Seven Seas Beacon Fire

This is indeed a tempting suggestion. Humans are sometimes like cats, enjoying toying with their prey when they have an absolute advantage. There are countless examples of this in ancient warfare. Even in modern times, it's hard to say whether the actions of the battleships HMS Rodney and HMS George V in the final stage of the siege of Bismarck, where they concentrated their firepower on Bismarck's superstructure and buildings, were venting their anger or just playing with him. And there are even more examples of squid soldiers trying to toy with the enemy on the battlefield but ending up messing things up.

"Sir, I suggest we just load armor-piercing shells. The King-class battleship's turrets and gun mounts have 300mm of armor; our semi-armor-piercing shells won't penetrate them." Xu Yueming's voice drifted over at that moment:

"At such a dangerous distance, our firepower should prioritize paralyzing the enemy's firepower as much as possible. After all, if the enemy has the ability to retaliate, it is easy for them to inflict casualties on us at this distance. Although the dome armor behind our armored hull should be able to hold us off, casualties are probably inevitable if we are hit. If possible, we should ensure that all crew members can return home safely."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiyuan did not show any dissatisfaction this time. Instead, he subtly revealed a hint of appreciation: "You are very familiar with the data of both our own and the enemy's warships. Are you also so familiar with the warships of the Leitanian Empire's navy?"

"Because His Highness appreciates officers with technical skills, I am more sensitive to technical matters. Although military cooperation between the Leitanian Empire and our country was interrupted before the defeat of the Leitanian Empire, the exchange of military information between the two sides has continued. We even have the design sketches of the Bavaria-class battleships. Similarly, the Leitanian Empire also has our sketches up to the Dingyuan-class battleships."

This really touched on Lin Zhiyuan's blind spot. He knew that from the later stages of the war, technical officers were more popular in the army. He also considered himself a technical officer, but most of the technology he knew was within his own professional field. In any case, he had never bothered to learn about the data of Leitania's warships, let alone the history of military cooperation between Leitania and the former Ming Dynasty.

That's a problem that the design bureau and logistics should be concerned with.

"After the defeat of Letania, wouldn't this intelligence about our naval capital ships also fall into the hands of countries like Victoria?"

"Yes, that's why the Longyuan-class battleship, which is a complete black hole to the enemy in terms of data, is even more valuable. I think we should take good care of this battleship."

"Hmph, I know even if you don't say it. Pass the order down to load armor-piercing rounds. Also... send another warning, demanding they stop the ship immediately for our inspection!"

Lin Zhiyuan had just been showing admiration, but now he's humming again. It's only because Xu Yueming hasn't studied in another world that he's doing this. If Li Che were here, he would definitely have labeled this major general as arrogant.

The four main gun turrets of the Longyuan and Longgang ships began to slowly rotate. Each of these steel fortress-like turrets weighed 1000 tons, equivalent to the weight of a destroyer. Driven by electric motors and hydraulic machinery, the turrets began to slowly rotate and the barrels of the main guns were slightly raised—this was the loading of shells into these 420mm giant guns.

As the turrets of both ships rotated together, signal lights on the bridge of the Longyuan battleship flashed continuously, conveying a clear message in Morse code to the other side once again—your actions are undermining peace and stability in the Western Pacific region. You must stop immediately and cease your actions that are escalating regional conflicts, or we will send you traitors to meet Mazu!

Chapter 273 Kuroki Takeshi said that the village girl surnamed Lin was none of his business.

"...Everyone, please look, this is the barbarity and rudeness of the 'Eastern Rome'. For the past thousand years, the entire country of the East has been subjugated to the tyranny of this central empire. There is a saying that describes it very well for us: 'We are too far from heaven, but too close to China.'"

After our country successfully gained independence from the Ming Empire with the assistance of friendly nations, we intended to maintain good relations with all Eastern countries. Therefore, we sent some security forces to accompany our Colombian allies in the hope of ending the war as soon as possible.

However, the Eastern Tang Empire now sees itself as the successor to the Ming Empire. They still regard our country as one of their spheres of influence and consider the independence that our millions of citizens have fought so hard for as a national humiliation. At present, our country has only legally purchased two outdated warships from a third country. I think everyone should agree that our country has such freedom. However, our normal rights have been rudely obstructed by the Tang Empire!

Dear journalists, the two ships before you are currently the most powerful battleships in the world. Before our Colombian friends' super battleships entered service, this battleship, named Longyuan, was the only super battleship in the world. They attempted to use their superiority in sturdy ships and heavy artillery to force us to submit.

However, our soldiers possess extraordinary wisdom and courage. Although our warships are somewhat inferior in performance, the steely spirit of our soldiers will compensate for this deficiency. The steel dragon on the other side cannot overwhelm us; we will never succumb to their threats!

On the bridge of the battleship Amaterasu, Kuroki Takeshi, commander of the Kii Kingdom's garrison fleet, pointed to the distant Ryuen, which resembled a vicious dragon, and denounced the Tang Empire's infringement on Yingzhou's legitimate rights in front of a group of foreign journalists.

In this regard, Kuroki Gouji's accusations are certainly quite reasonable and well-founded. After all, theoretically, Yingzhou, as an independent country, is completely free to choose which country to buy warships from and what kind of warships to buy. Their current interference undoubtedly infringes on Yingzhou's current sovereignty.

The problem is that, whether on this planet or on another Earth, ever since the emergence of nations in human society, there has always been something that overrides the international principles of the time.

This is the national interest of a major power.

Legally speaking, Cuba, as an independent country, certainly has the right to invite other friendly countries to establish missile bases on its territory. This is perfectly reasonable and legal. However, it is clear that a certain beacon of democracy would absolutely not tolerate this situation.

As an independent nation, Russia certainly has the right to request to join NATO and the EU, but it is clear that Russia absolutely cannot tolerate NATO pushing its front lines into its heartland.

Given the current reality, the Tang Dynasty could tolerate Yingzhou temporarily breaking away from its control, and even tolerate Yingzhou building up a military force of a certain size. However, the Tang Dynasty absolutely could not tolerate the West arming the country without restraint and turning the entire country into a fortress and mercenary group on its doorstep.

Not everyone understands the reasons behind this. Most of the reporters on the battleship Amaterasu do not have such abilities. They have now taken Yingzhou's side and, after Kuroki Gouichi's accusations, they all feel that the Tang Empire's behavior is too domineering.

Putting aside the past, even if Yingzhou was your servant or wife before, the Colombian lord has now redeemed her. Even if she is still a slave or maid, she is a slave or maid to the United States of Colombia. How can you come here and force her to act according to your wishes?

However, just as the reporters were expressing their agreement with Commander Kuroki's words, a reporter from Victoria suddenly let out a woman's scream. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw, several kilometers away, the Ryuen, touted as the world's most powerful battleship, its four main gun turrets slowly rotating, the eight menacing 420mm cannons slowly pointing their terrifying, dark muzzles toward them.

Not only the Longyuan, but the Longgang following behind was also rotating its turrets.

"They're about to attack!"

Suddenly someone shouted. After all, although the two sides had maintained a tense standoff, their cannons were all in their positions and no one had done anything that could cause a misunderstanding. Now that the two battleships of the Tang Empire's Royal Navy had suddenly made a move, some reporters who were on high alert started shouting, thinking that they were about to launch an attack.

"Don't panic, this is probably just them intimidating the ship we're on!"

Among these reporters were veterans who had retired from the military. These veterans knew that in most maritime standoffs, no matter how tense the atmosphere was, no shots would be fired in the end. In order to show their determination and their willingness to use force without backing down, both sides would often choose to swing the cannons on their warships at each other during the standoff.

This is a dangerous provocation, but it is also a fairly common form of deterrence.

The only difference is that—before this, no one had ever used the 420mm guns on a 4-ton battleship to do this.

After all, in human history, there had never been a situation where two countries confronted each other with warships of 30,000 to 40,000 tons.

"This reporter is absolutely right, everyone, don't panic! The more intense our enemies' reaction, the more it proves that our rebuttal just now hit their sore spot!" Kuroki Takeshi raised his hand to calm the reporters down: "Such intimidation cannot frighten us! Please pick up your cameras and show the world the attitude and courage of the Yingzhou Navy!"

I order our cannons to be turned around too! We're not afraid of them at this distance! No warship can withstand a 330mm armor-piercing shell at this range!

As soon as Kuroki finished speaking, one of the reporters started clapping, and soon all the reporters on the bridge began to applaud. Some even whistled and praised Kuroki for his good work.

After all, the plot of David fighting against the Goliath giant is a common template for feel-good stories across various cultures.

However, at this moment, the captain of the battleship Amaterasu approached Kuroki Takeshi and whispered in the commander's ear, "Commander, each of our warships has fewer than 20 shells per main gun, and only slightly more than half of them are armor-piercing shells; the rest are training shells..."

The captain of the battleship Amaterasu was well aware of the current condition of his ship. In fact, due to a logistical error when the Colombian Navy delivered these warships to the Yingzhou Navy, the first batch shipped to Yingzhou contained a large quantity of 305mm shells instead of 330mm shells. This directly resulted in the Yingzhou Navy facing an extremely severe shortage of 330mm shells to this day.

The reason for this situation is quite ridiculous: the Colombian Navy's logistics officer in charge of this matter simply didn't understand the situation. They didn't even carefully check the writing on the crates of shells brought from Letania. In their minds, they thought that the Letanian Empire, like the Ming Empire, had jumped directly from 280mm to 330mm in its naval vessels. So, if the caliber was significantly larger than 280mm, wouldn't that be a 330mm shell?

And so, a ship full of 305mm shells was delivered to Yingzhou.

However, this is not a big problem, since the war is over, right? During routine training, there are hardly any opportunities to fire the main guns. After all, the main gun barrels of battleships have a very precious lifespan. Usually, they just use the outer barrels as a cover during training. Therefore, most of the space in the ammunition magazines of the two King-class battleships is empty.

Kuroki Takeshi was very familiar with the condition of the only two battleships he had. He knew that his two ships didn't even have enough armor-piercing shells to last through a battle, but that was irrelevant because he didn't think any armed conflict would ever happen.

"No need to load shells." Kuroki Takeshi also lowered his voice and said to the captain, "Just point the guns at them. All we need to show is an attitude, understand? But when all the turrets turn, you must keep them synchronized, as graceful as dressage in an equestrian competition, understand? We need to ensure that our warship looks perfect in the cameras of these foreign friends!"

"Commander! The other side has sent another light signal!" An officer from the garrison fleet, who had been closely watching the Longyuan across the river, noticed that the Longyuan had sent another light signal. He quickly deciphered the meaning of this new round of light signals from the Longyuan.

"Are they going to take us to see Mazu?"

After listening to his subordinate's report, Kuroki Gouichi was not angry at all. Instead, he chuckled and spread his hands, saying, "That village girl surnamed Lin can't control the descendants of Amaterasu! These Tang people are destined to be delusional today!"

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PS: Second update delivered. Time for bed. Tomorrow the two kings will be deposed, so everyone should offer incense.

Chapter 274 The King's Funeral

Kuroki Gotsuki felt that he had almost reached the pinnacle of his life. When he ordered all five main gun turrets to be turned around, he clearly saw expressions of admiration and respect on the faces of the reporters who had boarded the Amaterasu battleship.

Yes, he was leading a little-known, newly formed navy against what was probably one of the oldest navies in the world, and his European friends seemed to be praising him.

"Very energetic!"

"It's not shameful!"

Therefore, when the third warning came, he still resolutely refused the Longyuan's request to stop the ship. Not only that, this time he also had someone personally turn on the radio. He needed to go a step further than the rejected light signal and directly shout to the other party via radio, just like Zhuge Liang's debate with the Confucian scholars and his verbal sparring with Wang Lang.

He straightened his military uniform—for today, Kuroki Gotsu had prepared a full set of general's dress uniform for himself, and even pinned on all the medals he had ever received on his chest. Although it wasn't as elaborate as the medals that could be hung on a bulletproof vest like those of the Imperial Guard, it still looked quite splendid.

Especially under the photographer's lens, Kuroki Gotsuki believed that from this day forward, his indomitable image of fearlessness in the face of powerful enemies would surely resonate throughout Japan and even the Western world.

Kuroki Takeshi was well aware of what kind of country the West hoped the entire Yingzhou would become: a national-level bridgehead in East Asia, a Western mercenary force charging forward with its entire nation. Therefore, the tougher they were on the Tang Empire, the more support they would receive.

He believes that his past experience and the attitude he can project to his Western friends through these media outlets will pave the way for him to become the Minister of the Navy. Given his age, he will be in charge of the development of the Japanese Navy for at least the next 10 years, and in the more distant future, he may even be able to go further and run for Prime Minister as Minister of the Navy.

Thinking of all this, his hand holding the microphone trembled almost imperceptibly. He tried his best to appear as composed as an admiral in front of everyone. When the microphone was brought to his lips, the entire bridge began to flash with dazzling lights.

"Tang imperialists........."

Whether it was Kuroki Takeshi, who had just connected to the radio and was about to give a passionate speech, or the reporters on the bridge who had their attention completely focused on the cameras and images, or the officers and soldiers who were clenching their fists and ready to applaud enthusiastically after the commander finished speaking, almost no one noticed the flames that the giant dragon in the distance was currently emitting.

At a mere 4 kilometers, for an armor-piercing shell fired at over 800 mps, by the time the shell's cap struck the armor of the "King"-class battleship, the sonic waves from the propellant explosion hadn't even reached the target. Most people on the bridge only felt a brief moment of brightness outside, followed by a dizzying, earth-shattering tremor. The massive ship beneath their feet, which had been as solid as a rock on the sea, seemed to spin and tilt in an instant. The violent shaking tossed everyone on the bridge around like dice in a dice cup, instantly causing many to suffer head injuries.

The cries of the reporters filled the entire bridge of the naval vessel almost instantly. The staff officer who had fallen to the ground scrambled to his feet. Only Kuroki Takeshi remained steadfast throughout the entire bridge. After all, as a veteran naval officer who had served for many years, he still retained many of the traditions he had inherited from the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy. That is, the highest-ranking officer on a warship must always stand firm and upright, no matter what.

However, the calm and composed expression on his face had vanished. He stared blankly at the Longyuan, where the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated. He realized that they had just been shelled, and judging from the violent tremors coming from the warship, the Tianzhao battleship had been hit. But he couldn't understand why the Tang Kingdom would open fire so rashly.

Aren't you afraid that this will escalate the situation in East Asia?

Aren't you afraid that this will reignite the war between you and the United States of Colombia?

Even if we take a step back and assume that you are now so close to the main island of Yingzhou, and even if you look down on our navy, do you really think that two of the world's most powerful battleships can escape from the Colombian and Chinese fleets in Yingzhou?

"Tang has opened fire!" A staff officer, ignoring the blood on his face from the cut on the navigation table, shouted in a panic. He wasn't the only one; a sense of panic was rapidly spreading throughout the entire bridge of the naval vessel.

After all, according to public sources, in the second Battle of the Bashi Channel, these two Dragon Abysses destroyed two Nevada-class battleships of the Colombian Navy. The King is comparable to the Nevada... right?

"Report the damage immediately! Reload the main gun!"

Kuroki Takeshi's previous performance when facing the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty could be described as both ruthless and cowardly. The ruthlessness was an outward performance, while the cowardice was a true reflection of his inner state. Because he was afraid of accidental discharge or an impulsive gunner causing irreversible consequences, he ordered the cannons to be turned around but did not let the gunners in the turrets load shells.

Now they have to bear the bitter consequences themselves.

The gunner immediately picked up the phone on the bridge: "All main guns, load armor-piercing shells! High explosive charge!"

The Yinzhou Navy, which usually places great emphasis on protecting the gun barrels during training, could no longer afford to worry about that. They had no idea whether the entire ship had 150 armor-piercing shells in total, with each gun having only about 15 shells. In addition, they were facing a powerful opponent that was a level above them. Without knowing the opponent's specific protection level, they had to try to increase the possibility of penetrating the opponent's armor at such close range.

The battleships of the Leitanian Empire placed great emphasis on close-range combat and the rate of fire of their main guns. Although this 330mm naval gun was jointly developed with the Ming Empire, the two sides used completely different breech mechanisms. The Leitanian Empire's transverse wedge breechblock, although heavier and slightly less airtight, had a relatively faster rate of fire than the transverse threaded breechblock.

However, given that the enemy had anticipated the attack and fired the first round, and that the turrets likely still contained the shells and propellant needed for the next round of bombardment, how could the inexperienced and unskilled gunners of the Yingzhou Navy launch a counterattack so quickly?

Before the main guns of the Yingzhou battleship could even fire their counterattack, the Longyuan and Longgang had already begun another round of roars. Eight heavy armor-piercing shells, each weighing over a ton, arrived in an instant, and the terrifying shockwaves once again emanated from the nearly 3-ton behemoth.

What's even more chilling is that the interval between the first round of shelling and the second round just now was less than 40 seconds. They still haven't figured out which parts of their warships were hit or what functions were damaged.

Finally, the Yingzhou Navy's cannons fired, but it wasn't the 330mm main guns that fired, but the 150mm secondary guns. The distance of 4 kilometers was quite close for these 150mm secondary guns, so the first round of firing hit. However, the 45kg armor-piercing shells fired by these 150mm secondary guns, which are considered deadly weapons for destroyers, were no different from tickling the 4-ton Ryuen.

Fifty seconds after the second round of firing, the eight 420mm naval guns began firing again. This time, Kuroki clearly saw the explosion below and to the rear of the bridge. Steel fragments were thrown into the air like pieces of paper, and the shock wave scattered everything, possibly including human tissue.

The two 150mm secondary guns that had just been firing fell silent, and along with them, the entire bridge also fell silent.

Gunner answered the phone again, his voice trembling with a mixture of anger and fear: "You idiots! What are you doing?! The enemy has already fired three rounds of artillery fire! When are our cannons going to fire?!"

Seemingly in response to his question, the main guns of the battleship Amaterasu finally roared, and the 530kg armor-piercing shells fired by the 330mm main guns flew toward Ryuen. However, the four shells far exceeded Ryuen and landed about 1000 meters behind Ryuen, stirring up high columns of water after entering the water.

"Only four shells! I want a full salvo!" Kuroki Takeshi's previous amiable and refined demeanor had completely vanished. He now looked like an angry chimpanzee, staring wide-eyed at the gunner.

However, the gunnery officer, who had just hung up the phone, looked at him with a deathly expression: "Commander, our No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 turrets are now out of service. We only have the two main gun turrets at the bow that can still fire..."

"Commander, our boiler pressure is rapidly decreasing, the main engine output power is rapidly declining, our power compartment may have been damaged, and the rear damage control team has reported that white steam has begun to leak from near the chimney..."

"Sir Commander, the ammunition stored in the secondary gun emplacements on the broadside has just been hit, causing an explosion and fire. The fire is now spreading, and more damage control personnel are needed on deck..."

"Commander..."

"Commander..."

"Commander..."

...........

Kuroki Takeshi felt dizzy like never before. Amidst the shouts of the commander and another explosion in the distance, he suddenly felt everything go black before his eyes, and his body suddenly felt very light, as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss.

Chapter 275 Beach Breakthrough

The battleship Susa, following behind the battleship Amaterasu, clearly witnessed how the flagship of the garrison fleet was rendered combat ineffective by three salvos.

The Longyuan battleship achieved a perfect 4-0 hit in its first round of shelling. Although the distance of less than 4 kilometers was indeed easier for the Longyuan than target practice, the terrifying 50% hit rate of four out of eight shots could only be attributed to the blessing of Mazu.

In the Atlantic and Mediterranean, it's hard to say who has the final say, but in the waters of East Asia, anyone who dares to disrespect Mazu... well, that just shows that the goddess who protects the country and its people, is indeed a bit temperamental.

One of the four 420mm armor-piercing shells hit the aft bridge, piercing through the not-so-small backup bridge. Although the shell landed in the sea behind after passing through the aft bridge, the kinetic energy of the shell destroyed the backup fire control system at the rear.

One shell landed between turrets 4 and 5 at the rear. The King-class battleship was not long, only 175 meters in length. With five turrets arranged along the centerline, the distance between the two sets of negative-backed turrets was not large. Therefore, when the hull between the two turret rings was hit by a 420mm armor-piercing shell that struck the 200mm superstructure, the shell successfully deformed the two turret rings and jammed turrets 4 and 5. It was a double hit from a single shell.

The remaining two shells struck the front of turret number 4. The front of the Leitanian Empire's battleship was only 110 mm thick, which was a clear design flaw compared to the 300 mm front of the turret. At normal engagement distances, the armor on the front of the shell would lose the equivalent thickness gained by the angle after the shell had fallen at a certain angle. However, at a distance of 4 kilometers, this should have been the most suitable scenario for this design to be effective.

The 420mm armor-piercing shell, striking the steeply angled turret, exceeded the armor's kinetic energy limit, crushing it completely. Although the shell itself ricocheted off the angled armor, the fragments, along with shrapnel from the armor that had been shattered, acted like a large-caliber shrapnel shell fired into the turret's interior, instantly wiping out almost half the crew inside. (The impact of this shot is similar to the one fired at Dunkirk by Hood.)

The final shell struck the single mainmast at the stern and exploded after penetrating it. Shrapnel from the shell pierced the deck downwards and was eventually caught by the lower 1.5-inch armored deck. The shell that exploded above the deck also destroyed the transport boats positioned there and ignited the gasoline inside, which directly caused a fire to start spreading in the stern of the ship.

The second round of firing then yielded two more hits. One of the shells struck the 300mm frontal armor of turret number 3, and that was the end of that turret. When the shell hit, two armor-piercing shells and several propellant charges had just been brought up and were being loaded. The shell that exploded inside the turret not only turned the entire turret into an open box, but also took the lives of everyone inside.

Another armor-piercing shell struck the last 350mm main armor belt of the HMS King. The 350mm armor, which had been incredibly tough during the Battle of Skardrag, penetrated at this distance like butter being sliced ​​by a hot knife, and exploded in the coal bunker after flying about four or five meters further.

Normally, coal seams can be an effective means of protecting against shrapnel. However, the Amaterasu didn't carry enough shells or even enough coal on this voyage. After the shells exploded, the shrapnel pierced through multiple decks and penetrated directly into the boiler room, damaging all six boilers to varying degrees instantly.

It can be said that these two rounds of firing had essentially determined the fate of the battleship Amaterasu. The third round of shelling resulted in two more fatal blows: one shot destroyed the positions of two 150mm secondary guns, and the other hit the bottom of the aft funnel. The shrapnel from the exploding shells destroyed half of the ship's electrical system.

After being bombarded for three rounds, the Amaterasu finally launched a counterattack. However, this counterattack was ineffective. In the fourth round of shelling, the bridge of the Amaterasu was directly hit by a 420mm shell. In the dazzling flash, almost all the officers on the bridge of the flagship of the garrison fleet immediately lost contact. Dozens of reporters also lost contact with them. From the time of delivery to the present, only two minutes had passed, and the Yingzhou Navy had already lost its mind.

However, Susanoo had no time to grieve for its sister ship and its crew, as it was already in dire need of protection under the firepower of Ryugang.

During the brief period just now, the Ryugang also conducted three rounds of shelling, firing a total of 24 armor-piercing shells and achieving 10 hits. These 10 shells also blew off two turrets of the Susa battleship and caused the Susa to lose one-third of its power. The most critical hit was the shell that hit the bow. Normally, the probability of being hit in the bow is not high, and because there are no important facilities there, it is generally not a big problem if it is hit.

However, the battleships of the Leitanian Empire preferred to install fixed torpedo tubes in this location and also had a separate torpedo compartment for storing torpedoes. This proved to be a fatal mistake. The explosion of the shells detonated the torpedoes in the bow. Although the Yingzhou Navy had stored relatively old torpedoes here to save money during training, these old torpedoes still blasted a huge hole in the bow, and large amounts of seawater were constantly pouring into the ship's hull through this hole.

The sudden barrage of gunfire from the Longyuan battleship completely shocked all the surrounding Yingzhou ships. No one expected that a great power like the Tang Dynasty would be so arrogant and unpredictable, and start fighting right away.

The battleships overhead are already exchanging fire, so what about us cruisers...?

The thought had barely crossed the minds of the Yingzhou naval officers and soldiers when shells from the Tang army's light cruisers confronting them began to rain down. Compared to the huge gap between the two sides' capital ships, the light cruisers could be considered roughly equal opponents. However, cruisers are like light tanks when playing War Thunder. Compared to medium and heavy tanks with thicker armor and a greater margin for error, the faster light tanks have a higher potential.