I Have A Martial Dao World-Chapter 520 - : 520. Marine Warfare

Chapter 520: 520. Marine Warfare

“Jie Shuangyu” had 3 triple-turreted gun mounts, with nine 406mm naval guns.

The gunners were the three officers with the highest Spirit Refining Stage in the entire fleet.

They entered the Spirit Refining State and locked onto the “Izumo” firmly, and with the assistance of advanced “Optical Rangefinders”, their capabilities were further enhanced.

As soon as Commander Lin Zhongqing gave the order to “fire”, the soldiers quickly squatted down and grabbed onto their surroundings.

Then came a deafening roar and violent shaking!

Out of the gigantic barrels, over 20 meters long and large enough for an adult to crawl into, burst intense fire and thick smoke that covered the entire battleship, and the cannonballs weighing 1.2 tons screamed out of the barrels!

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When the “Jie Shuangyu” was built, large-caliber naval gun technology was already mature, and the accuracy was exceptional.

The combination of the Spirit Refining State and the “Optical Rangefinder” created a miraculous effect!

Even over a distance of more than 20 kilometers, the first round of fire achieved remarkable results!

The first 406mm cannonball struck the “Izumo” straight at its number one main turret at the bow.

Amidst the loud clashing sounds of metal, the shell was blocked by armor up to 650mm thick and did not penetrate, exploding immediately afterward.

But the enormous impact still injured more than a dozen Izumo Navy sailors inside and damaged the observation equipment.

Hot on its heels, a second scorching hot cannonball whistled through the air, hitting the Izumo’s secondary turret.

This turret was outfitted with 155mm naval guns and was less robustly defended, with armor only 25mm thick.

It was penetrated on the spot and exploded violently, sending the entire turret flying into the sky.

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After that, three more cannonballs hit different parts of the Izumo, unfortunately, none penetrated the thick armor of up to 410mm on the battleship’s hull.

But such results were unexpectedly good, and the morale of the Zhenhai Fleet surged:

“Beautiful shot!”

“The battleship granted by the true Monarch is miraculous!”

The officers and soldiers all hoped to expand their victory, to annihilate this obvious ace of the Izumo Navy in one fell swoop, and in doing so, not only establish their merits but also… seek vengeance!

Lin Zhongqing roared, “Hurry up and load! Relay the shooting parameters to all ships!”

“Jie Shuangyu” had a more advanced targeting system, and by transmitting data to friendly ships, they could make slight adjustments and hit their targets.

However, accompanying ships like “Laiyuan” and “Jingyuan”, built 20 years ago, were already out of date and couldn’t contribute much.

The key to victory or defeat in this battle still depended on the “Jie Shuangyu” itself!

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On the “Izumo”, even though they were suddenly attacked, they managed to cope with it.

But Colonel Matsushima’s earlier shout had prepared everyone psychologically.

Taking advantage of the enemy’s main guns reloading, they quickly launched a counterattack.

At this moment, the two fleets, one horizontal and one vertical, happened to form a “T-shape”.

The Zhenhai Fleet had the advantageous horizontal position, lined up in a row, allowing all of their main guns to be operational.

“Izumo” was in the vertical line, with only its front main guns and some of the side secondary guns able to fire forward; the rear main guns couldn’t be used.

In the rush of the moment, there was no time for careful consideration, and the six 460mm naval guns on the “Izumo” immediately fired.

The 1.5-ton cannonballs, flying at twice the speed of sound, missed their target amidst the tossing waves, either soaring over the enemy ships or splashing into the sea, creating wavelets tens of meters high.

This was the standard expected of regular battleships—generally, the first round of fire was for calibration.

Before radar was perfected, fire control and gunnery ranging methods were quite primitive, requiring initial test shots to observe where the shells landed, followed by adjustments for precise aiming.

But having lost the initiative, and missing with the first round, the “Izumo” could only helplessly endure another volley of enemy cannon fire.

Scorching shells, trailing a ripped-air trajectory, smashed down like meteors, causing ground-shaking, mountain-quaking explosions!

Many sailors were flung against the bulkhead, breaking who knows how many bones.

Moreover, one armor-piercing shell with a perfect angle struck, piercing through the bow armor of the “Yamato”, tearing open a nearly two-meter diameter hole, allowing a huge influx of seawater into the watertight compartments.

Faced with such a disadvantage, the commander of the “Yamato”, Colonel Matsushima, didn’t choose to retreat but instead ordered, “Full speed ahead! Close the distance!”

The helmsman repeated the captain’s words loudly and immediately charged at the enemy at full speed.

“Courage favors those who meet on a narrow path! If their cannons are accurate, then close the distance to negate their advantage!”

The Izumo side, from top to bottom, had full confidence in their own “Yamato”!

Don’t look at the few cannonballs they had taken now, but for a rugged battleship, such damage was hardly significant.

The combat effectiveness of the “Yamato” was hardly affected, maintaining high speed. Using only the front two main turrets, it rapidly closed the distance!

But the other Izumo battleships following behind were seriously out of luck.

Whether the “Yamato” fired or was hit, it would produce billowing gun smoke, seriously hindering the vision of friendly forces and causing chaos.

But what was even worse, cannonballs aimed at the “Yamato” could easily veer off and hit themselves instead.

One could see at the rear, an Izumo supply ship getting struck by a 406mm naval gun, immediately breaking in two amidship.

Following that, the heavy cruiser “Aoba” got its bulkhead pierced by an armor-piercing shell, which blew off the entire boiler room, igniting a large fire and immobilizing it.

This group suddenly realized the gap between their ships; no one could withstand a salvo from the enemy!

Thus, they slowed down, seeking opponents more on an equal footing—the smaller vessels of the Zhenhai fleet.

The “Yamato” did not care about these little brothers that were only a sixth or seventh of its own tonnage, and kept executing its own tactics, finally closing the distance with the enemy to within 15 kilometers!

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Seeing the enemy bearing down with great momentum, Captain Lin Zhongqing remained undaunted and even communicated with his Deputy Captain in charge of the rear turrets, Deng Boxiang:

“If the Izumo people are in such a hurry to meet their death, let’s accommodate them!”

Deng Boxiang had been watching the enemy ship closely and now said, “The enemy is at full speed of only 27 knots, much slower than us.”

“Good, we’ll strike with speed against slow!” Lin Zhongqing immediately shouted, “Hard to port!”

The “Jie Shuangyu” immediately traveled at full speed to the left, maintaining a 35-degree angle with the “Yamato” that was chasing her from behind.

Next, the two battleships chased each other across the vast ocean, not giving an inch.

Their distance remained at around 15 kilometers, and secondary guns also began firing at each other.

For a while, the sea was filled with the roars of cannons and the sizzling trajectory of cannonballs crisscrossing like a meteor shower, with the pungent smell of gunpowder spreading in the air, as the battle reached a fever pitch.

After about fifteen minutes of pursuit, the “Yamato” gradually realized something was wrong.

Maintaining a 35-degree angle between the ships… all of the enemy’s main guns could be brought to bear;

While they themselves were at a serious disadvantage, they could still only use two turrets to fight back, and could only hit the opponent’s steeply angled armor.

After an exchange of fire, the “Jie Shuangyu” also took a few hits.

But although its armor was slightly thinner than the enemy’s, its metallurgical technology was far more advanced, and its durability wasn’t any less.

In addition, with a large inclination angle, the enemy’s cannonballs caused nothing more than violent shaking, without causing obvious damage to their own hull.

In contrast, the “Yamato” was in a much more pitiful state, having been hit so many times that they lost count, the sturdy hull was already severely breached in multiple places.

Having been led on a wild chase, Colonel Matsushima finally realized this was going badly and quickly ordered a retreat.

But how could Lin Zhongqing let him escape? He immediately ordered his warship to cut through the waves, turned the bow, and chased after them.

This time it became the “Yamato” trying to escape with the “Jie Shuangyu” in pursuit, which took only three minutes to catch up head on!

Realizing he had been easily caught, Colonel Matsushima finally recognized that the enemy surpassed them not only in gunnery skill but also in speed!

“Where did these Shina people get such advanced battleships!!”

But by that point, admiration was useless; the two battleships were like combatants locked in a mortal struggle, one of which was clearly no longer able to keep up!