afterglow

Chapter 440 The first battle on the water; it looks like a ghost!

"What is that?! A destroyer?!"

The Honolulu spotted the Changyi, which was the first to break out of the smoke curtain. In order to lock in this dangerous target, the captain immediately ordered to turn on the searchlight.

Two beams of light appeared one after another, shooting at the Ming Dynasty destroyer that was rapidly approaching. The snow-white light illuminated Changyi's bridge and hull clearly, as if it was a performer under the spotlight.

The captain of the Changyi raised his hands to cover his eyes while issuing a series of orders, "Send the order! Backlight, backlight! Smoke from the stern of the ship, full left rudder!"

The ordinary Dinghai-class destroyer then turned on its searchlight to shine on the Honolulu, and used a smoke generator to drag out a thick cloud of gray-white smoke on the sea surface.

She turned sharply to the left while pulling out the cigarette, and the arc-shaped trajectory quickly merged with the smoke. The battleship tilted greatly, and the sailors tightly grasped everything at hand.

Soon, the Changyi disappeared into the billowing wall of smoke released by itself and disappeared.

A few dozen seconds ago, the destroyer Fanchang also rushed out of the gradually dissipating smoke curtain, and suddenly saw the Honolulu which was shining searchlights on the Changyi.

She immediately used all available weapons to attack the light cruiser. The single 128mm naval gun and the twin 38.4mm anti-aircraft gun suddenly roared.

The Honolulu's superstructure suddenly burst into flames, with shattered glass and broken steel fragments flying.

The Fanchang, which attacked the Honolulu with all its strength, was immediately violently bombarded by the nearby destroyer Grayson. In an instant, water sprayed everywhere!

"Boom! Boom!"

Two 127mm normal shells hit the middle of the hull. The shells penetrated and exploded internally, causing many casualties.

Previously, three Ming army light cruisers concentrated fire and severely damaged the Phoenix light cruiser in one encounter, causing the latter to interrupt its command for a time, leaving only unorganized sporadic counterattacks.

Now they are ready to turn their guns and work together again to annihilate another target that appears in sight - the USS Benham destroyer.

But what they never expected was that during this period, the heavy cruiser Northampton locked the light cruiser Qiantangjiang through the curtain of smoke that was about to dissipate.

After sailing away from the smoke curtain, the Northampton immediately launched the first salvo at the Qiantangjiang, which was less than 7 kilometers away.

The three 203mm main guns all pointed at her, and dazzling flames spewed out from the muzzles!

A few seconds later, huge waves rushed up on both sides of the Qiantangjiang, and one of the shells effortlessly penetrated the side of the No. 1 turret.

"boom!!!"

The violent explosion instantly tore apart the triple 144mm naval gun turret. A piece of the turret debris was blown away and hit the bridge heavily, killing an observer and getting stuck in the window.

The three Ming light cruisers quickly changed their targets and tried to suppress the heavy cruiser together.

At this distance, the 144mm naval gun of the Ming Dynasty, which was designed to efficiently hunt destroyers and light cruisers, is quite embarrassing.

Because of the design of high magnification, high bore pressure, and high muzzle velocity, the anti-explosive projectile has a thicker body and a low charge coefficient. The caliber is originally smaller than the mainstream 6-inch naval gun, so the power of anti-explosive bombs is even smaller.

Raindrops of shells were fired at the Northampton, and from time to time shells hit and exploded.

But this was just a heavy thunderstorm and a small raindrop, and the damage to the Northampton was minimal.

Five minutes later, her eleventh salvo dealt a heavy blow to the Qiantangjiang.

"Boom—"

There was a violent explosion on the bridge of the latter, with a dazzling flash of light, and countless fragments fell into the sea like a goddess scattering flowers. The Ming army sailors on the surrounding battleships all witnessed this horrifying scene.

Most of the officers, including the captain, were killed on the spot, and only a small number of people survived. The entire battleship suddenly lost command, and the sailors in the battle positions fought independently under the call of nearby officers.

The battleships on both sides stopped firing in a hurry because their sight was blocked by smoke curtains. This was undoubtedly a good thing for the originally disadvantaged side. After all, they did not have to carry 406mm armor-piercing shells to cross the strait to form their formation.

But now as the battle progressed, the Ming army's screen frigates were about to get involved with the US fleet with bold attacks, and both sides also gradually left the position of the previous smoke curtain during the voyage.

"Half salvo, let go."

"Order!"

Another reason why Liu Zaiyao and other generals decided to make this decision after careful consideration was ammunition.

Even though the Momotari-class battleships are old ladies that have been put into service since the 16th year of the Zhichang Period, they are still important weapons of the country. The Naval Weapons Gezhi Research Institute has also developed new ammunition for them to enhance their combat effectiveness.

新型352㎜穿甲弹的重量提高到648㎏，初速亦有795m/s，能够在12㎞处达到约350㎜的侵彻深度。

As a senior battleship commander, Liu Zaiyao knew that the thickness of the main armor belt on the side of the Colorado class should also be the traditional 13 to 14 inches of American battleships. This means that the Motosuri class can also effectively penetrate the opponent in close combat.

In actual combat, the hit rate of the night artillery battle was far lower than the training results. The battleships of both sides took turns firing salvos at a distance of less than 10,000 meters.

When the main gun fired, the blast blew up waves, and the shell, which was as heavy as a car, fell into the sea and set off a huge column of water!

"Sir! The enemy destroyer is still approaching!"

Although the situation that Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher is facing is very different from what he expected, he still maintains the necessary calmness and calmness of a naval admiral.

"Our destroyers will stop them," he said calmly.

In his opinion, the TF-12 fleet still has a great advantage. The Northampton alone can deal with three Ming army light cruisers with one against three.

He believed that his own screen frigates could contain the fearless charge of several Ming army destroyers - this was not a problem in theory.

Aren’t the Chinese very particular about geographical location when fighting wars? The history of wars between the East and the West has proven that it is absurd to rely solely on brute force to overcome geographical disadvantages.

If the situation continues to develop like this, the Ming fleet will be unable to break through the interception, and will have to retreat with regret, and the TF-12 fleet will have successfully completed its mission.

The time came to 1:59, the 22nd minute after the battle started.

"Boom, boom, boom-"

There was a deafening roar as the Maryland fired her fourth salvo.

Suddenly, the lookout saw a conspicuous burst of fire from Yuan Fenghao in the distance, and immediately realized that this salvo had hit.

"Oh hoo——"

"We did it!"

"Good job!"

A burst of enthusiastic cheers suddenly erupted from the bridge of the Maryland.

Due to inconsistent coordination, Yuan Fenghao and Yuan Ding focused their fire on the West Virginia; while the West Virginia and the Maryland fought separately.

In the next two rounds of salvo fire, the Maryland successfully hit the target. Yuan Fenghao was hit by four 4mm armor-piercing rounds in a few minutes!

Her bow anchor chain cabin was destroyed, a chimney was blown out, fires broke out in many places throughout the ship, and the bridge was also hit.

A large hole was opened on the side of the bridge, and all the officers and soldiers in the chart room were spared. The deputy captain and navigator were both killed. Liu Zaiyao in the command tower also broke his head due to the violent vibration, and his face was covered with blood.

"Where is the commander in chief?!"

"Call the medic!" "Report! Observed that the bow of the enemy ship was hit by a bullet!"

The USS West Virginia, which was focused on fire by two Ming army battleships, also suffered some damage. She received five rounds of 5mm armor-piercing shells.

The C turret that was hit had a mechanical failure and could not rotate; one of the water bombs exploded after penetrating a cabin in the rear section of the hull, causing damage to the main shaft of a propeller next door and forcing it to shut down.

At this time, a seaplane that had been hovering in the night sky for a long time flew over the battle waters again. Some 12.7 mm tracer bullets passed by it and stabbed into the starry sky.

It dropped two aviation illumination bombs one after another, and the light of the two immediately overshadowed several artillery illumination bombs floating in the sky.

In an instant, the entire sea area was illuminated as if it were daytime.

More than a dozen destroyers from both China and the United States were entangled, circling, chasing, and shooting at each other. They fired cannons, dropped torpedoes, and released smoke screens.

The sea was full of white tracks of slowly moving torpedoes. The intensity of the naval battle was beyond words. The fires ignited after the warships on both sides were injured illuminated the surrounding sea red...

"His grandma has legs! Where did Wang Shenxing go? Haven't we contacted him yet?" the captain of the Beipanjiang light cruiser clenched his fist and cursed.

The battle seemed to have reached a stalemate. The officers and soldiers of the Ming fleet thought of the four destroyers that broke away from the fleet and took the southern channel before entering the strait.

We promised to surprise the enemy and attack in a roundabout way, but why hasn't it happened yet? !

The Lightning Strike Squadron, which maintained radio silence throughout the entire process, has been arduously advancing in the shallow sea full of coral reefs. For the sake of concealment, searchlights cannot be turned on, so the four destroyers in a column can only sail carefully at a speed of 14 knots.

Half an hour ago, the Qinshui was scratched by a reef and the bottom of the hull was leaked, which made everyone even more worried.

As the naval battle there began, the radio frequency band was filled with messages from both the enemy and ourselves, and the sailors could also see the distant flames of the sea in the northeast.

The person responsible for leading this detachment was Wang Shenxing, the captain of the super destroyer Yunhe. He thought for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "I can't control that much anymore...speed up! We must rush for reinforcements as soon as possible!"

The Yunhe increased its speed to 29 knots. Several sailors used small hand-held signals to send orders to the following ships. The remaining three destroyers also understood the meaning and accelerated one after another.

The four destroyers sailed in this sea area at dangerous speeds. The sailors would hear "clicking" and "clanging" sounds from time to time, indicating that the coral reefs and the ship hull were in contact.

Everyone was on tenterhooks, fearing that they would crash into a large reef and be killed.

Suddenly, the officers and soldiers of the Longchuan felt violent tremors. Everyone staggered around, and there was a harsh and sharp sound of steel twisting and breaking in their ears.

"Ahhh... Damn it!" the navigator said through gritted teeth as he climbed up, "It must have hit a rock!"

Yanlei officer hammered the bulkhead regretfully and angrily, and cursed that it was bad luck this time.

At a speed of tens of miles, it violently collided with a coral reef. A breach was pulled out of the side of Longchuan's hull, and seawater surged in.

She then hoisted the "Accident on Our Ship" signal flag and slowed to a stop.

A few minutes later, just as he was about to leave this hellish place, bad things happened one after another.

The Qingyuan suddenly bumped and slowed down without knowing it. Many people were caught off guard and fell.

Then everyone realized that they were stranded and inexplicably washed up on a small island that was only slightly above sea level and almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

The captain, who was bleeding badly, ordered the vehicle to reverse and tried to escape on his own, but the effect was not good. The Qingyuan moved backward very slowly.

As a result, the only remaining members of this detachment were the super destroyer Yunhe and the damaged Qinshui.

After the two left here, they accelerated to 35 knots and sped towards the warring sea area.

At this time, more than half an hour had passed since the naval battle started. The fleets of both sides were inextricably fighting and fighting fiercely together.

Wang Shenxing calmly analyzed the current situation. He decided to separate the two destroyers and use his own ship to attract the enemy's attention. The Qinshui first sailed east for a certain distance and then turned back, breaking in from the flank of the US fleet.

Nine minutes later...

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Several shells landed on the sea near the battleship Maryland, and the sailors soon noticed that the shells came from another direction.

"Unidentified target found, direction 290, distance 21000 feet."

"Is that a cruiser?"

"I don't think so. It should be a fleet destroyer."

Major General Frank took a look through the binoculars and quickly issued instructions, "Concentrate the port side secondary battery to control the attack."

The three twin 3mm high-level dual-purpose guns on the port side of the battleship Maryland immediately turned their muzzles and pointed at Yunhe, which was about seven kilometers away.

The U.S. military generals thought that the Ming destroyer had slipped in from the front while taking advantage of the chaos, so they did not pay much attention to it - because she did not speed up and approached, but only fired from a distance. Perhaps it was because the torpedoes had been fired?

The operator of the XAF experimental radar noticed two waveforms on the oscilloscope, which he believed to be secondary echoes of reflections.

After a moment, he found that the two waveforms were further apart. At this time, the operator began to doubt whether his judgment was wrong.

"What? Maybe a ship?"

A major staff officer in the bridge felt puzzled. He picked up his binoculars and looked at the Yunhe, which was firing continuously, but did not see any suspicious ship near it.

Obviously, the staff officer's identification ability cannot be compared with that of a professional lookout post.

The destroyer Qinshui turned off most of the lights at this moment, and all the blinds were tightly closed. The No. 2 paint scheme she used was a camouflage paint with a dark blue background supplemented by light blue fragments.

At this moment, she had turned on the engine overload, and her four high-pressure boilers and two steam turbines output a surging power of up to 7.1 horsepower, driving the destroyer towards the Maryland at a speed of up to 40 knots.

At 2:42, it was not until the two sides were more than meters apart that the lookout post, which had been nervously watching the fighting situation ahead, noticed something strange.

When the Qinshui sailed at high speed, the huge water splash produced by the ship's bow through the waves reflected the firelight of the Yunhe's gunfire, thus exposing herself.

"Enemy Destroyer!!!"

Suddenly, a Ming army destroyer appeared nearby like a ghost, and the officers and soldiers of the Maryland were shocked.

"Oh my God! It's like a ghost!"

"Damn! Where did it come from?!"

Major General Frank, who had been taking his time from the beginning until now, was also haunted and speechless for a moment.

Now it is too late to take any measures. We can only pray that the destroyer does not have torpedoes.

The beam from the searchlight on the stern of the ship covered the Qinshui, and the US sailors clearly saw a series of torpedoes plopping into the sea from the launcher...

【Picture】

(End of this chapter)