"Lord Zhang, the flagship Nanrui has sent an order, follow the maneuver!" On the unprotected cruiser Jingqing of the Nanyang Naval Division, an officer wearing a five-cloud suit walked into the bridge quickly and reported loudly to Zhang Qiguang, the commander of the naval division.

As a senior naval officer who participated in the Sino-French war, this gray-haired old soldier looked obviously a little hesitant, above the sea, within this line of vision, it really takes a lot of time to really enter the observation range, and if the Nanyang Fleet turns around at this moment, it is almost impossible to enter the state of engagement, and before, there are some rumors among the generals of the naval division, it is said that now the Qingliu bigwigs in the court want to use the Nanyang Naval Division to win some meritorious service, so there is a matter of Wang Renkan taking over the naval division.

What's more, Guo Baochang, the former commander of the Nanyang Naval Division, and Yuan Jiugao, the pipe band, were tracked down and imprisoned, which is considered to be the deliberate framing method of the Qingliu cadres...... However, he also knows this point, he can see clearly what Guo and Yuan did, and they, the high-level sailors, actually didn't piggyback on some goods, but they weren't as unscrupulous as those two.

"Order, follow the Nanchen ship, keep a distance of 10 chains!" Zhang Qiguang was silent for a moment, gave an order to the microphone, thought for another moment, and added, "All artillery positions are ready for battle immediately, and the lookout will report to me at any time, there must be no mistakes!" ”

Obviously, he still has some pimples in his heart for this expedition, and now the current situation of the Nanyang Naval Division, as a senior pipe band, he naturally knows very well, that is, the strongest Beiyang Naval Division fleet in the Great Qingshui Division, and the Chaowu and Yangwei that are longer than the Jingqing ships are still in service, and the equipment of the Nanyang Naval Division is obviously outdated for a long time!

The two British ships, Chaowu and Yangwei, are actually inferior to the Jingqing ship in terms of firepower, which is equipped with two 8-inch main guns and eight 120mm Krupp naval guns.

However, because Jingqing is an unprotected cruiser, compared with the 3-inch iron shell of Chaowu and Yangwei, the protection is far from the same, although it is ...... Now, ten years later, the existence of three-inch wrought iron armor can hardly stop the slightly larger caliber naval guns, but the ability to repair the damage of the hull given by the iron armor shell still makes the battleship have a survivability far beyond the mirror!

And now, this young civil official named Lu Hong, taking advantage of the prestige of Lord Qincha to take over the fleet of sailors, he naturally included Lu Hong in the ranks of the ignorant Qing guests in his heart, and let a doll who does not understand naval warfare command the fleet is simply playing the piano...... However, he who is experienced in officialdom will not show this idea in the slightest!

After entering the state of alert, the three ships of the Nanyang Naval Division immediately broke away from the transport fleet to the east, maintained a longitudinal queue and headed in the direction of the enemy's situation, and in fact, Lu Hong was also eager to find out whether the fleet that appeared in this sea area was the combined fleet!

In less than thirty minutes, the important news finally came from the lookout post, and it was a fleet flying the flag of the country that appeared in the distance, according to the appearance and proportion of the mast, the officer patted ** and said that it must be a warship, not a common merchant ship!

And a few minutes later, the watchtower again came with shocking news, "Report, the fleet that appeared in front has been confirmed, and there are a total of 12 ships on visual inspection, of which at least 5 are warships!" ”

"I must be going to Incheon!" On the side, Lin Jianzhang held a telescope to observe the enemy ship target that had risen under the sea level, and turned his head thoughtfully to look at Lu Hong on the side, "Lord Lu, there are many enemy ships, should we avoid them for the time being?" ”

Lu Hong's brows furrowed, it is obviously not a good sign to meet the fleet here, looking at the posture, Xiao Yueben is frantically reinforcing North Korea, and this is completely consistent with the historical situation he understands, Xiao Yueben took advantage of the British, ** and other columns to emphasize the cessation of the Sino-Korean conflict, on the one hand, he asked the Qing political axe to stop increasing troops, but on the other hand, he quickly sent troops to North Korea, preparing to form an overwhelming military advantage in the situation!

And Li Hongzhang ...... This wise late Qing Dynasty Zhongxing minister, this time but obviously weighed the failure, said that his mind has completely changed the tone, has completely abandoned any peace plan, and turned to militarism as the fundamental expansion strategy, and this Zhongtang Lord although he knows it well, but he has already had great expectations for the mediation of the great powers!

"No!" Lu Hong immediately loudly rejected Lin Jianzhang's suggestion, "Lin Guandao, our fleet, that is, the soldiers representing China, how can we leave if we see the enemy, doesn't it make the Japanese even more arrogant...... He said that he was obviously harboring evil intentions, and now that it was the time of mediation among various countries, the escort fleet that was still making a big deal of fanfare, if it had not happened to be encountered by us, would not have let their conspiracy succeed! ”

Lin Jianzhang's expression was also quite anxious at this time, but he also had a great sense of agreement with Lu Hong's statement, after all, as a general of the sailor, he was not willing to show any cowardice in front of the enemy, but ...... On the opposite side are at least 5 battleships, outnumbered, there is no reason to take risks!

He immediately opened his mouth and suggested: "My lord, I am outnumbered, so it is not advisable to act rashly...... What's more, you also said that Xiao Yueben harbors evil intentions, and if we go up like this, won't we be in a disadvantageous situation? ”

Lu Hong looked at the young sailor's pipe belt, this guy's analysis is indeed very reasonable, if he wasn't crossing the crowd, he would definitely adopt this guy's suggestion, but...... Xiao Yueben's original sneaky actions have never been exposed at all, and besides, Xiao Yueben should actually be frightened by the exposure of their blatant means of provoking war!

And what made him more determined to go and see the idea is based on the analysis of the general situation, at least for now, Lu Hong is very sure that the political axe has not made the final war decision, and this will inevitably affect the judgment of the fleet, and this opportunity is a good time to boost morale and train the team.

Seeing that Lin Jianzhang was still a little responsible, Lu Hong slapped the table, "Lin Guandao, what else do you have to hesitate about!" If you are afraid, I will bear all the consequences...... I assert that Xiao Yue didn't dare to start a war lightly, because they weren't ready yet! ”

When Lu Hong's words came to this, Lin Jianzhang naturally understood this person's determination, he was determined to take a picture with Xiao Yueben's fleet, and he naturally did not have the slightest sense of fear, but was worried about the fate of the fleet he had just mastered, after all, there would be no good fruit to eat if he was attacked by someone!

"Hang up the flag of readiness!" Lin Jianzhang did not hesitate any longer, and immediately issued a new order loudly, "Order, the fleet follows the flagship and prepares for battle!" (To be continued.) )