The whole day on February 12th. Vice Admiral Koichi Shiozawa, commander of the Japanese Navy's First Foreign Heritage Fleet, stood on the bridge of the flagship battleship Fuso, silently holding a telescope and watching the Chinese planes flying from the west one after another, circling around his fleet to take pictures. Even the young Chinese pilots on those planes were clearly visible to him.

It wasn't until five o'clock in the afternoon that the last batch of Chinese reconnaissance planes flew farther and farther away in the setting sun, and finally turned into a few points in the sky, that he put down his binoculars and sighed deeply at Yoshida Zengo, chief of staff of the fleet beside him: "There are still so many planes of the Chinese army coming to reconnoiter them in the waters of North Korea!" And it flies far. Today's China Navy is not a child of the Manchu Navy during the First Sino-Japanese War! It is a young and energetic navy, and we must redouble our efforts! ,, and then issued a heavy order: "Send a telegram to Rijitai to report that our fleet has arrived at the designated position, and this fleet is about to begin to carry out the combat mission of breaking into the Bohai Bay!" ，．

"Your Excellency, the Tenryu reports that a light cruiser of the Kuomintang Army has been spotted 20 nautical miles southwest of the Port of Arthur, and it is preparing to intercept it! As soon as the chief of staff of the fleet, Yoshida Zengo, turned to leave, one of the staff officers hurried onto the bridge.

"207 nautical miles southwest of Lushunkou? ,,Shiozawa Koichi has long been familiar with the situation at the mouth of the Bohai Bay, isn't it close to the Changshan Islands? The Northeast Army Navy of China built a naval base there, and after the Manchurian Incident, it seems that it was occupied by the Kuomintang Navy of the South Branch. While he was wondering if the appearance of this light cruiser there was a conspiracy of the Shina people.

The staff officer shouted again.

"Your Excellency, Major General Sadajiro Toyoda reports that they have accelerated. ，．

"What?! ,, Lieutenant General Koichi Shiozawa almost fell down, this damn official fan (Sadajiro Toyoda's mantra: ""I just want to be a minister,,) must want to make meritorious service and want to go crazy! He immediately shouted: "Send a telegram and tell him not to fall for the people of China, his task is to provide protection for the minesweepers!" ，．

"Your Excellency's report on Rear Admiral Toyoda, the last Shina light cruiser continued to fire at the advance detachment to interfere with minesweeping operations. The staff officer hesitated for a moment and defended Sajiro Toyoda.

"Damn. Of course, Shiozawa Koichi knew that this was Sadajiro Toyoda making excuses, but this excuse was also reasonable, if the cruiser did not expel the Shina cruiser, it would inevitably affect the operation of the minesweeper, and it would be dark now, and it would be even more difficult to sweep the mine. So after thinking about it, he immediately ordered: "Let Toyota expel the Shina light cruiser, and don't be led into the minefield by the Shina people." ，．

"Hey! After the staff officer left, Vice Admiral Shiozawa Koichi took a heavy breath, and now he only hoped that Sadajiro Toyoda would not get carried away and break into the minefield and sink the precious heavy cruiser.

"Fire! ，．

In the sea near the Changshan Islands, four scorching fireballs erupted from the starboard side of the Japanese light cruiser Tenryu, and four 140-millimeter main guns continued to roar at the cruiser flying the blue sky and white sun flag in the distance.

"Captain, their firepower is so fierce that we can't seem to beat it.

Before the gunner could finish speaking, the Draco seemed to have been hit by something several times in a row, and the fire rose from the deck in an instant! Within ten minutes of engagement, the new light cruiser of the Great Japanese Navy was hit by a salvo from its opponent. Although the opponent is also a light cruiser, the standard displacement of the Königsberg class is 67 tons, which is less than half of the opponent's. The difference in firepower between the two sides is even greater, with the Guang Königsberg class having nine 150 mm guns, while the Tenryu only has four 140 mm guns.

"Captain, General Toyoda told us to hold it off, the Furutaka and Izumo are coming! ,, The first mate on the side also shouted loudly, "Hold on? Captain Ishida smiled bitterly at the corner of his mouth, sighed softly as he looked at the cannonballs that rained down, and gave the order to fight to the end.

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With this order, huge fireballs soon rose repeatedly on the thin hull of the Celestial Dragon, and in a short time the entire battleship was in flames, and the black-blue plumes of smoke rose straight into the sky.

And in the ocean just a few nautical miles away from the damaged Tenryu, two huge heavy cruisers were speeding up.

"General, it seems that the Draco has been seriously injured, right? That column of smoke,.

"Don't worry, it's impossible for those people to sink the Imperial warship, let the Celestial Dragon hold on a little longer, and we'll be there soon." ，．

Rear Admiral Sadajiro Toyoda, who was fighting on the bridge of the heavy cruiser Furutaka, waved his hand contemptuously, he didn't care about the surface ships of the Kuomintang Navy. According to intelligence, the Kuomintang Navy now had heavy cruisers armed with only nine 150-mm guns, which was simply not enough to cope with a real naval battle. The only thing that the Kuomintang Navy could pose a threat to the Imperial Navy was the planes, but now that the night had begun to cover the ocean, no matter how powerful their planes were, it was impossible to fly in the dark night sky, right?

Looking at the naval battle that was fighting not far away, he was very moved, because at this moment he had a Furutaka-class heavy cruiser and an Izumo-class armored cruiser, and a total of ten naval guns of more than 200 mm were equipped, which was enough to smash the unknown Shina light cruiser to pieces. With the first skill of sinking enemy ships, he should be able to rise to the top in the navy in the future. Sooner or later, the throne of the Admiral will fall into his own hands, right?

"General, the Tenryu reported that another China cruiser was discovered, which should be of the Canton class. ,,""It's great! Sadajiro Toyoda smiled contemptuously and looked at his watch, five fifty in the afternoon. Then shake the dark blue military uniform: ""Order, raise the Z-flag, we will end the battle before eight o'clock!" There is still a feast waiting for us in Huludao. ，．

Jinan, six o'clock in the evening.

In the headquarters of Wanzhuyuan, the staff officers in front of the wall were constantly marking red, blue, and green arrows and dots on the tactical map, and anyone who saw this seemingly chaotic pile of dots and lines would be dizzy at first glance.

But as time went by, the situation map of the entire battlefield became clearer.

Vice Admiral Long Tenghui, who had just been promoted to chief of the general staff of the Navy, held a baton and explained the current situation to Marshal Luo Yaoguo, who was sitting in Jinan to supervise the war.

Although Luo Yaoguo had already read the entire plan for the Bohai Bay operation, in fact, the battle plan had to be approved by him, the chief of the general staff of the National Revolutionary Army. Naturally, he knew the entire campaign deployment inside out.

However, at this time, he still concentrated all his energy and listened carefully to Long Tenghui's explanation. In fact, what Luo Yaoguo is really good at is actually the Air Force, and his understanding of naval warfare is only based on the knowledge of naval and air battles in the Pacific War. He is also very ignorant of what the naval battle was going on before the aircraft dominated the sea. It is only known that the navy wants to trick the main fleet of the Japanese Navy into Bohai Bay, and then find a way to block the exit, and then slowly toss them or find a way to sink them.

However, with Long Tenghui's explanation, he had a further understanding of the current naval warfare, especially the tactics of mines.

Originally, the navy's strategy was to first enter the Japanese fleet into the Bohai Bay, then block the entrance to the Bohai Bay with mines, and then slowly consume the strength of the Japanese fleet through aircraft air raids, submarine sneak attacks, and mine guards, especially their destroyers and light cruisers, and wait until the four battleships lost the layers of protection of destroyers and light cruisers, and finally use submarines to completely annihilate them. Of course, this process is a bit long, and there are many variables. For example, after suffering certain losses, the Japanese fleet can retreat to Yingkou Harbor in the Bohai Bay to wait for rescue, and the main force of the Combined Fleet may also move west again to rescue the trapped Japanese First Foreign Fleet.

The key to the success or failure of the entire Bohai Bay operation is two points: first, mine-laying and mine-sweeping warfare at the mouth of the Bohai Bay; second, the gains and losses of the Huludao fortress and the Qinhuangdao port. If the Japanese army had taken over the mines at the entrance to Bohai Bay, the First Dispatch Fleet would have successfully escaped. Similarly, the fall of Huludao and Qinhuangdao also meant the failure of the entire Bohai Bay operation, and even the annihilation of the First Foreign Fleet could not save the entire situation, and the hope of a quick victory over Japan was completely shattered.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the land forces that played a supporting role in this operation will face the coordinated operations of the Japanese Navy and Army in the battles of Huludao Fortress, Shanhaiguan and Qinhuangdao, and they will most likely fight the enemy under the guns of the Japanese battleships! Heavy casualties will be borne for the victory of the navy.

Yes, this battle is to exchange the blood of the army for the brilliant victory of the navy! What will the army think about such an arrangement?

Luo Yaoguo turned his head, and saw An Sihua on the side with a serious face, his brown eyebrows were furrowed tightly, and even he, who had never smoked much, didn't know where to get a cigarette at this time, and took a big puff. Luo Yaoguo couldn't help but take a deep breath, he also knew very well that the 11th Division in Huludao would have to fight under the threat of forty 356mm cannons, which would mean unimaginable sacrifices.

"I believe that the Eleventh Division, they can carry this hurdle!" Luo Yaoguo smiled faintly and said a word of comfort. However, it was only a consolation, although the 11th Division was known for its ability to build fortifications, but it faced 356 mm guns.

No matter how strong a field fortification is, it is no different from a thin layer of rice paper.

An Sihua smiled deeply, and just as he wanted to say something, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

"" report. The naval staff officer strode into Wanzhutang, holding the battle report he had just received: "The Guangzhou and Chongqing of the Beiyang Fleet exchanged fire with Japanese ships in the waters near Daqin Island. Heavily damaged a Japanese light cruiser, the Chongqing was shot and caught fire! ,,""Three turrets! Turret No. 3 was shot and broken! Loss of combat effectiveness. The ammunition compartment has been closed and the fire has been brought under control. ，．

By this time, the situation of naval battle at the entrance to Bohai Bay had been completely reversed, and now it was the turn of the cruisers Chongqing and Guangzhou of the Chinese Navy to be beaten. In the artillery battle just now, they used eighteen 150 and a half naval guns to beat the Japanese light cruiser Tenryu all over the ground, dragging thick black smoke, and the hull was seriously tilted out of the battle, and I don't know if it will sink?

However, the two Japanese heavy cruisers that arrived immediately turned the tide of the battle with ten 200/203 mm guns and 14 150 mm secondary guns. The Guangzhou and Chongqing were in a bitter battle for a while, especially the powerful fire of the four 203-mm main guns and seven 150-mm secondary guns on one side of the old Izumo armored cruiser at the same time, which enveloped the Chongqing cruiser in a rain of bullets. And the ten 150 mm guns of the Chongqing seem to be difficult to threaten its 175 mm thick side armor, and now the 203 mm armor-piercing shells fired from the main gun of the Yun pierced through the armor of the No. 3 turret of the Chongqing, and reimbursed one-third of the firepower of the Chongqing at once!

““***！ ,, In the command tower of the Chongqing, Chen Si, the commander of the mine team commanding the battle, listened to the report of the gun commander, his eyes were red, and his fist smashed the bulkhead.

Obviously, the idea of bringing people into the minefield to meet the luck is to steal chickens and rice, and originally wanted to take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Japanese fleet did not arrive to kill one or two Japanese ships, and by the way, interfere with the work of the Japanese minesweepers, but he did not expect to attract two Japanese heavy cruisers, especially this armored cruiser, which looked very old, and it really hit so many 150-mm shells, it seems that there is no big problem. It looks like it's time for this naval battle to come to an end.

Just when Chen Si was about to give the order to speed up the evacuation of the battlefield, a loud earth-shattering noise suddenly came from outside the command tower, Chen Si was slightly stunned, could it be that the Japanese ship was hit by a mine? !

Thinking of this, he hurriedly raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, only to see that in the distance there was billowing smoke rising from the bow of the warring Japanese heavy cruiser of the Canton, and it had obviously sunk, it looked like it should have hit a mine, and tons of seawater were pouring in continuously. Look, this guy is going to sink! It seems that the luck of these devils is not at home today!

"Well done! ,,"Kill these devils!" ,,""Sure enough, evil has evil retribution! ,,The officers in the command tower waved their heads excitedly, although this is not the Izumo armored cruiser that hit them just now, but as soon as this Japanese ship is finished, the Guangzhou can be encircled with the Chongqing Izumo, then the entire battle situation will change immediately. The navy will be able to win the first battle!

"Report, Commander Zhao sent an urgent telegram, ordering our mine team not to continue to fight with the enemy and to break away quickly. A staff officer put down the phone in his hand and looked back at Chen Si: "Commander, did you send a telegram to Chief Zhao to tell him about the situation here?" We're two to one now, and we have six destroyers ready to come over for reinforcements, and it seems that the odds are quite good, shall we do it again? ，．

The staff officer glanced out of the porthole, the armored cruiser Izumo, which was turning its course towards the sinking Furutaka.

Chen Si waved his hand, he knew that if he let it go, he would have a chance to knock out the old armored cruiser, and he also knew that his two cruisers would be much faster than the Japanese battleships, and it would be too late to run away when they were close, but he knew better what the goal of this Bohai Bay operation was.

If the Japanese had been beaten here, perhaps they would have changed their minds and not dared to enter the Bohai Bay, but the current result was just right, sinking a heavy cruiser and damaging a light cruiser, while the Chongqing was slightly wounded on their own side. "The result of the weak、,. Chinese navy in the first battle of Bohai Bay should be enough to humiliate the arrogant Japanese admirals, right? But then again, 1 Japan's artillery battle is still very powerful, if you rely on naval artillery to solve the battle, you must be the one who dies today! As a heavy cruiser, the nine 150-mm naval guns of this Canton are too weak! If it had been replaced by six 203-mm naval guns, it might not have been the current situation of being beaten.

Chen Si finally scolded Luo Yaoguo's "design,," of the air defense cruiser, and then gave the order to retreat.

"Send a signal to the Canton to withdraw from the battlefield, and let's go." Release the smoke and speed up the evacuation! ，．

As a series of evacuation orders were issued, the 8,000-ton air defense cruiser Guangzhou and the 6,000-ton light cruiser Chongqing were suddenly shook, and the steam turbines produced by the Zhonghua Shipyard and the Blomforss joint venture company let out a furious roar, raising the speed to more than 30 knots in just a few minutes, and then disappeared at the end of the sea level after a furious surge, leaving only the sinking Furutaka and the bewildered commander of the advance detachment of the Japanese First Foreign Fleet, Rear Admiral Toyoda Sadajiro.

"Dispatch. Sadajira Toyoda, who had just transferred his flagship to the Izumo, turned pale with a pale face.

Obviously frightened by the big explosion just now, his voice trembled slightly when he started to speak.

"The advance Lou team reported that it encountered two heavy cruisers of the China Navy, engaged for thirty-five minutes, and severely damaged one enemy heavy cruiser, and the enemy ship had been repulsed and fled in the direction of the Changshan Islands. ，，““… The light cruiser Tenryu was heavily damaged and lost its combat effectiveness, and the heavy cruiser Furutaka was hit by a mine, lost its combat effectiveness, lost power, and was being urgently repaired, and there was no other loss. At the same time, on the cruiser Chongqing, which was rapidly withdrawing from the battlefield, Chen Si, commander of the mine combat team of the Beiyang Fleet, was also recounting his results.

"According to the battle report of the mine combat team, between 5:50 and 6:30 a.m. on 12 February, while carrying out a mission in the waters near the Changshan Islands, Chongqing, the flagship of our mine warfare, and the Guangzhou air defense cruiser, encountered ships on the same day, sinking one Guying-class heavy cruiser and severely damaging one Tianlong-class light cruiser. The Chongqing light cruiser was damaged, the No. 3 turret lost its combat effectiveness, and the Guangzhou was slightly damaged. Now out of the battlefield...!