Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 768: Battle of the Bay of Bengal
At 9:05 am on September 16, 1647, the 29th year of the reign of Emperor Ming, Emperor Zhu Youdong issued an order for the main fleet of the navy to attack. Then the entire Yangon Port suddenly boiled like boiling soup.
At 9:50, the ships in the harbor left the harbor one after another. The ships that had been deployed for reconnaissance also returned one after another. At 10:20, the six battleships, Yu Dayou, Deng Zilong, Cao Sanxi, Lian Po, Li Mu, and Bai Qi, as well as 24 heavy cruisers, 64 light cruisers, and destroyers, a total of 96 combat ships, had all assembled and began to form a formation at sea.
"General Inukai, the commander-in-chief of the main fleet, has arrived!"
In the command tower of Lian Po, the flagship of the Ming Navy's main fleet, a group of officers dressed in blue and white combat uniforms stood at attention and saluted. Inukai Touji, who wore two general stars on each shoulder, also returned the salute with a serious face.
"Are all the warships in the queue?"
"General, apart from the Qiongzhou, which is still in visual contact with the enemy formation, and the Wei Zhongxian and Wang Jian, which are relaying the Qiongzhou's telegram, only the Fengyang destroyer is left at the end. The other ninety-four warships are all in line."
"Ah~ The emperor is really something. Wouldn't it be better for him to just wait for our victory report at Yangon Port? He insisted on going out to sea with us. If something goes wrong, who will be responsible? Forget it, don't think about it. Our army will win this battle. The emperor is hanging behind, so there is naturally no danger." Inukai Touji scratched his head, which had few hairs, and shook his head in annoyance: "Send a telegram to inform the whole army that our emperor has boarded the ship and will go out to sea with us to fight. All naval officers and soldiers must fight bravely to repay the emperor's great grace!"
"Yes, sir!"
As the telegram was sent, and for safety reasons , the flagship still sent out a signalman to send a flag signal on the watchtower. In an instant, the telegraph operator on the Lian Po found that the machine in front of him was beating wildly.
More than ninety warships sent telegrams one after another. Thousands of words were condensed into one sentence: "Long live our emperor! The Ming Dynasty will win!"
Because of Zhu Youdong's departure, Inukai Dongji, who was somewhat under pressure, ignored these telegrams, but was lost in the latest telegram sent by the Qiongzhou, which the communications staff picked out from a pile of telegrams: Urgent report, the enemy fleet continues to advance, and our ships are constantly retreating. The enemy fleet is extremely large, with nine battleships, more than thirty heavy cruisers, and countless light cruisers and destroyers. Our ship is being forced by the enemy's high-speed destroyers and is retreating rapidly. Our ship is now less than 200 kilometers away from Yangon Port.
"As expected, they are coming with a full division." After a slight smile, Inukai Touji said to the staff, "According to the intelligence we have obtained in advance, if the Western bandits are coming with a full division, then there will be nine battleships (two from the Ottomans), thirty-three heavy cruisers (three from the Ottomans), and more than one hundred light cruisers and destroyers. There is no doubt that our army is at a disadvantage in terms of the number of ships, especially the number of battleships.
But it's no big deal. The Privy Council and the Fleet Staff have already considered this situation in their previous combat plans, so let's implement the A-type combat plan."
"Yes, sir!"
"Order Wang Jian, Wei Zhongxian, and Qiongzhou to retreat in the direction of the main fleet and join the fleet as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir!"
As Lian Po issued the order, more than 90 Ming warships began to gradually complete the formation. Generally speaking, the heavy cruiser formation was in front, and the battleship formation was in the back. The light cruiser and destroyer formations were slightly behind on both sides. Among them, the distance between the heavy cruiser formation and the battleship formation was only about 1,500 meters. The light cruiser and destroyer formations on both sides were at least ten kilometers away from the first two formations.
As for Zhu Youdong's ship Fengyang, it maintained a distance of about 30 kilometers from the battleship formation: at such a distance, even with a telescope, the two sides could not see each other. But Zhu Youdong did not care: as long as Kaiyang's bonus was effective, it would be fine.
After this formation was completed, under the order of Inukai Toji, at 10:45, the Ming Navy began to sail westward at a speed of 13 knots.
At 11:05, Wang Jian joined the fleet. An hour and a half later, Wei Zhongxian joined the fleet. At 2:05 pm, Qiongzhou joined the fleet. At this time, the heavy masts of the Western and Austrian combined fleet also appeared in the sight of the Ming heavy cruiser captains who were leading the battle.
"Commander, the airship sent a telegram saying that the enemy fleet is divided into four formations..."
"Hmm, it seems the other commander thinks the same as us. Well, this will be a fair contest between knights."
After Barudez was old and Alfonso committed suicide, the new Spanish Navy Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Garcia, was now sitting solemnly in the command tower of the 18,000-ton full-load battleship Fernando V, the flagship of the Western and European combined fleet. After arranging the battle formation, he asked the following question: "How far is His Majesty Philip's ship from us?"
"About thirty kilometers."
"That's good. Send a secret message to the captain of the destroyer Leon, telling him to keep this distance and not get too close. The situation is clear now. The heavy cruisers and battleships of both sides will engage in artillery battle. During this process, both sides will constantly change positions in order to seize the T-head. If your Majesty's ship gets too close, it will be very dangerous."
"yes!"
"Well, let's prepare for battle. Hmm? Anything else?"
"Commander, our Pioneer 1 above us has sent a message saying that the electric motor batteries that propel the airship forward are running low. Requesting to retreat."
"We've only held out for half a day. When will the follow-up airship arrive?"
"In about three hours."
"It's already past two in the afternoon. In three hours, it will be dark. What's the point of them coming?"
"I'm sorry, sir. You know, airships are indeed very useful, but their speed..."
"Forget it, call back and allow them to retreat. Let's handle the next matter with traditional naval methods."
"yes!"
As Garcia no longer issued new orders, the nine battleships and thirty-three heavy cruisers of the Western Combined Fleet were organized into two teams, front and rear, and began to advance towards the Ming Dynasty's heavy cruiser and battleship formations.
…
The Ming Dynasty's battleships have developed to three levels. The Yu Tonghai class has a standard displacement of 13,000 tons and a full displacement of 16,500 tons. The Pomuqijian Warring States famous general class has a standard displacement of 15,000 tons and a full displacement of 18,600 tons. The main gun of this class is still the 305 gun with a maximum range of 10,000 meters. Compared with the former, the main difference is that, in addition to a slight increase in displacement, the whole ship is equipped with newer and more powerful generators, as well as an air-conditioning system using Freon refrigeration and a freezer for refrigerated food. As for the Emperor class with a standard displacement of 16,000 tons and a full displacement of more than 20,000 tons, it has replaced the 320 main gun with a maximum range of 15,000 meters. Its first ship, the First Emperor, is still being fitted out.
Among the seven battleships participating in this battle, the slowest one was the Cao Sanxi: its maximum speed was only 15 knots - this was also the slowest battleship in the entire fleet.
As for the Ming heavy cruisers, they were almost completely annihilated in the Battle of Singapore. So although there are 25 heavy cruisers now, they are all the same model: 5,800 tons at standard displacement, nearly 8,000 tons at full displacement, equipped with six 150mm main guns and eighteen 75mm secondary guns, the new generation Beizhili class.
On the Western and European joint fleet side. Spain's seven battleships are also divided into two levels. Three ships of the famous general class with a standard displacement of 12,000 tons and a full displacement of 15,000 tons. And four ships of the king class with a standard displacement of 15,000 tons and a full displacement of 18,000 tons. These seven battleships also have six 305mm main guns: Due to Zhu Youdong's special interest in fluorine before crossing, the battleships behind the Ming Dynasty have air conditioners and refrigerators. But Philip and Yiplashin do not have such knowledge. Therefore, the working environment of the power compartments of these seven battleships is still as bad as ever.
In terms of speed, among the seven Spanish battleships, the Duke was the slowest, at only 13.5 knots.
The two Caliph-class battleships sent by the Ottomans were the Bakr and Umar, with a standard displacement of 12,000 tons and a full displacement of 15,500 tons. Thanks to the widespread use of welding technology, although the tonnage of these two battleships is not very high, they are equipped with nine 305mm main guns - not only that, the maximum speed of these two battleships is close to 20 knots!
In short, the number of battleships on both sides was 9 to 7, and the Ming Dynasty had an advantage in terms of single ship tonnage. However, if the 305mm thick pipes were counted, the ratio between the two sides was 60:42, and the Western Austrian coalition had an advantage.
However, this was a large-scale naval battle with hundreds of warships on each side. This was a battle that the commanders of both sides had never experienced before. Therefore, both Inukai Touji and Garcia adopted the simplest and most reliable way of fighting.
Light cruisers and destroyers stay aside for now: there are so many big guns on the battlefield now anyway, if you charge forward you will most likely never come back.
Then the battleship formation was in the back and the heavy cruiser formation was in the front, forming two parallel lines, and engaging in a T-shaped artillery battle with the enemy's two similar lines.
In the continuous battle, there will inevitably be heavy cruisers that can't hold on and withdraw from the battle line. When the enemy's heavy cruisers withdraw or are sunk in too many numbers to form a line that can't cover the battleships in the rear, the light cruiser destroyer formation will be called upon to launch a torpedo charge: the 305 heavy guns are powerful, but the firing rate is too slow. Without the shielding of the heavy cruisers, the battleships exposed to dozens of destroyers and hundreds of torpedoes will most likely be sunk by torpedoes. The side will completely gain the advantage in the number of battleships - and then, if the enemy does not retreat at this time, the battleships that are obviously superior in number will move forward to reap the fruits of the battle with the cooperation of the heavy cruisers.
…
By 2:05 p.m. on September 16, the distance between the two fleets had narrowed to within 12,000 meters. At this time, the commanders of both sides almost simultaneously issued orders to turn: the Ming fleet turned slightly from the west to the northwest. The Western Austrian joint fleet turned slightly from the east to the northeast. In this way, the two sides became four straight lines that would intersect sooner or later if they continued to extend.
At 2:32 p.m., when the distance between the two sides was reduced to about 8,000 meters, the Lian Po's main gun fired the first shell!
The grand naval battle in the Bay of Bengal between the naval fleets of Spain, the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty has begun!
