Xu Tianzhang's sailor fleet went out of the Longmen Waterway and searched all the way along the sea cliffs and coastline around the Longmenguan Fort, but there was no enemy shadow......

By the time the sailors sailed into the piercing waters of the South China Sea, the sky gradually began to darken.

"Junmen, do you want to send a ship to continue to investigate?"

Huang Qisheng, the deputy general of the water division, asked.

"No, the night will be dark, and if you venture far away, I am afraid that the people and sailors will pass by our army. If it misses and the enemy directly attacks Longmen Pass, it will be worth the loss. Signal the flag soldiers, order all guards and ships to be on alert in place, and the cruising range must be kept in sight, at least two guards on the left and right can be seen at any time!"

"Yes!"

Although he did not find the enemy for a long time, Xu Tianzhang's spirit was still tense all the time, and he did not dare to be sloppy at all, he knew that he could not tell when the next moment, the sailors of the two sides would meet, and then there would be an encounter, and the two sides would instantly pour the most fierce artillery fire on the enemy ship......

However, to Xu Tianzhang's absolute surprise, their movements had already been known to Edward's Mekeris Battlefleet.

Mecheris Battleship: Consisting of two battleship squadrons, one consisting entirely of "all-heavy artillery battleships" designed and built on the template of the battleship "Dreadnought" launched by the Empire in 1906.

It is characterized by a single large-caliber main gun, high-power steam turbine power brake, unified fire control long-range calibration, and the hull is fully covered with heavy armor for protection.

The ships were led by Rear Admiral Claude Mecheris:

"Dipon Australia" (flagship), "Black Forest", "Dipon Movor";

and the Pharaoh (flagship), the second Australian and the third Sugolan under the command of Colonel Theon Fels.

These "all-heavy artillery battleships" were responsible for providing fire support, and Claude's squadron was composed of dozens of frigates with numbers except for six numbered ones.

The other group consisted of a reconnaissance fleet dominated by destroyers and cruisers:

Under the command of Commodore Wyster Charles, the "Queen Victoria" (flagship), the "Urgat", the "Munich", the "Imperial Castle", the "Zhusheng", and the "Grand Duke" were six heavy cruisers.

and destroyers and light cruisers numbered 1 to 7 who carried out cover missions and reconnaissance missions, and it was the No. 7 light cruisers that destroyed the beacon tower outside the Longmen Pass Fort, and this detachment was responsible for forming a guard formation in front of Claude Mecheris's main fleet.

In addition, the fleet is also equipped with two new types of naval weapons -- the "Black Shark" detection and assassination submarine and the "Zidian" anti-mine submarine, and the reason why the No. 7 light cruiser was able to bypass the mine defense line arranged by the Celestial Empire and reach the sea cliff of Longmenguan Fort was because of the underwater survey of the Zidian submarine.

Early today, in the afternoon:

17:00 Claude Mecheris orders the battleship to turn 60 degrees east-north at 18 knots to rendezvous with the Queen Victoria, where West Charles is located.

17:30 Claude Mecheris receives a radio report from the submarine "Black Shark", which reports that more than 10 enemy sail battleships, three large heavy steam armored battleships, and the rest of the hundreds of light warships of various types are heading southeast from Longmen Pass.

18:30 Rear Admiral Claude received a radio report from the submarine "Purple Lightning" that a huge sail battleship was moving in the direction of our troops under the escort of three steam heavy armored battleships and at least two hundred frigates lined up.

20:00 Claude kept the main force of the Mecheris fleet twenty nautical miles behind the heavy cruiser detachment, and all the capital ships of the battleship main fleet except for the "Zhusheng", "Grand Duke", and "Imperial Castle" have been deployed.

However, at 21:00 p.m., the "Black Shark" submarine and the "Purple Lightning" submarine actually transmitted two completely different pieces of information: the "Black Shark" reported that the main flagship of the enemy's naval fleet and three heavy steam armored battleships were heading for our troops from 60 degrees northeast, while the "Purple Lightning" reported that the enemy's naval division was coming toward our troops from 60 degrees northwest.

Claude Mecheris knew that there must be a mistake in intelligence, should he keep course, or should he deviate slightly?

You must know that according to the information reported by the submarine, the enemy's sailors are arranged in a mighty line for more than 20 nautical miles, and if the coordinates are slightly deviated, they will directly miss the enemy's main force or even the entire fleet.

And if you don't grasp the position of the enemy's flagship, you can't annihilate or capture the enemy's big guys.

This ambiguous intelligence put Rear Admiral Claude Mecheris, who was standing on the deck of the flagship of the "Imperial Australia", in a dilemma for a moment, and could not help but scold:

"These fools, this can also make mistakes, don't blame General Edward for scolding, it's really a chain drop at a critical moment!"

After scolding, he took out his binoculars, carefully observed the sea, and observed left and right for a while, and found that the northwest direction seemed to be filled with thick fog, and everything was even more difficult to see clearly under the cover of darkness. To the northeast, the sea is sparkling, and the moon is sparse in the distance.

Major General Claude couldn't help but wonder, why is there such a big fog in the northwest when the wind is blowing tonight? After thinking for a moment, he suddenly hammered his right fist to his left palm, and the left palm turned red with too much force, but at this moment he had no time to care about these details. Instead, he suddenly laughed out loud:

"Haha! I understand, the head of the enemy army will be in the northwest, and he will order the main ship to turn the rudder and sail to the northwest, and if the enemy ship is found, it will be directly crushed!"

A young major on the side asked puzzledly:

"General, how do you know the coordinates of the Celestial Empire's flagship?"

"Hehe, this group of Dongzhou Yankees, the largest main battleships of their navy stationed in Longmenguan are three steam heavy armored battleships, and the flagship of their naval command at this moment must be under the escort of three heavy ships.

I suspect that their ships must be steam ships operated by old-fashioned steam engines, and their technology is far behind our empire, in order to forcibly pursue high power, they can only increase their size and displacement, and this abnormal fog in the northwest direction must be formed by a large amount of steam discharged from their main battleship!

If my prediction is correct, then we can preemptively defeat the enemy's command or main force!

When the major heard this, he happily turned the palm of his right hand outward, gave a big military salute, and ran to give the order......

In fact, as Claude expected, Xu Tianzhang's flagship of the "Longmen" was indeed in the northwest of the main detachment of the Mecheris fleet.

"Military Gate! The flags of all ships have reported that no target has been found at the lookout posts of all ships!

"Well, okay! continue to patrol carefully, and make sure that you ......"

Boom ——!

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang suddenly broke out nearby, and he saw one of the three steam heavy armored battleships in front of him, the "Weiguang".

The battleship "Weiguang" was directly hit on the starboard side by a cannonball from nowhere, and a huge crack broke in the right hull, and more than a dozen heavy guns were directly destroyed and fell into the sea, and the stumps and arms that were blown into flakes and some pieces of blood and organs were splashed on the face of the captain Cao Wenxian, who was standing in the middle of the deck.

Suddenly, Cao Wenxiang, who was stunned by the loud noise, reached out and wiped the hot pieces of flesh and blood splashed on his face, looking at the blood red on his hands, he almost vomited, he held back the chill all over his body, and shouted:

"Enemy Attack ——! Alert ——!"

Immediately, Cao Wenxiang's shouts were drowned out by the overwhelming sound of shelling.

Huang Qisheng hurriedly stepped forward to support Xu Tianzhang, who was almost knocked down by the sound of the cannon, and shouted in Xu Tianzhang's ear with his throat:

"Withdraw quickly from the military gate! The enemy's naval guns have an extremely long range and extremely strong firepower, and they have already hit the foot of the military gate before they know where they are, please withdraw quickly!"

Xu Tianzhang shook his head vigorously, endured the tinnitus and headache, tried to stand up straight to keep calm, and after clearing his thoughts, he said angrily:

"No! The foreigner's cannon made me know the gap between our DPRK's military strength and the foreigner. But retreating at this moment is tantamount to fish on a knife, allowing the enemy to bombard and kill.

If you retreat, you will be chaotic, and if you are chaotic, you will be defeated, although there is no enemy shadow at this moment, and we don't know where the enemy ships are, but since the enemy can hit the shells at our feet, it means that the distance will not be too far at least, and the whole ship will be ordered!

Advance at full speed and try to get as close as possible to the enemy ships!

"Okay, so please withdraw first, I will lead the army and all the ships to lead the general and attack forward!"

"No, this governor is the commander of the naval division, how can he retreat from the enemy in battle, and quickly send an order to attack with me!"

When Huang Qisheng heard this, he immediately knelt down and said with a crying voice:

"The military gate is a pillar for me, and we must not lose it! I also ask the general of the military gate to give advice, change ships and return to the customs, and then discuss it in the long run!"

——! snapped Xu Tianzhang slapped Vice General Huang, who was kneeling on the ground, slapped him down and reprimanded:

"Bastard! My order has been decided, how dare you entangle! Go and pass your life!"

"Yes——!"

Huang Qisheng, who was knocked to the ground, had to get up quickly, and although he was unwilling but helpless, he conveyed the order to the ships.

The other side.

The soldiers on the flagship of the "Imperial Australia" measured the distance on the ranging platform located on the foremast, and after observation, transmitted the target data to the fire control platform, the sergeant of the fire control platform immediately calculated the firing elements of the main gun, and then quickly transmitted it to the main gun turrets.

The turret commander then quickly and accurately adjusts the firing direction and pitch angle of the gun according to the firing elements, adjusts the gun according to the target distance and fills the ammunition. When the turrets at all levels are ready, notify the fire control platform and the cannon can be fired.

This was the case with all the warships, so the shelling of the Hiroshi Naval Division by the Mecheris fleet was able to continue, and the shells were overwhelming.

Suddenly, the soldiers in charge of observing the ship noticed that the enemy fleet began to disperse and advance in several shifts, as if it had increased to maximum horsepower, and the speed was extremely fast and often changed direction and speed.

The actions of the enemy's mutation made it possible to significantly reduce the accuracy of the shelling and the accuracy of the firing elements.

Seeing the suicidal formation of the Celestial Empire sailors, Claude Mecheris did not intend to let the fleet retreat, but directly ordered:

All warships do not have to retreat, they must all be lined up in a line, and they must be annihilated before the enemy approaches our troops, and when the enemy ships are close, they should be directly aimed and fired at by melee guns, and all ships that rush forward will be sunk!"

Xu Tianzhang stood proudly in front of the mast of the sail battleship "Longmen" at this time, pulled out the sword at his waist, personally stepped forward to supervise the battle, and shouted:

"The cannon of the Yiren has an extremely long range and fierce firepower, so its main cannon must be of great caliber, so it must be extremely heavy, and our army must advance rapidly, and if it advances slightly, it will open fire to meet it, and if it is closer, it will adjust the angle of collision and directly hit its ship! Board the ship and fight with a white knuckle! In close combat, the foreigner will definitely be defeated by the sergeant of our Celestial Empire! Therefore, everyone must not be afraid, but those who retreat will be killed!"

The sailor sailed at full speed under the artillery fire, but he could drive forward for a long time, but he still couldn't see the trace of the foreigner fleet, and every time he moved forward, Xu Tianzhang's heart hurt even more, and the distance of the shelling just showed that the sailor of the Celestial Dynasty was indeed thrown away by the foreigners.

In this way, Xu Tianzhang's sailors advanced for more than ten nautical miles, and after losing dozens of escort ships, they were finally able to see the imperial fleet.

When Xu Tianzhang saw the enemy at this moment, his eyes immediately turned red!

"Soldiers, miss me as a great Ming sailor! Since becoming the emperor, when Master Zheng Hezu was alive, he was invincible in the world, threatening overseas, and shocking the world, when all countries had clouds:

The Celestial Empire and the foreign kingdoms, the disrespectful people of the king will be captured alive, and the barbarian invaders will be exterminated!

How could our Celestial Navy's sailors have suffered the humiliation of today, and they have not seen the enemy before they can go to war! They have lost dozens of warships before they can go to war! I have never thought that the gap between the foreigners and me is like this!

All the soldiers, the thieves invaded my rivers and mountains, killed my soldiers, and now the thieves have come to the eyes!

Soldiers! Kill the enemy with me! The whole ship will open fire, and whoever sinks the ship will be rewarded with a thousand gold! The Governor will personally play His Majesty and kill ——! ——! for his marquis."

Xu Tianzhang's sad cry was urged by his deputy general Huang Qisheng's internal force to spread widely on the sea.

When all the officers and men of the naval division heard this, they were all indignant, and all the ship's pipes and belts ordered to charge at full speed, charge with all their might, and use their artillery to fight back against the foreigners.

Seeing that the enemy was approaching, Major General Claude Mecheris suddenly became ferocious, and had the momentum of breaking the boat, and hurriedly ordered:

"Don't skimp on shells, sink them for me! Don't let them cross the blockade!"

After that, he said to the major beside him:

"Quick, let our ship retreat, behind the heavy cruiser, as commander, I can't afford to make any mistakes. ”

As a result, the flagship of the Imperial Navy, the "Imperial Australian", which was originally at the forefront, began to switch positions with the rear row......

As the orders of the commanders of both sides were issued, the entire sea area was suddenly covered in black with gunsmoke.

Shells were thrown into the sky and onto the decks of enemy ships like rain, crushing and destroying the hulls, and the force of their explosions tore the soldiers into shreds and sent them flying into the sea.

Or like a train that suddenly derails in the middle of a speeding straight line, it slams straight out, splashes the flesh of the enemy's soldiers' heads, and then continues to penetrate the hull and then bursts, and the fire caused by the explosion burns the surrounding soldiers and the hull, and after a while, the nose piercing ocean turns into a sea of fire.

The engine rooms and bridges of the two heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy, the "Urgart" and the "Munich", were shot and exploded, and the captain and deputy commander were torn apart on the spot, and the ships also lost power, turned into scrap metal, and floated in place to be slaughtered.

The left side side of the auxiliary gun deck of the "Weiguang", one of the main forces of the Guangdong Naval Division, was punched out of several large holes, and although the fire had been extinguished urgently, the ship could no longer move, and its ship pipe belt Cao Wenxiang was directly bombarded, and it could not find even a piece of residue that could be identified by the naked eye.

The smoke and debris formed after the explosion of the frigates of the two fleets also killed the soldiers who could not dodge in pieces, or suffocated, or were slashed by various debris and sharp objects on the ship......

Ignoring the disadvantage of his own fleet, Xu Tianzhang ordered to continue to shoot close to the enemy ships.

At this time, the morale of the officers and men of the Guangdong Naval Division was still high, and they were still trying to destroy the Mekeris fleet.

The fleets of both sides gradually closed the distance, close enough to use rifles to shoot at each other, and as the distance closed, the battle became bloodier.

The two main turrets of the "Tengfei", another main force of the naval division, were scrapped one after another, but Chen Liansheng, the pipe band in the bow of the ship, still ordered the soldiers on the ship not to retreat a step, shoot with all their might, fire with all their might, and rush at full speed.

The "Queen Victoria", the flagship of the heavy cruiser commanded by Commodore Wyster Charles, which was originally in the original position of the heavy artillery battleship "Imperial Australia", which was originally the flagship of Rear Admiral Claude's "Imperial Australia", was hit by the Lingyuan, one of the three main forces of the Guangdong Naval Division--- and under the command of Shen Long, and the ammunition depot exploded, and all the more than 1,000 imperial soldiers on the ship were blown into pieces and fell into the sea......

Finally, the ships at the forefront of the two fleets are about to collide.

Xu Tianzhang got the reports of the flags and soldiers of each ship, and knew that there were more than 260 naval warships on his side, and there were less than 100 left at the moment.

There are only three capital ships counting their own "Longmen", and on the other hand, there are nearly ten enemy heavy battleships.

"Soldiers, prepare to board the ship——! follow me to fight——! board the ship--!!"

"Kill ——!"

The fierce battle has come to this point, and the sea that should have been as dark as night is indeed at this moment:

There is gunpowder smoke covering the moon, there is fire rushing to the sky, and there is a sea of blood rushing below!

You must know that most of the casualties on both sides are ships that have been shelled and sunk into the sea.

If one person is injured by guns, then hundreds of people are drowned in water and smoke!

In such a proportion, it is said that the number of wounded and red is far less than that of drowning and suffocating, but even so, this piercing ocean, which is a place of war, is still a bloody hell at this moment......