Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

Why did the German fleet fire first? This is indeed a much-discussed issue in history. The captain of the Weissenberg ship has always refused to admit that he had given the order to fire. Later historians believe that this is the self-assessment of junior officers. Some people also think that the captain of the Wesenberg ship did not dare to take responsibility. In any case, the battle has already happened.

Deng Shichang, the leader of the Zhiyuan ship, saw the German warship firing, and immediately ordered to fire a counterattack, but he ordered the two 210mm main guns on the bow to be loaded with solid ammunition to counterattack.

In the film works reflecting the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-], the plot of shells filled with sand appeared. In fact, for solid shells, it is very common for shells to be filled with sand. The power is not as good as flowering bombs, that is, high-explosive grenades, so in the Sino-Japanese War, the Beiyang Fleet, which lacked high-explosive grenades, was defeated by the Japanese combined fleet.

The observers in the watchtower above the mast use the rangefinder to measure the distance between the two ships and the speed of the warships on both sides, and then calculate the ballistic elements, which are used to determine the pitch angle and muzzle direction of the artillery.

The gunners on the Zhiyuan ship have served for many years and have rich experience. After learning the ballistic elements, one gunner quickly adjusted the position of the gun barrel. Since the main gun at the bow is controlled by hydraulic pressure, the heavy gun can only be controlled by One gunner can easily turn it.

Under the deck where the artillery of the Zhiyuan ship is located, a number of small grids are opened. These grids are used to store shells. There are as many as 42 under the main gun of the bow. These shells are placed near the artillery, eliminating the need to pile up the shells The danger next to the artillery, in order to prevent the occurrence of martyrdom, there is no place to store the propellant packs in the grid, but in the previous preparation process, the sailors have already taken out the propellant packs in advance.

After adjusting the position, several gunners lifted the shells weighing nearly one hundred catties and put them into the barrel from the loading port at the rear of the artillery. A sailor picked up propellant powder weighing thirty to forty catties and loaded it into the barrel, closing the loading port. After that, the artillery fired immediately.

Two solid bullets whizzed towards the Wessenborg, and the first shell hit the ship's side near the waterline of the Wessenborg. Due to the limitation of displacement, the main armor protection of the Wessenborg was concentrated in this area. So the shells did not penetrate the armor, but the impact of the high-speed flying shells still shocked the whole ship, and several sailors were even thrown into the air.

The second shell fell on the aft deck. Since it was a solid shell that would not explode, the shell smashed the wooden floor and sent sawdust flying across the floor. The protective deck blocks it.

Although the two shells did not cause fatal damage to the Weisenborg ship, they made Captain Const very worried. He knew that the power system of his warship had failed. The Senbao ship was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. He knew that if it sailed out of Jiaozhou Bay, the Zhiyuan ship might give up attacking him, but the slow speed made this illusion shattered.

The reason why Deng Shichang on the Zhiyuan ship ordered the use of solid ammunition was, on the one hand, because the Beiyang Fleet had insufficient funds and had not purchased high-explosive grenade for a long time; Use bullets to punish the German ship on the opposite side.

The observers on the watchtower announced the result of the shell's impact, and the gunners on the deck immediately cheered, waiting for the next order to shoot.

The Pingyuan ship was just an offshore defense ship, and its maximum speed was only 11 knots. This speed could not be maintained for too long, so it fell far behind in the pursuit.

At this time, the observers of the Zhiyuan Ship found that three warships were heading towards the Zhiyuan Ship in the southeast direction at a high speed. The tricolor flag, and then the observers reported step by step: three German warships are approaching their side.

These three warships were light cruisers in the German fleet, and they came specially to meet the Weissenberg ship, but they did not expect to encounter artillery battles from both sides.

This type of light cruiser is mainly equipped with 105mm rapid-fire guns, which are installed on the side, and there are four doors on each side. Therefore, when this type of cruiser wants to attack an enemy ship, it must be aimed at the side. The light cruisers then joined the fray, and their speeds of up to 18 knots made them more than enough for quick entry into battle.

The purpose of the three light cruisers was simple, to cover the Weisenborg ship to withdraw from the battle as soon as possible, but the Zhiyuan ship didn't know this, and the Zhiyuan ship ordered that all artillery be put into combat mode and fire at any time.

The Zhiyuan ship has no advantage in speed, and can only hope for firepower. After all, the Zhiyuan ship has three 210mm cannons and two 150mm rapid-fire cannons. Deng Shichang ordered that all five cannons be turned to the side, ready to attack Three light cruisers.

The three light cruisers were out of the range of the Zhiyuan ship's artillery, and took advantage of their speed to sail behind the Zhiyuan ship, hoping to surround the Zhiyuan ship on three sides. In this way, the Zhiyuan ship's five large-caliber artillery could not achieve a Focusing fire on a warship, and this is also convenient for light cruisers to attack Zhiyuan ships.

Deng Shichang had seen through the tricks of the three German warships at this time, so he ordered to approach the three German warships, keeping the broadsides aimed at the German warships while approaching, hoping to use the advantage of firepower to severely damage a German warship as soon as possible. Ships, in order to get rid of the unfavorable situation of fighting more with less.

Seeing the Zhiyuan ship approaching, the three German warships also understood the Zhiyuan ship's intentions, so the three German warships speeded up, trying to complete the outflanking of the Zhiyuan ship before it closed the distance.

The Zhiyuan ship took the lead. A German ship entered the range, and three 210mm artillery pieces fired together. This time the Zhiyuan ship used high-explosive grenades.

In order to increase the speed and endurance of this light cruiser, it is only equipped with relatively thin armor outside the ammunition depot and the engine room. Two shells exploded in the sea water near the side, and the splashed shrapnel shot through the wooden deck. There is a large amount of coal in the inner compartment, which is also one of the ideas of warship design in the 19th century, that is, coal can be used as the defense of the warship. Although from the perspective of war history, the protective effect of this design is not obvious, but these Burning coal protected the German warship.

The third shell directly hit the deck, and the huge air wave and shrapnel broke the tall mast. The observer was killed on the spot. The Zhiyuan ship continued to approach the injured German cruiser. At this time, the other two ships had already circled to Zhiyuan The stern of the ship turned to the other side of the Zhiyuan ship.

Deng Shichang did not order the large-caliber artillery to move. The Zhiyuan ship was equipped with more than a dozen machine guns of various calibers. He ordered the machine guns to aim at the approaching German ship, and the large-caliber artillery continued to attack the injured German ship. For the cruiser, after correcting the trajectory, Deng Shichang decisively ordered a salvo of five guns. In the design of the Zhiyuan ship, the captain only needs to press a button, and the artillery on the warship can fire a salvo.

These five shells dealt a fatal blow to the light cruiser. One shell hit the gun room on the side. The thin layer of iron armor outside the gun room was not enough to resist the powerful shells. The ammunition was used, and the most terrifying martyrdom occurred. A huge explosion occurred on the broadside and spread to the engine room. Fortunately, the gunpowder magazine was safe and sound under the protection of the armor.

The speed of this battleship dropped all of a sudden, and it lost its combat effectiveness. As long as the Zhiyuan ship continued to attack it, it would sink sooner or later.

At this time, the cruiser that turned to the other side and the stern opened fire at the same time, and the Zhiyuan ship rained bullets in an instant. The searchlights and the flying bridge were damaged to varying degrees. The naval gun was blown out and lost its combat effectiveness.

Deng Shichang ordered that the large-caliber artillery of the whole ship be turned to the other side, but it takes time to turn, especially the 210mm main gun at the stern. Since the living quarters are arranged under the deck of the stern, it is impossible to arrange complicated arrangements in this place. Hydraulic transmission device, so the main gun had to be operated manually, and the turning time was even slower, and those small-caliber machine guns could not cause fatal damage to German cruisers.

In other words, the Zhiyuan ship has to withstand at least three rounds of artillery salvos!