"The radar has detected the target!" Under the slightly dim light, the technician sitting in front of the radar operating platform saw a flash of light on the display.
The officer on the side excitedly grabbed the intercom and connected to the bridge: "Captain! Our fire control radar has illuminated the target! They are moving forward at full speed! The speed exceeds 40 kilometers!"
"Check the status of the Styx missile! Left rudder! Aim the broadside at the enemy fleet!" The captain looked at the weapons officer beside him and ordered loudly.
"Left rudder!" the helmsman repeated the captain's order loudly and turned the steering wheel vigorously, causing the destroyer to change its course on the dark sea.
"Beiyuan 29 sent us a light signal! They asked about the new route!" The signal soldier saw the light signal, grabbed the phone next to him and shouted.
The staff officer immediately asked the captain: "Beiyuan 29 inquires about the new route."
"Facing the enemy on the broadside! Heading 95!" On the bridge of the destroyer Beiyuan 91, the captain continued to give a loud order: "Send the signal to Beiyuan 29 with a signal light!"
"Yes! Sir!" The staff officer immediately grabbed the phone: "Broadside to the enemy, heading 95!"
"Captain! The missile is powered on! The Styx anti-ship missile is already facing the enemy! The triple launcher is in good condition, and the missile is in... good condition!"
"First missile!" the captain continued to give the order loudly.
"First missile!" the weapons officer repeated the order.
"Launch!" the captain shouted.
"Fire!" the weapons officer shouted into the phone.
"Launch!" Inside the ship, the launcher pressed the red button in front of him.
"Hoo!" With a roar, a dazzling fire burst out from the middle of the ship. A line of flame broke away from the battleship and shot towards the darkness in the distance.
"Missile guidance begins! The signal is clear!" The fire control radar has been illuminating the target. Staring at the radar screen, the guidance officer can clearly see the missile just launched, gradually approaching the light spot representing the enemy.
"The missile is in stable condition!" While everyone was waiting anxiously, the conductor repeatedly reported the missile's status.
The missile had completely disappeared from everyone's sight at this time. Its range exceeded 40 kilometers, which was completely beyond the range of naval guns.
Because its flight speed is actually not as fast as that of a naval gun, the entire flight process is longer than that of a naval gun. If you want to cross a distance of more than 40 kilometers, you still need to wait patiently.
But everyone who launches it knows that it is completely different from a cannonball because it can find its own target to attack!
"The autopilot is activated! The missile is flying well!" The conductor received the signal sent back from the missile and continued to report excitedly.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the moment when the missile approached the target. If it succeeded, it would represent another form of naval warfare replacing the traditional naval warfare mode.
This is a revolution, similar to the technological revolution when Datang Group launched the ironclad ship! From now on, the naval battle model will enter a new stage!
"Enter terminal guidance state! The missile's internal radar guidance device is activated! Everything is normal!" The guide breathed a sigh of relief, because his work was probably completed.
In the dark night sky, at a height of about 200 meters, a stream of light flew quickly. In the violent turbulent airflow, the radar seeker installed on the front end of the Styx missile began to work.
The Styx missile began to actively emit radio signals, scan the area directly ahead, and correct the tail rudder at the rear of its missile based on the signal reflected by the radar.
Its logic is very clear. The missile will give priority to attacking the warship with the most obvious target characteristics, and correct its flight trajectory based on the coordinates of the target warship.
The missile's engine noise was very obvious in the dark night sky, and many of the Mirage sailors heard the strange sound.
They searched under the night sky and finally saw a shooting star in the starry sky! A shooting star speeding towards the direction of their fleet!
"Look! Look! What is that?" The Mirage sailors, who did not know that there was something called an anti-ship missile in this world, leaned on the railing and pointed at the meteor.
Just as they watched the meteor crash into the battleship Great South Bay amidst the roar of the missile engine, everyone was stunned.
They even forgot to scream, and just watched the Styx missile hit the tall bridge of the battleship, leaving an extremely exaggerated flame on it.
The firelight instantly illuminated everything around it, and the outlines of two Mirage warships sailing not far from the battleship were illuminated. The frightened faces were also reflected in the firelight, and they looked at the Great South Bay.
The bridge of the battleship was engulfed in flames, and for a moment I didn't know what kind of expression to show.
Shocked? Fearful? Despair? Confused? Curious? Frustrated?... In short, they had so many questions at that moment that they didn't know where to start.
The entire 500 kilogram warhead is processed by special technology into the most efficient shape for shaped armor-piercing charges. After these charges explode, a terrifying jet will be formed, guaranteed to penetrate more than one meter of homogeneous steel.
Armor.
Obviously, the bridge armor of the Mirage battleship is far less than one meter thick. The armor protection level in these places is about 200 mm, the thicker places are 300, and the command tower is about 350 mm.
But despite this, the armor protection level of this battleship is not much stronger than the frontal armor protection of the Type 59 main battle tank. But the enemies faced by these armors are much more powerful than the army's tank guns.
The jet caused by the explosion swept through almost all the cabins under the battleship's bridge. The huge damage even affected the load-bearing structure, making the armor-filled command tower extremely dangerous.
The damage control personnel began to work amidst the piercing sirens. They rushed to the fire place with water pipes in their hands, only to find that nearly a hundred officers on the battleship had been directly wiped out by the explosion.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! That is the bridge! Below are some of the more important command areas. There are densely packed officers here who are preparing for the decisive battle after dawn, and now they are all wounded...
…and the bodies.
Due to the huge vibration, the captain of the battleship Great South Bay was also injured, but he escaped because he was in the Cambridge control tower.
But as soon as he got up from the floor, he smelled the smell of burnt lake, and then he was informed that all the cabins below were on fire, and they couldn't get out now...
However, the most uncomfortable thing at this time was not him, the captain of the battleship Great South Bay, who was being roasted on the fire, but Feng Mirage, who was sitting on the battleship Mirage in the middle of the fleet.
He saw with his own eyes the fire rising from the Great South Bay, and now all he could think about was: how the enemy attack was launched and where it came from!
Many warships reported to him what they saw: including a very harsh whistling sound and a shooting star. But when he gathered these reports, he couldn't gather anything at all.
The navy of the Mirage Kingdom also held night naval battle exercises, and they also fired cannons at night. Of course, the Mirage Kingdom knew that it was impossible for artillery shells flying in the night sky to be seen so clearly. In addition, it was impossible for the artillery bombardment to appear in such a continuous manner.
A noise that even the battleship's own noise can't cover up!
"It's not safe at night!" This thought immediately appeared in Mirage Haifeng's mind. He subconsciously clenched his fists and used almost all his strength to suppress the urge in his heart to turn the fleet around immediately.
.
If he leads the fleet to leave now, then Nandao will be finished. If Nandao is lost, it will not be difficult for the Tang army to capture the entire Mirage Kingdom with Nandao as its base.
Under such circumstances, blindly saving the fleet is just a slow death! Mirage Feng is not a fool, he knows this very well.
"What should I do?" The staff officer standing next to Mirage Haifeng turned pale and asked his commander in a panic.
Mirage Haifeng gritted his teeth and decided to move forward and test it out: If this was just an accident, then Mirage Haifeng would have to complete the task of destroying the Tang Army's landing fleet even if he lost one or two battleships!
"Keep moving! If the Great South Bay cannot keep up, let it fall behind! Put out the fire immediately! After the battle, the Great South Bay is likely to become the target of concentrated firepower attack by the Tang army due to the fire!" After stabilizing his emotions,
Mirage Haifeng showed a calm side and commanded.
"Yes! Your Majesty General!" The staff officer seemed to have found his backbone, and stood at attention and saluted in response to Mirage Haifeng's order.
But two minutes later, another Styx anti-ship missile flew towards us and once again hit the Mirage Navy's new battleship Bei Dao which was sailing directly ahead.
This fast new battleship is a relatively new battleship in the Mirage navy. It is equipped with 10 400 mm caliber cannons. It was only put into service two years earlier than the Mirage battleship.
Now, it was directly hit by the Styx anti-ship missile in the anti-aircraft gun area on one side. More than a dozen anti-aircraft guns were destroyed in an instant. The fire spread to the vicinity of the chimney. The damage control was desperately trying to ensure that the battleship's power system would not be caught in the fire.
Influence.
Two battleships were hit and set on fire. Even a fool knew that this was a new weapon of the Tang Army for night battles. Because the areas hit were all in higher places, everyone also knew that there was a high probability that the torpedoes used by the other side were not torpedoes.
But Mirage Haifeng didn't have any good solutions. He could only deal with what happened based on the knowledge he knew.
In desperation, Mirage Haifeng began to issue a series of orders that seemed inexplicable to the Tang Imperial Navy commander:
First, Mirage Haifeng ordered faster cruisers and destroyers to move forward to attract the so-called firepower of the Tang army.
Secondly, he ordered the main fleet of the Mirage Kingdom to start a serpentine maneuver, seemingly to avoid subsequent attacks.
Finally, he ordered all artillery to be loaded and prepared for a night battle! Because he judged that the main force of the Tang army was most likely not far in front of him.