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Text Chapter 891 Destruction of Santa Cruz Island

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    "General, the heavy cruiser 'Concord' was sunk, the heavy cruiser 'Boston' was also severely damaged, and the 'Hartford' and 'Providence' were also slightly damaged to varying degrees.  . Now, the 2nd Battleship Group and the PH Battleship Group have stopped pursuing the Chinese fleet!" a staff officer told William.  Admiral Benson reported.

    William.  Admiral Benson's face was very ugly. Although he made a lot of preparations, he still let the Chinese fleet run away in the end.  In this naval battle, the U.S. fleet lost the battleships New York, Montana, and Ohio, which suffered heavy damage and has withdrawn from the battlefield.  In addition, the heavy cruisers 'Montpellier' and 'Montpellier' were also lost.

    Three heavy cruisers, including the 'Concord' and the 'Boston,' were severely damaged.  And the result they achieved was only to sink a Chinese Navy battleship, and some Chinese Navy battleships were damaged.  Such results and losses are completely disproportionate!

    "Report the battle report to the Navy Department! Then order the 2nd Battleship Group and the 4th Battleship Group to return." William.  Admiral Benson ordered.  Now that the Chinese fleet has withdrawn, it is impossible to catch up with the Chinese fleet.  Now, we can only target the Chinese Navy¡¯s Santa Cruz Island Naval Base.  Originally, even if the U.S. fleet regarded destroying this place as its top priority, it was only because the Chinese navy unexpectedly came to intercept the U.S. fleet that the U.S. fleet changed its combat plan.  Originally, William.  Admiral Benson thought that the U.S. fleet had such a huge advantage that it would not be a big problem to destroy the Chinese fleet.  But I never expected that this would be the result in the end!

    At three o'clock in the afternoon, the U.S. fleet regrouped, but three battleships were missing. The New York class battleship only had the Texas, and two of the other three were sunk. One  The ship was severely damaged and has withdrawn from the battlefield.

    After completing the assembly, William.  Admiral Benson ordered the advance to Santa Cruz Island.  Their current location is hundreds of nautical miles away from the Santa Cruz Island Naval Base.  By the time the U.S. fleet arrived less than twenty nautical miles away from the Santa Cruz Island Naval Base, night had fallen.  In order to avoid being attacked by Chinese submarines, William.  Admiral Benson had no choice but to order the fleet to attack again tomorrow.  At the same time, the fleet's light cruisers and destroyers are required to do anti-submarine defense!

    The next day, at 8 a.m. on September 18, 1911, the U.S. fleet continued to advance towards the Santa Cruz Island Naval Base.  At this time, the Santa Cruz Island Naval Base had already learned about the arrival of the US fleet.  All personnel in the base were evacuated to the inland area of ??Santa Cruz Island. Only the officers and soldiers of the coastal defense fortress were already ready for battle and were ready for the arrival of the US fleet!

    The coastal defense fortress of Port Ayora is mainly divided into three fortress groups, guarding Port Ayora from the east, north and west.  Each fortress group consists of five forts, coupled with a large number of bunkers, forming a tight defense.  The coastal defense guns attached to the turret are mainly 5 mm coast defense guns, 280 mm coast defense guns and 2KO mm coast defense guns.  Each fortress group has a total of twelve 5mm coast defense guns, 18 280mm coast defense guns and 36 210mm coast defense guns.  Although the caliber of the coastal defense artillery is not as good as that of the battleships of the U.S. fleet, it can still pose a fatal threat to the battleships of the U.S. fleet.  In particular, the 5mm and 50 times the caliber coastal defense artillery is enough to penetrate the armor of the battleships of the U.S. fleet.  If the 280 mm caliber coastal defense gun hits the vital points of a U.S. battleship, it will also cause serious damage to it.  As for the 210mm coastal defense guns, the main targets are cruisers and destroyers of the US fleet.  In addition to these three calibers of coastal defense guns, each fortress also has many 155-caliber and 105-caliber cannons.  However, against heavy warships at sea, these cannons will not be of much use!

    "Order all the forts to prepare for battle! This time, the Americans want to destroy our naval base. This is our hard work in the past few years, and it was not easy to build it. If the Americans want to destroy our base, we  They must pay a sufficient price!" Rear Admiral Li Hai, commander of the naval base, ordered.  At this time, he had already learned about the results achieved by the Pacific Fleet yesterday. The Pacific Fleet relied on three battleships and several heavy cruisers to sink two American battleships and severely damaged one. This made him  Deeply inspired.  Although the U.S. fleet is very powerful, if it performs well, it may not have the chance to make the U.S. fleet pay a heavy price!

    At 9 a.m. on September 18, the U.S. fleet arrived at waters fifteen kilometers away from Port Ayora.

    The eleven huge battleships that looked like hills shocked the Chinese naval officers and soldiers at the base.  You know, the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet has always had only five battleships and one battlecruiser. Compared with the U.S. fleet, it has only five battleships and one battlecruiser.?It¡¯s just half of a human being.

    On the bridge of the battleship Nevada, William.  Admiral Benson observed the fortress in the distance with his telescope.  The three fortress groups in Port Ayora surround the port in the middle. No matter which fortress group is attacked, they will be attacked by fire from the other two fortress groups.  There is no doubt that the Chinese have spent a lot of energy on this naval base.  It will not be easy to destroy such a naval base.  However, William.  Admiral Benson also had great confidence.  All the remaining battleships in the U.S. fleet are equipped with 343mm main guns. Except for the damaged forward main gun of the flagship Nevada, the other ten battleships are intact. All the main guns combined are enough to  Hundreds of doors!

    "Give those yellow-skinned monkeys a chance to surrender! Otherwise, we will blow this place into ruins!" William.  Admiral Benson said.  Although he knew this was somewhat unlikely, he still wanted to give it a try.  After all, if this naval base can be obtained completely, the US Navy will have a very good foothold in the Pacific!

    There is no doubt that William.  Admiral Benson's request was rejected by Rear Admiral Li Hai, commander of the naval base.  Although the U.S. fleet is powerful, they did not bring infantry with them on this trip. It is simply impossible to land on Santa Cruz Island.  Therefore, even if the military port is destroyed, they can persist with the supplies stored on the island, ensuring that this important island is in the hands of the Chinese Navy!

    Although, the rejection of the Chinese has long been with William.  Admiral Benson expected.  But Major General Le Hai's hesitant action still made William.  Admiral Benson was a little angry!

    "Each ship hits the firepower and first attacks the fortress group located on the east side of the military port! Make sure this fortress group is completely destroyed! Let these yellow-skinned monkeys know the consequences of gathering the goodwill of the U.S. Navy!" William.  Admiral Benson gave the order to attack!

    Because the front main gun of the battleship Nevada was damaged, it did not participate in the attack on the fortress group.  But the other ten battleships all headed towards the No. 1 Fortress Group on the east side of the military port.  The shelling started 10,000 meters away from the fortress group!

    "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Ten powerful battleships opened fire at the same time. This scene was very shocking.  Stripes of orange-red flames flashed at the muzzle, and armor-piercing projectiles weighing more than 800 kilograms hit the fortresses of Port Ayora with a sharp whistling sound.  Ten seconds later, huge orange-red fireballs rose up in and around the fortress.

    The main forts of the fortress group in Puerto Ayora have been specially reinforced.  The fortress is made of reinforced concrete and is 3 meters thick.  At the same time, steel plates up to one hundred millimeters thick are also inlaid on the outside and inside of the turret.  Such a fort is enough to withstand the bombardment of a 343mm naval gun.  Of course, if it is hit continuously, the fort will still be destroyed!

    The artillery fire of the U.S. fleet is very fierce, and the fortress is a fixed target. It bombards fixed targets at a distance of 10,000 meters. Even if the artillery fire of the U.S. fleet is relatively poor, it will not be a big problem!

    "Counterattack!" After the fortress group was bombarded, Rear Admiral Li Hai, commander of the naval base, immediately issued an order to counterattack!  More than a hundred coastal defense guns from three fortress groups opened fire on the battleships of the American fleet.  Dense cannonballs fell on the sea, splashing water columns into the sky!

    Generally speaking, the duel between the fortress and the battleship has its own advantages and disadvantages!  Although the defense of the fortress is stronger, the fortress is a fixed target after all and is easier to be hit.  Battleships are moving targets on the sea. It is very difficult for heavy coastal defense guns to hit moving targets on the sea. In many cases, it depends on luck.  But in the naval battle when the U.S. fleet attacked the Santa Cruz Island naval base, the powerful U.S. fleet still had the upper hand!

    "Boom! Boom!" Fort No. 2 of Fortress Group No. 1 was hit by two 343mm armor-piercing projectiles in succession.  The steel plate outside the fort has long been torn apart, and most of the thick reinforced concrete walls of the fort have been destroyed. If it is hit again, the fort is likely to be destroyed.  Therefore, it would be very dangerous for the soldiers inside if they continued to fight inside.  But even so, the soldiers in the fort did not retreat, but continued to load artillery shells and fire at the American fleet at sea!

    "Boom!" The battleship New Hampshire, which was moving rapidly on the sea, was suddenly shaken. A 280mm main gun fired from the No. 2 Fortress Group hit the No. 2 turret on the front deck of the battleship.  Although the thick turret armor withstood the shell, the powerful impact killed all the U.S. Navy soldiers inside the turret!
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