The residue of the "Tama" is still floating on the water. The Japanese soldiers who fell into the water are struggling on the sea, but the cool water does not make them realize that the Australian Navy was destroyed by the powerful Imperial Japanese Navy at the beginning of the war? But the two warships that had just passed here clearly had Australian flags flying, and their cruisers were reimbursed with a heavy punch. Could this be a fantasy?

On the sea not far away, "thunder" was still coming one after another. Two Australian ships were surrounding the remaining Japanese ship at an angle. The three warships were flashing from time to time, and shells frequently aroused tall water columns in the waves. Both sides wanted to hit each other but not be hit by each other, so they tried their best to maneuver at the highest speed. In the stormy waves, they became knights who ran quickly on the rolling hills and kept shooting sharp arrows at the other side. Most of the "arrows" were lost, but the side holding the blue flag had a great advantage in the scene. The gap in fire density, accuracy and maneuverage power between the two sides was obvious.

In the shooting command post of the Melbourne, an officer wearing a white British naval uniform was giving instructions in German:

"Azip, 41 degrees and 20 minutes; shooting angle, 9 degrees and 25 minutes; volley!"

The officer next to him quickly wrote a few numbers on the paper, then grabbed the phone and transmitted the shooting data to the gunners of each main turret in English.

After a rapid adjustment, 12 203mm cannons in the ship ejected the flames of revenge together. 12 armor-piercing shells swirled across the waves, passing through the rain curtain toward the warship with dark clouds and stormy waves as the background, two thick straight chimneys were flying towards the warship with thick black smoke. If one of the armor-piercing shells advances together, you can soon see the sixteen sunrise flags ravaged by storms, and see the 12 cannons of the 6 main turrets on the ship.

The black hole pointed straight to this side, and saw the huge ship on the other side at the forefront, the detestable faces of the Japanese officers in the porthole, and the expressions on their faces turned from conceit to astonishment. The four largest main guns on the ship suddenly opened fire. At this moment, an armor-piercing bullet from the Australian warship "Melbourne" crashed into the commander tower of the Japanese ship "Stander Horse". The steel armor that was not strong enough was torn apart.

The officers inside had no time to make the next reaction. The explosion of flames and the fragments that were rotating at high speed turned the commander tower into purgatory of blood and fire in less than a second.

At the same time, the 12 main guns of the "Sanma" - 4 305mm first-class main guns and 8 203mm second-class main guns - were still fighting stubbornly. Although the explosion just now caused the warship to shake violently, after learning that the main guns were safe, the artillery commander Yamashita Ryuno stared at the Australian warship in the rangefinder with his already blood-red eyes.

"Azimuth angle, 320 degrees 12 points; shooting angle, 7 degrees 53 points; first-class main gun fired one.

The second-level main gun fired two in a salvo!”

The loading time of artillery of different calibers is different. The 203mm naval gun is usually 2.5 rounds per minute, but 305mm usually has less than 2 rounds per minute. If the 203mm gun is stopped and waited for the 305mm gun to fire in a salvo, it will inevitably affect the rate of fire of the entire ship. Moreover, the trajectory of the 365mm shell and the 203mm shell are not the same, so it cannot achieve the effect of the dreadnought main gun when it is fired. This alone, the Japanese ship suffered a great loss in front of the opponent.

In the mind of this Japanese artillery officer, although the opponent has the advantage in number, it is only one heavy and one light cruiser. The main gun caliber is only 203 mm and 152 mm. This one is a "cruising warship", which is equivalent to the battle cruiser of the German Navy. Not to mention the power of the 305 mm gun on the ship. The armor-piercing projectile of the 203 mm gun alone can make the other party look good, because the armor of the cruiser has never been able to withstand this caliber armor-piercing projectile, and this "only one shot" may appear when the next fire is opened.

"The deputy main gun No. 2, 3, 4, 5 is ready!" The officer holding the phone said excitedly.

"Fire the gun!" As if waiting for this moment for a long time, the main gun commander's shooting order seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

With a few bangs, 8 203mm armor-piercing bombs left the chamber with huge earth kinetic energy, and the target was only 3,100 yards away. However, after 3.95 seconds, they landed in the undulating sea water with great momentum, and the landing points of the shells fired from different turrets were far apart!

During this period, due to the very poor sea conditions, the two Australian ships also struggled, but even if the main gun hits only one percent, they can hit the opponent once every 3 minutes. If the accuracy is the same, it will take the opponent 6 to 7 minutes to hit them. What's more, the shooting accuracy of both sides is quite different due to the performance of the warship.

The dragon man at the bottom of the mountain was depressed and ordered the officer to shout excitedly again:

"Main gun No. 1 and 6 are ready!"

"Fire the cannon! Fire the cannon!" The mountain roared like a gambler who was in a red state. If the opponent was still unable to sink or drive away in a short period of time, then the warship that had lost command would be hit by the opponent in a straight line until it was sunk or surrendered voluntarily.

However, after 3091 seconds, the main gun commander was disappointed again. Although the power of the four 365mm guns was great, they only had the unsatisfactory accuracy of the previous dreadnought era. At this time, the two sides were engaged in a mobile artillery battle at a distance of more than 3,000 yards. Their range advantage could not be revealed at all. Apart from constantly splashing water, their only effect was probably to keep the other party in a tight state.

“Hurry up… hurry up…”

In the command tower of the Melbourne, General White whispered softly that the reason why the Japanese ship Tama was sunk in one fell swoop was mostly because the distance between the two sides was less than 1,500 yards and the other side lacked vigilance, and the attack of the "Santhemum" was not so easy. Although the "Melbourne" armor was strong, it could not be compared with the real German battle cruiser. The reasonable structure could save it from the danger of being fatal by the opponent's attack. However, at such a close distance, every shell fired by the opponent's main gun could cause great damage to the warship. Their own armed ship "Gibson" was just a 6,000-ton light cruiser, and its defense was not much stronger than the "Tama" that had just sunk.

But since the shell just now beautifully dropped off the command center of the Japanese ship, White changed his previous silence and became a little excited. Seeing that the Japanese ship did not turn left and right as before, he was waiting for the next main gun volley with hope, because it was destined to be an exciting moment.

In the shooting command post.

The German-speaking officer still maintained an extremely cold expression. Based on the previous bounce point and the latest measurement data, he ordered: "Azip, 40 degrees, 50 points; shooting angle, 9 degrees, 13 points; volley!"

The Australian officer next to him immediately grabbed the phone and shouted in a slightly trembling voice:

"Azip 40 degrees and 50 points, shooting angle 9 degrees and 13 points, volley!"

In just a few seconds, several fireballs obviously rose on the Japanese ship, some on the port side and some on the starboard side. It seems that the 152mm main gun of another Australian ship also captured the target.

The two Australian ships were suddenly filled with joy. There was no suspense in the artillery battle since then. The gunners on the Japanese ships were still resisting, but a warship lacking maneuver power could only be passively beaten. The two Australian ships quickly found the best offensive position by taking advantage of their speed and ground level. More and more places were on the Japanese ships, and the fire of counterattacks was gradually weakening. Finally, the Gibson bravely rushed to 2,000 yards on the starboard side of the "Stander Horse" to fight.

A row of torpedoes was released. At 3:07 pm, he served in the Japanese Navy for 17 years and participated in the Japanese attack on Qingdao, invaded Southeast Asia, occupied the Philippine Islands, and captured Australia and other military operations. Finally, it ended its sinful voice. It slowly sank into the seabed 32 nautical miles southeast of the Bass Strait in Australia, and 672 officers and soldiers below the captain, Major General Okura Okura.

After winning the naval battle at a small price, General White and his sailors naturally had high morale. This can be said to be a battle between warships in the pre-dreadnought era and the post-dreadnought era. Although it seems that the Australian side has won a bit of luck on the surface, the "Santha Horse" is already an old and outdated warship, which also shows from one side the gap between the Japanese and German navy - it is an indisputable fact that the Japanese Navy has the best battleships and battle cruisers, but due to financial and material limitations, they have to rely on continuous accumulation and renovation like old rich people to maintain the scale of the navy. Warships with a ship of more than 15 years are very common in the sequence of quasi-main and non-main ships of the Joint Fleet.

Even the famous King Kong-class battlecruiser has been technology more than ten years ago.

As another of the two world's military powers, although the German Navy only built the 420,000-ton quasi-super battleship "William the Great", the battleship with a ship of more than 10 years has only four Kings, while the Bavarian class, Graf class and Caesar Fitre III class are all new ships that served before and after the German-American War; there are only three DeFringe class in the battle patrol, which are slightly behind in performance, and the Markson class and Brandenburg class are currently the first in the world.

Although the aircraft carriers have two old ships of 14 years old, Lisa and Prince, they only operate in offshore activities such as the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The six Ernst-class heavy aircraft carriers served in the ocean fleet are enough to send all Japanese aircraft carriers to the seabed. The six German-class medium aircraft carriers built after the German-US war, as Zeppelin-improved German-class medium aircraft carriers and eighteen Olger-class light aircraft carriers are also new warships that have been in service in the past four years.

In addition, Germany's investment in non-fighterships is obvious to all. Any warships with a ship age of more than 10 years will be sold to allied countries or neutral countries at low prices, and domestic naval shipyards always launch newer and better designs in a timely manner to win new orders. Such policies are not only conducive to maintaining the strong vitality of the German navy, but also stimulate domestic naval shipyards to continue to pursue technological updates, but the strong financial resources they rely on are simply beyond the reach of Japan.

The boxer-class combat cruiser "Melbourne" can be said to be a microcosm of the combat effectiveness of many cruisers in the German Navy. The destroyers exported by Germany and submarines have always been popular in the arms market. You should know that the ships serving in the German Navy are often at least one level higher than the exported type, and their performance is self-evident!

After throwing several lifeboats for the Japanese who fell into the water, the two Australian ships quickly chased in the direction where the transport ship left. Until then, their mission was just beginning.

After learning that the two ships "Sanma" and "Tamo" were sunk by the Australian fleet one after another, the top leaders of the Japanese Navy were shocked. They immediately ordered the ships operating in the waters near Australia to immediately concentrate on the Bass Strait. However, due to the storm, the Japanese seaplanes and land-based aircraft were unable to take off for patrols, and could only barely send surface ships stationed in Ports Adelaide and Port Melbourne to leave to search for traces of the Australian fleet.

The wind and rain were slightly weak, and the night fell soon. Under the escort of four Australian ships, the transport fleet successfully arrived at a small port in the Greater Australia Bay. The local guerrillas were ready to pick up the ship. They unloaded the supplies in the rain with the sailors on the ship. The four transport ships brought a total of 15,000 British Lee Enfield rifles, 1,200 Lewis light machine guns, 300 Vicks heavy machine guns, 4 million bullets and a large number of them.

He equipped the entire unloading process before dawn, but at 2:30 a.m., the Gibson discovered a Japanese gunboat on the nearby sea and opened fire to sink it. Due to concerns that the sound of guns attracted other Japanese warships and army units, the Australian fleet had to return early, and the guerrillas took away more than three-quarters of the supplies. With the help of these equipment and ammunition, they finally survived the most difficult period.

When they returned, the sky was getting brighter and the rain stopped. However, the Australian fleet did not take the Bass Strait route again, but headed west to the West Indian Ocean waters controlled by Germany. This move was indeed far beyond the expectations of the Japanese Navy. Most of the Japanese ships ordered to round up the Australian ships were empty. However, when they were about to leave the Japanese controlled area, the Australian fleet encountered two Japanese ships carrying out other missions by chance. This time, the opponent was a patrol fleet composed of the Japanese Navy's ancient eagle-class heavy cruiser "Ancient Eagle" and the Kamifeng class destroyer "Kamifeng". The combat power of the old destroyer "Kamifeng" is negligible, but the Ancient Eagle-class heavy cruiser is the first-class heavy cruiser of the Japanese Navy.

During the nearly one hour battle, the Melbourne and the Ancient Eagle made a distance of 10,000 yards to more than 4,000 yards, to be precise, the Melbourne kept chasing the Melbourne to more than 4,000 yards.

The "Ancient Eagle" was put into service in 1926, with a displacement of 10,000 tons and equipped with three dual-mounted 203mm guns. It was originally used to deal with Asia-Pacific countries that lack warships or weak naval strength. It was also the first attempt by Japanese shipyards to have heavy cruisers. Therefore, the ship is small in size. Although it can carry two water reconnaissance aircraft, its firepower, defense, etc. are not outstanding, and its speed is only 33 knots. Therefore, the two ships showed their performance at the beginning of the battle.

A huge gap appeared. The Australian ship used double firepower to taste the anger of the Australians, and eventually sank it more than 360 nautical miles west of Australia. The Gibson also led another Australian destroyer to sink the Kanyu. The death rate of crew on the two Japanese ships was more than 70%. The Melbourne was also hit by the shells fired from the opponent at close range. The equipment at the stern of the ship was damaged and the speed was reduced to 30 knots.
Chapter completed!