Chapter 793: Martyrdom
The Nissin Combined Fleet consisted of more than 300 warships, including smaller fireships and many with oars.
The Ming Royal Navy dispatched sixty-five large and small warships, only twenty-eight sail battleships, and most of the rest were rescue ships.
The Ming army was obviously inferior in terms of the number of warships, but the ones who participated in the battle were all large warships with heavy armor and strong firepower, and the smallest was a fifth-class cruiser equipped with 35 guns.
They were not false in attacking the combined fleet of the Japanese and Qing in the slightest, and they fought more and more fiercely.
Both sides were frequently shot, and the Ming Royal Navy Dou Yong was heavily damaged in close combat, and the Japanese tortoiseshell ship that was forced to approach below the waterline penetrated, and now it has been filled with hundreds of tons of seawater, and the entire hull has been crumbling.
Judging from the shell hit rate of both sides, the Ming Royal Navy, which has been systematically trained, obviously has a better record, and the Douyong, a fifth-class cruiser, sank seven or eight Nissin joint warships.
The third-class battleship Shaguang has sunk ten enemy ships, including a fourth-class sail battleship of the Qing Kingdom, which can be described as invincible.
Because the Shaking Light was too eye-catching, in order to sink the main battleship of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese Navy Vice Marshal Hisamori Kayama ordered 50 large and small warships to concentrate on besieging the Shaking Light.
Most of the Japanese naval warships had their guns in the bow, and there were only a few of them, and their firepower was limited, so they could only be suppressed by numbers.
In order to sink the Shake Light, they used various means, including shelling, rockets, and even suicide fireships.
The Japanese Navy suffered heavy casualties under the powerful and continuous counterattack of the Shakelight, and more than 20 ships were sunk, and thousands of officers and men were killed or wounded and jumped into the sea.
The naval battle lasted for more than two hours, and something unexpected happened to Shen Shouchong.
Several huge columns of water rose on the left side of the Shaguang, and then a huge cannonball hit the waterline directly, causing cracks in the hull of the Shaguang to appear and the hull to tilt slightly.
In the distance, a burst of cheers erupted from the flagship of Hong Shiming, the commander of the Qing Navy, and everyone cheered for the Lord Regent to show its might.
At the same time, the fourth-class sail battleship Regent fired another salvo, and more than a dozen shells of different calibers smashed towards the Shake Light.
Moments later, two more shells hit the waterline of the Shaguang, the hull was completely punctured, and a large amount of seawater sank into the hold.
The Shake Light flipped rapidly to the left, while the bow sank into the water at a rapid pace.
At this time, the Shaker raised all the signal flags.
Shen Shouchong, the commander of the Ming army in the distance, saw this scene, and his heart sank, the Shaking Light was not asking for help, but the captain was planning to die on the ship!
On the Shaoguang, there was chaos, the young captain Li Kaiguo held on to the mast hanging the Daming Dragon Flag, the corners of his eyes were red, and he shouted to the sailors: "Jump into the sea to save yourself!" ”
After the captain's order to abandon the ship was issued, the sailors jumped into the water to save themselves and swam to friendly warships and rescue ships.
"Captain, what are you going to do! Come with us! The adjutant came over and grabbed his arm.
"You go, I'm going to stay."
Li Kaiguo showed grief on his face, and the Shake Light, as a third-class sail battleship, was the top in the entire Ming Royal Navy.
Because the Ming Dynasty only had two second-class sail battleships, one each for the Jinghai Fleet and the Nanyang Fleet.
This time to go overseas, the Jinghai Fleet only sent four third-class sail battleships, and the Shaoguang was one of them!
Now, the Shake Light has been sunk, as the captain, as the first officer student of the Huangming Naval Academy, and the protégé of the Son of Heaven, what is his face?
Only the martyrdom!
"Captain!"
Li Kaiguo hissed and shouted: "Go!" I command you! ”
"Boom! Rumble! ”
The sunken Shaker was shelled again, and it was clear that the enemy ships were trying to sink the Shaker completely.
Just a few minutes later, the giant ship, which was still majestic and powerful just now, had gradually sunk to the bottom of the sea.
The Shake Light sank completely, and the captain and lieutenant were all killed.
"We sank enemy ships!!"
On the Regent of the Nissin Combined Fleet, as well as several adjacent warships, cheers resounded in the sky.
Hong Shiming was even more complacent and accepted the praise of the generals around him.
The sinking of one of the main battleships of the Ming army gave a few shots of strength to all the officers and men of the Japanese-Japanese Combined Fleet, and their morale suddenly reached its peak.
The Qing Navy became the idol of Japanese sailors, and the battleship Regent, which sank the Shakkai, was regarded as a symbol of the Qing Navy.
At this time, several other fourth-class battleships of the Qing Navy, such as "Pingxi Wang", "Pingnan Wang", and "Jingnan Wang", and the battleships named after the two Tatar banners of the Han Army, were all slowly driven out from behind.
They were also preparing to find an opportunity to sink another besieged Ming army's main battleship, the Tianshu, in order to strengthen their military achievements.
Suddenly, the sea around the Tianshu seemed to be boiling, and the tall water columns rose and fell one after another, and none of them hit.
At this time, Shen Shouchong's flagship Tianquan came quickly, followed by seven or eight fourth-class sail battleships such as Tianxuan and Kaiyang, all of which were several second-hand Spanish warships that were murderously forcing towards the Qing Navy.
"Retreat! Order them all to withdraw! ”
On the battleship Regent, Hong Shiming, the commander of the Qing Navy, shouted loudly.
He knew very well that his father established the Qing Dynasty Navy not to fight against the Ming army, but to run away from Dongdu, so he couldn't fold here! Run!
The several main warships of the Qing Dynasty, which were still facing death as if they were at home and were ready to make great contributions, are now like rabbits, all of them turned their rudders and accelerated, and fled away from the battlefield as if they were fleeing for their lives.
How could several of the main battleships of the Ming army tolerate the enemy who sank the Shaking Light and ran away, still speeding up the pursuit while firing the main guns.
Hong Shiming panicked, his heart beat faster, lest the Regent be caught up by the Ming army.
Shen Shouchong handed over command of the battlefield to Vice Admiral Huang Binqing's Jinwu, and he personally led the pursuit of several second-hand warships of the Qing Navy.
Without the support of several main warships of the Qing Navy, the strength of the Japanese-Qing Combined Fleet was greatly weakened, and many warships were sunk during the period, and the disparity in strength between the two sides became more and more serious.
Almost all the big ships of the Japanese Navy were destroyed by the Ming army, and now all that remains are some small boats sailing in the coastal waters, in front of the warships of the Ming Royal Navy, shaped like lambs in front of a tiger, they can only be slaughtered, and they have no power to fight back.
As long as it was hit by artillery, at most two or three guns, it was sunk.
The battle continued into the afternoon, when the combined fleet of the Japanese and Qing was routed, and the Qing navy fled one after another.
Most of the Japanese naval warships in Yamakawa Port were sunk, and the commander Shimazu Mitsuhisa fell into the sea and fed Wang Hachi, and the deputy general Hisamori Kayama did not run away again and became a prisoner.
The remaining Japanese navy surrendered under the banner, and the Japanese navy was almost completely annihilated.
The Ming Royal Navy won this naval battle, completely controlled the entire Yamakawa port, and controlled the Japanese sea power.