Asama's Captain Kato Kanji was commanding his battleship to pursue the enemy cruiser formation.
The previously retreating ships, Takago, Kasagi, and two destroyers, were now following behind the two armored cruisers, ready to pounce on the 'drowning dog' at any moment.
Suddenly, he noticed several massive fireballs erupting from the distant battleship, and his heart instantly skipped a beat.
Yanling's long-range main gun capability had taught them a lesson before, and now that distant battleship, whose specific model couldn't be confirmed yet, was actually able to fire from 17,000 yards?
They had always assumed the enemy was the Cangdong Inspection Fleet, and therefore defaulted to believing the battleship at the enemy's rear was a Haisui-class, but this was clearly beyond what a Haisui-class could achieve. The first mate beside him quickly flipped through the ship identification manual, trying to confirm the enemy's identity.
"At such a long range, even those super-dreadnoughts can't achieve a first-round hit. We have enough time to confirm their identity and make a decision," Captain Kato reassured his first mate.
However, not long after he finished speaking, a rumbling sound like a heavy freight train passing overhead reached them, then transformed into a sharp whistle.
Whoosh — — — — — —
Because it was the terminal phase of the trajectory, the six heavy shells plunged towards Asama's deck at an extremely steep angle, like a group of falling meteors.
After meticulous calculation by the auxiliary AI, the accuracy of the bombardment was unparalleled; one of the six armor-piercing shells was a near miss, and the other five all hit their targets directly.
Without ranging shots, five out of six hits in the first salvo—such a feat would be difficult to achieve even for the Vanguard-class and Iowa-class, known for their advanced fire control technology in later generations on Blue Star.
The 386kg capped armor-piercing shells effortlessly penetrated the Asama-class's horizontal protection, exploding in the ship's mid-lower levels. The shockwave tore through watertight doors and bulkheads, followed by an influx of scorching flames mixed with toxic gas. Although only a few muffled thuds could be heard externally, Asama's internal structure was essentially twisted into a pretzel.
In less than five seconds, the flames spread to the ammunition magazine below the forward main gun.
The violent explosion caused the surrounding sea surface to appear as if it were boiling. Under the sweeping air blast, the bridge glass of the Takago behind them was also shattered, and the bridge crew temporarily lost their hearing.
Before anyone could react, this ten-thousand-ton armored cruiser was reduced to scattered steel fragments and debris.
"First-round hit from 17,000 yards?!" Liu Feng lowered his hands from covering his ears, barely able to believe his eyes. Was this the combat power of a dreadnought?
Li He on the bridge was also extremely shocked to see the black smoke in the distance. He had served as a Paoshu Zhang in the Qiancang Central Government's direct fleet, and he knew what a first-round hit at that distance meant. Even the best gun crews and Paoshu Zhangs on the Qian Cang Empire's most outstanding dreadnoughts could not achieve such a feat.
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"Dreadnought-class?!"
Rear Admiral Kawara Youichi in the yashima's armored conning tower couldn't believe his eyes. No matter how foolish he was, he understood that the Dreadnought-class before him probably didn't belong to the Cangdong Inspection Fleet, but rather to some autonomous region. However, the scene before him was truly beyond his comprehension, making it impossible for him to accept.
He had engaged with the Cangdong Sea Area's fleet before; he had seen Dreadnought-class ships that descended from the Miracle Storm; he also understood that Dreadnought-class ships had an extremely strong suppressive force against armored cruisers in long-range gun battles. But the situation before him was that the Cangdong Sea Area fleet, which had fled three days ago, had now acquired a Dreadnought-class from the Miracle Storm and was skillfully operating her, instantly destroying an East Sakura Navy armored cruiser with one salvo in a long-range gun battle!
As a high-ranking officer of East Sakura, he knew some of the East Sakura Empire's high-level conclusions regarding the Miracle Storm: the appearance of Miracle Battleships followed a certain pattern; Miracle Battleships appearing in the same sea area often had similar design styles, with only a very few exceptions.
Because the Qian Cang Empire had a larger sea area, the total number of Miracle Battleships was greater than East Sakura's, giving it a numerical advantage. However, the East Sakura Empire could subtly overpower Qiancang, and one important reason was that the quality of Miracle Battleships descending in East Sakura's sea area was generally higher.
The Dreadnought-class was not the type of dreadnought equipped by the Qiancang Imperial Guard Fleet, and it had never descended in the Qian Cang Empire before, yet it suddenly appeared here now.
"Report to the Navy Department: a Dreadnought-class battleship has appeared near the Taixi Archipelago in the Cangdong Sea Area, and our forces are engaging her. Use plain text! Transmit simultaneously on medium and shortwave frequencies!"
Having encountered a legendary extremely low-probability event, Kawara Youichi now felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten excrement.
"Order the entire fleet to cover the destroyers and prepare for close-range torpedo attacks!"
Kawara Youichi knew he had no retreat. The enemy's goal was to annihilate him, and even if he wanted to escape, the yashima, with a speed of only 18 knots, would inevitably be unable to escape the Dreadnought-class's pursuit.
He could only make a desperate gamble with his last resort — the Type 44 Model 2 457mm torpedoes equipped on the Takago and the two Lei-class destroyers. However, the Takago was too large a target and would likely be destroyed by the enemy's terrifying long-range gunfire before getting close. He could only rely on these two destroyers.
This type of torpedo was a weapon recently surveyed and reverse-engineered by the East Sakura Navy, with a speed of 36 knots and a range of 8,000 yards. Even a Dreadnought-class hit by a torpedo warhead with over 100KG of explosives would be heavily damaged.
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