"The position of enemy ship No. 1 is 036, distance of 13100; the position of enemy ship No. 2 is 033, distance of 13600; the position of enemy ship No. 3 is 032, distance of 14400; the position of enemy ship No. 4 is 030, distance of 15000."

Groups of ranging data were reported from the shooting command room of the Wyoming. After experiencing the previous shelling, they were facing a strong enemy approaching step by step. The atmosphere on this American battleship became more and more solemn. There was no one walking on the deck. The sailors in full-equipped outdoor artillery positions were all ready, especially on the starboard side of the battleship, the officers held telescopes and kept watching the sea in the distance. The heavy expressions on their faces also made ordinary sailors extremely nervous.

The sailors on the battleship were like this. On those freighters that were only light weapons at most and had negligible defense, the crew obviously had put their lives in a big bet plate that was completely unruly by themselves, allowing the jump of fate to keep jumping among the many grids. No one knew where it would eventually stay in life or death.

Soon, the two leading Allied warships opened fire again. On the heavy rainy sea, red and yellow firelight suddenly appeared on the starboard side of the dark gray front with black smoke. The time left for the US and British officers and soldiers was very short. After only a dozen seconds, the terrifying shells roared, and the deafening explosion instantly hit people's eardrums. Several shells fell near the port side of the Wyoming, and others landed outside the starboard side. The American officers standing in the command room were shocked: the first volley after the enemy fired again actually formed a cross-fire!

In this era when there were no missiles, the most important factor in fleet artillery battles besides the power of shells is firing accuracy. Due to the relatively long distance between the ships of both sides and the impact of wind and waves on the stability of the hull, the difficulty of aiming naval guns is often much greater than that of land artillery battles. Active combat ships are usually equipped with 6 or more main guns. When they fire volleys, the bullet points of each shell do not overlap, but are more evenly scattered in a certain area. This is the so-called scattering. When the scattering area can cover all or most of the target ship, it means that the enemy ship is shrouded within its own firepower range, which forms a span.

"Turn right 10 degrees and go forward at full speed!"

Under the command of Harold Stark, the clumsy war elephant accelerated and roared as it made a shocking roar, trying to protect the weak and weak flock around it through its own efforts. In the command room protected by heavy armor, many officers turned to face the starboard front. Under their gaze, the shells fired by the Wyoming stirred up tall water columns on the distant sea with huge inertia. From some angles, the German fleet seemed to be wiped out in an instant, but the crew members in other positions were very painful, because they saw that their shells did not even touch the fur of the German warships compared with the precise artillery bombardment of the Germans, the performance of the main gunners of the Wyoming battleship was regrettable.

Just when people thought that a one-sided situation would appear on the battlefield, God extended his magical hand. Although the first round of shooting of the two German battle patrols obtained excellent bounce points, the shells were always slightly different from the target. The huge American battleship fought tenaciously between the waves and the water column. The slow speed and being in the entire fleet made it look very clumsy in tactical maneuvers, but every counterattack still made the Germans frightened.

When the US ships approached their warships, the "Deferring" issued an order to "move with me". The two high-speed German battle tours turned to the right in a straight manner through many exercises. When the next wave of shells fired by the American battleship fell, they left the American shells far behind.

Ring ling ling ling ling …

The alarm bell rang before the main gun volley, and William Mashar and his subordinates stood quietly at the best observation position with heavy armor protection on the "De Fringer". Watching waves of shells crossing tens of thousands of meters to ravage the helpless American and British merchant ships seemed pitiful, but it was they who transported thousands of tons of combat supplies and thousands of combat troops to the Azores, allowing the fierce and cruel battle to continue.

"The target caught fire!" This sentence popped out of several people almost at the same time. William Mashal, who was standing in the front position, naturally saw the bright bright color on the distant sea at the first time. In the next few seconds, no one in the command room spoke, but when another almost bright light jumped up on the distant sea, he finally couldn't help but shout: "Great! Hit the target again!"

With a cigarette, the two German battle patrols carried out several rounds of salvos at the fastest speed. The heavyweight explosion caused by the shell hit the steel hull was constantly transformed into a fireball that illuminated the night sky. The report from the shooting observation room also confirmed the fire of the target. Its speed was significantly reduced, and the frequent steering avoidance of the previous period no longer existed. For such a report, the German officers on the ship were very excited, and optimistic emotions spread rapidly, as if people had seen the "Wyoming" sinking with their own eyes.

However, 5 or 10 minutes later, until a quarter of an hour later, it was still possible to see the orange flame light fired by the artillery fire on the American warship. The 12-inch naval gun on the "Deferringer" still poured shells at it at a rate of two minutes and three times. As the shooting elements were adjusted and the opponent's speed slowed down, the shells hit the opponent in each salvo, and the fire balls generated after the explosion continued to rise and then extinguish.

"Our opponent is more tenacious than expected. In the command room of the Deflinger, William Mashal said this without any frustration. On the contrary, a strange sense of confidence flashed in his calm eyes. After calmly examining the entire battlefield, he turned to Colonel Andrek: "Do you know how the Mongolian cavalry defeated the heavy armored cavalry?"

The colonel hesitated for a moment, and then replied with a glee: "I understand, sir!"

Mashar nodded, then directed the fleet to adjust its course and rushed to the back of the US-British escort fleet at a high speed of more than 26 knots.

On the battlefield, time means life and death. German communications officers conveyed orders from the bridge as fast as possible, including using signal lights to convey to the brigade. From the next round of artillery, the German fleet suddenly changed its target. The main guns of the "Deferringer" were obviously aimed at different targets. The shelling target of the "Luzov" also moved from the British battleship to those cargo ships. So in the next few minutes, the huge American and British fleets were constantly hit by ships, and explosions were heard one after another. For a while, the sea was covered with smoke. Some cargo ships did not care about the flagship orders and began to flee. The originally neat and orderly formation was instantly chaotic. Two American destroyers tried to get up to block them, but were soon killed by the fierce artillery fire of the Allied fleet.

Seeing that the fleet suddenly fell into a desperate situation, Stark finally couldn't stay there. He quickly directed the Wyoming to turn around and narrow the distance with the German fleet, and at the same time, he ordered the entire ship to blast the battlecruiser "De Fringer" led by the opponent. However, when his shells approached the opponent again, the German fleet suddenly turned and headed in the opposite direction at high speed.

The rain was getting heavier and the vision became blurry. Without any warning, the artillery fire suddenly slid from the high point to the bottom valley, and the speed of the speed had a significant impact on people's eardrums and hearts. The curtain fell, and four dark painted Allied warships finally disappeared at the end of the vast sea. The American and British crew passed by themselves for the disaster of fear. Some felt glad, while others had to lick their wounds in this bad weather.

Amid a brief but very harsh creaking sound, the heavy steel door was opened, and the fresh sea breeze that still had a bitter and sour smell quickly poured into the long-depressed cabin. Faced with the still surging waves, General Stark's mood was difficult to calm down for a long time. He slowly walked up to the open-air bridge, everything in his ears was so familiar. If it were not for what had happened before, these sounds would make him calm, but what was presented to him now was a scene that was not a disaster but was even more than a disaster. Many cargo ships were damaged to varying degrees, and the rolling black smoke was coming from their shapes under the influence of the sea breeze.

These smoke and dust mixed in the middle of the raindrops, forming a strange fog on the sea surface. The Germans' strange tactics made him feel at a loss, but it was more than that that disturbed him the most. As long as the Germans had enough courage and courage, they could arrange a battle patrol to restrain the German warship "Wyoming" and the thick armor and careful structure that would make this old-fashioned dreadnought difficult to gain a advantage in a short period of time. At this time, the remaining three warships could break into the fleet and start killing. Its first-class fire speed and precision would become a nightmare for ordinary merchant ships.

Now, there are a lot of difficult problems in front of Stark. On the one hand, several of the damaged ships seem to be difficult to continue sailing with their own power, and German submarines often appear in this sea area, and the four enemy warships may also take advantage of the bad weather to fight back. On the other hand, the treatment of wounded personnel must be carried out quickly. The specific statistics have not yet come out, but rich experience tells Stark that the casualties in the fleet after such a battle are by no means a small number. The "Wyoming" alone has many sailors who are stuck in battle positions such as anti-aircraft guns that cannot get armor protection were injured by shrapnel. The medical power on the battleships is enough to allow them to receive the most timely treatment, but the situation on those merchant ships is probably not so optimistic.

The staff officer quickly calculated the position of the fleet in combination with the support fleet. In fact, without looking at these numbers, Stark had already thought that the next night would be another test for the entire fleet.

As time went by, the most severely damaged cargo ship began to accelerate and sink under the bumps of the waves. The fires on several ships seemed to have been effectively controlled, but the other ships were obviously difficult to save. At this time, the transfer of personnel from those merchant ships that were about to capsize or were forced to give up became the most important task of escorting naval officers and crew members. Watching the sailors and crew members fighting with the waves while trying to transfer companions on the ships that were about to be abandoned, especially some seriously injured wounded people could only be transferred through shaking stretchers. Stark was in a heavy mood, but it was said that long-term sea career could best train people's will and qualities. Stark was obviously one of the beneficiaries. At this time, he still firmly believed that he and his loyal comrades around him could get rid of the crisis through hard work, and such belief was crucial to the entire fleet.
Chapter completed!