Nine Hundred and Six Cannon Era

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"The firing is complete!" With a loud shout, the loaders began to get busy in the small metal space. The huge breech block was pulled away from the inside, and a wave of scorching air diffused from the breech. The machine began to roar, the engine started to rotate, and the chain also began to roll, and the entire space was full of harsh sounds.

Soon, a cannonball rose up from the passage made of steel under his feet. It was pushed onto the transport elevator from a distance of tens of meters under his feet, and then, with the rolling of the engine, it crossed the armor protection partition and returned to the ground. There is a thicker battleship main armor layer, which came inside the turret of the main gun.

"Loader!" Another shout sounded, and several people hurriedly began to unload the heavy shell from the elevator with a simple hoisting machine. They shouted slogans and placed the shell on the loading track.

Then, with the operation of the electric machine, the shell was pushed into the barrel of the 406mm caliber cannon by a metal rod with a soft head, and the long pusher rod followed the mechanical movement regularly. It moved repeatedly and returned to its original docking position.

"Charging!" Such a huge caliber shell is not a whole shell, nor is it a separate warhead and propellant. The propellant required for this shell is basically very similar to the explosive pack. The loader ≮↙ needs to stack the packs of propellant charges neatly according to the range and other requirements, and then push them into the barrel again by the push rod just now.

Soon, these propellant charges have been neatly stacked on the loading track. The reason why all large-caliber artillery cannot shoot continuously and must return to a fixed angle for loading is mainly because the ammunition of these huge artillery must rely on a complex loading auxiliary system, and this system cannot follow the pitching motion of the cannon.

"Crash!" Following a series of sounds, the propellant charges were pushed into the barrel, and then the two loaders skillfully folded the loading track from left to right. After all, it takes a while for the artillery to fire. If the slide rail is not retracted, it will be smashed to pieces by the recoil of the artillery.

"The No. 1 artillery is loaded! Ready!" After returning to his position, a non-commissioned officer in the loading hand reported loudly.

The shooting correction sergeant over there also put down the phone almost at the same time, and repeated loudly the shooting elements he had just received: "The angle remains unchanged! Adjust 0.2 to the left, and wait for the firing order!"

The artillery angle operation group not far behind him repeated his order loudly, and fiddled with the power-assisted instrument panel with his hands while repeating: "The launch angle remains unchanged, and the left correction is 0.2...ready !"

With their shouts, the tail of the No. 1 artillery began to sink little by little, which also indicated that the muzzle of this artillery was rising rapidly.

After returning to the same height when it was just shooting, the cannon waited there motionless.

"Fire!" With an order, a huge roar came from outside the deck, and the entire battleship trembled at the earth-shattering roar, and everyone squinted their eyes involuntarily.

The propellant exploded, forming thick smoke that covered the sky and spewed out from the 406 mm diameter muzzle, and even a breeze blew on the nearby sea, and the huge shell pierced the sky and flew to the distant The target—then it finally landed on the surface of the sea not far from the target, and exploded to form a column of water dozens of stories high.

In the shooting command post near the command tower on the top of the battleship, a non-commissioned officer put down the binoculars in his hand, grabbed the phone beside him, and loudly reported his observation results into the microphone: "Cannon No. 1! Missing a bullet! Altitude correction 0. 1!"

On the bridge, the captain of the battleship Washington frowned, staring helplessly at the distant sea. He did not expect that the Japanese battleship would take the initiative to entangle him. At this time, he would no longer be able to get support from friendly aircraft.

You must know that the artillery combat level of American battleships can only be regarded as an average level. The ammunition of this kind of big killer is expensive and the firing life of the barrel is relatively short. Who usually has nothing to do with this level of weapons to practice shooting? Therefore, the artillery combat level of the U.S. Navy also belongs to the level that basically relies on faith-of course, then again, who is not relying on faith to fight when firing guns and fighting each other on the swaying sea?

Obviously, the Japanese army had more faith. They just hit the tail of the USS North Carolina. Although they did not cause any fatal damage, this was the only record that the two sides hit their opponent so far. Relying on their numerical superiority, the Americans used intensive artillery fire to sieve the sea near the Japanese battleship Hyuga, while the Japanese fought back desperately, trying to hold back the US military and prevent them from reinforcing other battlefields.

"Boom!" Just as he was anxious, the No. 2 artillery fired again. This shell also failed to make any contribution. It flew over the chimney of the Japanese warship and landed behind the Japanese warship. There was still a huge explosion, and it was still a magnificent shot. The water column, but the Japanese battleship, just like that, floated on the sea intact.

"The No. 2 artillery didn't hit the target, and it formed a straddle! Keep shooting at the angle! Keep shooting at the angle!" In the shooting command post, the observer shouted excitedly. Generally speaking, as long as the artillery straddle is formed, then The distance to hit the target is relatively close.

Inside the bridge, the adjutant asked Halsey, who was in a state of desperation, with his hands behind his back, "Sir! If it doesn't work, let's take off the shooting plane for observation..."

At the very beginning, American warships and planes were bullying the Japanese army, so there was no need to take off and shoot planes to rest the artillery. As a result, there was a stalemate artillery battle now. There was no longer a chance to delay the firing, to take off some school-shooting planes-but now, although the American warships had obvious advantages, they missed repeatedly, which made the chief officer have to think of a better way.

"Boom!" The No. 3 artillery fired at this time, and then when the American captain was about to order to stop the artillery shooting, and took off the calibration plane to correct the artillery shooting, a miracle happened...

The No. 3 artillery of the No. A turret on the bow of the USS Washington hit the No. A turret of the Japanese battleship's bow turret. A shell accurately hit the armor plate, completely canceling one of the Japanese turrets. This also made the Japanese artillery Density dropped quite a bit.

Seeing the flames of the Japanese warships start to burn, cheers erupted from the American warships. Although everyone knows that they are using two new-style battleships to hit an old-fashioned battleship, it is not honorable to bully the few-but after all, being able to hit is much better than not being able to hit, so no one cares about those details. Work hard to adjust the cannon.

"Hit! Hit! Keep firing! Keep firing!" When the observer in the shooting command post reported, his voice changed a little because he was too excited. His excitement can be heard, after all, defeating Japan in shelling is a very inspiring thing for Americans.

Such an atmosphere of joy and encouragement did not last long. The cheers of the Americans here have not yet ended. The battleship North Carolina over there was also hit by the main gun of the battleship Hyuga. For a while, the cheers of the Americans were sluggish. Going down, it seems that the short-term joy just now disappeared with the North Carolina being shot.

The battleship Hyuga is an old battleship after all, and it is equipped with a 356mm main gun instead of the 406mm main gun installed on the four battleships of the US Navy. Therefore, in terms of the penetrating power of the shells, it cannot be compared with the giant artillery of the US military. Although the Japanese navy has hit the US warship twice in a row, it has not caused any substantial damage to the US warship.

After all, the warships of the U.S. Navy are new warships that were just launched in 1939, while the Hyuga of the Japanese Navy is already an antique that entered service in 1918. Even after a modern modification, it can no longer meet the needs of a decisive battle. So when the Japanese battleship hit the American battleship for the third time, it still did not slow down the North Carolina.

After such a hit exchange, the Americans also forgot about taking off the shooting plane. Now that they can hit the opponent, there is no need to stop shooting and go to the deck to take off the useless observation plane. .

The giant guns of both sides were firing at each other, and the Japanese were very accurate, like their teachers, the British, who were very good at sea artillery battles. But helplessly, their cannons have a slightly smaller caliber and cannot cause fatal damage to American warships. The American cannons are powerful enough, but they are not very accurate...

The good show continued, and when the USS Washington narrowed the distance to 20 kilometers, they finally hit each other again. The stern of the ship was also hit again.

Both sides paid a heavy price. The battleship Hyuga immediately burst into flames, and the turret in the middle of the hull fell silent for an instant. The Americans seem to have hit its important position, and the Japanese battleships that were able to barely fight just now have lost their combat power at this moment.

Of course, the USS North Carolina, a new battleship, also failed to find a bargain. Although it hit the opponent in one fell swoop and basically made the opponent lose the ability to fight, it seems that its tail was also hit. Less than half of the original.