As evening approached, the wind and waves on the sea gradually increased. A gust of north wind swept across the sea, and the waves rolled.

The appearance of the Beiyang Naval Division forced the Russian Far East Fleet to give up continuing the battle and choose to retreat, and the naval battle came to an end.

In this naval encounter, the Pacific Fleet and the main forces of the Imperial Russian Far East Fleet met unexpectedly. The two sides fought fiercely for four hours, and finally the Imperial Russian Far East Fleet lost five of its main warships, including the Nicholas I, the Vidiaz, the Renda, the Manghan, and the Robbers. Among them, Nicholas I belonged to the 3,000-ton small armored cruisers, the Vidiaz and Renda belonged to the 3,000-ton protective cruisers, and the Manghan and the Robber belonged to the 2,000-ton unprotected cruisers. The total tonnage of losses amounted to more than 15,000 tons, 873 combat casualties, and only 25 people were captured by falling into the water, mainly because they were immersed in the cold sea water for a long time and froze to death.

On the Pacific Fleet's side, the flagship Weiyuan was heavily damaged as a decoy, the entire superstructure was almost razed to the ground, and the fire burned everything that could be burned above deck, 8 120mm rapid-fire guns, as well as 6 57-mm Haqikaisi single-barreled rapid-fire guns, 4 47-mm Haqikaisi rapid-fire guns, 10 Haqikaisi 25-mm rapid-fire guns were all destroyed, and four 240-mm Ghana guns survived, but three of the battery mounts were badly damaged and could not be rotated. There are hundreds of large and small craters on the hull, some of which are almost a few millimeters away, and there are even more bullet marks on the wall of the command tower. Of course, objectively speaking, the Weiyuan was able to survive thanks to its fortress-like armor protection, as well as the various sandbags installed on the battleship before the war, do not underestimate the role of sandbags, which can theoretically absorb and disperse more than 80% of the explosion energy. Of course, this is also related to the fact that most of the imperial Russian naval warship guns have short diameter and weak penetration, insufficient shell charge, and a large number of black powder, maroon powder, etc., resulting in the miraculous survival of the Weiyuan.

In addition to the Weiyuan, the Seascale, as the weakest warship in the Pacific Fleet's seven warships, was also heavily damaged, but because of the speed of the Seascale, it was able to withdraw from the battle sequence and be urgently repaired, so that it still retained more than half of its combat effectiveness.

The other five large armored cruisers were more or less damaged, but none of them affected their overall combat effectiveness.

More than 300 combatants of the Pacific Fleet were killed and more than 400 wounded. The vast majority of them were the combat personnel on the Weiyuan, the Weiyuan had a full strength of 442 people, and only 163 people remained after the war, and almost all the combat personnel on the deck were killed, and only more than 30 people in the command tower and the main gun turret survived.

Affected by the cold current in the North Pacific, the cold wind on the surface of the Yellow Sea is getting stronger and stronger, and the waves cover one wave after another, constantly lapping the side of the Weiyuan ironclad ship, and occasionally a few big waves crash into the bow of the ship, stirring up huge waves, surging onto the deck, scrubbing the blood on it.

After the battle, Wang Chenhao led the personnel of the fleet headquarters, accompanied by Lin Fan, captain of the Weiyuan, and Wang Shouchang, chief of staff, to inspect the heroic souls of the fallen officers and soldiers, encourage the surviving personnel, and show concern and warmth to the wounded.

The cruelty of the war has caused the officers and soldiers to endure physical wounds, and many of them will have to undergo amputation and face the mental blow of disability. Wang Chenhao expressed his condolences to the wounded and made encouraging remarks, affirmed the merits of the officers and men, and promised a series of bereavement-related matters, which made the hearts of all the officers and men of the Pacific Fleet warm one by one.

General Lyons spoke highly of Wang Chenhao's words and deeds, and although most of the casualties in this naval battle were British, it is undeniable that as mercenaries, this kind of war casualties have long been psychologically prepared. Wang Chenhao's handling of the post-war pension was also satisfactory to Lyons, and everything was handled in full accordance with the standard of bereavement for British naval sailors. This is a significant expense, but it is an acceptable price relative to the victory in the naval battle against Russia.

"My lord, Lord Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, has arrived!"

Lin Jianzhang reminded on the side, and Wang Chenhao ended the inspection and returned to the front deck.

"Ding Ruchang, the lowly commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, led his troops to see Lord Wang!"

Ding Ruchang was stunned for the first time when he saw Wang Chenhao, Wang Chenhao was very embarrassed and almost unrecognizable.

"Lord Ding, hurry up and be exempted, and all of you are also exempt. What do you mean by that? Do we still use this between us? ”

Wang Chenhao hurriedly stepped forward to help Ding Ruchang up, and at the same time signaled to others to be exempted.

Ding Ruchang said with a smile: "My lord, you are now a first-class minister, and you are also a minister with plenipotentiary orders, and we are all under your moderation, and the necessary etiquette is indispensable." ”

Wang Chenhao smiled slightly, and was humble and polite.

"Congratulations on your victory!"

"Congratulations on your victory in the naval battle!!"

Subsequently, Ding Ruchang took the lead in congratulating Wang Chenhao and the Pacific Fleet on their victory in the naval battle, and Deng Shichang, Liu Buyun, Lin Taizeng and other generals congratulated in unison.

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "It's just a little victory, the victory is that the Russian Navy doesn't know much about the Pacific Fleet, and the Russian main fleet is still there, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to bargain in the future." ”

Although it was a modest remark, it also pointed out the fundamental reason for the victory in this battle, if it were not for the Russian Far East Fleet's lack of understanding of the Pacific Fleet's armament and combat strength, and its insufficient response, the Pacific Fleet might not have been able to achieve such a great victory.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao introduced Lyons and other British advisers and Lin Jianzhang and other fleet officers to the generals of the Beiyang Naval Division, and it was another "long admiration" and "disrespect" and other mutual praise, which took most of the time before it ended.

The entire island of the Weiyuan had been razed to the ground, and there was really no place to discuss things, so Wang Chenhao invited Ding Ruchang and others to the Yuyong.

Boarding the battleship Yu Yong, the huge hull is larger than the Dingyuan ship, and the cabin aisle inside is also much wider than the Dingyuan ship.

"This guy is so luxurious, how much silver does it cost?"

In the captain's room, Deng Shichang sat comfortably on the sofa, stroking the luxuriously decorated cabin wall, his face full of intoxication.

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "This Yuyong cost about 500,000 pounds before and after. ”

"£500,000?"

The generals of the Beiyang Navy Division exclaimed, and Lin Tai once exclaimed: "According to the current conversion price of pounds to silver, it has reached 1 pair of 18.5 million pounds, which is 9 million taels of silver, and my God, the cost of the Dingyuan ship was only about 700,000 taels back then." ”

Liu Buyun also sighed: "Now the gold-silver ratio has risen to 1:39, and silver is depreciating crazily, and the common people no longer dare to use silver." If it weren't for Lord Wang's suggestion that the imperial court abandon the silver, it is estimated that our family background would be worthless now. ”

Everyone was full of emotion, and Wang Chenhao could be said to have helped them a lot.

Wang Chenhao secretly said that the international silver loss crisis has expanded, the highest in the same period in history has only risen to 1:33.5, and now it has risen by an additional 5.5, Wang Chenhao can't help but sigh that he has done a good thing for this country, otherwise the 5.5 gap will be completely borne by the Chinese people, which is an unimaginable heavy burden.

Ding Ruchang suddenly asked, "Presumably, Lord Wang has spent a lot of money on this fleet, right?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled faintly, knowing that Ding Ruchang was getting to the bottom in disguise, and he didn't plan to hide it from him Wang Chenhao, so he replied: "The various expenses add up to about 3.5 million pounds!" ”

The crowd was in an uproar again, 3.5 million pounds was 63 million taels, which was an astronomical amount for them.

Lin Taizeng said suddenly: "Since the adults are so rich, they must not care about helping our Beiyang Navy Division buy a few auxiliary ships, right?" ”

Wang Chenhao didn't know why, Deng Shichang hurriedly explained. Wang Chenhao was stunned for a moment, and secretly said that these guys are starting to worry about his silver now. However, thinking that they are also doing this to come over for reinforcements as soon as possible, the starting point is good. Besides, because the Beiyang Naval Division arrived in time, otherwise this naval battle might have to be fought until the evening.

"Let us divide one another, and what is mine is yours. Rest assured, it's on top of me. ”

Lin Tai laughed a few times and said, "When adults speak, they are just lifting their spirits, and it is comfortable to listen to!" ”

Everyone also understood that Wang Chenhao was saying polite words, but this was indeed as Lin Taizeng said, although it was not true, they sounded very comfortable.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao talked about the naval battle with the generals of the Beiyang Naval Division, and he had to let Zhao Sheng come out to make an expression of the sound and shadow. Whenever it was said that the enemy ship was sunk, everyone immediately applauded, and when their own side was injured, everyone immediately worried.

Night soon fell. In the middle of the month, a bright moon rises from the sea.

At about 6:30 p.m., the ships of the Pacific Fleet completed the post-war statistics, the wounded officers and men of the ships were properly treated, and the bodies of the fallen officers and men were collected and waited for the aftermath to be cleaned up after docking. However, there are still many soldiers' bodies that cannot be found or are incomplete, but Wang Chenhao ordered that their relics must be found, and they will also be built with a tomb after docking. This move was unanimously praised by the officers and men of the whole fleet.

At about 8 o'clock in the evening, the Pacific Fleet and the Beiyang Naval Division arrived at Weihaiwei Port. At this time, the Russian surveillance gunboats on the periphery had been withdrawn, and the siege of Weihaiwei had been lifted. The mine business has cleared it one by one with the enemy mines placed around the port, and rearranged its own minefields, redrawing a safe route.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the ships of the Beiyang Naval Division docked on the west side of the iron wharf on Liugong Island, and the Pacific Fleet docked on the east side. Because the Weiyuan and the Sea Scale were the most seriously damaged, they went directly to the dock of the Beiyang Navy Division in Mazijing for repairs.

At the same time, the fleet brought back by Wang Chenhao from the United States also set sail again from Rongcheng Bay, berthed at the Weihaiwei Bay Civil Wharf at night, and waited for tomorrow's departure to Tianjin, the final destination.

That night, Li Hongzhang sent a congratulatory telegram congratulating Wang Chenhao on his victory in the naval battle of the Eastern Ocean (Yellow Sea) under the command of Wang Chenhao. In addition to praising Wang Chenhao and his Pacific Fleet, his congratulatory message also paid more attention to praising the great contributions of Lyons and other 3,000 British mercenaries, and emphasized the paramilitary alliance between the Qing and Britain.

After Wang Chenhao arrived at the Weihaiwei base, he immediately sent a telegram to Cao Kun, commander-in-chief of the Beiyang Army in Fengtian, through the Weihaiwei Navy Yamen Office, ordering him to pay close attention to the movements of the Russian troops near Mukden and immediately launch an attack once the Russian troops showed signs of retreat.

At the same time that Cao Kun received Wang Chenhao's order, he also learned that the Russian Navy had been attacked by the Pacific Fleet, and the siege of Lushun and Weihaiwei had been lifted. The Pacific Fleet and the Beiyang Naval Division will form a joint fleet to regain control of the Yellow Sea, and the Tsarist Russian army in southern Liaoning will face a passive situation of being flanked by both land and sea, and the time for a counteroffensive has come.

Cao Kun immediately called Zhang Huaizhi, Guo Xudong, Zhao Huanti and others to discuss countermeasures, and the generals were overjoyed when they learned that Wang Chenhao had returned to China and that the Pacific Fleet had won the first battle and had severely damaged the Russian fleet, and hurriedly cooperated with Cao Kun to formulate a counteroffensive plan.

At the same time that Wang Chenhao sent an order to the Fengtian Cao Kun Department, he also issued an order to the Beiyang Army garrison in Tianjin. At this time, Wang Chenhao was already the minister with full authority to deal with Russian affairs, and the imperial court gave Wang Chenhao full power to negotiate with Russia and the war against Russia, and to control all domestic troops fighting against Russia. But the only thing Wang Chenhao can really control is his Beiyang Army. The imperial court only gave Wang Chenhao a month, Wang Chenhao knew that if the war could not be ended within a month, the imperial court would take the opportunity to clean him up, this conspiracy Wang Chenhao knew very well in his heart, so Wang Chenhao raced against time to take active action.

Wang Chenhao ordered the Seventh and Eighth Towns of the Beiyang Army stationed in the Beiyang Army to open overnight and move towards Mukden to prepare to participate in the Battle of Mukden. Wang Chenhao planned to use a battle of Mukden to completely eliminate the invading Russian army, and only by completely destroying this Russian army could the Russians be forced to give up unrealistic negotiation conditions and end the war as soon as possible.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Tianjin Beiyang Army station, Yang Shande, commander of the Seventh Town Division, Zhao Guoxian, chief of staff, Duan Zhigui, commander of the Eighth Town Division, and Jin Yunpeng, chief of staff, were called to the headquarters for a meeting at the same time, and Ruan Zhongshu, deputy secretary general of the Beiyang Army, read out Wang Chenhao's telegram in front of them and conveyed Wang Chenhao's latest order.

"It's finally time to go to war! We're thankful for all the flowers we've been waiting for! ”

Yang Shande, as the first batch of officers trained by Wang Chenhao himself, learned Wang Chenhao's mantra well.

"That's it! The other six towns have all made great contributions to the battlefield, and our seven or eight towns are not raised by our stepmothers, so why should we take care of our family? ”

Duan Zhigui, the commander of the Eighth Town, vomited bitter water, in order to participate in the war against Russia as soon as possible, except for the first and second towns of the Beiyang Army, which were formed before the outbreak of the war, the other six towns all completed all the training syllabus in the six months after the outbreak of the war.

Ruan Zhongshu waved his hand, blocked the words of several people, and said, "Okay! Hurry up after the prison scratches! My lord ordered the seventh and eighth towns to leave for Mukden overnight, and I had already greeted the train station, and all trains were requisitioned after 10 o'clock tonight, and the army rushed to Mukden by train. It's 9:03, and you still have fifty-seven minutes to prepare! ”

"Uh......"

Several people were dumbfounded, fifty-seven minutes, they had to complete the armed assembly, and they had to run to the train station five miles away, which was quite a tight time.

Jin Yunpeng, chief of staff of the eighth town, said with a bitter face: "Deputy Secretary-General Ruan, this is too tight!" ”

"Fifty-six minutes to go!"

Ruan Zhongshu didn't answer the question, but just looked at the pocket watch with a look that was none of my business.

"Not like that!"

"What's that brand of watch?" How did you go so fast! ”

Ruan Zhongshu said calmly: "Your Excellency's orders must be strictly implemented, I advise you not to be verbose, you see how positive Zhao Guoxian is." ”

Yang Shande, Duan Zhigui and Jin Yunpeng turned their heads to see that Zhao Guoxian had already disappeared, obviously going to gather troops.

The three of them glanced at each other, and suddenly rushed out.

The next moment, only the whistle of an emergency assembly was heard in the empty teaching field.

On the night of the ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※, Ding Ruchang held a banquet at the Weihaiwei Naval Office to welcome Wang Chenhao's return to China and to celebrate the victory of the Pacific Fleet in a naval battle.

The generals of the Beiyang Naval Division, the generals of the Pacific Fleet and the British mercenaries gathered together, and the scene was extremely spectacular. Weihaiwei has been besieged for more than half a year, and the material reserves have been insufficient, and for a time the wine and meat in the Weihaiwei base were in an emergency, and the logistics officials hurriedly mobilized wine, meat, rice and vegetables from Wendeng, Rongcheng and Ninghai counties in Dengzhou Prefecture.

With the arrival of these procurement personnel, the news of the Pacific Fleet's defeat of the Russian Far East Fleet also spread, and it spread throughout Dengzhou that night.

On the night of ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※, the Russian Far East Fleet withdrew into the French concession in Korea and docked at the French naval base on Ganghwa Island. The news of the defeat of the Imperial Russian Far East Fleet was therefore also known to the French. In the evening of the same day, the French consul in Korea sent a telegram to the French Legation in China, informing his superiors of the defeat of the Russian navy, so that France could be mentally prepared for the war between Qing and Russia.

Vice Admiral Foucedem, commander of the Russian Far East Fleet, had a very bad temper because of the defeat in the battle, and he smashed everything that could be smashed in his lounge. But it could not change the fact of defeat, the sinking of five battleships and the death of hundreds of soldiers were irreparable.

"Your Excellency, General Kurobert King is calling."

Just as Foucedham sat down on the ground with his head in his hands and was depressed, the adjutant came in with a call back from the highest governor of the Far East.

"Are you going to shoot me? Or send me to a court-martial? ”

Foucajam glanced up at the adjutant, he was ready for the worst.

"General Kuroberkin wants you to escort Major General Kendrachev and his troops from Liaoyang as soon as possible and return to North Korea, and make plans in the future."

Foucajam asked, "Didn't you say shoot me?" ”

The adjutant shook his head and said, "Report to Your Excellency, the telegram is full of these contents, but in the end, Senior General Kuroberkin asks you to inform Major General Kendrachev as soon as possible." ”

Foucajam thought for a moment, and suddenly understood the concern of General Kurobertkim. Obviously, with the Pacific Fleet at peace with the Beiyang Naval Division, Russia will soon lose its supremacy in the Yellow Sea. If the Qing Imperial Navy escorted the army to land in the rear of the Russian flank in southern Liaoning by sea, or sent warships to block the Yalu River and cut off the retreat of the Russian army, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Foucajam immediately ordered: "Immediately send someone to contact Major General Kendrachev and convey to him our situation and the order of General Kuroberkin." ”

"Yes!"

The adjutant took the order and turned around to go down to make arrangements.

(To be continued)