The blue sea and blue sky, the scorching sun is like fire.

Thirty nautical miles northeast of Amami Island, four large-tonnage troop carriers were intercepted and stopped by a small 500-ton ship.

The Flying Fox cruised around four British troop carriers, and behind the Flying Fox, five or six hundred meters away, was the Katori, a naval warship of larger tonnage.

The Katori chased after the Flying Fox, but the Katori, which had a speed of only 13.5 knots, was unable to catch up with the Flying Fox, which had a speed of up to 30 knots. Although the Katori was confident that it could defeat the Flying Fox with its shipboard guns, the Flying Fox was too fast for the Katori's naval gunners to aim and lock onto the Flying Fox.

In this way, the Qing ship Flying Fox kept circling the four British troop carriers, and the ship Katori was in hot pursuit, and neither side fired at the other first, and both maintained restraint.

"This is the Royal Chinese Navy Flying Fox destroyer, your fleet has entered the territorial waters of China's vassal Ryukyu Kingdom, and entrusted by the Ryukyu State, the Chinese Navy has the right to sink any ship that illegally enters the sea area."

The Flying Fox had been threatening the British captain Hoss with a radio horn, and if he dared to sail, then the Flying Fox would have an excuse to attack Hoss's fleet. For the Flying Fox, it was easy to sink the four British steamers.

On the other side, on the bridge of the Katori, a group of Saimoto naval soldiers held trumpet-shaped cylinders rolled into iron sheets and shouted at the top of their voices.

"Don't listen to them, they don't dare to fire. Start the boat right away, and as long as you sail into Amami Port, you'll be safe! ”

In contrast, the loudspeaker on the Flying Fox, which was converted from a telephone, was more intimidating than the artificial voice on the Katori, and everyone could hear it clearly.

Hoss was very entangled, and now he couldn't drive a boat, and he couldn't do it without a boat, and he was in a dilemma.

Just after 11 o'clock in the morning, five large armored cruisers of the Second Combat Squadron of the Chinese Navy sailed to the northeast sea of Amami Island, less than 1,000 meters apart from the main battleship Katori, along with five Exocet-class hunting ships of the Fifth Squadron, and the Flying Fox also returned to the Fifth Squadron and regrouped.

With the appearance of the main fleet of the Chinese Navy, Captain Hoss was dumbfounded, he knew that he couldn't look good today, and immediately gathered his crew to discuss countermeasures and discuss whether to hand over the ship's army.

The captain of the Katori, Taro Kinta, also spotted the approaching Chinese warship at the same time, and although he knew that he could not stop the other party, he was also terrified in his heart, but he still had the last illusion that the British would not give in, and the Chinese navy would not dare to open fire.

On the bridge of the second squadron's flagship, the Yu Yong, the commander of the squadron, Du Xigui, observed the small battleship through a telescope.

Putting down the binoculars, Du Xigui suddenly sneered, and said disdainfully: "How dare you be in front of this little broken boat?" The above commander must have had a water in his head! ”

Chief of Staff Li Chengmou said with a smile: "I think Xiao Yue may have thought that we didn't dare to fire at the British ship, and we were just lucky." ”

Du Xigui asked, "What does the command command say?" ”

Li Chengmou replied: "The order of the headquarters is to try not to fire the cannon first, try not to kill foreigners, and avoid diplomatic friction." ”

"As much as possible!" Du Xigui repeated these two words and said, "That means we don't have to care if necessary?" ”

Li Chengmou immediately understood what Du Xigui meant, and immediately smiled: "You can understand it this way!" ”

Du Xigui laughed a few times and said, "Since the chief of staff has no opinion, then I can rest assured!" ”

Then, Du Xigui ordered: "Come on, shout." Tell them that this sea area is under our management for the time being, and call the ship to surrender, otherwise we will see it as its active provocation. Inform the British and tell them to leave the steamer, these four steamers entered the country illegally, threatening the personal safety of the people of the Ryukyus, and we seized them! Tell them that those who disobey will be sunk on the spot! ”

"Yes!"

The sergeant received the order and notified the flag command room to immediately call out and make solemn representations to the other side.

The ship Katori quickly replied, saying that the Ryukyus were theirs and refused to leave. The captain of the British fleet, Hoss, was in a struggle, and did not answer for the time being, as if he wanted to see if the other party was playing for real.

"Report, the ship refuses, do you shoot a warning?"

"Warning what? Ready for battle! ”

Du Xigui immediately ordered battle preparations, and in an instant the ships of the Second Squadron sounded a rapid battle siren, and then the battle flags of each ship were raised, and the main guns turned to the direction of the starboard ship, and the guns of all levels on the starboard side were also loaded with shells, aiming at the ship and the four British ships.

The air suddenly became tense, and the battle was about to break out.

On the Katori, the captain of the ship, Taro Nishitata, knew that it was inevitable and was about to order the battle flag to be raised. Suddenly dissuaded by the deputy.

"Your Excellency, Captain, please take the overall situation first, the matter here must be notified to the other fleets in time, otherwise they will also run into our situation."

Taro Nishikita was right to think about it, and immediately ordered Katori to turn around and run away.

On the Yu Yong, Du Xigui immediately laughed when he saw the ship turn around and escape.

Chief of Staff Li Chengmou suddenly frowned, and said, "My lord, can't you let this ship run away?" ”

Du Xigui asked suspiciously, "Didn't you say that you should try not to fight?" How? ”

Li Chengmou said: "Having said that, but at this time and that time, if we let this ship run, in case he notifies the follow-up fleet, won't we be busy in vain?" ”

Du Xigui nodded and said, "What the chief of staff said is very true, Commander Deng is leading the main fleet over, if he doesn't catch anything, it really can't be said." According to the will of the chief of staff, kill this ship. ”

Li Chengmou received the order and immediately ordered the three ships of the Second Sentai Yuyong, Gangyong and Douyong to immediately pursue the Katori, and at the same time ordered the Fenyong and Yiyong and the six hunting ships of the Fifth Sentai to guard the four British steamers.

The frantically fleeing ship Katori was quickly overtaken by three large armored cruisers of the Second Sentai with a speed of more than 21 knots because of its speed of only 13.5 knots.

"The right rudder is full, and the main gun and port side guns are ready to attack!"

At 11:45, the battleship Yuyong, which was the first to catch up with Katori, quickly turned right and blocked the way of Katori. At the same time, while making a quick turn, the Yu Yong seized the "T" prefix horizontal position of the Katori with its speed advantage.

"Full rudder right!"

"The main gun is ready!"

"Port side artillery fire ready!"

"1200 meters away!"

"Attack?"

The bridge staff officer kept repeating the reports from various departments around Du Xigui, waiting for Du Xigui's order.

"1100 meters away!"

Du Xigui looked at the Katori from the telescope, and saw that the army on the Katori was adjusting the artillery, and the Katori obviously didn't want to be robbed of the "T" horizontal position, and made a turn to avoid it, but unfortunately the speed of the Katori was too slow, no matter how she turned to avoid it, she couldn't get rid of it.

"1000 meters away!"

"Attack?"

The bridge staff officer asked again, Du Xigui looked at Li Chengmou next to him, the latter nodded, so Du Xigui raised his right hand, and then put it down suddenly!

"Start attacking!"

"The target enemy ship, azimuth 232, 1000 meters away, start attacking!"

The order was given, and the two 8-inch 40-diameter main guns in the bow and stern of the Yu Yong opened fire violently. Two shells weighing 120 kilograms roared and landed on the sea not far from the left and right sides of the Katori.

"Boom! Boom! ”

The blazing shell exploded as soon as it touched the seawater, stirring up two huge waves tens of meters high.

The battle started in an instant!

"Knock knock!"

After the main gun fire, eight 6-inch secondary guns, four 88-mm rapid-fire guns, and four 47-mm rapid-fire guns on the port side of the Yu Yong opened fire immediately, and shells rained down on the ship.

"Boom!"

Shells exploded one after another around the ship Katori, and suddenly huge waves rolled, the sea water splashed, and the sky was covered with smoke and rain.

A minute later, the ship began to fight back. Due to the "T" prefix transverse position was robbed by the Yuyong, the Katori could only use the bow in the direction of the port side of the Yuyong, and its bow main gun only had a 10-inch heavy gun, although the power was huge, but the double diameter was short, the firing speed was extremely slow, and it took a few minutes to fire a shell.

As the Yuyong opened fire, the subsequent Courage and Douyong also opened fire on the Katori, although the Courage and Douyong were not in the "T" position, but the number and power of their broadside guns also completely suppressed the Katori.

"Boom!"

Countless cannonballs smashed into the waters around the Katori, stirring up huge waves, wave after wave, and then huge waves splashed and flew in the air, pouring like a huge sea storm.

"Fix the parameters!"

"Load the Yuan!"

"Fire!"

...... "Knock knock! ”

After the first round of fire, the shells hit the Katori's foredeck gun and the command platform in the middle, as if they had eyes. As an unprotected cruiser, the Katori's hull was only an iron-ribbed wooden hull, which could not withstand the fire of three large armored cruisers.

At 11:50 a.m., two 152-mm shells from the Yuyong and one 210-mm shell from the Courage hit the bow of the Katori at the same time.

In an instant, the entire front of the warship was blown to pieces, and the bridge of the command ship where Taro Nishikita was located was also destroyed by the violent blast wave, and Taro Nishikita and his seven command staff were all killed, and their bodies were torn to pieces by the violent artillery fire shock wave and thrown into the air at a height of several tens of meters.

The next moment, a violent explosion tore through the multi-layer wooden deck of the bow of the ship, affecting the bow torpedo bay below, and the two torpedoes inside were violently affected and detonated. The huge explosion, along with the torpedo compartment and the main gun ammunition compartment behind it, exploded violently in a series of explosions.

A ball of fire rushed out from the front of the shattered warship, and then the entire warship seemed to be inflating the toy violently, and exploded in the next second.

There was a loud "boom", like a thunderbolt.

The shell of the Katori instantly cracked and splashed in all directions, and the flames caused by the huge internal explosion rushed out from all sides, holding up the entire warship superstructure in an instant, and then disintegrating into countless fragments in mid-air, burning, dragging a long tail of black smoke, scattered on the surrounding sea.

Suddenly, the entire hull of the ship was shrouded in raging fire and billowing black smoke, and it sank rapidly at a speed that could be seen.

Because the explosion was so violent, none of the officers and men of the Katori Navy were spared, and all 123 people on board the ship were killed in the fire.

On the British fleet, Hoss and other Britons watched the Qing Imperial Navy besiege the ship and quickly sink it, and the moment the ship exploded, they were immediately frightened by Hoss and others, and the British immediately made a decision, immediately gave up the confrontation, put down the boat, and left the fleet. Soon only the four British steamers were left with him.

Just after 12 noon, the three ships Yu Yong, Brave and Dou Yong returned, and Du Xigui learned that all the British had evacuated, but the above said that he still refused to surrender, and immediately ordered the attack on the first British ship.

Originally, Li Chengmou suggested that a torpedo should be fired to sink it, but Du Xigui had his plan, he asked the Gangyong and Yiyong to bombard the steamer with artillery, and soon the superstructure of the first British steamer was razed to the ground, and the soldiers had nowhere to hide. Then, Du Xigui ordered the ships to attack the Japanese army with rapid-fire guns.

"Bang bang bang!"

Dozens of rapid-fire guns of various calibers fired fiercely at the Yue army, countless shells poured down, and the soldiers of the Yue army, who had nowhere to hide, were suddenly shot into a meat sieve, and their flesh flew everywhere, letting out a heart-rending roar, and they died in extreme fear.

In less than five minutes, a fire broke out on the ship. The remaining soldiers of the army suffered in the smoke of the fire, and countless others were burned alive and choked to death.

Soon, some of the soldiers chose to jump into the sea, some escaped and some committed suicide.

The soldiers on the other three British steamers also used their rifles to shoot at the Qing Imperial warship a few hundred meters away, and the bullets clanged on the steel plates. But soon, when they saw the terrible condition on the first British ship, they were immediately frightened.

At 12:22, the white flag was raised on the third British ship, and the soldiers on it chose to give in in to fear.

Five minutes later, the second and fourth ships also raised their white flags and demanded surrender.

Li Chengmou suddenly exclaimed: "It's still an adult who has the means, this trick to kill chickens and show monkeys is really powerful!" ”

Du Xigui smiled and said: "We have made a fortune this time, you look at these three British ships, all of which are more than 3,000 tons, not to mention the weapons and equipment of the army, there must be a large number of supplies, guns, shells, silver, and grain." ”

Li Chengmou said with a smile: "My lord is really calculating, and I admire my humble duties!" ”

Du Xigui smiled: "Let's go, let's go to Amami Island first and wait!" ”

At three o'clock in the afternoon, after two hours of fighting, 300 marines under the command of the Second Sentai Corps, under the command of Du Xigui, quickly captured Amami Island. Amami Island is larger than Naha Island, but the area where people live is concentrated in the area around Amami Bay. Amami Bay has only one garrison team, less than 100 people. It was soon wiped out by the combined forces of the Marines and the local Ryukyu forces.

Later, four British ships sailed into Amami Bay, where 2,100 Japanese prisoners were imprisoned on the beach of the bay under the watchful eye of the Marines. Li Chengmou sent 200 Marines to erect sandbag bunkers and heavy machine guns around them. At the same time, the local Ryukyuan people spontaneously organized labor, cut down trees and built a prisoner of war camp on the beach, and kept the prisoners of war in it.

In the evening, all the materials on the three British ships were counted, and in addition to the weapons and equipment of one wing, there were also a large number of guns, shells, and various ordnance, as well as a batch of food, with a total value of about 800,000 US dollars, but there was no military pay. was so angry that Du Xigui scolded Xiao and said that he was poor and wanted to die.

That night, the ships of the 2nd and 5th Sentai were moored in Amami Bay.

The next morning, Duan Qirui's 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division of the Volunteer Army, transported by eight troop carriers, landed in Amami Bay and completed the occupation of Amami Island.

At this point, all the inhabited islands of the Ryukyu Islands were recovered by the Volunteers.

At noon on 28 May, Deng Shichang led the main fleet of the Navy to Amami Bay.

Deng Shichang convened a meeting of captains, listened to the reports of Du Xigui and Li Chengmou, and learned from them.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Sea Scale sent a telegram announcing the discovery of five American-flagged troop carriers in the waters northeast of Amami Island, escorted by one ship, Mogami.

This Mogami and Katori belonged to the same class of unprotected cruisers, with the same firepower and speed, but with a different structure. The Mogami was built earlier than the Katori, and in addition to being powered by a steam engine, it also had sails and locks, and in the absence of coal, it was possible to sail at a speed of 4 knots using the wind speed.

After intercepting the information, Deng Shichang immediately ordered the Sea Scale to launch an attack on the Mogami and be sure to sink it. At the same time, Deng Shichang ordered the fastest second and fifth teams to attack quickly. He commanded the main fleet to continue to wait in the northern waters of Amami Bay.

Therefore, this arrangement is mainly due to Deng Shichang's consideration that this place is closer to Sasebo Port, and if the West Sea Fleet of the Navy's West Sea reinforces Amami Island, it will inevitably be discovered by the capital ships first.

Deng Shichang's plan was that if the West Sea Fleet came from the source, he would lead the main fleet to meet the enemy, drag the enemy with three armor-iron capital ships, and win time for the other warbands to destroy the West Sea Fleet and troop carriers, and at the same time prepare to implement counter-encirclement tactics for the enemy fleet and completely annihilate the West Sea Fleet in one fell swoop.

Of course, the premise is that the West Sea Fleet arrives. Deng Shichang and almost all the admirals did not think that the West Sea Fleet would dare to come, because of the huge disparity in strength between the two sides. If the navy still wants to keep the last bit of fire, it will not do it like this.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ 17 nautical miles northeast of Amami Island, artillery roared and huge waves rolled.

After receiving Deng Shichang's order, the battleship Seascale immediately launched an attack on the ship Mogami, and at the same time ordered five US troop carriers to stop.

But Americans look down on Chinese more than the British, as can be seen from the Chinese Exclusion Act implemented by the Americans, and in the eyes of Americans, Chinese are even inferior to black Americans. Therefore, the five American troop carriers did not stop, and under the command of Captain James, they immediately accelerated towards Amami Island.

And the Sea Scale is attacking the Mogami, and there is no time to halt the American fleet.

On the bridge of the Sea Scale, when Chief of Staff Wu Daqing reported the incident to Captain Chen Jiliang, the latter was immediately laughed at.

"Damn, they all say that the Yankees are dragged, and they really have a fucking temper!"

Wu Daqing said with a smile: "If the Americans knew that Amami Island was already in our hands, if they knew that there were dozens of warships waiting for them on their way, I think their expressions at that time must have been very funny." ”

Chen Jiliang nodded and said, "Let's hurry up and sink this ship, turn around and catch up with them, and sink them with one shot if we provoke Lao Tzu." ”

As he spoke, a shell from the ship's main gun fell not far from the left foreport of the Sea Scale, and only a loud "boom" sound was heard, and huge waves several tens of meters high rose on the sea surface, and the sea water splashed violently, spilling on the bow deck and bridge of the Sea Scale, and drenching Chen Jiliang, Wu Daqing, and other bridge commanders.

"Captain, let's go down to the commander tower, right?"

A sergeant stepped forward to persuade him.

Chen Jiliang waved his hand and said disdainfully: "Lao Tzu is nailed here, the little devil has the ability to take Lao Tzu's life, but it's a pity, Lord Yan dislikes us too ugly and doesn't accept us!" ”

Chen Jiliang's joke immediately caused the crew on the bridge to burst into laughter.

Chief of Staff Wu Daqing turned to the ship's sergeant and said, "It's okay! The ship's guns are too weak, and their main guns are still old-fashioned breech guns, so it would be good to be able to fire one shot in a few minutes. I think with the firepower of our Seascale, we will be able to sink her in less than ten minutes. ”

Wu Daqing's words are true, the Sea Scale is a strengthened version of the Yoshino, as a dome cruiser known for its firepower and speed, the speed of the Sea Scale is almost twice that of the top number, and the firepower is four times that of the top number.

At 3:53 p.m., the top number in the Eastern Hiding Province was once again occupied by the Sea Scale. At this moment, the starboard side of Mogami was repeatedly subjected to salvos from the Seascale's firepower, and the battleship with its iron-ribbed wooden hull could not withstand the firepower of the Seascale's powerful rapid-fire guns, and was suddenly in flames. The gunwales could not fire, and all the officers and men of the ship were doing their best to extinguish the fire. The Sea Scale took the opportunity to approach the enemy ship and launched a fierce attack on the enemy ship at close range.

"Fix the Yuan!"

"Target enemy ship, azimuth 030, distance 750 meters!"

"Five rapid fires, ready!"

"Ready-to-go!"

When the order was issued, two Armstrong 8-inch 40-caliber rapid-fire guns on the port side of the Seascale, and five 6-inch 40-caliber Armstrong rapid-fire guns in the five ear towers, opened fire with a bang, thick smoke spewed out, and the shells burst out in an instant, shooting onto the enemy ship in the blink of an eye.

"Boom!"

Hot shells exploded all over the enemy ship, and in an instant, a cloud of fiery mushrooms rose. The enemy ship shook violently, and an eight-inch main gun shell pierced through the amidship wall of the starboard ship of the top ship, causing a violent explosion.

In an instant, the enemy ship was in flames and black smoke billowed out.

"Bang bang bang!"

The Seascale's 12 47mm and 25mm Habekes small rapid-fire guns continued to rain shells on the enemy ships, firing more than 400 shells in just three minutes. Such a close range of fire caused great damage to the combat personnel of enemy ships. Suddenly, there were many dead bodies on the ship, stumps and broken arms were scattered on the deck, flesh and bones flew sideways, blood flowed into rivers, and the stench was stinking.

The enemy ship Mogami was hit hard by the fire of the Sea Scale, and the fire on the starboard side became even more intense, and the flames were scorching and the sky was covered with thick smoke. In the sea of fire and smoke, more than ninety percent of the ship's personnel were killed or wounded, and they suddenly lost their combat effectiveness.

At 3:58, Mogami attempted to evade the Sea Scale's artillery attack, but her intention was pierced by the Sea Scale's captain Chen Jiliang. With the absolute advantage of speed, the Sea Scale always clings to the enemy ship and takes advantage of your illness to kill you in a crazy attack. When the ship's wooden-hulled hull was boarded, it was beaten into a sieve, and the bullets were riddled and flames flew.

At four o'clock, during the second round of main gun attacks on the Seascale, one 152-mm shell and several 47-mm rapid-fire shells simultaneously hit the starboard waterline of the enemy ship. The shells exploded violently, raising a huge flame, which immediately tore through the thin protective wall of the enemy ship's waterline, and thick smoke gushed out from the tear, and then the sea water poured into it, and the enemy ship quickly tilted to the right at the speed of the eye, and began to sink.

After sinking the Mogami, the Sea Scale immediately turned around and chased after the American convoy that was already sailing five nautical miles. In the words of Chen Jiliang, the captain of the Sea Scale, "Lao Tzu wants to make the Yankees always powerful."

At 4:50 a.m., the Sea Scale caught up with the American fleet. At the same time, five battleships of the Second Squadron of the Royal Navy and six destroyers of the Fifth Squadron rushed to the front.

The Seascale immediately ordered the American captain James to stop the ship, but James saw that he could not hide and was forced to stop.

The Sea Scales questioned with a loudspeaker, but the American captain James resolutely refused to admit that there were troops on board, and at the same time refused to inspect them, and in turn questioned why the Sea Scales had rudely intercepted the American merchant ships, and frightened Chen Jiliang, saying that he would sue the Qing Imperial Prime Minister Yamen and the Admiralty.

James, like the British captain Hoss, has not yet been liberated from the original impression of the Qing Empire, and thinks that the navy of the Qing Empire is as cowardly as the court of the Qing Empire, and he does not dare to offend the foreigners at all, especially the strong national strength of the United States, even the British are afraid of three points, so he does not take Chen Jiliang's words seriously.

At 5:20 a.m., the Sea Scale sent a representative to board the ship in a small boat to check the licenses of the merchant ships. Captain James of the American ship showed his license and drew the attention of the soldiers of the Sea Scale to the fact that this was an American merchant ship, but the representative of the Sea Scale ignored it and asked the American captain James: "Your five merchant ships are carrying our own soldiers, and now we ask for their arrest, your five ships are going to go with the Sea Scale, do you agree?" ”

Captain James of the United States immediately refused: "Impossible! You have no right to seize our ship and our passengers! If you don't let you go, I will sue your Prime Minister's Yamen and let the Prime Minister's Yamen clean you up! ”

The representative of the Sea Scale said coldly: "You are convenient, but you must hand over all the people you have now and follow us, otherwise we will use force to sink your fleet." ”

James gritted his teeth in anger, but seeing that there were all the warships of the Qing Empire around him, and the muzzle of the black hole was aimed at him, his heart jumped suddenly, and finally replied: "If the order is followed, I have no other way but to obey in protest." But I reserve the right to complain to you! ”

The representative of the Seascale ignored him and disembarked and left.

Subsequently, Chen Jiliang ordered the Sea Scale to signal again: "Immediately lift the anchor or cut the cable, and follow me!" ”

The American captain James was about to obey the order, and many officers and men of the Fourth Division of the Japanese Army on board immediately stopped James, and the whole ship immediately started to move.

Zhang Xiaogao of the 33rd Wing of the Fourth Division, the supreme commander of the ship, once again resolutely opposed, and said to the officers and men on the ship: "We must not surrender, we must not be humiliated by the Qing army, and we must not be disgraced by His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

After speaking, he drew his sword and rushed to Captain James and shouted: "You Yankee, listen, if you dare to surrender to the Qing army, I will kill you immediately!" ”

The crowd was excited, and responded in unison, and for a time James's ship was full of people.

Captain James tried to persuade Xiao Gao Youji, and said, "Your Excellency, I understand your feelings!" ”

Then, James saw the soldiers sharpening their knives one by one, and wanted to kill him, and said, "Resistance is useless, a cannonball can sink the ship in a short time." It's useless for you to kill me, unless the barrel of your gun becomes a cannon barrel, but that's obviously impossible. ”

Xiao Gao grabbed Captain James's neck again and said fiercely: "We would rather die than be captured!" ”

Captain James continued: "Please think again, surrender is the best policy, think about it, if you die, it will be a hundred dead, but if you live, you will have a chance to take revenge in the future." ”

Xiao Gao naturally did not have James's values again, and he thought that surrender was a disgrace. So he said: "Unless the Chinese agree with us to return to Osaka Bay, we will fight to the death and will never surrender!" Rather loyal to His Majesty the Emperor! ”

James was so frightened that his face turned green, and he hurriedly said: "You are not afraid of death, but I am afraid of death!" If you do have to fight to the death, please leave me and my crew. ”

Xiao Gao sneered again and said, "It's not so easy if you want to run!" Unless we escape together, you will die with us. ”

James immediately cried and begged for mercy: "Please, let us go?" ”

Xiao Gao smiled again: "Do you know why I have to detain you?" As long as you Americans die on the ship, you American political axe will put pressure on Qing Zheng axe, and even you American political axe may start a war with Qing Zheng axe, if that's the case, then even if we all die, it's worth it! ”

James suddenly sat down on the deck and scolded Xiao Gao for being shameless again.

Xiao Gao allowed him to curse again, ordered someone to take care of him, and guarded all the davits on the ship, and did not allow anyone to leave the ship.

Captain James then sent a signal for the Seascale to send another person to inform him of what was happening on board.

"Damn, what the hell? If we don't surrender, we'll open fire! ”

Chen Jiliang, the captain of the Sea Scale, looked at the sky, and it was dark when he saw it, and he didn't have time to spend it with them.

"Let's send someone over to take a look!" Chief of Staff Wu Daqing said: "It is estimated that something happened on the ship!" ”

Chen Jiliang then nodded in agreement, and then sent a representative to approach the American steamer in a small boat, but this time he did not get on the boat, but only talked on the side of the ship.

James's deputy, the ship's first mate, Silgan, said with a handful of snot and tears: "The captain has lost his freedom and cannot obey your orders, and the soldiers on the ship will not allow him to do so. ”

Silgen then explained: "The captain said that he would bring a letter to the captain that he refused to be taken prisoner and insisted on returning to Osaka Bay. ”

At the same time, he pointed out that the five ships belonged to the US Pacific Mail Shipping Company, were regular American merchant ships, and that China had not yet declared war when they left the port of Osaka Bay. Even now that war has been declared, this request is justified.

The representative of the Sea Scale was half-understood, and drove back to talk to Chen Jiliang vaguely.

Although the explanation of his subordinates was vague, Chen Jiliang and Wu Daqing understood that the army refused to surrender and detained the American captain and crew.

Chief of Staff Wu Daqing asked worriedly: "What can I do about this?" ”

Chen Jiliang thought about it, and suddenly smiled: "This is a good opportunity!" ”

Wu Daqing looked at Chen Jiliang puzzled, Chen Jiliang explained: "Think about it, I said that I detained the Americans, we have a reason to attack the ship, even if the Americans negotiate with us, we can say that the Americans have agreed to hand over the ship, but I said that I hijacked the ship." This American helped the Americans, and they turned into the Americans who hijacked and threatened us, and this matter is reversed, and we can attack them directly? ”

Wu Daqing's eyebrows jumped and he shook his head, not understanding.

Chen Jiliang said a lot, and his chief of staff didn't understand, which really hit his mood.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand, you will understand slowly! Shipmaster! ”

"Here!"

"Report what I just said to the fleet commander word for word!"

"Yes!"

The sergeant left and quickly informed Deng Shichang of Chen Jiliang's analysis.

After Deng Shichang and Lin Jianzhang discussed it, they thought that Chen Jiliang's suggestion was very reasonable, and in the current situation, he had to do this, and he could not let the army go back safely.

So Deng Shichang sent a new order to Du Xigui of the Second Combat Force, commander of the Yuyong, and Chen Jiliang of the Sea Scale, allowing the ships to attack and sink five American troop carriers.

After receiving the order, the five battleships of the Second Sentai and the six ships of the Seascale blocked the possible escape routes of the five American ships, and at the same time ordered the six lightning destroyers of the Fifth Sentai to approach the five American steamers and prepare to release the torpedoes.

It was already half past seven, and the negotiations had gone on for several hours, and it was already dark.

The Sea Scale gave an ultimatum: "The Americans leave the ship immediately!" ”

However, the army refused to release the ship, and the American captain James again signaled the Sea Scales: "I will not allow us to leave the ship, please send another small boat to negotiate." ”

Chen Jiliang's patience was gone, and he immediately ordered the Sea Scale to reply: "No more boats can be sent." ”

At 7:35 a.m., the six destroyers of the Fifth Sentai moved forward separately, circled around the five American ships several times, and finally stopped at a distance of 150 meters.

At 7:40 a.m., the Exocet was the first to suddenly launch a torpedo, hitting an American ship. Immediately afterwards, the five destroyers "Pegasus," "Flying Snake," "Flying Leopard," "Flying Fox," and "Flying Tiger" fired torpedoes one after another, and in an instant, the five American steamers exploded violently, and the merchant ship without any protection could not withstand the attack of a single torpedo and immediately sank.

At this time, the Japanese soldiers on all ships poured out one after another, attacking the Qing warships with rifles until their hulls sank completely.

Faced with this situation, a large amount of ordnance and supplies on the five American steamers would certainly not be available, and Chen Jiliang, who was quite unhappy, immediately ordered the Sea Scale to use rapid-fire guns to shoot at the soldiers who had fallen into the water. At the same time, the commanders and all the officers and men of the other ships also thought of this, and for a while, the angry Qing Imperial naval officers and men used rapid-fire guns to shoot and kill the soldiers who fell into the water to vent their anger, and in the blink of an eye, thousands of soldiers were killed and wounded.

(To be continued)