Before leaving, Zhang Kui took the prepared defense plan to ask Qin Kai's opinion, this guy's plan made Qin Kai also very impressed, in several key defensive terrain not to give an inch, and for some ports and cities that are not suitable for defense, all adopt abandonment tactics, lure the enemy deep, and disperse the opponent's forces.

Zhang Kui's analysis of the Japanese army is based on recent battles and interrogations, and in his view, the Japanese army has strict combat discipline, and they are all inculcated with the idea of loyalty to the emperor, ordinary soldiers are resilient, and the rank and file officers have their own advantages compared to the national defense army.

At present, the advantages of the Protector Army in all aspects are not obvious, and now the main advantage is still in weapons, so it is necessary to concentrate forces as much as possible and form an overwhelming advantage in the situation war to create a victory

Such an argument obviously surprised Qin Kai, the military theories of these dogmas that he instilled in his daily life could be integrated and applied to actual combat, and these plans were very operable, including various tactics such as using the Ryukyu Army as bait

Several forts in Naha Port have been completely destroyed, these artillery pieces are very weak, except for a few small cannons that were given to the Ryukyu Army organized by Shang Ping, the other artillery is completely unable to fight against the current naval guns in terms of range and power, so Qin Kai thought twice, it is better to dismantle it first, after all, the defense of Naha Port will be handed over to the Ryukyu Army dominated by the militia.

He didn't expect these temporary rabble of Ryukyuan people to resist the Japanese attack in Naha Port, of course, for Naha Port, the Nanyang Navy Division also made some arrangements, laid anchor mines outside the port, and the entry and exit of the port were piloted by small boats in the port, which also made the Japanese fleet dare not break into the port lightly, and bought time for the defense of the port.

After the first qiē was arranged, Naha's defense was mainly supported by three groups of Protector Army, assisted by a battalion of Ryukyu Army, and the main force was arranged in the rear on the dangerous terrain

In his assessment of the Japanese Navy before departure, Qin Kai explained in detail the firepower and armor of several Japanese ironclad ships in service, and estimated that the most likely route of the other side would need to pass through the line between Umi Oshima and Tokushima, so he decided to intercept and seek the main force here

After arriving at Tokushima, the main fleet was moored at the mouth of the inlet in the north of Tokushima to facilitate an attack at any time, while the 601 fast cruiser of the Nanyang Naval Division was patrolling the western channel of Tokushima-Anmi Oshima as the top soldier on the left flank, and the fast collision ship Hayashi Tai of the Hokuyang "Yangwei" searched for enemy traces in the eastern channel of Tokushima Anmi Oshima as the head of the right wing.

In this era, in the absence of radar at all, to search for a fleet from the sea, Qin Kai also understood that this was almost a needle in a haystack, whether he could touch it, whether he would miss it, he was not sure at all, there was a lot of luck in it, so he formulated a search plan to pull the net back and forth, once the enemy's traces were found, the tactics of the whole army pounced

But...... There will always be a huge deviation between plan and reality

In the waters off Fukue Island outside the port of Sasebo, a large number of warships are gathering here, and the plaster flag flying high shows that this is a Japanese navy, but the huge fleet of four ironclad ships and two ironwaki wooden-hulled cruisers is obviously the largest military operation of the Japanese Navy in the past 10 years.

Even behind the fleet, there was a British ironclad cruiser "Victor" followed from afar, which is a strange situation, one country's fleet went out to fight, while the warships of another country accompanied the battle, but in those days, it was indeed a very common thing.

As the world's largest navy of this era, the British Empire also had a special mission in the Far East, and they did not care about any war in the Far East, in which Britain played the role of a peculiar neutral, he watched any war in the Far East as a kind of spectator, and as long as it did not pose a threat to the trade chain that maintained the economy of the British Empire, there was no need for the navy of the British Empire to engage in new wars.

This time the Qing and Japan territorial disputes over the Ryukyu Islands were the first to reveal the news to the Japanese side was the British Minister to Japan Thomson, but Japan was slow to react to this matter, and only five days after the incident confirmed the information provided by the British, which made the British officers not highly evaluate the current intelligence gathering capabilities of the Japanese army.

However, when the Japanese Imperial Governor had formulated a countermeasure, the Japanese navy and army had assembled in just five days to form a huge expeditionary force, and this swift action aroused the interest of the British, as the first Westernized new army in the Far East, to declare war on the neighboring Qing Dynasty. ,

Moreover, the four ironclad battleships purchased by Japan, Fuso, Kongo, Hiei, and Tsukushi, were all produced by British factories, and the warships sold by Britain in this era had a common feature, that is, they applied a lot of so-called new technologies that were not used in Britain's own warships at that time, and in fact, these warships were largely tested in British shipyards.

Now that a battle is about to take place that can test the ships of the British Empire, the captain of the cruiser "Victor" Philo is ordered to accompany him to observe, which is why this interesting field observer is born.

After assembling the fleet, the commander of the Japanese fleet, Arai Arikunosa, immediately used the new battleship "Tsukushi" as the vanguard, and the flagships Fuso, Kongo, and Hiei, as well as two Tetsuwaki battleships, escorted the merchant ships of the army soldiers.

Before leaving, Arai Yougong called several captains to the flagship, took out the latest information obtained from Weihaiwei, Shandong, and introduced: "Gentlemen, it is said that the Beiyang Naval Division of the Great Qing Kingdom has gone to sea, and its whereabouts are unknown. ”

"Arai Daisa, is there any information on the strength of the Qing Kingdom's warships?" As one of the first Japanese naval officers to stay in the United States, he was quite familiar with Arai Arai and was also very familiar with the situation of the naval divisions of the neighboring country of Daqing, and he was still full of confidence in this battle.

Arai thought for a while, looked at the officers present with a stern face, and said: "Gentlemen, the strength of the Beiyang Fleet that went to sea this time, our intelligence officials have already collected relevant information, according to the preliminary judgment, in this battle on Ryukyu Island, the number of warships on the Qing side includes at least 3-4 battleships of the Beiyang Naval Division, with a tonnage of about 3,500 tons, 1-2 battleships of the Nanyang Naval Division, and it is possible that the flagship of the Nanyang Naval Division, the 501 ironclad ship, may appear. ”

Hearing Arai's introduction, these admirals did not have too worried expressions, this naval war is more about the armor of artillery and battleships, but more important is the level of training and the plain of the soldiers, at this point, they are sure that the Japanese navy will stabilize the Qing army.

However, Arai Yugong does not think so, and now in terms of the situation, the situation is not as estimated some time ago, the Japanese fleet has a slight advantage in tonnage compared with the Qing fleet, but the overall combat power of the two sides is between the two, so it must be considered in detail in terms of tactics, rather than choosing to attack.

"Arai Daisa, which port do we choose to carry out the landing operation from?"

"My plan was for the army to carry out a landing operation from Rentian Port, and after the fleet completed the escort mission, it would attack Naha Port by sea, and I chose to avoid the Qing Army's combat ......power on the route of the attack on the central islands of the Ryukyus," Arai said his plan, and then drew the route of the fleet on the chart, which was a route along Fukue Island all the way to the north.

It's a modest route that leads north to Umi Oshima and then down the coast of Ryukyu Island to Rentenko Port and Naha Port

However, Arai Arai's route changed course 20 kilometers above the island of Anmi, and made a large arc to the west, reaching the port of Renten, and after conquering the port, he would march to the port of Naha.

The mansion of Wang Yiqing, a cabinet scholar, was blocked by a group of nearly seventy or eighty people, who kept saying that they wanted to commit rape for the country, and the treaty on Ryukyu signed between Wang Yiqing and the Japanese minister was completely annulled.

Zhang Shusheng, Minister of Beiyang and Governor of Zhili, Minister of Nanyang, Governor of Guangdong Qin Kai, Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang Zhang Peilun, and Governor of Fujian Ding Richang wrote to the imperial court, stating that they wanted to raise troops to fight against thieves and restore the status of the Ryukyu State.

Zhang Peilun even bluntly said in the excerpt, "The Japanese state has repeatedly raised troops for nothing, attacked Taiwan, and invaded the Ryukyus, which is really the ambition of the wolf, and it should be punished as a warning......

The secret folds of the Nanyang Minister Qin Kai and the Beiyang Minister Zhang Shusheng had already been sent to the military aircraft, and both sides swore that the Japanese State would be unfavorable to the Qing Dynasty's Korea, and if it was allowed to develop, the Qing Dynasty's vassal state would be in danger

Two days later, Qin Kai, Minister of the South Seas, and Zhang Shusheng, Minister of the North Seas, suddenly sent an urgent telegram to the military aircraft department, saying that the Qing merchant ships had been shelled by Japanese gunboats on Ryukyu Island, and then the Nanyang Naval Division and the Beiyang Naval Division, which were conducting joint training nearby, immediately rushed to Naha Port. ,

The fleet had already captured the port of Naha and the port of Liantian in the Ryukyus, and the people of the Ryukyus saw the arrival of the Celestial Empire's army, and welcomed them, and now they have recovered Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

How could these old fritters of the Military Aircraft Department not understand the catty in this, for the fact that the Japanese State has occupied the Ryukyus for many years, these bigwigs have not been drowned by the spittle of the clear stream, but in the past, this matter was handed over to the Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang, Lord Li Zhongtang, who had been in the Beiyang Naval Division for a lack of ships and gunboats, and could not engage the Japanese at sea, so they had to give up.

Now since the Nanyang Naval Division and the Beiyang Naval Division are going to fight this battle, and looking at the current situation, the Great Qing Dynasty Naval Division seems to have taken a big advantage, since the situation is very favorable, then there is no need for the military aircraft department to come forward, I didn't expect that in just ten days, such earth-shaking changes have occurred, if it wins, it will also be very beneficial to the face of the imperial court.

Thinking of this, Prince Gong immediately found Zeng Jize, who was busy negotiating for the Ryukyus in the capital, and listened to his opinion, you must know that there are only one or two people who can be called diplomatic weight in this Qing Dynasty, Li Zhongtang is naturally a big man, and Zeng Hou has made many achievements, and several negotiations with Russia and the British are very successful.

Zeng Jize met with the British Minister Sir Wittoma, the German Minister Sir Schleier, and the American Minister Muffin one by one in the afternoon of the same day, and the British naturally had a consistent policy of neutrality, but hoped that both sides would ensure that British merchant ships would not be violated.

As for the French, Zeng Jize naturally did not go to them, because the war between the two sides was still in a state of imminent outbreak, and there was no need to talk about these things, and the French were now in a very delicate attitude on the Vietnamese issue, neither mentioning peace talks nor disputes, and only refusing to resume negotiations on the grounds that the cabinet had not given a clear answer.

After getting several answers, Zeng Jize immediately called back to Zhang Shusheng, the minister of Beiyang, neither saying that the imperial court supports sending troops, nor saying that he does not support it, anyway, every qiē has Nanyang and Beiyang ministers to take ideas, of course, in the eyes of the bigwigs in the court, this qiē is naturally led by Beiyang, and the Nanyang Navy Division assisted in initiating it, as for the truth of this fact, Qin Kai and Zhang Shusheng will not explain in any form, and some things do not need to be explained

In the eyes of the outside world, the war between China and Japan started inexplicably without any declaration of war between the two sides......

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of February 13th, the weather in the surrounding area of the Ryukyus was not good, and it was drizzling, and the commander of the second battalion of the Ryukyu Army, Maji, was taking his own group of soldiers to stand guard on the top of the hill on the west side of the port of Rentian on Ryukyu Island

He had just joined the Ryukyu Army, and he should have served as an errand in the previous Ryukyu Army, so he was appointed as the commander of the sentry, and their squad had just been stationed in Liantiangang for only five or six days, but they received an order to only be on guard, and to notify the Protector Army stationed in the mountains behind them in time when they found the situation.

He naturally knew the power of the battleship's artillery, and immediately rushed down with the soldiers to report the news, and it was the two squads of the third battalion of the Protector Army who were responsible for the defense of Liantian Port......

After a simple assembly, the troops immediately moved to Shuri and Naha in the south, while the local Ryukyu people hid in the mountains behind, and the fortified walls and clear fields had been arranged a long time ago, and these Ryukyu natives hated Japan and fought Japan again this time, and with the support of the Celestial Empire, they were naturally full of confidence

Outside the port, the commander of the Japanese fleet, Arai Arigong Daisa, was observing the distant port of Renten, which was not originally a prosperous dock in the Ryukyu Kingdom, but he had an accurate number, and the dock here could berth the ships of Mitsubishi Shipping, he thought about it for a moment, and ordered the Ironclad cruiser Hiei and the Amagi Ironwaki Wooden Hull warship to attack the port as the vanguard

The commander of the Hiei is Sakuraiyuki, who studied at the Royal Naval School in the United Kingdom, the Hiei is an early side gun ironclad ship, that is, the guns are mounted on both sides of the battleship, built by the British Herwin shipyard, delivered in March 1878, iron waki, wooden hull, external armor. The normal displacement is 2250 tons, the length and width of the ship are 5.3 meters, the waterline armor thickness is 88-137mm, the standard coal load is 330 tons, the single-shaft propulsion, and the speed is 286 people. ,

In terms of weapons, it is also relatively weak, with 3 170mm Krupp guns, 6 150mm Krupp guns, 2 80mm Krupp guns, 2 75mm Krupp guns, 6 Nordfeld machine guns, 2 single-barreled Gunfeld machine guns, and two torpedo launchers.

The Amagi ironwaki-hulled cruiser had a displacement of only 1,100 tons, and it was also a fast collision ship ordered from Britain in 1877, with a maximum speed of 10 knots, and was equipped with three 150mm breech guns and four Grimm machine guns.

After receiving the order, the two warships immediately took the lead and sailed into the harbor, and there was no fort in the port of Lianten, and the commander of the Hiei, Sakuraiyuki, observed the situation in the harbor, and it was also very strange, after all, the situation on the pier was very strange, and it was empty, he pondered for a moment, and ordered the shelling to break into the port immediately

The three 170mm guns on the side of the ship immediately roared, and the flowering shells whistled and fell into the harbor, kicking up a cloud of dust, but ...... There was still no movement in the harbor

After the Amagi burst into the port, it immediately launched an artillery bombardment of the port, but the result was the same surprise to them, it was obvious that it was already an empty city, and after receiving the news, 4 merchant ships slowly sailed into the port, at this time, the accident suddenly happened.

When the Japanese merchant ship in second place entered the port, it was very unexpectedly struck a mine, and an anchor mine buried at the entrance caused an explosion on the right side of the ship's side, blowing up a large hole with a diameter of more than two meters on the spot of the British merchant ship, and the shrapnel of the blast caused heavy losses to the soldiers assembled on standby in the merchant ship, and more than 30 people were killed on the spot.

However, this mine strike was the only loss of the Japanese army......

A large number of Japanese troops quickly landed at the port of Renten, and after unloading ammunition and supplies, Kuroda Daisa, who was in charge of the land offensive, immediately began to reorganize the team, and the 2,000 army was divided into 4 squadrons, and he immediately gave the order, and the 1st and 2nd squadrons marched to the port of Naha in the south as the vanguard!

The 3rd Squadron went north to recover the relevant villages and towns, and Kuroda Osa personally led his own team as reinforcements for the 1st and 2nd Squadrons to open up to the north and strive to gather and annihilate the Qing army that landed on the island.

Even the port is only 200 miles away from Naha, but there are many important cities in the Ryukyus, and the roads along the way are not too steep, so they are very suitable for army operations.

Thirty miles to the north, Goming County is a small county town with a population of only 30,000 or 40,000, and today it is very lively outside the city, with a large number of troops gathered from the south and north, and the local Ryukyu militia is also assembled in the city to stand by.

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