Seeing the explosion and sinking of the "Zhenhai", the officers and men of the Japanese Navy of the "Tsukuba" and "Mt. Fuji" cheered one after another. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info and Ito Junyoshi saw the great results achieved by the "Tsukuba", and his heart was not only happy, but also full of contempt for the captain of the "Ryusho" Keinori Fukushima.

After sinking Zhenhai, Tsukuba and Mt. Fuji rushed towards Zhenwei, who was still fighting Yangchun.

Seeing the explosion and sinking of the "Zhenhai" and the two Japanese ships coming straight to him, Lin Chengmo, the commander of the "Zhenwei" ship, knew that it was difficult to defeat him and decided to withdraw from the battlefield. Seeing that the three Japanese ships were about to encircle the "Zhenwei," Lin Chengmo made a bold move and commanded the "Zhenwei" to rush straight toward the "Tsukuba," the largest of the three Japanese ships.

At this time, the captain of the "Tsukuba" Ito Junyoshi and the captain of the "Mt. Fuji" Hita Haragoro both thought that after the explosion and sinking of the "Zhenhai", the "Zhenwei" would escape, and they rushed straight towards the "Zhenwei" to intercept it, but the performance of the small Chinese gunboat in front of him surprised him.

Seeing that "Zhenwei" seemed to be rushing towards him as if he was desperate, as if he was planning to launch a ramming battle and die with him, Ito Junyoshi was shocked and immediately ordered "Tsukuba" to evade, and the "Mt. Fuji" that rushed after him quickly turned to dodge when he saw this.

"Zhenwei" rushed straight to the middle of "Tsukuba" and "Mt. Fuji", and at the moment when the three ships were sailing opposite each other to form a parallel state, "Zhenwei" started the whole ship's artillery fire to fire fiercely, and the four 75-mm Krupp breech guns that had been prepared for a long time fired several rounds of salvo fire in this short moment, because the distance was close, "Zhenwei" fired at this moment 3 of the 75-mm shells hit "Tsukuba", 4 hit "Mt. Fuji", the hulls of "Tsukuba" and "Mt. Fuji", which were also wooden-hulled, were penetrated, and the cabin caught fire. Many Japanese sailors were killed and wounded, and many of them were rescued in time by the management team, so as not to cause a major disaster.

Sandwiched between "Tsukuba" and "Mt. Fuji", the "Zhenwei" was also subjected to heavy fire from the Japanese ships, in which an 80-mm shell fired from the "Mt. Fuji" hit the stern of the "Zhenwei", penetrating the stern and killing two Chinese sailors, while a 160-mm shell fired by the "Tsukuba" passed through the bow of the "Zhenwei" and pierced a large hole in the bow. Although the hull of the "Zhenwei" was also greatly damaged, it was not critical, and the engine was not damaged, and it still quickly rushed out of the flanking attack of the two Japanese ships and galloped away into the distance.

It was only at this time that Ito Junyoshi and Hita Haragoro came to their senses and immediately commanded "Tsukuba" and "Mt. Fuji" to turn around and pursue, and the "Yangchun", who had caught up later, also staggered behind under the command of Captain Misu Sotaro Shaosa.

Because the speed of the three Japanese ships was too slow, they could not catch up with the "Zhenwei" who was rushing on the drum wheel, and after a while, the figure of "Zhenwei" disappeared into the sea filled with gunsmoke, which made Ito Junyoshi and Hida Hamagoro each scold.

Just when Ito Junyoshi and Hida Haragoro were annoyed, on the ironclad ship "Ryuchamp", Shiki Kayama was also scolding the captain of the "Wannianqing".

After the two sides fought for a long time, He Xinchuan gradually figured out the weaknesses of the "Longxiang" and decided to attack the enemy ship by exploiting its strengths and avoiding its weaknesses.

Since the "Longxiang" is an ironclad ship, its protective power is far superior to that of the "Wannian Qing," and its firepower is also very strong, even if it maintains a long distance to fire at the "Longxiang," the "Wannian Qing" will still be in danger. In the previous engagement, the 75-mm gun of the "Wannian Qing" hit the "Longxiang" many times, and the 120-mm breech gun also hit, but they could not penetrate the solid iron armor of the "Longxiang". However, He Xinchuan soon discovered that the "Long Xiang" was slow in speed, had poor maneuverability, and that all the artillery fire was laid out on both sides, and there were no guns in the bow and tail directions, so he ordered the "Wan Nian Qing" to go around the stern of the "Long Xiang" and concentrate artillery fire to attack the deck of the "Long Xiang" and kill and injure the crew of the "Long Xiang" as much as possible.

Seeing that the "Wan Nian Qing" had changed its tactics and specifically attacked the stern of the "Long Xiang," the "Long Xiang" naturally refused to be beaten with its ass pouted like this, and under the command of Fukushima Keinori, it constantly changed course and bombarded the "Wan Nian Qing" with side artillery fire. The two warships then began to circle the sea. And so, a unique battle began. Under the command of He Xinchuan, the "Wannianqing" took advantage of its speed advantage and went around in circles with the "Longxiang," which was far stronger than its own, in order to deal the greatest blow to the enemy ships and gain time for friendly ships to fight. The Japanese naval officers and men aboard the "Longxiang" were so angry with this Taijiquan-style tactic that they had no choice but to be led by others to play a game of hide and seek. Because the "Wannianqing" vigorously circled around the "Longxiang" and kept firing cannons, the "Longxiang" had to follow in circles, and during this time, the Japanese engineers were embarrassed.

And at this moment, a small gunboat with smoke came quickly in the distance, just sailing in the opposite direction with the "Wannianqing", He Xinchuan on the "Wannianqing" recognized that it was "Zhenwei", and immediately sent a letter flag to inquire about the battle situation, "Zhenwei" saw the letter flag and replied, "'Zhenhai' has sunk, 'Jingyuan' is seriously injured and sailed away, and the ship has also been injured", He Xinchuan was secretly frightened after seeing the signal, and decided to cover the retreat of the friendly ship"Longxiang" fired constantly.

The "Zhenwei" quickly passed by the side of the "Wannian Qing", and Shiki Kayama on the "Longxiang" also saw this wounded and smoking small Chinese gunboat, and tried to pursue the "Zhenwei", but because the speed was not enough, he could only shoot a few cannons at the "Zhenwei" from a distance, and then turned around and continued to suffer from the "Wannianqing".

After the two ships did not know how many Taiji they had drawn on the sea surface of Fengshan Island, "Tsukuba", "Mt. Fuji" and "Yangchun" appeared on the battlefield in a faltering manner. Seeing the three new Japanese ships, He Xinchuan did not immediately command the evacuation of the "Wannian Qing", but continued to deal with the Japanese ships.

Ito Junyoshi was the first to understand the tactics adopted by the "Mannianqing" against the "Ryuchamp", and immediately commanded the relatively fast "Tsukuba" to rush over, sail in front of the "Mannianqing", and began a ferocious salvo. Of course, at this moment of the opposite drive, the gunners on both sides were not idle.

At the moment when the two sides staggered by, a dramatic scene appeared: First, a 120-millimeter shell fired by the "Wannianqing" hit the hull of the "Tsukuba", passed straight through the hull of the "Tsukuba", and pierced out from the other side. But when the shell fell into the sea, the remaining momentum was not exhausted, and after a few drifts on the sea, it flew straight to the "Longxiang"!

Seeing the shell tumbling on the surface of the water and flying so far that it flew straight in front of the "Ryuchamp" before falling into the water and disappearing, Shikinori Kayama and Keinori Fukushima, who were standing on the flying bridge, were amazed.

At this moment, because of the close distance, a 160-mm shell fired by the "Tsukuba" also hit the "Wannianqing", penetrated diagonally through the bow of the ship, pierced out from the other side, and after falling into the sea, it also hit the "Mt. Fuji" that was in a hurry!

Despite being heavily hit by enemy ships, this cannon did not cause much damage to the "Wan Nian Qing", except that three sailors were killed and two were wounded in the cabin. Seeing that "Zhenwei" had run away, "Wannianqing" no longer fell in love with war, but shook a shot, turned around and chased after "Zhenwei". However, "Ryusho", "Mt. Fuji", and "Yangchun" knew that they could not catch up, so they could only stop, and only the faster "Tsukuba" ran after "Wannianqing" for a while, and only after being sure that they could not catch up, did they return in despair.

After the Japanese ships regrouped, Shiki Kayama summoned the captains of the ships to report on the battle situation on the "Longxiang", and after synthesizing everyone's reports, Shiki Kayama learned that there was a Chinese gunboat that was seriously damaged, and it may be nearby, so he immediately ordered the ships to set out to search, but he was not able to find it, and it was not until the evening that the Japanese fleet found the "Jingyuan" ship that had been burned and empty in a sea near the coast in Erligou, and the "Longxiang" sent sailors to check on the ship, and found that the guns on the ship had all been damaged. The hull of the ship had also been burned down, and nothing of value was found, so it had to go home in a huff.

Shikiri Kayama did not know that it was he who gave the sailors of the "Jingyuan" a chance to escape.

After discovering that the "Jingyuan" ship was seriously damaged, the hull was flooded in many places, and it was difficult to float for a long time, Jiang Chaoying immediately ordered the sailors to drive the "Jingyuan" ship to run aground successfully on the coast near Erligou, in order to avoid the enemy's artillery from financing the enemy, Jiang Chaoying ordered all the remaining large and small guns on the ship to be destroyed, and set fire to the hull, and then led the remaining 48 officers and men (the quota of "Jingyuan" officers and men was 90 people, and 30 people were marines; due to the shortage of funds on the Nanyang side, the marines were canceled, and the quota was 60 people, and 12 people were sacrificed in this battle, 8 wounded) landing. The Japanese fleet would have had time to come back and launch an attack or capture the Chinese gunboat and its officers and men, but due to the delay caused by the action of Shiki Kayama, the officers and men of the "Jingyuan" were able to calmly destroy the warship and leave.

At this point, this extremely dramatic naval battle has come to an end.

Because this naval battle took place in the sea near Fengshan Island, it was called the "Battle of Fengshan Island" by later historians.

In the "Battle of Fengshan Island," the Chinese Navy lost two small gunboats, two gunboats were wounded, 81 officers and men were killed (mostly officers and men of the "Zhenhai" ship), and 42 people were wounded, while the Japanese fleet did not lose any ships, only the "Ryuchamp", "Tsukuba", and "Mt. Fuji" were wounded, and 52 officers and men were killed and 74 were wounded.

Judging by the losses, the Japanese were undoubtedly the victors in this naval battle, and they achieved the brilliant result of sinking two Chinese warships at a relatively small cost of losses. This was the first time since the Meiji Restoration that the Japanese Navy had won the victory of sinking an enemy ship in a naval battle. However, for the war between China and Japan in 1874, this naval victory planted the seeds of the total destruction of the Japanese navy in the future.

Of course, at this moment, neither Shikinori Kayama, nor Keinori Fukushima, Junyoshi Ito, and Hammoro Hita would have thought of this. Because next, there will be a victory waiting for them.

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"Li Wenzhong's Public Collection: Letters: Fulin Kunyu Fujun (5th of July)":

"In a letter dated the 3rd day of the first month, the General Administration of the People's Republic of China said that the matter of purchasing ironclad ships to meet Taiwan's needs had been transferred to the management yamen of the country to be checked and handled by Hurd. If you press the repress, you will be more enthusiastic. The Japanese monarch is now in Shanghai, and he should be close to the envoy to do it. That is, it cannot be without profit, and the ship will be able to be effective. Here's a little relief. But the iron ship is purchased, who will drive to China? When will it arrive? Forgiveness is already assured. It is said that the French envoy has avoided the office in Yantai and has not yet returned to Beijing, and the US envoy will not be replaced in a few days, and only the British, Russian, and German envoys can be discussed. Unfortunately, it was too late. And Yanagihara's position is low, and he doesn't want others to hear about Taiwan affairs, so he is afraid that he will not take care of it. Mo Ruo sent a large number of members to the Japanese court to theorize. If it is still strong, it is more effective to invite the nearest countries in Japan to comment. It makes sense. However, the General Administration does not have the ears of such brave people. ”

"Deacon Yanagihara Fu and Wei are as official documents, cunning and hateful. The third directly recognizes the Langqiao area as a Japanese place; escrow is subject to discretion; You can't disturb each other for no reason. The General Administration will forward it to Taiwan, and it will take time, and I would like to submit the manuscript to the telegram as soon as possible. …… Jiang Shuai was at a loss because of the rumors that the Japanese had the intention of attacking Jinling, and asked the whole army of Ziwu to go south to suppress the source of Jianghai and Haiyu. Three sighs. ”

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Xiamen Island, the residence of the Fujian Navy Division.

"My lord! Oh no! The warships of the Wakos...... It's called! ”

Seeing the general soldier Liu Liangkai stumbling in, Peng Chuhan, the commander of the Fujian Navy Division, couldn't help frowning.

"The warships of the Wokos? Where did you see it? Peng Chuhan saw Liu Liangkai's panicked face, although he was dissatisfied in his heart, but he did not reprimand him, and his years of experience in the army made him keenly aware that the situation reported by Liu Liangkai was extraordinary.

Peng Chuhan is a native of Xiangxiang, Hunan. Born on March 28 in the tenth year of Daoguang (1830), his family was poor since he was a child, and at the age of 24, Zeng Guofan founded the Hunan Army to recruit Xiang Yong, and Peng Chuhan went to Hengyang to serve the Hunan Army, and began his career as a horseman.

Peng Chuhan was known to Yang Yuebin, the general of the Hunan Army, who was brave and strategic, and had repeatedly performed miraculous feats, and was deeply valued by Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zeng Guoquan. In the summer of the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), he fought with Yang Yuebin against the Taiping Army, and the provincial cities of Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangnan were checked. In the second year of Tongzhi (1863), the Taiping Army was defeated in Jiuhuanzhou. Peng Chuhan led the Yangtze River Naval Division of the Hunan Army and made remarkable achievements. Accumulated meritorious service to the name of the commander, supplemented as the commander-in-chief of Qiongzhou Town, Guangdong, awarded the general Jianwei, rewarded the name of "Liyong Baturu", wore a flower feather, wore a yellow coat, and gave the cloud cavalry captain the post. Later, because of his outstanding achievements in fighting with Hui Twist, he was rewarded with a product and returned to serve as the chief soldier of the Yangtze River Water Division. In the spring of the eighth year of Tongzhi (1869), Zeng Guofan transferred Peng Chuhan, then the commander-in-chief of the Yangtze River Naval Division, to Zhili to train new soldiers. In June of the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), the Tianjin teaching case occurred, and Zeng Guofan was ordered to deal with it. Ordered Peng Chuhan to lead the training army during his tenure in Daming Town, and encouraged Chuhan to train the troops very seriously and effectively, so he won Li Hongzhang's respect. In May of the tenth year of Tongzhi, Peng Chuhan was ordered to be exempted from cavalry and shooting, and was awarded the general soldier of Zhili Daimyo Town. Later, he was promoted to the commander of the Fujian Navy and stationed in Xiamen, which was an important town in Fujian Province.

As a general who has been fighting horses for more than ten years and has experienced land and water battles, Peng Chuhan understands the severity of the situation, and under the influence of Li Hongzhang's apprenticeship of Zeng Guofan, he never forgets that China must learn from the West's skills and strengthen national defense in order to achieve the goal of self-help and self-improvement. After coming to Xiamen to take up his post, he strengthened his armaments, repaired warship batteries, and rectified military discipline, so that the Fujian Naval Division (that is, the Fujian Green Camp Naval Division, which was different from the Fujian Naval Division commanded by Lin Yizhe. Author's note) is a new look.

Liu Liangkai is the old unit brought by Peng Chuhan from the Yangtze River Naval Division, and he has accompanied him through the battle formation, in Peng Chuhan's opinion, Liu Liangkai is not a person who has not experienced the scene of war, and it is really surprising that he would behave so panicked today.

"Go back to your lordship, just in the ocean." Liu Liangkai sensed his gaffe, and finally calmed down, and replied, "I am leading the sailor gunboat to inspect the ocean, and I saw two Japanese steam ships and two small soldiers, and they were hunting and plundering merchant ......ships."

"What? Raiding merchant ships? Peng Chuhan was shocked, his brows furrowed even tighter, and a trace of anger flashed in his eyes.

"Exactly! My lord! It's marked with what I saw with my own eyes......" Liu Liangkai felt the anger between Peng Chuhan's eyebrows, as if he realized something, and his voice suddenly became smaller.

"So you didn't do anything and ran back?" Peng Chuhan's voice was stern, "Just let them plunder the people and ignore it?" ”

"This ...... My lord! The standard was only with ten division ships at that time, and they were powerless to resist it, and when the Japanese ships saw our division ships coming, they sailed straight to open fire, and the standard relied on the familiar water conditions to lead the ships to avoid the shallow reef area, only to escape, and took a shortcut to report to the lord...... "Liu Liangkai listened to Peng Chuhan's reprimand, and sweated profusely to defend himself.

"We are waiting for the emperor's grace to guard the place, and we are protecting the safety of the people! You actually saw the people being plundered by the Japanese and ignored it......" Peng Chuhan said angrily, "I will settle accounts with you when I go back!" Immediately upload my order, and the whole team of sailors set off to meet the Japanese invaders! ”

"Mark and obey!" Liu Liangkai answered, and ran out in a panic.

Peng Chuhan turned around and came to the wooden cabinet where the weapons were placed, opened the cabinet door, looked at the set of armor placed inside and the saber bow and arrow next to it, and sighed. Instead of calling for someone to put on his armor, he closed the cabinet door, went to the wall, and took off the leather sheath revolver that Lin Yizhe had given him on the wall, and tied it around his waist.