On the morning of April 10, 4620 (22) of the Yellow Emperor Era, the Chinese Navy and the British Navy encountered each other in the waters south of Ceylon, and a tragic battle began. In order to win this battle, both the British Navy and the Chinese Navy have already invested in the main force.

After receiving the battle report from the front, Marshal Cheng Biguang, commander of the Imperial Navy, ordered the main fleet of the Imperial Navy to deflect its course a little. The reason why he did this was entirely based on the fact that if Vice Admiral Lee and Vice Admiral were confronted by David Beatty's battle patrol detachment, with the strength of Vice Admiral Lee and Vice Admiral, plus five 'Five Emperor-class' battleships, it was entirely possible to defeat the British Navy's battle patrol formation. He led the main fleet of the Imperial Navy, preparing to intercept the fleeing British naval battle patrol formations and further expand the results of the battle.

At 11:24 a.m., the lookout on the British Navy's battlecruiser HMS Hood had spotted the Chinese Navy to the south, and immediately raised the alarm. Almost at the same time, the Chinese Navy also spotted the British Navy.

"God bless the British Empire! The Chinese really divided their troops. There were only four old battleships and four old battlecruisers. Here's our chance. Order the ships, form a battle line, and prepare to give the Chinese a little color to see. We have at least one to two hours, which should be enough for us to inflict heavy damage on this detachment of the Chinese. Marshal David Beatty rejoiced. In his opinion, the Chinese Navy's 'Longxing-class' battleships, 'Longteng-class' battleships, 'Longfei-class' battlecruisers, and 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers are all old battleships, and they are absolutely impossible to be the opponents of the British Navy's 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers and 'Lion-class' battlecruisers. The 'Tiger' battlecruiser is actually an improved version of the 'Lion-class' battlecruiser, but there are too many improvements, so it is listed separately.

On the other side, on the battleship 'Longxing' of the Imperial Navy. A smile also appeared on the faces of Lieutenant General Li He and Major General Lin Jianzhang: "Sure enough, as we expected, the British battle patrol acted alone. It seems that they also suffered in the Battle of Jutland, but they did not pay attention to it! ”

"Lao Li, it's hard to say. The British 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers were not so easy to deal with. 381 mm gun. None of our ships can handle it. Major General Lin Jianzhang said.

"We can't bear it. However, their battle cruisers could not carry our 343 mm guns or 305 mm guns. Lieutenant General Li He said. The British Navy's 'Admiral-class' battle cruisers were also not heavily armoured. With the exception of the armor on the front of the turret, which is 381 mm thick, the rest of the armor is generally only 305 mm or 280 mm. As for the "Lion-class" battlecruisers and the "Tiger" battlecruisers, the armor was even weaker. Even the 50 times caliber 305 mm guns of the 'Longteng-class' battlecruisers and 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers can easily penetrate them.

"Send a telegram to the 2nd Battleship Detachment and let them arrive as soon as possible." Lieutenant General Li He added. After all, eight battle cruisers of the British Navy. None of them are easy to mess with. If the five 'Five Emperor-class' battleships of the 2nd Battleship Detachment had arrived in time, the odds would undoubtedly be a little greater. Of course, the premise was that the British Navy did not escape. Otherwise, neither the 31 knots of the Hood battlecruiser nor the 28 knots of the Tiger and Lion class battlecruisers could catch up.

"Hmm!" Rear Admiral Lin Jianzhang nodded and personally sent a telegram to the 2nd Battleship Detachment.

"Let's have our Cavendish class heavy cruisers, go to the periphery. If the Chinese want to escape, they have to hold them back. Give us time. All the battlecruisers, formed into battle lines, were ready for battle. "Marshal David Beatty gave the order.

The three Cavendish class heavy cruisers accelerated out of formation and headed for the periphery. Eight battle cruisers, then began to form a battle line. Get ready for the next fierce battle.

"What did the British mean by letting three heavy cruisers go? Did they think we would run away? In that case, let's get rid of their three heavy cruisers with our 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers. The rest of the capital ships, forming battle lines, were ready to engage the British. Telegraphs were sent to the ships. Empires rise and fall, fight here! Lieutenant General Li He ordered.

"Yes!" Major General Lin Jianzhang nodded with a serious face.

The four 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy accelerated out of formation. In the duel of capital ships, heavy cruisers cannot be mixed in. The 210-mm guns of the heavy cruiser, the capital ship of the enemy, could hardly inflict fatal damage. The opponent's main guns can easily tear through the armor of the heavy cruiser. Therefore, it is still a heavy cruiser against a heavy cruiser, which is relatively fair.

The battle line of the British Navy consisted of four 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers in front, the 'Tiger' battlecruiser in the center, and three 'Lion-class' battlecruisers in the rear. From the beginning to the end, there were 'Hood', 'Anson', 'Howe', 'Rodney', 'Tiger', 'Lion', 'Royal Princess', 'Queen Mary'. Other light cruisers and destroyers were on standby on the side of the battle line.

The battle line of the Imperial Navy consisted of four battleships in front and four battlecruisers in the rear. The four 'Admiral-class' battlecruisers of the British Navy were so energetic and ferocious that they naturally had to be countered by four battleships with thicker armor. The whole battle line, in this way, is the 'Longxing', 'Longfu', 'Longteng', 'Longxiang', 'Longfei', 'Longfei', 'Longyun', 'Longyao' and 'Longhui'.

Compared with the battle line of the British Navy, the Imperial Navy was relatively slow due to the drag of the battleships, and the maximum speed was only 21 knots. On the other hand, the British Navy's battle line was able to increase its maximum speed to 28 knots, which was 7 knots higher than the Imperial Navy's battle line. Of course, it is impossible to have such a high speed when the battle line is bombarded. At high speeds, the battleship is very turbulent, and if you want to hit the enemy's battleship, you can only rely on God to bless. Therefore, when the battle line is bombarded, the speed is often controlled at a dozen knots.

"I really admire their courage to not run away after encountering the Royal Navy. Do they think that with their old warships, they will be able to compete with our cutting-edge warships? Part-time jobs are wishful thinking. Order the fleet to turn and turn to seize the T-prefix. David Beatty ordered. If you can take advantage of the position at the beginning of the battle, you will undoubtedly be able to inflict heavy damage on the enemy in the early stages of the battle. In this way, it is conducive to winning the whole battle.

Subsequently, the battle line of the British Navy began to turn, intending to get stuck in front of the battle line of the Imperial Navy. However, when the battle line of the British Navy turned, the Imperial Navy immediately turned as well. Although the speed of the Imperial Navy's battle line is a little slower, if you follow the British Navy in time, it is not so easy to make the opponent strong to the T-shape.

If the British Navy relied on their speed advantage and kept looking for opportunities, they would soon have seized a favorable position. The disadvantage of speed put the Imperial Navy at a disadvantage when dealing with the British Navy. But, unfortunately, the British Navy did not have enough time. David Betty knows that too.

David Beatty's plan was to bite the Imperial Navy hard before the main fleet of the Chinese Navy arrived. Then use the speed advantage to quickly escape. Avoid being blocked by the Imperial Navy. If you keep dealing with the Imperial Navy in order to seize a favorable position, it will undoubtedly be a waste of time. Once the main forces of the Imperial Navy arrived, David Betty would probably have no choice but to retreat. If both sides had gathered their main forces to fight each other, David Beatty was not sure if the British Navy would have won. After all, the Chinese Navy's 'Three Emperor-class' battleships and 'Pinghai-class' battleships are equipped with 410-mm guns, which is scary to think about.

"Order the fleet, slow down. Since you can't grab the T-prefix, don't grab it. Defeat them with the main gun. David Beatty ordered.

"Yes, Marshal." The staff officer immediately gave the order.

The speed of the battle line of the British Navy began to decline rapidly, and soon fell from more than twenty knots to a dozen knots.

"Humph! Cunning Brits, they know that it is not good for them to drag it out, so, they simply start bombarding it directly? Lieutenant General Li He snorted coldly. However, even if it was time to enter the showdown, the Imperial Navy was not afraid.

The speed of both sides remained at about 16 knots, and the distance between the two sides began to get closer and closer, from 18,000 kilometers to 15,000 kilometers.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

Test firing of the four twin 381-mm guns of the battlecruiser 'Hood' began. It's just that at a distance of 15,000 meters, in the absence of a fire control radar, it is not so easy to hit the target at this distance! More often than not, it's just luck.

However, I have to admit that when the 381-mm guns were shelling, the momentum was extremely amazing. The shells exploded in the sea, splashing up a column of water that was dozens of meters high.

It's just that at such a distance, even the high-quality Royal Navy has a somewhat unflattering accuracy. The nearest impact points are a few hundred meters away. Of course, this is a great help for morale. (To be continued.) )

PS: The thirty-fifth is here, ask for a monthly pass and a reward!