The reinforced troops have passed through the Bayamo line with more than 30,000 political axe troops, about 2,000 US troops, 24 M2 tanks, more than 100 field guns of more than 100 calibers, and more than 200 field guns of 75 calibers.

The blockade of the three major groups was not detected by the US military and the Cuban political axe army, and the fall of Bayamo was not known to the outside world, and they still waited for 40 attack planes and bombers in Santiago to be the front station of the attack, and six warships at sea were used as the defense of the rebels who were encircling Manzanillo.

The sky was dark, and the seaplanes on the warship took off. They received news that the fighters had taken off from San Diego, and in response, they were to cover the landing of the Marines and join up with the more than 300 American troops in Johnton, who were still holding out, to defeat the rebels in Manzanillo.

At this time, Santiago greeted two freighters, nervously unloading the guns and anti-aircraft guns on board. By this time, however, the army had already left, with less than 300 advance soldiers and less than 1,000 members of the Cuban Independence Army. They were in charge of guarding Santiago, Dong Ku, but they went straight to Holguin.

The fighting on this side has all ended, and the troops have been divided into several ways to clear the scattered troops and political axes around the area, and completely bring this area under control. And Dong Ku's ultimate goal is to take Holguin, just today, after taking there, fix the defensive line there, completely cut off the route of reinforcements in northern Cuba, fight a war of attrition to block it, and attract American reinforcements.

There, the seaplane circled over the battleship and flew towards Manzanillo. He had to provide the coordinates for the battleship to carry out the shelling.

The seaplane easily flew over Manzanillo in the clouds, then lowered its altitude and made its way through the clouds. Carefully search for the desired target.

Continuously reducing the altitude, the seaplane circled Manzanillo three times, and finally determined several positions, where the original batteries were located, where there were also several old shore guns of 200 caliber, which could pose a threat to the battleship. Everything else doesn't matter anymore.

As he returned, two old destroyers, two inshore frigates, and two light ocean-going frigates rose into smoke and slowly headed for the port of Manzanillo.

There, there are also two warships, which are the first objects of attention. They had to sink the warship before they bombarded the shore defenses. After the implementation of landing,

The artillery position was there, and Han Lie was personally in charge, and he waited calmly. Wait for the enemy to all come within range of the artillery ambush.

"Where is the troop carrier?"

Han Lie asked without looking back.

"Six nautical miles from warships and twelve nautical miles from artillery."

Twelve nautical miles......

Han Lie calculated, at a distance of twenty kilometers, there was no chance to leave when the shelling began.

"Herald!"

Han Lieteng stood up and ordered loudly: "The No. 1 position is responsible for the eight troop carriers and two freighters at the farthest end, all of them are sunk!" ”

"Position No. 2 is responsible for destroyers, position No. 3 is responsible for corvettes, and position No. 4 is responsible for two inshore frigates!"

"Position 5 is on standby. Remove the disguise in a minute!! ”

"Ready...... Fire!!! ”

With his roar, twenty guns in each of the four positions immediately roared.

Inside the port. Although the main guns and secondary guns of the two battleships were of small caliber, they also joined the ranks of the shelling, both fixed hulls, 150 secondary guns, and 203 main guns roared one after another.

The shells whimpered in the sky and flew in pieces towards their respective targets.

At this time, the enemy ships were still making the last preparations, and the muzzles were slowly transferred to the port. The hull of the ship is all facing the direction of the port, lined up, moving slowly, and the author is preparing for the most difficult before shooting.

Just then, an observer suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted: "Shelling!!" ”

With his shouts. More people saw the shells flying.

"Keep course, full speed!! The main gun and the secondary gun are ready!! ”

Steve, the captain of the destroyer USS Bagel, who temporarily served as the flagship, shouted.

With the light signal, the shells flew over their heads and flew into the distance.

Not to attack the battleship? Or are they simply blind shots?

Before this thought fell, the main and secondary guns were still turning, and the battleships were lined up, and when they were accelerating, the sound of the screaming of the cannonballs entered the ear drums, and then the loud banging sounded left and right before the battle, and the water columns rose into the air.

There was a crossover shot in one round!!

Although the battleship is old, the soldiers on the battleship are also veterans, how can they not know the horror of the cross-shooting? This shows that the shore artillery has already aimed at the battleship, and it is bad luck.

But their thoughts did not fall either, the water column was still falling, and the battleship trembled in the loud bang.

Steve was almost knocked over by the violent shaking, and he was shocked: "Close the conning tower!!" Shelling!! ”

At his shouting, the Bagel hit four shells in a row. Fortunately, these shells were high-explosive shells, which did not penetrate the armor, but only swept away the fragments of the battleship.

Compared to him, the other Bernardo, which was launched in the same year, was not so lucky.

The battleship was surrounded by firelight, and an armor-piercing projectile drilled through the No. 1 turret, continuously penetrating the base cabin and exploding in the boiler compartment.

Rumble!

With a loud bang, Bernardo's huge hull moved sideways for several meters, shaking violently, and five shells hit the side armor in a row, although it was not an armor-piercing shell, but the explosive force was terrifying.

The explosion in the boiler killed it even more, and the erupting steam instantly turned the people inside into cooked meat, and the huge shock wave swept away the upper deck, and even the No. 1 turret fell to one side, and the speed of the battleship dropped sharply.

At sea, the speed of a warship is a fatal thing, not to mention the shore defense artillery, which has a much higher accuracy rate.

"How did they aim at ?!!?"

Bernardo's captain Hades was shocked, tried to straighten his body, and ordered the left rudder to get out of the way, giving way to the battleships sailing in formation behind to make way for the artillery bombardment.

On the Bagel, the turret was busy nervously, and they stuffed the shells into the chambers of the guns in the violent concussion, and the four-inch main gun roared out, and four shells flew towards the harbor one after another.

The secondary guns also roared, and the shells flew towards the harbor one by one.

But they didn't know what to do, there were no ships in the direction of their shelling, and the two ships moored there had long since left.

And it was not the battleships that bombarded them, nor the batteries, but the new positions that were built a little further from the batteries.

Han Lie didn't say a word, he waited for the radar report, waiting for the news of the sinking of the battleship to come.

On the position, the fighters moved quickly, and in the semi-mechanical reloading action, two shots a minute were easy, or even shorter.

With a loud roar, several artillery pieces roared and sent armor-piercing shells into the sky, grazing the top of the cannonballs flying from the opposite side, and the birds rushed to the battleship like they were returning to their nests.

This time, all the shells were armor-piercing, and after the test firing, it was necessary to sink the battleships as soon as possible to prevent escape.

The Bernardo was also unlucky enough to have an armor-piercing bullet in the first round and hit the starter. The second round of shells fell again less than half a minute apart, but it gave it a chance to escape completely.

Rumble!

A shell burrowed into the bow of the ship and exploded. The whole battleship jerked up, the bow was raised high, and then it plunged headlong.

Without waiting for the huge waves to calm down, while the hull of the ship made two loud noises and two huge holes appeared in the waterline, the bow of the ship was never lifted again, just like a fierce man, the drill bit was tilting its butt regardless of its feet, and it slowed down rapidly, and it was about to stop.

The main reason for the loss of power was not in the bow of the ship, but two shells at the side waterline. Under the tension of the water, the water pressure held the shock wave of the internal explosion in the penetrating body, causing the opening to be torn open for more than ten meters, and several tons of seawater poured in in an instant, making the speed of the battleship tilt.

Not to mention that destroyers don't have watertight compartments, even if there are watertight compartments like battleships, such a big opening is enough to kill old people.

Hades was shocked, he didn't know why the opponent's coastal defense artillery was so accurate, although he had heard that China's advance artillery in the Caspian Sea, the tension of the waves alone could break the battleship, but the rebels here in Cuba obviously could not have that skill, and there was no such good artillery, and the coastal defense artillery here was even twenty kilometers hard, let alone accurate. But the reality was in front of him, and he couldn't help but be surprised, how could the other party be so accurate?

Taking a deep breath, ignoring the first mate who nervously reported that the cabin was flooded, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Abandon the ship!" ”

The battleship had already begun to tilt, and the order to abandon the ship gave all the crew an edict to rush to the lifeboat, ready to abandon ship.

It's a pity that they don't have a chance.

Just as the battleship was on fire, a cannonball flew again.

Boom!!

There were six loud bangs in a row, and the battleship fire splashed everywhere, and ten of them hit six, which can be regarded as accurate.

The unlucky Bernardo was hit by an armor-piercing bullet in the ammunition compartment, and with a shocking bang, the sea sank violently, and the battleship was torn apart, and even those people were not given a chance to dive, and they disintegrated and sank.

The Bagel in front of it did not go much better, only fired a round of shells, landed in the harbor, and set off huge waves to crash on the shore, except for overturning a few small boats, but did not catch anything. But the second round of shells hit its stern, and in the violent explosion, a large piece of the stern was torn off, just like the stern of a parallel ship in later generations, without a section.

This section killed the old battleship, and the violent explosion crooked the propeller shaft and left the bearing seat, and then under the huge torque, the propeller hit the broken hull, and then the propeller shaft bent, and in the harsh sound, it was completely broken.

The sudden loss of motivation startled Steve, and before he could think about it, Bernardo exploded and shattered him within a nautical mile.

How so......

Steve stared at the brilliant fireworks in such a daze that he forgot about the command. He knew very well in his heart that the opponent's artillery was so accurate, and it would be difficult for them to escape their doom. After all, if the ability to sail is lost, if the opponent can aim, it will not be a moving target, but a fixed target. (To be continued......)