The main gun barrels, having finished firing, slowly lowered. The Dreadnought-class's turrets did not have all-angle loading capabilities, so after firing, they needed to be adjusted to a horizontal position for reloading.
Chu Qing glanced at the ship's crew in the fire control room, who were in shock, and made a shushing gesture with his hand. Everyone understood.
"Intelligent Brain, continue calculating fire control parameters."
He still hadn't deactivated the Intelligent Brain's assistance. Although one such calculation consumed over 500 Space-Time Points, the armored cruiser he had just sunk brought Chu Qing 6,000 points in revenue, making it entirely affordable. At the very least, he had to take out those two big ships first.
Actually, he had originally intended to keep the fitting calculation module active, but the auxiliary Intelligent Brain warned him that continuous use would lead to a significant increase in Space-Time Point consumption and could even damage Chu Qing's own brain. So, he decided to use it at most two more times in this naval battle.
"Retrieving..."
"Measuring..."
"Calculating..."
"Outputting..."
Then came another series of clanging sounds from the gun bell.
..................
Upon seeing the brief flash of muzzle flash in the distance, the sailors of the Tokiwa had an ominous premonition. Sure enough, 305mm shells followed.
This time, it was still five hits out of six. The auxiliary Intelligent Brain's fire control capability was truly terrifyingly overpowered! If using the Dreyer Fire Control Table to fire at such extreme range, it would take at least five or more semi-salvos to achieve a straddle.
Two shells struck the bow, piercing below the waterline and exploding. The lower part of the bow was completely destroyed, and massive flooding caused the bow to plunge sharply. One shell directly hit the armored conning tower, wiping out the Tokiwa's command level.
Of the remaining two, one was prematurely detonated by the main mast, showering the superstructure with a steel storm of high-speed fragments. The other plunged into the funnel at an almost vertical angle, incapacitating the Tokiwa's boilers and main engines.
This ten-thousand-ton armored cruiser completely lost power, lying dead in the water.
"Entire fleet, turn four compass points to starboard! Bring broadside firepower to bear! Engage the enemy in a line ahead formation!" Even though the enemy was already within range, Chu Qing did not immediately target the yashima. If all of the enemy's large ships lost combat capability, the remaining ships would not be foolish enough to engage him in a direct confrontation.
The Rai-class destroyers had a high speed of 31 knots, and those cruisers also had speeds of 21 knots or more. If they escaped, it would be difficult to pursue them.
He needed to leave the enemy a glimmer of hope to eliminate them all here at once.
By the time the Taixi's massive hull completed its turn and all four main gun turrets pointed to port, several East Sakura Navy cruisers were about to close to 8,000 yards!
They had almost completely squeezed out all the remaining power from their boilers, desperately charging towards the Taixi's position. The leading Kasagi achieved an unprecedented speed of 24 knots! The two destroyers hid behind the cruisers, following at only 21 knots, waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the Taixi.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The yashima, at the end of the fleet, finally couldn't resist firing its forward main guns. Although it was still 11,000 yards from the Taixi, outside effective range, the East Sakura Navy gunners were already impatient to vent their frustration from being passively attacked.
Expensive 12-inch shells were thus thrown into the sea one by one to feed the fish. The water columns that erupted 300 meters away didn't even have a chance to interfere with rangefinding.
Subsequently, the Kasagi and other ships also began firing at this range, far exceeding the limits of fire control, hoping to land one or two shells by chance.
As the East Sakura Fleet continuously opened fire, the Taixi's gunners had already closed the breeches and began turning the handwheels according to the dial indications...
........................................
"I was spraying water and fine sand on the deck to prevent fires, you know, picric acid explosives easily cause large fires," the yashima's damage control officer said while being interrogated on the Taixi. "Then I was swept into the sea by a water column."
The recording crew member stopped writing and chuckled, "Then you're quite lucky." He then had the man escorted to a designated cabin to be held with other captured sailors.
He was not wrong. Of the eight shells fired by the Taixi, six 305mm high-explosive shells simultaneously hit the yashima, with the other two being near misses.
The simultaneous detonation of several hundred kilograms of lyddite explosives was undoubtedly a terrifying sight. Under the sweep of blast waves, flames, and high-speed steel fragments, all open-air artillery was destroyed, and all observation and aiming devices did not survive. Some lifeboats on the broadside were ignited, while others were thrown into the sea.
Fires spread across the ship. The teak deck, despite some fireproofing, was still ignited by a large amount of splashed picric acid charges. Damage control personnel, holding rubber hoses, futilely sprayed water columns, falling one by one in the toxic mist...
Although the two main guns did not suffer fatal damage, facing uncontrollable fires, to avoid the fate of the Asama, the turret commander ultimately ordered the ammunition magazines to be flooded, saving lives. However, these four 40-caliber 305mm guns completely lost their combat capability in this battle without achieving any effective hits.
Rear Admiral Kawahara issued the order to abandon ship before being overcome by gas, the command flag was lowered, and sailors jumped into the sea one by one...
Without the obstruction of large ships, the Yanling Navy's three protected cruisers, under the cover of the Taixi, pounced on the East Sakura cruisers like hungry wolves.
The East Sakura Navy, to get close for torpedo attacks, could only push forward head-on, enduring the T-disadvantage. This gave the Yanling Navy an excellent opportunity.
The Yanling stayed outside the enemy's effective range, employing a kiting strategy with its superior fire control.
The raining 140mm high-explosive shells left the superstructure of every cruiser in disarray.
As they approached 6,500 yards, the two Rai-class destroyers began to accelerate. Stokers desperately shoveled coal into the furnaces. The ship's four Yarrow-type water-tube boilers ran at full capacity. After reaching 30 knots, seawater surged onto the turtleback bow, drenching the entire command bridge and the bow gunners.
The two ships quickly surged out from behind the fleet. Torpedo operators strenuously rotated the two 457mm torpedo tubes at the stern—these were retrofitted later, and operating them on a small body of over 300 tons seemed a bit stretched.
Closer! Even closer! Every 100 yards closer meant one more chance of a hit. The two destroyers rapidly approached the Taixi at a high speed of 31 knots, attempting to seize a good firing position.
However, the Yanling Autonomous Territory cruisers, alerted by Chu Qing, did not give them a chance. Two Hai Rong-class ships sailed to meet and intercept them, and the Taixi also maneuvered simultaneously to evade, interfering with the East Sakura destroyers' calculations.
Ultimately, the two Rai-class destroyers hastily launched four torpedoes at 5,500 yards from the Taixi, and were then approached by the two Hai Rong-class ships within the effective range of their 150mm guns, where they were riddled by six Krupp quick-firing guns—with Chu Qing's auxiliary Intelligent Brain, the torpedo tracks were clear, so there was no need to worry about hits.
With the torpedo attack failed, the East Sakura Navy's morale plummeted to its lowest point. Facing the charging Yanling Autonomous Territory cruisers and the Dreadnought-class aiming at them, the three battle-scarred ships chose to open their seacocks and scuttle themselves—enraging Chu Qing! Because this way he wouldn't get any Space-Time Points.
Thus, the East Sakura Navy's Cangdong Task Force was completely annihilated. Including the unconscious Rear Admiral Kawahara, over 600 people were rescued and held separately on the Taixi and the Yanling for screening and interrogation.
