With the order, the speed of the whole fleet slowed down, slowly turned right, the port gunners were busy with artillery aiming correction through the artillery ruler, one by one the muzzles were aimed at the nearest warship, quietly waiting for the order, after countless live-fire exercises, and after several actual battles, in the face of the old-fashioned Japanese naval warships, all the gunners were self-controlled, and even gunners whispered ridicule at the Japanese warships that did not know whether they were alive or dead.

On the flagship of the Nanyang Fleet, all the soldiers and officers were busy with solemn expressions, and the atmosphere was a little nervous, and the lookout posts on the main mast began to constantly report the distance of the enemy ships in a loud voice, and then they were quickly reported to Shi Shibiu's ears.

Shi Shibi, Yinxiang, Long Keduo, Lin Wei, Fu Anding and others all stood on the deck, no one spoke, everyone quietly waited for Shi Shibi's order, except for Long Keduo, everyone else had experienced naval battles, hundreds of warships of the Japanese sailors rushed to their faces, although the momentum was magnificent, but they all knew in their hearts that these warships were no different from target ships, but Long Keduo felt a little excited, this kind of scene, as shocking as the scene of tens of thousands of cavalry charges, made him a little excited.

"The enemy ship is two thousand four hundred yards away!"

This is the distance where the hit rate of the 32-pounder cannon reaches 20%, and Shi Shibiu's face is solemn and unmoved.

"The enemy ship is two thousand two hundred yards away!"

"The enemy ship is two thousand yards away!"

"The enemy ship is 1,800 yards away!"

This was already a distance of fifty percent between the twenty-four-pounder cannon and the eighteen-pounder gun, Shi Shibiao finally spoke, and ordered in a deep voice: "Order all ships to fire a salvo of heavy guns of more than eighteen pounder!" ”

The experienced gunners of each ship knew that a distance of 1,800 yards was the best distance for a long-range attack, and they had already been prepared, and as soon as they received the order, the sound of "boom boom" immediately resounded throughout Edo Bay, and the salvo of 400 guns was like a rolling thunder overhead, and the sound was extremely amazing.

Hundreds of visible shells whizzed out, bringing a loud piercing sound through the air. Densely flew towards the formation of the Japanese naval warships in front, and puffs of smoke immediately filled the air.

The recoil produced by the battleship's artillery salvo was quite huge, the whole battleship shook violently, and leaned back sharply, Yinxiang, Shi Shibiao, Lin Wei and others were all experienced, and after hearing the order to fire a salvo, they all grabbed the side of the ship tightly and opened their mouths.

For the first time, Roncodo experienced a naval battle. Although he was admonished earlier, he didn't take it seriously, although he was not fallen, but his ears were shocked and roared, he had never experienced the scene of hundreds of heavy artillery bombardment around him, he couldn't help but shake his hands for a while, his face was pale, this momentum was really terrifying.

Hearing this deafening cannon sound, Yokoho Otani couldn't help but widen his eyes, the Qing Navy actually opened fire at such a distance. Isn't this a waste of shells? Could it be a bunch of recruits?

However, when it was clearly visible, countless huge shells fell accurately into the array of warships in front. Seeing the sawdust flying from countless warships, hearing the sound of "bang" crashing, and seeing countless water columns rising in front of and behind the warships, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in horror, what kind of artillery is this? Able to accurately hit the target at a distance of more than ten dings? How can this battle be fought?

He was not the only one who was fluted, almost all the officers and men of the Japanese naval division were as if in a dream, which simply subverted their perception of artillery. Subverted the traditional tactics of naval warfare, at this distance, they were not at all psychologically prepared for shelling. They weren't ready to dodge at all, and they were still busy going back and forth on the deck.

The heavy "bang" was constantly resounding around him, and a large number of sawdust and broken pieces of wood were flying all over the sky by the shells, and the unsuspecting officers and soldiers were stabbed and stabbed to death by the large number of splashed sawdust and broken wood pieces, and when they boarded, the ship was filled with panicked shouts, wails, moans, and all kinds of chaotic orders. …,

The Qing navy's breech-loading rifled guns were not only accurate, but also pointed-tipped shells were powerful and penetrating, and an eighteen-pounder gun filled with five pounds of gunpowder could penetrate two-foot-thick oak at a distance of 800 yards, and even at a distance of 1,800 yards, it could still effectively penetrate a one-foot-thick pine plank.

The patrol warships of the Japanese naval division, that is, the main warships of the Edo Bay naval division, were imitated from the naval warships of the Chinese Ming and early Qing dynasties, they called them Tang ships, these warships due to the extensive use of watertight shelving technology, rarely used ribs, and the strength of the hull was supported by the partition of the watertight compartment, so that the hull was not as thick as the Western sail warship, and the thin hull could not withstand the heavy hit of 18-pound and 24-pound shells, not to mention the 32-pound running bullets, once hit, they were immediately pierced.

In the first salvo of the South Sea Fleet, more than 20 Japanese sailor patrol warships, which rushed to the forefront and played the role of fireships, were immediately penetrated in many places, and the carpenters on the ship were simply unable to fill the loopholes in time, and as soon as the ship entered the water, the speed immediately slowed down.

Yinxiang, Lin Wei and others stood on the deck and looked at the chaotic Japanese sailor camp with binoculars, all of them were excited, Long Keduo saw the situation in front of him, and his first thought was, in the face of this kind of distant and accurate artillery, wouldn't the cavalry charge become a joke? The best distance for cavalry charging is 500 meters, and in front of a kind of artillery, it is simply impossible to effectively assemble, and the appearance of this kind of artillery is simply a cavalry nightmare!

Shi Shibiao was distracted at this time, observing with a telescope, while silently counting in his heart, preparing to order a second round of shelling.

After the Japanese sailors who had suffered minor losses and were lucky enough to be hit, reacted, although they were frightened in their hearts, they did not receive an order, and no one dared to lower their sails to slow down, let alone turn, but they still rushed forward quickly, but all the officers and leaders on board hesitated slightly, and they received the order to ignite when they entered the range of the enemy's artillery.

No one expected that the Qing naval artillery would be able to accurately hit them at a distance of more than ten ding, if they started to ignite at this time, the fire borrowed the wind, I am afraid that before they could rush in front of the Qing warship, the warship would be on fire, and they would have to die in the fire first.

The officers and soldiers of the water division are samurai from top to bottom, and the core characteristic of bushido is loyalty, which mainly refers to obedience and loyalty to the lord and the monarch.

As soon as the flammable dry wood in the bow of the ship was soaked in oil, black smoke came out, and as soon as someone raised the fire, the other officers no longer hesitated, and ordered the fire to be lit.

Seeing that the other party really intended to attack, Shi Shibiao did not hesitate and said in a deep voice: "Order!" Free shelling of all ships! ”

Seeing the billowing smoke, Lin Wei couldn't help frowning, fortunately they were not in a downwind position, otherwise, they would definitely be at a loss by this never-before-seen situation, the battleship artillery salvo itself will produce a large amount of smoke, in the downwind position, the smoke produced by the gunpowder often pours in from the artillery window, if it is poured into the cabin by this billowing smoke, they must retreat.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Shi Shibiao with great fear, Jiang is still old and spicy, these practical experiences are not in the textbook, the post-war meeting, must be solemnly proposed, and it is recommended that the dean add the prevention and use of smoke to the textbook.

With the issuance of the order to 'free shelling of all ships', the captains of each ship immediately became excited, and immediately searched for their own targets, and the continuous sound of cannons immediately sounded on the sea.

Zhang Chang'an, a native of Fujian, one of the first Han detachment captains to be promoted, is now the captain of a third-class battleship numbered Jiang 015, and the actual commander of the fourth grade, after receiving the order to free shelling, he did not order the shelling. ..., his battleship was at the front of the entire fleet, and at the front of his battleship, two Japanese warships 1,500 yards away from them had been shot into the water in many places in the first round of shelling, and now they were as slow as snails, and they would sink on their own in a short time, and there was no need to waste shells.

Zhang Changan searched the sea surface with a telescope for a while, and couldn't help but put down the telescope in disappointment, the sea surface has shown an overwhelming advantage, the Japanese warship closest to the fleet is still a thousand yards away, it has been shot in many places, facing sinking, where is this actual combat, it is purely a target shooting, the Eastern Expedition to Japan, the highlight seems to be the Marine Corps.

When Yokoho Otani saw this situation, he finally gave up completely, the artillery of the Qing people not only had a long range and hit accurately, but even the speed of the cannon was beyond his cognition, he believed that even if he charged with all his strength, no warship could rush into their ten ding range, and the battle was just his wishful thinking, and it was impossible for people to give him a chance.

"Coward!" Yoyoto Otani scolded hatefully, and then ordered: "Turn around and evacuate the battlefield!" ”

Escaping may not be able to escape, but at least it can delay the landing of the Qing navy, and Otani Yunho now has no idea of luck, he just hopes to delay a little more time and buy more time for Edo to set up defenses, he has a hunch that no one can save Edo except for the 'kamikaze'.

However, it was too late for Yoshiho Ohtani to retreat, and all the Japanese warships were now within a range of 1,800 yards of long-range fire, and as soon as the remaining Japanese warships began to turn and prepare to flee, the captains of each ship shifted their targets and began to strike at the turning ships.

Shi Shibiao was willing to let the boiled duck fly, and immediately ordered, saying: "Order the five ships in front to raise their sails, the left rudder, and the Ouroboros to pursue, and all auxiliary ships, full sails, to block from the side, and not to intercept them head-on." ”

At the moment of the order, the entire fleet immediately split into three and began to outflank up and down.