Through the lights on the battleship, you can barely see the huge outline of the rock mountain, and the dark and huge figure is particularly eye-catching in the night. Whenever a warship passes through the Strait of Gibraltar, they will be amazed by the tight and solid defense here. The strong fortifications, the powerful coastal defense guns, and the patrol teams that are always vigilant all make people feel the tightness of the defense here. If you want to win here, you may have to pay a very heavy price. At this time, Nan Yunzhong glanced at his watch. It was already five o'clock in the morning. The dawn was about to break through the darkness and the sun was about to rise. The sky that was about to break at dawn seemed to indicate that a fierce battle was about to begin. "Order all ships to prepare for battle and open fire as soon as dawn arrives." Nagumo Chuichi once again issued a clear and urgent order. His eyes were fixed on the looming Strait of Gibraltar ahead, and he was already prepared in his heart. Prepared for the battle. "Hai." The subordinates responded respectfully again, and then went to implement various battle preparations more quickly. The entire fleet was suddenly shrouded in a tense and solemn atmosphere. They were just waiting for the arrival of dawn to fight against Gibraltar. The defenders launched a fierce life-and-death battle. At this critical moment, the battle siren on the Rock of Gibraltar suddenly sounded. The sharp and piercing siren instantly cut through the tranquility of the night sky and echoed over the sea. Immediately afterwards, huge rays of light shot out from the rocky mountains, like sharp lightsabers, shining straight over, instantly illuminating the sea area as bright as day. The strong light made the fleet hidden in the darkness invisible. When Nan Yunzhong saw this scene, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, showing a trace of disdain.

He said coldly: "Discovered it? Unfortunately it's too late. Order the naval guns to fire immediately and kill those searchlights." There was a sense of confidence in his tone that he was sure of victory. Even if he was discovered in advance, he was not afraid at all and firmly believed that his fleet could quickly reverse the situation with its powerful firepower. "Hai!" After receiving the order, his subordinates quickly conveyed the order. For a moment, the naval gun operators on each ship immediately took action. They skillfully controlled the naval guns and adjusted the shooting angle, with coldness and concentration in their eyes. In a nighttime naval battle environment, searchlights are indeed an extremely critical presence. Especially for coastal defense artillery, they must rely on the precise guidance of searchlights to accurately lock on to the target and launch an effective attack. Because in the dark, it is difficult to clearly distinguish the position and movement of ships on the distant sea with the naked eye. The strong light emitted by the searchlight is like a lighthouse in the dark, pointing out the direction of attack for the coastal defense artillery. Therefore, as long as those searchlights are killed, the opponent's coastal defense guns will be in trouble instantly, like a blind man who has lost his eyes, and can no longer accurately shoot at the incoming fleet. Originally, Nagumo Chuichi wanted to wait until dawn before launching the attack, so that the view would be clearer and the combat conditions would be relatively more favorable. Who would have thought that it would be discovered in advance now, but this does not seem to matter to Nagumo Chuichi too much. In his opinion, this battle will be fought sooner or later anyway, it is just a matter of time. Now that it has been exposed, simply launch an attack in advance and rely on the powerful firepower of the fleet to first destroy the opponent's important auxiliary facility - the searchlight, thereby creating more favorable conditions for subsequent attacks. "Battle alarm?" The British Governor was hurriedly shouted from his sleep. At this moment, he was still sleepy and looked at the officer who came to report with a dull look on his face. His eyes were full of disbelief, and he subconsciously said I asked this question. In his subconscious mind, Gibraltar has always had a strict defense system, so why did the battle alarm suddenly sound? This was really beyond his expectation. "Yes, we found that the four-nation combined fleet is attacking our port." The officer who came to report did not dare to slack off at all. He straightened his back and said loudly and clearly. There was a kind of tension and urgency in that voice. After all, the situation at hand was very critical. The four-nation combined fleet was approaching menacingly. No one knew why the other party suddenly appeared here. Hearing this, the British Governor's face, which was still a little confused, instantly turned livid. His eyes widened, veins popped out on his forehead, and he said angrily: "Damn it, why didn't we find it until now? Where is our radar? What do they do for food? Why didn't we warn them in advance?"

His voice was trembling slightly with anger, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. In his opinion, radar is an extremely important part of Gibraltar's defense layout. It shoulders the important task of detecting incoming enemy forces in advance. Ordinarily, such a large target should have been discovered long ago with the radar's monitoring capabilities. How could it be possible that it took until now to notice the enemy's movements? "Your Majesty the Governor, the radar malfunctioned, so there was no advance warning." The officer said with a grimace. His face was full of helplessness and grievance, and he knew very well that this radar failure had caused everyone a disaster. Originally, relying on the normal monitoring of the radar, they could at least make many preparations in advance, but now, the enemy troops were almost at the port, and they only realized it later. But at this moment, we can only report the situation truthfully, and hope that the Governor can come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible. Hearing that the radar was malfunctioning, the British Governor's face became even more ugly, and his already livid face was now shrouded in a thicker layer of haze. His eyes were narrowed tightly, with suspicion flashing in his eyes, and he was thinking to himself that all this was too strange, and he suspected that it was all a conspiracy carefully planned by the enemy. Otherwise, why would a good radar break down at this critical moment when the four-nation joint fleet is approaching? There must be something fishy in this. However, the situation was critical at this moment, and he knew that he had no extra time to investigate the ins and outs of these things in detail. The most important thing at the moment is to quickly find a way to repel the four-nation combined fleet and protect Gibraltar, a vital strategic location. "Asshole, why don't you send someone to repair it?" The British governor opened his eyes angrily and shouted at the officer in front of him. "It was sent, but it couldn't be repaired and it was always in a snowflake state." The officer explained helplessly. He felt extremely aggrieved. He had already sent people to repair the radar as soon as he discovered the malfunction, but the maintenance personnel were helpless. No matter how they fiddled with it, the radar screen was always a snowflake and could not work normally at all, and could not obtain any information. to any useful information. "Damn it, order the coastal defense troops to counterattack immediately. They must not be allowed to cross the strait." Hearing this, the British Governor's face was so gloomy that it seemed to drip water. He gritted his teeth and issued the order immediately and decisively. In his opinion, since the advantage of radar in early warning has been lost, now we can only rely on the powerful firepower of the coastal defense forces to resist the enemy's attack. Coastal defense forces are an important force in guarding the Strait of Gibraltar. They are equipped with powerful coastal defense guns and other weapons. As long as they are used properly, they may not be unable to repel invading enemies. "Yes!" After receiving the order, the officer responded solemnly, and then hurriedly turned around to convey the governor's urgent order. For a time, the entire Gibraltar coastal defense force took action quickly, and the soldiers rushed to their respective combat posts to prepare for the attack. On the other side, under the strong light of the searchlight, the four-nation combined fleet finally fired. The first to bear the brunt was the Italian battleship Roma. This battleship was majestic, like a sea monster, and its main gun was even more powerful. Under the control of the gunners, the nine triple-mounted 15-inch/50-caliber main naval guns slowly raised their muzzles and pointed directly at the dazzling searchlight on the rocky mountain. Then there was a deafening roar, and one The cannonball carried huge energy and roared straight towards the searchlight of Yanshan. "Alert, alert, the enemy ship is firing at us, please avoid!" The soldiers in charge of controlling the searchlight on Yanshan suddenly became panicked. They shouted at the top of their lungs and couldn't help cursing. They really couldn't figure out how on earth these enemy ships appeared here without anyone noticing? There is obviously a radar unit responsible for monitoring the situation in the surrounding sea areas, but why is there no early warning at all? This left them unprepared and directly exposed to the enemy's artillery fire, and their hearts were full of resentment and confusion. To say that the accuracy of this naval gun's shooting is actually not too high in this case. After all, the maritime environment is complex, and warships will continue to sway with the waves. Coupled with the influence of distance and other factors, it is often difficult to accurately control the trajectory of cannonballs after they are launched.

It can be said that many times it depends entirely on luck. Often, even if you shoot dozens of shells, you may not be able to accurately hit the opponent's target. However, among the four combined fleets, the shooting level of the Italian fleet is obviously higher than that of the German sailors. This is not due to the difference in the advanced level of the battleships, but to the actual accumulation of knowledge. In naval battles, what is tested is the gunners' own shooting skills. It has to be said that the Italian fleet's shooting level this time was obviously quite high. Half of the ten shells fired accurately hit the target - the searchlight on the rocky mountain. Such a hit rate is definitely very high in the current naval battle environment. In contrast, the current hit rate of the German army is somewhat unsatisfactory. It is about three hits out of ten shells, and sometimes only two hits. What's more, when you are unlucky, you only hit three. Can hit one shot. From this, it can be clearly seen that the German army's shooting level is indeed very low, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in this regard. The French fleet on the other side was not to be outdone and began to dispatch. "boom!" With a deafening bang, the eight 380mm main guns of the Richelieu-class battleship sprayed out dazzling fire at the same time and opened fire together. In an instant, the entire sea surface seemed to be shaken by this huge energy, and the gorgeous and blazing light illuminated half of the sea surface as brightly as day. The artillery shells roared through the air and rushed towards the target. The scene was absolutely spectacular and made people marvel at it. It must be said here that the Richelieu-class battleship is of great significance to the French fleet. It is the only battleship preserved in France. The rest of the battleships all encountered misfortune. In the previous naval battle, they were sneak attacked by the Royal Fleet and eventually sank, which severely damaged the battleship power of the French Fleet. And the strength of this Richelieu-class battleship cannot be underestimated. Its standard displacement reaches 38,500 tons, and its full load displacement is as high as 47,548 tons. It is large and solid. Its front deck is equipped with eight 380mm main guns. These main guns are like the fangs of a giant beast, demonstrating powerful attack power. Nine 152mm high and flat dual-purpose artillery pieces are arranged on the rear deck, which can play a role in different combat scenarios. The hull is also equipped with 12 100mm anti-aircraft guns on both sides. Such a dense artillery configuration gives it extremely dense attack firepower, which can play a corresponding role in sea, land and air defense operations. The ship is driven by six supercharged boiler steam engines with a total power of 157,000 horsepower. With such a powerful power system, the warship can reach a speed of 32 knots. This high-speed feature gives it strong maneuverability in naval battles, allowing it to quickly adjust its position, seize opportunities, or pursue the enemy. From the beginning of its design, it was given multiple missions. The purpose is to one day have a decisive battle with the Royal Fleet and show the strength of the French Navy in the expected fierce confrontation. At the same time, it also has the ability to escort, and can provide protection for one's own transport fleets, etc.; it can also perform communication breaking tasks and destroy the enemy's sea lines of communication; and in land operations, it can provide effective fire support, Implement suppression of enemy land targets and many other tasks. To be honest, this battleship is indeed a very good battleship. Although the caliber of the main gun is only 380mm, the performance of the artillery is very superior, mainly reflected in its large amount of propellant, which allows the shells to have a longer range and stronger lethality after being launched, and can play a role in naval battles. important role. The production plan of the ship at that time was originally four ships, but unfortunately it was ill-fated.

Two of them were bombed and sunk in the dock, and suffered bad luck before they could be put into service. The other one is still parked in the dock. It had not been completed due to various reasons before, but construction has started recently. The French Navy also hopes to complete the battleship and join the fleet as soon as possible to further enhance the strength of the fleet. (End of chapter)