On the afternoon of July 24, 1894, the Beiyang Naval Division protection cruiser Jiyuan, the torpedo cruiser Guangyi, and the 1,250-ton wooden-hulled training ship Weiyuan, led by Fang Boqian, formed a formation and were stationed outside Asan Bay in North Korea to protect the troop carriers carrying the elite of the Huai Army and safely enter the port to load and unload personnel and materials.

In order to speed up the progress, the shipborne lifeboats on the Jiyuan and Guangyi ships also joined the busy transfer work. Just as Yiqiē was busy, a Japanese warship suddenly appeared in Nanyang Bay outside the mouth of Asan Bay, and then turned the rudder and disappeared.

Fang Boqian looked at the direction in which the Japanese warship disappeared, and felt very uneasy in his heart, feeling that the return voyage would not be so smooth, and he had a premonition that he would encounter the Japanese warship if he did not say it on the way back tomorrow.

Under the influence of Lin Daxin, Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, had a very clear understanding of Japan's wolf ambitions, and other warships were also influenced by Ding Ruchang, and they had long been wary of Japan.

Sure enough, now that Japan has provoked an incident in Korea, Fang Boqian has long been prepared to fight with the Japanese navy.

It will take a lot of time to load and unload personnel and materials, and Fang Boqian, who was uneasy, was originally going to let the wooden-hulled training ship Weiyuan, which had the worst combat effectiveness, return to China first at night, but when he saw the four newly installed 105 mm rapid-fire guns on the Weiyuan ship, this made the Weiyuan ship increase its combat power even though it was a wooden-hull hull, and these rapid-fire guns were all modified in Lin Daxin's shipyard.

Fang Boqian thought about it and decided to let the Weiyuan ship also return to China together, the current wooden-hulled training ship Weiyuan was a Japanese warship, and it was not without combat effectiveness.

At 4 o'clock at dawn on the 25th, after the barges in Asan Bay carried all the personnel and materials ashore, the Jiyuan, Guangyi and Weiyuan ships left the port and embarked on the route back to China.

Almost at the same time that the Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Weiyuan ships were anchored and departed from the port, on the orders of the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, the Tsuboi Hangsan, with the 1st Guerrilla Formation, received information from the flagship "Yoshino" about the warships of the Beiyang Naval Division in Asan Bay on the protection cruiser "Yaeyama," which had been operating off the coast of Korea in advance, and he immediately ordered the formation to increase its speed to 12 knots and go straight to the area around Nanyang Bay in the order of "Yoshino," "Akitsuju," and "Naniwa."

On Wednesday, July 25, 1894, the twenty-third day of June in the 21st year of Guangxu, the weather was fine, the temperature was 26 degrees Celsius, and there was a light wind.

At 6:30 a.m., a report came from the watchtower of the Jiyuan ship, and the lookout soldiers found a few wisps of soot in the southwest sky.

At 7 o'clock, the Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Weiyuan ships arrived near Fengdao and were about to sail out of Nanyang Bay along the channel between the island and Gongjing Island.

With the formation of three Beiyang Naval Division warships connecting the narrow channel between Guò Toshima and Gongjing Island, the target in the southwest gradually became clear, and the lookout, who had been trying to identify the target, confirmed that the white target under the soot in front was the Japanese warship!

The lookout soldier on the watchtower of the Jiyuan ship shouted loudly with the newly equipped walkie-talkie: "Lord Pipeband! Pipe band adult! Ahead are Japanese warships! There are the Japanese Yoshino, Naniwa, and Akitsuzu! ”

Fang Boqian, who was standing on the bridge, heard the words of the lookout soldier on the walkie-talkie, and his originally somewhat apprehensive mood calmed down, so he ordered: "Pull the battle alarm!" Order the Guangyi and Weiyuan ships, follow the Jiyuan ships, and if the Japanese Navy dares to open fire, immediately open fire and return fire! ”

After the sailors in charge of the shortwave radio station on the Jiyuan ship conveyed Fang Boqian's order to the Guangyi ship and the Weiyuan ship, the Guangyi ship and the Weiyuan ship also sounded the alarm, and the two warships approached the Jiyuan ship. Immediately, the formation of three warships entered a state of readiness.

As the alarm spread throughout the three warships, the sailors of the three ships rushed to their respective battle positions, and the middle and senior officers went to their respective parts in charge to supervise the orders according to the usual deployment, and the ammunition compartment began to busily transport ammunition to the deck, and all the gun masks of the large and small gun positions were removed......

The three warships, the Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Weiyuan, are ready for battle and will not hesitate to retaliate if they are provoked by the Japanese Navy.

The lookout of the Jiyuan was not mistaken, and soon on the sea in front of the three warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, it was the Yoshino, Naniwa, and Akitsuzu of the First Guerrilla Force of the Japanese Combined Fleet that appeared.

The flagship of the First Guerrilla Force, the Yoshino, was a cutting-edge dome cruiser that had just been completed in 1893. The ship has a displacement of up to 4,150 tons, a length of 109.73 meters, a deck width of 14.17 meters, a draft of 5.18 meters, and a dome deck is laid near the waterline, with a thickness of 15 mm in the central bulge of the dome and 120 mm in the part of the slope on both sides inclined to the waterline. The Yoshino's power system is impressive, with two reciprocating steam engines and 12 high-rise coal-fired boilers producing 15,000 horsepower, driving two propellers at an astonishing speed of 23 knots.

The Yoshino ship was heavily armed with large-caliber rapid-fire guns. The main gun is 4 155 mm 40 times the caliber rapid-fire guns produced by the British Armstrong Company, and there are 8 120 mm 40 times caliber rapid-fire guns on both sides as secondary guns, forming a dense broadside fire. These terrifying, large-caliber rapid-fire guns were protected by a 4.5-inch thick rear open gun cover.

The Yoshino also has 22 47 mm Habekaith single-barrel rapid-fire guns, five 356 mm torpedo tubes, and a razor-sharp underwater ramming angle in the bow. In addition, the Yoshino ship is also equipped with a special gun rangefinder that has just been introduced, which means that the Yoshino's guns will be more accurate than other warships, and the combat power will be very powerful.

The Akitsuzu, which followed Yoshino, was the first Japanese dominary cruiser to be built, with a displacement of 3,100 tons, a length of 91.7 meters, a width of 13.14 meters, a draft of 5.32 meters, and a speed of 19 knots. It was armed with four 155-mm 40-caliber rapid-fire guns, six 120-mm 40-caliber rapid-fire guns, in addition to eight 47-mm Haqikais single-barreled rapid-fire guns and four 356-mm torpedo tubes.

Following the Yoshino and Akitsuzu two new dome cruisers, the Naniwa was captained by Heihachiro Togo, with a displacement of 3,650 tons, a length of 91.4 meters, a width of 14 meters, a draft of 6.1 meters, and a speed of 18 knots. In addition to the main guns at the head and tail, there are 6 150 mm 35 caliber Krupp guns, 2 57 mm single-barreled machine guns, 10 four-barreled machine guns, 4 10-barreled Green guns, and 4 356 mm torpedo tubes.

At 7:45, the 1st Guerrilla Force approached the Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Weiyuan, and the captain of the Yoshino, Tsuboi Hang, gave three battle orders: "Gentlemen, for the sake of the Great Japanese Empire!" For His Majesty the Emperor! Shoot at the warships of the Qing Dynasty! "The 1st Guerrilla Flagship, the Yoshino, opened fire first, followed by the Akitsuzu and Naniwa as well as the warships of the Hokuyo Naval Division.

The Jiyuan ship on the side of the Beiyang Naval Division has a displacement of 2,440 tons, a length of 71.93 meters, a width of 10.36 meters, a draft of 5.18 meters, a maximum coal load of 400 tons, and a power of 2 steam engines, 4 circular coal-fired boilers, two-shaft propulsion, a main engine power of 2,800 horsepower, and a speed of 16.5 knots.

The waterline dome was composed of 25 mm to 50 mm layers of iron armor, with 254 mm thick armor for the main gun and 38 mm thick armor for the gun cover and conning tower. It is equipped with 1 twin 210-mm Krupp front main gun, 1 Krupp 150-mm rear main gun, 2 47-mm Habegkaisi single-barreled rapid-fire guns, 9 37-mm Haqikaisi single-barreled guns, 4 Jinling machine Qì Bureau bronze cannons, and 4 500-mm torpedo tubes.

The Guangyi ship has a displacement of 1,000 tons, a length of 71.63 meters, a width of 8.23 meters, a draft of 3.96 meters, and a speed of 16.5 knots. It was armed with 3 120-mm guns, 4 47-mm Haqikais rapid-fire guns, 4 37-mm 5-barreled Haqikais cannons, and 4 600-mm torpedo tubes.

The wooden-hulled training ship Weiyuan, with a displacement of 1250 tons, has a speed of 16 knots and has only four newly installed 105-mm rapid-fire guns.

In addition to the Jiyuan ship, there is also some combat effectiveness that is comparable to the three Japanese warships, but the three Japanese ships of Guangyi and Weiyuan are very weak compared to the two ships.

When Fang Boqian saw the Japanese warships firing at him, he immediately ordered: "All ships fire back, concentrate their artillery fire to hit the Yoshino first!" Then Fang Boqian hesitated for a moment and then ordered: "Use the radio to send a report to Weihaiwei and tell your Excellency that our 3 ships Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Weiyuan encountered the 3 ships of the Japanese Navy Yoshino, Naniwa, and Akitsuzu in the waters off Toshima, and the Japanese warships opened fire on our 3 ships without declaring war!" Although there is a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and us, I have decided to face the Japanese ships and not fall into the name of my Beiyang Naval Division! ”

Lin Daxin's radio stations transported from modern time and space are all shortwave radios, and the waters of Fengdao are not close to Weihaiwei, and Fang Boqian does not know whether Weihaiwei's Admiral's Mansion can receive his telegram. Even if he received the telegram, it should be too late to send reinforcements, Fang Boqian just did his best to obey the destiny of heaven.

But when Fang Boqian set off from Weihaiwei, Lin Daxin found him and said that if he encountered a sneak attack by a Japanese ship at sea, he must use the radio to send a telegram to Weihaiwei, regardless of the distance! Lin Daxin told Fang Boqian that a miracle is likely to occur! So Fang Boqian hesitated, but still sent a telegram to Weihaiwei!

After Fang Boqian gave the order, the 3 warships of the Beiyang Naval Division then returned fire and fired at the 3 Japanese warships!

Three warships of the Beiyang Naval Division engaged in a fierce artillery battle with the 1st Guerrilla Force of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

In terms of tonnage, artillery, and speed, the Japanese warships had a great advantage over the three warships of the Beiyang Naval Division. However, the first target was indeed the wooden hulled training ship Weiyuan of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the shell of a 105-mm rapid-fire gun in the bow of the Weiyuan first hit the side of the Yoshino ship, hitting a 120-mm rapid-fire gun, causing damage to the rapid-fire gun, killing 5 Japanese soldiers and seriously wounding 3 others.

The officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division on the Weiyuan, which had just opened the record, were still cheering, but they were immediately interrupted by a shell! The port side of the Weiyuan was hit by a shell from Naniwa's 150-mm rapid-fire gun, which not only caused a fire, but also caused the port side of the Weiyuan ship to begin to seep water.

Soon the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau's self-made gunboat Guangyi was also hit by the guns of the Yoshino ship, and the hull tilted, so it withdrew from the battle.

Fang Boqian looked at the situation of his two warships, let out a long sigh, and ordered Guangyi and Weiyuan to retreat in the direction of the coast, while Fang Boqian commanded the Jiyuan ship to continue firing at the Japanese ships!

The Jiyuan ship was one enemy and three, although it also hit the Japanese ship with many shells, but the Jiyuan ship itself had more shells, and there were more than 20 casualties on board, Fang Boqian saw that Guangyi and Weiyuan were gone, so he ordered the Jiyuan ship to retreat to the west, and continued to fire at the pursuing Japanese ship with the 150 mm naval gun at the stern while retreating.

What made Fang Boqian extremely depressed was that during the retreat, he actually encountered the Gaosheng merchant ship carrying more than 1,000 elite Huai Army reinforcements to Korea, and the Beiyang Navy Communication Ship Caojiang Ship full of ordnance and supplies.

When the three Japanese ships saw the Gao Sheng and the Caojiang ship, they immediately intercepted the Gao Sheng with the Naniwa ship and ordered the Gao Sheng to stop the ship for inspection by the Japanese army. The Qiujinzhou ship was used to intercept the Caojiang ship, and the Caojiang was also required to stop the ship for inspection by the Japanese army.

In fact, the Japanese army had long known about the Japanese spies in the Qing Dynasty, and knew about the Gao Sheng, which transported more than 1,000 elite Huai troops in the Qing Dynasty, and the Caojiang that transported ordnance and materials.

The first three Japanese ships of the Japanese Combined Fleet also received orders to search for the Gao Sheng and Cao Jiang. And the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Ito Yuhiro, gave an order that if the two ships refused to surrender and the two ships refused to surrender, they could sink the two ships.

Seeing this situation, Fang Boqian, the Jiyuan ship, was difficult to ride a tiger, and if he continued to retreat, it would be difficult for the slow Gaosheng and Caojiang to escape. And if he commanded the Jiyuan ship to meet the three Japanese warships again, his Jiyuan ship would not be able to escape the result of sinking the ship.