Standing on the flying bridge of the "Yunyang", Nakamuta Kuranosuke and Dewa Shigeyuan both heard this muffled sound, and their faces changed in unison. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

There was a piercing whistling sound, and then a loud sound of a cannonball entering the water was heard on the sea, very close to the starboard side of the "Dry Journey", and as the water column rose high, splashed down on the ship, causing a cry of panic.

"Enemy artillery fire!"

The lookout of the "Yunyang" pointed to the faint red light that flashed through the dense fog on the shore, and shouted hoarsely.

As soon as the lookout's voice fell, another whistling sound came, and huge water columns rose one after another beside the "Ganxing" and "Yunyang".

The seawater kicked off by the shells splashed onto the Japanese warship, as if a basin of cold water was poured on their faces, drenching Nakamuta Kuranosuke and Dewa Shigeen.

"Quick! Let's get out of here! Nakamuta Kuranosuke said with some panic.

"But, General, the transport ship has already ......" Before Izuwa Shigeto's words could be finished, he was interrupted by Nakamuta Kuranosuke.

"Leave the transport ship alone! Get out of here! Nakamuta Kuranosuke shouted loudly, and Izuwa Shigeyuan hurriedly gave the order, and personally ran into the wheelhouse to steer, and it was easy to let the "Yunyang" leave its original berth.

At the same time that the "Yunyang" was fleeing for its life, the larger "Ganxing" also desperately sailed to the open sea, and seeing the water columns rising one after another on the sea around the "Ganxing", Nakamuta Kuranosuke was somewhat glad that he did not choose this ship as the flagship of the fleet.

Although he was temporarily freed from the shelling of the Qing army, Dewa Shigeyuan was worried about the three transport ships and did not run far.

At this time, the sea breeze gradually rose, blowing away the sea fog, and the scenery on the sea gradually became clear, and Dewa Shigeyuan saw clearly the Qing army batteries on the coast, and was still firing at the "Ganxing", but the "Ganxing" tried to get rid of the attack and fled to the open sea in a hurry.

At this time, Nakamuta Kuranosuke saw the Qing army fort on the shore that was spewing out tongues of fire and smoke from time to time, like a monster that had just woken up, and his heart was shocked, and he was at a loss for a while.

He had now realized that he had led the fleet to a strange and extremely dangerous place!

The Qing army fort in front of you is obviously a permanent fortification, not a temporary improvised fortification!

Moreover, this battery is equipped with obviously large-caliber artillery!

This is certainly not the intended landing site!

Seeing that the two Japanese warships were out of range, the Qing army began to turn their guns and shoot at the three Japanese transport ships that had already lowered their boats for landing operations.

"The transport ship is in danger!" Dewa Shigeto eagerly turned his head and pleaded with Nakamuta Kuranosuke, "We have to go back and help them!" Cover their retreat! ”

Nakamuta Kuranosuke's heart trembled for a moment, he was greatly shocked by the fierce shelling of the Qing army just now, and he hesitated in his heart in the face of Dewa Shigeyuan's request to cover the transport ship.

Although he was born as a member of the Saga clan and visited Shanghai with Takasugi Shinsaku, he wrote a large number of works such as "Diary of the Voyage from Nagasaki to Shanghai", "Diary of a Trip to Shanghai", "Miscellaneous Records of Shanghai Stranded in Shanghai", "Book of Shanghai Daotai of the Qing Dynasty", "Diary of a Voyage to Shanghai", and participated in the War of the Fall of the Shogunate, and was made a rear admiral in 1871. Faced with the battlefield of blood and fire, he instinctively felt fear and wanted to escape.

Nakamuta Kuranosuke knew that Izuwa Shigeto's request was right, but at this time his heart was already clenched with fear, and he couldn't help but want to retreat in the face of the fierce artillery fire of the Qing army.

Nakamuta Kuranosuke subconsciously raised the binoculars and looked in the direction of the transport ship, at this time the Qing army battery was constantly shooting at them, one shell after another fell in the sea, from time to time to set off a tall column of water, the boats on the sea surface were like fallen leaves, pushed by the waves, the situation can be said to be extremely critical.

However, Nakamuta Kuranosuke quickly noticed that the angle of fire of the Qing army's artillery fire seemed to be very small, although the artillery fire appeared to be very fierce, but none of the shells fired had hit the target so far, and although the shells fell from time to time around the three transport ships, they were still unscathed so far.

Nakamuta Kuranosuke turned his head to look at the gunboat "Ganxing" again, and noticed that the "Ganxing" was not damaged in the enemy's artillery fire just now, and his heart was slightly relieved. He put down the binoculars, rushed out of Yu Chongyuan and nodded: "Send a signal to the 'Ganxing'!" Accompany the flagship to fire at enemy batteries! Cover the retreat of the transport! ”

"Yes!" Dewa agreed loudly.

Soon, a series of flags were raised on the mast of the "Yunyang", and under the personal steering of Izuwa Shigeyuan, the "Yunyang" turned its bow and returned to the coast, while the Japanese gunners on the ship pushed the cannon out of the gun door and opened fire on the Qing battery on the shore.

Several shells fired by the Japanese ships flew towards the Qing batteries, similar to the shooting skills of the Qing gunners, and the shells fired by the breech guns were also extremely inaccurate, and they fell on the shore one after another, stirring up the flying sand and gravel.

Seeing that the "Yunyang" was firing on the shore, the "Ganxing" also rushed over under the command of Shozo Noira Kimichi and fired at the Qing battery.

Seeing the Japanese ships firing at the battery, the Qing gunners immediately began to turn their guns and return fire at the Japanese ships. For a time, the sound of artillery rumbled, resounding through the sea and air. However, the artillery fire of the "Ganxing" was as messy as that of the "Yunyang", and the shells fired did not know where they flew.

The American Gibri, the captain of the American merchant ship Savannah in the chicken coop, recorded in his diary what he saw the battle:

"Our ship entered the port of chicken coop before the arrival of the Japanese troop convoy, and the 'Savannah' was the first to unload the supplies and leave the port ahead of other foreign merchant ships due to the small amount of supplies loaded, and happened to pass near the battlefield when the battle broke out, in order to ensure the safety of the ships, I did not let the 'Savannah' approach the battlefield rashly, but hid and anchored in a small harbor on the coast, and the crew landed and happened to witness the scene of the battlefield."

“…… We paddled close to the shore, about a nautical mile and a half, before we reached the side of the battle. The increasing rumbling was deafening, and we landed on a high ground, climbed to the highest point we could find, and with the help of high-powered telescopes, we had an unobstructed view of the battlefield. It was truly terrifying...... Clouds of large, thick black smoke were blown away by no wind; Through the smoke, the two Japanese warships were shaking, difficult to distinguish, desperately firing their guns on the shore; In addition, several Japanese ships were also on the shore. They seem to be troop carriers, they are landing, and many people are circling in the sea in small boats, at this time they must have abandoned the landing operation under the shelling of the Chinese defenders, and are about to withdraw to the ships, and we see that the small boats are approaching the transport ships, and none of them have been hit by shells and caught fire. The Japanese warships were firing at the dead end of the Chinese battery, so the Chinese shells could not hit them, but the Japanese were not able to cause much damage to the battery, because their shooting was also extremely inaccurate. The overwhelming sound of the cannon was like thunder and lightning, and the sound was incessant......"

Under the cover of the artillery fire of the "Yunyang" and the "Ganxing", the Japanese army, which had already boarded the boat, easily withdrew back to the transport ship, and saw that all the Japanese soldiers on the boats had already boarded the ship, and the largest "Hitachi Maru" was the first to give the signal and sail to the sea, and then the "Sanbang Maru" and "Yugong Maru" also turned their bows and followed.

Seeing the successful evacuation of the transport ship, without leaving a single person behind, and not a single boat was shot, Nakamuta Kuranosuke was ecstatic in his heart and hurriedly gave the order to evacuate.

"Damn! Let the Wako escape! ”

Looking at the Japanese troop transport fleet that had already sailed out of range, the Chinese gunners on the battery were full of hatred.

Yang Qingshan looked at the Japanese warships that had run away and the small boats abandoned by the Japanese on the sea, and sighed in his heart.

"You guys, hurry up and report to the city!" Yang Qingshan ordered.

"Where did this widow come from? Isn't it in Tainan? How did you get to Taipei? ”

At this time, the Chinese gunners, who had just fought a chaotic battle, were still confused and did not understand why the Japanese army appeared here.

"Less nonsense! Hurry into the city and report! Delay the military plane, watch your head! ”

While the Chinese gunners were at a loss, the officers and men of the Japanese troop transport flotilla, who had re-left the coast, were also wondering how they could have come here.

"Judging from the situation of the port, this should be the chicken coop port in northern Taiwan." Dewa Shigeto said, pointing to the chart.

"You mean, we should now sail south along the coast?" Kuranosuke Nakamuta frowned and asked.

"Yes, General." "Our compass is out of order, and we're lost. ”

"It's strange, how could the compass fail?" Recalling that terrible storm, Nakamuta Kuranosuke actually shivered.

"The compass hasn't returned to normal now." "Fortunately, the weather was good, and we were able to accurately identify the location and direction. ”

At this time, Nakamuta Kuranosuke, somehow, actually had the idea of returning.

"We should probably consider returning home." Nakamuta Kuranosuke said with a sigh.

Hearing that the commander had the idea of retreating, Izuha Shigeyuan was taken aback.

"General! We've worked hard to get here, and if we return now, we'll be in vain! "Now is not the time to back down!" ”

"I'm worried that we'll run into Qing warships." Nakamuta Kuranosuke sighed, "As you saw just now, the Qing Navy's coastal forts have not been cleared by the Imperial Navy, according to the agreement, they should clear these obstacles and come to meet us!" ”

"It could also be that we and they missed it! Our compass is out of order, and we are disoriented. Dewa Shigeto cheered up the commander, "Now our compass is not available, if we return, it is easy to lose our way again, it is better to sail south along the coast, maybe we will encounter friendly ships and get help." At that time, we can both complete the escort mission and return home. ”

"Just do what you say!" Nakamuta Kuranosuke couldn't think of a better way out of the predicament, so he nodded and agreed to Dewa Shigeto's suggestion.

Soon, the Japanese fleet was heading south along the coast. At this time, all the officers and men of the fleet would not have thought about what fate would await them next.

The Japanese troop convoy began to sail south along the coast, and to the peace of mind of all the Japanese, this time, they did not see the coastal batteries of the Qing army again, nor did they encounter any surprise attacks.

"Why didn't our warship show up?"

Looking at the vast and silent sea, Nakamuta Kuranosuke's heart felt inexplicably uneasy.

Since the departure of the first two convoys, there has been no news, as if all these naval and land armies of the Japanese Empire had disappeared into thin air.

Could it be that they really suffered misfortune?

Yes, the Chinese have a new type of steam fleet, but this fleet is usually scattered in various ports along the coast of China, rarely gathered together, and among them, there are no warships that can compete with the ironclad ships of the Japanese Navy!

At this time, Nakamu Tiankunosuke, somehow, remembered what he had seen and heard during his trip to Shanghai.

Japan's Tokugawa shogunate was forced to open the country in the 50s of the 19th century, and signed a series of goodwill treaties and treaty of reconciliation with the United States, Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands and other Western countries, and established diplomatic and trade relations. At that time, people of insight in Japan, from shogunate officials to various feudal domains, believed that it was necessary to establish diplomatic and trade relations with China from the perspectives of resisting the onslaught of the West, understanding the world situation, expanding the trade market, and increasing fiscal revenue. In mid-March 1862, the shogunate spent 34,000 silver dollars on a British merchant ship named the Amister in Nagasaki. It was decided that the ship would be tasked with going to Shanghai to investigate and conduct trade, and renamed it "Chitose Maru". At that time, the feudal clans were eager to know about the situation in China, so the shogunate agreed that some feudal clans should send a number of feudal lords to accompany them as official attachés. Among them, there are more than a dozen people such as Takasugi Shinsaku of the Choshu Domain, Goshiro Eisuke of the Satsuma Domain, and Nakamuta Kuranosuke of the Saga Domain.

The Chitose Maru sailed from Nagasaki on June 7, 1862, arrived at Wusongkou on June 12, anchored in Shanghai for about two months, and left Shanghai on August 10, 1862 to return to China. On August 19, he returned to the port of Nagasaki, Japan.

When Chitose Maru first entered the port of Shanghai, the feudal lords saw the many ships and tall buildings on the riverbank, and most of them admired the prosperity of Shanghai. However, when they went ashore and roamed the city of Shanghai, they found that in stark contrast to the ornate bungalows in the Bund concession, the Chinese quarters of the old city of Shanghai were filthy and chaotic, and the spread of opium and drugs. They also saw with their own eyes the corruption and military weakness of Qing government officials. Even the Confucian Temple in Shanghai City and other places became barracks for the British and French armies, which made the Japanese feudal lords feel very angry.

That trip to Shanghai, there were too many places that made Nakamuta feel and unforgettable.

Since then, Nakamuta Kuranosuke and others have been contemptuous of China.

After returning to China, Nakamuta Kuranosuke also often paid attention to the news in China, and judging from the news he received from all sides, China did not change much.

Could it be that after just 12 years, China has suddenly become stronger?

Surrounded by uneasy feelings, Nakamuta Kuranosuke got up, got out of the command tower, and came to the flybridge.

At this time, Izuwa Shigeto was observing the sea surface from the flybridge, and when he saw the commander come out, he put down the binoculars. He saw the commander's worries and struck up a conversation with him.

"According to my calculations, we will soon reach our destination." "Maybe it won't be long before we'll be able to run into friendly ships." ”

"That's great." Kuranosuke Nakamuta took a deep breath and tried to put on a relaxed appearance.

"Although there are quite a few Qing warships, none of them are the opponents of our ironclad ships, and I believe that at this time, Commander Ito has already achieved victory." Dewa said again.

Nakamuta Kuranosuke was about to speak, but he heard the lookout shouting, "The sea is right ahead!" Someone is calling for help! ”

Nakamuta Kuranosuke and Dewa Shigeyuan raised their binoculars and looked at it, and saw something like a small boat half-clasped upside down, and a person lying on it was waving weakly at the Japanese warship.

Dewa Shigeyuan saw clearly who this person in a Japanese Navy uniform was, and couldn't help but shake his whole body.

"Togo-kun?!" Dewa Shigeyuan couldn't help but call out this person's name.

"What did you say?" Hearing Dewa Shigeyuan's words, Nakamuta Kuranosuke was also taken aback.

"Quick! Fast! Get people back! Dewa Shigeyuan ignored the commander's surprise, but couldn't wait to give the order.

The "Yunyang" approached the man who had fallen into the water, and when Muda Kuranosuke saw that this person was lying on the sampan with the front half of the ship, which was obviously interrupted by a cannonball, his heart tightened, and the feeling of uneasiness became more and more intense.

Soon, the Japanese sailors got Togo Heihachiro onto the deck with all their hands. Dewa Shigeyuan ran off the flybridge and came to Togo Heihachiro's side, and was greeted by Togo Heihachiro's empty eyes and chapped lips.

"Water...... Give me water......"

A sailor took a military kettle, and Heihachiro Togo nervously grabbed the kettle and poured it violently, immediately choking and coughing loudly.

"Togo-kun! How did you end up here? Dewa Shigeto asked in surprise, "Where's your 'Nisshin'?" ”

"The 'Nisshin'...... Sunk...... Everyone...... The jade is broken...... Only...... I'm left ...... One person ......" Heihachiro Togo easily stopped coughing and muttered.

"What?!" Hearing Heihachiro Togo's words, Izuwa Shigeyuan and Nakamuta Kuranosuke, who had just arrived, were all taken aback.

"Taiwan Expedition Fleet...... It's all gone! - "Heihachiro Togo suddenly threw away the kettle, grabbed Izuha Shigeen's shoulders tightly with both hands, and hissed, "The life and death of the army are unknown!" Hurry back! ”

Just as Heihachiro Togo's words fell, the lookout of the "Yunyang" let out a terrible roar that was almost hysterical.

"Qing warships have been spotted right ahead! ――”