Standing on the bridge, holding a telescope and carefully observing the heavy bombing of the "Fuso", he was surprised to find that the explosion of this 170-mm shell did not bring the "Fuso" the destructive effect he expected, but only left a huge scar on the iron armor of the "Fuso".

The gunners of the "Hiei" were greatly encouraged by the enemy ship, and some of the sailors cheered even more, and the gunners desperately reloaded and continued to fire at the "Fuso", but at this time, the "Fuso" was unable to return fire for a while because of its slow speed and the difficulty of turning the heavy "Coles turret".

A 150-millimeter shell fired from the "Hiei" hit the second main turret of the "Fuso", and at this time the main turret was laboriously turning in the direction where the "Hiei" was located, and the flying shells hit the huge gun cover of the main turret, and for a time sparks flew everywhere, and thick smoke rose everywhere, and when the smoke dissipated, Izuba Shigeyuan saw that the round gun cover was dented downward, and the rotation suddenly stopped.

Dewa Shigeto was carefully observing, and the bow and stern main turrets of the "Fuso" had turned around, aimed at the "Hiei", and opened fire almost at the same moment.

Hearing a piercing whistling sound in the air, Dewa Shigeto suddenly had an ominous premonition, and he quickly retreated with several officers to the command tower of the "Hiei", and at the moment when he rushed into the command tower, a loud noise came, and the hull of the "Hiei" vibrated like a huge tuning fork, followed by gunsmoke.

Dewa Shigeyuan was unsteady on his feet, almost falling to the ground, but he tried to stabilize himself. Looking out of the observation window. I saw that the starboard side of the "Hiei" was hit by a bullet and smoke was constantly rising. But there were no signs of a fire.

The fire of the "Hiei" did not stop because of this cannon, on the contrary, it aroused the fighting spirit of the Satsuma sailors even more, and the gunners fought hard to reload and attack, and saw the cannons spewing flames and smoke violently, and Izuba Shigeyuan was agitated.

At this time, the turret in the middle of the "Fuso" that had been hit by the shell began to rotate again, but it became noticeably more sluggish, but after some effort, it still turned the main turret around. Together with two other turrets, they fired at the Hiei.

Because of the steering angle and the high speed, the "Hiei" and the "Fuso" at this time opened up little by little, and although the six 240-mm main guns of the "Fuso" were fired in a horrific salvo, the shells fell into the sea not far from the starboard side of the "Hiei" and exploded, while the shells fired from the 170-mm main gun of the "Hiei" hit the "Fuso" twice in succession.

Dewa Shigeyuan sensed the difference in the range of the main guns of the two sides and thought about it. Immediately ordered to maintain the current engagement distance.

"Damn Satsuma!"

In the second main turret of the "Fuso", Colonel Coles looked at the "Hiei" in the distance, which poured artillery fire on the "Fuso" from time to time. scolded in English fiercely. Although the heavy iron armor of the "Fuso" withstood the fierce bombardment of the "Hiei", the government sailors on the ship could not help but be frightened by the terrible artillery fire.

Just now, the No. 2 main turret was hit by the tower wall of the turret, although the tower wall was not penetrated because of the thick iron armor, resisted the blow, but the huge shock still killed the three government sailors in the turret closest to the impact point of the tower wall on the spot, and under such a bombardment, the steel plate inside the turret was cracked, and the scattered rivets killed two sailors.

Coles clearly saw that a sailor's head was pierced by rivets, and the flying brain blood was splashed on his military hat!

At this time, in the turret, regardless of the death or injury of their comrades, several strong government sailors pushed the heavy gun cover and adjusted the firing direction of the main gun under the shouts of an officer.

"Boom! Rumble! "The 240mm Armstrong breech cannon let out an earth-shattering roar, like a gasping beast, after a shot, the huge gun carriage slowly retreated, and the gunners ignored the smoke that filled the gun cover, and struggled to reload the gun.

Coles was also smoked by the smoke, but fortunately at the top of the gun cover was an open canopy, and the smoke in the turret dissipated after a short time, and the gunners could re-aim, but in this way, the delay was more, and in this moment, the opposite "Hiei" fired another volley, and two shells hit the second main turret of the "Fuso" one after another.

These shells did not penetrate the armor of the turret, but the shrapnel that flew into the gun door from time to time always caused terrible damage to the government gunners. This time Coles saw a flash of fire at the gun door, and small shrapnel flew over, he quickly ducked down, and some gunners also dodged, but two gunners were still hit in the arms by shrapnel, and the blood splashed and let out a loud scream.

The wounded gunners were replaced, and although the government gunners did their best to maneuver the 240mm Armstrong breech-loading guns to fire at the "Hiei", they were always difficult to hit due to poor gunnonry skills and the long distance. However, the "Fuso" commanded the "Fuso" several times to speed up and rush towards the enemy ship, trying to shorten the combat distance, but the "Hiei" was aware of it, and it left at high speed, maintaining an engagement distance of about 3,000 meters.

In the commander tower of the "Fuso" ironclad ship, Inoue Yoshio, like Coles, was also scolding the captain of the "Hiei".

At this time, Idewa Shigeto gradually figured out the weakness of the "Fuso" and decided to use its strengths and avoid weaknesses to attack the enemy ships.

Because the "Fuso" is an ironclad ship with extremely strong protection and firepower is also stronger than that of the "Hiei", in the previous battle, the 170-mm main gun of the "Hiei" hit the "Fuso" many times, and the 150-mm main gun also hit many times, but they could not penetrate the solid ironclad of the "Fuso". However, Dewa Shigeto soon discovered that the "Fuso" was slow and maneuverable, and the turret was too heavy and difficult to turn, so he ordered the "Fuso" to concentrate artillery fire on the gun doors and decks of the "Fuso" main turret to kill and wound the crew of the "Fuso" as much as possible.

It was seen that the "Hiei" changed its tactics and specifically attacked the main turret doors and decks of the "Fuso". Of course, the "Fuso" refused to be beaten passively like this. Under the command of Tsuboi Kozo, he constantly changed course. Bombardment of the "Hiei" with a 240-mm gun. The two warships then began to circle the sea. And so, a unique battle began. Under the command of Izuba, the "Hiei" took advantage of its speed advantage and went around in circles with the "Fuso" in order to deal the greatest blow to the enemy ships. The officers and men of the government navy on the "Fuso" were so angry with this Taijiquan tactic that they had no choice but to be led by others to play a game of hide and seek. As the "Hiei" vigorously circled the "Fuso", it kept firing cannons. The "Fuso" had to follow in circles, and during this time, the engineers of the "Fuso" were left in a mess.

At this moment, an extremely dramatic scene appeared: first, a 150-mm shell fired by the "Hiei" exploded in the hull of the "Fuso", and a 240-mm main gun in the No. 1 main turret of the "Fuso" also happened to fire a cannon at this time, but because the distance was too far, the shell still fell into the sea, but it did not explode, but the remaining momentum was not exhausted, and it actually hit a few water drifts on the sea. Flew straight to the Hiei!

Seeing that this shell rolled on the surface of the water, the bomb flew so far that it flew straight to the deck near the command tower of the "Hiei" and exploded. Ryoshi Inoue and Kozo Tsuboi, who were standing in the command tower of the "Fuso", were both surprised.

And only a minute or two later, a 170-mm shell fired by the "Hiei" swept over the top of the "Fuso", flew into the sea from the other side, and after a few drifts, it exploded!

The two warships that were fighting fiercely invariably fired "ricochet"!

Because he did not expect the enemy ship to shoot a "ricochet", when the "Hiei" was shot, the shock wave from the explosion carried the shrapnel directly to the "Hiei" command tower, and Izuba was caught off guard and was hit in the forehead by a small piece of shrapnel, although fortunately the shrapnel was slapped horizontally on his head (if he was inserted vertically, he would die), but the force was enough to make him faint, and he woke up after a few minutes.

"How's the battle going?" This fashion is the blackened Izuwa Shigeyuan asked a little anxiously.

"Our ship is engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy ship, and two more bullets were hit by the enemy ship...... "One officer replied.

The groggy Izuwa shook his head vigorously and patted his temple to wake himself up. After feeling that his vision had returned, Izuba Shigeto took the binoculars and looked out the observation window.

At this time, the two sides were still firing fiercely, and in the telescope, Izuwa Shigeruga could clearly see the new bullet marks on the enemy ship, which were not fatal injuries, and couldn't help frowning.

"Where are we now?" Izuwa Shigeto put down the binoculars and turned around to ask.

"Here, sir."

Dewa Shigeto came to the chart table, the navigator marked the location of the ship on the chart, Dewa Shigeto looked up at the mechanical clock on the wall, as if to his subordinates and as if to say to himself: "The troop transport fleet should be safe now, right?" ”

The officers did not understand what he meant, and all looked at him.

"They should be safe, sir." After a while, an officer replied.

"We can withdraw from the battle and go after the troop convoy!" Izuwa Shigeto ordered.

"Sir, why are you withdrawing from the battle?" Hearing Izuwa Shigeen's order, an officer asked puzzled.

"Don't you think that if we continue to fight like this, we will not be able to sink the enemy ship?" Dewa Shigeto sighed and replied, "We're wasting shells." ”

Hearing Dewa Shigeto's answer, the officers all suddenly realized.

"Sir, you're right, we're wasting shells. The enemy ships were so strong that our shells simply could not inflict effective damage on the enemy ships. One of the officers nodded.

"However, if we withdraw from the battle, what should we do if the enemy ships chase after Osaka and attack?" The other officer asked, a little worried.

"So we don't want to do useless things anymore, what we should do now is to quickly lead the troop convoy to Osaka, complete the escort mission, and report the details of today's battle to Chief of Staff Lin." Dewa Shigeyuan looked at everyone and said, "Chief of Staff Lin will have a way to deal with the enemy ships. ”

Hearing Dewa Shigeyuan mention Lin Yiqing, the Satsuma officers all nodded their heads one after another.

In their minds, Lin Yiqing has become an "omnipotent" person.

After the two ironclad ships drew a few more Taiji on the sea, Izuba Shigeto commanded the "Hiei" to evacuate. Despite repeated heavy hits from enemy ships. But it did not cause much damage to the "Hiei". Only on the deck 6 sailors were killed and 8 wounded. Seeing that "Hiei" was no longer in love with the war, he shook a false shot, turned around and went straight away. The "Fuso" pursued at full speed under the command of Tsuboi Kozo, and also ran with the "Hiei" for a while, and only after making sure that it could not catch up, did it stop in despair.

This dramatic naval battle has come to an end.

This naval battle took place in the sea near the Kii waterway. It was called the "Battle of Kii" by later historians.

In the "Battle of Kii", neither warship was sunk on either side, and the main battle revolved around the two main ironclad ships that originally belonged to the same sequence of the Imperial Japanese Navy, during the battle, the Satsuma Navy's "Hiei" ironclad ship was hit 13 times, the hull armor and surface of the ship were damaged, and 10 officers and men were killed and 12 wounded, while the "Fuso" ironclad ship of the government fleet was shot in 22 places, and 32 officers and men were killed. 25 people were injured.

This was the first confrontation between ironclad ships in the Japanese Navy since the Meiji Restoration. Judging by the losses. The Satsuma Navy was undoubtedly the victor in this naval battle, their losses were smaller, while the losses of the government fleet were slightly heavier. The outcome of this naval battle may seem insignificant, but for the Satsuma Army and the Meiji government, the outcome of this naval battle will have a great impact on the future of the war.

Of course, at this moment, neither Inoue Yoshishin nor Kozo Tsuboi would have thought that what kind of battle would await them next.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At dusk, Yuka Iwasaki walks alone in the garden. At this time, it was already the end of spring, and the cherry blossoms on the branches had already bloomed, and they were reflected in the sunlight like ashes, and the ground was scattered one after another. Iwasaki Yuka's rhombic white dress stepped on it in one step, and there was really a poignant feeling of "rubbing the cherry blossoms all over the ground". She hung her head and looked at the withering reds on the wet earth in the twilight sunlight, where the shadows of the branches were stretched long and overlapping with the figures on the ground. Iwasaki stared at the shadow on the ground motionless for a long time before gradually turning his eyes away. At this time, the sunlight redoubles the shadows of the branches with the shadows of the people on the ground. Iwasaki stared at the shadow on the ground motionless for a long time before gradually turning his eyes away.

Her life seems to be forever waiting, waiting for the people who should come. And the loneliness is trembling little by little with the light in this waiting, as if the heart is trembling, it is really difficult.

The pink glow faintly reflected on her, on the flowers and trees. She raised her head and looked intently at the petals of the tree, which were half-dried and had lost the luster of their former blooms, and were withered there, waiting for time to wither away. After all, dried flowers still can't be compared with flowers, and she finally gently let go of the flower branches. At this moment, her state of mind is no longer the same as the state of mind at the beginning of spring, although she was also depressed at that time, but she has never been so heavy as now. Maybe it's because there are too many things in the world that people have to grow up, and she Iwasaki Yuka is no longer the innocent child she used to be and doesn't worry about everything. Sitting there, she couldn't help but stretch out her white jade palm, and let the red fall fall down, fall at the foot of the swing frame, and countless went away with the wind. The eyes can't help but be stupid, people, why should they grow up, once they grow up, there will be no happiness at all.

The maid Sanae came over quietly, handed her a letter, and whispered to her, "Miss, sir, he has a letter to you." ”

She knew that sooner or later there would be such a letter, and now that the letter had finally arrived, she looked at her father's familiar handwriting on the envelope in a daze, and tears could not help but roll in her eyes.

After all, the father still hasn't forgotten his own daughter!

She easily settled down, turned her head to look around, and only after finding that there was no one else, did she open the envelope with surprise.

There was only a small note in the envelope, unsigned, but she could tell from the handwriting that it was the handwriting of her father, Yataro Iwasaki.

The note contained only a short sentence: "Do not be defiled by the thieves, or submit to the thieves, and dishonor your family." If the persecution of the thief is too great, the chastity of the jade can be broken. ”

There was not a word of care, not a word of greeting, just such a line of cold words.

She tried her best to send a letter to her father who was far away in Tokyo, hoping that his father would be able to redeem him for some money, but she never imagined that what she would get would be such a desperate response.

"Miss, what's wrong with you?" Sanae noticed Iwasaki's pale face and couldn't help but ask with concern.

Yuka Iwasaki finally turned around, she glanced down at the letter in her hand, slowly shredded the letter along with the envelope, and threw it on the ground.

"Miss, ...... you" Sanae knew that the contents of the letter might be very different from what their master and servant expected, and couldn't help but ask again, "Do you want to reply to Sir?" ”

"No need......" Iwasaki Yuka shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes instantly.

She didn't want Sanae to see her tears, so she ran into her house quickly.

Sanae watched her enter the house, closed the door, leaned over and quietly picked up a few pieces of torn paper, trying to put them together to see what was written on them, making Iwasaki Yuka so sad. (To be continued......)

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