Anti-Japanese War: My equipment is infinitely refreshed

Through the lights on the warship, one could just barely see the huge outline of the rock mountain. The huge dark figure stood out particularly in the night.

Whenever a warship passes through the Strait of Gibraltar, it will be amazed by the tight and solid defense here.

The solid fortifications, the powerful coastal defense guns, and the vigilant patrol teams all made people feel the strictness of the defense here. If you want to take this place, you will probably have to pay a very heavy price.

At this time, Nan Yun Zhongyi glanced at his watch. It was already five o'clock in the morning. The dawn was about to break through the darkness and the sun was about to rise. The sky that was about to break seemed to indicate that a fierce battle was about to begin.

"Order all ships to prepare for battle and open fire immediately at dawn." Nagumo Chuichi once again issued clear and urgent orders. His eyes were fixed on the vaguely visible Strait of Gibraltar ahead, and his heart was already prepared for the battle.

"Ha." The subordinates responded respectfully again, and then implemented various combat preparations more quickly. The entire fleet was suddenly shrouded in a tense and solemn atmosphere, waiting for the arrival of dawn to start a fierce life-and-death battle with the defenders of Gibraltar.

At this critical moment, the battle alarm on the Rock of Gibraltar suddenly sounded. The sharp and piercing alarm instantly broke the tranquility of the night sky and echoed over the sea.

Immediately afterwards, huge rays of light shot out from the rocks, like sharp lightsabers, shining straight over, instantly illuminating the sea area as bright as day.

The strong light made the fleet that was originally hidden in the darkness nowhere to hide.

When Nanyun Chuichi saw this scene, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a hint of disdain.

He said coldly: "Found it? Unfortunately, it's too late. Order the ship's guns to open fire immediately and destroy those searchlights."

His tone revealed a confidence that he was sure to win. Even if he was discovered in advance, he was not afraid at all. He firmly believed that his fleet could quickly turn the situation around with its powerful firepower.

"Ha!" After receiving the order, the subordinates quickly passed it on. At once, the gun operators on each ship took action. They skillfully operated the guns and adjusted the shooting angles, with coldness and concentration in their eyes.

In a nighttime naval battle, a searchlight is indeed a crucial element.

Especially for coastal defense artillery, they must rely on the precise guidance of searchlights to accurately lock on to targets and launch effective attacks.

Because in the dark, it is difficult to clearly discern the position and direction of ships on the sea in the distance with the naked eye.
The strong light emitted by the searchlight is like a lighthouse in the dark night, pointing out the direction of attack for the coastal defense artillery.

Therefore, as long as those searchlights are destroyed, the enemy's coastal defense artillery will be in trouble instantly, like a blind person who has lost his eyes, and will no longer be able to accurately shoot at the attacking fleet.

Originally, Nagumo Chuichi wanted to wait until daybreak to launch the attack, as that way the vision would be clearer and the combat conditions would be relatively more favorable.

Who knew it would be discovered in advance, but it seemed that Chuichi Nanyun didn't care too much about it.

In his opinion, this battle has to be fought sooner or later, it is just a matter of time.

Now that they have been exposed, they might as well launch an attack in advance. Relying on the fleet's powerful firepower, they can first destroy the opponent's important auxiliary facilities - searchlights, thereby creating more favorable conditions for subsequent attacks.

"Combat alert?" The British Governor was hurriedly called out from his sleep. At this moment, he was still sleepy, looking at the officer who came to report in front of him with a dull face, his eyes full of disbelief, and subconsciously asked this question back.

In his subconscious, Gibraltar has always had a strict defense system, so how could the combat alert suddenly be sounded?

This was really beyond his expectation.

"Yes, we have discovered that the Four-Nation Joint Fleet is attacking our port." The officer who came to report did not dare to slack off at all. He straightened his back and spoke loudly and clearly.

There was a sense of tension and urgency in the voice. After all, the current situation was very critical. The four-nation joint fleet was coming with great momentum, and no one knew why the other party suddenly appeared here.

Upon hearing this, the British Governor's face, which was originally a little confused, instantly turned pale.

His eyes widened, veins popped out on his forehead, and he said angrily: "Damn it, why did they only find out now? Where is our radar? What are they doing? Why didn't they give us an early warning?"

His voice trembled slightly with anger, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

In his opinion, radar is an extremely important part of Gibraltar's defense layout, as it is responsible for detecting incoming enemy forces in advance.

Logically speaking, with the radar's monitoring capabilities, such a large target should have been discovered long ago. How could it be possible that it took until now to detect the enemy's movements?
"Your Excellency Governor, there was a malfunction in the radar, so there was no early warning." The officer said with a bitter face.

His face was full of helplessness and grievance, and he knew very well in his heart that this radar failure had caused great trouble for everyone.

Originally, relying on normal radar monitoring, they could at least make many preparations in advance, but now the enemy is almost at the port, and they only realize it later.

But at this moment, we can only report the situation truthfully, and hope that the Governor can come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible.

Upon hearing that the radar had malfunctioned, the British Governor's expression became even uglier. His already livid face was now covered with an even thicker layer of gloom.

He narrowed his eyes tightly with a gleam of suspicion in them, and thought to himself that all this was too strange no matter how you looked at it. He suspected that all this was a conspiracy carefully planned by the enemy.

Otherwise, why would such a good radar break down at this critical moment when the four-nation joint fleet was attacking?
There must be something fishy going on here.

However, the situation was critical at the moment, and he knew very well that he simply did not have the extra time to carefully investigate the ins and outs of these things.

The most important thing at the moment is to find a way to repel the four-nation joint fleet and protect Gibraltar, which is a vital strategic location.

"Damn it, why don't you send someone to repair it?" The British Governor widened his eyes in anger and shouted at the officer in front of him.

"It was sent, but it can't be repaired. It remains in a snowflake state." The officer explained helplessly.

He felt extremely aggrieved. As soon as he discovered the radar failure, he sent people to repair it. However, the maintenance personnel were helpless. No matter how they fiddled with it, the radar screen was always covered with snow. It could not work normally and no useful information could be obtained.

"Damn it, order the coastal defense forces to counterattack immediately. We must not let them cross the channel." Upon hearing this, the British Governor's face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out. He gritted his teeth and issued the order without hesitation. In his opinion, since the advantage of radar early warning had been lost, the only way to resist the enemy's attack was to rely on the powerful firepower of the coastal defense forces.

The coastal defense forces are an important force in guarding the Strait of Gibraltar. They are equipped with powerful coastal defense artillery and other weapons. As long as they are used properly, they may be able to repel the invading enemy.

"Yes!" After receiving the order, the officer responded seriously, and then hurriedly turned around to convey the governor's urgent order.

All of a sudden, the entire Gibraltar coastal defense force took quick action, and the soldiers rushed to their respective combat posts, ready for battle.

On the other side, under the strong light of the searchlight, the Four-Nation Combined Fleet finally opened fire.

The first to bear the brunt was the Italian battleship Roma, which was magnificent, like a sea monster, and its main guns were even more powerful. The nine triple-mounted 9-inch/15-caliber main guns, under the control of the gunners, slowly raised their muzzles and pointed directly at the dazzling searchlight on the rocky mountain. Then there was a deafening roar, and one shell after another, wrapped in huge energy, whistled straight towards the searchlight on the rocky mountain.

"Alert, alert, the enemy ships are firing at us, be careful to hide!" The soldiers on the rocky mountain who were responsible for operating the searchlights suddenly panicked. They shouted at the top of their lungs and couldn't help cursing.

They really couldn't understand how these enemy ships appeared here without anyone noticing.

There is a radar unit responsible for monitoring the situation in the surrounding waters, but why is there no early warning so far?
This left them completely exposed to the enemy's fire, and they were filled with resentment and confusion.

As for the accuracy of the naval gun's shooting, it is actually not very high in this situation.

After all, the maritime environment is complex, and warships will constantly rise and fall with the waves. Coupled with the influence of factors such as distance, it is often difficult to accurately control the trajectory of the shells after they are fired.

It can be said that most of the time it depends entirely on luck. Often, even after firing dozens of shells, it may not be possible to accurately hit the opponent's target.

However, among the four-nation joint fleet, the shooting level of the Italian fleet was obviously higher than that of the German sailors.

This is not due to the difference in the level of advancement of the warships, but rather the result of real accumulation of foundation.

In naval battles, what is tested is the gunners' own shooting skills.

It has to be said that the shooting level of the Italian fleet this time was obviously quite high. Half of the ten shells fired accurately hit the target - the searchlight on the rocky mountain.

Such a hit rate is definitely very high in the current naval warfare environment.

In contrast, the current hit rate of the German army is somewhat unsatisfactory. It is probably only three out of ten shells that can hit the target, and sometimes only two can hit the target. What's worse, when they are unlucky, they can only hit one.

From this, it can be clearly seen that the German army's shooting level is indeed very low, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in this regard.

The French fleet on the other side was not to be outdone and began to move out.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the eight 380mm main guns of the Richelieu-class battleship fired at the same time, emitting dazzling flames.

In an instant, the entire sea surface seemed to be shocked by this huge energy. The brilliant and blazing light illuminated half of the sea surface, as bright as day.

The shells whizzed through the air and rushed towards the target. The scene was absolutely spectacular and amazed.

It must be said here that the Richelieu-class battleship is of great significance to the French fleet. It is the only battleship preserved in France.

The rest of the battleships met with misfortune. In the previous naval battle, they were ambushed by the Royal Fleet and eventually sank, causing severe damage to the battleship force of the French fleet.

The strength of this Richelieu-class battleship should not be underestimated.

Its standard displacement reaches 38500 tons, and its full load displacement is as high as 47548 tons. It is huge and solid.

Its front deck is equipped with 8 380mm main guns, which are like the fangs of a giant beast, demonstrating powerful attack power.

The rear deck is equipped with nine 9mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, which can be used in different combat scenarios.

There are also 12 100mm anti-aircraft guns on both sides of the ship. Such a dense artillery configuration gives it extremely dense attack firepower, which can play a corresponding role whether in sea, land or air defense operations.

The ship is driven by six supercharged boiler steam engines with a total power of 6 horsepower. With such a powerful power system, the battleship can reach a speed of 15.7 knots.

This high speed gives it great maneuverability in naval battles, allowing it to quickly adjust its position, seize the initiative or pursue the enemy.

When it was first designed, it was given multiple missions.

The purpose was to be able to engage in a decisive battle with the Royal Fleet one day and demonstrate the strength of the French Navy in that anticipated fierce confrontation.

At the same time, it also has the ability to escort and provide protection for its own transport fleets; it can also perform anti-shipping missions and destroy the enemy's sea transportation lines; and in land operations, it can provide effective fire support, suppress the enemy's land targets and many other tasks.

To be honest, this battleship is indeed a very excellent battleship.

Although the main gun has a caliber of only 380mm, the performance of the artillery is very superior, mainly reflected in its large amount of propellant, which enables the shells to have a longer range and greater lethality after being fired, and can play an important role in naval battles.

The original plan was to produce four ships, but unfortunately, the ship suffered a tragic fate.

Two of them were bombed and sunk in the dock, and met their fate before they could be launched into service.

The other one is still in the dock. It was not completed due to various reasons before, but construction has started recently. The French Navy also hopes to complete this battleship and join the fleet as soon as possible to further enhance the strength of the fleet. (End of this chapter)