The East China Sea, with its clear skies, is definitely a good place to shoot artillery.

No, the navies from China and Japan met here unexpectedly, and the main guns of both sides were quickly loaded and aimed at each other.

"The enemy's flagship is 185 in azimuth, 13 and a half knots, and 10,500 meters away!"

"The speed of this ship is approaching 13.5 knots, keep the course 185 unchanged, and the main guns are ready!"

"The speed is about to reach 13 and a half knots, the course is 185, and the main gun is ready!"

After a series of adjustments, the four ships of the Chinese escort fleet, Laiyuan, Pingyuan, Haiyang, and Haiji, advanced parallel to the Japanese Combined Fleet at the same speed.

This approach is conducive to the relative stationary fleets of the two sides, and the advantage is that the artillery of the Chinese Navy can almost be used as a fixed target for aimed shooting, greatly improving the hit rate. But also for the artillery of the Japanese Navy, the Chinese warships were also fixed targets.

However, the problem lies in the effective range of the main gun.

The Chinese Navy's ironclad first-class main gun is 305 mm caliber 50 times the diameter, high bore pressure and high-performance ****** make the firing range as high as 10,000 meters, and the range of the dome cruiser's first-class main gun also reaches 5,000 meters, while the ironclad main gun of the Japanese Combined Fleet uses British 120 pounds, which is equivalent to 305 mm caliber, but the double diameter is only 30 times, and the ordinary chamber pressure and low performance hey medicine lead to a maximum firing range of only 5,000 meters, and the effective firing range does not exceed 3,000 meters.

So at a distance of 5,000 to 10,000 meters, the warships of the Japanese Navy could only be beaten.

This discovery was made thanks to the Sino-British Battle of Scarborough Shoal, at first the Chinese Navy did not know the range of the British ship's main guns, so it fought more conservatively, and when it was found that the range of the British ship's main guns was less than 5,000 meters, the Chinese Navy quickly seized the range advantage of the naval guns and beat the British Navy without any power to fight back.

Now, Lin Changlong has this experience in naval warfare, and he knows that the warships of the Japanese Navy are all built by the British, so he guessed at the first time that the main guns of Japanese ships will inevitably be better than the main guns of British ships. So this battle plan was formulated.

Of course, this plan is also the most conservative tactic, after all, the Chinese emperor Li Weiguo is still on the ship, which makes Lin Changlong dare not take too risks, and it has become an inevitable choice to fight steadily.

"It's 10,000 away!"

With a shout from the observation staff, it was transmitted through the iron pipe to the command tower.

Lin Changlong turned to Li Weiguo and said, "Your Majesty please give an order to start a war against the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy!" ”

"Quasi-play!" Li Weiguo nodded without hesitation.

"Obey the order!"

Lin Changlong received Li Weiguo's official will, and immediately turned to the bridge staff officer and shouted: "Open the cannon!" ”

"Fire!" The bridge staff officer repeated loudly into the iron pipe loudspeaker.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The order was quickly transmitted along the iron pipe to the front and rear main gun turrets, and the authorized artillery commander quickly ordered the main gun to fire.

Knock knock!

The two twin 305-mm guns of the Laiyuan ship opened fire abruptly.

I saw the muzzle of the cannon blazing, spewing out flames dozens of meters long. While the battleship trembled violently, shells burst out and roared towards the Japanese ship Fuso, which was 10,000 meters away.

The sound of the cannon sounded, like thunder, and Saigo Takamori was suddenly startled, only to see that the shells fell more than 200 meters away from the Fuso, exploding four water columns more than 100 meters high.

The waves splashed everywhere, and as the sea breeze quickly blew onto the Fuso, Saigo Takamori and the others suddenly shivered.

This is the dismount. Red fruit.

Almost at the same time, the Japanese ships returned fire, and in an instant the cannon roared and deafened.

"Bastard. Who made them fire? ”

Saigo Takamori was stunned for a moment, and then he jumped like thunder, because as the commander, he did not give the order to open fire.

It turned out that just now the Chinese battleship suddenly opened fire, and the power was huge. Not only did it frighten Saigo Takamori and other high-ranking Japanese generals, but ordinary Japanese sailors were not of high quality, and they were wiped out by the Chinese Navy a few years ago in the Japanese West Sea Fleet. The shadow lingers to this day. Now that it is known that the Chinese Navy has completely annihilated the British Asian Fleet with great strength, these Japanese sailors have actually been frightened.

When Saigo Takamori led them to intercept the return of the Chinese Navy escort fleet in an attempt to kidnap the Chinese emperor, these Japanese sailors became even more nervous, but they waited at sea for several days, their nerves were highly tense at all times, and suddenly saw the Chinese Navy firing artillery, and many Japanese artillerymen were almost subconsciously trembling, and their heads were hot, and they opened fire.

One cannon fired, and naturally other Japanese ships opened fire one after another.

As a result, the Japanese sailors immediately understood what the gap was.

I saw that the shells fired by the Japanese warships only fell on the sea four or five thousand meters away and exploded, and they were still five or six thousand meters away from the Chinese warships.

How else can this Nima fight?

The sailors of the Japanese ships were in an uproar, and many of them were weak in their legs and even frightened to pee.

Saigo Takashi was so angry that he scolded a group of fools with a black face, and considering that the law did not blame the public, he did not investigate who fired the cannon first.

However, he also noticed the fear of the Japanese sailors, and he himself did not realize the difficulty of the problem.

At this time, Saigo Takamori felt a little regretful, he had not seen the power of the Chinese Navy before, so he was very arrogant. But as soon as the Chinese Navy opened fire just now, he realized the ferocity of the opponent's firepower.

However, the arrow had to be sent on the string, and the was blowing to the sky, and at this time, Saigo Takamori fled in a gloomy manner, and he didn't have that face.

"Full speed ahead!"

Saigo Takamori gave an order, and eight Japanese ships emitted billowing smoke and quickly approached the Chinese fleet.

However, the Japanese fleet tried to get closer, and the Chinese fleet also changed course in a targeted manner, moving away from the Japanese fleet and always maintaining a distance of eight or nine thousand meters, so that the Japanese ships could not hit the shells, and they could also fire their guns to attack the Japanese ships.

"Why haven't you caught up yet?" Saigo Takamori was furious.

The Japanese officers on the side suddenly stared at each other, and no one stood up to explain.

Saigo sighed, his uncle was originally a Minister of War, and he didn't understand the elements of naval warfare at all.

"Your Excellency, as far as I know, Chinese warships can reach a speed of at least 14 knots or more, and can reach 18 knots in battle, while our fastest is only 13.5 knots. They are now on the run. We can't catch up. ”

Saigo Congdao was tactfully let Saigo Takamori step down, and then retreated.

Saigo Takamori is also an old fox, and suddenly looked at his nephew with a much more pleasant eye, so he scolded angrily: "These Chinese are greedy for life and afraid of death, and we were just about to rush over to teach them a lesson, and they fled in fear." Forget it, since they are faster than us, we can't catch up if they want to run, so let's retreat. ”

The Japanese officers immediately breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.

The average level of education of Japanese naval officers and sailors during this period was very low. After all, the Meiji Restoration had just begun, and the Japanese Navy did not send many students every year, unlike the Sino-Japanese period in history, when all Japanese naval officers graduated from international students, and even the logistics troops had a high degree of Chinese, so they far surpassed the Beiyang Naval Division in terms of combat quality, and victory was inevitable.

On the other hand, during this period, the Chinese and Japanese navies were just the opposite in terms of combat quality, and the officers and men of the Chinese navy were all naval students. The minimum is also a Danfu University degree, and the overall quality far exceeds that of the Japanese Navy.

Just as the officers and men of the Japanese Navy were about to retreat with a sigh of relief, they found that the Chinese fleet had not run away, but was approaching the Japanese fleet again. Still eight or nine kilometers away, the main guns were constantly fired.

Saigo Takamori was dumbfounded, and it was obviously impossible to escape with dignity.

Even Saigo and several other outstanding naval officers who graduated from England frowned, they knew it well. Under these circumstances, there are only two possibilities for the Chinese fleet to do so, one is to pretend to be forced, and the other is to have no fear.

Does the Chinese Navy like to pretend to be forced? The answer is clearly yes.

As for whether there is no fear. I don't know.

Saigo Congdao hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, Commander, I think this is a conspiracy of the Chinese emperor, he is using himself as bait to deliberately lure us into the bait. If I'm not mistaken, the main fleet of the Chinese Navy is not far away. ”

"Nonsense, we've been around here for three days, and we haven't seen a single Chinese warship!" Saigo Takamori suddenly reprimanded angrily, not wanting Saigo to disturb the morale of the army, although what he said was very reasonable.

"Precisely because there is not a single shadow of a Chinese battleship, don't you think it's strange? It's called the East China Sea, but it's the sphere of influence of the Chinese navy, and their emperor is on his way back, doesn't their navy know about it? Saigo retorted unwillingly.

"China has an advanced telecommunications device called the telegraph, which can transmit news from thousands of miles away in an instant, and Saigo's worries are not unreasonable." A Japanese officer who had a good relationship with Saigo helped out.

"Even if what you say makes sense, it's just speculation." Saigo Takamori dead duck said hard, obviously his heart has been shaken.

At this moment, there was a loud bang, and everyone fell to the ground without standing firmly.

"What's going on?"

"This ship has been shot, on the back deck!"

Soon someone reported to Saigo Takamori that the Fuso had been shot. Although only one 305-mm armor-piercing bullet was hit, it caused a large hole in the hull of the ship, and more than a dozen Japanese sailors were killed and wounded.

It's only been a few minutes, and it's hit!

The Japanese officers and men, including Saigo Takamori, were stunned, in their eyes, the naval battles of the ironclad era, with the lengthening of the combat distance, no longer like the sail battleship era in the days of dozens of meters of close bombardment, the combat distance between the two sides has generally been widened to a distance of three or five thousand meters, if you want to hit the moving battleship, it is very difficult, at least five or six rounds of shooting can improve the hit rate.

But the Chinese Navy's artillery skills made the Japanese army see it, and it was only a few minutes away from the distance of eight or nine thousand meters that it hit the Fusang, is it an accident?

Boom!

There was another loud bang, and the Kongo ironclad ship behind the Fuso was shot, and the ship island exploded, raising a fiery red mushroom cloud more than 100 meters high, which was shocking to see.

This is the strength of the Chinese Navy, and it is no wonder that it was able to completely annihilate the British Asian fleet.

At this moment, the Japanese officers and men of the ships were moved one after another, and they were frightened from the bottom of their hearts.

Just being beaten by others, but you can't hit others, it's strange if you're not afraid!

"A large number of enemy ships have been spotted in the east!"

"A large number of enemy ships have been spotted in the east!"

On the mainmast, Japanese observers spotted billowing black smoke in the distance, which was only effective for a large fleet.

Looking at the entire Western Pacific, there is only one country with such strength.

The main fleet of the Chinese Navy has arrived!

It was only then that Saigo Takamori felt regret, but when his life was threatened, he didn't care about the face problem.

"Retreat! Tell the ships to retreat! ”

As long as you're not a fool, you'll know what you're trying to do.

Saigo Takamori knew very well that there was a problem with the information given to him by the Japanese Special High School, and it came too easily, how could the Chinese emperor's route itinerary be easily leaked?

"Damn the Chinese emperor, he is so shameless that he even went out for a vacation and didn't forget to calculate us!"

That's right, Saigo Takamori guessed correctly, all of this is in Li Weiguo's calculations.

Coming to the Far Ship Commander Tower, Li Weiguo looked out through the window and saw that the Japanese Navy was beginning to flee, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"It's early!"

It was only at this time that Lin Changlong woke up like a dream, it turned out that all this was under the control of His Majesty the Emperor, which made him worry in vain.

Looking at Li Weiguo's calm expression, Lin Changlong admired in his heart, this is our Chinese emperor, he is really wise and martial, and any small skill of carving insects can create a death trap for the enemy.

"Your Majesty, since the Japanese Navy has scared away, we should also go back to Beijing!"

"No, it's me returning to Beijing, you will join Chen Shaoyi in a while and continue to pursue the Japanese navy. I calculated that it was more than 200 nautical miles from here to Sasebo, and it would take at least ten hours for the Japanese Navy to go back. You chase and fight all the way, and even if you can't sink the enemy ship, you will still deal heavy damage to it, give the Japanese a disadvantage, and let them know that there is no good end to opposing our China. ”

Lin Changlong immediately received the order, and after escorting Li Weiguo and the three imperial concubines to leave the Laiyuan ship and board the ocean ship, he led the three ships Laiyuan, Pingyuan, and Haiji to quickly join the main force of the Pacific Fleet commanded by Chen Shaoyi, and chased the Japanese Combined Fleet all the way.

Seeing the Chinese main fleet chasing after him, Saigo Takamori was about to cry in a hurry, didn't he provoke you, and didn't hurt a single hair of your hair, do you want to be so ruthless and kill them all.

Shells continued to explode around the Japanese ships, and Chen Shaoyi commanded nine ironclad ships and eight dome cruisers to chase and kill all the way, and soon caught up.

"Order the four ships of Haiqi, Haitian, Haichen, and Haiji to be the left flank detachment and intercept them from the left side."

"The four ships of Haidai, Haihuan, Hairong, and Haiyue are the right flank detachments and intercept them from the right side."

"Order the left and right flank detachments to intercept the main force of the Japanese ship for at least half an hour, or force it to change course."

Chen Shaoyi calmly commanded, although the combat speed of the main ironclad ship can reach 18 knots, but after all, the duration is not long, and the cruising speed is 14 knots, which is not much superior to the 13.5 knots of the Japanese ship, and it is more difficult to pursue. Therefore, he decided to let the fast cruisers come forward to intercept them, or force the Japanese fleet to turn, because as long as the Japanese fleet turned, it would prolong the time for them to return to the Sasebo base, and Chen Shaoyi was short of time.

Originally, he received an order from Li Weiguo to come back later, but he was still worried about Li Weiguo's safety, so Chen Shaoyi finally dispatched in advance, and as a result, Saigo Takamori was scared away.

At this moment, Chen Shaoyi was very angry, the damn little Japan dared to fight the idea of the Chinese emperor, it was unforgivable, and they must be taught a good lesson.

"Hurry up!"

"Yes, it's full speed!" (To be continued.) )