My Italian Chapter 408

In the face of the vicious Spanish fleet, the American fleet fled in all directions.

Colonel Lorante soon had a hint of remorse, because although the Iowa under the seat looked mighty, but the highest speed was only a terrible 16 knots, which was in front of the Turin class who could run 18 knots. It's a little bit not enough. Not to mention, the 20-knot Maria Theresclass armored cruiser harassed by the side, making Iowa's speed even less able to run.

Two hours later, under the desperate eyes of the officers and soldiers on the Iowa, three Turin-class ships surrounded them.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Greetings from three Turin-class 356mm main guns came from a distance of 6,000 meters. One after another, the Iowa officers and men breathed a sigh of relief.

But they know that now is not the time to relax, there are at least 3 hours before dark, and they have to survive these 3 hours.

Of course, the Iowa is not without counterattacks. The four 305 mm 35 times main guns it is equipped with also fire at the enemy ships in the rear. But it didn't hit either.

However, it was temporary that the two sides did not hit, because the two sides were approaching, making it easier and easier to hit.

"boom!"

A 356mm artillery shell weighing more than 400 kilograms hit the stern of Iowa. The violent explosion made a big hole in the stern, and also caused the speed of the Iowa to drop sharply, and the expressions of the American officers and soldiers on the ship suddenly changed. It was hard to see that the power compartment was hit and slowed down.

Seeing this opportunity, how could the three Turin-class battleships miss it? They, who had the advantage of speed, took the opportunity to immediately surround them.

"Let the three mounted patrols leave to pursue the enemy ships, here we are."

Colonel Leifer, who was in charge of the battleship formation, first gave the order to leave the three Maria Theresclass armored cruisers. It's not that he is afraid of taking credit, but the battle between the battleships is really not suitable for the patrolling, because the battleship is heavy cavalry, and the patrolling is light cavalry, anyone who wants to face the heavy cavalry Against the light cavalry there will be no good results.

The three patrol boats also understood what Colonel Leifer meant, left a message of good luck to them, and ran away.

Well, the next is the battle between the battleships, but it is three-on-one, you can choose one to fight the three of us, or the three of us to fight one of you.

Well, let's not gossip, at a distance of 4,500 meters, the three Turin-class artillery fire is ruthlessly hitting the Iowa. Of course, Iowa did not give up her plan either. Its 4 305mm main guns and 8 203mm secondary guns also fought back. The two sides kept firing, trying to deal a fatal blow to the opponent.

It was a real hand-to-hand fight, with the gunner repeating the firing order. A round of shells were lifted from the bottom of the ammunition magazine under the action of the bomber and manpower, and then sent into the still hot chamber. Then stuffed the silk-wrapped waist bag, closed the breech, and aimed to shoot!

The successive shelling caused damage to both sides. For example, the Isabel II, formerly known as the Barry, was hit multiple times by Iowa's 305mm and 203mm shells, causing two 152mm secondary guns. and personnel losses.

However, the loss of the Isabel II, compared with the Iowa, was completely underwhelming. The Iowa is now full of scars. The 356mm heavy artillery has caused considerable damage to Iowa. Its bow and rear funnel have been hit, which directly leads to the poor aiming of the rear main gun. In addition, the four 203mm secondary guns in the midship were destroyed, and several large holes on the side of the ship also showed that its armor was not good enough in front of the 14-inch cannon.

Of course this was just the beginning of Iowa's woes.

Boom, boom! Two loud bangs sounded from the back of the hull of the Iowa! At a distance of less than 3,500 meters, the main gun of the Palermo, renamed the Princess Christina, fired two 356mm armor-piercing rounds into the stern of the Iowa at a near vertical angle.

The first shell hit the main armor belt, a huge impact on the main armor belt of the Iowa. Although there was no breakdown, a whole piece of the main armor plate was torn from the hull, which directly led to a large opening of more than ten square meters near the rear wheelhouse of the Iowa!

Another shell directly penetrated the upper armor belt of the Iowa, and then exploded above the wheelhouse after passing through several cabins. In order to directly destroy the wheelhouse, the entire battleship was suddenly half out of control. state.

Then, the three Turin-class battleships continued to spray firepower on the Iowa, causing its losses to increase. And the counter-fire from the Iowa is getting weaker and weaker.

"it's time."

At this time, Colonel Leifer ordered the two destroyers waiting on the outside to enter the field. It is a bit difficult to rely on artillery shells to solve the opponent. It is better to use torpedoes. Besides, there is still a task ahead, so it's good to leave some shells.

Under the orders of Colonel Leifer, the two destroyers Alvaro and Molina rushed into the field. These two destroyers are new ships commissioned by Spain in 1896, with a displacement of 800 tons, carrying four 356 mm torpedo tube launchers, and a maximum speed of 28 knots.

I saw two destroyers flying towards Iowa, and in the face of the malicious little guy, Iowa was still desperately resisting, and the few secondary guns on its ship were still firing at it.

It's just that the two destroyers chose their positions very cleverly, and only three 57mm guns could shoot them. And the 57mm naval gun can only deal with small torpedo boats, and it is still a little bit worse against destroyers.

When they were close to a distance of several hundred meters~www.mtlnovel.com~ The two destroyers made a beautiful turn, thump, thump, and six torpedoes hit the Iowa.

"Bengbengbeng~" The five consecutive loud noises broke the Iowa into a huge horizontal crack, and a large amount of seawater poured into the Iowa to tilt at a speed visible to the naked eye. to the end of life.

At this time, the sun has already fallen to the sea line. If it is a little later, the night will come out.

Compared with the three battleships wasting a lot of effort to solve their opponents, the two Garibaldi classes were not too easy when it came to solving the New York's patrol.

As a quasi-battle cruiser, the two Garibaldi-class ships declared their death the moment they caught up with the New York cruiser. The salvo power of the 16 10-inch main guns shocked the Spanish officers and soldiers who fired the guns. In the first round, a hit was achieved at a distance of 5,000 meters, and then every round of shooting was able to achieve a hit.

The 6-inch-thick sloping dome on the New York was like a piece of paper in the face of the ferocious firepower of the two Garibal-class ships.

In an hour's time, the New York, which was set on fire by the two ships, was sent into the sea.

Then the two ships relied on their own speed to continue chasing the enemy's escaped warships. Of course, it wasn't just them. Two Venetian cruisers were chasing them, and three Maria Theresclass cruisers were added later. The pursuit of the seven mounted cruisers prevented several protected cruisers from escaping the poison. Because these warships were basically built around 1890, their top speed was only 17-18 knots.

But no matter how much fighting, it should stop after dark.

Seeing the black cover, the American warship that escaped the pursuit hurried to New York and needed to inform them of the arrival of Spain.

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Chapter end