During the Battle of Toshima, when the Qianguo torpedo cruiser launched a charge against the Japanese fleet, it was subjected to intensive fire from a large number of large-caliber rapid-fire guns equipped with the Japanese fleet, and many of them suffered damage and heavy casualties, exposing the shortcomings of the torpedo cruiser's relatively weak gunfire and armor. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Thirty-one years after the Battle of Lisa, in the first confrontation between the steam ironclad fleets in human history, the horizontal team tactic reappeared.

At this moment, the morale of the Qianguo fleet is extremely high, and Ding Yuting does not need to stabilize the mood of his subordinates by eating and smoking like Ito Youheng did. Before the signal of the flagship "Dingyuan" was issued, the 14 warships of the Qianguo Navy had all hastily finished their lunch and had already begun their respective combat preparations, and the leaders all understood that because of the discovery of enemy ships at close range, in order to cover the officers and men of the army in Dadong Port, they had to press the Japanese ships as soon as possible. Intense pressure ventilation was used on all ships, and the boiler compartments were put into an uncomfortably high pressure state, all in an effort to achieve high speeds in the shortest possible time.

As a series of signals such as "anchoring" were raised at the cross-truss end of the flagship "Dingyuan," 14 Qianguo warships carried out anchoring operations one after another. The sailors turned the steam winches with great effort, the anchor chains were retracted one by one, and the iron anchors, weighing several tons, were lifted from the mud and sand of the seabed. On the bow deck, the departmental officer was commanding loudly, and the huge anchor rod lifted the iron anchor out of the water and laid it flat on the anchor bed on the left and right sides of the bow deck, and the sailors who had already prepared around it immediately fixed the anchor in place with iron chain locks. The strong morale generated by the anger that had been building up since the Battle of Toshima was now fully bursting out. "The top of the flagship' 'Dingyuan' mast issued a signal of 'anchoring immediately'. The ships were ordered to immediately reel and raise anchors, and the speed was unprecedented. ”

On the masts of each ship, the dragon flag and the admiral flag, which were originally 4 meters long, were lowered one by one at this moment, and then replaced with a huge flag of 6-8 meters long. In the armored command towers of each ship, the sailors turned the dial of the clock with the English command issued by the pipe belt, and the metal hinges in the clock made a clanging sound. Immediately changed the dial of the clock in the engine room, and the engineer immediately issued an order according to the command on the dial, and the sailors quickly released the steam valve according to the order. The whole process is like a well-oiled machine, interlocking. The connecting rod of the steam engine of the Qianguo warship began to reciprocate, turning faster and faster, emitting a rhythmic roar like a steam train, and the propeller at the bottom of the ship then spun and stirred up a cloud of sediment.

At about 12:10 p.m., the fleet with the dragon flag flying was activated, and the distance between the Qianri fleet was about 20,000 meters.

At 12:03 p.m., when the lookouts on the Qianguo warship had just discovered the Japanese fleet, the Japanese combined fleet, which had finished lunch, had already begun to prepare for battle, and the trumpeters of the ships sounded the battle alarm one after another. At 12:05, the vice admiral's flag representing the rank of Ito was raised on the top of the mast of the flagship "Yamashiro", and a red battle signal ball was hoisted below this flag.

Immediately following the battle alert from the flagship, the warships of the combined fleet immediately got busy and went into combat mode. Like the Qianguo warships, the masts of Japanese warships were also replaced with huge naval flags, and a lieutenant officer on the cruiser "Takachiho" of the Japanese First Guerrilla Force at that time faithfully recorded the preparations at that time after the war: "The captains of our ships all stand in the flybridge or command tower, directly supervise and control the navigation and queue of the warships, and follow the captain, generally the chief navigator in charge of the navigation of the warship, the chief gunner in charge of ranging the task, and some trumpeters and heralds. Several midshipmen who graduated from the Naval Academy also served as signal officers and heralds, while the navigating officers on the mast held the sextant in their hands, carefully observed the range, and reported to the gunnery chief below at any time. The co-captain, who was the chief officer of the warship, commanded the officers and men on the main deck, and the Imperial warships, which were equipped with a large number of guns of the same caliber, connected the gun emplacements with wires so that they could fire at one side at the same time. Considering that the ammunition depot would inevitably be an important target for the enemy's artillery fire in wartime, the sailors used pulleys to lift shells and medicine packs to the main deck, and distributed them to each gun emplacement to completely empty the ammunition depot. Some senior officers, except for the captain and first mate, were assigned to various important positions on the ship to supervise the battle, and the sailors in white uniforms had already completed the first round of loading and stood by the guns......

When the combined fleet was gradually preparing for battle, on the flybridge of the lead ship "Yoshino," the commander of the 1st Guerrilla Squadron, Kozo Tsuboi, discovered through the telescope that the Qianguo fleet in the distance had formed a two-echelon horizontal formation, and that the four ironclad ships of the Qianguo Navy were the first to rush over.

Seeing these four murderous large ironclad ships, Tsuboi Kozo felt a palpitation.

On the "Takachiho" behind "Yoshino", the lieutenant described his mood at that time with the following words after the war: "...... The ruthless hour hand is gambling on the fate of Japan and Qian, advancing second by second. As the enemy approached, a chimney appeared, revealing the hull of the ship, and finally the number and formation of the ships could be discerned. The enemy fleet has a total of 14 ships, facing southwest, forming two teams in a single horizontal formation, one in front of the other, and the front team is the four major ironclad ships of 'Dingyuan', 'Zhenyuan', 'Jingyuan', and 'Laiyuan'. Behind the four major ships, ten cutting-edge torpedo ships spread out to both sides. In addition, there are still two major ships within a few nautical miles of the west, which act as a backup when the opportunity arises. Sure enough, the enemy army silently gathered all its elite and was determined to fight our army with all its might, and its formation was like a fierce lion in front and a fierce wolf in the rear. However, the enemy was arrayed in a horizontal formation, and all the guns were in the bow of the ship. On the contrary, if our troops fight with broadside guns, they will inevitably expose their flanks. It is taboo for soldiers to face the enemy in a large area, so what can I do! ”

As the warships of the two sides continued to approach, at 12:18 p.m., Ito, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, issued an order to the 1st Guerrilla Squadron sailing forward on the flagship "Yamashiro" to "intercept the right flank of the enemy fleet." Since the distance between the group and the squadron was shortened to an appropriate distance, the first guerrilla squadron had already increased the speed of the formation to 8 knots at this time, and after receiving the order from the flagship "Yamashiro", at 12:30 p.m., Tsuboi Kozo ordered the formation to increase its speed to 10 knots, continued to sail towards the backbone of the Qianguo fleet, and then turned to the right flank of the Qianguo navy after arriving at the appropriate position.

Since most of the officers and men under his command were novices and inexperienced, and they were faced with the main ironclad ships of the Qianguo Navy, the psychological pressure was extremely great, and even the simplest column formation was worried that there would be mistakes. The "Yoshino" constantly raised the flag, reminding the follow-up ships "Takachiho", "Akitsuzu", and "Naniwa" to "pay attention to distance" and "pay attention to speed", and urged all ships to maintain a good formation formation.

The 14 warships of the Qianguo Navy are also sailing at a rapid pace, and all the warships have quickly completed their combat preparations.

At this moment, what appeared on the Qianguo warship was a majestic picture: "A bald head with short hair, bare arms, and a pale complexion of strong men, one group or two groups standing upright by the deck guns, waiting to fight. Ma Jifen, an American who recorded these vivid words in the future, was standing on the flybridge of the "Zhenyuan" ship wearing a blue Beiyang naval officer's uniform, ready to use his beloved Kodak camera to record the upcoming naval battle. Beside him was Yang Yonglin, captain of the "Zhenyuan" warship, who had been promoted from a first-class sailor to a senior officer by virtue of his actual maritime experience, and Liu Buchan, the chief soldier of the left wing of the Qianguo Navy, whose position was second only to Admiral Ding Yuting, was already in the armored command tower under the flybridge, supervising the navigation of the warship.

The Japanese Combined Fleet, led by the "Yoshino," began to pass in front of the Qianguo naval formation, heading to the right flank at a speed of 10 knots. At this time, these four white Armstrong fast cruisers had completely and clearly appeared in the field of vision of the officers and men of the Qianguo Navy, and even the ship identification line painted on the waterline strip could be seen clearly.

"Turn four degrees to the right" and "Dingyuan" issued an order, and according to the standard of facing the enemy at the bow, the course of each ship of the Qianguo Navy was moved four compass points to the right, and the heavy guns in the bow of the ship tracked the Japanese No. 1 guerrilla unit that was heading to the right.

Ding Yuting and other senior officers silently watched the situation in front of them, and although the Japanese fleet was moving extremely fast, it was not difficult for the "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" who had implemented Lin Yiqing's concept of "high-speed ironclad ships" to stop these fast cruisers.

"Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" are large ironclad ships built by the French La Sena shipyard, the second ship is a ship of the same class, with a displacement of 7,652 tons, a length of 102.67 meters, a width of 19.22 meters, a draft of 5.96 meters, and the power system adopts 5 coal-fired boilers, two three-expansion reciprocating steam engines, with a power of 13,000 horsepower and a maximum speed of 19.6 knots, which is unique among the ironclad ships of the world navy.

As a first-class ironclad ship, the "Jingyuan" class adopts the ironclad fort protection style, with a thickness of 300-200 mm of armor for the waterline, 50 mm for the gun cover, 274-203 mm for the armor of the open battery, and 274 mm for the command tower, which has extremely strong protection. The main armament of the "Jingyuan" class ironclad ship is the same as that of the "Dingyuan" class, which is 4 305 mm 30 times the caliber main gun, and the main gun arrangement of the "Dingyuan" class is different, these 4 main guns are single-mounted open gun stands (with a square gun cover), in a diamond-shaped layout, respectively laid out on the bow and stern and the two ear platforms on both sides, no matter in which direction the front and rear left and right, you can get the salvo fire of the three main guns. In order to increase the density of firepower, together with the four main guns, eight 140 mm 40 caliber Ghanaian guns, as well as 10 57 mm Haqikaisi single-barreled machine guns and eight 40 mm caliber Maxim machine guns were installed near it.

The powerful firepower and protection and the proud speed made Tsuboi Hangzo and Kawahara Yaichi so nervous that they even had to stop breathing when facing the "Jingyuan"-class ironclad ships.

They couldn't have imagined that the ironclad could travel so fast!

"8000 meters!"

"7000 meters!"

"6000 meters!"

"Ready to open!"

"5000 m !!"

The gunners of "Jingyuan" seemed to exert all their strength, and shouted loudly, "Open!" The command knife in his hand was raised.

A cloud of white smoke rose from the main battery in the bow of the "Jingyuan", and the 305-mm main gun in the bow of the ship made a loud sound like the sky and the earth cracked, followed by a huge shock, and a 292-kilogram steel warhead, along 72 lines, with an initial velocity of 500 m/s, rotated and flew out of the gun chamber to kill the Japanese No. 1 guerrillas in the distance.

With the roar of the main gun in the bow of the "Jingyuan", the 305-mm main gun on the port side also opened fire, and the naval battle of Dadonggou officially began.

The first shell fired by the "Jingyuan" swept over the Japanese No. 1 Guerrilla Force and landed in the sea only a few hundred meters away from the port side of the lead ship "Yoshino," stirring up a column of water that soared into the sky. "The main battery in the bow of the 'Jingyuan' ship spit out a cloud of white smoke, and then there was a loud bang, and the 30-centimeter cannon shell broke through the smoke, flew high above the heads of our troops, and fell into the sea near the port side, and the sea water suddenly rose several feet high."

With the Pioneer Ship as the order, the ships of the Qianguo Fleet opened fire one after another, and the sky began to slide out of the trail, and steel shells whistled and flew towards the Japanese fleet, but the ships did not follow the Pioneer Ship to concentrate their fire on the Japanese No. 1 Guerrilla Force, but scattered their own battles, shooting at the targets that each considered the most suitable. In the face of the artillery attack of the Qianguo Fleet, the Japanese Combined Fleet was still silently advancing in a formation with a large area of exposed flanks, and in order to pass through the firing area of the Beiyang Fleet's bow heavy guns as soon as possible and move to the right flank to attack, the commander of the First Guerrilla Squadron, Kozo Tsuboi, ordered the fleet formation to increase its speed to 14 knots in order to pass through the firing area of the Beiyang Fleet's bow heavy guns as soon as possible and move to the right flank to attack. However, the following detachment continued to advance slowly, and a large gap gradually appeared between the first guerrilla detachment and the main detachment.

The morale of the warships of the Qianguo fleet was unusually high, the batteries were extremely busy, the loading and firing of cannons came and went, the musicians and sailors carrying cannonballs were busy on the deck, and Admiral Ding Yuting was still standing steadily on the deck of the "Dingyuan" flybridge, holding binoculars to watch the battle. The shells that fell in the sea around the Japanese fleet constantly stirred up bursts of water, and soon after, the lead ship of the Japanese First Guerrilla Force, "Yoshino," was hit and burst into flames, bursting out with raging flames, and the sky over the Qianguo Fleet was filled with thunderous cheers and cheers.

A 305-millimeter flowering shell fired from the main gun of the "Laiyuan" ship hit the No. 4 gun position on the starboard side of the "Yoshino" and exploded, and the 120-millimeter large-caliber Armstrong rapid-fire gun was destroyed instantly, and some ammunition piled up near the deck gun position was detonated by the flames flowing in all directions, and the explosions began one after another, and the second lieutenant Shigeyuki Asao and the fourth-class sailor Kitaro Ushijima were killed on the spot, and nine people including the first-class sailor Matsudaira Daijiro were also killed. Because many warships of the Japanese Combined Fleet are equipped with a large number of medium-caliber rapid-fire guns, in order to ensure that the rapid-fire guns can fire at a high speed without interruption in wartime, a large amount of ammunition is piled up near the gun positions in advance to reduce the time for ammunition replenishment. Witnessing the Japanese Navy's cutting-edge pioneer ship being hit by a bullet and catching fire, cheers were heard from the "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" and the neighboring "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" ships.

Looking at the "Yoshino" that was blazing, Ding Yuting's face, which had been tightened, showed a smile of relief.

Every Qianguo warship is equipped with the latest type of rangefinder purchased from Britain, and by using a rangefinder similar to a telescope to observe distant targets, when the left and right eyepieces are focused and adjusted, the distance of the target will be automatically displayed on the scale At the beginning of the war, he was able to hit the "Yoshino" that was traveling at high speed.

At this time, on the "Yoshino", the commander of the 1st Guerrilla Brigade, Kozo Tsuboi, looked at the raging fire on the ship and cursed in his heart for the incompetent command of Ito Yuhyung.

He knew that what had just hit the "Yoshino" was a 305 mm caliber cannonball.

Originally, he was very unimpressed with using a fast cruiser like "Yoshino" to fight against the ironclad ship Tsuboi Kozo, who had a strong armor gun, but the current scene completely confirmed his worries.

The "Yoshino" ignited a fire, so that the Japanese gunners finally could not bear the tremendous psychological pressure, and in disregard of the ban on firing only when they reached 3,000 meters, they began to shoot frantically at the Qianguo warship.

Almost at the same time that the "Yoshino" ship caught fire and yellow smoke came out, yellow smoke also rose from the No. 2 ship of the Japanese 1st Guerrilla Force, "Takachiho". An officer's cabin on the starboard side of the "Takachiho" was hit by a 140-mm shell fired from the "Jing Yuan", which swept through the interior and exploded on the dome deck inside the ship, leaving three large holes in the 76-mm dome deck as a memorial. Three sailors in charge of the ammunition depot were killed by shrapnel, and Navy Captain Tomaga Naiichi collapsed in pain from his abdomen and intestines squirming out of his body.