In the distance of the naval battle between the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy and the Beiyang Naval Division, eight or nine warships of various European and American countries were observing this spectacular naval battle between the first large-scale steam ironclad fleets of mankind.

The British 1 is a protective cruiser with a displacement of about 2,500 tons, and this warship is the same cruiser that entered Weihaiwei a few days ago to help Japan explore the reality of the Beiyang Naval Division.

At this time, observers from nine countries, Britain, the United States, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, and the Netherlands, gathered on the bridge of the warship. These observers were invited by British observers, British Navy Lieutenant Commander Nash, to board the British cruiser.

Observers from these countries watched the naval battle in the distance with binoculars while drinking red wine from inside the bridge.

The German observer said: "The Beiyang Naval Division of the Qing Dynasty has four German ironclad ships of more than 7,000 tons, as well as one ironclad ship with a tonnage of nearly 7,000 tons and a large armored cruiser with a displacement of 7,000 tons with excellent speed, armor and firepower!" I judge that the victory in this naval battle will belong to the Beiyang Naval Division of the Great Qing Dynasty! ”

The observers of other countries nodded in agreement, and agreed with the views of the German observers, only the British observers, the captain of the cruiser, Lieutenant Commander Nash, looked at the warring sides and did not say anything, after all, Britain supported Japan, although Nash actually agreed with the views of the German observers in his heart.

Then the Italian observer suddenly said: "Everyone! I don't think so! ”

The observers looked at the observer from Italy differently and asked him what he had to say!

The observer from Italy pointed with his hand into the distance, and it was only then that observers from various countries noticed a few clouds of black smoke in the distance.

The Italian observer said proudly: "Those are the 4 ironclad battleships that our Italian Empire leased to Japan!" Under the powerful Italian ironclad battleships, the Beiyang Naval Division of the Great Qing Dynasty will be a complete defeat! ”

Observers from various countries were suddenly taken aback, what is the situation, Japan actually leased 4 Italian battleships! And Italy even agreed to lease powerful warships to Japan! The observers immediately used their binoculars to look at the four battleships sailing towards the battlefield in the distance.

As observers of various countries, they all served in the navies of various countries, and they were very familiar with the warships of major countries in the world, and immediately some observers recognized 4 Italian battleships.

The Italian ironclad battleship "Dulio", with a displacement of 12,264 tons, was launched in May 1876, with a length of 109 meters, a width of 19.7 meters, and a draft of 8.3 meters. There are 10 boilers, four-shaft drive, speed of 16 knots, and a maximum coal load of 1000 tons. Waterline armor 300 mm to 400 mm, deck armor 90 mm, central armor fort 460 mm, chimney root armor 390 mm, conning tower armor 100 mm. It was mainly armed with 4 450-mm guns, 6 120-mm naval guns, 6 47-mm rapid-fire guns, and 4 365-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 600 people.

The sister ship of the "Dulio", the Italian ironclad battleship "Enrico", with a displacement of 12,461 tons, was launched in July 1878, with a length of 109.2 meters, a width of 19.7 meters, and a draft of 8.8 meters. There are 10 boilers, four-shaft drive, speed 16 knots, and a maximum coal load of 1,100 tons. Waterline armor 300 mm to 400 mm, deck armor 90 mm, central armor fort 460 mm, chimney root armor 390 mm, conning tower armor 100 mm. It was mainly equipped with 4 450-mm guns, 8 120-mm naval guns, 8 47-mm rapid-fire guns, and 4 365-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 620 people.

The other two Italian warships were also sister ships, the ironclad battleship "Italy", with a displacement of 15,407 tons, launched in September 1880, with a length of 124.7 meters, a width of 22.5 meters, and a draft of 8.7 meters. There are 14 boilers, four-shaft drive, a speed of 17.8 knots, and a maximum coal load of 1,700 tons. Waterline armor 300 mm to 400 mm, deck armor 90 mm, central armor fort 460 mm, chimney root armor 390 mm, conning tower armor 100 mm. It is mainly equipped with 4 432-mm guns, 7 150-mm naval guns, 4 120-mm naval guns, 8 47-mm rapid-fire guns, and 4 365-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 699 people.

The sister ship of the ironclad battleship "Italy", the "Lepanto", with a displacement of 15,900 tons, was launched in March 1883, with a length of 124.7 meters, a width of 22.3 meters, and a draft of 9.6 meters. There are 18 boilers, four-shaft drive, speed of 18.4 knots, and a maximum coal load of 1,700 tons. Waterline armor 300 mm to 400 mm, deck armor 101.6 mm, central armor fort 483 mm, chimney base armor 406 mm, conning tower armor 102 mm. It is mainly equipped with 4 432-mm guns, 7 150-mm naval guns, 4 120-mm naval guns, 8 47-mm rapid-fire guns, and 4 365-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 701 people.

At this time, the people of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Naval Academy discovered that the four warships were coming straight to the sea area of the battle, and to the horror of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Naval Academy, the four warships could be seen with the Japanese flag planted on the telescope.

Ito Yuheng, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, danced excitedly at this time, laughed and said: "Now is the time to eliminate the Beiyang Naval Division!" Order your own team, the first guerrillas, and the second guerrillas, to entangle the main warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, and cooperate with the 4 powerful ironclad battleships of the Italian mercenaries to destroy the Beiyang Naval Division! Hahaha! ”

It turned out that the Japanese Navy knew that the Beiyang Naval Division had added 2 German ironclad ships and 6 main warships of the Chilean Navy, so it felt that its strength had been separated from the Beiyang Naval Division. Although the British government sold two old ironclad ships and four existing Mersey-class protective cruisers to Japan at a low price in order to balance the strength of the Qing Dynasty and Japan, the Japanese Navy still felt that the strength of the Combined Fleet was much weaker than that of the Beiyang Naval Division.

Japan is ready to continue to buy some warships to enhance the strength of Japan's combined fleet, Japan's first choice is the British * ship, but the British Navy, considering its own needs and balancing the strength of the two most important countries in the Far East, is unwilling to sell the advanced warships in service, but is willing to sell some old sail iron-hulled warships, but the Japanese Navy is not interested in these old antiques at all.

At this time, the Italians found the Japanese and were willing to sell some active warships to the Japanese, but when the Japanese arrived in Italy, the Italian Navy was only willing to sell some old warships and some small tonnage protective cruisers in service, which could not achieve the purpose of the Japanese to buy warships to fight against the 7,000-ton ships of the Beiyang Naval Division.

At this time, Italian officials approached the Japanese and said that they were willing to lease the warship, including the crew of the warship, to the Japanese, and that Italy would lease the most powerful Japanese warship as long as the Japanese paid a sum of money and met a small request from Italy.

As soon as the Japanese heard that there was such a good thing, they immediately began to negotiate with Italy, and as a result, the Japanese used 10 tons of gold from the Japanese emperor's personal money and 200,000 pounds from the British loan. In addition, Japan and Italy signed a secret treaty, in which Japan promised to seize a port in the Qing Dynasty for Italy, Qingdao in Shandong, as an Italian colony in the East, on the condition that it hired four Italian ironclad battleships in active service and 2,600 Italian naval personnel on board to form a mercenary fleet.

And Japan promised that if the personnel and warships were damaged in the battle with the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese would compensate!

These 4 Italian ironclad battleships can be compared to the British monarch-class all-steel battleships, with powerful firepower and thick armor, and they are the current main warships of the Italian Navy.

Italy has always wanted to obtain a colony in the East, and after deletion, Italy fell in love with Qingdao in Shandong of the Qing Dynasty, but Italy was far away from the Qing Dynasty, and the Beiyang Naval Division of the Qing Dynasty was not without combat effectiveness.

In addition, the Italian expedition to the Qing Dynasty also had to take into account the attitudes of the British, French and Russians in the Far East.

Seeing that the war between the Qing Dynasty and Japan was about to break out, he considered making some benefits in this war, but knowing that the Japanese were going to buy warships to deal with several huge ships of the Beiyang Naval Division, the Italians took the opportunity to ask the Japanese to obtain Qingdao for themselves, but they did not expect that the Japanese would do the same, and also paid a huge amount of rent.

The Italians were ecstatic, they disdained the giant ships of the Beiyang Naval Division, believing that their 4 ironclad battleships would definitely help the Japanese to victory! From now on, Italy can also have a place to settle in the East!

After the Japanese hired four Italian ironclad battleships, they were afraid that the Beiyang Naval Division would not dare to go to sea for a decisive battle after they found out, so the Japanese let the Italians drive four ironclad battleships to dock at the port of an uninhabited island.