The Iron and Steel Frenzy of the Republic of China

The key protective armor of the "Iowa-class battleship" is very scientific and powerful.At least in terms of reducing the overall weight, it provides a considerable contribution.

With a fully loaded displacement of 55710 tons and a narrow body of only 33 meters, this warship must not only arrange the key three triple-mounted 406mm main guns, but also try to ensure that the maximum waterline armor box of 312mm can cover the key parts. The design requires careful calculation, and the construction also takes great pains.

Today, the generation of powerful warships they have painstakingly built have indeed lived up to the expectations of the navy. In battle, they are no longer like the old battleships in the past, which can't be dealt with after being hit by shells!

The third hit shell hit hard on the thickest part of the waterline armor on the side. Because of the angle of incidence, after the hood was blown off by the water, the trajectory of the bullet unexpectedly turned, making the original about [-] degrees. The angle of incidence of the gun was reduced to no more than [-] degrees, and it was almost impossible to trigger the fuze, and its penetration ability was also greatly reduced!

Even so, the huge kinetic energy of the 1225-kilogram steel lump still severely dented the side armor plate of the "New Jersey", several cracks formed at the same time, and the groaning sound from the broken steel plate was clear. It can be heard!

The severely deformed outer shell led to the collapse of the inner armor lining inside. Under the transmission of kinetic energy, large and small fragments scattered and collapsed, knocking out the thin longitudinal compartment and the upper armor plate. A few holes, some unlucky crew members were beaten to pieces, causing heavy casualties!

After a brief moment, the warhead exploded with a rumble, and a huge shock wave hit the surface of the sideboard. The huge amount of steam that rushed out in the opposite direction was blown up to a height of more than a hundred meters, and the water column that was raised covered the head and face and splashed all over the bridge. Flares of fire.The US military officers and soldiers couldn't help raising their hearts to their throats!

Many of them know how terrible the penetration of the 20mm main gun is at around 406 kilometers!That main armor can't withstand frontal piercing shots!If the shells hit the cabin, the consequences would be disastrous!

The "New Jersey" jolted violently and rushed forward several hundred meters.The powerful power system ensured the speed of 31 knots, and they did not wait in place to suffer the baptism of the remaining shells, and the results reported by the damage control made them greatly relieved.Minor injuries, just minor injuries, even if there was some water ingress, but for this behemoth.It's just scabies

But Major General Mitchell dared not take any more risks.He found that the shooting accuracy of the enemy on the opposite side was rapidly improving!From the basic miss from [-] kilometers away, to almost every salvo hit now, no matter how much interference, the main guns of two battleships can be concentrated to hit a target. This kind of synergy, this kind of calculation accuracy of long-range shooting .It's all appalling!

If it continues like this, one will ebb and flow.It's really hard to say how long the New Jersey can withstand the bombing! 10 minutes?Or two 10 minutes?How long can they resist being hit every minute?

He took a deep breath and sighed secretly.The enemy, or that enemy, has never changed.Whether they are inexperienced or not.It was still the effect of their own super-saturated attack in the early stage, successfully interfering with their attack, but in general, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese is still as strong as ever!Trying to wipe them out just by the attack density in front of them.It is a luxury!

No wonder, Commander Nimitz had to formulate such a complicated and detailed plan, and he had to painstakingly separate himself, adopt various arrangements to lure, confuse, and contain the enemy, and create an illusion of an onslaught in all directions. Be too careful, but relying on his keen judgment, he has long known the strength and terror of the enemy, and it is absolutely difficult to deal with!

"It's a pity for those two Yamato ships! Otherwise, with their thick armored shells, they may be used as human shields to obtain valuable opportunities for the two Iowa-class battleships to approach and attack, and finally win. Maybe!"

Mitchell felt slightly regretful, but it was just a passing thought.In fact, even if the Yamato class is still there, it is not so easy for him to command.The Japanese are so stubborn, they still think they are smart enough to engage in some tricks, thinking that they can't see it, they are attacking with an excuse, and they want to avoid frontal combat when the time is right?

It's just that I didn't expect that the Chinese would attach so much importance to them, and once they came up, they would use powerful attacks to completely kill them. I'm afraid that if those desperate Japanese can come back, they will definitely hit the wall with regret?Well, maybe he would pull his belly open with a knife.

Without further hesitation, Mitchell ordered all the battleships to immediately release smoke to cover the line and cover the two battleships from contact.Before the air strike and surface torpedo attack are completely resolved, strive to restore the initiative in the battle and not be successfully counterattacked by the opponent.

After giving the order, Mitchell raised his head unwillingly and looked into the distance. In the dark sky, there were faint flashes of light, rumbling rumbles like spring thunder, and fierce battles were going on there. , maybe with a little more effort, you can win the battle!The unattainable helplessness and unwillingness to reach the peak just one step away bit his heart like a poisonous snake.

Do not!wrong!

Mitchell suddenly woke up, how could he have such a delusional idea?

If the Chinese were so easy to deal with, they would not have grown to this day, but they would have killed the powerful Japanese navy.They are the best at using intrigue.How do you know that the so-called danger that you see right now, which is precarious and can be overthrown with a little effort, isn't they just pretending? !

I want to kill the Chinese in one go, so what about them, do they also want to lure the enemy deep, so that they can swallow their own huge force and make immortal achievements?With the arrogance, boldness, and endlessly emerging secret weapons and equipment of the Chinese, they must dare to think about and do such a thing!

Mitchell broke out in a cold sweat, fortunately he woke up early!If he thought he had picked a good opportunity and rushed forward in a daze, he might hear the sad news that the capital ship was sunk in a few minutes!The Chinese missiles have not been launched from the beginning to the end!

right!Yep!The retreat order just now must be correct!So dangerous, so dangerous, almost doomed!

Mr. Major General, the more you think about it, the more reasonable it becomes.Thinking about whether to write it down when you look back, as a lifelong motto, always reminding you not to get hotheaded.

Ahead, the U.S. cruisers that had withdrawn from the battle circle scrambled to be the first to blast hundreds of smoke bombs towards the center, above the ships.All kinds of high-power smoke generators, as well as the billowing smoke from the main engine, were blown close to the sea surface and diffused, quickly stirring the field of vision and creating chaos.

The fighter plane in the sky tried its best to drop the last bomb, and then turned around unwillingly and returned to the radio-guided path.The two Iowa-class battleships maneuvered at the fastest speed and maximized the salvo efficiency of the main guns.When it is increased to the theoretical maximum speed, accuracy and so on, I don’t care so much. In short, it can fire one more shell, one round.

The billowing smoke quickly blurred the muzzle flash caused by the shooting, from more than 20 kilometers away.The optical aiming instrument can no longer see anything clearly.The sea detection radar is still easy to use.However, following the desperate impact of the two heavy cruisers to create chaos, one after another disruptive bombs exploded in the sky, making the pursuit of the two Taishan-class battleships more and more troublesome.

The attack of the US military came suddenly like a flash flood, but it was withdrawn like a tidal wave.The speed of action and the decisiveness of action have never been seen before.

Chen Ce was actually in a cold sweat!He never thought that real close-range bombardment would be so dangerous!I thought nothing would go wrong.Under the influence of unfathomable, small-probability events—such as the strange event that the opponent's water drift bomb penetrates the main armor—all sorts of unexpected events may happen at any time.

Of course, it's not that he's afraid of death or anything like that, but that when there's an overall plan, momentary recklessness can often lead to final failure, and that's unforgivable!

After all, the South China Sea Fleet is nothing else. There are no missile cruisers, no electromagnetic shield protection, and when the missile launches cannot keep up, the ants will kill elephants, which is very dangerous!

Look at the auxiliary ships on the main console, almost all of them have yellow unhealthy signs with injuries, indicating that in just one hour of this ferocious attack, they are all facing the crisis of destruction, almost!If it wasn't for the Americans being too greedy and thinking of swallowing up their two capital ships first, and using more cruisers and destroyers to clean up, I'm afraid the auxiliary ships really couldn't handle it!

With the rapid withdrawal of the two Iowa-class battleships, after the crazy torpedoes were released, the two Taishan ships, whose gun barrels were hot and smoked, also closed when they were good, and steadily cooperated with other ships to continue minesweeping and air defense. Strike, mildly, to nip all the dangers in the bud, and prevent them from easily causing terrible damage.

After the last dangerous torpedo on the sea was detonated, the U.S. warships had already run fifty kilometers away, and the escort ships that regrouped did the same trick again, discharging the three-layer defense array inside and outside, and circling and stirring.

The sky was silent, Chen Ce narrowed his eyes unwillingly and stared for a moment, then suddenly ordered: "Launch two rounds of anti-ship missiles! Try their defense!"

"understand!"

The captains of the two battleships did not ask why they did that, but decisively carried out the order. After a short while, they each released two hd-1 "Harpoon" subsonic sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, dragging four dazzling lights. Take it up to the sky.

The U.S. warship more than 50 kilometers away, the patrol cruiser behind the guard saw clearly, and hastily issued a sharp warning: "The enemy ship launched missiles!"

The air-to-air radars of cruisers and battleships also issued strong warnings!The dazzling red light flickered rapidly in the war room of each battleship, making them all worried!

The U.S. Navy, after suffering a big loss, learned from the pain, and jointly developed a radar designed to detect high-speed approaching targets in conjunction with British and Japanese experts.This kind of special scanning equipment made of original computer aided by electron tubes, artificially added with sensitive high-temperature detection units, can only track those special targets with subsonic or even supersonic speeds and emit high heat during flight.

Needless to say, this thing has nothing but jet fighters and missiles!It kills two birds with one stone. Although the acuity and precision are not very good, the Americans are not too demanding. As long as they can give early warning, it will be fine.

Just like now, the high-temperature light spots emitted by the flames ejected from the tails of the four missiles are particularly obvious, as long as there are some experienced lookout posts and arms experts, they can judge it.Although I don't know who the target is, it doesn't really matter much.All they need to know is enough!

"All air defense interception! Prepare!"

On one battleship after another, the densely packed anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns were all erected!Some officers and soldiers who had to temporarily evade during the artillery battle also ran back to their posts as fast as they could, shaking the turret with all their strength.Point to the sky!

This kind of mass mobilization is not chaotic and aimless.If you look carefully, you can see that each battleship has dozens of, at most, more than 100 anti-aircraft guns, and each turret is precisely aimed at a coordinate element!

And similar battleships are also based on their relative positions.He began to quickly adjust the distance and angle, and the heavy cruiser lying in front of the battleship was even more cautious.

Even on the periphery, not far away, there are several destroyers, which started to ignite extremely high-temperature materials on the deck, releasing flames exceeding a thousand degrees, creating the largest infrared signal source in the entire range!

There are also a large number of jammers.After more than ten seconds, they all shot into the sky.

"The missile is approaching the critical point!" The lookout post issued another warning.

In the battleship group.Dozens of captains shouted in unison: "Fire!"

"Fire!"

boom!There was an explosion between heaven and earth!Hundreds of warships and more than a thousand anti-aircraft guns of various calibers fired together!Intensive tracers moved towards the top of the two battleships on a sea that was tens of kilometers wide.And the airspace ahead, intertwined into terrifying fire nets as dense as fishing nets!

Spectacular!Absolutely spectacular!Among them, the 20mm machine guns and 12.7mm heavy machine guns occupy the largest number. Every few rounds, a tracer bullet is connected into pieces, forming a huge network.It extends from the sea to an altitude of 3000 meters!The multi-layered interlaced structure, the instant light, even illuminated the sea surface!

The remaining anti-aircraft guns with a maximum of 127mm and a minimum of 40mm, the shells fired were scattered in the uneven airspace of the high ground, and the detonation of the fixed-altitude fuze caused the sky to be filled with steel fragments, impact fireworks, and shining brilliance. , There is a kind of spectacular volcanic eruption!

Four subsonic anti-ship missiles plunged into the boiling flames!Even if it enters the altitude of the sea-skimming flight at the end, it is only a few hundred meters to tens of meters, but the infrared sensitive guidance, and the semi-active radar search, are blocked by countless artillery fire, shining lights everywhere, the impact of explosions, and noisy signals , It was a mess, and there was no way to lock the target. After twisting and turning several times, I finally couldn't bear the high temperature and high heat bait released by the two destroyers, and plunged into it!

"Boom!"

Four loud bangs in a row!The two destroyers were pierced fiercely, and the 75 kg high explosives of each missile blew up the thin hull of only [-] tons from the deepest point.

On the opposite side far away, Chen Ce saw this scene from the feedback screen, and couldn't help sighing. It seems that a temporary technological lead is not a panacea.Even if the enemy is half a step behind, with careful preparation, he can still come up with a stupid way to crack it!

"The missile hit! But the intended target was not destroyed!"

Tracking feedback information is confirmed.Chen Hongtai, the captain of the Hengshan, bit his lips and suggested, "We might as well try using supersonic heavy bombs! I don't believe they can stop it!"

Chen Ce vetoed it: "It's too close! And if they really do this at all costs, I'm afraid it's really hard to say. The success rate can be guaranteed only if there is mental calculation and no intention. Now, let them have a little more joy."

"Hmph!" Chen Hongtai bit off a part of his lips unwillingly, and clenched his fists tightly.He felt very wronged when he got that shot, and if he didn't recover the debt soon, he might not be able to sleep!

Major General Mitchell broke out in a cold sweat. After confirming that the capital ship was safe and sound, he was afraid for a while: "Fortunately, we are prepared! Otherwise, it will be really troublesome! It seems that fighting with the Chinese will not give them a free hand." , The power of the missile is really terrifying!"

The U.S. military and the major arms companies have not yet figured out how that thing was made.MIT's Rocket Lab, which was originally a private hobby institution, has been jointly controlled by DuPont and Morgan, and they have invested more in research, but so far there are no usable results.Before that, I'm afraid I can only be careful all day long and be vigilant!

The incomplete 19th Task Force, braving billowing smoke, sailed all the way to the southeast in a roundabout way.The squadron, which was coming from Yangon to outflank, immediately maneuvered and came to meet.

As for the South China Sea Fleet, it seemed that something was wrong, and they made a detour to the north again, and took a break for a while. It seemed that they both needed a little time to adjust.This is exactly what Mitchell is happy to see.

The next day and the whole day, the two sides opened a distance of [-] nautical miles to play hide-and-seek, or licked their wounds, replenished ammunition, rushed to repair the battleship, and the Bay of Bengal, which had been boiling all night, was eerily silent!

On the morning of the third day, the figure of the Nimitz fleet finally appeared in the southeast of Sri Lanka!

Mitchell's spirit was lifted, and he immediately ordered the fleet that had been withdrawn for a long time to turn around and make a gesture of maneuvering towards Yangon from the east. The vacancies of ten light and heavy ships stretched a crescent moon array, slanting towards the northwest of the Bay of Bengal! (To be continued..)