"Boom! Boom! ……”

Ten Weiyuan-class ironclad ships with shallow turrets opened fire in turn, fiercely shelling the British and French fleets.

Huge columns of water up to 100 meters high rose into the sky, and the sea water boiled instantly.

The ships of the British and French fleets were severely damaged one after another, and the 3,000-ton battleship Endymion was sunk in the blink of an eye, and the huge power of the 305-mm shells shocked and frightened them, and the large-caliber naval guns completely subverted people's perception of traditional naval warfare, and will open a new era of naval warfare of giant ships and cannons.

"Your Excellency, General!"

"Your Excellency, General!"

The stunned British commander, Major General Marin, was finally woken up by the adjutant beside him.

Realizing his gaffe, Marin immediately cheered up, no matter what the ghost on the other side was, he was not afraid.

As a soldier, you have to fight that battle, and the glory of the Royal Navy cannot be questioned or trampled on.

"Distance!"

"900 meters! Sir! ”

When Marin heard this, he regretted it in his heart, he lost his mind for a short time just now, and the elite missed the opportunity to fire.

"The whole fleet immediately fires!"

The order was given, and the remaining eleven British and French warships were shocked and fired back.

Knock knock......

Shipside guns, maximize the concentration of broadside fire, and carry out saturation strikes on enemy ships.

The overwhelming shells rained down on the 10 shallow water heavy artillery ironclad ships of the East China Sea Fleet, and in an instant, they exploded one after another water columns tens of meters high, boiling water mist and rolling waves.

Compared with the 305 mm cannons, the caliber of the guns of the British and French battleships was much smaller, and although they relied on the guns to create a powerful momentum, the artillery power was not satisfactory.

Hundreds of artillery shells were fired in a salvo, and the British and French navies, which had always been accurate in artillery and had an average hit rate of more than 50 percent, suddenly found that this time they had missed, and only seventy or eighty shells hit their respective targets, with an average hit rate of less than 20 percent.

Because the freeboard of the opponent's ironclad ship is too low. It's only one meter, and under the cover of the high waves, it's almost the same as the sea level. In this case, the shells of the British and French navies either flew over the target, or they became close-range shells and penetrated into the sea water in advance, and the power of the explosion was basically canceled out by the sea water.

However, when the fire flashed and the waves fell, to the surprise of the British and French navies, the seventy or eighty shells that hit the target only smashed holes of different sizes on the opponent's target battleship. The expected through-blast effect was not realized at all.

"This Nima is really hell!"

Marin grabbed his boat-shaped military cap and threw it forward in a fit of rage.

It's just that the adjutant next to him knows his boss very well, and knows that his boss is going to throw his hat when he is angry, so he skillfully and quickly reached out and caught the military hat that flew out in mid-air.

The battle continued, and despite the fact that the East China Sea Fleet was ten shallow-water heavy gunboats with superior firepower, it was noticeably slower to reload. On the other hand, in the British and French fleets, eleven armies could fire almost non-stop, while firing from the first class gun deck. The secondary gun deck was prepared, and this rotation allowed the artillery fire to continue.

However, this is not effective.

The largest caliber guns of the British and French fleets were no more than 64-pounder guns. It is simply impossible to penetrate the 200 mm ironclad protection of the Weiyuan-class ironclad ship.

After five minutes of fighting, the battle between the two sides came to a fever pitch, but it was clearly the British and French fleets that suffered.

Boom! ……

In a series of violent explosions, two 305-mm shells were hit in succession on the amidships of the 3,000-ton British ship Crescent. At the same time as the iron armor was penetrated, it caused a chain explosion in the ammunition depot and boiler room.

The explosion that occurred in an instant on the entire battleship began to explode from the ship's amidship. A few seconds later, the bow and stern of the ship also exploded in a chain, and in an instant, the entire part of the battleship above the sea surface was leveled, and the fire scorched the sky and the smoke covered the sun.

The Crescent was the flagship's frigate, and her destruction immediately startled Marin.

Immediately afterwards, the French ships Targo and Dwalker were also attacked, and it seems that the two French ships were relatively well built, although they both received two shells, but did not cause fatal damage.

At this time, Marin suddenly found that the ten shallow water heavy gunboats on the opposite side seemed to have adjusted their formation, and their muzzles were all aimed at Marin's flagship, and at the same time, black smoke came out, obviously accelerating and approaching.

Marin is not stupid, this is clearly going to his rhythm!

"Turn around! Fall back! ”

Since he couldn't take advantage of it, he couldn't wait to be beaten, so Marin decisively chose to retreat.

The British ships on the left and right flanks did not dare to engage again after seeing the retreat of the flagship, and they were all frightened by the heavy artillery of the East China Sea Fleet and hurriedly retreated.

On the Songjiang of the East China Sea Fleet, Lin Jiyun saw that the British and French fleets were retreating, and he also hurriedly ordered ten shallow-water ironclad ships to stop the pursuit and accept it when they saw it.

Of course, even if Lin Jiyun had the intention to pursue the victory, it would be impossible. Because the Weiyuan-class shallow-water heavy artillery ironclad ship itself sacrificed power in order to obtain heavy artillery firepower and heavy armor protection, it could not catch up with the British and French fleets at all.

"The Anglo-French fleet is defeated!"

"We won!"

Cheers rang out on all the ships of the East China Sea Fleet, and at this moment, all the officers and men of the entire East China Sea Fleet were boiling.

Once upon a time, the theory of the invincibility of the British and French navies that had been pressing on them for more than ten years was finally broken.

This battle showed that the East China Sea Fleet had the ability to resist the invasion of foreign powers from the sea.

Of course, this is just the idea of the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers, from the perspective of Lin Jiyun and other high-level elites, this is just the beginning, the other party is just a small fleet in the Anglo-French combined fleet, and the next thing to face is the more powerful Anglo-French combined fleet.

Of course, different people look at this matter at different heights, and their understanding is naturally even more different.

To be able to sink a few British and French warships and defeat the most advanced fleet in the world at present, even if it is just a small sub-fleet, will be a huge shock to all Chinese and foreign forces.

Rear Admiral Marin fled all the way back to Naha in the Ryukyus with the remnants of the ship, reporting to the commander of the coalition forces, Klaus.

"What? You were defeated? You still have the face to come back, the face of the British Empire has been lost by you, why don't you die? ”

Klaus was shocked, and immediately scolded Marin.

"Rear Admiral Marin is one of the best commanders in the Royal Navy, how could he make such a low-level mistake? Fighting a war is not just a matter of paper, and if we were French naval officers, we would never make such a low-level mistake. Vice Admiral Guba said with a smile, this time it was the British battleships that were sunk, and the French battleships were only slightly injured. So Lone has an excuse for arrogance.

This Nima is Chiguoguo's face!

Klaus stopped in his ears, hatred in his mind.

"Pull Marin out and lock him up for three days!"

"Order, fleet assemble, I want to see what the hell it is!"

was slapped in the face, is it unbearable, so Klaus was angry and wanted to send out the combined fleet to find the field.

The more angry Klaus became, the happier he became. Although it was an alliance with the British and an expedition to the Qing Dynasty, if it could weaken the British naval power, it would also be excellent for the French navy.

"This General Klaus, don't you think about it again, looking at Rear Admiral Marin's expression, it seems that he is scared, it seems that Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet is very strong!"

This is obviously a deliberate agitation!

It's a pity that Klaus was angry, and when he heard it, he was immediately angry.

"If General Guba is afraid. You can wait here with your French fleet, and in less than three days, the commander will completely destroy the East China Sea Fleet. ”

"How can this work, we are the Combined Fleet. Naturally, we have to share weal and woe, how can we let your army take risks and be indifferent? In case your army is defeated, our French army will also lose face, right? ”

Klaus listened, what does this Nima mean. What do you want us to lose face when we are defeated, the Royal Navy of the British Empire is invincible. How could it be defeated?

"General Guba, I am the commander here, I now order you to lead your fleet to stay in Naha, and this commander will only lead the fleet of the British Royal Navy headquarters to go."

"That's too risky, isn't it? But now that General Klaus has decided, you are the commander, we are willing to obey! ”

Guba pretended to be reluctant, but his heart was happy, and he thought: Go, go, let's go and fight the East China Sea Fleet quickly, it is best to lose a few more warships, and the French Navy will be overwhelmed.

Gu Ba didn't think that the East China Sea Fleet could win the British Royal Navy, so he would rest assured that Klaus would take the British fleet into battle, the intention was just to let the British Navy lose a few more warships, after all, the strength of the Royal Navy of the British Empire was too strong, thousands of warships, and France was only separated by a strait, which put too much pressure on the French Navy.

Klaus walked out of the military tent in a huff, and was blown by the icy sea breeze, and immediately calmed down.

Who is Klaus, the dignified Vice Admiral of the British Royal Navy, and the people who can mix in this position are all old foxes, and he immediately understood.

Nima, fooled!

Damn old fox!

Klaus wanted to go back, but unfortunately he couldn't put it down.

That's it, Lao Tzu doesn't believe how powerful a mere East China Sea Fleet can be. It's just ten ironclad ships, and the number of warships in the British expeditionary fleet this time is more than a hundred, which is enough to crush everything.

Woowoo......

In Naha Harbor, rows of British warships whistled one after another, symbolizing the raising of the British flag of rice.

In a short time, the sails were raised, and the battleship's boiler compartment was then ignited and coaled, and black smoke billowed from the chimney.

As a huge sea anchor weighing several tons came out of the water, the battleship started and slowly sailed out of the port.

Under the command of Klaus, the Royal Navy's Asian Squadron set out on its journey.

Jiangbei, Haimen Hall Mansion Yahou Hall.

Li Hongzhang woke up quietly and was helped to go outdoors to breathe the wind.

Lao Li was bitter, he had worked hard to save more than 200,000 elite Huai troops, but the whole army was wiped out in less than three days after crossing the river, and Ding Richang, the most capable general, was killed, and this blow was huge.

As an ordinary person, he is absolutely decadent in the face of this blow, but Lao Li is different, he is unwilling, so he gritted his teeth and still insisted.

Qian Dingming stepped forward and said: "Lord Qi, the regent sent someone, and the prince was still in a coma at that time, and he was received by a humble position. ”

Li Hongzhang was expressionless, just nodded slightly, and asked, "So Yixin already knows?" ”

Qian Dingming smiled bitterly: "It's not surprising that Yi Xin can know about such a big thing. However, Yi Xin still has a little conscience, he sent someone to visit the prince, and by the way, he sent the firearms. ”

Li Hongzhang snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "Yixin, this old fox, must be afraid that this king will not be able to withstand it, so he hurriedly sent the arms over." Yi Xin didn't think so before, he kept holding the arms and not giving them to the king, that is, to prevent the king, and his heart could be punished. ”

Qian Dingming also agreed: "Up to now, we have torn our faces with Li Weiguo, and Li Weiguo issued a document saying that we crossed the river to attack him, and we have already declared war on us by going to the imperial court." ”

"Something to be expected!" Li Hongzhang didn't care, it was already like this, he just asked, "What's going on in the imperial court?" ”

Qian Dingming replied: "The court said that it was investigating, and hoped that the two sides would temporarily put aside the dispute to prevent the situation from expanding, and wait for the results of the court investigation." ”

"Fart!"

Li Hongzhang was furious and smashed the tea bowl out casually.

"Yixin, this bastard, he hasn't made a move until now, this is clearly to sit and watch this king and Li Weiguo fight to the end, he wants to make a profit."

Although Lao Li had been on guard against Yi Xin, he never expected that Yi Xin would not do it at this time, so he was angry.

Qian Dingming also frowned and said: "Yi Xin obviously wanted to borrow a knife to kill people, but he miscalculated the form, he thought that as long as the prince and the British and French coalition forces could severely damage Li Weiguo and even eliminate Li Weiguo, both of them would be defeated, and finally come out to pick up the bargain." It's a pity that he was wrong, the prince lost more than 200,000 elites, and he couldn't pose a serious threat to Li Weiguo in a short period of time, and the British and French forces were not fooled, because they had just received the news that the British and French forces only sent a detachment of ships, only twelve warships, and were beaten away by Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet. ”

"How can this be true? This foreigner really doesn't talk about trust! Lao Li was angry, but he forgot that he also wanted to take advantage of foreigners.

Qian Dingming smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect foreigners to have brains, not stupid big guys, and even learned the tactics of snipe and clam competing for fishermen and profits." ”

Li Hongzhang sighed and said: "It's too bad, Yi Xin is calculating, foreigners are also calculating, and in the end, this king and Li Weiguo were calculated by them together." ”

If Li Weiguo is here, he will definitely slap the other party hard, and you can calculate him? Ahh

Qian Dingming also frowned and said: "The situation seems to have gotten out of control, and now what is in front of the prince is Li Weiguo's attitude, will he wave the Northern Expedition?" ”

"Northern Expedition?"

Li Hongzhang was stunned for a moment, and suddenly shivered, and cold sweat broke out all over his body.

Yes, Li Weiguo declared war, and it is very likely that the Northern Expedition will be carried out.

"There are foreigners in the East China Sea, and in the west, Iketanga led hundreds of thousands of troops to occupy Sichuan in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and at any time to move the army eastward, does Li Weiguo dare to go north?"

"Lord Wang, the problem is, if Yi Xin has already decided that the prince is not Li Weiguo's opponent at this moment, it is very likely that he will not move and sell the prince directly! As for the Anglo-French coalition army, after all, they were defeated by Li Weiguo once, maybe they were also bluffing! ”

When Li Hongzhang heard this, his face immediately turned pale.

I'm afraid this Nima has been sold! (To be continued.) )