The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 562: Battle of the South China Sea II



In Uemura Hiko’s vision, the entire Russian fleet suddenly divided into two parts, one of which was composed of two old battleships. They continued to turn, and then headed in the opposite direction of the Japanese fleet, while the other was the Borodino class. The huge steel spearhead composed of battleships turned slightly westward by half a compass point. In this case, it became a Russian fleet to reverse the Japanese fleet!

If the Russians start to use this tactic, it’s okay. Even if they are entangled with Uemura Hiko’s fast fleet, the battleship formation behind can still find the opportunity to cross the opponent from the opposite position, and then attack on both sides, but now, because before the smoke screen appears, the main force The direction of the fleet's judgment was that the Russian fleet turned to the northeast, so the main fleet turned ahead and intercepted the opponent on the predetermined channel.

And this turn does not matter. It gave the Russians more time to adjust the formation. Moreover, two old warships and several destroyers lay between the main fleets of both sides, and the smoke canisters on the opposing warships emitted thick smoke. The smoke also hindered the firing of the Japanese main fleet! The course of the Japanese main fleet is actually the opposite of that of the Russian main fleet. They need to turn around and kill the two Russian cannon fodder ships in the way before they can catch up with Makanov's main fleet again, and this takes time!

A drop of cold sweat fell from Uemura Hiko’s head. If Togo Heihachiro’s fleet might just lose a chance to intercept its opponent, then his fleet has reached a critical moment! The Russians in front of them seem to have no intention of escaping from the temporarily weakened encirclement. The spearhead of steel headed by the Borodino-class battleship has been aimed at the Japanese cruiser! More than a dozen 12-inch guns and dozens of 10-inch guns have been aimed at Uemura Hiko. Asama is good, but his opponent is stronger!

"We have a chance to escape by destroying the Japanese cruiser fleet! For Russia, for returning home!" The infectious voices of the officers echoed in the fleet. There is a saying in Europe: Don't stop a fleet going home, China There is a saying called Gou Ji jump over the wall. And these two sentences are just right for the Russians!

The speed of the Japanese cruiser formation is too high. As long as they are there, the Russian fleet cannot really escape. Therefore, Makanov’s plan was not blindly evasive at the beginning. He was like a lone wolf that was forced to a corner. Although you are in a dangerous situation, you are always ready to take a bite!

Boom! The Russian fleet has shown its terrifying power for the first time since the Crimean War! The 4 battleships and 4 armored cruisers under the command of Makanov fired a dense rain of bullets at the 6 Japanese cruisers. The muzzle flames from the artillery were almost burnt, and countless artillery shells roared towards the target. From a distance, the entire Russian fleet is like an erupting mobile volcano. The armored cruiser Asama at the head of the team is the first to take care of it. Two Borodino-class battleships focus their fire on the flagship of this fast fleet!

The concentrated firing of more than ten large-caliber artillery from 5 kilometers away will definitely make any warship in this era unable to eat! The 12-inch and 10-inch shells hit the Asama as a heavy hammer. The shells hitting the armor belt may bounce off or leave a crater. But the shells hit on the superstructure will bring disaster to this warship. A storm of steel and flame swept the entire superstructure of the warship. Except for the armored control tower, the superstructure on the Asama was devastated in a very short time, especially The few shells that fell in the middle of the battleship not only blasted a chimney to pieces, cut off the signal flag and other communication tools, but also caused a fire.

As for Asama’s counterattack, just ignore it. When the caliber of the opponent’s artillery is larger and the number is doubled, the Asama’s can’t turn over any waves at all, and the other three Asama’s are the same. Class ships are also targeted by the temporarily dominant Russian fleet. As a high imitation version of the Rurik fast battleship, it is definitely not something Asama can deal with. The remaining 4 American cruisers have 6 doors and 10 inches. The artillery is at least as good as the Asama level.

However, the first problem was not the Asama. This warship produced by the Bromfors Shipyard was still excellent in quality, although the storm-like blow of ten minutes caused the Asama’s combat side to be lost. Three 8-inch guns and one 10-inch gun were used, but the entire armor box structure was still complete. Depending on the thickness and height of the conscience and the strength of the back plate, the cracks caused by the impact of the heavy guns were not very large. In other words, even though it has been cut miserably, it will not sink for a while...

The first problem was the original Spanish battleship Tsukuba, which was renamed after being captured by the Japanese. Although this battleship was also known as a high replica of the German warship, it still did not learn the essence. For example, the German warship is generally They are not equipped with torpedoes. Even if they do, the torpedo bays are below the waterline and are protected by relatively thick armor. However, I don’t know whether the Japanese fleet is lightly loaded this time and the torpedo bays are above the waterline, or other reasons. A 12-inch shell from the battleship Eagle, which was caught against the Tsukuba, successfully penetrated the torpedo bay on the bow of the Tsukuba and detonated dozens of bottles of compressed air...

Accompanied by a loud noise that rang through the entire fleet~www.novelhall.com~ The bow of Tsukuba seemed to jump up suddenly, and then hit the water force heavily. Then there was a series of explosions inside, and the compressed air bottle The violent explosion caused a fire and detonated the torpedo placed in front! Although Tsukuba only carried 4 torpedoes, such a violent explosion was also quite deadly for a warship with a capacity of over 10,000 tons! The torpedo blast caused the entire hull to twist and break, and half of the bow seemed to be distorted by a huge force, forming a weird angle with the hull behind. Thousands of tons of seawater also poured into it along countless breaches. What anyone can't think of is that after the battle began, the first sunken battleship was actually a Japanese battleship!

"Damn it! Let Togo hurry up, if he doesn't want to collect the body from the Japanese navy!" Uemura Hikoyuki shouted as he watched the battleship Tsukuba, which was leaning heavily and gradually leaving the formation. At the beginning, 6 to 8 is already a huge disadvantage, but now it is 5 to 8. No, it’s 4.5 to 8. His Asama has been beaten half-crippled, and now there is only one radio left to contact Togo. A lucky thing!

"Makanov really deserves to be the veteran of the Russian Navy. Although he is at an extreme disadvantage, he can still have such an outstanding performance." Just where the Japanese-Russian fleet broke out, the German Far East Fleet's flagship US The armored cruiser Inz was watching the battle not too far away. As the commander of the fleet, Hipper just saw this wonderful scene.

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