At the southern foot of Jiuhua Mountain, the fierce gunfire was fought from morning to noon, and the sky was full of gunsmoke, and corpses were everywhere.

Li Hongzhang's 220,000 elite Beiyang Army, now fighting less than 50,000 people, under the leadership of Liu Xiang, relying on the staggered mountains of Jiuhua Mountain, resisted step by step, in a vain attempt to break out of the encirclement and withdraw to Jiangbei.

It's just that the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very cruel.

Liu Xiang led the army to flee in embarrassment, and whenever he found a road ahead, he would inevitably be ambushed by the Nanyang Army, and then there would be a fierce battle.

The powerful Nanyang Army soon beat the Beiyang Army, and finally forced Liu Xiang to abandon this road and lead the army to change course.

However, Liu Xiang seemed to have become Cao Cao, who was embarrassed after the Battle of Chibi, and was ambushed by soldiers and horses from all walks of life of the Nanyang Army one after another, and finally defeated Huarong Dao.

It's a pity that Liu Xiang is not Cao Cao after all, and there is no Guan Yu in the Nanyang Army, so it is impossible to let Liu Xiang escape.

Jiuhua Mountain is blind, and Liu Xiang led the remnants of the Beiyang Army to walk along the rugged mountain road.

The hunger in the belly, the physical exhaustion and weakness, and the mental exhaustion were even more exhausted, making the Beiyang Army look more like a group of refugees fleeing the famine.

After a day and night of fierce fighting, the ammunition carried by the Yan army itself was basically exhausted, and there was no replenishment.

Liu Xiang suddenly despaired.

What is this Nima's depleted rifle called?

The answer is a burning stick.

"Surrender!"

"No way!"

"Then wait for death?"

"You can't surrender even if you die!"

"Nima!"

Some people want to live, some people want to die-hard, so there is infighting, from the beginning of a few people fists and kicks, after a while, it evolves into a group of people's fighting, and finally the order completely collapses.

Liu Xiang tried his best to suppress. Unfortunately, there was not enough ammunition, and the pro-soldier team dumbled after firing a few shots.

Do you have to rely on burning sticks to press it?

Liu Xiang gave up, you can fight as much as you like, anyway, you have been surrounded by the Nanyang Army, and it is impossible to escape, so break the jar and break it.

In addition to the original Huai Army's old foundation. Most of the other Yan officers and soldiers were not die-hard, all because Li Hongzhang expanded too quickly and his foundation was unstable. is also a rapid expansion, Li Weiguo's million-strong army is extremely loyal, thanks to the joint chief of staff system, the political brainwashing of officers and soldiers, and Li Hongzhang obviously does not have this vision, so that once his Yan army encounters a setback, it will collapse instantly.

After the infighting, the Beiyang Army was quickly reduced from 30,000 to less than 8,000. More than 20,000 Beiyang troops killed each other, which can be described as a tragedy.

When a reconnaissance fire of the Nanyang Army approached, the 8,000 Beiyang Army surrendered en masse.

However, Liu Xiang disappeared, and there were more than a dozen pro-soldiers who followed him.

At the headquarters of the Second Front Army of Nanyang, Li Jie only sighed slightly when he learned about the infighting in the Beiyang Army, and the war was like this. After a lot of experience, there is nothing to say and feel.

Chen Yuming looked at a report and suddenly said, "Liu Xiang ran away." He is a general under Ding Richang and a confidant of Li Hongzhang. ”

Li Jie didn't care, just said: "Let the local garrison and police force arrest it, our military task has been completed, nearly 200,000 main forces of the Beiyang Army have been annihilated here, and Wu Zhiqiang's side has also solved the 20,000 Beiyang Army of Ding Richang's headquarters." These 220,000 Beiyang troops are all Li Hongzhang's elite, and now that the whole army has been wiped out, Li Hongzhang is no longer able to attack south. Just received an order from the General Staff, the Anglo-French fleet had already been discovered at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the real battle had just begun. The General Staff wanted us to immediately reinforce Shanghai. ”

Chen Yuming asked: "Could it be that this time the British and French forces also chose Shanghai as the main battlefield?" I always thought that this time the main battlefield would be in Guangzhou or Hangzhou. ”

Li Jie nodded and said: "The General Staff has judged that the probability of Shanghai is eighty percent, because the British and French forces want to take revenge, and they were defeated in Shanghai in the last Battle of Songhu, and this time they want to get back to the field." ”

Chen Yuming snorted coldly: "Let's fight Songhu again, and beat them as well." ”

The Second Front Army was quickly assembled, and even the battlefield was simply cleaned up, including the thousands of missing Beiyang Army deserters, all of which were handed over to the local garrison and police forces, and the whole army immediately boarded the train and quickly drove to the surrounding areas of Shanghai.

Chongqing Prefecture, Ba County.

Yi Xin and Yi Ke Tang Atong led 300,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banner Army to station here, under the pretext of exterminating the remnants of the Zeng State Domain who had fled into Sichuan, but in fact they were preparing to take advantage of the water conservancy advantage in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to advance eastward, and give a thunderous blow to Li Hongzhang, the British and French forces, and Li Weiguo when they were exhausted.

However, just as Yi Xin and Iktang Ah were about to raise a glass to celebrate the success of the scheme, an eight-hundred-mile expedited delivery was delivered to Yi Xin.

Syllable!

The wine glass fell to the ground, and Yi Xin's expression instantly petrified.

"What's the matter, lord?" Seeing that Yixin was silent for a long time, Iketanga was quite curious, and reached out to take the information to see.

"This ...... How is this possible? At first glance, Iktanga was also dumbfounded and in disbelief.

The intelligence clearly stated that Li Hongzhang sent 220,000 elite troops to secretly cross the river from Jinling, thinking that it was a seamless plan, but in the end it turned out to be a big hole, and the 220,000 army was completely wiped out.

Yi Xin's expression calmed down, and he was so angry that the bruises on his forehead burst out.

"Li Hongzhang, this idiot, has ruined this king's big thing!"

Originally, it was nine out of ten, and the lowest chance of winning was five or five, but now Li Hongzhang's most elite 220,000 army was wiped out, but Li Weiguo's side was not injured.

"This Li Hongzhang looks at showing off his martial arts on weekdays, but now he also has a time when the boat capsizes in the gutter!" Yi Ketanga smiled heartlessly, and seeing Yi Xin's black face, he immediately stopped his mouth and asked carefully: "Li Hongzhang has suffered heavy losses, what is the prince going to do next?" ”

Yi Xin tried her best to calm down, and said: "One move is wrong, and you are passive everywhere!" ”

Li Hongzhang suffered heavy losses, which was the result that Yixin was most happy to see, but these 200,000 elites died in vain, and they couldn't get half of Li Weiguo's hair at all.

This Nima took so much effort to go to the yin, and others ended up being yin, and it hurts to think about it.

Yi Ketang said with a smile: "Li Hongzhang has suffered a big loss, his face is swollen, and he must be ambitious." I was worried that Li Hongzhang might not work too hard, but now I don't have to worry, he will definitely fight Li Weiguo to the end. ”

Yixin is not so optimistic. said: "You must know that the more than 200,000 troops are Li Hongzhang's elite, and the family funds that have been saved for more than ten years are suddenly gone, and they may also be in a state of collapse." ”

Iktanga was stunned for a moment, and then sighed softly.

It is really possible to be beaten into a dog all of a sudden, and it is really possible to collapse from then on.

Yi Xin said: "Let the military department send the arms to Li Hongzhang immediately!" I hope Li Hongzhang can still hold on! ”

To this day, Yixin also broke his teeth and swallowed it himself. It is impossible to pull Li Hongzhang's pigtails.

"So what do we do? Our Eight Banners disciples haven't all equipped yet! "Iktanga is not very happy, although he has a share of that batch of arms, but he is not a grandson who has a advantage, and he is reluctant to give it to Li Hongzhang.

Yi Xin's face darkened, and he said, "It's also called the army as you trained?" See what they're doing? Smoking a lot of salt and scooping the seeds, it has only been five days of marching, and they have all turned into dogs. ”

Iktanga is embarrassed, can he be blamed for this, the Eight Banners Army is rotten to the bone. When it's easy to be a watch, is it possible to be a girl back from a watch?

Reasoning with Yixin, that's uncomfortable.

So Iqtanga changed the subject: "So what do we do next?" ”

Yi Xin completely calmed down and said: "This time the odds of victory are not big, I hope that Li Hongzhang and the British and French forces can defeat Li Weiguo, at least we must hit him hard, otherwise we can only continue to lie down and try our courage." ”

Under the drowsy sky, the waters off the coast of Chuansha. The East China Sea Fleet was engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the British and French advance fleets.

The cannon roared, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air.

The ships of the East China Sea Fleet temporarily took the lead with the firepower of rear-loading rapid-fire guns that were a generation ahead. The foreign devils on the ships of the British and French navies were stunned.

However, when a wooden sail battleship encounters an ironclad steam battleship, the protection is always too weak.

When the foreign devils on the ships of the British and French navies reacted, they quickly made a response plan.

"Accelerated impact! Sink them for me! ”

The commander of the British army, Rear Admiral Marin, shouted angrily and gave the order, and just now the East China Sea Fleet fired a rapid fire, and the rear admiral's classmate was almost killed. He ended up falling to the deck with his ass flat back and falling on the deck, almost halving his ass and a small injury to his forehead, which made him angry.

The steam engine was rattling, and smoke was coming out of the chimney. Twelve British and French warships approached the East China Sea Fleet at full speed in three directions.

"Two thousand meters!"

"Fifteen hundred meters!"

"1,200 meters!"

"Left full rudder! Starboard artillery fire ready! ”

……

Before the sixties, naval battles were fought at a distance of one thousand meters, which was the standard tactic of the British Royal Navy.

At this moment, Marin is a military cadet graduate, and this standardized combat mode is vividly reflected in him.

I saw that one after another British and French battleships quickly crossed the plane, and the sides were facing the ships of the East China Sea Fleet, and the gun doors were opened one after another, and at this time it was almost close to a thousand meters of firing distance.

The artillerymen on the British and French ships were gearing up to give a hard lesson to the Nanyang Navy on the opposite side, but before they could take position, they saw the ships of the East China Sea Fleet on the opposite side turn around and run away.

Ahem! What the hell is this Nima?

Major General Marin was about to give the order to open fire, but he swallowed back before he could get angry, and he suddenly lost his anger.

On the battleship Songjiang opposite, Lin Jiyun of course knew the battle mode of the British Navy, although he had not been to the United Kingdom, but he had studied the naval combat skills of the British Navy with his heart, and in recent years, more and more students have returned from studying in Europe, and many of them have taken advantage of the honeymoon period to enter the naval academies of Britain and France and other countries to study, and now the officers and men of the East China Sea Fleet know the tactics of the British Navy well.

For Lin Jiyun, although he really wanted to use the battleship to compete with the battleships of the British and French fleets, he knew that the wooden battleship would suffer a big loss when it met the ironclad battleship, but if he wanted to fight the other party, it would be stupid.

This was not a mistake that Lin Jiyun could make, so when he saw that the British and French fleets began to fight, he immediately ordered a retreat.

"Want to run? No way! Catch up with me and teach this group of oriental monkeys a hard lesson! ”

Marin shouted, leading the fleet to continue the pursuit, the sails and steam engines, the speed was obviously much faster than the simple sails of the East China Sea Fleet.

The British and French fleets were outflanked in three directions, and soon approached the East China Sea Fleet again at a distance of one thousand meters.

Marin smiled smugly: "This time it's up to you guys to run!" Prepare for shelling! ”

"Report! An anomaly has been found in the sea ahead! ”

The sudden report interrupted Marin's order, and Marin immediately picked up the binoculars and took a closer look.

Sure enough, when the East China Sea Fleet retreated, abnormal "creatures" appeared on the sea.

Because the shallow water heavy gunboats of the East China Sea Fleet have a very low side, only one meter high, and today's wave height is nearly one meter, only the pitch-black turrets and chimneys are exposed, and they cannot be found without looking closely.

What the hell is this?

Marin's brain hole is a little insufficient, and the first time he saw this kind of battleship, obviously no one gave him popular science.

Just when Marin was stunned, the killer weapon of the East China Sea Fleet, the turrets of ten shallow water heavy gunboats rotated, and the muzzles of the twin 305-mm main guns were raised, aiming at the enemy ships thousands of kilometers away.

"Knock............ Knock ........................"

The Dingyuan ironclad ship was the first to fire, and the two twin 305-mm naval guns roared in turn.

This is the largest caliber naval gun on the sea in this era, and the sound of the cannon is like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and the sound waves pierce the sky and travel hundreds of kilometers away.

I saw that the 7,000-ton Dingyuan ironclad ship trembled suddenly, and the main gun muzzle spewed out flames more than 10 meters long, and the air wave generated by the huge muzzle kinetic energy instantly split the sea surface in front of it, and the shells weighing 300 kilograms roared and shot out, flying at high speed across the sea, and shooting at the enemy ships in front.

Four shells fired directly at the British ship Endymion on the left flank, and three of them shot into the sea, instantly stirring up huge waves more than 100 meters high.

The fourth shell hit the starboard stern of the Endymion, and the powerful kinetic impact instantly pierced the 80 mm thick hanging iron armor and exploded.

"Boom!"

There was a loud bang, and the stern part of the Endymion was instantly blown up, the flames gushed, the smoke rolled, and several naval guns and more than a dozen British artillery pieces in the stern were directly lifted into the air dozens of meters into the air, and then fell into free fall into the sea.

The explosive power of the 305-mm shell is very amazing, not to mention that the shell charge of the East China Sea Fleet is a powerful NT, weighing 300 kg of shells, and the warhead alone is loaded with 85 kg of NT slag, which is more than ten times more powerful than ordinary hey.

It would be catastrophic for such a shell to hit any battleship, not to mention that the British ship in front of him was not completely built of ironclad, but the wooden core was attached to the ironclad, and once the ironclad was penetrated, the wooden structure inside was not vulnerable at all.

The stern of the Endymion could no longer be repaired, a large amount of seawater was pouring in, and it was sinking rapidly at a speed that could be seen, and the panicked British sailors had already abandoned the ship and jumped into the sea.

At this moment, it was as if time stood still, and Marin and his friends were stunned. (To be continued.) )