In a naval battle, no one dares to slack off, because slackness means death. After all, naval battles are fair, whether it is a general or an ordinary soldier. When a warship sinks, the sea will not make any difference to them.

Therefore, in the naval battle, if they want to survive, they must make every effort.

While the battleship Indiana was being hit by several shells in succession, the battleship Daqin 16,000 meters away was also shaking in the waves raised by the shells. However, even so, its eight 380mm cannons continued to roar at the enemy ships!

The ammunition depot in the bottom cabin of the bow turret is responsible for supplying ammunition to the four 380mm main guns of the two front main turrets of the "Daqin". At this time, it is a scene of bustling activity. The sailors running in the ammunition depot have long taken off their sailor uniforms. Some sailors are even only wearing underwear, but even so, the stuffy cabin still makes them sweat profusely. The sweaty sailors are loading 800 kg armor-piercing shells into the shell hoist.

After the shells were loaded, there was a short pause before the shells were lifted up by the electric motor.

Next, load another shell.

Although the Imperial researchers had successfully developed an electric ammunition hoist when the dreadnought was first invented, which greatly simplified the loading process, the work of pushing the ammunition bags and shells out of the ammunition depot and loading them onto the ammunition hoist still required manpower.

And this job alone is enough to make these sailors sweat profusely. They have no time to rest at all. The gunners on top are firing shells desperately, and they have to ensure the supply of ammunition.

There are several hundred millimeters thick armor around them to provide them with good protection, and behind them, the 100 mm thick explosion-proof door connecting to the ammunition depot will only be opened when needed.

On one side of the ammunition delivery channel, a bald-headed sergeant was supervising the loading of ammunition. Next to him was a young trainee officer, a naval academy cadet who had not yet graduated. The sergeant kept shouting loudly, and his voice had become a little hoarse. But even so, he continued to talk.

"Now it's our turn, it's our turn! Brothers, brothers, do you understand?"

He was silent only when he was checking the placement of shells on the shell hoist, and sometimes his words were interrupted by the thunderous sound of volleys from above.

The thunderous sound of artillery excited the soldiers.

"The Emperor and the State Council can declare war, the Admiralty can make battle plans, the generals can discuss battle plans in the war room, the captain can issue orders, and the fire control officer can press the launch button. Fuck off, they are all bystanders. The real winner is the cannons, it is us! If we stop and stop firing shells, the cannons above will become decorations. It is not the gunners in the turrets above who decide the fate, but us! It is us, do you understand? Brothers. Work harder and defeat those Anglo-Saxons!"

While speaking, the sergeant seemed a little excited. How could he not be excited? After all, he knew very well that the naval battle he participated in was a naval battle that would determine the fate of the country.

As long as we can win this naval battle, everything will change fundamentally.

"Defeat those Ansahs!"

The sweaty sailors shouted loudly.

Yes, the enemy of the Ming Dynasty is not the United States, not Britain, but those Anglo-Saxons, those Anglo-Saxons who occupy the world and hold world hegemony!

Only by defeating them, the Ming Empire... no, it should be said that China, can truly stand tall in the world again!

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Chinese nation has been ahead of the world. Despite the decline caused by the Jiashen Bian, China still quickly achieved national rejuvenation. However, what we want is not just rejuvenation, but to regain China’s manifest destiny - the control of world hegemony!

This is not only the dream of all the imperial navy soldiers, but also the dream of the people of the empire!

What they long for is a world ruled by China!

And the battle they are fighting now is for the realization of that dream.

Perhaps they could not witness the spectacular bombardment of the Imperial Navy's main fleet, nor the deafening salvo of the Dynasty-class, but as the sergeant major said, they were the ones who really decided whether the dream could be realized.

"Brothers, now is the time, work harder..."

The shirtless sergeant had thrown away the spirit-infusing stick. The sailors did not need spirit-infusing either, as they were all passionately devoted to their work. The trainee officer took off his uniform and started working with the sailors.

"For China!"

When the shell was being lifted into the armored silo by the shell hoist, and when the sailors were loading another armor-piercing shell into the shell hoist, the sergeant who had been cheering everyone on suddenly walked to the shell, took out a pen, and wrote on the shell.

"Brothers, work hard for the empire! For China!"

As soon as I finished writing, I heard a sound coming from the loudspeaker next to me.

"Turret No. 2, two 38cm high-explosive shells!"

The sergeant quickly picked up the phone and shouted.

"Two 38cm high-explosive bombs!"

Upon hearing this, the loader in the ammunition depot immediately picked up a 840-kilogram shell with pliers and loaded the ammunition with a lift. Then, the sailors desperately pushed the ammunition cart along the track. At the moment they were about to approach the armored door, the sailors at the door opened the armor.

"come on!"

They shouted to each other as the bullet carriage was handed over.

After the armored door was closed again, the black shells with the words "high explosive" printed on them were loaded into the shell hoist and then lifted to the shell well by the clip. After entering the shell well, they were sent to the turret and pushed into the gun barrel.

On the bridge, Cheng Bichen was looking into the distance with a telescope. At this time, the distance between the two sides had changed from 17,000 meters to 14,000 meters, and both sides were trying their best to bombard each other's warships.

In the telescope, a huge ball of explosion suddenly rose from a battleship. Just by looking at the smoke from the explosion, one could guess that it was a 14-inch naval gun - this was also the smallest caliber gun on the Empire's main battleships. Except for the six armored cruisers that used twelve-inch main guns, the Empire's other main battleships were all equipped with 14-inch main guns, while the Daqin and Dajin were equipped with more powerful 380mm naval guns.

"Look, look! He hit it!"

Several officers in the command tower shouted excitedly. They were excited almost every time a huge flame exploded in the enemy fleet.

The outline of the Indiana was completely obscured by the waves raised by the shells. It was not known whether it was the mist or the smoke from the explosion, but at this time the Indiana was almost covered by the fog.

Staring at the dying "Indiana", Cheng Bichen ordered.

"Notify the fleet to focus on armor-piercing shells. What I need is to sink the target..."

It wasn't just about destroying their horizontal decks...

At the moment when Cheng Bichen issued the order, suddenly, in the telescope, a thick gray smoke gushed out from the chimney of the Indiana. The smoke was completely different from the previous smoke clouds, as if it suddenly gushed out from the chimney, like a volcanic eruption.

A chimney was vaguely standing under the black smoke. The next moment, the chimney suddenly flew into the air. All this happened almost in an instant. In fact, no one noticed these details. A huge mushroom cloud suddenly rushed straight into the sky.

In the violent explosion, they could even see the No. 1 turret of the battleship Indiana being lifted up and then flying into the air in the smoke.

All this happened in a moment, and then smoke came out from the countless cracks in the warship. The warship was immediately engulfed in smoke and fire. Except for the turrets that were thrown high into the air by the explosion and the countless debris that fell into the sea and splashed water, in just a moment, nothing could be seen. When the smoke faded, the sea was empty.

Nothing left!

This scene shocked everyone!

No one expected that a warship would sink so quickly. This is sometimes the case on the battlefield. In the previous bombardment, a 380mm armor-piercing shell penetrated the armored deck, then penetrated several layers of bulkheads and directly hit the ammunition compartment containing hundreds of tons of shells. The shell and the hundreds of tons of shells in the ammunition compartment exploded together.

In the blink of an eye, thousands of American sailors on the Indiana sank into the icy seabed along with the warship before they even had time to figure out what was happening.

"Long live!"

At the moment when the Indiana exploded and sank, a deafening cheer rang out from the battleships of the Imperial Navy. The officers of each ship immediately informed the sailors of the victory through the loudspeakers.

After learning about this victory, the sailors in the warship shouted excitedly, especially the boilermen and ammunition handlers who were inside the warship. They were so excited that they could not control themselves.

Only then will they understand that your efforts were not in vain and their hard work paid off.

As the sailors cheered, the Empire's main fleet continued to bombard the British and American fleets with armor-piercing shells.

In the following time, the sea area was filled with the roar of 12-inch main guns. The roar of the huge cannons shook the entire sea. Black smoke continued to rise from the fleets of both sides, and dark red flames continued to rise on the warships. However, both sides were like ancient heavily armored knights, attacking each other with swords and guns again and again.

Although the shells from both sides were very accurate, the shells that exploded on the surface of the battlefield did not seem to cause much damage to either side, just like ancient warriors using swords and guns to chop at each other's armor. It just left some marks on the surface.

It is in this back-and-forth bombardment that luck will favor the lucky ones, and a cannonball that seems like a godsend may change everything. And they all long for such luck.

In fact, luck no longer has much meaning at this time. After all, the outcome of this naval battle has been doomed from the beginning. The Anglo-American Combined Fleet, which has lost half of its battleships in the successive attacks of torpedo boats and aircraft, is no match for the well-rested main fleet of the Imperial Navy. But even so, both the Royal Navy and the US Navy have shown courage beyond imagination, and they are still fighting tenaciously.

The naval battle started at 10:23 and lasted until 3:40 in the afternoon. During the five-hour battle, seven British and American battleships were sunk. As for the USS Lanley, a converted merchant ship, it was sent into the sea by a 356mm shell less than half an hour after the battle began. When it was hit by the shell, it didn't even have the chance to struggle.

The Imperial Navy also paid a heavy price - four battleships were sunk, but even so, the Imperial Navy still firmly held the upper hand.

At 3:40, facing the near-destructive blow, Mahan issued an order to "evacuate the battlefield". However, it was too late. When the remaining warships of the British and American combined fleet tried to flee the battlefield, the aircraft carrier forces, which had been watching closely, immediately released all their aircraft. The remaining warships of the British and American combined fleet, which had been fleeing in panic, pursued them.

Warships can't outrun planes. The result of this pursuit is predictable. After flying for only a few dozen minutes, the leader saw the target they were looking for. There were many black smoke bands on the sea, spreading and expanding from the dense and narrow center, so he drove the plane towards the center of the smoke.

"Oh, my God!" the team leader exclaimed with emotion.

The hulls of the warships in front of them were riddled with holes, almost losing their original shape, and thick smoke was violently gushing out from everywhere. The superstructures, such as chimneys, masts, bridges, etc., were all blown off. These warships had all suffered heavy damage in the previous naval battles.

Although the "Hai Dong Qing" were flying very low, they encountered almost no resistance. After all, in the previous naval battle, the surface of most warships had been severely damaged. They could clearly see that the turrets of some warships were destroyed, the top covers were blown off, the muzzles were raised high, and some muzzles were weakly lowered to the maximum depression angle. However, the turret closest to the tail was still firing.

In the flames and smoke, some brave sailors saw the plane and still tried to load, aim and shoot without hesitation. At the moment when the lead plane finally approached them, the leader gave the order to attack with a serious look.

Soon, braving the sparse shells, the Sakers dropped torpedoes on the heavily damaged warships. Soon, they saw a scene they would never forget: after the warships were hit by torpedoes, many sailors were still incredibly active in the flames and explosions. They climbed over the dilapidated deck and jumped from the blazing warships into the rolling sea...

During the new book period, I beg you to continue to support me! Please recommend, collect, and read! Thank you!!! I have set up a book club: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss the plot together.