Chapter 1,307 Choice
Chapter 1307 Choice
"Our current overall speed is shifting to the northwest. If the Japanese's speed remains unchanged, then a firefight may occur in up to 2 hours. (About 20 kilometers)" After a rough mapping analysis, Redl was somewhat concerned. Said nervously.
"You mean, our position has been exposed? Didn't we turn on the electronic interference?" Su Xiong frowned slightly, but his clenched and unclenched fists still revealed his mood at this time - very nervous! The situation he was most worried about had already appeared. The two Japanese fleets had begun to converge, and when the two King Kong-class battlecruisers arrived, it would be the end of the Su Xiong fleet! There is no way, two Kongang-class battlecruisers and one Fuso-class have advantages in speed and firepower. Although there is a situation where King Kong can be killed instantly with one hit, no one dares to bet that their shells will accidentally land in the opponent's ammunition depot or other dangerous places!
"Judging from the current situation, the newly arrived Japanese fleet should not have received the telegram. The telegraph system of the opponent's flagship has been destroyed. The Kurama behind it tried to send a telegram, but the operating frequency was completely within the coverage of our electronic interference. .”
"Look here again, there is actually a considerable deviation in their route. The Japanese fleet should be sailing based on the previous route. The speed is not high, only about 23 knots. Obviously they do not understand the situation here." Redel He expressed his guess.
"But they can release seaplanes for reconnaissance." Su Xiong said.
"If that's the case, we have no choice but to leave!" Reidel said with a bitter smile.
"If we can leave." Su Xiong also smiled bitterly.
However, at this moment, when Su Xiong was hesitant about whether to continue fighting or evacuate, the Gneisenau behind him once again scored a hit! And this hit will change the entire battle situation to some extent!
A 350MM shell entered the water about 45 meters away from the Kurama. This shell, which had been specially optimized for underwater ballistics, finally took advantage of its design. The slender hood was peeled off by the sea water, and then the projectile was righted. The blunt projectile continued to sail forward smoothly in the water. With the action of gravity, the shell drew an elegant parabola in the sea water. And finally had a close contact with the Kurama's underwater defense system at 7 meters underwater!
The huge shells easily shattered the defense system under the waterline of the hull. Then, hundreds of tons of seawater poured in from the breach. The flying fragments and solid projectiles moved forward and penetrated the two bulkheads. Then it exploded on the last layer of mine protection armor! How can a mere 40MM mine protection armor withstand the impact and explosive energy of more than 600 kilograms of artillery shells! The entire mine protection wall covering more than ten square meters was blown to pieces by this cannon, and the defense outside the No. 2 engine room collapsed in an instant! The high-speed rotating turbine was exposed to tons of debris and hundreds of tons of sea water.
Then the ending of this cabin has been determined!
"At this moment, we even suspected that we hit a torpedo! Looking from the rangefinder, a water column suddenly rose behind the middle of the Kurama hull. Then, the battleship seemed to shake, and then Within a few minutes, the Kurama tilted rapidly, and a large amount of steam came out from the middle and rear of the hull, even covering the two cannon shells at the back. This was obviously a case of a large number of steam pipes rupturing. The Kurama continued to decrease in speed. It tells us that this guy's power system must have been severely damaged!" After the war, an officer on board the Gneisenau recorded the scene at that time.
The damage caused by this shell to the Kurama was indeed terrifying. The two roaring Parsons steam turbines were directly blown to pieces, and the battleship's power was inevitably reduced by more than half! Although there is an armored partition between the two engine rooms, which barely blocks most of the shrapnel and water intrusion, at the same time, the shrapnel spreading to the surroundings still cuts off several important steam pipes in the other steam engine room, which is as high as hundreds of degrees. High temperature and high pressure steam makes repair impossible. The constant vibrations also caused some problems in the operation of the other two steam turbines. All kinds of tooth-grinding sounds of friction and collisions made the Japanese people tremble! In the next 3 minutes, the Kurama's speed quickly dropped to only about 11 knots, putting some distance between it and the Fuso in front!
However, the surprise was not over. Half a minute later, another shell successfully opened a hole in the forehead of the No. 3 turret of the Kurama! This shell exploded between the two artillery pieces, and the flying fragments instantly killed most of the more than 80-person gun crew inside the turret, while the remaining personnel also died painfully in the scorching flames and suffocating poisonous gas. Then, with almost no one to rescue them, the flames spread between the artillery and the servo equipment, turning the entire turret into a burning hell. However, because there were no shells inside the turret at this time, and the ones in the lower dressing room were The fire door is also closed, so there is no explosion for the time being!
Two shells directly changed the outcome of the battle. At full cost, the Kurama only had 4 main guns that could fire. This was close to the minimum limit for long-distance correction. Although theoretically, more than 3 rounds of single-round shelling could correct the fire, but Because the intervals between artillery firings are somewhat long, there are problems with continuity. In other words, the Kurama, which theoretically still has half of its firepower, may not actually have even a quarter of its output!
"We seem to have won..." Looking at the Kurama that had been wrapped in steam, smoke and flames, Su Xiong let out a sigh of relief. Now there is only one battleship left, the Yamashiro. So in Before the Japanese battlecruisers arrive, the Yamashiro will probably be disabled, right?
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Kurama seems to be in trouble." A Japanese officer pointed tremblingly at the heavily damaged Kurama in the distance.
"Did you lose? The Germans are indeed better than the Austrians." Kanji Kato sat in his chair and muttered to himself. Only now did he really feel the feeling of despair. It's the feeling you get when facing an invincible enemy. On the surface, the Japanese fleet lost this time to a few well-placed artillery shells, but Kanji Kato knew that the gap between the Japanese fleet and the German fleet was too big!
This time, Kanji Kato realized how terrifying the so-called electronic warfare technology was. These invisible radio waves were to some extent more terrifying than heavy artillery and armor-piercing projectiles! They cut off the communication between the Japanese fleet and made the entire fleet deaf. The original plan and numerical advantage were shattered to pieces! The original 4 on 2 turned into 2 on 2!
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