Chapter 1081: 1082 Styx Missile
Chapter 1081 1082 Styx Missile
“The radar has detected the target!” Under the dim light, the technician sitting in front of the radar operating platform saw a flash of light on the display.
The officer on the side excitedly grabbed the intercom and connected to the bridge: "Captain! Our fire control radar has illuminated the target! They are moving at full speed! The speed exceeds 40 kilometers!"
"Check the status of the Styx missile! Left rudder! Aim the broadside at the enemy fleet!" The captain looked at the weapons officer beside him and ordered loudly.
“Left rudder!” The helmsman loudly repeated the captain’s order and turned the steering wheel vigorously, causing the destroyer to change its course on the dark sea.
"Beiyuan No. 29 sent a light signal to us! They asked about the new route!" The signal soldier saw the light signal, grabbed the phone next to him and shouted.
The staff officer immediately asked the captain: "Beiyuan No. 29 inquires about the new route."
"Blank to the enemy! Heading 95!" On the bridge of the destroyer Beiyuan No. 91, the captain continued to give a loud order: "Use the signal light to send to Beiyuan No. 29!"
"Yes! Sir!" The staff officer immediately grabbed the phone: "Blank to the enemy, heading 95!"
“Captain! The missile is powered on! The Styx anti-ship missile is already facing the enemy! The triple launcher is in good condition, and the missile is in... good condition!”
“First missile!” The captain continued to give the order loudly.
“First missile!” the weapons officer repeated the order.
“Launch!” the captain shouted.
“Fire!” the weapons officer shouted into the phone as well.
“Launch!” Inside the ship, the launcher pressed the red button in front of him.
"Hoo!" With a roar, a dazzling fire burst out from the middle of the ship. A line of flame broke away from the warship and shot towards the darkness in the distance.
"Missile guidance begins! The signal is clear!" The fire control radar has been illuminating the target. Staring at the radar screen, the guidance officer can clearly see the missile just launched, gradually approaching the light spot representing the enemy.
"The missile is in stable condition!" While everyone was waiting anxiously, the conductor repeatedly reported the missile's status.
The missile had completely disappeared from everyone's sight at this time. Its range was more than 40 kilometers, which was completely beyond the naval gun.
Because its flying speed is actually not as fast as that of a naval gun, the entire flight process is longer than that of a naval gun. If you want to cross a distance of more than 40 kilometers, you still need to wait patiently.
But everyone who launches it knows that it is completely different from a cannonball because it can find its own target to attack!
“The autopilot is activated! The missile is flying well!” The conductor received the signal sent back from the missile and continued to report excitedly.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the moment the missile approached the target. If it succeeds, it will represent an alternative to traditional naval warfare.
This is a revolution, similar to the technological revolution when Datang Group launched the ironclad ship! From now on, the naval battle mode will enter a new stage!
“Enter the terminal guidance state! The radar guidance device inside the missile is activated! Everything is normal!” The guide breathed a sigh of relief, because his work was probably completed.
In the dark night sky, at an altitude of about 200 meters, a stream of light flew quickly. In the violent turbulent airflow, the radar seeker installed on the front end of the Styx missile began to work.
The Styx missile began to actively emit radio signals, scan the area directly ahead, and correct the tail rudder on the rear of its missile body based on the signal reflected by the radar.
The logic is very clear. The missile will give priority to attacking the warship with the most obvious target characteristics, and correct its flight trajectory based on the coordinates of the target warship.
The missile's engine noise was very obvious in the dark night sky, and many of the Mirage sailors heard the strange sound.
They searched under the night sky and finally saw a shooting star in the starry sky! A meteor speeding towards the direction of their fleet!
"Look! Look! What is that?" The sailors of the Mirage, who did not know that there was something called an anti-ship missile in this world, leaned on the railing and pointed at the meteor.
Just as they watched the meteor crash into the battleship Great South Bay amidst the roar of the missile engine, everyone was stunned.
They even forgot to scream, and just watched the Styx missile hit the tall bridge of the battleship, leaving an extremely exaggerated flame on it. The firelight instantly illuminated everything around it, and the outlines of two mirage warships traveling not far from the battleship were illuminated. The frightened faces were also reflected in the firelight. They watched the bridge of the battleship Great South Bay being engulfed in flames, and they didn't know what expressions to show for a moment.
Shock? fear? despair? Confused? curious? Frustrated? …In short, they had so many questions at that moment that they didn’t know where to start.
The warhead, which weighs a total of 500 kilograms, is processed by a special process into the most efficient shape for shaped armor-piercing charges. After these charges explode, a terrifying jet will be formed, guaranteed to penetrate more than one meter of homogeneous steel armor.
Obviously, the bridge armor of the Mirage battleship is far less than one meter thick. The armor protection level in these places is about 200 mm, the thicker places are 300 mm, and the command tower is about 350 mm.
Even so, the armor protection level of this battleship is not much stronger than the frontal armor protection of the Type 59 main battle tank. But the enemies faced by these armors are much more powerful than the army's tank guns.
The jet caused by the explosion swept through almost all the cabins under the battleship's bridge. The huge damage even affected the load-bearing structure, making the armor-filled command tower precarious.
Damage control personnel began to work amidst the piercing sirens. They rushed to the fire place with water pipes in their hands, only to find that nearly a hundred officers on the battleship had been directly wiped out by the explosion.
That’s the bridge! Below are some of the more important command areas. The officers who were preparing for the decisive battle after dawn were densely packed here, and now they were all wounded... and corpses.
Due to the huge shock, the captain of the battleship Great South Bay was also injured, but he escaped because he was in the Cambridge control tower.
But as soon as he got up from the floor, he smelled a burning smell, and then he was informed that all the cabins below were on fire and they could not get out now...
However, the most uncomfortable thing at this time was not him, the captain of the battleship Great South Bay, who was being roasted on the fire, but Feng Haifeng, who was sitting on the battleship Mirage in the middle of the fleet.
He saw with his own eyes the fire rising from the Great South Bay, and now all he was thinking about was: How did the enemy attack launch and where did it come from!
Many warships reported to him what they saw: including a very harsh whistling sound and a shooting star. But when all this information was gathered to him, nothing could be gathered together.
The navy of Mirage also held night naval battle exercises, and they also fired cannons at night. Of course, Mirage knew that artillery shells flying in the night sky could not be seen so clearly. In addition, it is impossible for shelling to produce the kind of noise that cannot even cover up the noise of the battleship itself!
"It's not safe at night!" This thought immediately appeared in Mirage Haifeng's mind. He subconsciously clenched his fists and used almost all his strength to suppress the urge in his heart to turn the fleet around immediately. .
If he leads the fleet to leave now, then Nandao will be finished. If Nandao is lost, it will not be difficult for the Tang army with Nandao as a base to capture the entire mirage.
Under such circumstances, blindly saving the fleet is just a slow death! Mirage Haifeng is not a fool, he knows this very well.
“What should I do?” The staff officer standing next to Mirage Haifeng turned pale and asked his commander in a panic.
Mirage Haifeng gritted his teeth and decided to move forward and test it out: If this was just an accident, then he Ming Haifeng would have to complete the task of destroying the Tang Army's landing fleet even if he lost one or two battleships!
"Keep moving forward! If the Great South Bay cannot keep up, let it fall behind! Put out the fire immediately! After the battle, the Great South Bay is likely to become the target of concentrated firepower attack by the Tang army due to the fire!" After stabilizing his emotions, Mirage Haifeng showed a calm side and commanded.
"Yes! Your Majesty General!" The staff officer seemed to have found the backbone, and stood at attention and saluted in response to Mirage Haifeng's order.
But two minutes later, another Styx anti-ship missile flew towards us and once again hit the new battleship Bei Dao of the Mirage Navy that was sailing directly ahead.
This fast new battleship is a relatively new battleship in the Mirage Navy series. It is equipped with 10 400 mm caliber cannons. It was only put into service two years earlier than the Mirage battleship.
Now, it was directly hit by the Styx anti-ship missile in the anti-aircraft gun area on one side. More than a dozen anti-aircraft guns were destroyed in an instant. The fire spread to the vicinity of the chimney. The damage control was desperately trying to ensure that the battleship's power system would not be caught in the fire. Influence.
Two battleships were hit and set on fire. Even a fool knew that this was the Tang Army's new weapon for night battles. Because the areas hit are all in higher places, everyone knows that the opponent is most likely not using torpedoes.
But Mirage Haifeng didn't have any good solutions. He could only deal with what happened based on the knowledge he knew.
With desperation, Mirage Haifeng began to issue a series of orders that seemed inexplicable to the commander of the Tang Empire Navy:
First of all, Mirage Haifeng ordered faster cruisers and destroyers to move forward to attract the so-called firepower of the Tang army.
Secondly, he ordered the main fleet of the Mirage Kingdom to start a serpentine maneuver, seemingly to avoid subsequent attacks.
Finally, he ordered all the artillery to be loaded and prepared for night fighting! Because he judged that the main force of the Tang Army was most likely not far in front of him.
(End of this chapter)