Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 244: The Power of Armor-Piercing Bullets! The New Overlord of the Sea

Above the sea!

The clear water, blue sky and the boundless sea give people an indescribable sense of spiritual impact.

Simon Tang's six fast attack ships finally caught up with the Western fleet on the afternoon of the third day.

At this time, Seymour's fleet was still in the East China Sea area.

Old Han is indeed the 'living map' of the Daqian Sea!
The Ximentang fleet nearly deviated from its course three times, but Lao Han corrected its course each time.

at this time,

The six fast attack ships of Ximen Hall were lined up in a row, like a shot arrow, speeding across the sea.

Five kilometers away.

The eighteen warships of Seymour's fleet came into everyone's sight.

Orland-class cruiser: First-class armored cruiser, displacement 5600 tons, speed 18 knots, 36 guns, including one 330mm Krupp main gun and six 230mm Krupp secondary guns;
The ship's gun armor is 16 inches, the deck is 3 inches, and the conning tower is 12 inches!

Raleigh-class cruiser: Iron-made Helix-class frigate, displacement 5200 tons, speed 20 knots, 42 guns, including two 330mm Krupp main guns and four 260mm Krupp secondary guns;
4 Royal Ironclads: 18 guns;
6 mosquito-type gunboats with 16 guns;
There were also six cargo ships.

The eighteen ships of Seymour's fleet moved across the sea.

They didn't sail very fast and never even worried about danger.

2 armored cruisers, 10 gunboats.

At the same time, it is equipped with super firepower. With the firepower configuration of the Seymour Fleet, it is capable of fighting even if it encounters the main force of the Oriental Fleet.

at this time,

This can be seen from the draft of the six cargo ships.

Seymour has plundered too many things during his years in Daqian.

The six merchant ships contained not only silver, but also countless treasures.

The fleet's speed has always been slow, perhaps for the safety of these six merchant ships.

But even so, it still took Ximen Tang's fast attack ship two days to catch up after departing from Qingdao.

at this time,

The distance between the two ships was only about five kilometers. From the telescope, the activities of the soldiers on Seymour's fleet could be clearly seen.

In terms of the number of ships, the Ximen Tang fleet had no advantage at all.

In addition, in terms of tonnage, Ximen Tang’s six "fast attack ships" are all converted merchant ships with a displacement of 1000 tons.

Not to mention the armored cruisers, even the gunboats of the Seymour fleet almost crushed the Simon Tang fleet.

What's more, there are two armored cruisers equipped with heavy artillery with super firepower.

therefore,

The soldiers of the Seymour fleet did not show any panic when they saw the six ships of Simon Hall on the ship's watchtower.

In their eyes, the Simon Tang fleet was nothing more than a bunch of low-level pirates.

Although the 'fast attack ship' has been transformed into a warship with powerful firepower.

but,

Judging from their appearance, they are all inferior merchant ships.

Toot—toot—!
at this time,

The soldiers on the Orlando-class cruiser began to sound the horn to warn the Simon Tang fleet.

They were too lazy to even mobilize gunboats to drive away the Ximentang fleet.

In their eyes, these pirates who used merchant ships posed no threat to the fleet.

A merchant ship of a thousand tons is like a small shrimp in front of the entire fleet.

Although the "fast attack ship" of the Ximentang fleet is small in tonnage, it is very fast when it is running at full speed.

Although the caliber of the ship's gun is not large, it uses armor-piercing shells.

The artillery shells use extended-range artillery, and their firepower is definitely not weaker than that of heavy artillery.

Chen Jie handed over full command of the fleet to Deng Yonghe.

He is not good at naval warfare!
For a fast and mobile naval operation like this, it would be most appropriate to give the command to Deng Yonghe, who is proficient in naval warfare.

Chen Jie stood beside Deng Yonghe, holding a telescope and watching everything on Seymour's fleet.

When Chen Jie saw that the other party seemed to be disdainful of the Ximen Tang fleet, a smile appeared on his face.

Damn it——!
Is this looking down on Ximen Tang's "fast attack ship"?

This maritime interception was also the most severe test for Deng Yonghe.

It was the first time for him to command this type of "fast attack ship" in combat.

The enemy is a huge fleet. Once the ships get too close, they will be hit by heavy artillery and a "fast attack ship" will be destroyed.

Therefore,
Deng Yonghe was a little nervous at the moment and behaved very cautiously.

He put down the telescope and said to Chen Jie, "Sir, that guy standing on the deck of the armored cruiser, could it be Seymour?"

Although Chen Jie had never met Seymour, he had seen his photo.

Seymour was standing on the deck of the Orland-class cruiser of the British Empire Fleet.

He also seemed to notice the six ships of the Simon Hall fleet.

at this time,

He was arranging his assistants to be on guard and kept his eyes on the Ximen Tang ship a few kilometers away.

"That's right! It's this old guy!"

"We must seize these six merchant ships and never sink them!"

"As for the other gunboats, if we can sink them, we'll just sink them all. Even if we modify these gunboats, it will be very difficult!"

"It would be better if we could save the two armored cruisers. These two armored cruisers are very valuable!"

Deng Yonghe nodded and said in a deep voice:
"Don't worry, sir. I will find a way to get these two armored cruisers!"

"If we, Ximentang, have these two cruisers, we can form a complete fleet!"

The Simon Hall fleet currently has only twelve fast attack ships, and only six of them are in service.

Because of its small tonnage, it can only operate in the near sea and cannot go out to the open sea.

Therefore,
The current Ximen Tang fleet is incomplete. If there are two armored cruisers, they can make up for the shortcomings of the Ximen Tang fleet.

quickly,

Deng Yonghe began to direct seriously.

He used flag signals to give orders to all ships, keeping the entire fleet in formation.

Toot—toot—!
The sound of the ship's engine sounded rhythmically.

Six fast attack ships rushed towards Seymour's fleet like sharp swords drawn from their sheaths.

Full speed ahead!
The fast attack ship in the front has a captain named Ma Ming.

He is Deng Yonghe's most capable subordinate. He is 28 years old this year and is one of the most outstanding captains in the Ximentang fleet.

Because of his fierce fighting style and ability to carry out Deng Yonghe's combat missions very well, he is a rare combat captain in the Ximentang fleet.

Since Ximen Tang formed the fleet, Ma Ming naturally became the captain of the fast attack ship 'Storm 001'.

There are fifty-eight people on each "fast attack ship", all of whom are the elite of the Beiyang Fleet of the former Daqian Dynasty.

After a series of training at Simon Hall, they quickly adapted to modern naval warfare.

Ma Ming used to be the helmsman of a gunboat and had experienced naval battles with the Japanese fleet.

He is very familiar with driving ships. He personally drove the fast attack ship during the last sea trial.

Therefore,
In the entire Ximen Tang fleet, Ma Ming is one of the people who is most familiar with the performance of the "fast attack ship".

High-speed sailing in less than three minutes.

The fast attack ship was less than one kilometer away from Seymour's fleet.

"Target gunboat number four, fire!"

As they got closer to the last gunboat of the Seymour Alliance, Ma Ming gave a decisive order.

Boom-boom-boom--!
next moment,
I saw 12 naval guns in front and on the right side firing fiercely at the target.

This is Ximentang’s newest naval gun that can rotate 270 degrees and has very high accuracy within three kilometers.

Now the distance to the last gunboat of Seymour's fleet is less than one kilometer!
of course,

Now it is not static target training, but real combat.

The environment on the sea is unpredictable, the wind and waves are strong, and the speed of the fast attack ship is too fast, so the accuracy is definitely reduced a lot.

Twelve naval guns fired a round of artillery fire, and if one-third of the shells hit the enemy's gunboat, it would be considered a success.

The power of armor-piercing bullets was fully demonstrated at this moment.

After several shells hit the gunboat, they instantly penetrated the armor plate and caused a violent explosion.

The gunboat that was hit soon began to emit thick black smoke, and its power system was quickly destroyed.

After the bombardment,

The fast attack ship did not stop, but turned 90 degrees from the side and moved directly away from Seymour's fleet.

'Storm 002' following behind moved almost in sync with 'Storm 001'.

There was a bombardment at the gunboat that had just been hit.

then,

Without stopping at all, it turned 001 degrees from the side and quickly moved away like "Storm ".

Guerrilla tactics!

Using the maneuverability of a fast attack ship, attack the gunboats of Seymour's fleet from behind.

After the battle, they turned and retreated, and did not approach the fleet from the side or front.

Because the Western fleet has a very obvious characteristic.

The main guns and secondary guns are on both sides of the bow and front end. The tail of the ship has the thinnest armor and the weakest firepower. If the six fast attack ships of Ximentang fight against the Seymour fleet, they will be at an absolute disadvantage.

It would be very dangerous once we entered the attack range of Seymour's fleet's frontal guns.

Therefore,
At this moment, the Ximen Tang fleet has pushed its maneuverability and the power of its rapid-fire naval guns to the limit.

Six fast attack ships, targeting two gunboats.

After a round of artillery attack, evacuate quickly and keep a distance.

Deng Yonghe's tactics are very clear, which is to adopt the guerrilla "sharpening knife tactics"!
From the back of the Western fleet, they rushed forward to sharpen their swords and quickly evacuated.

After the enemy's guns changed direction, they went around to the back of the fleet and sharpened their attack again.

Because there are twelve naval guns on the right and front of the six fast attack ships.

After a round of gunboat attacks, at least three shells hit the enemy's gunboats.

Three fast attack ships attacked at the same time, and at least ten shells hit the target after one round.

If it were an ordinary artillery shell, it might be difficult to penetrate the armor of a Western gunboat.

but,

Ximen Tang’s naval guns use armor-piercing shells.

As long as it hits, the enemy's gunboat armor can't stop it at all.

Following the first round of attacks,
It took less than three minutes for Ximen Tang's six fast attack ships to leave.

Seymour's fleet had no time to react and two gunboats were sunk.

Their naval guns didn't have time to adjust their direction before they were hit by shells and were instantly destroyed.

Boom—boom—!
The two gunboats emitted thick black smoke and slowly sank on the sea.

Although the accuracy of the Ximentang fast attack ship's gunboat can only be maintained at around 30%, relatively speaking, the effect is not very good.

but,

This round of attack completely stunned all the soldiers of Seymour’s fleet!
It was the first time they saw such a fast ship.

When they reacted and looked towards the sea, they found that the ship had disappeared without a trace.

Because the fast attack ships had to launch the attack from the rear of the Western Fleet.

Therefore,
Retreat after the fight, and never stop.

Seymour's fleet consisted of ten gunboats and two armored cruisers.

The order Ma Ming received was to adopt the "sharpening the knife tactics" to defeat the enemy's ten gunboats one by one and sink all of them.

If the two armored cruisers are the tiger's teeth, then the ten gunboats are the tiger's claws.

In order to destroy the Seymour fleet, he seized six of their cargo ships.

You must cut off the tiger's claws and pull out the tiger's teeth!
On this voyage, the firepower on each fast attack ship is very sufficient.

Almost all the armor-piercing shells in the Ximentang fleet’s arsenal were emptied.

Seymour was also stunned when he saw the two gunboats being sunk.

next moment,
He quickly arranged for his men to turn the fleet around and prepare to launch a head-on attack on the six gunboats.

"Shit! Damn it—what kind of gunboat is this? Why is it so fast?"

Seymour roared in anger and ordered the cruiser's guns to be ready at any time.

Half an hour later.

After the Seymour fleet stopped, it completed its U-turn.

The guns of the two armored cruisers were ready, and the remaining eight gunboats were also on standby.

but,

To Seymour's surprise, the fleet had just completed its U-turn.

Unexpectedly, the six ships that appeared just now actually went around behind the fleet.

A scene similar to the previous one appeared.

Six ships approached quickly from a distance, and when the ships of both sides were about one kilometer apart, the fast attack ships opened fire fiercely.

After a round of artillery fire, the six ships disappeared from sight again.

Two more gunboats were attacked and were quickly sunk!

too fast--!
The guns of the Seymour fleet were almost at hand and had no time to adjust their direction.

Since the fast attack ship started the attack from the back, it happened to be the place where the firepower was the weakest.

Boom-boom-boom--!
After the Western Fleet changed direction, it fired in the direction where the fast attack ship disappeared.

But apart from killing a lot of fish, where was the trace of the fast attack ship?
In half an hour, they suffered two artillery attacks and lost four gunboats.

Seymour only felt his scalp tingling and cold sweat kept coming out of his forehead.

for the rest of the time,

Seymour crossed the two armored cruisers to complement each other's firepower.

Simultaneously,

He ordered the remaining six gunboats to do the same, crossing their bows and sterns and stopping on the sea, waiting for the six gunboats that had just appeared.

but,

What made Seymour depressed was that in the following period of time, the six fast attack ships seemed to have disappeared and never appeared.

It's not a solution to keep wasting time like this.

Three hours later, Seymour ordered the fleet to set sail again.

but,

Less than ten minutes after the fleet set sail, six fast attack ships appeared again.

The same "sharpening tactics" were used again, and after a sneak attack on two gunboats from the rear of the fleet, the six fast attack ships disappeared into the vast ocean again.

There is no positioning navigation or precise positioning and aiming in the current world.

Therefore,
The best gunboat distance for naval battles is 2000~5000 meters.

Once this distance is exceeded, it becomes difficult to launch an effective artillery attack.

Ximen Tang's fast attack ship just avoided this distance range.

Each time they launched a sneak attack from behind Seymour's fleet, they used the speed of the ships to get close to one kilometer, so that the power of the shells could be maximized.

Just leave after fighting, never fight to the end!
Boom-boom-boom--!
until 9 p.m.

All ten gunboats of Seymour's fleet were sunk.

Next,
It is the final target of the Ximen Tang fleet - the armored cruiser!

Without the protection of the gunboats, the deterrent power of the armored cruiser dropped sharply.

Just as the 'Orland-class cruiser' turned the direction of its main gun and prepared to fire.

The 'Storm 001' fast attack ship bombarded the cruiser.

This time,
The fast attack ship still used the same tactics as before, opening fire directly under the cover of night.
Retreat quickly after the fight.

The hull of the Orlando-class cruiser was soon hit by armor-piercing shells, making a loud noise.

The 10-inch thick armor was actually penetrated directly by the armor-piercing bullet.

The soldiers of Seymour's fleet were completely panicked and quickly sent people to repair and seal the punctured parts of the ship's hold.

When the fast attack ship was five kilometers away from the armored cruiser, Ma Ming stood on the deck and saw the chaotic scene on the "Orland-class cruiser" with a far-infrared telescope.

He couldn't help laughing.

"So exciting! It's worthy of being an armor-piercing bullet. It can penetrate such thick armor directly."

"I'm about to sink an armored cruiser! Haha!"

Ma Ming was overjoyed and was about to give the order to adjust the direction of the fast attack ship and launch another bombardment at the stern of the enemy ship.

but,

At this moment, a light signal came from another 'Storm 002'.

The flag bearer responsible for delivering the message reported to Ma Minghui:
"Captain, the leader has issued an order for us not to sink the armored cruiser with armor-piercing shells!"

"Use incendiary bombs instead and attack the deck of the enemy ship!"

"We need to capture these two cruisers intact, not sink them!"

Ma Ming's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this.

"Okay! I got it!"

The 'Aullander-class cruisers' and the 'Raleigh-class cruisers' were both British Empire-class cruisers.

If you can complete it, it will definitely be a great achievement.

this moment,
Ma Ming is full of anticipation for the next military exploits.

He stood on the deck and observed the Orlando-class cruiser through a telescope for a moment.

Next,
He thought about it and asked everyone to switch to ordinary incendiary bombs.

It would take some effort to completely capture these two armored cruisers.

It is necessary to continuously fire at the deck from the stern of the ship.

Use incendiary bombs to eliminate the soldiers on the cruiser. Just eliminate most of the soldiers on the cruiser.

Then,

Seymour's fleet will definitely surrender in the end!

Next,
Led by Storm 001, the Simon Tang fleet took advantage of the night to circle around the tails of the two armored cruisers and continuously attacked them with incendiary bombs.

From beginning to end,

Fast attack ships all use this kind of 'sharpening knife' guerrilla tactics!
have to say,

Deng Yonghe is indeed a master of naval warfare, and he has brought the power of the "fast attack ship" to its limit.

(End of this chapter)