.

The black reef was like a viewing platform, reviewing the entire Chinese fleet. Looking north from the observation post of the battleship Shanghai battleship, the advance light cruiser fleet had disappeared at the end of the blurry sea level.

Major General Wen Dingyu, who commanded the bait, put down his telescope and said to the chief of staff: "Prepare the shells and torpedoes, we must beat the Americans."

On the bridge of the flagship Shanghai, Lieutenant General Tan Fenglin observed the neat ship line behind him with satisfaction. At 5:30, a large army of a warship was approaching San Francisco quickly, and part of them were cruising outside, and the purpose of intercepting some enemy fleets was expected to be achieved.

To be cautious, Tan Fenglin asked the four squid submarines under the navy to conduct reconnaissance. Although the morning fog affected the submarine's sight, it was also the protector of the submarine. An optimistic atmosphere permeated the Chinese sailor, and the proud officer was reading the mission. The navy of the battleship Liaoning, Jiang Dayou recalled the boastful talk of the captain Deng Shichang with a little Fuzhou accent:

"Americans and other naval soldiers are all new recruits, so we will go there and take a small look and teach them a lesson. If the Americans dare to come out and gesture, everyone will practice with them. If they are so scared that they dare not move, then the light cruiser will trick some of these fools out, and we will teach them a lesson."

In the south, the U.S. Navy fleet easily advanced northeast, and the first-class armored cruiser Florida was serving as the pilot of Lieutenant General Carnere's first armored cruiser. An officer recalled:

"Many of us thought this was another great sailing, and we would probably arrive in San Francisco after lunch. Then we easily wiped out the Spanish pirate fleet and took San Francisco by the way. Although there was still some mist on the sea, we could vaguely see the coastline. It was a beautiful morning. The sailors baskated on the deck and everything was so beautiful.

”

At 11:15 am, nine giant steel ships lined up in three columns. They walked the zigzag route and drove towards their destination - San Francisco at the speed of the festival. The seagulls chased them behind them.

In the other direction, Lieutenant General Carnere wore his soft hat and stood on the bridge of the second-class battleship Texas with his arms in his arms. With his 4-class armored cruiser, he had an 8-inch naval gun and a speed of 21 knots, and was the most powerful armored cruiser of that era.

"My hand," Carnell began to write to his wife. "There are the best strike force in the world." This emotion always influenced his decision, and Sampson commented afterwards: "The role of an armored cruiser is to maintain a distance from the enemy fleet and report the opponent's position and strength to the battle fleet at any time."

The Americans also got a light, and in this light, the strength of the Spanish Pirates Fleet was mentioned, "17 light cruisers", which also explained the reason for the failure of the Dewey Fleet. There are many light cruisers surrounded by them, so except for the flagship Atlanta that can withstand, other warships cannot withstand the attack of the enemy ships with an advantage of 31. In the end, more than a dozen ships attacked the Dewey flagship.

However, the source of the telegram was provided by the Chinese. So far, the Chinese have done a good job in hiding their own strength.

This light affected Sampson's judgment. The Pirates Fleet was still not strong. The US fleet had to stay at sea for as long as possible to familiarize themselves with the sea conditions, so they slowly advanced to the northeast. In the afternoon, the fleet's rendezvous point was 16 miles away, and it would take an hour to catch up with it at full speed. If you continue to exercise at economic speed, you will not be able to meet them until the evening, Jericho wrote in his diary:

"At 1:55 pm, I issued an order to the battleship to replenish coal for the cruiser. It seems that I will stay for a while."

The Chinese played tricks on the telegram and seemed to work very well. The Americans thought that the pirate fleet was still in the port, so Sampson decided to keep the fleet in the south to prevent the other party from escaping the way. Tan Fenglin also knew the situation well and knew that the American fleet was already at sea.

Wen Dingyu rushed north happily, without knowing at all that the Carnell fleet was on the port side ahead. At 2 pm, the sea re-entered [|:.

Clark Island is in sight, Wen Dingyu's fleet is preparing to take action, Wu Dagou, the gunman of the Fearless Third Light Cruiser, recalled:

The battle is about to happen, at most some light cruisers or old-fashioned armored ships. At the moment, the rapid military roar sounded, and everyone began to clean up the battle positions and check the barrel bore. From bow to +; order, from No. 1 to No. 17, the five turrets of the cruiser began to rotate. I imagined the enemies that appeared on the horizon and began to simulate and practice. The people around me were disdainful of this, and only I knew that the responsibility was heavy and that every component must be ensured to be in the most perfect state.

Similar work was also carried out on the Wyoming armored cruiser of the U.S. Navy, gunner Barkley recalled:

I walked down from the top cabin of Turret No. 1 and went all the way to the bottom. Everything seemed to be in order, including excess wires, urine buckets, biscuits and canned beef, drinking water

Take me to report all this to the commander and say, "Sir, I hope I will come out. If you give them a few solid things, everyone will be very happy."

Carnere's flagship Texas made a light signal and asked the fast armored cruiser detachment ("New York", "Utah", Ming") at the port side to prepare for the battle: "When we go north, pay attention to searching for the pilot cruiser of the main fleet."

215, Carnell's flagship Texas showed a turn signal, which was only 50 miles away from Wen Dingyu's flagship Dawuwu. The two sides might have missed because of such a little distance, but there is no doubt that the gods watching the battle on the clouds secretly pushed:

The Spanish freighter Francis stumbled between the two fleets, and sprayed out an unusually thick black smoke column due to overheating of the turbines. This attracted the attention of both sides. The earliest reaction was China's Fearless 7 light cruiser, who was at the forefront of the left wing of Wen Dingyu's fleet.

A few minutes later, the Florida cruiser on Carnell's right wing also drove over there. Soon they each discovered each other. The commander of the Florida, Brigadier General Nate, identified the other's mainmast and smoke in the telescope and reported to Carnell: "The two smoke ships intercepted the freighter, 8 miles southeast and approached the middle.

So the Florida drove over there and sent a signal from the US Navy. In fact, it was Fearless Seven, and he quickly turned around and evacuated. The Florida used lights to report the enemy situation to the formation commander. Because the interpretation of the second-class battleship of the Texas was incorrect, the formation commander Major General Carnell was shocked: "The 164y1v direction may be an enemy ship, and the 148164 battleship." Ten minutes later, the Florida repeated the report with lights to correct the error.

The American cruiser continued to advance, and the Utah cruiser also joined soon. The combat alarm of "discovering enemy ships" sounded through all the cabins. The first shell in the Battle of San Francisco flew out of the 8-inch front main gun of the Florida. The eight boilers rose to the highest pressure and rushed towards the midship at a speed of 21 knots. The ship stirred up huge waves.

The commanders on both sides were waiting anxiously, where was the other side, how many and scale were. The lights came and went, and both sides ordered a fire to rise. Drive in at full speed. At 2:35, the Floda lighted towards Carnell: "Urgent: Found a large number of smoke columns, and there may be a large fleet activity in the northeastern direction." Soon, the report was reported: "The smoke column just now determined that there were 17 enemy ships, including cruisers. Turn south." So Carnell ordered the entire fleet to immediately insert into the northeast and cut off the opponent's retreat.

The second reconnaissance detachment under Wen Dingyu's command spread out in parallel and headed. When he received the first report of the Florida, Wen Dingyu ordered to move forward in a single line southwest. Soon after, he saw the Florida in the barrage. Judging from the splashing water column, it was just a medium-caliber shell. It was speculated that there were four cruisers on the other side. 310. Wen Dingyu's fleet turned southwest again and rushed towards the Americans at a speed of 18 knots.

At this time, the American cruisers began to chase after him. Their mission should have been to reconnaissance and lead the opponent's ships to the Carnell fleet. However, in the eyes of the Americans, a heavy cruiser is equal to four light cruisers, and a battleship is even more than eight light cruisers. In this way, the strength of the US squadron is equal to 24, which is much stronger than the pirate fleet (in fact, Chinese ships [the threat is not great, and their strength is even greater than that)

The two cruisers fought with the Fearless Fleet, and the other two foreign fleets soon joined the chase, chasing each other and driving northward. However, the speed was only 17. The second-class battleship of the Sir was thrown far behind.

This was the first of a series of mistakes made by the American cruiser squadron. Carnere impatiently raised the telescope and lowered it on the bridge of the Texas. According to common sense of a tactician, he had ordered the entire fleet to advance north.

But the cruiser has already stared at the other side. If they are asked to slow down, the enemy will take the opportunity to escape. Carnere finally decided to let these four cruisers stare at them. Once the enemy stops to fight because they cannot withstand the blow, his flagship will just cause severe damage to the enemy.

At this time, Jiang Dayou was lying in the open officer's activity room, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. Later, he stood in the fire control room at the top of the mast and stared at his opponent with a telescope: "For the fierce battle that was about to begin, the busy steps on the bridge lasted for about a minute, and now everything has calmed down. Everyone joked with each other, adjusting the observer and telescope. Zoom 15 times, and you can see our cruiser retreating to both sides. The sea level is as smooth as a mirror, and the enemy cruiser begins to reveal a blurred ship shadow. Then I noticed some big guys. Four gray, large and round-waisted battleships are lined up in two rows and are heading towards this side!"

Correspondingly, when the battle warning sounded on the Wyoming armored cruiser, Barkley had to finish his afternoon tea too early: "I was sitting down at that time, and there was a cup of tea on the table, a small piece of buttered bread and some jam, and suddenly the war horn rang, 'Fight ready!' I continued to drink tea, thinking what's wrong? Do you want to do exercises again? Suddenly I realized that the sound of the horn this time was different from usual, and it was really coming. I grabbed the fragments at hand and ran to the cannon position, and Olajuwon was one step ahead of me.

Here we are. The Florida has seen it."

325, the Americans also began to recognize the outline of the Chinese fleet. Carnere decided to cut the opponent's ships from the tail, and the battle began.

The strength of the American cruiser formation is

..:

2305mm gun, 6 203m guns, 1257mm, 6 37mm, 437mm Hakikas machine gun, 2 Gatling guns. 1 field gun, 2 torpedo launch tubes.

Displacement is 6315 tons, speed is 17... Deck armor 2 inches.

.>.

6203mm gun, 12100mm gun, 857mm, 237mm, 2 Gatling machine gun. 2 3-inch field guns, 2 torpedo launch tubes.

The displacement is 8203 tons, the speed is 21 knots; the side armor is 100 mm, the commander tower is equipped with gun armor 254 meters, the dome armor 152 meters, and the deck armor 75 meters.

The strength of the Chinese cruiser formation is

The third-class light cruiser has 50 tons, 5 triple-mounted 152-meter rapid-fire gun. The main engine has a power of 6,000 horsepower and a speed of 19.5, and the armor is 5 inches.

Very typical battles of light to heavy, less to many.

The cruiser that came to support the Fearless Seven mistakenly thought it was a second-class cruiser. The cruisers on both sides began a fierce artillery battle, and the commander tower of the Florida was 3,500 yards away from the Chinese, and the shells that were barely resisted by the armor of 138 meters above this distance.

The 152-meter rapid-fire cannon will send more than 1,500 shells to the US military at a speed of 6 rounds per minute. Moreover, the Chinese fleet adopts collective positioning, centered on the flagship Darelessness. Other ships start to aim at the shooting at a firing distance of 50 meters. The flagship immediately adjusts the shooting distance, and then the others start shooting at a 20-fire distance in sequence.

The Americans' ranging are still more primitive, with visual and manual calculations, so it is no surprise that Americans were attacked by Chinese in the early days. Although the cost of each warship of the American cruiser detachment is higher than the total cost of the Chinese cruiser detachment.

"The first batch of shells hit our ship directly, and then the hellish nightmare began. The enemy's hit rate was amazing. In less than two minutes, we hit forty or fifty shells one after another, maybe more, but our armor was quite dutiful to protect us from harm, but the brothers exposed to the deck were not so lucky. I heard the tick sound, which should be the sound of blood flowing down. The sound seemed so small and so thrilling in the violent explosion. Maybe I would remember it in my heart for the rest of my life until the day I died."

However, although several US ships were seriously injured, the hull was not damaged much, and the situation began to reverse as the distance approached.

The five major artillery artillery armors in the US ships and lands are all 254 meters, which ensures that the Chinese fleet's rapid-fire gun threat can be ignored. Most of the gunners in other artillery positions have been wiped out because they do not have enough armor protection. However, the firepower of the main gun cannot be resisted by light cruisers.

By probability, although the US ship was too hard to start by the Chinese fleet, it could hit the Chinese cruiser hard as long as it hit. The formation maintained in order to ensure the observation effect also gave Americans the opportunity to perform in the shooting set.

Fearless Six was first shot and caught fire. The thick smoke and the water columns stirred by the shells falling around it tightly wrapped it. Fearless Six ignored it and ran straight towards Major General Carnell's flagship "Texas", forcing the Texas to dodge to the left quickly. In a panic, they collided with the friendly ship "Utah". Fortunately, both of them were thick-skinned and were slightly injured.

The deck of Fearless Six was covered by fire. Its captain was worried about the explosion of the ammunition depot, so he ordered a beach 24 nautical miles from San Francisco. Fearless Eleven also caught fire. After destroying all artillery, it ran aground 10 nautical miles from the coast.

By this time, the formation of the Chinese cruiser fleet had been loose, and in order to avoid the deadly artillery of the US ship, the frequency of the design had to be reduced. In turn, the US ship, which lacked firepower suppression, began to increase its firepower.

A flash of fire and a loud bang, Fearless Eleven was hit by a 305-meter shell, which immediately turned into a huge ball of fire, sank into the cold water of the Pacific Ocean, becoming a casino for fish and shrimps.

Facts have proved that those who want to use cheap high-fire artillery to replace bulky battleships are stupid. They always save themselves first on the battlefield before they can achieve the final victory.

Depending on the poor battle situation, Wen Dingyu remembered that his role was bait and ordered the fleet to turn around and go south to seek Tan Fenglin's main fleet to support him. He knew Carnere's character very well. In the battle of Santiago in Cuba, Carnere once directed his armored cruiser to rush into the minefield to chase the Spanish cruiser. The same is true now, no matter whether it is a trap or not, he will jump in without hesitation.
Chapter completed!