In terms of the draft of the "Xijing Maru", even in the state of "sudden fluctuation" of the torpedo, the probability of hitting is still very high, and the reason why Cai Tinghan ordered the launch at close range may have been taken into account for this reason, and this move will also avoid the deviation of course caused by the long range. However www.biquge.info when the "Jianji" fired the torpedo, the hull of the ship just underwent a large rotation, and there was a serious left tilt, which may have caused the torpedo to be fired at a low angle, too deep into the water, and it took a long time to float with the help of the elevator, so that after passing through the bottom of the "Saikyo Maru", it still failed to float.

An officer of the "Saikyo Maru" wrote with surprise: "The torpedo passed under our ship, and after seven or eight minutes, appeared on the surface of the sea to the right of our ship, and then sank again. Finally kept the 'Saikyo Maru'. The reason for this is that after the torpedo is launched, it sinks deep for a while, and only after a certain distance does it surface, touching the enemy ship and exploding. ”

At this time, the sister ship of the same type, the "Jianxun," which was closely following, also rushed up and was about to launch a torpedo, but because of the close distance, a 120-millimeter shell fired by the "Xijing Maru" hit the bow of the "Jianxun," and the torpedo chamber was hit, destroying the torpedo tube, but fortunately the torpedo was not detonated. Due to the close proximity of the two sides, the flybridge of "Jianxun" was quickly hit, and a machine gunner fell and died, and then another mast was broken.

The officers and men of the Qianguo on the "Kenhoon," who had been shot one after another, seemed to be enraged, and instead of firing torpedoes again in the same direction as the "Kenji," the torpedo cruiser began to use the two 140-millimeter Ghanaian guns equipped on the ship to fire at the "Saikyo Maru." Seeing the movements of the "Kenxun", the "Kenji" also turned back and, together with the "Kenxun", bombarded the "Saikyo Maru" with a 140-mm main gun.

"Jianji" and "Jianxun" are two of the four "reconnaissance" class torpedo cruisers ordered by Lin Yiqing in the UK, with a displacement of 1,680 tons, a length of 69 meters and a width of 11 meters. With a draft of 4.5 meters and a maximum speed of 20 knots, the main armament is two 356 torpedo tubes in the bow torpedo launch chamber and two rotary torpedo launchers on the middle deck, in addition to torpedoes, 2 140 mm Ghanaian guns, 4 75 mm rapid-fire guns, 8 40 mm bang guns, and 2 Maxim machine guns constitute the powerful surface firepower of the ship.

Due to the close proximity of the two sides, the gunners of the Qianguo Army, who were highly skilled in gunnony, soon hit the "Saikyo Maru" one after another, but to the surprise of the officers and men of both sides, one after another 140-millimeter shells passed through the hull of the "Saikyo Maru" and did not explode inside the hull, but fell into the sea opposite and exploded.

The reason for this situation is that the "Saikyo Maru" was a substitute cruiser converted from a merchant ship, with a fragile hull and no armor protection of its own. Otherwise, the explosion of a 140-mm shell would have shattered the "Saikyo Maru".

What really caused damage to the "Saikyo Maru" were the 75-mm rapid-fire guns and 40-mm bangbang guns on the "Jianji" and "Jianxun" ships.

On the "Jianji," four 40-millimeter bangbang guns were aiming at the "Xijing Maru" for rapid fire, and next to these four guns were two 75-millimeter rapid-fire guns with greater close-range deterrence. Because of the temporary gun emplacement, the four 120-mm large-caliber rapid-fire guns and two 47-mm machine guns of the "Saikyo Maru" were installed in the open air on the main deck, and they fired outward through the gun doors set up in the bulwark. For a time, the main deck of the "Saikyo Maru" was already raining bullets and falling into a cloud of gunsmoke, and the sailors of various gun positions were rushing around looking for shelter to take refuge, and the open deck was smashed into fragments.

Like a headless fly, the "Saikyo Maru" seemed to crash headlong into a terrifying aisle where shells were flying, and sailed forward with difficulty in the rain of gunsmoke and shells, and the hull was already covered with bruises, and the large and small guns were silent. With the continuous explosion of small-caliber machine shells fired at the "Saikyo Maru," more than a dozen Japanese sailors near the gun emplacements were killed by shrapnel, and flesh and blood flew everywhere on the deck.

At this time, Inoue Yoshino, holding his head in one hand and the railing in the other, fell on top of the flybridge, trembling in the rain of bullets flying around, completely devoid of the appearance of the signal flag that had just been ordered to hang the signal flag and ask Ito why he retreated.

Now he probably regrets not leaving the battlefield early.

Inoue Yoshishin would not have known that at this moment, on the "Jianxun", an officer of the Qianguo State was holding a camera, constantly taking pictures of him, and his image would appear in newspapers around the world soon after the war.

When the two warships "Jianji" and "Jianxun" joined forces to besiege the lone "Saikyo Maru," another Japanese warship, the weak "Akagi," appeared in front of the array of the Qianguo fleet.

"Akagi" is a gunboat with a displacement of only 612 tons, and at the moment it is the smallest warship in the sequence of the two warring sides on the battlefield, and it is more appropriate to call it a gunboat. This warship belongs to the "Maya" class gunboat, is the last of the four ships of the same class to be built, completed in July 9090 at the Onoha shipyard in Japan, the length of the warship is only 47 meters, similar to the length of the mosquito ship of the Qianguo Navy, the width is 8 meters, and the draft is very shallow, only 2.95 meters. Unlike the Maya and Chokai, the first warships of the Maya class, the Akagi no longer uses the traditional iron hull, but uses more fashionable steel along with its sister ship, Atago. The power equipment used in the warship is two horizontal reciprocating steam engines with a power of 960 horsepower and two-shaft propulsion, and the measured speed is 12 knots when it is newly built, and the speed is increased to 14 knots after the modification of the power system.

As a gunboat, the hull design of the "Akagi" is slightly strange, and the main distinguishing feature of the warship's appearance is a two-masted single chimney, and there are lookout discs on the front and rear masts. The main deck of the warship is very low, in order to enhance the seaworthiness and improve the ability to break waves, the bow of the warship is designed with a short first floor, the first floor deck is equipped with anchor beds and hanging anchors, and a 120 mm large-caliber rapid-fire gun is installed, and the first floor is the anchor winch, anchor chain cabin and other facilities and cabins. From the bow floor to the rear, the "Akagi" is also equipped with one 120 mm rapid-fire gun on the main deck and one stern gun, and six 47 mm Haqikaisi single-barreled machine guns. Since the low main deck was prone to waves when sailing, a circle of foldable baffles was added to the outer edge of the main deck of the "Akagi", which was propped up at high speed to prevent the waves from crashing on the main deck, and was folded down during combat to expose the guns mounted on the main deck for easy shooting. Because the sides are covered with folded baffles, and the artillery armament on the deck seems to be submerged in the shadow of debris and superstructure, it is difficult for "Akagi" to associate with a warship in the eyes of strangers.

The reason why Ito, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, included the gunboat "Akagi" in the sequence of this trip was that he did not expect to encounter the main force of the Qianguo navy, but only wanted to take this warship with a shallow draft to facilitate the entry and exit of the harbor and rivers and to reconnoiter the signs of the landing activities of the Qianguo army, and he did not at all consider that the "Akagi" would be allowed to participate in a large-scale naval battle. However, at this time, the weak "Akagi" had already been abandoned by friendly ships in front of the guns of the Qianguo fleet, and the captain of the ship, Hachiro Sakamoto, who was living in the command tower, was horrified to find that several Qianguo torpedo cruisers such as the "Jianzhong" were killing him.

However, what this Japanese captain could not have imagined was that in the eyes of the Qianguo fleet, the warship under his command would be judged to be a transport ship carrying the army, and the gunboat "Akagi" would become a "ship loaded with troops." From the time the Japanese Combined Fleet was discovered at noon on 17 March, the Qianguo Fleet made a preconceived miscalculation, believing that the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet that appeared in front of it was aimed at covering the landing of the army on the coast and attacking the Ming Army that was landing in Dadonggou. As for the "Akagi," which was short in appearance, the soldiers of Qianguo could not imagine that it would be a warship -- it seems that the Japanese would not have sent such a small ship to participate in a naval battle, and since it appeared in this position and was not a warship used for combat, it was undoubtedly a troop carrier. Since the task of the Qianguo Fleet was to cover the landing of the Ming Army, the Japanese "troop carriers" that appeared near Dadonggou at this moment were obviously more threatening to the landing operations than the warships of the Combined Fleet, and they were also more valuable in attacking, so in order to prevent the Japanese Army from landing and annihilate the Japanese troop carriers, the attention of the Qianguo Fleet was suddenly focused on the "Akagi" ship, which was close at hand.

Soon, the Qianguo torpedo cruiser "Kenye", which was speeding away, hit the flybridge deck of the "Akagi" ship with 140 mm caliber Ghanaian guns, and the gun shield of a 47-mm caliber Haqikais machine gun installed on the right flank of the flybridge was pierced, and the No. 1 machine gun gunner, 1st class sailor Miyamoto Jotaro, and the No. 2 machine gun gunner, 3rd class sailor Starling Shigeru, died on the spot, and the head of the captain of the "Akagi" ship, Hachiro Sakamoto, who was trying to command his warship to get rid of the pursuit, was shattered by shrapnel in the head. The body was thrown into the sea with the shock wave formed by the explosion of the cannonball, leaving a trail of blood on the diving helmet compass and the chart table next to it. At the same time, the first deck of the "Akagi" was also hit by successive shots, and a shell fired by the Qianguo torpedo cruiser "Jianzhong" easily penetrated the top deck of the first floor, destroying the bomb transport device used to lift ammunition from the main ammunition depot in the first floor; four Japanese soldiers who were on standby nearby to fight the fire at any time were killed and one wounded, and the 120-mm rapid-fire guns on the "Akagi" lost their ammunition supply. Soon another shell penetrated the top deck of the first floor again, killing two firefighters and one repairman in the first floor.

Seeing the death of the captain, Captain Tetsutaro Sato, the captain of the "Akagi" ship, who had been commanding in the wheelhouse under the flybridge deck, immediately came to the flybridge deck and took over the captain's command. The new captain ordered the valve of the ventilator to the boiler room to be closed, stopping its ventilation function, and changing the ventilator to a bomb transport channel to ensure the supply of ammunition on the gun emplacements (at that time, the large ventilator on the warship had a winch lifting device in the duct to lift cinders from the engine room to the deck, and the large ventilation cylinder could also be used as an emergency exit for the engine crew to escape from the engine room if necessary). The "Akagi" ship apparently used the winch and iron drum that originally lifted cinders as ammunition lifting devices). On the one hand, he hurriedly commanded the warship to turn sharply to the left. Soon, an even bigger blow fell on the "Akagi", and the rear mast, which had been shot several times, was hit again, and with a loud bang, the rear mast flying the Japanese naval flag could no longer support it, and finally broke off and collapsed. Soon, however, the blood-red Japanese naval flag was raised on the foremast, and several Japanese sailors were busy erecting a slender wooden pole on the remnants of the rear mast, and soon the Japanese naval flag was raised on this rather shabby-looking "mast". In the face of an opponent with overwhelming superiority, the small "Akagi" displayed an extremely tenacious fighting spirit, which greatly impressed the officers and men of the Qianguo Navy.

Soon, a shell fired from the 75-millimeter rapid-fire gun in the bow of the "Jianzhong" hit the flybridge deck of the "Akagi" ship, and the acting captain Tetsutaro Sato was wounded in the face and wrist and was sent below deck for treatment, and the captain's post was replaced by Navy Captain Matsuoka Shuzo, the second detachment commander who was commanding the bow gun position, and the bow gun position was commanded by the naval senior private Cao Sutota, the commander of the gunner. The situation in "Akagi" can be said to be extremely critical.

However, just like the "good luck" encountered by the Japanese Navy many times, Lady Luck befell the Japanese fleet at a critical moment. At 14:20, the 120-mm rapid-fire gun on the stern of the "Akagi" hit the aft deck of the "Jianzhong" ship. As the shell containing Shimose gunpowder exploded, a huge fireball burst out, followed by poisonous yellow smoke billowing up, and the stern of the "Jianzhong" ship became a world of fire in an instant.

The pursuit of several Qianguo torpedo cruisers came to a halt. "At 2:20 p.m., a shell fired from the No. 4 gun at the stern of the 'Akagi' hit the aft deck of the 'Jianzhong', which finally caused a large fire. Seeing this, the enemy ships lowered their speed in order to rescue the 'Jianzhong' and gathered around the 'Jianzhong'. ”

While the Qianguo torpedo cruiser was busy rescuing the "Jianzhong" ship, the "Saikyo Maru," whose superstructure had almost been reduced to ruins, desperately fled, and under the cover of smoke, gradually sailed out of the field of vision of the Qianguo fleet and was lucky enough to find a way out. But the tiny "Akagi" could not escape the fate of being sunk.

When the "Saikyo Maru" fled into the smoke, the "Akagi" also turned the rudder and fled, and the Qianguo torpedo cruiser "Kenji" immediately pursued the "Akagi," and the "Kenji," which had a maximum speed of 20 knots, easily caught up with the "Akagi." At this time, the chief navigator Sato Tetsutaro had already finished bandaging, stood on the deck of the flybridge again, and commanded the Japanese sailors to fire hard at the "Kenji," and the "Kenji" fired back with 140 mm Ghanaian guns and 75 mm rapid-fire guns. The deck of the "Akagi" swept across, and the rain of bullets and fire shot directly at the "Akagi" flybridge, and the acting captain of the ship, Tetsutaro Sato, who was commanding on the flybridge, was torn to pieces by several 40-mm machine gun shells in an instant, turned into flying flesh, and fell into the sea.

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