My Italy

The lightning strike formation released by Kaden really made the Combined Fleet scramble, and the Mediterranean Fleet also took advantage of the lightning strike formation to cause trouble and continued to throw firepower at the top of the Combined Fleet.

The battleships of the United Fleet suffered more or less losses, such as the Giulio, Dante, Michelangelo, and Istvan.

Among them, the Dante suffered the most serious losses. One of the ship's forward main battery turrets was hit. Although it did not penetrate, the deck collapsed and made it unable to rotate. In addition to one of the main turrets being damaged and unable to rotate, its chimney was also hit by a shell and a large gap was opened, which greatly affected the firing range of the two turrets behind the battleship. It can be said that the Dante was lost in a short period of time. Half the fighting power.

The chaos caused by the bombardment formation being harassed by the lightning formation finally ended, allowing the Dante to get rid of it. Although some losses were caused, fortunately, thanks to the excellent quality and performance of the Italian warships, they were able to withstand this wave, and then it was time to counterattack.

"Target enemy artillery formation, fire!"

After finally clearing the lightning strike formation, Leifer immediately ordered the formation to continue firing. Since the other party used lightning strike tactics to take advantage of it earlier, then it is time to get it back.

Following his orders, battleships re-targeted their former opponents one after another.

The observer re-reported the enemy's azimuth and distance, the gunnery officer quickly calculated the muzzle angle, and the ammunition hand sent the ammunition to the turret through the conveyor belt. After rapid filling, under the command to fire, the gunner pressed the launch button. With a deafening sound, the shells rushed out of the gun barrel and roared towards the enemy ship in the distance.

Bang!

A violent explosion sounded from near the Montague. This was a near-missed bomb. Although it did not cause much damage to the Montague, it had already shown that it had been included in the shooting range. The next step was to increase the bombardment. Firepower output, there will always be shells hitting the ship.

"Open fire, counterattack the enemy ships, and show your strength to win the gunnery competition."

Lieutenant Colonel Traore, the captain of the Montague, who was startled by the near-missile, immediately issued a loud order to counterattack. Perhaps because of the intensity of the battle, he didn't notice a tremor in his voice.

Under Captain Traore's order or fierceness, the officers and soldiers on the Montague naturally put in their full strength and spirit to work hard for the battleship's counterattack.

At this moment, the ammunition compartment, which is the core of the battleship, is constantly delivering ammunition to the turret.

"No. 4 armor-piercing bullets, four packs of No. 2 charges. Everyone, please move quickly."

At this moment, in the ammunition compartment, an officer loudly stated the needs of the fort. Following his orders, more than a dozen soldiers were busy carrying anti-drug bags and carrying ammunition.

The drug pack was okay. The propellant pack weighing several dozen kilograms was wrapped in silk and could be resisted by one person. As for the three to four hundred kilogram main gun shells, even five or six big men using tools can't do anything about it.

Fortunately, these ammunition handlers were all veterans who had served on the Montague for several years. Even if they squinted their eyes, they knew how to quickly carry hundreds of kilograms of artillery shells. So after a period of skillful operation, the two shells were After loading it on a special ammunition cart, several strong men pushed the cart and quickly placed it on the elevator connected to the turret.

"Twenty-one seconds, still not fast enough."

The officer looked at the stopwatch and was still not satisfied with the speed.

"Sir, we can't go any faster. It takes four seconds just to open and close the hatch. We can complete the transportation of ammunition in seventeen seconds, which is our limit."

The porters, who were already tired and sweating profusely, could only respond helplessly. Seventeen seconds to complete the transport of ammunition was already their limit, and they couldn't go any faster.

"I don't care what method you use, you must improve the loading efficiency. We are the gunnery champions."

The officer's words gave a very obvious hint, and it would be foolish to not understand it.

It was obvious that the ammunition handlers on the Montague were not stupid. Soon the ammunition handling speed reached a new high, and the always-open hatch gave a clear answer.

Of course, this is definitely a violation of wartime safety regulations. As the most lethal position on a warship, the ammunition warehouse is known to the navy of any country. Therefore, all countries have very strict requirements for the management of ammunition warehouses.

But unfortunately, the regulations are just regulations, and how to implement them requires the intuition of the battleship officers and soldiers. Obviously, the officers and soldiers on the Montague did not strictly abide by this system.

In fact, it was not just the officers and soldiers of the Montague who violated the regulations. At this time, there were few warships in the Mediterranean Fleet that complied with the system. At this moment, they are all trying every means to increase the firepower of the battleship, and they do not have a high awareness of the possible dangers of the battleship.

And this is a sign that it has not conducted actual combat for too long. Since the Crimean War, the British Empire has not conducted a decent naval battle.

Of course, this is only one of the reasons, and more importantly, there is a sense of arrogance in the hearts of British naval officers and soldiers who have fought all over the world. It depends on the temperament of the navies of various countries. Of course, this kind of momentum is good most of the time, and it can improve the morale of the officers and soldiers. But there is also a small problem, that is, it is very likely to cause one's own arrogance. ·

As for now, the naval officers and soldiers of the British Empire who have given a red eye have obviously forgotten the danger at this moment, and only want to let the enemy have a taste of their power.

Orange-red muzzle flashes bloomed in a gorgeous scene on the sea, followed by a roar that resounded in the sky and swept across the sea with unstoppable momentum. The water pillars rising into the sky almost merge into one piece and become a white wall!

At this moment, the artillery battle between the two sides was in full swing, and everyone wanted the other to fall first.

The first Dougno card soon appeared. A large-caliber armor-piercing projectile fired by the Duilio directly penetrated the 8-inch-thick armor plate on the outer wall of the Montague's central main turret and exploded inside.

The huge momentum generated by the explosion blew off half of the turret's top cover, and then hit the deck heavily. The gunpowder in the gun chamber and loading chamber was ignited. All the gunners in the turret were killed in an instant. The violent explosion caused the Montague to reverse abruptly to starboard and withdraw from the battle line.

A large amount of air immediately poured into the open turret. The top cover of the hit turret was like an open can. Light yellow smoke continued to spray out from the crack. The huge barrel was helplessly tilted into the air. It looked like it was doomed.

What was even more dangerous at this moment was that because the explosion ignited the propellant packs in the turret and ammunition elevator, the flames rushed into the open ammunition depot along the ammunition elevator shaft, igniting more scattered piles of ammunition. The chemical caused fires to rage throughout the Montague's hull.

Two minutes later, an earth-shaking explosion came from the Montague. No obvious fireworks were visible at first, and then the entire ship was suddenly submerged in thick black smoke, mixed with flashes of flames." The British rangefinders on the bridge of the St. Vincent closest to the Montague looked at this in surprise. One scene.

"All kinds of debris and wreckage flew into the sky. The motorboat that was blown into two pieces was thrown up to a height of three meters by the air waves. A few seconds later, the Montague and nearly a thousand officers and soldiers on board were caught in the explosion. Disappeared.

At this moment, the officers and soldiers on the Duilio were cheering because they sank the Montague and achieved the first result in the naval battle.

When the news of the sinking of the Montague reached Leifer, the steady fleet commander waved his hands violently.

"Great, send this good news to the entire fleet."

Obviously, Leifer wanted to use this news to boost the morale of the fleet officers and soldiers. Facts have proved that this news has greatly improved the morale of the officers and soldiers of the Combined Fleet, making them more confident that they can win this naval battle. Therefore, the combined fleet's firepower is becoming more and more accurate.

Compared with Leifer, Kaden, as the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, received the news no later than the other party.

At this moment, he ordered, "Order all ships to continue counterattack. Our reinforcements are only sixty nautical miles away from us. If we persist for the last five minutes, we will win."

At this moment, Carden could only cheer up his own officers and soldiers, telling them that reinforcements were coming. At the same time, he also inspired everyone with the Duke of Wellington's last five minutes in the Battle of Waterloo.

Carden's approach largely restored the morale of the British army. After all, such an obvious explosion on his own warship could be seen.

Of course, this also shows that Admiral Cardon placed his hope of victory in this naval battle on reinforcements.

So where are the British and French rescue formations that they have high hopes for at this moment?