At noon on September 18, 1883, in the Bass Strait, several warships were riding the wind and waves, with a red dragon flag fluttering on the bow, and a blood-red dragon on it was majestic, as if they were going to ride the wind.

A few days ago, on Ding Yuntong's secret order, Rear Admiral Cheng Biguang led a patrol group of 12 warships to secretly transfer from Weihaiwei to Mawei Military Port.

Ding Yuntong's consideration was that these 12 wooden, old-fashioned, weak and unprotected gunboats would be really embarrassing and useless on the battlefield in the Yellow Sea. Moreover, the power system is old and very slow, usually only a little more than 10 knots, such a speed is very dangerous even if it harasses the supply lines of the Japanese army.

Therefore, Ding Yuntong simply expanded the battlefield and sent this formation to the South China Sea to attack Japan's maritime trade routes. These old gunboats are not good for warships, but they are more than enough for merchant ships.

Anyway, it will soon enter a state of war with Japan, and as for who will bear the responsibility for the first shot, of course it should be Japan! Ding Yuntong knows that the Japanese nation has always liked to slander others, and the wicked will sue first, since this is the case, this time the wicked will simply be the one! You are shameless, I am even more shameless than you!

Ding Yuntong decided to attack the opponent's merchant ship first, and then bit back, saying that the other party attacked first, and then took the opportunity to declare war.

At this time, Japan's route to the south was mainly through the Bass Strait, the South China Sea, and then the Strait of Malacca. Beginning on the evening of the 16th, Cheng Biguang divided the 12 gunboats into four teams and patrolled the area around the Bass Strait in shifts. During this period, some merchant ships flying the Japanese flag passed one after another, but Cheng Biguang said in advance that he could not startle the snake, and such a "virgin attack" should be left to Japan's large merchant ships, and could not be satisfied with hitting a few small ships.

At this time, the three ships "Hai'an," "Chengqing," and "Yuyuan" were patrolling, and the commander of the formation was Gao Tengyun, the captain of the "Chengqing." Gao Tengyun felt that the navy had been patrolling here for two days, and there was never a suitable target, and if he knew this, the small Japanese merchant ships in front of him would not let go, and he would always fight a few ships, and he was a little annoyed when he thought of this,

At this moment, his subordinates reported: "A large merchant ship has been spotted ahead!" ”

Gao Tengyun waved his hand, there were many big merchant ships in the past, most of them were Britain, France, Germany and other countries.

After a while, his subordinates ran in excitedly: "Report, it is indeed a big ship, flying the Japanese flag!" ”

Gao Tengyun was overjoyed, ran out of the cabin to observe, and it was clear in the telescope that there were two Japanese merchant ships, one large and one small, the one in front was about a few hundred tons, and the one in the back was estimated to be three thousand tons, which was a real big guy!

Gao Tengyun was extremely happy, the waterlines of these two ships were very deep, obviously they were full of cargo, and the results of the battle would definitely not be small if they were intercepted like this!

The three warships immediately crossed out of the oblique thorns, the "Hai'an" and the "Chengqing" on the left and the right, blocking the channel, and the "Yuyuan" blocking the back to prevent the Japanese ships from reversing and escaping.

These two merchant ships belong to the Mitsubishi chaebol that monopolizes Japan's maritime transportation industry, the small one is called Chitose Maru, and the big one is called Saikyo Maru, which is a symbol in the history of Japanese shipbuilding, Chitose Maru is Japan's first domestically produced steamship, and Saikyo Maru is the largest domestically produced civilian ship in Japan at present, and Mitsubishi Chaebol's president Yataro Iwasaki is on Saikyo Maru at this time.

Seeing the three Chinese warships surrounded by one after the other, the Japanese merchant ships were terrified, and they did not know what the Chinese warships wanted to do, after all, China and Japan had not yet officially started a war.

Yataro Iwasaki ordered someone to hang a flag and ask why he was blocking the way, and at the same time turned the bow of the ship in an attempt to bypass the warship ahead.

At this moment, the three Chinese warships hoisted their flags almost simultaneously: "Our ship is under attack, request for support!" Request support! ＂

This flag made the Japanese on the merchant ship in an uproar, Lang Lang Qiankun, how could anyone attack them, what is this doing?

But Yataro Iwasaki is the master of the Mitsubishi chaebol faction, and he was stunned and understood: "Yaga, the people of China are too shameless!" He guessed correctly, this is the Chinese fleet is going to shout to catch the thief. Flying a distress flag, the three warships immediately accelerated their approach, and also hung out a plea for mercy: "Please don't fire, there are wounded!" "At the same time, the guns of the warships have been aimed at the merchant ships.

At this time, everyone saw the malicious intent of the Chinese side, and the merchant ship was in chaos, and when they got closer, the three ships hung up flags together, demanding that the Japanese ships surrender immediately, hoist white flags, change course, and go to China.

The Japanese were completely outraged, and at this time the two sides had not yet gone to war, and the actions of the Chinese warships were tantamount to piracy. The crew members were in high spirits, and the two ships replied in flags, saying that they were civilian ships sailing on the high seas in peacetime, and that they could not be prisoners, but instead accelerated their speed.

Gao Tengyun looked at it and sneered: "I really don't cry when I don't see the coffin!" Command, attack! Immediately, the "Hai'an" and "Yuyuan" began to flank the Saikyo Maru, while the "Chengqing" went to intercept the small Chitose Maru.

The "Hai'an" and "Yuyuan" are both domestically produced large gunboats of the same type, both with a tonnage of 2,800 tons, and both have two 210mm Krupp heavy guns. The Saikyo Maru tried to ram the other side at full speed, but both ships had a speed of 14 knots, so they easily dodged and fired artillery bombardments from time to time.

The two sides were entangled until the afternoon, and the Saikyo Maru was riddled with bullets, the buildings on the deck were smashed to pieces, a dozen sailors died, and all the sails were destroyed. This is still because Gao Tengyun wanted to capture the other party and ordered not to hit the opponent's part below the waterline.

At this time, another small ship, the Chitose Maru, had already surrendered. The "Chengkei" lowered the two sampans, sent twenty soldiers to Chitose Maru, and took control of them, and then the 160mm guns of the "Chengkei" also joined the siege of Saikyo Maru.

Seeing that the sun was a little slanted to the west, Gao Tengyun was worried that the night would be long and dreamy, so he ordered to issue an ultimatum: "If you don't surrender, you will be sunk!" At this time, there was also infighting in the Saikyo Maru, and the boss Yataro Iwasaki ordered the white flag to surrender in order to save his life, but neither the captain, the first mate, the second officer, nor the ordinary crew members were willing to surrender and refused to carry out the order to hang out the white flag.

Because they knew in their hearts that the ship was not only loaded with a large amount of materials, but also two tons of expensive western medicine imported from Europe, 16 French-made heavy howitzers, and eight heavy marine engines shipped from Glasgow, Scotland. These goods were quite valuable strategic materials, and the crew, out of patriotism, could not bear these materials falling into the hands of the Chinese, and Zuihou actually tied up Yataro Iwasaki as well.

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Gao Tengyun ordered: "Sink the enemy ship!" ＂

So the three warships bombarded the Saikyo Maru and took it straight near the waterline, just like in the vast grassland, three hungry wolves surrounded and bit a buffalo, and soon only a piece of flesh and blood was left.

By the time dusk came, the Nishikyo Maru had already received 7 shells up and down the waterline, especially a heavy cannon blasted out a large hole in the stern of the ship one meter wide, and the sea water rushed in, and in less than two minutes, the bow of the Saikyo Maru was cocked and plunged straight into the sea. Nearly 200 people on board, along with Yataro Iwasaki, were sent to the bottom of the sea.

The Chinese warship then escorted the Chitose Maru back to Mawei Port.

That night, Ding Yuntong received a call report from Mawei, and he was very happy, this time it was finally disgusting to the Japanese! He immediately asked Zeng Jize to urgently meet with the Japanese minister Enomoto Takehiro, and directly issued a declaration of war on behalf of the Chinese government, claiming that today, September 18, 1883, in the open seas of the South China Sea, Japanese warships disguised themselves as merchant ships launched a surprise attack on Chinese ships, causing heavy casualties on the Chinese side. For this reason, China and Japan have officially entered a state of war from now on.

Zeng Jize said: "The emperor of Japan, as well as his bandits, lackeys, and henchmen, will be judged justly!" After speaking, he threw the document on the other party, ignored the other party's surprised eyes, and walked away.

At the same time, Ding Yuntong also found Chen Kuilong, director of the Propaganda Department, to instruct him on how to strengthen propaganda work tomorrow, because today is September 18, so he characterized the incident as the "September 18 Incident."

In the early morning of the 19th, the Imperial News Agency of China published Ding Yuntong's edict of declaration of war of the Japanese Invaders, which was the first time that China had called Japan a Japanese official document since the Meiji Restoration and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. In the edict, Ding Yuntong listed a series of Japanese aggressions against the Ryukyus, Taiwan, and Korea, and declared that China had to declare war on the Japanese for the sake of peace in Asia and for the sake of peace in Shijie. However, there is no mention of the conflict at sea, and it is only summarized in general terms such as "the Japanese harassment by sea and land, the forcible use of swords against civilians, and the brutality of the neighbors." He knew that the "September 18 Incident" had many loopholes and would be investigated sooner or later, so it could not be mentioned in the official documents.

However, on the can be mentioned in a big way, anyway, as an official public opinion tool, has always been only for propaganda, regardless of right and wrong, and does not have to worry about any historical responsibility.

In a special issue on the 19th, the published an editorial on the whole page editorials, the "September 18 Incident" was portrayed as a deliberate conspiracy and provocation by Japan, and China had no choice but to fight back.

The editorial Zuihou is still Ding Yuntong's famous saying: "Victory belongs to the Chinese people!" This famous sentence was estimated to have been uttered by two billion people in China in previous lives.

On the morning of this day, Ding Yuntong suddenly made an appointment with the British Minister to China, Sir Pashali, in Yingtai, which was full of profound meaning. Pashali himself was extremely shocked by this appointment, he had already received relevant news between China and Japan, and indeed he also wanted to talk about China. But the fact that China had met him on the day of the declaration of war, and that he was so swift and politically sensitive, that he was so indescribable in that language, that Pashali was very shocked.

Pashali asked straight to the point what was going on in the South China Sea, and it was clear that he did not believe China's official rhetoric. Ding Yuntong laughed: "Mr. Minister, you are a representative of the British Empire, do you really care about the affairs of the South China Sea?" There is already a war between China and Japan, isn't it enough to know this? ＂

Pashali also laughed, for this era of imperialism, everything depends on fists and strength, and it doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong, and he also realized that he was naïve to ask.

Pa Xia Li then asked solemnly: "Venerable Emperor Bixia, do you think that your country has enough liliang to attack your opponent?" ＂

Pa Xiali's question made Ding Yuntong a little in a trance, as if time had been turned back all of a sudden.