The first time Ito Yuma knew Lin Yizhe was at the teacher Katsu Haizhou, and at that time Katsu Haizhou warned the Ito brothers that they must not take this young man lightly. Ito Yuma has always taken www.biquge.info words of Mr. Pen & Fun & Pavilion to heart, and he had a premonition that he would meet this young Chinese on the sea in the future. It's just that Ito Yuma didn't expect that this day would come so quickly.

Ito Yuma knew that he and his fleet were now facing the main force of the Chinese Navy's new steam fleet, and the fleet he led was almost two-thirds of the capital ships of the Japanese Navy.

It's going to be an out-and-out matchup!

At this time, the Chinese fleet, which consisted of nine warships, was in a single vertical formation, rapidly heading towards the Japanese fleet, while the five Japanese warships that had just lifted anchor did not form any combat formation.

Now Ito Yuma regrets that he didn't call the captains for a military meeting.

Although the Japanese Navy already had a foundation in the Shogunate period, started earlier than the Chinese Navy, and had experienced the "Awa Chong Naval Battle" and the "Miyako Bay Naval Battle" and had a certain amount of actual combat experience, it did not have the experience of organizing fleet operations, and this "sending troops to Taiwan" operation did not consider the battle with the Chinese Navy in advance. When the Chinese Navy really appeared in front of us as a fleet, not only Ito Yuma was not prepared to deal with it, but even the captains below Ito Yuhiro were not mentally prepared.

Due to the different qualities of the captains and sailors of the Japanese ships, the time taken for the Japanese ships to anchor was also different, among which the "Nisshin" gunboat, under the command of the "returnee" Heihachiro Togo, had the fastest anchor speed, followed by the "To" ironclad ship under the command of Ito Yuhiro, then the "Meng Chun" and "Fengxiang", and the paddle gunboat "Kasuga" was the slowest, falling behind the entire Japanese fleet.

Shortly after anchoring, Ito Yuma ordered a change of formation, and he also planned to line up the Japanese fleet in the same single column as the Chinese fleet, and carry out a one-sided salvo. However, due to the fact that the Japanese ships were different from the old and new, the speed was different, and the relevant cooperation had not been carried out before, the Japanese ships after receiving the signal were chaotic for a while, and they were barely lined up in a single column, but the formation of the Japanese ships made them fall into chaos before they could engage in battle.

In order to form a single column formation as soon as possible, Ito Yuma signaled the flag of the formation according to the position of each ship at that time, and as a result, each ship moved closer to the flagship "To" according to the order, and when the final formation was formed, the order of the Japanese ships was the ironclad ship "To", the paddlewheel gunboat "Kasuhi", the large gunboat "Nisshin", and the small gunboats "Mengchun" and "Fengxiang".

Ito Yuma lined up the oldest paddle gunboat "Kasuga" behind the "East" and in front of the large gunboat "Nisshin", in order to cover the weakest warship with the most powerful "East", but when the Japanese fleet was finished, he found that this slowest warship, located in the middle of the fleet, would slow down the pace of the entire fleet!

The column tactics adopted by both China and Japan at the beginning were the simplest battle line tactics based on column formation. This time-honored tactic was once widely used in the era of sail warships, and the main feature was that the fleet was arranged in a column formation, so that the guns on the densely packed side of the gunboard could face the enemy to the greatest extent and carry out broadside firefights. After the advent of the era of steam ironclads, the "Battle of Lisa" in 1866 almost replaced the ancient column tactics with the horizontal tactics designed with the bow cannon, but the column tactics that were conducive to the use of broadside firepower did not disappear from the stage of history. Most of the warships of the Chinese fleet are relatively new, have strong maneuverability, and have exceptionally strong broadside firepower, which is suitable for broadside confrontations. The Japanese fleet was also out of consideration for giving full play to its broadside firepower, so both Yoshizhe Hayashi and Yuma Ito decided to use a column formation, and their initial intention was to repeatedly maneuver and turn around in front of the enemy fleet, and constantly engage with broadside firepower in order to exert all their firepower.

And seeing that the Chinese fleet was approaching at high speed, Ito Yuma wanted to change the formation again!

Although the two fleets were still approaching and did not open fire, Ito Yuma was keenly aware that the Chinese fleet was extremely fast!

In the last battle, Ito Yuma was too impressed by the "Feihong" that singled out the entire Japanese fleet with its high speed, and after seeing the appearance of the Chinese fleet marching at a uniform and high speed, Ito Yuma realized that if the Japanese fleet was engaged in a column, the overall speed of the Japanese fleet would have been slow, and in addition, the paddle gunboat "Kasuga" would be dragging its feet, and it would inevitably be in an extremely unfavorable situation. He immediately ordered a change of formation, ordered the "Kauri" to retreat to the rear of the formation, with the "Dong" and "Rijin" as the first team, and the "Meng Chun" and "Fengxiang" as the second team, and the detachment to meet the enemy and attack the Chinese fleet.

The reason for this change of formation is that Ito Yuma wants to use the tactics of "chaotic war".

Chaosan war is a new term that emerged from the field of world naval tactics in the 19th century after the Italian-Austrian "Battle of Lisa". The general pattern of this tactic is to adopt an overall formation formation to approach the enemy fleet, and then dissolve it into scattered tactical detachments, break through the enemy's ship formation at multiple points, engage in a melee, and win in chaos.

Ito's real intention was to keep the horizontal formation of each detachment at the same time to meet the enemy, and then the two two-ship tactical detachments attacked from two different directions, and at the same time broke through the column formation of the Chinese fleet, and then repeatedly rushed in and out, keeping the side of the ship always aiming at the enemy ship and firing at the enemy, so as to completely disrupt the formation of the enemy fleet. When the Qing fleet was in chaos, the Japanese side could use the relatively flexible combination of the two-ship detachment, either to act in a single team or to coordinate with multiple teams and cooperate with each other to find an opportunity to attack a lone enemy ship, using both artillery weapons and ramming angles. This tactic of chaotic warfare is almost a replica of the Battle of Lisa.

Another advantage of using chaotic tactics is that it relies less on the unified command of the flagship, and mainly relies on the indomitable execution of tactical intentions by the tactical detachments. However, if this tactic, which was considered very effective by the navies of various countries at the time, was to be successfully implemented, several factors needed to be at the same time: each tactical detachment must have a high degree of courage to charge directly into the enemy's position despite enemy artillery fire; When each tactical detachment breaks through, it is necessary to choose coordination as much as possible and launch at multiple points at the same time to prevent the enemy fleet from breaking off and not dispersing; After the breakthrough of the tactical detachments, they had to do everything possible to disrupt the formation of the enemy fleet, and in addition, they needed to have some good luck like the Austrian navy at the Battle of Lissa (that is, it depended on "character", and then it turned out that the Japanese had done too much to lack virtue and had a very poor character), because in the midst of the melee, no one could predict what would happen.

At this time, the five warships of the Japanese fleet were changing formations on one side, and rushing towards the Chinese fleet under the soot in the distance.

Seeing the Japanese fleet staggering forward and suddenly turning into a "two-two-one" detachment, Lin Yizhe was stunned at first, but he immediately understood the intentions of the Japanese.

'Signal!' Jianjing', 'Princess Heshuo', 'Chaowu', and 'Chengqing' accompanied the flagship to attack the enemy's two major ships, and the four ships 'Fusheng', 'Jiansheng', 'Fuxing', and 'Jianxing' attacked the enemy's two gunboats! Lin Yizhe ordered in a deep voice.

As the "Fujing" was raised in a series of flags, the Chinese fleet began to divide into two groups, the first group of five cruisers swooped straight for the "Dong" and "Rijin," and the second group of four gunboats swooped down on the "Meng Chun" and "Fengxiang."

Seeing the Chinese fleet change formation so quickly, Ito Yuma was once again surprised.

In the previous reports on the Chinese Navy's new-style steam fleet, it was invariably mentioned that the warships of this fleet were not in formation together in normal times, but were stationed at important ports in China's southeastern coastal provinces, patrolling back and forth, and only under special circumstances were they called together. This situation shows that the Chinese fleet usually lacks formation combat training, but now the facts in front of Ito Yuma are not like this!

Judging from the proficiency of this change of formation, the Chinese fleet should have been well trained in formation operations!

Ito Yuma didn't know that in order to make the shipmaster fleet have the ability to fight in formation, Lin Yizhe began to conduct exercises in accordance with the combat formations of the navies of Western countries within the framework of the shipmaster and sailors very early, because the exercises were secretly carried out in the designated high seas, and the outside world knew nothing about it!

For the sake of secrecy, every time Lin Yizhe wanted to conduct an exercise, he would send a letter in the name of Shen Baozhen, Minister of Shipping, to the coastal provinces that had received the ships of the Ship Administration, summoning all the ships to assemble in the designated sea area on the high seas, and then conducting a unified combat formation exercise, and after the exercise was completed, the ships would directly return to the provinces where they were located. In this way, it can not only form the ability to fight in formation, but also temper the ability of each ship to sail in the ocean, and also play a role in maintaining secrecy.

Due to effective secrecy measures, the Japanese side has been unaware of the formation exercise on the high seas by the Harbour Master and Sailors. After seeing the skillful movements of the Chinese fleet when changing formations, not only Ito Yuma, but also Togo Heihachiro, who had studied in the United Kingdom, was also surprised.

As the warships of the two sides continue to approach, all ships of the Chinese Navy have quickly completed their combat preparations.

At this time, Lin Yizhe was already in the armored command tower under the flybridge, supervising the navigation of the warship.

The officer in charge of distance measurement around him constantly reported the distance between the two sides. After receiving the report, Pei Jinquan thought that he had reached the appropriate distance and immediately ordered the fleet to turn left. The five warships, "Fujing," "Jianjing," "Princess Heshuo," "Chaowu," and "Chengqing," drew a big arc in front of the Japanese fleet and attacked the first detachment of the Japanese fleet.

The cruiser detachment of the shipmaster fleet, led by "Fujing", began to pass in front of the Japanese fleet, and at this time, these five light blue behemoths had completely and clearly appeared in the field of vision of the Japanese naval officers and men, and even the paint on the gun doors could be seen clearly, and these Chinese warships looked like blue sharks, ready to tear the Japanese to pieces fiercely!

"Turn right 15 degrees!"

The order was issued from the ironclad ship "Dong", and according to the standard of facing the enemy on the side of the ship, the two capital ships of the Japanese Navy adjusted their course, and in the direction of the bow of the "Dong", the muzzle of the 11-inch cannon of the black hole hole had already extended from the gun window on one side, tracking the Chinese cruiser fleet that was moving to the right.

Ito Yuma, Ito Yuhiro, Togo Heihachiro and other Japanese naval officers nervously watched the situation in front of them, the Chinese fleet moved extremely fast, and the Japanese fleet formation speed could only be maintained at 7 to 8 knots, if this continued, the two detachments of the Japanese fleet had not yet been able to get close to cutting into the Qing ship formation, and the Chinese fleet might have already detoured to the flank or rear of the Japanese fleet with weak firepower to launch an attack!

"Fire!" Ito Yuma glanced at his brother and yelled loudly.

Ito understood what his brother meant, nodded, turned around and gave the order loudly.

Ito wanted to give full play to the heavy artillery power of the "To" ironclad ship, use the range advantage of large-caliber guns at long distances, take the lead in taking the lead, and fire before the Chinese cruiser fleet moved behind him, so as to cause the greatest damage to the Chinese warships as much as possible.

Located in the main gun room at the bow of the ironclad ship "East", equipped with a 279 mm caliber Armstrong breech gun, which is the most deterrent weapon in the Japanese fleet, at this time it has completed the loading, the gun commander stands at the tail of the gun, holding the fire rope and preparing to fire, at the same time observing the ruler, the front sight, and the enemy ship at three points and one line, and constantly giving orders, the sailors responsible for adjusting the pitch immediately turn the pitch handwheel, and the deputy gun commander supervises the operation of the sailors on the side, and the field of vision here is not broad, The gunner, sweating profusely, listened to the rangefinder's report, and he had just received an order from the captain of the ship, Ito Yuhiro, to attack after reaching the appropriate distance.

The hand of history gradually pointed to 10:40 a.m. on June 10, 1874.

As if using the strength of the milk, the gunners shouted out the command to open the cannon, and the command knife in his hand was raised.

The commander of the Japanese fleet, Yuma Ito, the captain of the ship, and the first mate Hidematsu Tsunoda and other officers in the command tower all stuffed their ears with the distributed cotton balls in advance, silently waiting for this moment to come.

A huge cloud of black smoke rose from the gun window on the right side of the main gun room of the "East" ironclad ship, and the 279-mm main gun made a loud sound like the sky was cracking, followed by a huge vibration, and the heavy cannon was slowly pushed to the end of the lower gun carriage by the huge recoil, and the entire gun room was instantly shrouded in choking smoke. A 240-kilogram steel warhead swirled and whistled out of the barrel and shot at the Chinese cruisers in the distance.

The "Higashi" ironclad ship, one of the most powerful symbols of the modern Japanese navy and the first real ironclad ship in Asia, finally ushered in the opportunity to reflect its value after several years of silent silence at the end of the Curtain War.

With the firing of the flagship "Dong", this Sino-Japanese naval battle, which was a turning point in the development of world naval technology in the late 19th century, officially began. Because the approximate battle position is on the surface of the Langqiao Sea in Taiwan, it is known as the "Langqiao Naval Battle" in history.

Tianjin in June, in the middle of summer, looks hot and sultry. There was silence in the yamen of the governor of Zhili, and Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and minister of trade in Beiyang, faintly felt a hint of coolness in this quiet.

He has been paying close attention to the situation in Taiwan these days, and judging from the news received by Britain and France, the Japanese sent troops to Taiwan this time not simply to "protect the people and punish the culprits", but to have greater goals and ambitions!

At this moment, a telegram of 100,000 urgent telegrams was transmitted from Fuzhou to Shanghai via Hong Kong, and then sent to Tianjin by a special dispatch of a small steamer: "Send it to the Tianjin Governor's Office, and send it to Li Zhijun by special ship." The Japanese Navy and Army had already arrived in Tainan, but when they were blocked by the Penghu Naval Division, they even opened artillery bombardment, resulting in the destruction of the naval division's boats and ships, and most of the officers and men were killed. Now that the army has landed, it is heading into the interior, burning and looting all the way...... The shipmaster and sailor division supervised by Kunyu had few soldiers and could not go ashore, and Fujian Province had no troops to adjust, so he was worried, so he was in Taiduan, hoping to send one or two land battalions to help the urgent ......"

Fast horses gallop and dust flying. When the sweaty messenger ran into the governor's palace to present this important document, and when Li Hongzhang read the telegram sent by Shen Baozhen, the minister of shipping, with a trembling hand, the rumbling sound of cannon was already sounding on the sea in the distance. Li Hongzhang, who was thousands of miles away, suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation.

The first shell fired by the ironclad ship "Dong" roared over the Chinese cruiser fleet and landed in the sea only a few hundred meters from the port side of the flagship "Fujing," stirring up a column of water that soared into the sky.

"A cloud of smoke came out of the bow gun room of the enemy ship, and then there was a loud bang, and a large cannonball broke through the smoke, flew high above the head of our ship, and fell into the sea near the port side, and the sea water suddenly rose several feet."

On the flybridge of the "Fujing", Zhang Zhihe, the painter of the "Dianshizhai Pictorial", witnessed this dangerous scene and wrote down such words while typing the sketches.

In the current era, artillery shooting is more of a separate battle, and each gun position on the ship is free to grasp the timing to fire, and the shooting method is also very simple and primitive. Compared to the new large-caliber breech guns, which were heavily equipped with the Chinese Navy, the old breech guns adopted by the Japanese Navy were slower to operate. The Japanese gunners of the ironclad ship "East" operated such a huge and heavy breech gun, and it was quite commendable that the first shot was able to achieve such a shooting effect by using a simple and primitive aiming method.

With the flagship's move as an order, the ships of the Japanese fleet opened fire one after another, and the sky began to slide out of the path, and the steel cannons whistled and flew towards the Chinese fleet, but the Japanese ships did not follow the flagship's concentrated fire to bombard the Chinese cruiser, but scattered and fought separately, shooting at the targets that each considered the most suitable.