Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 986
The Dutch Lieutenant General Rupert's ship "Java" was hit by two torpedoes on the left and right. The last torpedo caused an explosion in the boiler compartment. The "Java" completely lost power. Submerged into the sea, followed by the rear main turret, the rear mast, the chimney, the bridge, and finally the high bow. This dreadnought ship built by Germany and exchanged for West Irian Island before World War II is eating the fourth The torpedo disappeared in the waters of the US Philippines less than half an hour later.

The old battleship "Britannia" at the rear of the main column was the most unfortunate. After hitting two torpedoes in a row, it tilted rapidly and disappeared from the sea together with 570 and eight crew members in just a few minutes.

Similar to the "Malayan", the "Giant", which took a torpedo on the port side first, tilted slightly for a while. After the starboard side was hit by a mine, the battleship regained its balance without water injection, and it also did not hurt the vitals.

Rear Admiral Binson's second battleship squadron flagship "Nelson" suffered a torpedo on the starboard bow, and half of the bow was knocked out, but no serious consequences were caused. The "Laiya" sent a signal that "the ship is all right".

Gradually, the sounds of gunfire and explosions at the mouth of Manila Bay faded away.

After the Dragon Army's second lightning wave attack was successful, it was breaking away towards the Panshiran Peninsula at full speed, setting off a large wave of foamy snow.The first lightning wave of the Dragon Army, which was entangled with the coalition destroyer force before, seemed to have received some signal and suddenly turned around and left.

The aviation attack team in the sky probably finished torpedoing, and was busy gathering to the northeast of the bay, preparing to return as a whole team.

Temporary silence does not mean that the danger is gone.Bernie knew very well that the opponent's almost crazy torpedo assault just now had a very clear purpose, to consume the main battle force of the combined fleet, so as to facilitate the opponent's main force to enter the decisive battle.

Is it still possible for the current combined fleet to destroy the enemy's main force in a decisive surface battle?
According to the information at hand, all the dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers of the Dragon Army Pacific Fleet should have gone to Hawaii, and the main force that the opponent can assemble in the South China Sea is at most 10 old-style battleships.Although 7 of them are the "Yun" class and its improved version equipped with three double 12-inch main turrets, Bernie is not at all optimistic about this kind of weird warship unique to the Dragon Army, and the standard row is only [-] tons. Compared with other old-style warships of the same tonnage, the hull is equipped with one more main turret. Although it has an advantage in main gun firepower, it means that this class of ships has sacrificed a certain amount of protection and mobility, and it is even more unable to withstand the blows of new dreadnought ships.

However, after the scuffle since noon, the main force of the United Fleet is only 3 dreadnought battleships and 2 old-style battleships, and the total number of main guns available on one side has dropped to 5 inches and 2 inches, which is even more different from the expected enemy fleet. Among them, the "Malayan" and "Nelson" have been damaged to varying degrees, and their speed has dropped greatly. The main column has no advantage in mobility, and the armored cruiser force of the vanguard has also suffered huge losses. The destroyer force He also suffered a lot of damage in the fierce battle just now.As for the slow-moving and small colonial cruisers of the rear guard, they were originally only dragged to clean up the battlefield, and they were not expected to play any meaningful role in the main decisive battle.

No way, no matter how you look at it, the only way is to retreat as soon as possible to preserve strength.It's just that at this point, can you still rush out?The opponent's main force may have already defended outside the bay, waiting to repeat their victory in the Battle of Malacca 20 years ago.There is no other choice!If you linger here until dark, the entire fleet will be finished, torn to pieces by those crazy lightning strike ships.

Bernie made up his mind and returned to the bridge: "Order, all ships rescue survivors, reorganize the No. [-] formation, and prepare to return to the Great Barrier Reef Naval Port!"

To the north of Manila Bay, a huge fleet scattered from northeast to southwest, stretching for more than ten nautical miles, lying between Manila Bay and the South China Sea.The rear team of the Far East United Fleet has changed to the front team, and the front team has changed to the rear team. It is retreating to the northwest of Manila Bay at 14 knots.The 8 colonial cruisers and 2 gunboats of the vanguard are in front, the remaining 5 battleships of the main force are in the right rear, and the remaining 6 armored cruisers of the rear guard are in the right rear of the main force. Each column line is sailing in parallel at an interval of 23 miles.The front right of each column line is covered by light troops. The front guard is covered by 3 destroyers and 4 torpedo boats of the US Army. The main force is covered by 9 destroyers of the British 10th and 16th Destroyer Fleets. 9 destroyers of the Dutch Army.

In the north of the United Fleet, the 61 ships of the main force of the Dragon Army Second Fleet in the South China Sea are heading southwest at 14 knots in a strict formation, like a thick steel curtain wall inserted in front of the United Fleet.If it goes on like this, within an hour, the Far East Combined Fleet will become the vertical line below the T, crashing headlong into the fully deployed firepower net of the Second Fleet.At the current speed, it will take at least two hours for the combined fleet to completely bypass Kabaluyan Island and rush out of the bay.It is of course impossible to get out of the whole body.The most precious thing in the fleet is the remaining 5 battleships, plus the 2 battleships that returned to Hong Kong after being damaged by submarines, none of them can afford to be lost.All sacrifices are worthwhile as long as the remaining battleships can stand out from the encirclement.With this belief in mind, Bernie ordered the front guard, the rear guard, and the destroyer fleet attached to the team respectively: to attack the enemy fleet at full speed!
A few minutes later, the 16 destroyers assigned to the main force turned their heads and accelerated towards the enemy fleet, followed by the 6 armored cruisers and 9 destroyers of the rear guard.What surprised Bernie was that after the avant-garde flagship "Guba" sent a signal to the "Malayan" to "obey", the whole team suddenly fell into chaos. It turned out that the US ships in the team ignored the order and accelerated. Breaking away from the formation, trying to escape the bay before the Dragon Army fleet blocked the retreat route.

"Cowards! Idiots! I shouldn't have brought you rubbish out!" Bernie yelled, but he had no choice but to watch eleven U.S. ships break away from the avant-garde formation and swarm towards the forward and Kabbah of the Dragon Fleet. The gap between Luyan Island.

Bernie didn't think too much, and ordered the front guard again: "Don't worry about those sunken ships, and charge to the front of the enemy fleet!"

Soon, the watchman on the Dragon Army flagship "Raging Wave" issued an alarm: "A group of destroyer cruisers are found on the port side, and they are attacking our main force!"

"A group of enemy destroyer cruisers are found in front of the port side, and they are outflanking our vanguard in two directions!"

"The enemy's central column is casting a smoke screen!"

Xue Yue frowned, "The lightning strike teams attack and intercept the enemy destroyers! The main force and the ships of the avant-garde column are ready to fight against the lightning strike!"

"The patrol team of the avant-garde guard speeds up and sails towards the cape, blocking the enemy's escape route."

"The light cruiser team of the guard team immediately moved closer to the main team to help intercept the enemy cruiser group that came on the assault."

At about 3:45 in the afternoon, the "Yangchun" of the Dragon Army Light Cruiser Team [-] on the left side of the avant-garde column fired the first shot of the main force in the South China Sea at the charging British ship "Forwood". After World War II, The largest battle in the South Pacific has begun!
Immediately afterwards, the ships of the Long Army Light Cruiser Squadron 6 in front of the avant-garde also began to fire on the group of American ships that were trying to rush past the front of the squadron. The British ships immediately responded with 5-inch and [-]-inch cannons, and at the same time fired torpedoes from a distance.

Thousands of yards away from the port side of the avant-garde column and the main column, the 24 destroyers of the Dragon Army and the 19 destroyers of the United Fleet quickly bit into a ball. It brought a lot of trouble. In order to avoid the torpedo, all the ships turned their rudders and maneuvered, and the formation was in chaos for a while.

At this moment, the armored cruisers of the rear guard column of the United Fleet took the opportunity to pierce between the main column of their own side and the main force of the Dragon Army fleet, and supported their own destroyer force with fierce artillery fire. Fifty or sixty ships fought in one place immediately: artillery fire, snow pillars everywhere, torpedoes scurrying, criss-crossing tracks, heavy rain pouring down from time to time nearby, and cannons flashing in the distance, suddenly bursting into a ball of blazing fire. The fireball suddenly raised a cloud of thick black smoke.After a while, the bullet hole on the left ship burst into flames, and the right ship slanted into the water. The shells on the deck of the bow jumped wildly, and the deck of the stern was full of blood. The blue sea turned into a hell of water and fire in an instant.

"No, if this continues, it will be impossible to capture the main force of the enemy."

Xue Yue was secretly anxious. The enemy's light forces completely blocked the gap between the main force of his side and the main force of the enemy. The fierce battle between the light forces of the two sides caused a long smoke trail, which seriously hindered the observation of the main ships of his own side. From the beginning, smoke screens were constantly being released, and most of the main battleships of one's own side could not observe the main battleships of the enemy at all.What's more serious is that a large thick black cloud in the southwest direction is pressing low towards the battle area, which means that a storm is coming!

Once the war zone is covered by a storm, the situation will become more chaotic, and chaos is exactly what the opponent needs.

Xue Yue is very clear that his old warships and large patrols are too heavy on firepower, and their mobility and protection capabilities are low.In order to maximize strengths and avoid weaknesses, and give full play to one's own firepower advantages, it is necessary to maintain a strict formation, form several closely intertwined firepower lines at medium distances, and use appropriate tactical maneuvers and light force assaults to drive the enemy fleet into the dragon's fire net. Make it incapable of counterattack in the shortest time, so that it is possible to win the final victory.On the contrary, if the formation of the whole team is chaotic, and the enemy's heavy forces fall into a melee at medium and short distances, the opponent can give full play to its advantages in maneuver and protection and destroy our ships one by one.The most urgent task is to arrange the formation of the two columns, and we must not let the enemy army take advantage of the chaos to approach and fight an uncontrollable melee in the storm, even if this may let the main force of the enemy fleet escape!

(End of this chapter)