Chapter 440 I gave you a chance, but you didn’t use it
The displacement of "Yuriev" is 6,000 tons more than that of "Asahi".
At least half of the extra 6,000 tons is armor, and it is high-quality armor steel, with better defense effect.
In order to improve the hit rate, the combined fleet withstood the artillery fire of the Siberian fleet and forcibly closed the distance to 6,000 meters.
At this distance, the combined fleet's naval guns can indeed pose a certain threat to the Siberian Fleet.
The Siberian fleet was a greater threat.
"Yuryev" and "Romanov" add up to a total of 16 330s, and their firepower output far exceeds that of the combined fleet.
When "Yuryev" and "Asahi" were bombarding each other, "Romanov" focused on "Hizen".
After many naval battles, the proficiency of the gunners of the Japanese Combined Fleet was significantly stronger than that of the Siberian Fleet. Not long after the naval battle began, the "Hizen" was the first to hit the "Romanov".
Although the damage caused by "Hizen" to "Romanov" was not great, only a 75mm secondary gun on the side was destroyed.
However, due to the powerful gunpowder used by the combined fleet, the "Romanov" still caught fire.
Damage control personnel were dispatched urgently and quickly put out the fire.
The "Romanov" was not affected. At 11:25, a near miss of the "Romanov" round caused damage to the propeller of the "Hizen" and the speed of the "Hizen" was affected. Influence.
"Romanov" continued its efforts, hitting "Hizen" with four consecutive 330 shells, and "Hizen" also began to burn.
At 11:30, the fire in "Hizen" completely got out of control, the ammunition depot exploded, and the entire warship broke into two pieces and sank to the bottom of the sea. Only 6 of the 795 crew members, including the captain, were rescued.
While the battleships were bombarding each other, the cruiser squadron of the Siberian Fleet was rapidly approaching the combined fleet.
The cruiser's 203mm cannon will not cause much damage to the battleships of the combined fleet.
But the torpedoes equipped by the cruiser can definitely cause fatal damage to the battleship.
Dongxiang's idea was the same as Peter's. While the battleships were bombarding each other, they also sent cruisers to attack the Siberian fleet.
The cruisers of the Siberian Fleet have repeatedly fought against the cruisers of the Combined Fleet. With their speed advantage, the Siberian Fleet has the upper hand.
Except for the "Yoshino" class, the cruisers of the Combined Fleet have a displacement of no more than 4,000 tons, which is significantly different from the Siberian cruisers.
There are also differences in firepower configuration.
Among the cruisers of the Combined Fleet, only "Yoshino" is equipped with 203mm guns, most of the others are equipped with 152mm guns, and there are even 120mm guns that are fake.
The Siberian Fleet is all 203. Although they cannot defeat battleships, they can easily and happily deal with light cruisers that have no armor at all.
And the Siberian Fleet has more cruisers than the Combined Fleet.
This is very disappointing.
At 11:20, the light cruisers of both sides had entered combat distance, and the Siberian Fleet cruiser took the lead in firing.
When the Siberian Fleet was still the Amur River Fleet, George focused on naval technology.
The artillery of the Siberian Fleet are all more technologically advanced barrel guns, powered by electricity, and also use the Makarov flash cap that was abandoned by the Imperial Navy.
The accumulation of bits and pieces of technology may seem inconspicuous, but quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. The cruisers of both sides were in close combat, and the losses of the combined fleet increased rapidly.
The 12 light cruisers of the Siberian Fleet were of the same model and were divided into two squadrons, commanded by Osdoev and Firsovsky.
Ozdoev set his sights on his old rival "Kasagi" from the moment he came up.
In Jeju, the Amur Military District and Japan have not yet started a war. Although Ozdoyev did not fire a cannon, he still forced the "Kasagi" into a panic by relying on the performance of the "Falcon".
Now Ozdoev can finally send "Kasagi" to meet "Yoshino" and "Takasago".
As the squadron commander, the "Falcon" took the lead and entered the battlefield first.
The "Falcon"'s front main gun nearly missed the "Kasagi" in the first shot.
Under the command of Ozdoev, the "Falcon" was like the overlord in the sky, drawing a beautiful "U" arc on the sea, parallel to the bulky "Kasagi".
During this process, the four 203 guns of the "Falcon" have been firing continuously.
Arima Ryoju was completely desperate.
The "Falcon" is the flagship of the First Squadron. The six cruisers of the First Squadron, after the "Falcon" opened fire, concentrated their fire on "Kasagi".
The water jets stirred up by the shells around the "Kasagi" instantly became as dense as raindrops.
The front-mounted 203 main gun of the "Kasagi" fired only one shot and was blown away.
The bridge was also hit shortly after, and all the officers on the bridge, including Ryo Tachibana Arima, died in an instant.
Japan once again tasted the bitter fruit of Shimose gunpowder, and the ammunition depot of the "Kasagi" also exploded, like a huge firework blooming instantly.
Ozdoev continued his efforts and continued to aim at the "new high" with a displacement of only 3,400 tons.
"New High" is a cruiser built by Japan. Its armament system only has 6 152 guns, and it does not even have torpedoes.
In 1895, the poor Japanese who had just received the Sino-Japanese War indemnity suddenly became rich and did not know how to spend the money, so the then Japanese Navy Minister Saigo Yumichi proposed a huge and unrealistic navy expansion plans. Although this naval plan was rejected as a whole, by 1901, due to the need for naval escort, Japan still built the "New High" class protected cruiser.
The "Xingao" was born for escort, so naturally there is no need to be equipped with torpedoes. It is only equipped with 6 152s.
The Japanese technology is really good However, only two "New High" ships were built. The second ship "Tsuima" sank in a storm two months ago.
This is a bit funny.
Even if the Tsushima is only 3,400 tons, it is still a warship.
The warship can actually be sunk by the storm, which makes people don’t know what to say.
The vulnerability of a 3,400-ton cruiser is not much better than that of civilian ships.
The other cruisers of the First Squadron didn't even have time to fire, and the "New High" was directly blown up by the "Falcon".
Ozdoev did not pay attention to the exploded "New High", and did not even add a torpedo to the burning "Kasagi".
While the cruisers of both sides were fighting hand to hand, "Yuryev" made another gain.
This time the unlucky one is "Fuji".
The "Fuji" was lucky. Since the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, it had been hit many times in naval battles. Not only was it not sunk, but it also trained a large number of skilled maintenance workers for the Japanese Navy.
Like the Combined Fleet, the Fuji's luck finally ran out.
After sinking "Hizen", "Romanov" and "Ural" simultaneously targeted "Fuji".
The front main gun of the "Fuji" seemed to be cursed. It was first blown up in Vladivostok, and then was destroyed again in the battle with the Second Fleet. This time, although luckily it was not blown up, the two guns The guns were all badly damaged and had to be replaced.
During the Battle of Pohang, the curse happened again. After the "Romanov" and "Ural" targeted the "Fuji", the front main gun of the "Fuji" was hit again.
Unfortunately, the rear main gun of the "Fuji" suddenly malfunctioned, unable to aim, and also lost its combat effectiveness.
Although "Romanov" and "Ural" hit "Fuji" multiple times, they did not cause fatal damage to "Fuji".
At 12:03, a shell from "Yuryev" accurately hit the "Fuji". The shell passed through the deck, hit the boiler room inside the "Fuji", and exploded in the boiler room.
The thermal coal stored in "Fuji" was ignited, and the fire quickly spread out of control.
At 12:20, Dongxiang ordered to abandon the ship.
It’s not just “Fuji” that Dongxiang wants to abandon.
Tongxiang's flagship "Asahi" was hit by "Yuryev" many times, which also caused fires. Although the damage control personnel tried their best to put out the fire, the fire was still not under control.
By noon, Japan's four battleships, "Hizen" were sunk, "Fuji" was burned into a hollow shell, "Asahi" was about to be burned into a hollow shell, and the only remaining "Shikishima" was about to be attacked by four Siberian fleets. battleships, and 6 armored cruisers.
The armored cruisers of the United Fleet were not so lucky.
The number of armored cruisers of the Siberian Fleet is similar to that of the Combined Fleet.
The biggest advantages are speed, armor, and firepower.
The Siberian fleet's patrols all use steam power units and high-quality armor steel, which are faster and have stronger defense. The 8-door 203's firepower is twice that of the combined fleet's patrols.
The armored cruisers of the Combined Fleet had better luck than the battleships. Since the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, only the "Izumo" was sunk and the "Kasuga" was captured and renamed "Trophy" to join the Siberian Fleet. The other six ships were Survived till now.
After the Second Fleet was annihilated, the "Nicholas I", which was in service in the Russian Empire in 1891, was captured by the Japanese army and renamed "Iki" to join the Combined Fleet.
When "Nicholas I" was in service, it was still a battleship by the standards of the time.
In the Combined Fleet, "Iki" is positioned as an armored cruiser.
Even as an armored cruiser, "Iki" is not qualified because its maximum speed is only a pitiful 15.5 knots.
After the naval battle broke out, "Iki" was unable to catch up with other high-speed warships due to its slow speed, and fell far behind the fleet.
Running fast is not necessarily a good thing.
The "Iki" once again verified this truth with its fate.
Shortly after the naval battle broke out, the "Rijin", the sister ship of the "Kasuga" urgently ordered from Italy after the Japanese army started, was hit by a 305 shell.
The displacement of the "Rijin" is only 7,600 tons. Because it uses Krupp armor steel with better performance, it has excellent protective performance.
This 305 shell did not cause fatal damage to the "Rijin", and the "Rijin" still persisted in fighting.
But then, the "Rijin" was attacked by a patrol of the Siberian fleet.
As "Rijin" was hit many times, its demise was imminent.
The latest "Neva" in service in the Siberian Fleet is patrolling close to the "Iljin", preparing to launch torpedoes to sink the "Iljin".
Peter sent a message to the "Neva River" in time, letting the "Neva River" leave this opportunity to the "trophy".
This is the true murderous heart.
(End of this chapter)