Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 878 Scissors Kill

   "Found an enemy ship formation, about 20 kilometers away, heading towards us at high speed. It is confirmed that it is the Pearl Harbor left-behind fleet. There are 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers, please instruct."

   "The battle alarm was issued, and the cruiser formation immediately moved forward to expel, and the formation remained in formation."

   "Report sir, the formation of the enemy ships was divided into two, and detoured to the left and right sides of my formation. The enemy ships fired..."

"Captain Captain Hamilton Hutchins of the named "Kirsarge" deployed to the left flank of the formation, and Captain Walter C. Cowles of the USS Kentucky deployed to the right flank of the formation, shelling the enemy ships and covering the center convoy, Continue to maintain the same heading."

   Rear Admiral Schroeder looked ahead with a grim expression, and issued orders one after another in response to the changes at sea.

   The rumble of cannons on the sea

The attacking Pearl Harbor cruiser formation was divided into two at high speed, and the snow-white traces drew two clear arcs on the blue sea, like a "eight" shape. The small fleet of ships on each side consisted of two ships. The cruiser and 4 destroyers were formed, killing both sides of the huge convoy, and the leading cruiser launched long-range artillery fire while driving at high speed.

The cruiser fleet that was approaching at high speed from Citigroup was immediately divided into two and spread far away. There was also a battleship behind each to form a second layer of protection. During the high-speed movement, they fired back with artillery, just like an old hen spreading its wings. Flap the huge cargo fleet in the middle.

   The slow-moving fleet of cargo ships shrank inward from the formation that had spread out on the sea, trying to hide in the fleet's protection circle, but how could it be so easy?

   The fleet of 41 cargo ships (including military ships) sparsely spread out on the sea for a distance of 17 to 8 kilometers, and the distance from the frontmost warship was 26 to 7 kilometers. If they did not slow down, they would not be able to shrink at all.

  The naval formation of the flag state of Hua has only 9 cruisers and 21 lightning strike destroyers. After being divided into defenses on the left and right sides, the strength is halved, and only a thin line of defense can be formed to deter the enemy from harassing the fleet with artillery fire.

  Due to the backwardness of sighting equipment in the era of large ships and giant artillery, when both sides were traveling at high speed, such artillery fire was inaccurate and was a waste of artillery shells.

Because the accuracy of shelling requires a stable hull attitude, a relatively slow speed, relatively predictable trajectories for both the enemy and the enemy, first-class observation equipment, high-quality and accurate ballistic measurement, plus sufficient density of artillery fire coverage and a little bit of luck.

   If either of the two sides suddenly changes course, then all previous calculations must be overturned...

   ten minutes later

The heavy cruiser "Suzaku", which was interspersed at high speed on the left side of the enemy formation, scored the first hit. A 305mm shell it fired was lucky and hit a near miss. It exploded on the sea near a freighter, and the strong water pressure immediately tore it apart. The thin steel plate of the freighter was cracked, forming a 4.3-meter-long crack, and the turbulent sea water immediately poured into it.

The hull of the freighter visible to the naked eye tilted up, and a large number of unarmed soldiers ran out of the cabin, crying and screaming in a mess. This turned out to be a transport ship carrying the Kansas National Guard infantry regiment, carrying two The regiment had nearly 1,700 soldiers.

This artillery hit immediately disrupted the rhythm of the Citi National Fleet, and the battle fleet driving in front had to stop its progress, draw a "U"-shaped track, and turned around to join the ranks of the protection fleet. Rescue the soldiers who are about to sink with the ship.

  Just a few minutes

  The troop carrier has been seriously tilted, and the soldiers on board jumped into the sea like dumplings. The nearby freighters and small destroyers are approaching at high speed, ready to participate in a big rescue.

   The scene was a mess, it was really a disaster.

   And the initiator has already moved forward at high speed, the commander's tower of the heavy cruiser "Suzaku" cheered, and the officers and soldiers were inexplicably excited about the victory.

   Brigadier General He Jiaben, the always serious formation commander, couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth at this moment.

The cruiser fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor is led by two heavy cruisers "Suzaku" and "Xuanwu", as well as two 4,500-ton cruisers "Justice" and "Bo Ai", forming a small but powerful protective force. .

The veterans of the "Suzaku" and "Xuanwu" are not weak. During the two-year and eight-month war preparation period, the Ocean Empire did not do anything, but did a lot of meticulous and cumbersome to deal with the war. preparations.

All Royal Navy ships equipped with 305mm main guns have all been replaced by the original 40-caliber main guns to the latest 44-caliber main guns. This main gun is numbered 44HG2. Through the improved artillery design The maximum range has been further improved, from 16.2 kilometers in the initial model to 18 kilometers, with greater power and greater penetration.

At the end of its service career, the four mythical beast heavy cruisers, which have made great achievements, entered the shipyard successively and underwent the last round of major renovations. On the basis that the original power armor has not changed, the main guns and secondary guns have almost been replaced, and advanced weapons have been added. The observation and sighting equipment such as the radio rangefinder and optical rangefinder has greatly improved the combat effectiveness.

   To put it bluntly, these two old ships are battleships in the skin of cruisers. With high-level training, they have the ability to accurately lob the artillery at the longest distance, and their combat strength is not weak at all.

   But the "Manguye" tactic is the Royal Navy's unique trick to defeat the enemy, and it needs to be taken out at a critical time to seal the throat.

   Without the consent of the superior, Brigadier General He Jiaben has no right to use it.

   "The course is 25 degrees southeast. The bow and midship main guns stop shelling, and the stern main guns maintain a three-minute round of slow shelling."

   "Powered the Xuanwu, agreed three minutes later... 2:17 pm tactical cross. Concentrate fire on the target at the rear of the convoy."

  Standing in the commanding tower, Brigadier General He Jiaben issued orders in an orderly manner. His tall and thin figure stood firmly beside the helmsman, his eyes scanned the sea like a sharp falcon, and he had a panoramic view of the ships moving on the sea.

   On the boiling sea

The huge fleet in the middle is doing its best to shrink. The U.S. cruisers and lightning ships protected by the outer side form a thin line of defense, and shelling is launched sporadically, but the level of shelling is too far, and it is futile on the sea. Sputtering out a column of water.

The Pearl Harbor fleet, which is interspersed at high speed on the left and the right, is like two sharp swords, maintaining a strict formation while rushing on the sea. When approaching the rear area of ​​the enemy fleet, suddenly and uniformly turned inward Cut, the snow-white track is cut like a pair of scissors...

Captain Hamilton Hutchins, the captain of the USS "Kirsarge", who was chasing the rear, clung to the binoculars with both hands, his mouth opened wide in surprise, and he murmured as if in a stagnant mood; "Oh shit. , Shet, Shet..."

   He has never eaten pork and seen a pig run, so he still has some insight.

   This kind of tactical cooperation in which the small fleets of ships between the two sides are nearly 30 kilometers apart is really smooth as running clouds and flowing water, showing an extremely superb level of ship control and command, and showing the elegance of a world-class navy.

  Even if the British Royal Navy is practicing, the level is only like this, right?

Among the three major subjects of modern naval navigation, ship manipulation, and artillery that represent combat effectiveness, the most difficult to play is the subject of ship manipulation, which requires all officers and soldiers of the ship to work together like one person, and can control the warship like an arm. , the engine department, and the communication department are coordinated and coordinated under the command, and they are indispensable.

For example, when turning sharply, the engine department must maintain a continuous supply of surging power, otherwise the huge kinetic energy of the hull will rapidly decay, and there will be a clear stumbling track, just like drawing a line suddenly making a small bend, No more smooth feeling.

The two cruisers and four destroyers in the entire small fleet of ships maintained a uniform and precise steering during high-speed driving, maintaining a strict formation, as if they were pulled out by bamboo rakes. The ship is level.

   At this moment, Captain Hamilton Hutchins is full of bitterness, and he knows that he is far from the other side; what kind of devilish opponent did the **** President Roosevelt find for us?

   "The main guns on the bow fire rapidly for three minutes, hit me hard." He gave the order fiercely.

The bow of the battleship "Kirsarge" was double-mounted with 305mm main guns, and two double-mounted 203mm secondary main guns on each side of the battleship fired violently, smashing round after round of shells into the front twelve kilometers. Small squadrons of enemy ships outside.

  Unfortunately, the shells did not get anything in return except for more high water jets.

   The distance to the nearest impact point is also more than 1 km, and the distance is even more, and it can't pose any threat at all. In the high-speed movement and change of direction of both sides, wanting to hit is tantamount to a dream.

  Captain Hamilton Hutchings carefully observed through the telescope, a heart fell into an ice cellar, and he knew that it was not good, but his battleship was left far behind, and there was no way to do it.

   In front, the two small teams of Pearl Harbor ships that crossed in a scissor-like shape turned sharply, and their speed slowed down visibly to the naked eye.

   On the sea at this moment

The fleet of cargo ships moving forward is still shrinking, and the speed is reduced to about 8 knots per hour, forming a clear "T" shape with the enemy ships that are forming a shelling queue. At the rear of the fleet are two large US military ships. Armored cruisers crushed, and several cargo ships with deep drafts.

   Now, they have become the prey of enemy ship formations, and the Pearl Harbor cruiser fleet is slowly revealing its sharp claws.

   Located at the rear of the convoy are two U.S. "St. Louis"-class protected cruisers to suppress, which are two large protected cruisers in the Great White Fleet, with a displacement of up to 9,700 tons, 21,000 horsepower and a speed of 22 knots, equipped with 14 152 mm guns.

   Such a large tonnage has only light protection from the dome, thin skin and large stuffing, and relatively weak firepower. No matter how you look at it, it is tasteless.

   Its design and positioning is to use the ability of high-speed sailing in the ocean to attack merchant ships in a broken war, and it cannot compete head-on with armored cruisers of the same tonnage.

   This kind of ship with large tonnage and high price, but with weak firepower protection, can only be made by countries such as the United States, Britain and France, which are rich enough and have the need to break the ocean, and the real strength will be known by a test.

  …

   The "Suzaku" ship formation did not waste a moment, quickly adjusted the formation after turning around at high speed, and then slowed down with the "Suzaku" heavy cruiser.

   Rapid decay from 18 knots per hour to 16…15…13…

The main turrets turned to aim at the target on the side of the ship, the radio range finder was activated, the optical range finder was activated, and various data flooded in the chart room. The azimuth angle was quickly calculated by the device, and the combat staff officer quickly issued accurate data to the turret. The main turret mobilized the standard target of the muzzle, and fine-tuned up, down, left, and right at all times to prepare for shelling.

  The communications staff officer coordinated the ships to convey orders at any time. There was a busy voice in the commander tower, and the passwords came one after another, rendering the atmosphere of the battle to the extreme.

   "Report sir, our fleet is now traveling at 10 knots...9.5 knots...9 knots..."

   "Prepare for a full-scale shelling, and fire all of them rapidly in three minutes."

   "Yes, three-minute rapid fire."

   "Speed ​​8.5 knots...8.2 knots..."

   "All maintain a speed of 8 knots, drive smoothly, and prepare for shelling..."

   "launch..."

   one order

The two ship formations opened fire together, smashing dense shells at the US cruiser 11.5 kilometers away. Dozens of shells of various calibers fell like rain, and immediately saw the USS St. Louis and the Milwaukee. The surrounding area of ​​the cruiser was plunged into a jungle of water jets, and two dazzling flames erupted.

   The first hit, great.

The first round of shelling hit a stride and hit, and the commander's tower was filled with cheers. The only regret is that it was not the powerful 305mm shell that hit, but two 152mm armor-piercing shells fired by the destroyer, and one shell blew up A secondary battery of the "St. Louis" was fired, and a shell hit the rear deck and exploded, wounding and killing several soldiers.

  Since the data is accurate, then you can play hard!

The armored cruiser fleet led by He Jiaben used superb tactics and ship-handling skills to find fighter planes, which formed a "T" prefix relative to the tail of the U.S. fleet. Among them, 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers had full firepower on the broadsides, and each round could It fired 12 rounds of 305mm shells, 24 rounds of 203mm shells, and 40 rounds of 152mm shells, which was enough to form a dense coverage of artillery fire.

   After three minutes of rapid fire

The 305mm main gun fired three rounds of shells, and the smaller caliber 203mm gun and 152mm gun fired as many as 5 to 6 rounds. The continuous rain of bullets covered the cruisers "St. Louis" and "Milwaukee" , The hull of the bombed hull exploded from time to time, and thick smoke billowed.

Among them, the bow of the "St. Louis" was hit by a 305mm shell, which was like a heavy punch, and the entire unarmored bow was sunk by more than three meters, revealing a large hole of 2 meters x 3 meters 2 , the compartment was bombed into a mess.

The ship hit several 203mm shells and more than 10 152mm shells. The entire superstructure of the hull was shattered and darkened. The officers and soldiers were killed and injured countless times. Soaring straight into the sky, he was already hit hard.

The other "Milwaukee" protected cruiser was slightly better. It swayed left and right to change its course to avoid, and desperately fired back with six 152mm artillery pieces at the stern, but was still hit by several 203mm artillery shells and 152mm artillery shells. There was a **** storm on the hull.

   After three minutes of rapid fire, the two large armored cruisers behind them were seriously wounded and the other slightly wounded.

   At this time, the U.S. battleships in the rear were getting closer and closer, and the 305mm large-caliber naval guns fired by them fell within a range of about 500 meters, which had caused a serious threat to the ship formation.

   Brigadier General He Jiaben stopped when he saw it, and issued a new order when the two cruiser fleets rendezvous and docked; the entire fleet accelerated, continued to shell for three minutes, then quickly turned to evade, and fled to their respective distances...

The battleship "Kirsarge" and the battleship "Kentucky" were already in a mess when they arrived at the rear of the fleet. The sea was blazing brightly. A freighter carrying horses and a freighter carrying food were slowly sinking. Two Thick smoke billowed from the large protective cruiser, and it was unbearable to be ravaged, as if a chrysanthemum had been stabbed, more than a miserable word!

   This scissors kill was too ruthless, it was hitting the weak point at the tail of the fleet, which was really heart-wrenching.

   (end of this chapter)