"Was the Chiyodagata sunk by the Fuso?" Kawahara asked eagerly.

"Yes." Lin Yiqing nodded and motioned for the two of them to come to the map table.

Lin Yiqing pointed to several models of boats with the names of ships written on the map, and told Uemura Hikonojo and Kawahara about the battles that had taken place these days.

After the government forces landed in the Matsusaka area behind the Osaka flank, the government naval fleet, which had completed the escort mission, also launched an attack to coordinate the army attack.

From June 10 to the current June 12, the two sides have fought many times in the port of Osaka.

At around 7 o'clock on June 10, the wind and waves outside Osaka Port were calm, and the government warship "Kiyoki" was still hovering left and right. The ships of the Satsuma Army, which had previously intercepted several merchant ships in the Kii Waterway, were all driven away by the ironclad ship "Kongo" of the Satsuma Army, which came to meet them.

At noon, the sluggish government capital ship "Fuso" and the gunboat "Amagi" finally appeared on the horizon. At 11 o'clock, all the government warships merged into one group. After Inoue informed Kiyoki of the order, he began to observe the hydrology and topography of Osaka Port and listen to Captain Kiyoki's report on the surveillance of the Satsuma Army's forts built over the past few days, and chose the way of attack to be adopted from the perspective of a Western-style professional soldier.

After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government built modern coastal defense facilities, and built more than 10 new forts, which were equipped with new artillery and built very strong, but most of them were destroyed in the battle of the Satsuma army attacking Osaka. After the capture of Osaka by the Satsuma Army. Lin Yiqing has been carefully studied. A number of new forts were built. These forts are not made of masonry but earth, and they look rudimentary, but each of them is additionally armoured, canopyed, and can be fired freely in all directions, as they are located next to the road leading from the sea to the city of Osaka. In addition, Lin Yiqing also repaired the fort that was originally destroyed by the Satsuma army, as a whole. The number of forts, artillery, and defenders in the newly defended Osaka Port was smaller than before, but the strength of the garrison was greatly strengthened.

After gaining a general understanding of the situation in the entire port, Inoue immediately began to deploy his warship. Although the port of Osaka is a free trade port, it has now changed hands, but the Satsuma Army did not prohibit the entry and exit of domestic and foreign merchant ships, because despite the fierce exchange of fire between the two sides, the sea lanes have remained open. Seeing that these government warships were not coming with good intentions, the defenders of the fort strengthened their vigilance and observed the formation of government troops at the mouth of the harbor, and at the same time sent people to report to the staff base camp.

The ironclad ship "Fuso", which has the largest tonnage of the government army, has a deep draft. Unable to approach the Osaka coast, Inoue made a bold move. The "Fuso" was placed at the intersection of the fire of the four batteries in the port of Osaka, or in a position where it was possible to shell four batteries in the port of Osaka at the same time. The "Fuso" ironclad ship has a displacement of 3,997 tons, completed in the eleventh year of the Meiji era, with a length of 78.03 meters, a width of 14.94 meters, a draft of 6.57 meters, equipped with two horizontal two-cylinder composite double-acting steam engines, two-shaft propulsion, a power of 3,900 horsepower, a maximum test speed of 11.3 knots, and a coal tank capacity of 500 tons. The main reason why Inoue dared to take the risk of putting this warship under the guns of 4 coastal batteries was that the "Fuso" was an authentic ironclad ship with armor up to 102 mm to 229 mm thick wrapped in the waterline belt. At the same time, the Fuso had fierce guns, armed with 6 240-mm guns and 6 75-mm Krupp breech guns, in addition to 6 75-mm sampans that could be randomly arranged on the deck, as well as Nordenfeld's 25-mm 4-barreled guns. The 240-mm guns of the "Fuso" were almost invincible against the batteries of the port of Osaka. Based on the information received, Inoue Yoshishin believed that the largest gun of the main battery in Osaka Port was only 170 mm, so according to the previous tests of the government navy, it was decided that the warship should be anchored in a place where the 209 mm armor could withstand 170 mm shells, that is, about 1,000 meters away from the battery. The supporting gunboats, such as Amagi and Kiyoki, were ordered to fight directly close to the shore where the main battery in Osaka was located.

After the order was given, the flagship "Fuso" was the first to start, anchoring at a position 900 meters outside the main battery in Osaka. The starboard side faces the main battery in Osaka and the government battery repaired by Lin Yiqing next to it, and the port side and the stern fire control Lin Yiqing built two batteries on the right bank of the port. The shallow draft and unarmored "Amagi" went all the way to almost the shore of Osaka, anchored 120 meters in front of the old battery on the flank of the main battery in Osaka, to avoid the fire of the main battery, and aimed it at the old battery with the starboard side. With a displacement of 897 tons, a length of 63.1 meters, a width of 9.1 meters, a draft of 3.9 meters, and a small gunboat equipped with only one steam engine, single-shaft propulsion, a power of 443 horsepower, and a speed of 9.6 knots, the small gunboat was responsible for taking into account the batteries on both sides of the harbor with its six 75-mm guns, and was responsible for launching the response from shallow water.

After everything was arranged, Inoue Yoshishin sent an officer to the shore on a sampan, shot at the fort with a bow and arrows tied to the paperwork, and handed over an ultimatum to the Satsuma army, demanding that the Satsuma army hand over the fort. General Satsuma ignored this letter and ordered the soldiers to be on higher alert, and at the same time urgently reported to Hayashi Yat-sei, who had set up defenses near Osaka.

In the early morning of 11 June, seeing that there was no response from the Satsuma side, Inoue Yoshishin ordered a signal to be hung out at the truss end of the "Fuso" and ordered all ships to prepare for battle. At 8 o'clock, as the main guns of the "Fuso" sounded, the "Qinghui" and "Amagi" were not to be left behind and opened fire one after another. After receiving the ultimatum of the government forces the day before, the artillery of the Satsuma Army had already strengthened its defenses, and the Osaka Battery, which had been waiting for the battle, immediately returned fire when they heard the sound.

Because the government warships were anchored too close to each other, and the main battery of Osaka Port was located on the flat ground by the sea, it was possible to concentrate on the government warships by using flat fire, and soon after the artillery battle began, the main battery garrisoned by the Kiyosho Division of the Satsuma Army began to attack fiercely. "Fuso" was first hit by a defender rifle bullet on its mast, and then two shells hit the side of the gunwale, penetrating where the iron armor was blocked by the oak lining inside the iron armor. Inoue Yoshishin didn't expect the Satsuma Army's firepower to be so fierce. Not to mention the fact that the coastal batteries of the Satsuma Army had 210-mm large-caliber guns (discarded by government troops when they retreated). At this point, he would regret that he had parked his warship so far ahead. Soon. Another shell fired from the main battery in Osaka hit the gun's side gun position of the "Fuso", and one 75-mm gun was seriously damaged, but the surrounding personnel were not damaged, because the shell fired was a solid armor-piercing shell that would not explode.

After 10 minutes of fierce artillery fighting, the remaining batteries in Osaka Port were gradually destroyed and suppressed, turning into a decisive battle against the main battery, and at 8:45 the north side of the main battery was hit and caught fire. The Satsuma army failed to contain the fire, and at 9 o'clock the gunpowder magazine of the battery exploded violently. The defense of the Osaka Port Fort Group was declared a failure, and it took Inoue Yoshino's three warships to clear the outer defense of Osaka in one hour.

In the course of the battle, the artillery fire of the two batteries on the left bank of the harbor was relatively weak, and with the support of the approaching artillery fire of the "Amagi," the 80 sailors of the landing party carried by the "Qinghui" ship, led by Second Lieutenant Yamane, rowed to the shore on a sampan, and soon erected the Japanese flag one after another on the two newly repaired batteries that had been bombed and destroyed. When the ammunition depot of the main battery in Osaka Port exploded, the 120 "Fuso" landing party led by Kato Nakasa, deputy commander of the "Fuso," also immediately went ashore on a sampan to join the "Kiyoki" landing team that had arrived from the right bank. Attack on the main battery in Osaka.

At 11 o'clock, a huge Japanese flag was raised over the main battery of Osaka Port.

Midnight on June 11. Torrential rain fell in Osaka, and the more than 200 government landing teams that captured the fort were drenched without any camping equipment. Early the next morning, Inoue hurriedly arranged for the transportation of tents and other supplies to the shore, and at the same time, the poor number of government troops prepared to complete the important task of occupying a fortress on the outskirts of Osaka according to Inoue's deployment.

Although the main battery of the port was destroyed, there are still many Satsuma fortifications in the mountains on the outskirts of Osaka City. The total strength of the Satsuma Army, the six squadrons of Nomura's Shinosuke Division, and the reinforcements brought from Nagasaki, still amounted to more than 4,000 people, and they all retreated to the fortifications of the second line. In the early morning of the 12th, the government forces, who had fled with the fall of the fortress, were divided into small forces. The 80 marines of the "Kiyoki" were ordered to advance to the fort built by the former government forces in the Osaka city, because it was an important commanding height, but they were suddenly blocked by the Satsuma army, and seeing that the battle was becoming more and more intense, the remaining "Fuso" landing team under the command of Kato Nakasa also entered the battle, and finally something frightened the government soldiers. The surrounding Satsuma army was gathering more and more, and "200 to 300 men surrounded us on all sides", and because the number of troops was so small, the government forces were forced to abandon their attempts to capture the fort and began to retreat. Second Lieutenant Yamane led 40 men to contain hundreds of Satsuma troops, and finally the government forces broke away from the battle at the cost of 12 killed and 41 wounded, and withdrew to the warship that night. The Satsuma defenders of Osaka Port suffered nearly 100 casualties in two days of fighting, and the commanding heights of the fort on the outskirts of Osaka that the government forces wanted to occupy were blown up by Lin Yiqing on the order of Lin Yiqing after the fort was lost.

For the government forces, the Battle of Osaka, which had first tried its edge at sea, did not achieve its intended goal, but it was only the beginning of the prelude.

After learning that the government navy launched a large-scale attack, Lin Yiqing quickly understood the intention of the government army - blockading the port of Osaka, at this time the Shinohara national cadre in the direction of Kyoto was being attacked by the 20,000 government troops commanded by Oyama Iwa, the two sides fought fiercely for many days, and the battle was in a stalemate, and the government forces in the rear of the Osaka side were fierce at the beginning, and Shiro Ikegami, who came to support the Osaka defender Nomura Shinosuke, led the army to launch a counterattack, trying to drive the landed government troops into the sea in one fell swoop, but they failed to succeed, but retreated under the fierce artillery fire of the government army, When Saigo Takamori learned the news, he was very uneasy, went to the front line to check, and sent the allied army Miyazaki Hachiro to help, so as to stabilize the position of the Satsuma army.

In order to get a detailed understanding of the battle situation, Lin Yiqing personally went to the front line to observe, and even did not hesitate to go deep into the enemy's front.

On the night of June 11, the government navy launched another attack, only this time using a tactic that the Satsuma generals had not thought of at all: night raids and lightning strikes.

Inoue Yoshishin dared to launch such a bold attack by dispatching four fast-ramming gunboats, "Kuaikaze", "Yukikaze", "Nobun", and "Tokiyu," which were equipped with underwater pole mines, to attack the Satsuma fleet in Osaka Port at night. It's because he has a lot of confidence in his chest.

Long before he set off. Yamamoto told him. He secretly sent spies to infiltrate Osaka Castle as an internal response, and the main target of these people was the Satsuma Navy, and because Lin Yiqing's excellent defense work, it was difficult for them to find a gap to destroy it, so they adopted an extremely bold strategy.

These men paid a lot of money to buy off the fishermen on the coast near Osaka and secretly discarded a large number of fishing nets in the waterway, and when the "Fuso" came to attack during the day, two ironclad ships, "Hiei" and "Kongo", the main ships of the Satsuma Navy, went to meet them. However, he did not expect to be entangled in the propeller by a fishing net, and his movement was greatly hindered, so he was greatly hampered in the battle with the "Fuso," and the two sides fought for a long time, and the "Fuso" failed to break through into the harbor, but the "Hiei" and the "Kongo" were also shot in many places, and the "Fuso" failed to sink the "Fuso" and was forced to retreat into the harbor. Since the "Fuso" was also worried that its propeller would become entangled, it did not continue the attack.

After the return of the "Fuso", it was evening. The government's lightning strike fleet was on the scene, and their targets were the "Hiei" and "Kongo", two ironclad ships that were entangled in fishing nets and the propellers were incapacitated, and the government fleet was informed by spies sent by Gonbei Yamamoto.

But it may have been inspired by the fishing nets laid by enemy spies. Lin Yiqing on a whim, ordered to use a small sampan to set up a protective net with fishing nets around the "Hiei" and "King Kong", for Lin Yiqing's order, the Satsuma samurai were very surprised, and did not understand why Lin Yiqing ordered this, but that night, the facts proved that Lin Yiqing's judgment was correct.

Under the cover of night, four government mine-striking ships sneaked into the port of Osaka, and soon found the berths of the "Hiei" and "Kongo" and launched an attack, but what the government officers and men on these mine-striking ships did not expect was that they all hit fishing nets one by one.

The Satsuma army soon discovered the government mine-striking ship, and the batteries on the shore and the warships anchored opened fire one after another, and the retired US naval officers and men on the "Snow Wind" were unwilling to be defeated and showed great heroism, and sent a death squad to step forward in a small boat to break the fishing net with knives and axes, and just as the "Snow Wind" was about to ram the "King Kong," the 25-mm four-barreled Nordenfeld machine gun on the "King Kong" opened heavy fire, beating the death squad to the ground, and the "Snow Wind" could not resist such a terrible attack and quickly withdrew from the battle.

At about the same time, three other government lightning strike ships also suffered the same blow and were forced to abandon the attack and retreat, but the government army's lightning strike fleet was not without results on this trip: when exiting the port, the government lightning strike fleet encountered the Satsuma Navy's "Chaoyang Maru" gunboat, which came to intercept it, and "Yukikaze" immediately launched an attack on this old gunboat with a displacement of less than 500 tons and only 6 small guns. A large hole was blown into its hull immediately, and the "Chaoyang Maru" quickly sank, killing most of the officers and men of the Satsuma Navy on board, and only about 20 people were rescued.

After the government lightning strike fleet rushed out of the port, it encountered the "Chiyoda-shaped" gunboat, and the two sides fired at each other with artillery, and the government light-strike fleet fled while fighting, and the "Chiyoda-kata" pursued behind; when the chase was out of the port, it coincided with the "Fuso" ironclad ship that came to meet the lightning-strike fleet, and the "Fuso" immediately opened fire, and the "Chiyoda-kata" with a displacement of only 540 tons was hit by a 240-mm shell fired by the "Fuso," and the hull was seriously damaged, and a large amount of seawater poured in, and it sank after a while.

Because it did not distinguish between reality and fiction in the harbor, after sinking the gunboat "Chiyodagata" and receiving back the "Yukikaze" and other four ships, the "Fuso" retreated -- a night battle was a risk for either of the warring sides, and the government forces now only had one ironclad ship, the "Fuso," and Inoue Yoshishin naturally would not easily get into danger.

After hearing about the battle, Uemura Hikonoki learned that the Satsuma Navy had lost two warships in succession under the attack of the enemy, and his mood suddenly became a little low, diluting the joy of the victory in the Battle of Tokyo Bay.

"Lin Jun, I think that the 'Fusang' is the biggest threat to us, and if we can sink this warship, the tide of the war will be turned in one fell swoop." "As for the ramming gunboats that come to sneak attack, we don't have to be afraid, we can easily destroy them. ”

"That's right." Lin Yiqing nodded, "At present, the fishing nets deliberately laid by the two ships of our army's 'Hiei' and 'King Kong' for the enemy are wrapped around the propellers, and it is estimated that it will be cleared early tomorrow morning, and then our army will attack with all its strength and try to sink the 'Fusang'." ”

"I think it's better to be cautious, Hanpeng." Saigo Takamori said, "You said today that in terms of artillery battles alone, it will be difficult for our 'Hiei' and 'Kongo' two ships to sink 'Fuso,' and 'Fuso' will also be difficult to sink our two ironclad ships. (To be continued......)

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