"Ono! Ono! Leave the files alone! Come out! ”

At the entrance of the Japanese Consulate, several Japanese were shouting anxiously and loudly. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Just as they were anxious, a piercing scream suddenly sounded in the sky.

It was the whistling of cannonballs breaking through the air!

A few Japanese people hurriedly ran to the side of the road and lay down, only to see a loud bang suddenly come from the block in the distance, and then a huge cloud of smoke rose up.

"It's the U.S. Consulate District! Also hit there! Someone shouted in horror.

Several Japanese stood up again, and at that moment, another screech of shells bursting through the air was heard.

With the collapse of a small burning western-style building, a Japanese man who had just rushed to the door with a suitcase was crushed inside.

"Ono-!" Seeing this tragedy, the Japanese consul in Xiamen, Masaei Ando, let out a painful scream.

He desperately tried to rush towards the Japanese consulate, which was already in ruins, but was pressed to the ground by two consulate officers.

"Bastard!" Masahiro Ando pounded the ground with his fists and scolded with tears.

"This is the shell of our warship...... "One of the consulate secretaries also shed tears," Ono-kun...... He died at the hands of his own people......"

Although these Japanese diplomats did not go to the beach, the shelling of Xiamen City at this time could never be the Chinese themselves, and certainly could not be other countries, only Japanese warships!

Since the news of Saigo's attack on Taiwan came out, they, the diplomats stationed in the consulate in Xiamen, a treaty port, have been living in fear.

On that day, the Chinese people angrily took to the streets, smashed the shops of many Japanese merchants, and nearly stormed the consulate. Just when Ando and the others were panicking, there were rumors that the Chinese army had lost the battle and that the Japanese army was about to attack Xiamen and the provincial capital Fuzhou.

At that time, they were still a little lucky, and while they deeply despised the Chinese mob who wanted to smash and loot the Japanese consulate, they secretly congratulated the "great victory of the Japanese imperial army".

But today, they finally understand what the "rampage" of the Japanese army brought them.

At this time, the Japanese diplomats already wanted to kill Shiki Kayama.

"Shiki Kayama! You little thief! Masaei Ando scolded loudly and angrily, "Stupid! Bastard! Yaga! Dead, dead! ”

Hearing the consul scolding the birch mountain discipline, some consulate personnel also scolded the "birch mountain thief".

The scolding of Ando Masaei and others obviously had no effect on the stupid shelling of the Japanese warship that was going on, and just as he could stop scolding, another whistling sound of cannonballs breaking through the air came, and several Japanese were shocked, helped Ando Masakai up from the ground, and dragged him away half-dragging and half-pulling.

Shortly after the Japanese ran away, a shell landed on the ruined site of the Japanese Consulate, and the huge shock wave scattered the broken wood and rocks, and if the Japanese ran a little slower, they would probably be hit by the rubble.

Just as Shikiriya Kayama was sneezing, Keinori Fukushima and others suddenly discovered that a British gunboat and a French gunboat were rapidly approaching the direction of the Japanese fleet.

"The warships of the British and French are coming, General." Keonori Fukushima saw that Shikinori Kayama still had no intention of stopping, and reminded him, "They may be trying to stop our shelling of the city." ”

As a Japanese naval soldier, Fukushima Keinori was actually very resistant to shelling unarmed civilian residential areas, but after all, it was the commander who gave the order, and he could not object, and the two foreign gunboats that had just appeared just gave him a suitable excuse to stop this senseless behavior of criticizing and wasting shells.

"Leave them alone!" Shiki Kayama said, raised the telescope again, and looked with interest at the urban area of Xiamen, which had been beaten into thick smoke.

But as if to confirm Fukushima's words, the British and French gunboats waved the flags as they sailed in front of the Japanese fleet: "Stop shelling immediately!" ”

"They're signaling to us!" Keinori Fukushima saw that Shiki Kayama was indifferent, and he was a little anxious, and reminded him loudly.

Shiki Kayama turned the binoculars and immediately saw the flag of the other party's mast, and couldn't help but be extremely annoyed.

There was a wordless arrogance and arrogance in this set of flag signals, which made Shiki Kayama rush up angrily when he saw it.

But he couldn't help it.

After all, in the world now, in terms of naval power, apart from Britain, it is France.

"Tell them! We are at war with the Qing Kingdom, please remain neutral and do not hinder our actions! Kayama Shiki said angrily.

Seeing the Japanese ship's reply, both the British gunboat and the French gunboat seemed to be a little annoyed, and they actually drove in front of the Japanese ship, blocking the firing direction of the Japanese gun's gun, making it difficult for the Japanese ship to aim.

Soon, two groups of flags were raised.

"Please stop shooting at the embassy district!"

"Stop shelling the embassy district!"

After seeing these two sets of signals, Fukushima Keinori couldn't help but be surprised, he immediately turned his head to look at Shiki Kayama, and seeing these signals, Shiki Kayama's face also showed a look of panic.

"Stop shelling!" Shiki Kayama finally gave the order.

The "Ryuchamp" stopped shelling, and then immediately gave a signal, and after a while, "Tsukuba", "Mt. Fuji", and "Yangchun", which received the signal order, also stopped firing.

As if he were a thief, he immediately ordered a retreat, and soon the four Japanese warships left the coast in disgrace.

Mester, the U.S. consul in Xiamen, angrily wrote the following words in his report to Washington: "...... In the early morning of July 12, the ships outside Xiamen Port began their preparations for the day according to the daily operation schedule. Everyone, Chinese and foreigners, did not expect that the guns of the Japanese warships had been aimed at them. The Japanese attacked the unarmed ships without warning. At 6:30, a cannon shot suddenly sounded from the sea, and the Japanese troops began to fire on the Shibi Fort in Xiamen City. The Chinese soldiers who had been getting up hurriedly ran to their respective positions, and when the batteries were in combat state and could return fire, they were actually shrouded in a sudden fog,...... This thick fog completely covered the castle and hid them so that the Japanese could not see them. But after a while, the sun began to rise, and the Chinese batteries were again in the sunny position, and their view was already obstructed by the strong sunlight rushing in front of them, and in addition, the high refraction of light, which is common on a sunny morning, appeared all over the coast, and the targets were all high, so that their return shells were too far away when the Japanese warships opened fire. ”

"After less than half an hour of fighting, the Japanese warships basically dumbed down the Shibi battery, which is one of the strongest batteries built by the Chinese, but it still cannot block the attacking artillery fire from the sea, although it has not been destroyed, it has lost its combat effectiveness and has become a target made of stones."

"After the Chinese batteries stopped firing, we all thought that the battle should be over, but the hateful Japanese still fired indiscriminately, shelling all the areas without defenders, I really don't understand what kind of battle they are fighting? Just as he was thinking, a shell burst through the air and hit the houses of neighboring Chinese, and one house collapsed entirely, leaving three corpses behind. …… The entire embassy area was inexplicably shelled, an American-owned shop was destroyed, and the two ladies took advantage of the fact that the Japanese were thinning out of their quarters and ran to the embassy area crying and seeking refuge, where we thought it was also unsafe, so we sent them to the church, where a shell landed exactly thirty yards away and planted in the mud, but fortunately it was a solid bullet that would not explode. Our men dug out the warheads, which weighed between sixty and seventy pounds. This episode aroused the curiosity of the people around them, who dug around despite the danger and found several more. Later, the locals sold the shells along the street, and the whole shell was sold for 2 yuan, and finally we bargained for 6 jiao for each 70-pound cannonball, so we collected these hateful souvenirs left by the Japanese as evidence of their violence. ”

Soon after the battle passed, the city of Xiamen immediately became noisy. Because of the blockade of the Japanese from the sea, the business of the British and other foreign foreign firms was greatly affected, and all the foreigners in Xiamen also hated the atrocities of the Japanese very much. The British hospitals in the concession area were open to receive the wounded soldiers of the Qing army, who were carried by their wingmen from a distance of one or two miles with door panels, and the wards of the hospitals were quickly filled. Many foreigners sent condolences to the soldiers defending the city and unanimously condemned the crimes of the Japanese. ”

"According to statistics, a total of ten foreigners were injured in the frenzied attack of the Japanese, two of them British, four French, four Americans, and it is said that the Japanese consulate was also shelled, and one Japanese died. We all agree that the U.S. government should condemn the atrocities of such attacks and take appropriate measures against the Japanese to prevent their recurrence......"

At this time, Shiki Kayama did not know that he had already run into a catastrophe, but he still followed his usual way of doing things, and summoned the captains of the ships to the officer's cafeteria of the "Longxiang" to celebrate the victory and discuss the next military action.

"I think that our next step should be to support the Imperial Army that has landed in southern Taiwan and fight a decisive battle with the enemy fleet." Shiki Kayama said confidently.

In that battle with the steam fleet of the Nanyang Naval Division, Shiki Kayama had a direct perceptual understanding of the sturdy iron armor and powerful artillery fire of the "Longxiang", and he believed that the "Longxiang" was indestructible, and no Chinese warship could defeat the "Longxiang", so he had the idea of wanting to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese steam fleet.

Listening to Shiki Kayama's words, several captains looked at each other, and each saw an inexplicable look of surprise in the other's eyes.

"General, I think we should return now." Keinonori Fukushima carefully voiced his opinion.

"Oh? Return? Why? A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Shiki's eyes, but he didn't attack immediately, but asked patiently.

After all, Keinori Fukushima is the captain of the "Ryuchamp", and the next battle will need to rely on his strength to complete.

"We don't have many shells, and we have a lot of wounded sailors, and it's hard to support a large-scale battle anymore." Fukushima Keino directly laid out the difficulties faced by the Japanese fleet, "After we bombarded Xiamen, the Qing navy will definitely do its best to intercept us, and since we have won a brilliant victory, we should keep the fruits of victory." ”

"Yes! We have won one brilliant victory after another. If we return safely, the whole world will not be—" Ito echoed as well. But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Shiki Kayama.

"Then the whole world will at least think that although we have won so many victories, we do not want to pluck the fruits of the flower of victory. War means taking risks. Think about the situation that might arise when we appear in front of the timid Qing people! Shall we return to our voyage and abandon the fruits of victory? Remember what I told you about the First Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Ito, right? They have been brutally wiped out by the Qing Navy! Shouldn't we avenge them? Victory in the war is achieved by action! ”

"However, the Qing Navy—"

"I now very much doubt that the Qing people will dare to touch us again?! We should move on! We have already defeated a Qing fleet, and as long as we defeat another Qing fleet, we will not have to fear anything. Ladies and gentlemen, think of the land and the abundance of goods at your fingertips! ”

"I'll think about it, sir. Oh, Genda-kun, what's the matter with you? Keinori Fukushima asked when he saw the first mate Tadakatsu Genda walk in.

First mate Genda came closer, saluted, and reported, "Sir, we have been hit by an enemy shell in our cabin. ”

"What's that?" Shiki Kayama asked a little strangely. In his opinion, the ironclad of the ironclad ship "Longxiang" is simply impenetrable to the enemy's shells, and it is unbelievable that the cabins below deck will be hit by shells.

"General, this cannonball came from the enemy's battery, and it penetrated the deck and drilled into the coal tank No. 2 in the rear. The cabin was full of coal, so there was no way to check for damage, but I can say with certainty that the damage was light, light. ”

"Is it just these damages?" Keinori Fukushima asked.

"Yes, sir. But—" First Officer Genda stopped talking.

"So, we don't have to worry about that anymore, do we?" Shiki Kayama said impatiently.

"Yes, General." First mate Genda hesitated for a moment and said, "It's just that we consume a lot of coal......"

"I see." Shiki Kayama nodded, signaling that the first mate could go.

"We've got plenty of time to get home, sir." After the first mate left, Keinori Fukushima suggested again.

"I understand, too." Shiki Kayama sighed and said, "Let me think again." ”

Shiki Kayama stood there and looked at the charts and began to ponder vigorously.

"If we want to stay in this area of the sea and seek an opportunity to fight the enemy's main force, there will definitely not be enough coal. We snatched some coal from Qing merchant ships, but it was still not enough. "If we can meet our own coal carriers, of course the problem can be solved, but I am afraid that our coal carriers will not come at all." ”

"You're right, Fukushima-kun." Shiki Kayama was still pondering. His index finger arced around the chart. As if to himself, he said, "But this decision is up to me." My decision can change the history of East Asia, determine the fate of the Yamato nation, and determine the future of the empire. As soon as my order is given, everything is certain and cannot be changed......"

"That's right, General!" Fukushima Keino said solemnly.

"Whether to move on or to return home, this is the last moment for me to choose. Once you've decided, you can't go back......" Shiki Kayama said, beads of sweat oozing from his head.

"General, may I make a suggestion?" The captain of the "Yangchun" ship, Sotaro Misu, who had not spoken, said suddenly.

"Say it!" Shiki Kayama nodded.

"I think the issue of coal is very important, even if we return to the sea now, if we don't have enough coal, it will be easy for the enemy to catch up. Because the enemy has coal carriers ready to replenish, and we can't do that. "And after all the battles, we have consumed a lot of coal, and we must replenish it before we can return safely." ”

Listening to Sotaro Misu's words, the eyes of Keinori Fukushima, Junyoshi Ito, and Hamagoro Hida all flashed with admiration.

In the past, they didn't think much of the captain who commanded an old gunboat, but today, the captain of the small ship did them a great favor.

Only in this way can you impress the layman Shiki Kayama, right?

After hearing these words of Sotaro Misu, Shikinori Kayama realized the seriousness of the problem, and finally stopped insisting on a decisive battle with the enemy's main fleet.

"What's your suggestion? Sansu-kun? Shiki Kayama asked.

"We have just shelled Xiamen, an important port of the Qing State, and the Qing government will inevitably be greatly shaken, and the Qing fleet will definitely come to attack us with all its strength afterwards, and we are short of coal, and the speed of the ship is slow, it is easy for them to catch up, my suggestion is to confuse the enemy, guide them to the wrong place to find us, and then we can calmly get out." Sotaro Misu suggested.

"Misu-kun, what do you mean......" Keinori Fukushima asked with some understanding.