The Xinghai training ship, the Anhai training ship and the Beiyang Jiyuan training ship of the Naval Division School escorted the Gao Sheng, which was equipped with more than 1,000 elite Huai Army troops, and the Caojiang which was loaded with ordnance and materials.

The Guangyi ship brought bad news, the Beiyang Navy Wooden Hull Training Ship Weiyuan finally sank in the offshore sea because of the fire was too big. The Guangyi ship extinguished the fire on the ship and rescued the officers and men of the Weiyuan ship, and then Lin Guoxiang, the commander of the Guangyi ship, saw that there was no damage to the ship's armament, so he decided to support the Jiyuan ship and re-sailed to the route back to Weihaiwei, only to meet Jiyuan and other ships.

In a hall of the Beiyang Navy Admiral's Mansion, Admiral Ding Ruchang walked anxiously on the ground, showing his inner uneasiness.

The place where the Battle of Fengdao took place and the distance between Weihaiwei and Wei Haiwei were within the working distance of the radio station purchased by Lin Daxin, so the radio station on the Jiyuan ship sent a message from Fang Boqian, and the radio station of the Admiral's Mansion could also receive it, but because the officers and soldiers in charge of the radio station in the Admiral's Mansion did not turn on the radio station, the Admiral's Office did not get the news of Japan's undeclared war in the first place.

It was still the radio station set up by Lin Daxin in the Sailor Academy that received a telegram from the Xinghai, which let Lin Daxin know that Japan had indeed declared war on the Beiyang Naval Division as it did in history!

Lin Daxin hurriedly sent people to Liugong Island to report to Admiral Ding Ruchang, at this time Ding Ruchang knew that the Japanese Navy had not declared war and carried out a sneak attack on the returning Jiyuan ship, Guangyi ship and Weiyuan ship, Ding Ruchang quickly asked people to turn on the radio station and contact the Jiyuan ship, and only then did he know the battle situation, and at this time the Jiyuan ship met the Gaosheng merchant ship transporting troops and the Caojiang merchant ship transporting ordnance materials.

When Ding Ruchang heard this, his heart was cold, and he secretly lamented, Jiyuan is in danger! Ding Ruchang is well aware of the performance of his Beiyang Naval Division's Jiyuan ship and three Japanese warships, and the Jiyuan ship has no chance of winning with one enemy and three enemies!

Fortunately, the Jiyuan ship sent a telegram after a while, saying that the Xinghai and Anhai of the Naval Academy were near the battlefield, and they had contacted the Jiyuan ship and would come over to reinforce the Jiyuan ship immediately. In this way, Ding Ruchang breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't sit still, and kept walking around on the ground.

A soldier from the Admiralty's Mansion walked into the hall with a piece of paper in his hand, shouting excitedly, "Your Excellency! Jiyuan ship sent good news! ”

Ding Ruchang walked to the side of the soldier in two steps, grabbed the telegram with one hand, looked at it carefully, and immediately laughed: "Okay! All right! Japan steals chickens and rice! A big ship was sunk! Hahaha! ”

Ding Ruchang then sent people to the telegraph office on Liugong Island to send a report to the Beiyang Governor's Office in Tianjinwei, reporting the news of the Japanese warship's sneak attack on the warship of the Beiyang Naval Division without declaring war and the great victory of sinking a large Japanese naval ship, the Qiujinzhou, to the power center of the Beiyang System, which is currently the largest armed group in China.

Tianjin Wei Beiyang Governor's Palace, Li Hongzhang because of the recent North Korean affairs, his appetite is not very good, and he can't eat anything greasy, so he asked the kitchen people to boil millet porridge, make a few delicious Huainan side dishes, and send them to the study, and read some telegrams from the officials of the Qing Dynasty in North Korea while eating alone in the room!

There was a sound of fast-paced footsteps, and the door of the study was slammed open, "Father-in-law!" It's war! It was Li Hongzhang's son-in-law Zhang Peilun who opened the door.

Li Hongzhang, who was holding the dishes, heard that the war had started, his hand shook, and the chopsticks fell on the table.

"What's going on?" Li Hongzhang asked in a deep voice.

Zhang Peilun said: "Father-in-law, Ding Ruchang, Admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, called that the three cruisers of the Japanese Navy, the Yoshino, the Akitsu and the Naniwa launched an undeclared war in the waters off Toshima at 7:45 this morning to carry out a sneak attack on the Jiyuan, Guangyi and Weiyuan ships of the Beiyang Naval Division!" Moreover, during the battle, the Gaosheng, which transported more than 1,000 elites of the Huai Army, and the Caojiang, which transported ordnance materials, also coincidentally entered the scene and were attacked by Japanese ships! ”

When Li Hongzhang heard this, he suddenly stood up and said, "How are the three ships of Jiyuan, Guangyi, and Weiyuan now?" What happened to the elites of the Huai Army? ”

Zhang Peilun said with relief: "Fortunately, the Jiyuan ship management belt Fang Boqian was not chaotic, after Guangyi and Weiyuan caught fire, he led away the three Japanese warships alone, and after encountering the Gao Sheng and Caojiang, he fought hard to protect the Gao Sheng More than 1,000 Huai Army brothers, with one enemy and three enemies, bought time for the nearby reinforcements!" ”

Li Hongzhang was surprised when he heard it and asked, "Reinforcements?" Is there still the main warship of the Beiyang Naval Division nearby? ”

Zhang Peilun explained: "Ding Ruchang's telegram said that there are two practice ships of the Weihai Weiwei Naval Division School of the Beiyang Naval Division nearby! ”

As soon as Li Hongzhang heard this, he remembered Lin Daxin, a junior of the Beiyang Navy who bought the warships at his own expense, to be honest, the warships that Lin Daxin bought, even Li Hongzhang was greedy, and he was still thinking about how to take back the control of these warships to the main fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division, but Li Hongzhang considered that Lin Daxin's father was the pipe band of the Beiyang Naval Division's Jingyuan ship, and it is said that Lin Daxin is also very likely to become the son-in-law of Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, how to say that Lin Daxin is his own person, Li Hongzhang did not rush to control the warships purchased by Lin Daxin, but let Lin Daxin use these warships whose strength even exceeded the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division as a training ship for the Naval Academy.

Zhang Peilun continued: "The two practice ships are the two main armored cruisers of the Chilean Navy purchased by Lin Daxin, one with a displacement of 7,000 tons was named Xinghai by Lin Daxin, and the other with a displacement of more than 4,000 tons was named Anhai. These two warships rushed to the battlefield at the most dangerous moment of the Jiyuan ship and saved the nearly 1,000 elite Huai troops of the Jiyuan ship and the Gao Sheng! ”

Li Hongzhang asked, "How was the final battle situation?" ”

Zhang Peilun said with some excitement: "Xinghai finally sank the Japanese cruiser Qiujinzhou!" ”

"What? The old man heard me right, right? The Akitsuzu was sunk? Li Hongzhang asked with some disbelief.

Zhang Peilun nodded and said, "That's right! Father-in-law, the Akitsu was sunk by us! The Yoshino and Naniwa were also injured and fled! ”

Li Hongzhang laughed at this time and said, "Okay! I didn't expect that little Japan would not steal chickens and rice, and he lost a big ship first! Any of our warships? ”

Zhang Peilun said: "The two practice ships of the Sailor Academy are fine! However, the Jiyuan ship was injured and many gun emplacements were blown up, but fortunately, there was no problem with the power system, and the hull was not damaged much, and after the replacement of the ship's guns, it could still go to war! The Guangyi ship was only burned by the fire to some of the sailors' cabins and wooden decks inside the ship, and it did not affect the combat effectiveness! However, the Beiyang Naval Division's wooden-hulled training ship Weiyuan has sunk because the fire is too big! The entire Beiyang Naval Division, including the two warships of the Naval Academy, lost a total of 108 people killed and more than 100 wounded! ”

Li Hongzhang nodded, although the Beiyang Naval Division sank a warship, but it was a wooden-hulled practice ship that was already very backward that sank, and Japan was sunk a cruiser with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons, it should be the Qing Dynasty that took a big advantage.

Li Hongzhang thought for a moment and said: "Send a telegram to Ding Ruchang of the Beiyang Naval Division, asking him not to let the warship leave the port recently, be careful to take precautions, and not to be attacked by the Japanese army!" Wait for news from the imperial court! In addition, the old man was very pleased to sink the Japanese ship Qiujinzhou! ”

Zhang Peilun nodded, saying that he would send a telegram to Ding Ruchang immediately.

Then Li Hongzhang then shouted: "Someone! Prepare a car for the old man! The old man wants to enter Beijing immediately and report to the queen mother and the emperor that the Japanese will attack our Beiyang Navy Division without declaring war! ”