Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 271: Fighting in the Raging Sea (3)
With the sinking of the Angara, Xiang Zhongjie ordered the four cruisers to aim their guns at the Boldness behind Angara.The Daring is a standard Russian cruiser with fierce firepower, thin armor and fast speed. The Daring, which has not been hit by much firepower, even ran at a high speed of 20 knots, surpassing the Angara in front. The 152mm gun and the 120mm gun hit Luyuan and Ganjiang three times, but the bold behavior quickly attracted the attention of the Fuyuan formation.After the sinking of the Angara, this fleet did not wait for the support of the main fleet. This was because the Alexander and the Nikolai had been besieged by more than three Chinese warships respectively. In order to protect the two main forces The Far East Fleet put almost all its firepower there, making the Bold and other three ships look very lonely at this time.

At 10:43, just 2 minutes after the Angara sank, the fate of the Boldness finally came. A 6-inch shell fired by the Weiyuan hit the third of the front cabin of the Boldness, Immediately, a huge fire under the bridge was caused, and more than [-] Russian sailors around the hit point were either killed or burned to death.

The development of the war situation was becoming more and more unfavorable to this Russian formation. After the sinking of the Angara, Captain Bridge of the Senyavin took over the command of the maneuver. Seeing the blazing fire on the Daring, he gradually felt After a bit of coolness, although the Xenia Wen has been attacked by the Fuyuan, this warship has avoided a lot of shells by using its high-speed maneuverability. The Nyavin was hit by 6 shells, but luckily only one of them was a 7-inch shell. If all the six shells were 7-inch shells, I am afraid that this warship will accompany the Angara on the road. Even so, thank you The Niawen still lost nearly half of its firepower, and only the rear main gun and two secondary guns could be used. The front main gun had been knocked out by three 5-inch shells from the Ganjiang in the previous battle.

Recalling the time when the rear main gun was hit, Bridge could not help but sigh. At that time, the 5-inch armor-piercing round had already caused a fire around the gun position, and the fire was spreading to the ammunition depot of the forward main gun. If dozens of shells and gunpowder exploded in succession, the consequences would be unimaginable. At the critical moment, Bridge personally led all the officers to participate in the fire fighting, and barely controlled the fire.

This hit also made Bridge deeply aware of an important problem in the development of the Russian Navy, that is, when naval equipment was purchased, armor protection was too neglected.

However, the artillery fire of the Chinese warship did not leave him time to think. Two 6-inch shells from the Luyuan hit the Boldness near the waterline in succession, and one of the Boldness's reciprocating steam engines was damaged and forced to stop.The Daring was only half powered, and lost two more secondary guns.

At this point in the naval battle, Bridge knew that the fate of this formation had been decided. At this time, the formation was still 4000 meters away from the main fleet, and the artillery fire over there was much more violent than this side. He wanted to return to the main force The fleet is undoubtedly like moths to the flames, and the Fuyuan formation has already begun to encircle, and a bloody massacre is about to begin!

Although the Fuyuan formation firmly holds the initiative in the naval battle, Xiang Zhongjie, who commanded the battle on the Fuyuan, still frowned. Although the current battle situation is favorable, the Russians are not completely powerless to fight back. In fact, just A few minutes ago, the rapid-fire gun on the Aprak also hit the stern of the Ganjiang, causing a big blow. The combat effectiveness of this new cruiser manufactured by the shipbuilding giant Armstrong Shipyard cannot be underestimated. With a maneuvering speed of 19 knots, the armor on its vital parts is as thick as 95 mm, which is equivalent to putting armor on a cheetah. Or the Aprak.

The Boldness in the distance lost a steam engine, and its speed gradually slowed down, but its firepower remained undiminished. Suddenly, a rear main gun at the stern spit out flames, and a 5-inch shell went straight to the command tower of the Fuyuan .

"My lord, be careful!" Li Zhong, Xiang Zhongjie's adjutant, jumped forward. At this moment, the shell hit the conning tower, and the huge explosion knocked everyone present to the ground.

Xiang Zhongjie pushed Li Zhong away, stood up and took a look. Fortunately, the 8-inch thick armor of the command tower effectively protected the safety of the officers in the command tower. The shells only exploded outside the armor and did not cause much damage to the people in the command tower. , but a few officers who were close were stunned.

Xiang Zhongjie commanded several soldiers to carry the injured officer down, and the other three ships saw the damage to the Fuyuan, and sent semaphores to inquire about the situation.

Xiang Zhongjie thought for a moment, and then ordered: "Notify all ships that Fuyuan is safe and sound. Old Xiang is still in command. Fuyuan, Ganjiang concentrates all its firepower on Boldness. If he is not sunk, he must be disabled first."

"Yes!"

"Aim at the main gun of the Boldness, and hit me hard." Following the order of the captain of the Ganjiang, Lu Zhonglin, the advanced hydraulic turret on the warship moved slowly.

"Boom, boom." The front and rear main guns made loud noises one after another. After a puff of thick smoke, four 5-inch bullets flew out of the barrel, and along with the Fuyuan shells that shot obliquely, they went straight to the Bold.The surface of the sea around the Boldness was suddenly filled with water, and the explosion of the shell set off a wave of turbulence on the calm sea, causing the Boldness to shake from side to side.

"Go one to the left, reduce the scale by two, and fire." Lu Zhonglin issued an order to adjust the firing angle. Known for his rigor, he can be called an excellent commander of the Imperial Navy.

"Boom" four 5-inch guns roared one after another.

Lu Zhonglin picked up the binoculars and closely observed the Boldness which was 3400 meters away.I saw that the hull of the Bold was slightly tilted to the left, and suddenly violent flames shot out from behind the ship's main gun.

"Hit, hit." The gunner reported excitedly.

Just when Lu Zhonglin commanded the officers and soldiers to beat the dog in the water, the Boldness, which had just been hit in the distance, suddenly flashed with fire, and then the entire bow of the ship was lifted out of the water by some unknown force, and then fell heavily back to the water. A long crack was formed, and the waves rolled and poured.Lu Zhonglin quickly got up and picked up the binoculars again. He couldn't believe his eyes. The front of the bridge and the front main gun of the Boldness suddenly disappeared, leaving only the soaring fire and the mushroom cloud after the explosion. The Chinese officers and soldiers outside felt a dull pain in their ears.Judging from the power of the explosion, it must not have been caused by the four shells fired from the Ganjiang. Lu Zhonglin guessed that it was the ammunition depot of the Bold that detonated.

In fact, the four shells just now did not hit the front main gun of the Daring, but hit between the front main gun and the bridge. Although this is also an important part of the cruiser, generally speaking, this position is adjacent to the bridge. A few shots are not fatal, because the bridge and turret are relatively well protected.The truly deadly shot came from a 7-inch high-velocity armor-piercing projectile fired by Fuyuan. With a full 60 rounds and a large launch pack, this gun had disastrous consequences for the Daring.The soaring flames and the slowly rising mushroom cloud could even be seen by people ten thousand meters away.Half a minute later, after the explosion, the Boldness was surrounded by a sea of ​​flames and began to sink rapidly. After 10 minutes, the sea water had submerged the Mast of the Boldness, and the warship ended its journey at sea and sank forever In the ocean of Vladivostok.

At this time, the Xeniawen, which had been under the care of Luyuan and Weiyuan, was also in trouble. Although Bridge's superb command ability allowed the Xeniawen to avoid many shells, it also made his own hit. The rate dropped to a pitiful situation. With the successive sinking of the Angara and the Bold, the Xeniawen inevitably became the first target of the Fuyuan formation.

(End of this chapter)