion's side into a hornet's nest.Nan Rui and Nan Chen turned around and launched a fierce retaliatory counterattack against the two war-weary ships.

For Warweary and Orion, the current situation on the battlefield has reached a freezing point. Under the siege of five enemy ships, Stephenson, who was originally ambitious, also had unprecedented fear in his heart.The high speed advantage of the two ships disappeared under the attack of five enemy ships.

The Triumph, Victory, and Tongan ironclad ships are all equipped with 240mm heavy guns. Maybe they can't penetrate Dingyuan's 305mm thick steel armor, but for Orion and War-weary who are a circle thinner than Dingyuan, they are not at all. There are any problems.In just 5 minutes, the rear deck of the war-weary ship was lifted, and two shells fired from the Triumph shot into the war-weary hull, and exploded, leaving a large hole with a diameter of three meters on the rear starboard side of the ship. More than half of the power boiler inside was blown up, and the entire upper turret was also badly shot by machine guns.In the face of the powerful explosive power, the 25-caliber main gun was almost twisted into a twisted shape, and most of the side guns on both sides lost their ability to fight back.The Warspite has almost become a pile of scrap metal drifting at sea.

Compared to Orion, being war-weary is lucky. Orion's bottom steel plate can no longer withstand the torpedoes launched continuously by the opponent, and finally a structural crack occurs. Sea water is poured into each cabin crazily. Loud metal cracking.

Seeing that Orion and War-weary were severely damaged, the Severn, which was almost playing Yangwu, immediately abandoned the Yangwu to support the two armored cruisers that were on the verge of sinking. This made the struggling Yangwu and Yingrui I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"We have already disengaged from the Severn. Shall we leave the battlefield to the northwest first, and wait for the fire to be extinguished before engaging the British ship." A young officer said to Gao Tengyun.

At this time, Gao Tengyun's face was blackened by the burns, his clothes were ragged, and his navy uniform had long lost his original appearance.Hearing what the officer said, Gao Tengyun took his binoculars with one hand. "There are no cowards on our Yangwu, chase after it, and hit its tail like the Triumph."

"Yes!"

"The main gun and the torpedo are launched together, and the speed must be slowed down." Gao Tengyun took a sip, trying to spit out the black ash sucked into his mouth.

The main guns on the Yangwu fired together, and all the torpedo tubes were opened at the same time. The torpedoes drew six white wavy lines on the sea surface, and they exploded on the stern plank of Severn, and Severn trembled a few times. The speed finally slowed down.

At this time, Shengli and Tong'an went to support Zhaohe, which was fighting fiercely, while Kaixuan led Nanrui and Nanchen to kill Saiwoen in a hurry.The Warspite used the remaining three power boilers to flee to the southeast sea in a panic, while the Orion sank slowly amidst a series of explosions, ending its dream of conquering Asia.

Soon the Severn faced the same situation as her two companions. Behind her were Yang Wu and Ying Rui who were chasing wildly, and in front of them was the menacing Triumph Triumph. The captain, Colonel Haslem, knew that he was caught in a sandwich The feeling was uncomfortable, so he shouted loudly: "Sail to the northwest and get closer to our fleet, hurry up!"

"Report to the commander, the ship's engine wheel was severely damaged by the enemy ship's torpedo, and the horsepower could not be increased." The chief engineer said with a bitter face.

Haslem watched the two Chinese warships galloping towards him, and said to himself, "Is the Chinese navy really stronger than the Royal Navy?"

Under the pincer attack of five warships, the powerful Severn was suffering from fierce artillery fire from two sides. A 280mm armor-piercing projectile fired by Yang Wu interrupted its steam pipe, making its speed even worse than no On the last fishing boat, a 240mm high-explosive grenade fired by Yingrui hit its officer's room. Haslem was injured by shrapnel. Two large holes were left in the deck.The luxurious furnishings in the officer's room no longer exist. Beds, wooden boards, clothes... all messy things have become burning fragments.In particular, the explosion ignited the ammunition bag depot not far from the officer's room, posing a fatal threat to the Severn.

Boom... After a series of earth-shattering explosions, thick yellow smoke filled the sky above the Severn, and one-third of the entire warship was blown to nothing, and fragments of steel armor and wood shot out in the air. .All the lifesaving sampans were blown up, and the officers and men of the ship lost hope of escape.

Haslem stared into space, drew a cross on his chest, and prayed silently, as his ship slowly sank to the bottom of the sea...

ps: Friends are so supportive, the next chapter will dedicate a chapter of more than 3000 words.

Soaring Front: The First World War Chapter 225 Sea Hegemony 6

At this time, with the support of Shengli and Tongan, Zhaohe destroyed the British ship Black Falcon in one fell swoop, and the Black Falcon fled to the distant sea in embarrassment dragging a long yellow smoke.The three Zhaohe warships joined forces with six warships including Kaixuan and Yangwu. After they won the battle, they split into two groups. After Nanrui went to Qianwan to fight the fire and save himself, the rest of the warships reorganized into a strategic formation, and under the command of the Yangwu, they rushed to the British flagship Dreadnought.

Dingyuan and Weiyuan, two steel sister ships of the same class, faced the six British rear warships headed by Nelson and Northampton.The intention of this strategic formation is obvious. Dingyuan and Weiyuan are one of the pillar forces of the United Fleet. As long as they can be completely defeated, they can temporarily make up for the loss of the Far East Fleet and balance the balance of power between the two sides.For this reason, the Northampton even boldly ignored the powerful artillery offensive of the two ships, and ventured forward to a distance of 3700 meters in order to improve the hit rate of the artillery through short-range bombardment and tear apart the thick steel armor of the two ships. .

The remaining five British ships also followed Northampton's approach and were distributed in a zipper formation to gradually erode the waters controlled by the two ships Ding and Wei.At this time, the six British ships seemed like bloodthirsty jackals on the African savannah, trying to hunt down the two lonely lions.

The six British warships had a total of 50 artillery pieces with a caliber of more than 120 meters continuously shooting at the two ships in Dingyuan. This was the most violent artillery fire encountered by the two ships since the Sino-Japanese War. The hull of the ship is covered.However, the excellent combat performance and the German armor technology made the two ships still stand firm like Mount Tai, and fired back slowly but rhythmically, appearing extremely strong and persistent.

Under Liu Buchan's command, Dingyuan and Weiyuan formed a stable formation of double halberds, and the two warships advanced alternately, disrupting the organized offensive of the British ships many times.Facing the accurate and powerful artillery of the two ships, the Welsh and the Liedan were destroyed one after another, and they had no choice but to withdraw from this sea area. The remaining four warships were still fighting fiercely.

Under the intensive artillery fire from the enemy ships, both Dingyuan and Weiyuan were covered in bruises, but none of the bullet wounds had a depth of more than 4 inches. The British ships were almost helpless.The British officers and soldiers who were originally invincible and thought that victory was at their fingertips, after more than half an hour of fierce fighting, did not cause much damage to the two Chinese warships. Many of their faces were full of helplessness and even despair. It is impossible for these two Chinese warships to be sunk.

However, the timely arrival of the three Triumph ships has deepened the despair of the British. The current situation is five against four, not to mention that there are two flagship Dingyuan ships on the Chinese side. Two ships were sunk, and two were destroyed and fled in a hurry.

The Chinese United Fleet has achieved victories in two major sub-battlefields. Standing in the Dingyuan command room, Liu Buchan finally sees the hope of victory.He ordered this fleet to temporarily form a strategic formation and speed up towards the British main fleet of the Dreadnought. He knew that a thrilling decisive battle at sea would be staged in the northwest sea area.

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Guan Xuqing was discussing matters with several important ministers. The faces of Li Hongzhang, Feng Xianghua, Deng Shichang, and Yuan Shikai were not only dignified but also anxious. The battle reports ahead made everyone's hearts hang in their throats.

"What's going on with Yan Fu and the others? I haven't responded to the telegram I sent yesterday." Guan Xuqing was a little annoyed. Yan Fu has always been serious in his work. What are the consequences.

"Could it be that the telegraph over there is out of order?" Yuan Shikai, who was newly promoted, whispered.