"Whew!"

A huge nautical chart was spread out on the table, Yang Hao put the ship model representing both the enemy and us on the table, straightened his waist, and said to Ding Liu and the others: "Look at it, this is the current position of our two armies." My flotilla is going around with the Japanese troops, but in any case, they will arrive at the mouth of the river by tonight at the latest. If it's too late for you to turn back now. ”

His eyes, still red, stared at the two of them without the slightest emotion, and the corners of his mouth curled up as if they were smiling, just waiting for the two to answer.

Ding Ruchang had a bitter look on his face, only anxious, and his body trembled slightly, but he didn't know whether he was angry or afraid.

Liu Buyun took a step forward, tapped his finger lightly on the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet sailing north near the side of the Goryeo Peninsula, and sighed with regret: "If the imperial court was willing to pay for these warships, why should we be so worried today? ”

What else could he say? It wasn't that he didn't ask for more warships. Yes, the Japanese are making trouble inside, and the Chilean lions are robbing while the fire is open, but compared to the success or failure of victory or defeat, the value of those silver flowers!

Everyone knows where the money goes, but who dares to say a word? Everyone knows that Li Zhongtang doesn't want to fight, and he "wants to protect the ship" when he opens and closes his mouth. But now the purpose of people is to sink your ship, and for this reason, they even break the kettle, and the whole country is freed.

This account is really impossible to calculate.

Ding Ruchang looked left and right, and finally shook his head helplessly: "You can't win!" Can't win! There is such a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and me, and I always try my best, but I am helpless. But if we retreat like this, we won't have the face to see Jiangdong's father in the future. Ay. Difficult. It's hard! ”

He's the hardest guy in the middle.

As Admiral of the Marines. He must win foreign wars in order to ensure the dignity of the imperial court and fulfill his duties as a soldier. But as Li Zhongtang's most trusted subordinate, he must also consider that he can't lose too much in battle. If the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division is greatly reduced, the strength of the entire Huai Army Department will be greatly reduced. Li Zhongtang was impeached and even sent into the wilderness, and there were no eggs under the nest, and these subordinate people would inevitably be unlucky.

As the saying goes, one is prosperous, and one is lost. What a dilemma!

Liu Buyun had an open-minded attitude, and snorted coldly with his neck: "If you can't win the fight, you have to try it to know!" Now that the sword is in reach, the soldiers are coming to the city, where do we hide? When they turned back, the soldiers on the ship could not reach Goryeo. If we lose the battle, we won't be able to escape. My opinion, or hit! ”

Ding Ruchang just shook his head, not against it, but felt that he couldn't win no matter what.

Previously, the naval strength of China and Japan was compared. The "National News" has reported countless times, and it is clear that not everyone in the navy knows it.

And today, the strength of the army has increased sharply. Not only did they make up for all the previous losses, but they also added a huge ship, and under such an absolute advantage, they went up and died.

Yang Hao saw that the two of them didn't say anything about retreating after all, so he spoke: "If Ding Jun is willing to fight to the death with the Japanese army, we may not have no chance to beat him and lose both!" Even if they can't get out of the way, they can still curb the ambitions of the Japanese. For a short time, it is impossible to run rampant at sea. ”

"Oh? Dare to ask Mr. Yang, will the plan be released? ”

Ding Ruchang was in high spirits for a while, and his face showed a look of hope. He doesn't want to be a turtle with a shrunken head, who is especially willing to be scolded by someone poking his backbone!

Liu Buyun's eyes were blazing, glaring at Yang Hao and waiting for him to uncover the mystery.

Yang Hao asked first: "I first have to know, has it been clear to the sailors that the formations you practiced before are basically unworkable because the overall speed is too slow?" ”

Ding Ruchang sighed and nodded helplessly.

In the past, because of the strength of the two ironclad ships, most of the tactical formations chosen by the Beiyang Fleet were to attack the enemy formation led by the two ships, and then stick to it and let go of the indiscriminate fight, so as to defeat the enemy in one go.

However, with the aging of the warship equipment and the backwardness of the overall technical level, most of them have not been able to fight. And because of Li Hongzhang's repeated admonitions, they almost subconsciously chose to save the formation of the two ironclad ships. That's the worst of all.

Yang Hao was afraid that they wouldn't be able to turn around, but now he breathed a sigh of relief, moved the ship model on the chart, and put on an oval formation.

In this formation, the two ironclad cruisers "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" were the sharp edges, advancing in unison. The two ironclad ships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" followed closely behind, but they were outside, serving as the main attack firepower and the shield against the enemy's incoming artillery fire.

Further back, the four ships of Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Pingyuan, and Zhenyuan dragged back and staggered, forming an arc-shaped tail, but wrapped Guangyi and Guangbing, which were equipped with new 120mm rapid-fire guns, in the middle.

Of the five cannons, the first two far ones were replaced with tail guns, and the remaining three guns were two in Guangyi and one in Guangc.

In the end, the torpedo attack ship group led by Chao Yong and other ships hid in the rear and waited for the opportunity.

Yang Hao explained: "The Japanese army will definitely use the one-line column formation that they are most skilled at present, and it is also the most suitable for the characteristics of their warships. At that time, with its speed much higher than our average speed, and with the powerful No. 1 Guerrilla Force as the lead, it will engage the enemy and open fire, try to disrupt our formation, and then concentrate its firepower and annihilate them one by one! Even if you can't knock out one or two ships at that time, you can still calmly maneuver around and spend time on the road. Specifically from the point of view of our weak firepower. ”

The Japanese formation remained unchanged, with many ships, fast sailing speed, many rapid-fire guns, and high mobility, and it was difficult for the Beiyang Fleet, which was trying to find an opportunity to fight chaotically, to catch the opponent no matter how much it attacked. It is only possible to be flown kites in circles by others, and calmly clean up other small boats with weak armor.

Now that the other side has a few more fierce new warships, even the two ships in Dingzhen are not safe, and they are divided into forces to fight, purely looking for death.

Yang Hao slapped in the middle of the formation: "The only strategy is to keep our formation consistent and compact from beginning to end." Relying on the heavy iron armor of the second ship of Dingzhen, it dealt a heavy blow to the other party and forced it to finally give up. ”

To put it bluntly, get two big meat shields to resist in front, and the rest of the battleships violently output long-range strikes, exchanging lives for lives until the other party can't stand it.

This is purely a fight between the rivers and lakes. Look who's more ruthless than who!

Ding Ruchang's beard trembled. Can this be done? Go out and fight to the death. If you don't pay attention, you have to play all the fleets. How else to fulfill Li Zhongtang's requirements?

Liu Buyun understood it, and said sharply: "We feel sorry for the ship, and the Japanese are only afraid that they will be even more distressed!" The Qing Dynasty has strong financial resources, and if there is no ship, it can be bought again. Little Japan smashed the pot and sold iron to pay off its foreign debts, and it was a loss of money, what did he pay back? ”

This whole thing is two outlaw gamblers making a last ditch fight, no one can afford to lose, and no one is willing to admit defeat.

Yang Hao was afraid that they would retreat. In addition, you have to be careful that some people drop the chain at a critical moment, and remind again: "In addition, I want to give you a suggestion, that is, don't move the officers and soldiers to sink with the battleship." Battleships are nothing but steel creations, and they can be bought and rebuilt if they are gone, and they can be renewed in three or two years. But if the person is gone, how many teenagers can be cultivated? ”

Even if Liu Buyun in front of him is one, he swears that "the ship will be self-defeating", but they are happy to die, and they are heroic enough. But what about the country? This group of elite naval soldiers was cultivated after 20 years of hard work. It can't just be that bad.

Liu Buyun did not answer this. He has a hard temperament, and it is difficult to be persuaded to turn back on what he has believed.

Yang Hao only needs to open the bottom of one more card: "The reason why I say this is that there are still some forces that can help." The armed freighter that came this time was more advanced and powerful than the last one, and it was enough to act as a guerrilla shooter on the periphery and greatly contain the Japanese army. In addition, there are four gunboats of this kind below, which can reach a speed of more than 30 knots, and the artillery can also fire at a distance of 13 kilometers. If the Japanese did not want to be killed in the retreat after being seriously wounded, they would never dare to give it a go. ”

"Oh? If that's the case?! ”

The eyes of the two generals widened, and at this time, they had no choice but to consider what the Yang family was planning to do wrong. can help solve the current troubles, those things that offend people are still considered by people of Li Zhongtang's level!

Yang Hao smiled and nodded, and Liu Buyun first patted the case and shouted: "Okay!" Then get out of the way and fight that day! ”

Ding Ruchang's beard didn't tremble, he glanced at Yang Hao meaningfully, and then stared at Liu Buyun and said: "In this battle, this officer is sitting on the ship, and as soon as the troops are arranged and commanded, they rely on Lord Liu's shoulders to bear it, how about it?" ”

Liu Buyun solemnly turned around and gave a military salute: "I will live up to the trust of my lord!" ”

Subsequently, Yang Hao took the trouble to arrange for them to move with the flagship, and if the flagship withdrew, the second battleship would take over the many details of the command. Although these things had been publicized through the newspapers for a long time, he did not know how much the sailors could listen to them.

In the end, Yang Hao left a two-person communication group, in the command tower, responsible for liaison with the fleet with wireless telegraphs.

These two things surprised the two adults inexplicably, and they felt even more unfathomable about the power that Yang Hao had. Radio, that was just invented by Westerners, and it hasn't been put into use yet, right? How did he have such a small and portable one? No wonder it's so well-informed!

However, Yang Hao also repeatedly asked them that they must not leak it to any foreign devil, otherwise it will bring countless troubles to the Yang family.

Of course, Ding Ruchang knew the severity, and immediately arranged a cabin for himself to be guarded by two trusted guards. According to the requirements, I pulled an antenna from above and went in, which was a nervous busy.

As soon as the matter was over, it was already approaching night.

Yang Haiwei led the first guerrilla group to walk back and forth in the northern part of the Yellow Sea, and after the sky was completely dark, Pingjing Hangzo did not dare to chase after him.

If the other side was a group of "ghost ships", then the level of its night shelling was so high that it was definitely beyond the defense of the Japanese fleet. Coupled with the dry method of indiscriminately laying mines, the cost of sinking a few ships is really unbearable.

Fortunately, their current position has been closer to the team again, and the distance between them is about 20 kilometers, slightly staggered. Tsuboi Kozo immediately made a decision, gave up going around in circles, and continued to search north along the coastline, doing the right thing.

In addition, at the end of this day, most of the Yellow Sea was pulled by them, but they also completed the search task by the way. The area in which the Beiyang Navy may be is already small. (To be continued......)

PS: ps: Four more! Ask for a guaranteed ticket at the beginning of the month!