Alchemy Greater China

In this way, at dusk on September 23, the Kunz fleet opened its fangs and appeared behind the Aria, which was slowly driving in the Pacific Ocean... six kilometers away.

"Mr. Carnegie, three unidentified ships have appeared behind!"

Carnegie was playing a game with the Seagate card, when the door suddenly opened, and the first mate Norsin walked in with a low tone.

"Unidentified?"

Carnegie patted the Seagate card, beckoning her to play by herself, then stood up and asked solemnly.

"If nothing else, it's three gunboats!" Norsin added.

"Gunboats? British ships?"

Carnegie frowned tightly: Pacific Fleet?Or the Far East Fleet?Damn, I've already changed my route to go to San Francisco, what reason do they still have for haunting?

Because of the change of course, the Aria encountered a storm and its power was damaged, which made Carnegie feel a fire in his heart.

"Looks like it's not..."

"what is that?"

"Mr. Carnegie, I can't tell, please follow me to the captain's cabin."

The captain's cabin of the Aria.

When Carnegie came in, there were more than a dozen people inside than usual, not only the captain who must be there, but also the Ma Yuan team and several members of the SS regiment. The binoculars were handed over: "Look for yourself!"

By the way, there are not many people on the Aria, but the composition is more complicated: there are employees of the Carnegie Group with the white whale brand, the Dragonscale Navy, and the two major intelligence agencies of the SS and BH... Everyone gets along well. , is not in harmony with each other.

Carnegie didn't talk nonsense. He took the telescope and sent it to his eyes. After looking at it for a while, he said in amazement: "Skull and skull flag? My God, is this a pirate?!"

Pirates are undoubtedly something that navigators hate.However, in the era of steamships, pirates who used to use mast canvas to come and go like the wind are very rare. The three iron-clad ships that appeared in the telescope film at this moment are undoubtedly rare!

If the movie was born, Carnegie would definitely think that he had strayed into the production of some blockbuster!

"Turn on the spotlights and play semaphore. Ask them why they are following us?" Carnegie put down his binoculars and issued orders with a solemn expression.

It was almost night, and three gunboats of extraordinary tonnage followed, which probably wouldn't be a good thing.

The semaphore was sent back quickly, and as everyone expected, it was extremely bad news: "Stop the boat ahead, otherwise, our Eight-Bone Pirates will start firing!" '

Everyone's heart sank, unexpected.The journey went smoothly, but when we arrived at the destination, we met a 'rare' pirate!

"Damn Eight Bones Pirates, I've never heard of it, which pirate organization can afford a cannon boat!"

"Yes, there are countless turrets on those three ships, and each one is priceless, which is definitely not something that a mere pirate group can afford!"

"This is the sea area in charge of the British Pacific Fleet. Are they free to eat? It's all about stopping us, and this swaggering pirate group doesn't care?"

"Don't be stupid. This is definitely not a pirate group, it must be a certain country's navy in disguise!"

"Which country is it? So bold!?"

"British, American, Australian, Chilean, Peruvian or Colombian mercenaries... are all possible."

"It shouldn't be England..."

Carnegie pondered for a moment, then said, "If the UK wants to trouble us, there's no need to bother. They're used to domineering, so do they still need to play pirates?"

What Carnegie said made everyone nod their heads: yes, there are ten British fleets all over the world, if the other party wants to bombard themselves.It’s enough to shoot directly, pretending to be a pirate, taking off your pants and farting is superfluous!

"If it's not a Brit, who would it be?"

"It's not like the United States. Their warships are all in the east! It's not cost-effective to come all the way, so why not hire mercenaries!"

"The way I see it, it's those bastards in Australia. They can't compete with legitimate business, so they just play pay for murder! Do it!"

"Yes, the forces we have offended recently belong to this group of despicable bastards. I think they have colluded with several small countries in South America. These gunboats are all borrowed and attached with information... Otherwise , How can they accurately grasp our whereabouts, the sea is so big, why should they bump into us?"

The discussion didn't stop, the captain's room was full of chaos, Carnegie frowned, waved his hands and shouted loudly: "Stop arguing! No matter which power it is, the most important thing now is how we get through this difficult time! Captain , ordered the Aria to speed up!"

"Eh, well..."

The captain originally wanted to say that the power of the Aria was damaged, and it would not be able to increase the speed much, but after thinking about it, now that the enemy is pretending to be a pirate ship, it is obvious that they want to kill them all. Of course, they can only escape for a while. .

After delaying the time, maybe things will turn around?

The afterglow of the setting sun has not dissipated, sprinkled on the boundless ocean, as if smeared with light gold powder.The Aria, which was running smoothly, was suddenly shaken. Pieces of sea water surged up on the side of the rear side of the ship. Gray waves, one by one, suddenly rolled and jumped, and swayed with the waves. After that, the speed of the whole ship increased by about two knots, heading towards Headed forward and ran.

"Oh, you just ran away without saying a word?"

On the Atlanta, Captain Robert Kunz smiled jokingly, and ordered in a cat-and-mouse tone: "Tell Trenton and Richmond to speed up to 20 knots and catch up with the Aria! Well, don't fire after you catch up." , stop it, wait for me to slowly concoct it..."

After the order was delivered, the new cruisers on both sides of the Atlanta trembled suddenly, and the power cabin buzzed.

But seeing the sea water on both sides of the hull seemed to have been struck by a sharp axe, the waves were rolling, and the strong reaction force pushed the two cruisers forward violently.

The two ships in Trenton are at 20 knots, and the Aria is only 14~16 knots. It's just a matter of time!

Coincidentally, this piece of sea area was surprisingly empty at this time, with no smoke for thousands of miles, and no disruptive ships appeared.While the Aria was fleeing, the people on board sighed: When you are unlucky, you can drink water between your teeth!There are a lot of freighters traveling on the Pacific Ocean, and it is not too far from the United States and Mexico.How come you can't even touch a 'passerby'?Hey, there are fake pirates here who want to kill people and steal goods, is there anyone out there to take care of them?

But if you think about it quietly, this kind of scenario of "thousands of people disappearing" is not unacceptable: First, the Aria was forced over by a sea storm, so it counts.How many freighters are there in the same industry?Second, if the Pacific Fleet wants to plot against Carnegie, it still has to do some real work. It is not too difficult for the Pacific Fleet to calculate the charts and clear the cargo ships in a section of the ocean.

Having said so much, it's just one sentence anyway: Before tomorrow's dawn, the Aria wants to meet the "passing onlookers" ship.The probability is basically close to zero!

The gap of six kilometers was smoothed out in an instant.

When the Trenton and the Richmond approached one kilometer behind the Aria, the speed of the Aria suddenly dropped, and the turret on the deck began to rotate, and the muzzle aimed towards the rear impressively.

The Aria is not a professional gunboat, but it also has two turrets that can rotate 120°.The caliber is 9 inches, in general.It can be called a ferocious killer!

For example, the Chilean military's gunboat that killed the Brusso, under the awe of the two 9-inch main guns of the Aria, did not dare to play tricks at all.

However, the killer weapon is also relatively out of comparison, the 9-inch cannon that can be called invincible in the face of civilian freighters.In front of the Trenton and the Richmond, it was nothing at all.

These two new American cruisers have 12-inch and 14-inch main guns, and even secondary guns.It is also an 11-inch caliber, and the secondary guns of the two ships add up to ten!

Just by comparing the number of barrels, this is not a battle on the same level at all!

The Aria wants to stop and confront, that is definitely the rhythm of courting death!

"Hahaha, fire the cannon? Fuck, I want to kill you, I will help you! What about the Iron King, can you repair and cast a cannon tube on the spot to sink my ship?" Kunz laughed arrogantly on the Atlanta, "Shoot Give the flag to Trenton and Richmond, and order them to confront the Aria to see whose barrel is bigger and whose shell is stronger! Oh, remember, don't be too fierce, if you sink the Iron King at once ...But it's impolite, ha, ha ha ha ha!"

The gun barrel of the Aria was raised, and the Trenton and the Richmond, which were one kilometer away, also stopped. The hull rotated and faced the enemy sideways. A total of nearly ten artillery pieces were aimed at the Aria.

Due to inertia, the ships on both sides are still moving and adjusting, 950 meters... 920 meters... 900 meters!

900 meters is a suitable distance for firing. I only heard a loud noise in the dark sky, killing my ears, and dazzling flames lit up on three ships 900 meters apart: I don’t know who fired first, anyway. The world was completely shaken!

After the flames, a water column of more than ten meters splashed around the three ships, like a white dragon stretching its neck, and the rumbling sound was like a thunder god beating a drum. It is to reverse the evening and reappear the light of day.

The result of the first round of bombardment: the two cannons of the Aria fell into the sea and missed, and the shells of Trenton and Richmond also deviated from the track, and luckily missed the Aria.

On the surface, neither side was shot, and the Aria seemed to have the upper hand with the weak against the strong.

But in fact, the face of the captain of the Aria turned dark, while the gunners on board Trenton and Richmond were all smiling grinningly, with a triumphant expression on their faces.

why?

Quoting the original words of Kongzi who was approaching and watching the battle from a distance, it is: "Tsk tsk, it's a 'quasi hit', Aria, you have the steel king to suppress your luck, why is your luck still so bad? Oh, next time Cannon, you are going to be injured!"

Generally speaking, there are four elements in the accuracy of gunboat bombardment: first, ranging; second, aiming; third, ballistic trajectory; fourth, the experience of the commander.

And these four elements, except for the fourth, the other three must be adjusted at any time in actual combat, because the environment in the sea is ever-changing, and if you want to hit the enemy relying on the factory parameters of the artillery, that is unless you win a big prize.

Therefore, to put it bluntly in the bombardment battle, it is to see which side adjusts the four elements first, and which side can use the fewest test shots to lock the opponent in the hit range.

The round of confrontation just now was actually the first round of artillery testing between the two sides!

The "quasi-hit" in Kunz's mouth refers to the second ideal result of the test gun (what is the first ideal result? Nonsense, that is a direct hit!), when this happens, the next round will be fired. With a 90.00% probability of five, the opponent's battleship will not be able to avoid the shells.

"Good luck, the first shot is sure to hit!" The gunner of the Trenton grinned, while pushing the shells, while fine-tuning the turret: "There are bullet points at the front and rear, and this Aria was lucky to avoid the first round. But in the second round, you will definitely not be able to avoid it! Jie Jie Jie..."

"Hurry up and push the hull, don't fire the cannon! Quick, quick!"

On the Aria, the captain and the first mate issued orders in a panic: They also knew that they were accurate hits. When the shells on their side were fired, the point of impact was almost worthless, while the other side successfully hit accurate hits.Lock yourself in now!

Hey, I can only do my best, turn the aria a little bit, and for the rest, I can only listen to the destiny, and bet that the opponent will miss with a 5.00% chance of hitting.

Unfortunately, shells wait for no one.The Aria was only shifted by a dozen meters at most, and the second round of shelling began.This time, it was a one-sided bombardment. Two new cruisers, at an angle of 120°, shamelessly poured shells at a modified freighter!

'Bang bang bang...'

Three times in a row, the small body of the Aria was hit by three shells.Two hit the ship's wall, and one exploded on the deck, rumbling flames soared into the sky, killing and wounding an unknown number of crew members of the Aria.

"Counter, counterattack! You bastard..."

A group of people in the captain's cabin of the Aria were thrown off their feet.When he came back to his senses, someone yelled through gritted teeth.

They are the 'veterans' of the Dragonscale Navy, and there is a kind of madness in their bones to die with the enemy. With the leader, such similar shouts come and go.

"Yes, we will also shoot. If we can't kill them, we will have to peel off their skin!"

"I'm not going to run away, I can't run away anyway, so I might as well sail a boat and run into them!"

"That's right, the young master has done this before. If you can't hit them to death, you will scare them to death. Don't let them look down upon you!"

"Avenge my brothers, where's the helmsman? Right full rudder, kill these turtle sons for me..."

……

"Okay, enough!"

Carnegie got up from the ground, his face livid, and said: "Pass the order to the flag bearer, and play the flag! We...surrender!"

"Mr. Carnegie!"

"Surrender? Surrender is death, you can't do that!"

"Fight vigorously, afraid of a chicken feather ball!"

Upon hearing the capitulation, the radicals quit, roaring in opposition.

"Go, I'm still in charge of the Aria! Go hang the white flag, we can't wait for them to fire a third round of artillery, and increase the loss for nothing!"

Carnegie yelled violently, and his majestic voice echoed in the captain's cabin, immediately quieting down the clamoring scene: "Surrender may not necessarily kill you, but if you persist in resisting, everyone will definitely die! Their goal is only me, Carnegie. If I can exchange my life for most people, hehe, such a result may not be unacceptable."

"Don't be naive, they are pirates, they will 100% kill people!"

A voice called out, but the momentum was much weaker, and only three couples agreed.

"That's just the worst outcome, it's no different from us being bombed!"

Carnegie's eyes were calm, and he said: "But if you surrender, at least there is still a glimmer of hope. There are people on this ship that I must protect. I'm sorry, I can't take risks..."

The crowd was silent, some were moved, and some were unwilling, but reason told them that Carnegie's choice was indeed the best out of desperation.

Most of the people Carnegie guarded were his daughters, but the crew members felt warm in their hearts when they heard it: After all, it is easy to do the same thing when the head is hot, but calm down, the preciousness of life is always It's good to continue for a minute...

"Yeah, are my eyes dazzled? What is that, is it a white flag? Wahaha, the majestic steel magnate, after only being shot a few times, he can't bear to hang the white flag and surrender?"

Kunz held up the binoculars and exaggeratedly shouted: "I am so disappointed, tsk tsk tsk, so cowardly, so bloodless, it makes me wonder if the people on that ship are really Carnegie! Okay, order Stop firing, let's go up!"

The short-term naval battle stopped, and the Aria turned off its power, floating quietly on the sea, like a rootless duckweed, and the gunners in the two turrets were also driven out, and the semaphore told the Aria: Disarm, or the shells will wait. !

There is no way, the firepower of the two sides is too far apart, and luck is not on the side of the Aria. Therefore, in just 10 minutes, the Kongzi fleet won a complete victory. Now, it is the show time for Kongzi to come to reap the fruits of victory .

On the surface of the sea where the gunpowder smoke had dissipated, the sky was already as dark as an eggplant, and it was boundless, but fortunately, there seemed to be a little firelight left between the clouds, which struck down.During the irradiation, Kunz's three cruisers formed a shape, surrounded the Aria, and then slowly approached.

In the process of approaching, more than a dozen gun barrels were still aimed at the Aria. Kongzi was proud of himself, and his vigilance was still very high: if the Aria dared to play tricks, he would dare to order the ship to be bombarded. into a sieve!

Seeing this situation, Andrew Carnegie sighed slightly, and ordered the gunners waiting in the dark to give up their actions, while holding his head up, he walked out of the captain's cabin and onto the empty deck.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was less than [-] meters, and the gun barrels almost touched the wall of the opponent's ship. Under such circumstances, the shells were absolutely hit without fail. Neiji, who is this person? Can you tell me the name so that I can understand clearly?"

The Atlanta cut through the water and approached slowly like a small boat. Robert Kunz changed into a military uniform, stood on the bow and laughed and said, "Well, Mr. Carnegie is indeed better known than he was when we met. His heroism is admirable." Don't worry, I will place a bouquet of white chrysanthemums in front of your grave on this day next year!" (To be continued...)

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