"Viper 1 released three red signal flares, and the entire Air Force returned!" The adjutant reported to Shang Yi, the commander-in-chief of the Great Merchant Fleet.

At this time, everyone looked at the scene in Nagasaki Port in shock, and the huge power of the airship made everyone shudder. Not to mention the Japanese, even everyone in the big merchant fleet took a long time to recover when they saw these behemoths flying in the sky. The only thing they should be happy about is that the airships are all big businessmen, and we are in a group.

The Great Merchant Fleet was fighting at this time, and there were three patrol ships cruising outside the port of Nagasaki, but they had all been sunk by the fleet.

"Report to the commander-in-chief, there are already warships in Nagasaki Harbor that are constantly sailing, and Captain Yan asks if he can attack."

"Inform all captains to attack French, Japanese and flagless ships, and the ships of the rest of the nations to be on alert at all times, and to sink them once they enter the warning range."

"Yes!"

This had been planned before the action, and now it was just a matter of confirming it.

Saigo and Mei Yi had already been awakened by the loud explosion at this time, and the streets of Nagasaki had become a mess, and the power of the sake had disappeared without a trace.

"What's that......" Saigo asked at this point, mostly muttering to himself.

"Airship......" The corners of Mei Yi's eyes twitched, and she seemed to have lost all her strength in an instant.

The most unfortunate thing was the translator, and he didn't know how to translate the word, because it was a word that didn't appear in Japanese.

Soon the soldiers began to count the battle damage, and six of the thirteen French battleships were directly blown up, including four cruisers, including: the cruiser Souni, the cruiser Dushafo, the cruiser Triumph, the cruiser Fort Renault. The two gunboats, the Yishibi and the Viper. Torpedo boats, however, suffered no losses, mainly because they were too small to attack in the air. Other ships wounded included the Triumph, which had a large hole in the aft deck of the hull. The cruiser Reconnaissance, the bow of which disappeared. The only cruiser that was safe was the Chamberlain, mainly because it was parked in the middle of nowhere.

The Japanese losses were not small, the Toshi, Ryuchamp, and Fujiyama ships were blown and sunk, but Hiei and Fuso were not bad, and the rest of the ships were somewhat damaged.

"Report, unidentified vessels have been found in the open sea, and our patrol boat has been sunk." A Japanese sailor ran to report. "Now they have launched an attack on our batteries."

Saigo and Mei Yi glanced at each other, and both read a look of shock in each other's eyes. They understood that the people of the big merchants had come to the door.

"Commander May, we are now completely under your command." Saigo didn't think about it for long, and he immediately made a decision. Although he has specialized in the navy for many years, it is not at all above the same level as the world's second navy such as France.

Mei Yi nodded and asked, "How many warships does the other party have?" ”

"Five!"

Mei Yi raised the corner of her eye, looked at the battle damage report in her hand, and found that her side was not without the power to fight back.

"Immediately order all the men to come aboard the ship, and let all the torpedo boats in the harbor attack. Cooperate with the battery to buy time for the boiler of the main battleship to heat up! ”

In the 1880s, Japan was increasingly influenced by France, and the French "Young School" used small, fast warships, especially cruisers and torpedo boats, rather than large ships. In 1882 the Meiji government issued its first decree to expand the navy, building 48 new warships, 22 of which were torpedo boats. So there were now at least four torpedo boats in the Nagasaki military port, and with the addition of the French three, the total number reached seven.

Their speed was around twenty knots, which was already the fastest speed, and the torpedo range was between 180 and 700 meters, without directional devices.

"Captain, find the opposing torpedo boat!"

Now the Junzi-class destroyers are equipped with twin 120mm rapid-fire guns, a total of five, that is, ten. On the cruiser Zhaojun were four 153mm caliber triple main guns, a total of twelve guns. In addition, all ships have improved electrically driven Gatling cannons, and ordinary torpedo boats are hit with a row of deep bullet marks, and if they sweep the wheelhouse, they are basically stumps and broken arms in one place.

When Ichiro Honda rushed out in a torpedo boat, he soon discovered something that shocked them...... Nima, how these boats are running faster than us! Aren't we the fastest of all types of warships......

It was now dark with only a little starlight, which was bad for both sides, and the smoke was billowing and the vision was blurred. Fortunately, by the light of the skyrocketing fire of Nagasaki Port, the big merchants could still see where the shells fell. As for the large merchant fleet that fell in the dark sea, the Japanese and French could only touch the rats blindly, and they could not even see the location of the bullet point at a distance, let alone the sense of distance and proximity.

"It's better for the torpedo boats to come out, keep the ships at a safe distance and destroy all the torpedo boats!"

For Shang Yi, this battle actually doesn't have much meaning. The speed of the torpedo boats could not be exerted, so these small boats were just training targets for the destroyers. Even if the gunner level is poor, there will always be a time to hit, and the destroyer can't even deal with the torpedo boat, so is it still called a destroyer?

A little more than an hour later, seven torpedo boats were reduced to ashes, most of which had been blown to pieces and sunk to the bottom of the sea. A small part is sinking, and several destroyers are doing the final cleanup.

Although the cruiser of Zhaojun Hou can only be regarded as a light cruiser in later generations, in this era, it can be regarded as a giant in existence. Of course, the caliber of the gun is poor, but the rate of fire is high enough, and the use of double-base gunpowder is powerful enough, but it is too expensive to use a barrel. Now that there is no threat from torpedo boats, Shang Yi is much more relieved at this time. Clearing the batteries in the distance. The airship had been bombed before, and although there were still a lot left, the threat naturally could not be compared with when it was not damaged.

Mei Yi had already boarded the Triumph at this time, and looking at the large hole in the aft deck was shocking.

"How's the Triumph?" Mei Yi asked in a low voice.

"It's in a bad condition. However, I can barely go to sea, but I am afraid that the speed of the ship will not reach ten knots. ”

"We have to get out, I don't know if those airships will come back, but once they do, we can still run on the sea, and if we stay, it's a dead end."

Everyone agrees with May, including the Japanese. Saigo drove out from the road on the Fuso, but for the big merchant fleet on the sea in the distance, they could only attack with bow guns of insufficient caliber, which did not have much meaning except for psychological comfort.

While people were waiting, a glimmer of light finally shone through the horizon in the east. The battle had been going on for more than three hours, four thousand shells, and two-thirds of them had been fired. And the destroyers all stopped attacking, because 2400 ordinary shells, 400 high-explosive shells, 400 flares, there was not much left, after all, there was still some to deal with the emergency.

Yan Fu watched Shang Yi's Zhaojun attack on the Yishi, and he also sighed in his heart.

"The night battle was really difficult, and it was very difficult for both sides. Even if we have such a big advantage, we still fall short! It did not enter the port of Nagasaki. But look, the Japanese and the French don't feel good either, if only our airships could have more......" Yan Fu suddenly laughed, some of his own hearts were not enough to swallow elephants.

When the sun gradually rose, the Triumph finally sailed out of the port of Nagasaki, and it is not known whether it was the arrangement of the heavens or the Japanese who came out first, and he was placed opposite the Shojun.

It's like a knight battle in the Middle Ages, except that the knight who was supposed to be brave became a little timid when facing the evil dragon. The corners of Mei Yi's eyes jumped, and he was starting to regret it a little now, it was better to hide in Nagasaki Port and not come out.

The other side apparently recognized himself, the culprit of this war!

"Commander-in-chief, discover the French flagship Triumph!"

"Attack the Triumph with all your might, be sure to sink it! Avenge Mr. Xu! Shang Yi didn't have too many words. In fact, most of the crew members have never met Xu Xiao, they only know that he is a university scholar who is not allowed to study, and that's it. But since you are a big businessman, you French can't afford to bully.

"Give them some color!"

To tell the truth, after one night, all the battleships of the Great Merchant Fleet combined, except for the sinking of three cruisers and seven torpedo boats, there was no superfluous result. Some of the ships were hit, and no fatal injuries were inflicted. Of course, the same is true for the Japanese and the French. By this time, however, it was already dark and the rangefinder came into play.

The somewhat sleepy soldiers in the turret finally regained their spirits and began to attack.

The distance between the two sides is about 4000 meters. Someone was reading the rangefinder, someone was looking at the angle conversion table, preparing for the first round of shelling.

A shooting officer shouted loudly the ranging numbers of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th running positions, "4,277 meters in the 1st position, 4,293 meters in the 2nd position, 4,310 meters in the 3rd position, and 4,325 meters in the 4th position!" ”

An officer in front of the rangefinder carefully observed, looked at the number table on the side, and then shouted out the parameters of the first round of shelling, "The target enemy flagship, the estimated speed is 9 knots, the angle is 45 degrees 13 minutes, the elevation angle is 27 degrees 30 minutes, the number of medicine packs is 4, the estimated target distance is 4100m, and the countdown is 10 seconds!" ”

"The angle is 45 degrees 13 minutes, the elevation angle is 27 degrees 30 minutes, and the countdown is 7 seconds!" The firing officer on the first gun position shouted out the firing parameters, and then the other gun positions also reported the number of corresponding sounds. Someone watched the clock on the wall walk second by second, and everyone was silently reciting the countdown, "3...... 2…… 1。 ”

The hull of the Zhaojun suddenly slammed, and the strong recoil of the 12 main guns caused the battleship to move at least a few meters on the sea surface, and in the fire and smoke of the guns, shells whistled out! Even the Japanese and the French were stunned by the salvo from the warship!

At a distance of four kilometers, shells fell from the sky in a matter of seconds, and it was a perfect tutorial shot, with 12 shells smashing into the sea to the left of the Triumph in a chain.

"Left side, near miss...... Left side, near misses......"

"Maintain the elevation angle and rotate at an angle of 47 degrees and 10 minutes!" The corrected firing order was given immediately!

Mei Yi, who was adjusting the direction of the hull, knew that she was finished! He was like a half-dead cockroach that had been trampled on, slowly and ineffectively making his final dying throes.