At this time, the position of the French fleet was that the capital ship "Grace" and the seriously wounded "Yitao" who withdrew from the battle retreated to the rear. Triumphant, Nancy, and Juin led four small gunboats and four torpedo ships to sink the last "Nanbo" guarding the military harbor, but they failed to go any further.

Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau attaches great importance to the protection of the port when manufacturing. Dense artillery batteries were set up outside the range of the warships, and if they forced their way into the depths of the military port to attack the shipbuilding bureau, they would face the danger of being bombed by the batteries en masse. However, it took too much time to destroy the forts one by one.

Originally, the French army had plenty of time, but the capital ship "Grace" issued a flag at this time. Ordered all ships to move closer to "Graceful", it seems that there is a situation in the rear!

However, in the small military port, eleven huge warships turned around together and there was some confusion. Originally, dealing with the backward batteries of the Qing army was something that the French fleet wanted to take advantage of, and they rushed to be the first to rush in. Now that I have received the order, no one wants to be left behind and bombarded by the batteries when we retreat. So there was some confusion, but fortunately the chaos was quickly brought under control under the command of "Triumph". However, the Wildcat, which was left behind, was hit by battery batteries one after another. A fire was lit and he was dying.

At this time, the seriously injured gunboat "Yitao", which was resting in the rear, became the front of the battlefield.

The speed of "Yang Wei", "Super Yong", "Undefeated", "Changsheng" and "South Wind" is very fast, and it has arrived next to "Yitao" in a blink of an eye. "Yitao", who has just escaped, will not be so lucky. The 210mm main gun of the "South Wind" had already been aimed at the "Yitao", and after a loud bang, the "Yitao" slowly sank.

The five main forces of the Nanyang Naval Division were collectively aimed at the lead ship of the French fleet, the "Elegance", and the naval commander Toure was on this "Elegance". In the face of such a powerful fleet of the Qing army, Toure was also in a cold sweat.

"Quick, open fire on the Qing army," Toure ordered.

Deng Shichang saw that dozens of warships and two transport ships in the military port were already sunk or semi-sunk, and that the floating corpses of the Qing army could be seen everywhere, his eyes were red, and he snatched the artillery in the hands of the soldiers and fired at the "Elegance".

"Chaoyong" and "Yang Wei" also began to fire volleys at this time.

One shell accurately hit the "Graceful" and exploded not far from Toure. Toure was pushed far away by the blast wave and was protected by several French soldiers. He slowly stood up and saw the two German cruisers "Nanji" and "Nanxiang", as well as dozens of small British gunboats such as "Zhendong", "Zhenxi", "Zhennan", "Zhenbei", "Zhenzhong", and "Zhenbian" also slowly sailing towards him. For the first time, fear appeared in my heart.

The French ships that came out of the military port to rescue all faced their opponents, the 4,800-ton "undefeated" against the 4,600-ton "Triumphant," and the "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" joined forces to deal with the 3,500-ton "Juin," which can be said to be a chess opponent. It's hard to solve. ・

Pitifully, the 480-ton gunboat "Poisonous Fish" and the "Viper" and "Glasses" fish and torpedo ships, which had already run out of fish and pedoes, slammed on the same level as "Triumphant". Basically, a small French gunboat was sunk with one shot. The 240mm guns fired lethal shells one after another. Deng Shichang was red-eyed and shot at the small French gunboats one by one.

And "Grace" and "Nancy", who came to escort her, still wanted to escape at this time, but they had no chance at all under the encirclement of "Chao Yong", "Yang Wei" and dozens of small gunboats, and they were still struggling to support themselves.

At this time, the naval battle had lasted for eight hours, and "Triumphant" and "Juyin" hung up the white flag after the "Changsheng" joined the battle, and officially surrendered to the Qing Nanyang Naval Division.

The "Elegance" deserves to be the first ship of the French army, and at this time it exerted its strong strength and ability to resist attacks. In the case of being hit by more than 100 shells by the Qing army, it still stands. Its 320mm main gun had already sunk five small gunboats of the Qing army and damaged the "Super Yong", and the "South Wind" had also withdrawn from the battle with black smoke, but still blocked the exit behind. Do not let go of "grace" to escape.

Finally, the battle in the harbor was over. The two ironclad ships of "Undefeated" and "Changsheng" also surrounded Xiang "Elegance", followed by "Nanji" and "Nanxiang".

Then, when it was about to surround "Elegance", "Nancy" suddenly increased its horsepower and crashed into "Changsheng". "Changsheng", who was originally moving at full speed, had to slow down and bombarded "Nancy" in a chaotic manner.

It was for a moment of pause that Grace had relied on its excellent ability to resist hits. Sink the "South Wind" and head east!

And how did the small gunboats of the Nanyang Naval Division on the periphery block such a behemoth as "Elegance", and they watched "Elegance" get out of battle. Evacuate to the east.

"Yang Wei" and "Chao Yong" both have super speed of 16 knots, but "Super Yong" has already hit several bullets. There is no way to chase anymore, and Yang Wei's 2,000-ton cruiser will not be able to catch up.

It may be that Toure was frightened, and at full speed of 15 knots he also used the stern gun to create a thick smoke. When the smoke cleared, and the "Undefeated" and "Changsheng" ships came out, they realized that "Grace" had left a long way and could not catch up.

Seeing the "elegance" disappear on the horizon, the soldiers of the Nanyang Navy Division did not even have the slightest joy to gain joy. Thirteen warships hit two of the other side, and they all let the other side leave calmly. It was also sunk by the opponent six ships and damaged one. Although there are reasons for the strength of the French "Grace" itself, the lack of actual combat experience exposed by itself also makes them think deeply.

The battle in the harbor was won with considerable ease under the powerful firepower of the two ironclad ships originally ordered by Turkey, the "Changsheng" and "Undefeated", and the excellent protection of the "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" ordered by Germany, which not only captured the "Triumph" and "Cuin" of the opponent, but also sank nine small gunboats and torpedo ships of the opponent, including the "Nancy".

In this battle, the Nanyang Naval Division suffered heavy losses, losing 17 gunboats, including the "South Wind" produced by the Mawei Military Port in China and five small gunboats ordered by the British. Now there are only "Undefeated", "Changsheng", "Chaoyong", "Yang Wei", "Nanji", "Nanxiang" and four small gunboats left. In total, there are only ten ships. Among them was the seriously wounded "Super Brave", which could not go to the battlefield again without a few months of overhaul.

However, the battle captured two of the opponent's ironclad ships, but they were also seriously wounded. You can't go into battle right away!

However, despite the terrible price, the French fleet was completely destroyed except for the escaped "Grace". Completely solved the naval vitality of the French army in the Far East. If there had been no further increase in troops, the supremacy of the sea along China's coast would have been firmly in the hands of the Qing Dynasty.

The capture of the "Triumph" and "Juin" made Tang Hong, the technical director of the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau, overjoyed, because the British ironclad ships "Undefeated" and "Changsheng" purchased before were directly responsible for training soldiers * as warships after the purchase, and immediately went to carry out escort missions, and after returning, he has been in charge of guarding in Qingdao and Tianjin, and he has not yet come and gone up to analyze and observe in detail.

And the two ships captured this time were to be overhauled, and I just took this opportunity to take a good look at the composition of the French warships. In order to make technical reserves for the self-made ironclad ship, Tang Hong and other technicians of the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau boarded the French ship one after another to analyze the composition and shooting of the warship, draw relevant drawings, and record relevant important parameters. They also forcibly detained the "undefeated" and "long-winning" in the military port, and analyzed and recorded relevant data on the two British ironclad ships under the pretext of inspection. Thinking about the four German ironclad ships that are about to return to China, "Dingyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Jiyuan", and "Weiyuan", the German ironclad ship information is also available. Tang Hong believed that the Qing Dynasty would definitely be able to build its own ironclad ship by then. Thinking about it makes me happy.

Guan Xuqing looked at the telegram for half an hour, Wang Shang was a little stunned, didn't the telegram say "big victory"? Why is the emperor still like this?

Guan Xuqing looked at the contents of the telegram and thought that his plan was too risky. If it is a step late, then the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau may be completely finished. Those batteries certainly couldn't stop the French ironclads, looking at the list of fallen soldiers. Guan Xuqing can imagine the fierceness of the battle at that time, seventeen gunboats were sunk, and 1,021 soldiers were martyred. 4 officers with more than a pipe band. These are all valuable talents of the Qing Navy!

They are all naval talents who spent a lot of money to train the British! But in order to completely defeat the French, in order to guarantee sea supremacy. and sent these newly trained elites to heaven.

This fierce war made the world know China, and this time Guan Xuqing deceived everyone! Including his courtiers, he also let all the officials get to know this emperor again!

This war was also a turning point in the entire Sino-French War......