On July 25, in the waters of Fengdao in Asan Bay, the three ships of Beiyang Naval Division Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Caojiang were slowly moving forward.

Because of the plague in Guangdong, the three ships of Guangjia, Guangb, and GuangC were stranded in Lushun after the joint review, and with the tense situation in Korea, Li Hongzhang wrote a letter to transfer the three ships to the Beiyang Naval Division.

On July 16, in the face of the aggressiveness of the Japanese side, the Qing government finally began to take action, and formulated 6 plans, the Qing army transferred 4 routes, plus the Qing army stationed in Asan, a total of nearly 20,000 horses, divided into 5 routes to Pyongyang, of which the Qing army by water was covered by the Beiyang Naval Division.

However, these nearly 20,000 men and horses did not have detailed instructions except for the transfer, the purpose of the transfer was unclear, the combat intention was unclear, and the Beiyang Naval Division did not have any orders other than escort the troops. Compared with the detailed and clear plan of the Japanese, the judgment is made.

However, even this unclear plan was still stumbling in its implementation. Ye Zhichao, who was stationed in Asan, said that it was not safe to go to Pyongyang by water or land, so he refused to carry out the action and asked for reinforcements.

It is not safe to withdraw to Pyongyang, is it safe to increase troops to Asan? As a result, Li Hongzhang actually agreed to this illogical request, so he made up more than 2,300 people to reinforce Asan by sea.

Jiyuan, Weiyuan, and Guangyi escorted the British merchant ships Airen and Flying Whale to Asan to drop off more than 1,400 people, and then returned to Weihaiwei first. The Jiyuan and Guangyi went to meet the British merchant ship Gao Sheng, escorted by the Caojiang.

The Japanese, on the other hand, sent the first guerrilla detachment consisting of Izumi, Yoshino, and Naniwa to Incheon to pick up the Yaeyama.

As a result, the two sides met unexpectedly in the waters of Toshima, and at this time Nisshin had not yet declared war.

At this time, the waters of Toshima are calm, the sun is rising, and the sea breeze is blowing, which is refreshing.

However, Fang Boqian, the leader of Jiyuan, felt irritable: "It's been so long, why haven't you seen Cao Jiang yet?" ”

Shen Shouchang, the first mate of the gang, replied: "My lord, the speed of the Caojiang is only 9 miles, and it has to escort the British merchant ships, of course it can't be fast. After a little further on, we should be able to reconcile. ”

"Well, I hope so, after the meeting, we will send the Gao Sheng to Asan, and our errand will be completed, but nothing will go wrong."

But soon his hopes were shattered, "Starboard! Lots of smoke! Shui Yong on the mast suddenly shouted loudly.

There were no other Beiyang Naval Division ships in this area except for the Jiyuan 3 ship, so such a thick column of smoke could only be emitted by the warships of the Japanese Navy.

"Pull the alarm! Inform all gun emplacements that you are not allowed to fire without my orders! Fang Boqian shouted, and then muttered to himself: "The imperial court hasn't declared war yet, so the Japanese people shouldn't come over, right?" ”

At the same time, Shangpingjing Hangsan, who was sitting on the Hequan, was also surprised by this unexpected encounter: "Didn't the Beiyang Navy Division all withdraw to Weihaiwei?" How did you come across here?! ”

The distance between the two sides quickly shortened to 3,000 meters, and at this time they could clearly see each other's ships clearly.

"Yoshino, Naniwa, and the Izumi that Germany just sold to Japan, we and Guangyi can't compete with it at all." Looking at the three Japanese ships that were getting closer and closer, Fang Boqian was very nervous.

The tonnage of the three Japanese ships is more than 4,000 tons, although the specific situation of the large ship that has just been bought from Germany is not clear, but the momentum brought by the displacement of more than 5,000 tons is far from being comparable to the Jiyuan with less than 3,000 tons.

"No fire, no fire without my orders, understand?!" Fang Boqian hurriedly emphasized again, for fear that the gunners on his side would be nervous and open fire, and the two sides would misfire, and he would have absolutely no chance of winning.

Fang Boqian was very nervous here, and Pingjing Hangsan was also very nervous: "It is impossible for Jiyuan to be here alone, if Jiyuan is here, it means that the Beiyang Naval Division has returned to North Korean waters, if the second ship of Dingzhen is nearby, if I give the order to fire the cannon first, what if the second ship of Zhenzhen arrives here?" ”

Seeing that Kozo Tsuboi was still undecided, Staff Officer Kamatani Tadamichi reminded: "Your Excellency, when we set sail, His Excellency Ito instructed: 'If the Chinese fleet is weak near Asan Bay, there is no need to fight; If the power is strong, it will attack. ’”

Tsuboi Hangsan heard that if the enemy is strong, he will attack, then even if the second ship of Dingzhen is here, he will see the enemy and fight immediately.

But now there are only two ships in front of me, Jiyuan and Guangyi, and the second ship of Dingzhen doesn't know if it's nearby, whether it will fight or not? So he asked Kamatani Tadada: "Then do you think the two Beiyang warships in front of you are powerful?" ”

Kamatani Tadamichi replied: "On the surface, we have three ships, and they only have two, and our one Izumi is estimated to be larger than their two ships combined, and we have an absolute advantage in the number of artillery, but whether it is strong or not, how can we know if we have not fought it?" ”

"You said so much, you mean to fight."

"Yes."

Tsuboi Hangzo nodded: "Then let's fight." ”

At 7:52, the Hequan first opened fire on the Jiyuan, and a huge column of water splashed on the sea on the right side of the Jiyuan.

"The Japanese have opened fire! They actually fought without declaring it! Fang Boqian was shocked and angry: "Fire!" Call me back! ”

With Fang Boqian's roar, the gunners who had already been in place quickly fired back shells, and then the Guangyi fired back, and the Japanese fleet's Yoshino and Naniwa also joined the artillery battle sequence, and the rumbling cannon sound resounded throughout the Toshima sea.

The first shot of the First Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Toshima, finally began.

A total of 5 naval guns on the side of the Jiyuan fought back at the Hequan that hit the head, and all the gunners used all their strength to shoot the shells out as fast as possible, even during training, they were not so fast, and they believed that they would be able to teach the despicable and shameless Japanese people an extremely painful lesson. However, they soon found out that the Japanese shelling was faster and fiercer!

The three ships Izumi, Yoshino, and Naniwa were the first to gather fire, and a total of 18 150-mm tubes on the side of the ship were withdrawn and the shelling of the Jiyuan was like a cage composed of water columns with a storm of shelling.

Such intensive shelling quickly paid off, and the Jiyuan shook violently, and a ball of flames burst out in the bow, "We have been shot!" ”

"Shut up! Check for damage! As long as the naval guns are still working, keep fighting for me! Seeing that the bow of the ship was shot, Ke Jianzhang, the second officer of the gunnery, immediately ordered Shui Yong to check the injury.

The officers and men of the Jiyuan finally paid off in their hard work, as a shell hit the side of the Izumi, and a fireball rose with the sound of an explosion.

"Hit!" The Jiyuan was jubilant, but as the smoke cleared, the cheers stopped abruptly.

The Jiyuan's shells were not damaged at all, except for an unsightly black smudge on the Izumi, and the 60 mm thick Krupp case-hardened armor prevented the Jiyuan from firing the usual 150 mm shells.

"How so?!" Joy turned to shock, and the fact that one's own naval guns were not able to inflict damage on the enemy quickly turned into fear.

On the other side, Tsuboi Kozo's reaction was just the opposite, at the moment when the Izumi was hit, General Tsuboi Kozo's heart was raised to his throat, you must know that every warship of the Japanese Navy is "the battleship of His Majesty the Emperor", each one is precious, if there are three longs and two shorts, he can't afford this responsibility.

However, the news that the damage pipe came back was that the shells of the Jiyuan did not penetrate the armor of the battleship under his feet, and the fact that the Izumi was unscathed made Tsuboi Kozo ecstatic: "I can't imagine that the armor technology of the only person is so advanced and has such protection, what is the fear of Jiyuan?" Left rudder! Shorten the distance with Jiyuan! ”

The Jiyuan can't penetrate its own armor, and if it doesn't take advantage of such a big advantage, it won't be Tsuboi Kozo, and as the distance gets closer, the Japanese artillery skills will be more accurate.

In an instant, the Jiyuan was hit hard again, the bridge was shot, Fang Boqian was thrown up by a huge shock, and then fell heavily to the ground, the huge pain and dizziness of the shock made him speechless for a while.

But this is not bad, Shen Shouchang, who is at the helm, is not so lucky. A piece of shrapnel hit him in the head, and in an instant blood splattered, and a mixture of blood and brain slurry splattered all over the deck of the bridge.

Seeing that the bridge was hit, Ke Jianzhang immediately rushed over: "Lord Fang! Lord Fang! ”

At this time, Fang Boqian couldn't speak, so he could only stretch out his hand and point to the rudder.

Ke Jianzhang understood, and immediately rushed over, seeing that half of Shen Shouchang's head was cut off and he was out of breath, Ke Jianzhang could only hold back his grief and stabilize the rudder again.

At this time, Guangyi's situation was also very bad, although the Japanese three ships besieged Jiyuan, but Guangyi joined the battle and tried to lift Jiyuan to relieve the siege, but was soon hit by two bullets, with Guangyi's small body of only about 1000 tons, it was immediately hit hard.

Although the Guangyi was not hit again because of the smoke on the sea at this time, the visibility of the guide was extremely poor, but at this time, the hull of the guide was already crooked because of the water intake.

The Jiyuan was then hit one after another, and the second officer at the helm, Ke Jianzhang, was also hit by shrapnel, and seeing that the first and second officers were killed one after another, Huang Chengxun, a trainee of the Tianjin Sailor School, volunteered to take the helm.

At this time, Fang Boqian, who had been carried off the bridge and had been relieved, knew that if he continued to fight like this, the whole army would be annihilated, and he no longer had the courage of the moment when he first started the war, so he immediately ordered Jiyuan and Guangyi to disperse and evacuate.

And Guangyi really couldn't hold on at this time, so he immediately turned the rudder and withdrew, and the Naniwa immediately chased after it, and after hitting Guangyi's two cannons again, he was hit by Guangyi on the port side.

After Guangyi escaped, he sailed to Shibajia Island off the west coast of North Korea and ran aground, took Lin Guoxiang to set fire to the ship, led the remnants to land, and went straight to Asan. However, when he arrived at Asan, he found that Ye Zhichao had led his troops to retreat to Pyongyang, and finally returned to China on the British ship Asia after several journeys.

After Guangyi left, the situation of the Jiyuan was even worse, although it had been evacuated to the west at full speed, but the Jiyuan was no longer the Jiyuan when it was just launched, the speed was only 15 knots at this time, and the speed of the three Japanese ships was more than 3 knots higher than that of Jiyuan, and the Yoshino was 7 knots higher after strong pressure and ventilation.

At this moment, Cao Jiang escorted Gao Sheng. RS