In the eyes of the British, a light spot hit the opponent's battleship and then turned into a ball of fire, and after a moment thick smoke emerged from it.

At the beginning, Su Xiong didn't notice anything. Looking from the direction of the command tower, there seemed to be a flash on the side. The warship seemed to shake for a while, and then nothing happened. At least the people in the command tower thought so, but this optimism lasted for only 1 minute, and a frustrated news came over.

"A freshwater tank for a boiler on the starboard side broke. Before switching to other tanks, we had at least 4 boilers that would have some problems using it," an officer reported.

"This is really a tragic thing, isn't it?" Su Xiong looked at the smoke screen that was gradually pulled out and said with a gloomy face. At this time, the smoke screen had covered the two warships. According to the original plan, as long as you run through the most dangerous distance - try it from 11 kilometers ahead of the British fleet, then if the British want to chase him, it would be a tail chase. At this time, the fleet's speed has increased to 24 knots. Theoretically, including the time when the British turned and the distance to re-determine the target, the distance behind both sides will increase to about 18 kilometers. Then his fleet will work harder and pull the speed to a sprint speed of 25 knots, it will be easy to get rid of it completely, but now, a shell has disrupted all the plans!

I have to say that this time the hit was very fatal. Even if the shell hit the turret or anywhere else, there would be no big problem. The boiler uses fresh water. Once it collapses and mixes into the seawater, the fresh water tank will be completely out of use. Without a boiler supply of water, it will naturally not be able to provide sufficient steam. Now, it takes time to switch to other fresh water pipes, and it also takes time to restore the pressure of the boiler. During this period, the German warships absolutely ran out of high speed.

"The steam pressure in the pipeline has begun to drop, and our speed has dropped to 22 knots! It is expected that the speed will drop." Another officer reported.

There are 18 boilers in the Schánhorst, of which 4 boilers can only ensure low efficiency due to fresh water problems, and they cannot inject fuel (a certain conditions are required when injecting oil with kerosene mixed boiler). It would be good if the speed could be maintained to more than 21 knots, and this speed would definitely not be able to get rid of the opponent!

"If we are destined to return to the sea today, I hope we can take at least one British warship! The fleet turns 130 degrees and we will fight them!" It was not until this moment that Su Xiong decided to fight with his opponent! Under the cover of smoke, the Schánhorst turned first. At this time, after the first tactical turn, the routes of both sides were almost parallel, but in the opposite direction, the smoke screen can cover the German warships passing through the closest distance between the two sides, and the British would inevitably turn. In this way, the fleets of both sides would sail parallel to the southwest!

"The German fleet began to turn, and their speed seemed to be lower. They were about to miss us!" In the distance, on the bridge of Queen Elizabeth, Thomas' staff members were holding two German warships looming in the smoke in the distance. Although their vision was not very good, the British still discovered the other party's actions!

"The fleet turns, let us parallel to them. Now we are half successful, their speed has been reduced, and the rest is to kill them! We will be the first person to sink the opponent's main battleship after the outbreak of the war!" Thomas said excitedly. The battle seemed to have developed in a direction that was leaning towards the British.

"The German warships are not as strong as they imagined." The teasing of an officer made the atmosphere in the entire command center a little lively! The tense atmosphere at the fortress also dissipated a little.

The British fleet also began to turn, and in order to minimize the steering radius, the British deliberately reduced their speed. At this time, the German fleet, which had completed the steering, achieved the first hit in the battle!

Boom! A loud bang came from the middle of the Elizabeth-class battleship. The 350mm shell from the Schanehorst easily tore open the artillery on the side of the Queen's engagement. Two 6-inch cannons were directly smashed into pieces. The splashing flames and shrapnel ignited the launching medicine and artillery shells in the artillery. A series of explosions came from the middle of the hull. Even in the front bridge, Thomas could feel the warship's slight vibration!

"We seem to be in some trouble?" Thomas lit a cigar and took a deep breath to relieve the pressure. Looking from the bridge, teams of damage managers were using water dragons to extinguish the fire that popped up from it. Although this blow was very fierce, it was just a small trouble for the queen.

But at this moment, Barem behind him was very bored. Barem, who had been concentrating firepower with the flagship to shoot Schanehorst, was facing the Gneisenau, which had not received any interference. When the routes of both sides were parallel, the hit rate of Gneisenau rose sharply when the distance was less than 15 kilometers. The third volley formed a cross-shoot, and the fifth half volley hit the target!

The first attack effect was limited. An armor-piercing bomb hit the bow of Balem's ship, destroying only several cabins and causing a fire, but soon, the two hits of the sixth round of volleys made Balem feel a real crisis. A shell pierced the main armor belt outside the motor cabin. It was indeed the queen's weakness where the 13-inch main armor transitioned to 6-inch. It was shattered by the cap and the hardened layer outside at the same time. Then, the exposed round and blunt warhead successfully tore open the armor with a thickness of about 10 inches.

The nearly complete warhead was sent to the inside of the cabin, and the motor on the combat side was completely blown into pieces! With a loud bang, a huge pillar of fire rose from the middle and rear part of Zhanjiang! The Barrym lost nearly one-third of its power in an instant. Many of the instant black lights in the cabin, and the motor originally used to drive the turret also broke down, and the turret No. 3 was instantly stuck.

While the flames continued to eject from the motor compartment, another hit shot hit the armor on the top of the No. 1 turret No. 1. Although it was not completely penetrated due to angle problems, the violent impact still caused the top of the turret to break the back plate! The position of the cannon on the left side of the turret No. 1 was like a rain of steel, and countless pieces were shot overwhelmingly at the unprepared crowd. The Royal Navy soldiers loading ammunition were almost swept down in an instant. More than 40 people fell in a pool of blood, and red donations flowed in the turret.
Chapter completed!