The distance between the two steel dragons continued to narrow, and all the main guns had turned and aimed at the targets in the distance. The next moment, these main guns would burst out with hot flames and throw huge projectiles above the other side's heads. The naval officers and soldiers on both sides had their own positions and stood firm at their posts. Perhaps because of adrenaline, many people were excited. After all, this was a sea battle that concerns the fate of the two countries! Whoever could win would be able to dominate the ocean.

"Commander, the 5th Battleship Detachment sent a telegram asking them when they would be put into the battlefield." said General Ye Feng, chief of staff of the fleet.

"Call them back, the 5th Battleship Detachment does not need to join the battlefield for the time being. Wait until the situation is later to join the battlefield." General Lu Haipeng said. The 5th Battleship Detachment has four powerful "Ming-Classification" battleships. If they join the battlefield at this time, they will definitely scare away the Germans. At that time, the goal of defeating the main force of the German Navy will be lost.

"Yes, Commander." General Ye Feng nodded. The four "Ming-level" battleships of the 5th Battleship Detachment will be the trump card of the 5th Fleet.

It is already past four o'clock in the afternoon, and it is only a little over three hours before dark. Admiral Lu Haipeng is not sure whether he can defeat the opponent before dark and achieve a decisive victory. Therefore, it is best for the 5th Battleship Detachment to enter the field when the war enters a critical moment, so as to achieve a final result.

When the distance between the two battle lines was closer to 18,000 meters, the battleship "Ming Xuanzong" flagship, the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy, began its test-fire first. Then, other battleships also began test-fire. For a moment, gunfire sounds rumbling on the sea surface and gunpowders are filled with smoke.

Although at such a long distance, the spread of shells will be very large, especially the lightweight 305mm main gun. The spread of shells will be even more terrible. Therefore, the four "Eastern Han-class" battleships ranked last in the battle line are no different from wasting shells at this distance. The shells fired by the four "Ming-class" battleships are much more reliable.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" A dense explosion sounded on the sea, and water columns soared into the sky. After the water splashes fell, they made a crackling sound, just like heavy rain on the sea. Some water columns with relatively close proximity to the distance. The falling water splashes wet the German Navy's battleships. You know, this was just the first round of volleys. The 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy had such performance, which shocked the officers and soldiers of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet. At least, the German Navy could not make such a volley at this distance.

"It seems that the Chinese navy is indeed much stronger than us. It's ridiculous that we want to challenge their maritime hegemony, which is simply overestimating our abilities!" Admiral Philip, commander of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet, put down the telescope in his hand and said in his heart. Of course, he did not say this, otherwise it would have hurt the morale of the fleet. The morale of the High Seas Fleet is now low. If even he, the commander, is so unconfident, how can this battle be fought?

As the distance between the two battle lines gets closer, the shells fired by the Chinese Navy are becoming more and more accurate. There are even near-missile bombs. This shows that it has gradually entered the effective range of the Chinese Navy.

"Order the fleet to open fire! You can't wait any longer. Otherwise, your morale will completely dissipate." General Philip ordered.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The twenty battleships of the German Navy's high seas fleet began to design. Orange-red flames flashed at the muzzle, and shells weighing hundreds of kilograms flew towards the 5th Chinese Navy Fleet in the distance.

However, this distance does exceed the capabilities of the German Navy. Except for the 381mm main guns of the four "Helgolan-class" battleships, the distribution of other battleships is relatively poor, because the shells weigh more than 800 kilograms.

At 4:48 pm, the Imperial Navy's "Ming Daizong" battleship was the first to form a cross-fire. During this round of test firing, four 381mm shells fired successfully clamped the German Navy's "Thuringian". So, the "Ming Daizong" battleship immediately turned into fire collection and fire. Three 381mm main guns began to fire at the maximum rate of fire.

Although the 381mm main gun's armor-piercing projectile weighs more than 800 kilograms, it is not affordable for human power to carry it. However, with the help of the bomb lifter, each 381mm main gun can fire a speed of 1.5 rounds per minute. This is already a very amazing rate of fire. It means that in less than a minute, this battleship can still put more than ten tons of ammunition on the enemy's head. What a terrifying end for the enemy! Once hit, it will be completely finished.

As the distance gets closer, more and more battleships of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy have entered the stage of fire-gathering shooting. However, it has not yet been able to hit the target yet. This is just a matter of time. If you have more luck, you may be able to hit the target.

However, in this decisive battle, the Imperial Navy seemed to have a slightly worse luck. After several rounds of volleys, they failed to get a hit. Instead, the German Navy also took the lead in getting a hit.

In this round of volleys, a shell hit the Imperial Navy's battleship "Xianzong of Ming" battleship. Of course, this was just a little luck. In fact, the battleship "Aldenburg" did not form a cross-fire. To be precise, this shell was an unexpected shell, and even the German Navy did not expect that the shell could hit the target.

The shells hit the fore deck of the battleship "Ming Xianzong". The thin fore deck could not withstand the armor-piercing shell weighing more than 800 kilograms. The shells easily penetrated the fore deck and exploded inside. The medical cabin and the sailor's living cabin on the fore deck were swept by the flames after the explosion of the shells, and a raging fire broke out. Although the flammable material was cleared before the war started, the fire still burned. The damage managers immediately picked up the fire extinguisher and rushed up, fighting with the fire and poisonous smoke. Even if they wore the fire extinguisher, many damage managers died in the fire extinguisher. However, no one was afraid. Often, a team of damage managers died and rushed into the fire in the next section.

It was precisely under the resolute rescue of the damage management personnel that the fire was quickly put out without having much impact on the warships.

"Long live! Long live! The battleship that hit the Chinese people, we actually took the lead in hitting the Chinese people's warship." On the battleship of the German Navy's "Oldenburg" , the officers and soldiers of the German Navy cheered one after another.

The morale of the fleet also increased a lot. Admiral Philip, the commander of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet, also had a smile on his face. He seemed to see hope for the fleet to reverse the situation.

On the other hand, General Lu Haipeng felt relieved after learning that the battleship of the "Ming Xianzong" of the Imperial Navy did not suffer much damage. After all, the four "Ming-class" battleships are the main forces. Once one of them is damaged and has to withdraw from the battle, they may have to use two subsequent battleships to fill it. Although the "Southern Song-class" battleships, the "Northern Song-class" battleships and the 356mm main gun equipped by the "Late Tang-class" battleships can all threaten the opponent's "Helgolan-class" battleships to a certain extent. However, the armor of these third-class battleships seems much weaker in front of the 381mm main gun. Without any last resort, it is safer to use the "Ming-class" battleships to fight the enemy's "Helgolan-class" battleships.

Although the German Navy hit the Chinese Navy's battleship first, this actually did not change their disadvantages. Shortly after the German Navy scored the first hit, the counterattack of the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy arrived.

In the second half of the battleship, the 5th Fleet of the Imperial Navy had an absolute advantage. Sixteen battleships besieged eight battleships of the German Navy. Among them, four powerful "Late Tang" battleships were attacking two "Caesar Frederick III" battleships. The 356mm main gun fought against the 343mm main gun, and it also had a numerical advantage. Then, victory naturally belonged to the Imperial Navy.

At 5:08 pm, the battleship "Tang Zhaozong" launched this round of volleys accurately hit the German Navy's "Caesar Frederick III". The 356-mm shell weighing more than 600 kilograms hit the stern of the battleship "Caesar Frederick III". The shells directly bombarded the main turret at the stern of the ship under the action of huge kinetic energy. The armor of the main turret was torn open, and after the shell exploded internally, the entire main turret was destroyed. Fortunately, when the turret was hit, the fire door had been put down. Otherwise, the flame would burn all the way into the ammunition depot, causing greater damage to the battleship "Caesar Frederick III".

The main gun was destroyed, causing the battleship "Caesar Frederick III to lose one-third of its firepower. This made the battleship "Caesar Frederick III" at a disadvantage, and the situation became even more critical.

Just when the fire on the rear deck was not extinguished, another "Late Tang-class" battleship also hit the unlucky battleship. A 356mm shell fired from the "Tang Ai Emperor" battleship hit the ship "Caesar Frederick III". (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, the novel is better, updated and faster!

ps: The first update is here, please subscribe, please vote for monthly tickets and recommendations! Thank you book friend Judgment Gundam for your reward! Thank you book friend Bored Monkey for your monthly ticket!
Chapter completed!