"Boom boom boom boom boom boom" At 5:42, the Japanese fleet finally launched its first salvo.
Unfortunately, all the salvoes failed.
The nearest one hit the target was more than 1,800 meters away from the Chinese warship, posing no threat at all.
Before the emergence of ballistic radar and electronic computers, although many battleship main guns claimed to be able to fire at a rate of n rounds per minute, this was only theoretical data and was extremely watery.
In actual combat, being able to fire at a rate of one round every two to three minutes is considered well-trained.
This is not to say that they cannot achieve this kind of rate of fire, but to achieve the theoretical rate of fire, the hit rate cannot be guaranteed.
Because the distance of artillery battles at that time was usually more than ten kilometers, it took dozens of seconds for the artillery shells to fly in the air.
Without ballistic radar, it would be impossible to calculate the ballistics and correct the shooting parameters without seeing the impact point of the artillery shells.
In the era before computers, it was very troublesome to rely on human power to calculate this large amount of data.
At the same time, due to the need to rush for time, this calculation cannot be very accurate, and can only be continuously revised round by round.
Therefore, in the naval battle at that time, the first few salvoes were basically correcting the design parameters.
If you want to hit your opponent in the first few rounds of volleys, you can only look at your face.
Japanese warships are no exception.
They can also only shoot at this rate of fire.
However, the Chinese fleet was able to hit the target in the second salvo, not because of its character, but because of its advanced fire control systems such as radar and computers.
It can be said that if the weather was not bad now, the first salvo would have hit the target.
It is precisely because of the support of ballistic radar and computers that the fire control operators on the Chinese warships have already obtained the revised data for the next round of designs while the shells are still flying in the air.
Therefore, as long as the combat distance is more than ten kilometers, the firing rate of the Chinese warship's main gun depends entirely on the speed of reloading, and it can completely reach the theoretical firing rate.
While Japan's first salvo was still flying in the air, the Chinese fleet had already fired its third salvo.
"Boom boom boom" three more shells hit in this round, and the three target ships Hizen, Tango, and Iwami each received one shot.
The Hizen, which was bombed in front and filled with thick smoke, made matters worse.
The 310mm shell fired by the Gonggong hit the superstructure in the middle of the ship.
The lifeboats and traffic boats placed on the port side were hit.
Several lifeboats and traffic boats above were hit.
It was completely destroyed, and after the shell penetrated the deck, it entered the sailor's cabin and exploded, causing a bloody storm inside.
The Tango was hit by a 210mm shell fired from the Tendoyama on the bow.
It penetrated the thin upper deck and exploded in the anchor chain room, blowing a large hole of more than one meter in the bow.
Although the two warships were injured, their main guns and fire control were intact, and they still maintained considerable combat effectiveness.
Compared to the Iwami, it was very unlucky.
A 310mm shell fired by the Suiren accurately hit its rear main turret.
The shell penetrated between the turret and the deck at a weird angle.
Under the turret, The cabin exploded, destroying the turret's movement mechanism.
As a result, the Iwami's rear main gun was stuck and could not rotate or pitch.
Moreover, the bomb lifting mechanism was also affected and lost its function.
The rear main gun was basically useless.
At 5:43, the Chinese fleet fired its fourth salvo.
This time, the Hizen "hit three points in a row".
A 210 shell blew up the No. 1 chimney in the middle, and billowing smoke immediately surrounded the entire bridge.
The shell hit the mizzen mast, and when it broke the mizzen mast, it also turned the rear observation room upside down.
The shell rushed in from the side that had originally exploded, penetrated several decks and several cabins along the way, and after causing a rain of blood, exploded in the power cabin.
This blow destroyed 5 boilers and a main steam engine, the left propeller suddenly stopped, the Hizen's speed was greatly reduced, and it turned to the left.
The Tango was hit by a 210 shell and a 310 shell at the same time.
The 210 shell that arrived first failed to penetrate the armor and only caused a tremor, but the later 310 shell from the Cangjie penetrated easily.
It lost its armor and exploded inside the bridge.
The fire control room above the bridge of the Tango was in a mess, all facilities were destroyed, and all the officers and soldiers inside were reduced to pieces.
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Moreover, this one exploded after touching the floor of the fire control room.
The strong vibration caused the ceiling of the lower command module to collapse.
The high-speed flying fragments swept across the command module below like shrapnel, causing more than a dozen casualties.
The deputy captain He died on the spot and the captain also suffered serious injuries.
The Iwami was not very lucky either.
A 310mm shell from the Houji fell into the sea on the side, then hit its underwater part like a torpedo, penetrated the hull and exploded in the watertight compartment.
The violent explosion destroyed the watertight door and opened a large hole more than 2 meters long and one meter wide under the waterline, and seawater poured in crazily.
"It's not good, Captain, the watertight compartments No. 3, No. 5, and No. 7 on the left side of our ship have become inoperable and are tilting to the left."
The captain was in a hurry: "Damn it, quickly close the nearby cabins and turn on the water pump."
"Asshole, how could the China warship's rate of fire be so fast?
How could it be so accurate?"
Gentaro Yamashita stared at the Chinese fleet, clenching his fists so tightly that he didn't even notice that his nails pierced his palms.
At 5:44, the Japanese fleet finally fired its second salvo.
But this round of volley still failed to achieve success.
At the same time, the Chinese fleet fired its fifth salvo.
In this round of salvos, the Japanese warships that were focused on the fire finally couldn't withstand it.
The first one to be unable to withstand it was not the most seriously damaged Hizen and Iwami, but the unlucky Tango.
The Tango was hit only by one 310mm shell this time, but this one hit the target.
This shell from the Youchao fell almost vertically, penetrated the top armor of the front main turret, and then plunged into the bomb well by accident.
Under the action of the delayed fuse, it did not explode until it was in the ammunition magazine.
A huge fireball suddenly exploded from the front main turret of the Tango.
The thousand-ton front main turret flew directly into the air more than ten meters high.
The hull of the Tango was like a piece of paper.
In this kind of situation Under the fierce force, it was torn into two pieces.
The front half sank directly into the sea.
After retreating dozens of meters, the second half also plunged into the sea.
In less than two minutes, it sank with its butt in the sky.
The Hizen, which was originally the most severely damaged, received four more shells.
One of the two 210 shells destroyed its fire control room, and the other blasted out the No. 2 chimney and smashed in along the flue, in the boiler.
The room exploded.
The power system had already suffered heavy losses, and this time it was even worse.
This shell destroyed three more boilers and severed the main pipeline.
The Hizen suddenly lost all power and could not move.
And the leaked high-temperature and high-pressure steam swept across the entire power system, steaming all the people inside.
Moreover, steam leaked from the damaged bulkhead, turning several adjacent cabins into steamers.
At the same time, the steam also poured into the passage.
Although the temperature dropped enough that it would not cause casualties, the diffuse steam seriously affected the line of sight, causing the Hizen's damage control efficiency to plummet.
One of the two 310 shells hit its front main turret, penetrated diagonally from above, exploded in the turret, killed all personnel in the turret, and completely destroyed the two front main guns.
The armor was also completely lifted by the shock wave, the exploding propellant burned violently, and the entire front main gun was completely destroyed.
Fortunately for the Japanese, their captain responded promptly and quickly ordered water to be poured into the ammunition depot, thus avoiding more serious losses.
Another shell deprived it of its combat effectiveness.
This shell broke the mizzen mast, which not only destroyed the rear observation room, but also hit the rear main turret after the mizzen mast fell, covering the main gun.
The muzzle also jammed the turret.
Iwami also received two 210 shells, which hit a 203 secondary battery turret and destroyed it.
But another round caused serious consequences.
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This shell was originally a near-miss that fell into the sea, but it changed direction after entering the water, hit the underwater torpedo tube, and detonated a 450 torpedo inside.
This was terrible.
A large hole of nearly three meters was opened directly under the water on the port side, and the partition of the torpedo room was damaged.
Sea water poured into the torpedo room and the nearby cabins with damaged partitions.
The damage control pipe, which had just improved, was hit hard at this time, and the water intrusion was out of control.
I saw the Iwami tilting to the left at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Captain Mantaro Takashima saw the seriousness of the situation and immediately said: "Inject water to the starboard side immediately to balance the hull."
Then he said to Shigetaro Yoshimatsu: "Your Excellency, Commander, please change the flagship.
This ship has been severely damaged and can no longer serve as the flagship."
Gentaro Yamashita nodded with a livid face, bowed to Mantaro Takashima, and said in a deep voice: "Takashima-kun, I'll take care of you from now on."
He didn't show any pretense, and after speaking, he retreated with the chief of staff and headquarters personnel.
During this period, the Chinese warship did not fire because it was adjusting its target.
However, Yoshimatsu Motaro and the others successfully boarded the contact boat.
When they got on the contact boat, they saw that the Iwami had tilted 15 degrees.
Chief of Staff Colonel Horiuchi Saburo asked: "Commander, where are we going?"
"Go to Sagami," Gentaro Yamashita said sadly as he looked at the three battleships in front of the battle line in miserable condition.
At this time, only a section of the Tango's butt was still exposed in the water.
The Hizen, which had lost all power, was full of fire and smoke, lying beside the battle line like a dead fish.
At 5:46, the Japanese fleet fired its third round of salvos.
This time, one round finally missed and landed 30 meters away from the Maoershan.
At this time, the contact boat had just sailed a dozen meters away, and the sixth salvo of the Chinese fleet arrived.
A shell happened to land next to the communication boat, and the surging water column overturned the small communication boat.
Yamashita Gentaro and others all fell into the water.
The communication boat next to it was shocked when it saw this, and quickly came over to rescue.
After Gentaro Yamashita and others were pulled onto another communication boat, he looked up and was stunned.
I saw that the Sagami he planned to use as his flagship was already on fire, and the Iwami they had just left had tilted to about 30 degrees, and there was also a big hole in the bow.
And most importantly, he saw that the Chinese fleet in the distance was already turning, preparing to seize the T-shaped head position
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