Chapter 420 of the New History of China in the First Sino-Japanese War: Makanov's Response

"When I saw the Beiyang Fleet coming out of the rear as if it had fallen from the sky, I knew that we had lost this war, and we did not expect victory, but only hoped to get out of here alive." -- Makanov "concentrated all his firepower on attacking the enemy's flagship, the Pinghai." Looking at the Beiyang Fleet, which was getting closer and closer, Makanov weakly gave the battle order. Two-thirds of the torpedo boats and two armored cruisers were not on hand. There are only 5 torpedo boats and 3 battleships on his side, and a total of 12 12-inch guns have to deal with the 18 12-inch guns of the opponent's 3 battleships. Even the running speed is not enough! Makanov did not immediately send the remaining five torpedo boats to launch a decisive charge to buy time, because he knew that under the dense fire net of the other side, rushing up was just a moth throwing fire, and it would not play any decisive role. So he held back, he waited, waiting for an opportunity!

"Makanov is really old-fashioned. His fleet was constantly changing direction, and the two sides were basically parallel, but the lateral spacing between the two was very small. Our main artillery firing community has been greatly affected. 3 battleships with a total of 18 guns, only 10 can find the firing range. Liu Buyun said hatefully..........

"That's right...... If we go a little to the right, we can get a better shot, but the difference in speed between the two sides will be reduced. The other party can escape a little farther. Yang Yonglin nodded in agreement. But that's nothing. Just catch up. Closer lateral distances will allow me to have better shooting boundaries as well. ”

"This is a departure from the plan we began to make, and as the distance closes, our artillery superiority is weakened." Liu Buyun said.

"It doesn't matter, it's enough for us to get a range of shots against the last one of the opposing side, the Petro Pavlov." Yang Yonglin was not greedy, he didn't think about finishing his work in one battle. It seems that the three to three have an absolute advantage, and if you count the auxiliary fleet, your advantage is even greater. But the big advantage must have time to play, the place of the battle is not too far from the opponent's minefield, and looking at the time, it is already more than 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It would take a long time to destroy the opponent by shelling alone, especially in a state of pursuit. Even more so!

Adhering to this principle, the three Dante-class battleships aimed all 10 12-inch guns at the rear of the line, which was at the end of the line! Everything was as Lin Taizeng's fleet did, sideways, ranged, and then half a salvo was targeted. After the formation of a crash shot. Switch from slow to fast fire. The roar of 10 12-inch naval guns resounded throughout the battlefield, like the clarion call of the Doomsday War, which made people's hearts palpitate. The Petropav, located at the stern of the team, was enveloped by an oval-shaped drop zone, and after the collapse was over, there was a near-miss, and then a 12-inch shell hit the stern! …。

This is a high-explosive shell, because of the problems of the angles of the two sides, it is difficult to penetrate the main armor belt in the case of a large angle of incidence, even with an immature hood armor-piercing projectile. At the same time, it is also taken into account that the Russian battleships were built relatively early, the design is not very mature, and the height of the armor belt is not enough. Therefore, it is better to use high-explosive shells to hit unprotected or lightly protected parts than armor-piercing shells! The shell successfully tore through the unprotected zone at the stern, opened a large hole of more than ten square meters at the stern, and then drilled into the hull. Accompanied by the activation of the fuse. More than a dozen kilograms of picric acid explosives were detonated in the hull. A firestorm swept across the stern of the ship. With the impact of the explosion, the cracked steel plates, bracket beams, etc., turned the entire stern of the ship into a purgatory, and a bright yellow fire dragon soared into the sky, billowing smoke rising from the stern to obscure the firing boundary of the stern cannon.

While the Russians were still terrified by the blow they had just hit, another 12-inch shell fell from the sky, and because of the angle of incidence, this shell still hit the stern. "From my vantage point, I could see a fireball passing at high speed across the stern sideline of the Peter Paplov. The shell may not have hit the target directly, or it may have grazed the side of the ship. A huge fireball then rose over the water on the starboard side of the hull. Unexpectedly, the damage to the hull from this shell was greater than from a shell that hit the hull directly, and the whole ship shook a little, followed by a slight tilt to the right. A large amount of seawater poured into the hull of the ship through the blasted hole. Afterwards, Liu Buyun recorded the second hit in the report.

…………。

"General, the Pyotr Pavlov was hit." Looking at the black smoke rising in the distance, an officer said anxiously.

"Don't panic, kid, since it's happened, then we have to face it." Makanov patted the other man on the shoulder and ordered. "Give a signal to Pyotr Paplov, just tell him to get out of formation, block between the two battleships in front, and cover the retreat of our troops. Also, the smoke canister we prepared in advance can be used. ”

"Your Excellency, are you sentencing the Petro Paplov to death?" The captain of the Navarin, Wells, said loudly. His face was full of anger and unwillingness.

"If the operation is good...... We also have a chance to fight backhand, and if it fails, we can only minimize the losses of the fleet. After saying that, Makanov ignored Wells's questioning, turned around and asked, "How long will it take for the Pearl and the Goddess to return?" ”

"Although they successfully got rid of the interception of the other party, but soon, the Beiyang detachment also rushed to support the main fleet, if the Pearl wants to merge with the main fleet, I am afraid they will still have to fight with the Beiyang detachment again." A staff officer replied.

"Tell the Pearl to entangle each other's detachments at the same time. At least in half an hour, 3 or 4 torpedo boats were to be sent to converge with the main fleet. Makanov thought for a moment and ordered..........

In just a few minutes, Makanov laid out all the orders, and it is impossible to say that Makanov did not think of a possible predicament, as a veteran admiral. He will prepare several sets of plans for his fleet, one of which is used to deal with the current situation, his fleet is bitten by the Beiyang Fleet and cannot be shaken off! The so-called abandonment of damaged warships and the tail of a gecko is what those new naval officers do. As a veteran, you won't sacrifice a capital ship for nothing! That's not his style!

With Makanov's order, the wounded Petropavlov began to leave the formation, lying between the two fleets, and at the same time the smoke canisters prepared on the hull began to spew billowing smoke, and in the era of no radar guidance, the impact of a large number of delays on sighting was enormous. So much so that this tactic began with the 1st World War and continued to the 2nd World War!

Thank you for the reward of the book friend Songlin Pony, the first reward of this month, I am moving~~. Yesterday I didn't have as many recommended subscriptions as I did the day before yesterday.,What's going on--!

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