Crabber, an Englishman, spent his early years panning for gold in Australia, but of course, he was unlucky, and this guy has always had terrible luck...... The gold rush, of course, did not make a fortune.

After that, he made a little money in Shanghai by trading with foreign warships and foreign troops, but now the Qing Dynasty has peace and security, and there is nothing to make a fuss about, and now Kraber has cut off his financial route, but this guy is a veritable adventurer, and he immediately sneaked to Kobe, Japan, which had just opened its door, to ponder business opportunities.

When he arrived in Kobe, he really figured out the business opportunities, Japan is a small island country, what industry is the most promising, it is nothing more than shipping, but in this era, Mitsubishi, which is supported by the government, has long been a giant in storage, but ...... Japan's shipbuilding industry is super-incompetent.

While Kraber pondered the matter, he found an old acquaintance, Hagen, who had eaten and drunk with him on the beach. Hagen was obviously more capable than Crabber, having already opened a small steamship repair factory a few years before him, but it was clear that the investment climate in small Japan was extremely harsh.

After the Restoration, those young samurai who controlled the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Labor, who had smelted steel and stayed abroad, may have been stimulated during the journey and extremely xenophobic. Of course, there are also those who are not exclusive, such as Ito Hirobumi, but the approach of the two groups of people to foreign investment is surprisingly consistent, and the samurai simply cannot tolerate such a big stick as large foreign companies in their eyes.

In the same way, there was no room for such a small thorn as foreign private investment, and Ito, the boss of the Ministry of Industry, the largest authority under the Meiji government's Taizheng Minister, formulated a clear policy that when he saw a well-run and powerful foreigner-run company, he would buy it and let the foreigner go.

However, Hagen continued to engage in the shipbuilding business tenaciously, and the Ministry of Industry saw that a foreign-funded enterprise would be destroyed, and a large number of foreign enterprises in Yokohama and Kobe disappeared, so a large number of foreign engineers who were connected with the same fate gathered under the banner of Hagen.

However, Hagen's small factory can be called a single seedling at most, and it is very difficult to stand alone! However, now that Kraber is an independent investor, he has joined the cooperative without hesitation, so that the shipyard, which has just been renamed Kobe Iron Works, is really on the right track, and the large amount of money he brings with him has injected new life into the factory.

However, Crabber soon discovered the problem observed by Sir Thomson, the British minister to Japan, that the Japanese workers recruited here were really stupid and completely useless! This annoyed him greatly......

Just as Crabber was struggling with the problems of the workers of the ironworks, on February 27, 1882, an even more earth-shattering event occurred, known as the "Inno-Japanese War"! ——

In the early morning of February 27, the lookout post on the Takagosaki Fort in Nagasaki Prefecture suddenly noticed black smoke under the sea level in the distance, and it was clear that a steamship was coming! Since the Japanese naval fleet returned to port ten days ago, the Takagosaki Fort and the Ship-Nose Fort on the opposite shore have entered the first level of alert!

Soon, one after another battleships appeared under the sea level, billowing black smoke, and guarding the battery was an artillery squadron of 230 soldiers, commanded by Captain Nakagawa.

After receiving the news from the sentry, Nakagawa immediately appeared on the lookout, and through the high-powered telescope, a huge fleet of more than a dozen warships appeared in the distance, and the dragon flag fluttering high, made him understand the rumored news at once...... It turned out to be true, the Japanese fleet was completely routed by the Qing fleet overseas, and there is no doubt that it was this powerful force from the sea that did it!

"Ready for battle...... Prepare for battle......" Nakagawa shouted hoarsely.

"Prepare for shelling!" Lu Han stood in the command room of the 501 ship and looked at the Japanese Takagosaki Fort that was gradually approaching in the distance, and calmly issued a combat order, this is a neat and neat strategic arrangement, Qin Liefeng is really determined, the labor expedition is not an easy thing, but thinking about it, now is really the time, I don't know if little Japan still has the strength to fight back......

As the gateway to the Sasebo Military Port, the Takagosaki Fort and the Jifunebi Fort on the other side of the river are undoubtedly the key points of the Navy's defense, and the two forts, which are only two kilometers apart, guard the main road leading to the Sasebo Military Port in the inner bay, and the entire passage is 2 kilometers wide and more than 7 kilometers long. ,

The 701 heavy cruiser commanded by Xu Shoushan was a guinea pig to test the firepower of the battery, but this little thing is completely pressure-free for Lao Xu, with a heavy artillery pressure array of 35 times the diameter of 254mm, not to mention the small Gaohouqi battery, even if it is Tokyo Bay, what is the reason to go?

The distant fort is getting closer and closer, and the Gaohouqi fort is built on the top of a stone hill of more than 100 meters next to the coastline, which is built of huge mountain rocks, which looks very solid, but the artillery on the fort has somewhat made this magnificent fort worthless! This fort has a long history, so the cannon ...... It's also a little longer.

Ten Armstrong 200mm steel cannons were fired towards the strait, in addition to seven or eight ancient bronze cannons, and Nakagawa shouted orders the Japanese soldiers to quickly reload the shells, but these old breech guns, facing the completely technologically advanced heavy artillery of the Mawei Artillery Bureau, were destined to be a tragic result.

At the beginning, Xu Shoushan was still cautious and slowly moving forward, and he shot officer Liu Ye's calibration position for the first gun was 5300 meters, which was already the effective range of heavy artillery.

The roar of the three large-caliber heavy guns completely drowned out the command given by Captain Nakagawa on the battery, and the first wave of salvo fire, the heavy artillery neatly collapsed a corner of the battery, and the subsequent shelling was completely one-sided, and the shells fired from the high battery failed to shoot a distance of 4,000 meters by virtue of the advantage of position.

At this moment, except for a few battleships that were not equipped with 254mm heavy guns, six or seven battleships were shirtless, and the mosquito ships in Beiyang Zhenbei and Zhennan also found an opportunity to play this time, their ships are a little smaller, this gun is not small at all, but the 501 ship is also a 10-inch heavy gun, but the double diameter is just insufficient.

Each salvo is 16 254mm, 220 kg shells smashed into the sad Gao Houqi battery, this fixed target, and can be parked position, the hit rate of the shot is surprisingly high, after 5 rounds of shelling, Gao Houqi battery has completely collapsed...... 80 220-kilogram flowering shells, what a concept of firepower in this era.

The design of this high Houqi battery was also improved, with 5 large-caliber guns installed in pillbox-style towers, and the others were designed with terrace gun emplacements and no special protective measures, and the garrison artillery had to stand on their posts to meet the battle due to military discipline requirements, but this result was ...... There is no doubt that the soldiers who met outside were quickly overwhelmed by the overwhelming artillery fire, and the pillbox-like towers could not withstand the bombardment of heavy artillery, and after firing at fixed points, they were quickly dumbed down!

Subsequently, the trailing Mawei maritime troop carrier launched a small-scale landing battle, a 300-man army successfully occupied the Gaohouqi Fort, the first to rush into the fort was the squad leader of the Qi battalion Cheng Gang, he led the newly formed squad to attack the fort with almost no resistance, and the situation can only be described as hell on earth.

By the time Cheng Gang withdrew, the Combined Fleet had already concocted the ship-nose batteries on the opposite shore in the same way, and in the face of the extremely powerful heavy artillery of the Nanyang Naval Division, these two forts, which were almost prehistoric compared to the horsetail artillery technology, were wiped out, and the artillery of the two squadrons stationed there was completely wiped out.

The battle before and after, but an hour, after breaking through the defense of the battery, it was the 601 light cruiser that took the lead in the first launch, and the officers and men of the 601 ship, who were only equipped with 120mm rapid-fire guns, were greedy, but if they ran up and shot the old battery with expensive A-type rapid-fire guns, it is estimated that Lu Zhiyuan would definitely be sent to receive re-education after bringing the tube back to the horsetail.

However, taking advantage of the stall of the bombardment battery, the 601 ship slipped into the Sasebo military port first, and as a result, the small Japanese patrol boats encountered along the way were all Lu Zhiyuan's snacks, and in front of the 601 ship's perverted 8 guns with an amazing rate of fire and an amazing range, those small gunboats equipped with 10-pound guns had no chance to counterattack at all.

If you want to escape, there is no way, the 601 ship almost chased the small gunboats off the coast of Japan at a speed of 18 knots, and rushed to the Sasebo Military Port!

As the front port closest to Korea and China for the Japanese Navy, Sasebo Military Port has always been one of the most important military ports of the Japanese Navy, and it is the largest First Fleet of the Japanese Admiralty, but after the Battle of the Ryukyus, in addition to the flagship "Fuso", only 4 torpedo boats, the ironwaki wood-hulled cruiser "Kaimon" and the old-fashioned sailing cruiser "Tsukuba" were left in the First Fleet! ,

The sound of artillery in the distance naturally attracted the attention of the Sasebo military port, and the commander of the military port, Yamamoto Gonbei, naturally got the news at the first time, and he immediately realized the severity of the situation.

As a last resort, he immediately ordered the cruiser "Haimen" to lead four torpedo boats and two patrol boats in the harbor to prepare to rush to the battery for reinforcements, relying on the battery for defense, which was the only option!

Unexpectedly, before the fleet was assembled, the 601 ship had already broken into the port of Sasebo with great momentum, and the "Sea Gate" had just been fired, and it hurriedly went up to engage in battle, but this first thousand-ton cruiser made by Japan was only equipped with 120mm guns at the front and rear, as well as two Green guns, and the speed was only 9 knots.

Before the Haimen entered the firing range, it was shot into a hedgehog by the thunderous and stormy rapid-fire cannon on the 601 ship, and the fire caused by the explosion quickly engulfed this homemade battleship that condensed the glory of the Japanese!

The only water 1 ~ water 4 torpedo boats in the harbor that still have attack power pounced on the 601 ship, but these old torpedo boats were only 14 knots, and the range of the British-made bald torpedoes was only 400m.

The remaining one finally approached more than 400 meters and fired a torpedo, but was easily dodged by the 601 ship, and while it turned, the ship's twin rapid-fire guns easily cleaned up the remaining enemy ship.

When the 501 ship led a large number of fleets to break into the port, what they saw was that Lu Zhiyuan was commanding the 601 armored cruiser to shell the Japanese army's material warehouses and facilities in the port.

This surprised Lu Han, and immediately let the army land to carry out landing operations, and under the protection of fleet firepower, quickly established a position in the port!

In less than half a day, the Sasebo military port changed hands, and the commander Yamamoto Gonbei organized a death squad to try to attack the port, but under the control of heavy artillery, the attack was defeated by the roaring artillery before it was launched, and by the afternoon, the resistance of the Japanese army was very sporadic, and the entire port was basically controlled by Zhang Kui's army.

The valuable strategic targets of the Sasebo military port are unexpectedly few, but the disabled "Fuso" was berthed alone in the harbor because it was waiting to be transferred to the Nagasaki shipyard for maintenance, and the small number of crew members who stayed behind had already fled.

After completing the occupation of the wharf, the Protector Army did not have a plan to develop in depth, but quickly relied on the battleships and heavy artillery on the wharf to build a temporary position, at this time, on the flagship of the Beiyang, Liu Buyun was discussing with Lin Taizeng a few times, and the continuous battles in the past few days, the plan to attack Anmi Oshima and the raid on the Sasebo military port formulated in the Ryukyus have been completed smoothly.

In this matter, although Qin Kai had promised to provide a name for sending troops, he was somewhat suspected of exceeding his authority, and after several people discussed it, a decision was made. Soon, Liu Buyun came to visit Qin Kai on the flagship and proposed to transfer from Nagasaki back to Wei Navy Port to correct his life! Qin Kai agreed after a little consideration, and after sending a copy of the thank you to each of the pipe bands, he announced that this joint operation was temporarily over.

The Beiyang Fleet slowly left the port, Deng Shichang stood in the bridge, his eyes looked at the dock in the distance, the sailors of the Nanyang Naval Division were busy on the dock under the leadership of the officer, and began to supply the battleship with coal and other necessary materials with the boom on the pier.

This made several pipe bands of the Beiyang Navy Division quite surprised, after all, Qin Kai's mystery of light brain charging is naturally impossible to be known, Deng Shichang also asked the grassroots officers of the Nanyang Navy Division, knowing that this is Qin Kai's military order requirements of "equality between officers and soldiers, respect for officers and love soldiers", but this point touched him a lot.

In the Beiyang Naval Division, although almost all of these pipe belts are Fujian officers from the Mawei Ship Administration, there is no shortage of things in terms of seniority and self-reliance, and it is this matter of replenishment with the ship, which is also handled by the boilermen of the bilge, and it is impossible for the soldiers to bear it, but now seeing the actions of the soldiers of the Nanyang Naval Division, it is obviously a familiar thing and often done...... This Qin Liefeng is really an alternative character in the Qing Dynasty! ,

After the Fuso ironclad ship completed the coal supply, a group of sailors were transferred from the battleship and merchant ship, and the battleship left the port smoothly, and in the rumbling explosion of the installed explosives, the warehouses, buildings, trestle bridges and other facilities of the Sasebo Naval Base were quickly razed to the ground, and the battleships of the Nanyang Naval Division hurriedly sailed away from the ruined Sasebo Military Port!

Shortly after the battleship left the port, the officer in charge of interrogating a group of Japanese soldiers and prisoners hurried to the command room to report that the prisoners' confessions had received important news that the cruisers Kongo and Tsukushi, which had been damaged in the Battle of the Ryukyus, had sunk in the storm......

Hearing this news, Lu Han was naturally very happy, allowing the Japanese fleet to escape in the last naval battle was undoubtedly a little flaw in this huge victory, and now this result can be described as very perfect! As soon as he turned his head, he saw that Qin Kai was looking down and pondering something, so he asked, "Gale Wind, do you think there is any problem?" ”

Qin Kai shook his hand, according to the predetermined plan, this operation will be the destruction of the Sasebo Military Port as the final battle, after all, the Nanyang Naval Division has been out of the continuous battle for nearly a month, although there is Mawei Shipping in the continuous supply support, but the huge war expenditure, Qin Kai estimated that it was a large amount of silver.

Mawei Shipping used more than 20 cargo ships for uninterrupted transportation in this war to ensure the operation of this fleet of nearly 4,000 people, for this reason, he had to purchase new cargo ships, plus the loss of trade during this period, he knew that when he went back, Boss He's eyes would definitely kill again!

However, now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the Japanese fleet has been completely destroyed, and the Japanese warships in service are almost all obsolete goods from more than ten years ago, and they can no longer survive in front of armored warships.

At this time, Qin Kai naturally didn't know that the Japanese minister Yano Fumio was messing around in Beijing, using the so-called face of the Qing Empire to make a big fuss, and in the court, there was actually a group of conservative Manchu pigtails who spoke for the Japanese, and the court was about to fight for the Sino-Japanese Ryukyu Peace Treaty.