Chapter 4: The Tragedy of the British

At 12:50 p.m. on September 17, 1894, Heihachiro Togo, the future marshal of the Japanese Navy and the god of war, was commanding the Naniwa under his feet to approach the Beiyang Fleet not far away.

More than two hours earlier, the 1st Guerrilla Detachment, consisting of four cruisers, Yoshino, Naniwa, Akitsuzu, and Takachiho, had discovered the Beiyang Fleet of the Great Qing Kingdom. The Japanese Combined Fleet, which was determined to fight a decisive battle with the Beiyang Fleet, naturally did not let go of this opportunity, and immediately informed the rear team that it would fight to the death with the Beiyang Fleet, which had two ironclad ships, Zhenyuan and Dingyuan.

As we got closer, the Dingyuan of the Beiyang Fleet, which had already discovered the enemy, fired first, but the shelling at this distance was more about character, and the shelling unexpectedly failed. But it also gave the Combined Fleet a signal that the battle had begun. So the 1st Guerrilla Detachment turned left and sailed towards the right flank of the Beiyang Fleet, while the rear of the group continued to advance and meet the Beiyang Fleet head-on.

This was the first naval battle in human history with steam armor, and no side was absolutely sure that the other side would be able to defeat the other. In particular, the two ironclad ships of the Beiyang Fleet are a nightmare for the combined fleet. In order to deal with the two battleships Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, the Japanese even built Sankei ships equipped with 320 mm. But Togo Heihachiro knew that the Sankei ship was just a beautiful thing to look at, and the 320 mm main gun had a lot of problems, plus the hull was too small, so it was not a calm opponent for the two ships at all. If anything, the advantage of the combined fleet is the renewal of warships, a higher rate of fire and a faster speed.

"An unknown warship appeared on the left flank!" Just as the four battleships were approaching the right flank of the Beiyang Fleet, the sailors in the kneeling watchtower suddenly announced, and there was a hint of shock in his tone, "Anameasu is above, how is it possible!" ”

"Unidentified warship?" Heihachiro Togo wondered for a moment, could it be British? He immediately picked up the binoculars and looked to his left, only to see a battleship without any flags.

"Impossible...... "Observation through the telescope, Heihachiro Togo saw an almost incredible picture, a battleship, a huge battleship. The largest warship of this era was probably the British Sovereign-class battleship, but the Sovereign-class battleship was only 125 meters long and 22.9 meters wide. But after a rough calculation, even if it is not possible to determine the length of the opponent, the width of nearly 40 meters is far beyond that of any warship.

"What the hell is going on!" Heihachiro Togo put down his binoculars, with a surprise on his face that could not be concealed, and at this time, the naval battle not far away had begun, and there were casualties on both sides, what did this unknown giant battleship come for!

The British were also shocked by this. This time the naval battle was not only the Chinese and Japanese navies, but also a British fleet. Vice Admiral Philistine, as the commander of the fleet, was thinking about the formation of the two warring sides, even though the British had the most powerful fleet in the world, but they had not experienced a naval battle that truly represented the naval level of this era, and the war in the Far East was the best object for the British to refer to, even if many of the warships on both sides were made by the British.

"O my Virgin Mary! What is it! I dare say that's twice as big as the largest ships of the Grand Fleet! Before the Japanese spotted the approaching unidentified warship, the British lookout post shouted, which made His Excellency the Vice Admiral frown a little, this is not what a sailor of the Royal Navy should have, but as soon as he turned his head, he saw a body that he remembered.

Slender hulls, mighty turrets, huge barrels, high bridges, and ...... And a speed of more than 25 knots!

"It can't be ......," the British were extremely incredulous. As the leader of the world navy, the British were confident enough that their warships were the strongest and largest in the world, but the fact gave them a hard blow. The British did not think about building larger warships, but the limitations of the technical level restricted the development of warships in the world, and the British were confident that their warships were the most powerful.

"Impossible! How could it be made! I dare say he will fall apart as soon as he fires the cannon! It's definitely made of wood and iron! The staff officer beside the lieutenant general swore an oath, but there was some fear in his tone, because the speed of 25 knots could not be concealed.

"This is the British Navy, please report the identity of the unknown warship ahead." The flagship of the British immediately sounded the flag.

And seeing the Englishman's watch, the girl standing on the A turret of the battleship did not pay attention to it, but tapped a few times at the 3D projection screen in front of her.

"D-shaped flag, the other party hung the D-shaped flag." The D-shaped flag in the flag language represents the meaning of "my ship is difficult to maneuver, please avoid", and the lieutenant general immediately knew that this was a provocation! Naked provocation. If you get out of the way, then the face of the British Royal Navy will be completely gone. But the huge size of the opposing battleship was like a huge mountain, which made the entire British fleet breathless.

"Damn it!" The vice admiral hesitated, and in the midst of this hesitation, the maiden, who was sailing at a maximum speed of 28 knots, had approached the British fleet, and almost all the Englishmen who were observing the maiden's battleship with binoculars saw the maiden standing on the turret and - several smaller turrets that were turning.

However, even the relatively small turret is compared to the turret with an almost 400 mm caliber gun next to it, and in an era when the main guns of a battleship are still exposed to the air, a battleship with a fully enclosed metal turret gives the impression of being majestic. Moreover, the slender barrel also indicates that its power is not comparable to that of ordinary naval guns.

"It's a threat! Naked threat! Send me the flag ......" After the lieutenant general saw the turned turret, he was extremely angry, in this place, the British control the sea surface, even the Japanese or the Qing people have to look at the faces of the British, how can they be threatened! But before the lieutenant general's order was issued, the girl had already opened fire, and for the girl, the British in front of her was the target of extermination no matter what she did.

During this time, the girl had approached a place less than 5 kilometers away from the British fleet, which was not a good firing distance for the British, and it was beyond the limit of what ordinary artillery could aim at, but for the girl, this distance was not very far, and even a distance with an extremely high hit rate.

So, in the next second, as dazzling flames burst out from the side of the battleship, shells rushed out of the muzzles and flew towards the British fleet, which was still adjusting its formation.

The lieutenant general saw the opponent's fire flash, and then the battleship shook. It wasn't that it was hit, but that the shell fell on the right side of the battleship and exploded, making the battleship tremble. This also surprised the lieutenant general, this is too accurate. And that's not all, after the girl saw that the first shell she fired was accurate, almost all the secondary guns that could fire were fired. Separately the target to be attacked by each turret, the secondary gun, which fired 18 shells per minute, almost rained down on the British fleet, and the explosion made the British stunned for a moment.