Empire Conquest
Chapter 150 - 146 Main Gun Fire

Chapter 150: Chapter 146 Main Gun Fire

"Where in the hell did those four heavy cruisers come from!?"

Amidst the barrage of shells raining down, Takano had been pondering this question.

The Saiyi Navy has always considered heavy cruisers as second-line main battle ships, even contemplating their use in fleet engagements, but within the Liangxia Navy, the heavy cruisers had an awkward standing. Not only were they few in number, but their usage was also unconventional and they had never garnered much attention from the start.

Before the outbreak of the war, heavy cruisers were often employed by the Liangxia Navy as gunboats.

Simply put, wherever there were interests to be defended, a fleet led by a heavy cruiser would be dispatched. After all, for most weaker nations, the deterrent power of a heavy cruiser was not inferior to that of a battleship, plus they were easier to deploy and cost less to operate.

But now, where had those four heavy cruisers come from?

The Third Aviation Mixed Fleet?

That was the only explanation that made sense.

The only ships that could have arrived in time to the east of Two-car Strait were those of the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

Because the two fast battleships had not yet joined, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet consisted of four heavy cruisers specifically tasked with providing anti-aircraft and escort protection for the carriers.

Could it be those four heavy cruisers?

According to previous intelligence, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet included four "Wuzhou"-class ships, which were the last Treaty Type heavy cruisers of the Liangxia Navy. Since the first of the post-treaty type heavy cruisers had not yet been delivered, the four "Wuzhou" class ships were considered the most cutting-edge.

Moreover, these four heavy cruisers had all returned to the shipyard before the war for retrofitting to enhance their anti-air capabilities.

Then, why had the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet’s four heavy cruisers appeared here, opening fire first and taking on a stance as if they were ready to engage the Main Battle Corps in a fight to the death?

It was just four heavy cruisers!

Once the distance closed, a single salvo from the "Damen" could wipe out one of them.

Furthermore, without the four heavy cruisers’ cover, how was the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet supposed to defend against air attacks?

The fast battleships?

Yes, that’s it. The fast battleships.

The Third Aviation Mixed Fleet must have turned north last night, and even if not with the two fast battleships, they must be following behind. With the protection of the fast battleships, the presence of heavy cruisers didn’t matter. The key was to be able to return to the Xu Sea before dawn, and during nighttime passage, there clearly wouldn’t be any worry about air defense, hence no need for the heavy cruisers’ anti-aircraft cover.

As for anti-submarine warfare, that was the destroyers’ job, unrelated to the heavy cruisers.

Now it all made sense.

Moreover, sending the heavy cruisers here was to monitor Two-car Strait, in other words, to keep an eye on the Main Battle Corps. After the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had headed north, the Liangxia Navy would no longer have the means to monitor Two-car Strait before dawn the next day, while the Main Battle Corps would surely pass through the Two-car Strait before daylight. By sending a few heavy cruisers, at least they could determine when the Main Battle Corps passed through Two-car Strait.

From the perspective of the Liangxia Navy, it was crucial to track the movements of the Main Battle Corps.

The critical point was the time the Main Battle Corps entered the East Ocean through Two-car Strait.

Possessing this intelligence, adjustments to operational deployment could be made, such as deciding the timings for advancing through Watcher Strait and the capture of the Sado Islands.

Besides, among the Main Battle Corps, aside from the two "Damen"-class battleships, none of the other warships had the capability to suppress the "Wuzhou"-class heavy cruisers, and the "Damen" class was much slower than the "Wuzhou" class. If it came to a nighttime battle, the Main Battle Corps wouldn’t have the advantage.

Wait until dawn?

After daylight, the destroyers could launch an attack under battleship cover, using torpedoes to drive away the four heavy cruisers, but there were still hours left until dawn!

Moreover, by the time it got light, the Liangxia Navy’s reconnaissance aircraft were likely to have already arrived.

"Boom—"

An explosion suddenly occurred.

Although it struck the main gun turret at the front and detonated outside the turret, the sudden engulfment of flames left the officers and sailors on the navigation bridge stunned.

The event was so abrupt, no one was prepared.

The moment the explosion occurred, the bridge was already in chaos with people toppling over.

The two-hundred-millimeter shells couldn’t breach the armor of the main gun turrets, but the immense kinetic energy and the shockwave from thousands of kilograms of explosives were enough to make even a tens of thousands of tons battleship shudder.

By the time Tanimoto came to his senses, Takano’s head had already hit the porthole, and he had fallen backward.

"Commander..."

"I’m fine!"

Seeing Takano get up on his own, Tanimoto finally let out a sigh of relief.

Afterward, Kuroshima, without asking further, got up and immediately picked up the phone to order a counterattack to the Captain in the Navigation Bridge above.

To be precise, he ordered the main guns to fire in retaliation.

Traveling at full speed for nearly ten minutes, the distance had closed to within fifteen kilometers. Although it was still a bit far, they couldn’t just keep taking hits without responding.

At this moment, aboard the "Wuzhou".

After the battle began, Wei Jun picked up the binoculars.

In fact, before the enemy cruiser returned fire with its secondary guns, the view through the binoculars was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything clearly, much less determine whether they had hit the enemy ship.

He was almost too embarrassed to speak about the effectiveness of their shelling.

After ten full salvos, not only did they fail to hit anything, they didn’t even manage to bracket the enemy. Distance was one factor, but it also had to do with the radar.

It was an anti-air search radar!

Even though it had a range-finding capability, the precision was very poor and it couldn’t be used to direct artillery fire.

In the first few rounds of shelling, the radar measured the engagement range as twenty-three kilometers. It wasn’t until the eighth round, after the enemy ship fired, that the lookout’s calculations corrected the radar’s range-finding results, and the weapons officer reset the parameters accordingly.

Given the situation then, it was likely due to interference from the second enemy ship, the "Luo," that the radar’s ranging results were so far off.

It was precisely because of this that they hit the enemy ship on the eleventh salvo.

Unfortunately, that shot posed no threat whatsoever to the "Damen."

The key issue was that the engagement range was continuously closing.

According to the telegraphic order, the cruiser squadron was to draw the attention of the First Main Battle Corps. After being counterattacked, especially after engaging with the Saiyi Navy’s battleships, the squadron commander could make decisions discretionarily and need not follow the orders of the Commander anymore. Whether to continue firing or not was at the squadron commander’s discretion.

However, the "Damen" hadn’t fired back!

At least not with its main guns.

To turn and retreat without even being hit by the battleship’s secondary guns?

Clearly, that would not stand.

Even if the protection of the heavy cruiser was insufficient, its vital parts could withstand 140 millimeter armor-piercing bullets.

If they fled in panic just because a few battleship secondary gun shells fell nearby, how could they face reporting back?

Might as well find a block of tofu and be done with it!

"Captain!"

When the officer beside him loudly reminded, the "Wuzhou" had already begun to decelerate and was making a hard turn to the left, a standard tactical evasion maneuver.

Moreover, Wei Jun also saw the flash from the enemy ship’s gun muzzles.

Extremely bright and situated a bit higher than the previous flashes from the secondary guns, concentrated in one area, it was clearly the flash of main guns firing.

It was for this reason that the helmsman didn’t ask for the Captain’s permission and directly turned for tactical evasion.

Wei Jun was not only unalarmed by the "Damen"’s main guns firing; he actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Retreating now meant it was no longer a panicked flight.

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