October 1, 1853. A naval decisive battle between China and Russia unfolded without a declaration of war on either country!

The Chinese fleet that participated in this naval battle was very strong, including six third-class battleships with 80 cannons, six steam ironclads with 22 cannons, six fourth-class battleships with 56 cannons, 12 cruisers and 12 escort ships for escort duty, and 10 armed merchant ships for transporting landing troops. Even without counting the 6 cruisers and 6 escort ships that were to be used to cover the armed merchant ships (these ships were withdrawn from the combat sequence immediately after the discovery of the Russian fleet). The Chinese fleet also has as many as 30 capital ships that can be used for decisive battles at sea, with 1,236 cannons.

The Russian fleet, on the other hand, had 3 battleships of the 3rd rank, 4 battleships of the 4th rank, 5 cruisers and 5 escort ships, as well as 3 armed merchant ships. After deciding to fight the Ming army, Wrangel immediately ordered three armed merchant ships to replace the American flag and withdraw from the battlefield after Perry's fleet. At the same time, all 17 combat ships were ordered to participate in the battle, so in terms of the number of battleships, uh, it doesn't seem to be too much of a loss! However, in terms of the number of cannons, there were only 704 cannons in 17 Russian warships, a decrease of 532 at once.

Moreover, the 30 Chinese ships participating in the war were either steam ironclads or steam galleons, while the Russian ships were all sailboats, and there was a clear gap in maneuverability. In addition, the guns of the Chinese warships were all equipped with Hochsky shells, while the Russian fleet had a small number of shells, which were filled with traditional black powder, not starch explosives, which were incredibly powerful.

The most rear. The Chinese side also has six ironclad ships. This was something that the smoothbore guns of that time simply did not have a way to deal with. So the Chinese fleet is actually invincible.

However, Wrangel and Nevelskoy did not anticipate the presence of ironclads. After seeing the Ming army's combat formation divided into two, they roughly calculated the comparison of the firepower of the two sides, and came up with a result of about 1,100 guns: 704.

"At most, 1,150 cannons versus 704 cannons...... That's basically it. Nevelskoy exhaled. You can still fight! ”

The sail battleships of this era were divided into six classes, and the number of cannons equipped with each class of warships was about the same, with about 80 ships for the third class and more than 50 for the fourth class. Therefore, it was not difficult for the Russians to calculate the approximate firepower of the Ming fleet.

"But they have nitrate-H starch explosives, we only have black powder." Wrangel was still a little dignified.

"It doesn't make much difference. The flowering bullets of black powder can sink enemy ships, and the power of reloading Nitrate H starch is somewhat excessive. Nevelskoy smiled, "Now it's up to us to see if we can gain the upper hand and the T-shaped position in the waters northeast of the Ryukyu Island." If you can concentrate your firepower on the flagship of the Shen Ming fleet, this battle will be fought. ”

"If we can't grab the T-position, then we can only retreat southeast into the Pacific Ocean with full sails with the windwind...... Then where you go depends on the direction of the wind. ”

Since the Russian fleet was all sailing ships in the same water, and the Ming army was a steam sailing ship, the Russian fleet was easily caught up by the Ming fleet when the wind was not favorable, so it could only choose the tactics of maximizing the use of wind power and first break away from contact with the Ming fleet. Then take refuge in the South Pacific or Hawaii.

"Okay, so be it!" Wrangel nodded. Nevelskoy's plan was immediately approved, and in fact it seemed to be the only feasible option at the moment.

At the same time that the 41 warships of the Ming and Russian armies were chasing on the sea, the ironclad detachment of the Ming Fleet, composed of 6 steam ironclad ships, was also desperately sailing to the northeast corner of the Ryukyu Island.

The leader is the Dinghai ironclad ship, which is also the flagship of the interception ironclad detachment, and the captain Tong Haifeng is also the commander of the ironclad detachment. Unlike other Daming naval vessels, there were no foreign instructors on these six steam ironclad ships. Because the Europeans themselves did not have such steam ironclads in this era, they didn't know how to play the road. However, there are engineers from the Nanyang Shipbuilding Company on board the ironclad ship, and the one stationed on the Dinghai is Feng Cheng, who graduated from Hong Kong Jishi University. He is now an expert in steam engines, and the steam power system of the Dinghai class is designed by him - it is not an advanced two-expansion or triple-expansion steam engine, or the most ordinary single-cylinder reciprocating steam engine, which is not advanced, but there are still some improvements, using rubber as a sealing material, and also using steel plates to make boilers. Of course, similar technologies have long appeared in Europe and the United States, and now China's steam engine technology can only be regarded as not backward, far from reaching the advanced level.

"Master Feng, can you be faster? Burn the boiler a little hotter! ”

As soon as Feng Cheng, who was wearing a labor cloth uniform, climbed the helm platform, Tong Haifeng, who was personally operating the ship, asked anxiously.

"No, no, if you blow the boiler out, it's all over." As he spoke, Fengcheng took a wrench and tapped it on the rivet of the guard plate on the side of the helm platform, making a thumping sound. It was a steel guard, an inch and a half thick, and even a 68-pounder cannon could not be hit, and the entire part of the battleship above the waterline was protected by such steel plates, except for the paddle wheels and chimneys on both sides.

"Sturdy enough, Master Feng, this ship is too sturdy, it's just too slow." Hearing Feng Cheng banging on the steel plate, Tong Haifeng complained. "Can you design a steam ironclad with sails next time?"

Tong Haifeng smiled and shook his head, he didn't learn shipbuilding, it was his job to manufacture and design steam engines, this time he went to sea with the ship on the one hand to help with the maintenance of ironclad ships, and on the other hand, he also wanted to see what deficiencies the steam engines produced by Nanyang Xing would expose in wartime. However, as far as the horsepower of the current steam engine is concerned, if the Dinghai is equipped with a sail system, then the Dinghai will drive even slower when it is powered by a steam engine.

"Major Tong, let's not talk about these things for now, how long are we going to drive at sea this time? Why are those sailboats gone? We can't drive back to Dinghai on our own, and now there is not enough coal and water......"

The steamships of this era were not only slow in speed, but also tragic in endurance, and the operation of the steam engine not only burned coal, but also required constant fresh water. The space that can be used to load coal and water on the ship is very limited, so the voyage of the steamship is very short, such as the Dinghai class, which is only 300 nautical miles.

"Don't worry, someone will come and drag us home after the battle! Master Feng, try to hurry up, let's hurry now! ”

Tong Haifeng spoke, raised the telescope and looked ahead, Ryukyu Oshima was in front, but it was not the target of the ironclad ship, the ironclad ship needed to pass through its northeast corner and block the other party's way before the Russian fleet!

Aspen was also operating the ship himself at this time, and he was also urging the ship's engineer crew to keep the steam engine running at full speed. It was not so that the battleships could catch up with the Russian fleet earlier, but to seize a better interception position.

Under his control, the Dinghai led 23 steam galleons to sail the right rear of the Russian fleet, and if you draw two straight lines along the route of the two fleets of Ming and Russia, it is not difficult to see that these are two parallel lines, with a distance of more than 2 nautical miles between them. The reason for this is to prevent the Russian fleet from suddenly turning around and seizing the T-shaped position, and at the same time, at the same time, to drive the Russian fleet north as much as possible, so as to facilitate the ironclad detachment to cut off their way.

"Baron, the Chinese seem to want to drive us north." On board the Queen Anna, Nevelskoy also found out about the situation, "The Chinese are not in a hurry to catch up with us, but want to block our route to the southeast or due south." ”

"It's normal, as soon as we enter the Pacific, it's going to be difficult for them to find us out."

"Baron...... If we don't have a way to go downwind, it's hard to get rid of the pursuers, or ...... Let's go back and fight them! ”

"No, it can't be like that." Wrangel shook his head, "704 cannons against 1100-1200 cannons, if you don't seize the T-shaped position, you will find death!" He paused and gritted his teeth, "Since we can't run away, we will go back to Naha Port and kill six more troop transports of the Chinese by the way!" (To be continued......)