Empire Conquest
Chapter 169 - 165: A Single Tree Does Not Make a Forest

Chapter 169: Chapter 165: A Single Tree Does Not Make a Forest

The four "Longxing" class battleships opened fire while Takatoku was still pondering whether to make adjustments to the four light cruisers to the south, such as turning right by several dozen degrees, to take advantage of the opportunity when the fifth cruiser corps had drawn away the enemy’s vanguard heavy cruiser squad, and find the main force squad hidden in the rear.

In fact, Takatoku had the chance to timely discover the four "Longxing" class battleships hidden beneath the clouds.

Around 11:50, the tenth cruiser corps, which had moved forward and then turned southward, sent a message claiming that four unidentified battleships had appeared to the north.

From the relative position, the main force squad of the Domestic Fleet was located to the north of the tenth cruiser corps.

At that time, what the lookout on the flagship "Changliang" of the tenth cruiser corps saw must have been the battleships of the main force squad, but, unfortunately, he did not identify them.

As a result, when the staff officer aboard the "Yishi" received the report from the "Changliang", not only did he not pay attention, but he also reminded the "Changliang" that it was the fifth cruiser corps engaging the enemy, and there was no need for alarms nor concerns.

Following that, when reporting to Takatoku, the staff officer didn’t emphasize the discovery made by the "Changliang".

Given the situation at the time, if that report had been taken seriously, even just by sending a query to the "Myogi", it would have been possible to timely identify the imminent threat.

Unfortunately, not a single person thought to send an inquiry.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

When the lookout reported the flash from the muzzle of unknown enemy ships, suspecting them to be the enemy’s main battle ships, Takatoku was stunned on the spot.

Before he could recover, the shells came crashing down.

The first to be hit was not the "Yishi" but the trailing "Rixiang".

During the first round of gunfire, the "Rixiang" was struck and took three armor-piercing bullets.

It wasn’t bad luck.

On the Domestic Fleet’s side, besides the leading "Longxing" aiming at the "Yishi", the three ships behind, due to the angle, chose the maximum deviation when the gunnery chiefs calculated the fire control parameters, setting their aiming point behind the "Yishi", closer to the "Rixiang".

In other words, the three battleships behind were actually firing at the "Rixiang".

Such a "misunderstanding" was actually understandable.

Separated by more than ten kilometers, and at night, what the lookouts and gunners saw were merely the silhouettes of the enemy ships, making it difficult to distinguish between two enemy vessels nearly in the same direction and a few kilometers apart from each other, inclining them to select the maximum deviation in setting fire control data.

Choosing the smallest deviation, the shell would fall in front of the target enemy ship; choosing the largest deviation, it would fall behind the target enemy ship, and there was a possibility of hitting the ship behind.

Missing the enemy’s flagship but hitting the No.2 ship behind was also acceptable.

Additionally, the second Main Battle Corps had adopted a dense formation.

At that time, the "Rixiang" was less than three kilometers away from the "Yishi" ahead.

Almost simultaneously, to be precise, within about half a minute, the "Rixiang" was consecutively hit by three shells, all striking the upper structure of the fore.

As a result, the main officers aboard the "Rixiang", including the captain, were almost all killed in action.

After being hit, a large fire also broke out on the "Rixiang".

This was serious.

It was downright lethal!

Although the "Rixiang" had already started to slow down, to be precise, its speed dipped after being hit, the fire immediately illuminated the "Yishi" in front.

Once he realized this, Takatoku immediately issued the command for hard to port, turning towards the southwest to evade.

It must be admitted that Takatoku’s first response was very decisive.

This order almost saved the No.2 Main Battle Corps.

In the next five minutes, not only did the "Yishi" complete the turn first, but around five minutes past midnight, it fired the first round of counterattack at the enemy ship with its ten main guns.

It wasn’t until eight minutes past midnight that the four opposing battleships fired their second salvos.

Understandably, after the "Yishi" was illuminated by the fire from the "Rixiang," the four "Longxing" class battleships definitely had to readjust their aim.

The key lay in the fact that, under the influence of the fire, the four "Longxing" class could not effectively aim at the other two battleships.

Continue firing at the "Rixiang"?

It was unnecessary.

Moreover, Gui Boyong had not adjusted his tactics, and the four battleships of the No.2 Main Battle Corps had not completed their tactical turn, so they had to continue focusing their fire on the flagship.

Being targeted by four battleships was no laughing matter.

The fatal issue was that the "Yishi" was just an aging, pre-Treaty type battleship, whose retrofits from years prior were not exhaustive; its top speed was only 26 knots. The critical point was that before it came under fire, the speed was just 16 knots, and it would take several minutes to accelerate.

At that time, only six boilers were operational, while the remaining two had been fired up an hour before and neither temperature nor pressure had yet reached their optimum levels!

In the ensuing dozen or so minutes, the "Yishi"’s performance was particularly striking.

Based on the "Longxing"’s battle records, starting from the second salvo, over approximately seventeen minutes, the four battleships fired a total of 216 shells at enemy No.1, with only four recorded hits observed – making the overall hit rate less than two percent.

It was undeniable that certain objective factors contributed to the dismal hit rate.

However, the Empire Navy’s night combat capabilities, especially in nighttime artillery engagements, were truly nothing to boast about. To be blunt, they were terribly poor.

In fact, this was a result of the Empire Navy’s longstanding neglect of night battles.

Another point was the "Yishi"’s tactical evasion was incredibly slick.

Continuously accelerating while making repeated tactical turns, the "Yishi" avoided the majority of the shells and caused significant trouble for the opposing gunners. This need for re-aiming with each salvo halved the efficiency of the "Longxing" class’s gunfire.

Using this precious dozen minutes, the "Rixiang" extinguished the large fire and the surviving second-in-command took over.

Regrettably, even if she was still combat-capable, the "Rixiang" could at best be considered an ineffectual performer just making up the numbers.

Meanwhile, two "Fusang" class managed to overtake the "Rixiang," and increased their speed to 24 knots in pursuit of the "Yishi."

Unfortunately, with its fancy maneuvers and dodging, the "Yishi" had used up all its luck.

At twenty-eight minutes past midnight, the "Longxing" fired its ninth salvo since the engagement commenced, striking the "Yishi"—visual estimates placed the hit between the tower mast and the funnel, possibly at the rear of the tower mast, which was the communications center of the "Yishi."

While no significant explosion was observed, the subsequent events suggested that this shot was spot-on.

It was this shot that knocked out the "Yishi"’s command capabilities.

However, given the situation at the time, this achievement might not belong to the "Longxing," instead attributed to some other sister ship trailing behind.

The reason is simple: the interval between the "Longxing" firing and the "Yishi" being hit was less than twenty seconds.

Obviously, that was too short.

Regardless, after taking that hit, the "Yishi" couldn’t issue commands via radio and was left with much less efficient methods such as signal lamps and flags.

Crucially, the "Fusang" had to relay Takatoku’s combat orders indirectly.