At about 9 o'clock in the morning of November 19, 1880, at a concealed observation post in the Majieshan Fort, Song Qingzheng, commander of the Fifth Division, was holding a telescope to look at the ships on the sea below the mountain.

Ding Richang was over half a hundred years old, and his body was already weak and sickly, so he secretly built a fort this time, exhausted his efforts, and racked his brains. Coupled with the huge psychological pressure, I was already overwhelmed and had to cough up blood every day.

He knew that his time was numbered, but if he could see the victory in the battle against France with his own eyes, he would not have toiled in vain, and he would be able to close his eyes when he died.

Song Qing turned around and said, "Duke Yu, you are not in good health, I think you should go back and rest." In fact, Song Qing is three years older, but he has a strong physique, strong spirits, and bright eyes.

Ding Richang shook his head: "I wish the third brother, you know, I just go back, and I can't lie down for a moment, so it's better to be at ease here." ”

After a pause, he asked again: "The jihua ordered by the emperor has been arranged?" ”

Song Qing nodded: "It's all arranged, the six regiments of the Fifth Division, two regiments each in the Jinjinshan and Changmenshan Forts, and one regiment each in the Mazhuan Mountain and Luoxingshan Forts." In this way, there is no fear of the French landing and storming the battery.

The four minelayers of Huang Jianxun's mine battalion were divided into two groups, one group was in the harbor, and before the start of the war, they laid mine lines in front of our fleet.

The other group was personally commanded by Huang Jianxun, and together with the Yangwu, Kunlun, and Canghai, they hid in the southern waterway as a plugging fleet, and when the battle was together, they rushed out to clear the French warships in the Jinpai salvage, and then sunk the ships and blocked the enemy's mouth in the harbor.

As for the Beidou, the speed was too slow, and in case it ran into the French fleet that came in with reinforcements, it was afraid that it would not be able to escape, so it simply stayed in the harbor and took on fire support. As long as the gag jihua can succeed, the French will become a turtle in an urn. ”

Ding Richang coughed violently a few more times and sighed: "I hope so, I hope Jihua can do well." ”

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, in Mawei Harbor, on the sea in front of Mawei Mountain, 11 Chinese warships were moored, namely:

the armored cruiser Beidou;

Perpetual Transport;

Chenhang transport ship;

Yixin gunboat;

Fubo gunboats;

Fuxing Gunboat;

the gunboat Fusheng;

Ji'an gunboats;

Feiyun gunboat;

Zhenwei gunboat;

The gunboat Kenkatsu.

And across the sea of hundreds of meters, 9 French warships are facing each other in the distance, which is the main force of the lone fleet, and 4 other warships are arranged to patrol the Golden Medal Channel, namely:

the Victory ironclad;

the ironclad ship Triumph;

the cruiser Fort Reno;

Cruiser Soni.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, on the flagship cruiser Volda, Guba was holding a military meeting, and according to the original schedule, tomorrow afternoon would be the last deadline for the ultimatum, and if he did not receive a satisfactory answer, he would command the fleet to deal a devastating blow to the Chinese navy.

But Gu Ba also found that in Mawei Harbor, there were three naval capital ships that could not be found, although he felt that it was very likely that these three ships were hiding in the upper reaches of the Majiang River, but he was still faintly worried, so he deliberately arranged a strong lineup to guard the gold medal mouth.

At the military conference, Guba again emphasized the battle jihua and ordered the ironclad ships Atarante, the ironclad of La Galizonia, and the cruiser Dujuz Luin, three ships to organize specifically against the Chinese armored cruiser Beidou. He claimed that as long as the warship was sunk, the strength of the Chinese navy in the port would be reduced by more than half.

During the discussion, a soldier came to report that a small boat appeared in front of the Chinese navy on the opposite side, but it was confirmed that it was not a pole mineboat, and it was left alone. After all, the war has not yet started, and the opponent's personnel do not need to be taken care of by boats, as long as the warships do not move.

The so-called pole mineboat is a pole mine boat, which is the ancestor of the later torpedo boat. An iron rod in front, bombing others against mines, is easy to identify.

After a while, the soldiers came again to report that the two small boats turned out to be modified minelayers, and the mines were laid from both sides to the middle at the same time, and the speed of the mines was surprisingly fast.

This report shocked everyone present, and the formation of this mine line will undoubtedly have a huge impact on tomorrow's military operations. Adjutant Revel considered this a military provocation and suggested that a warning be issued immediately and that China disarm the mine line or go to war immediately.

Guba accepted this suggestion and immediately sent an officer, aboard a sampan, to negotiate with the Beidou warship. At the same time, all the officers present at the meeting were asked to return to their warships and maintain combat readiness.

Captain Xu Shoushan personally received the French officer, and Lin Guoxiang was commanding the gag fleet, and he was in charge of the port.

Xu Shoushan insisted that the mine line was only a defensive measure, and that the Chinese navy had the right to place mines in its own seaports, and that other countries had no right to interfere.

But the French officers took a tough attitude, claiming that if they did not remove the mine lines, they would immediately go to war.

After a long dispute between the two sides, Xu Shoushan "had to" accept the French side's request, and said dejectedly, please give an hour of grace, and China will restore the water surface in the harbor to its original state before noon.

Seeing that the French officer went back satisfied, Xu Shoushan turned around and ordered: "Jihua everything is as usual!" ”

All warships have been quietly preparing everything since the morning.

The important parts of the ship are tied with blankets in hammocks, which can reduce the damage when being shot;

Flammable items were all moved below the waterline; The decks are pre-equipped with fireproof appliances;

All the walls and doors of the ship were closed.

The deck was also thoroughly cleaned and sprinkled with a lot of sand so that even if a lot of blood was shed, the deck would not slip.

Everyone in Zuihou washed their bodies thoroughly so that even if they were injured, they could minimize infection, and they put on new clothes to prepare for this fateful day.

Just wait for that signal

At this time, it was already past 11 o'clock, and the work of the minelayers was nearing completion, and a total of more than 180 mines were dropped, and a line of mines was drawn 100 meters in front of the Chinese fleet at a perfect equal distance.

After listening to the report of the negotiating officer, Gu Ba stood on the bridge and looked at the sea with his eyes, until nearly 12 o'clock at noon, the Chinese mine boat completed its mission and returned triumphantly, and did not see any Chinese come out to fulfill its promise, and immediately had a feeling of being deceived, and even a trace of doubt: Is it that the translator did not learn French well, and the two sides did not talk clearly? If it weren't for China's strength, how could it be possible to resist him?

Before he could decide what to do next, he heard a "boom" from the far away Ma Limit Mountain.

Guba knew that this was a noon cannon, and every day at 12 o'clock at noon, the noon cannon would be fired to signal the time.

Guba decided to send someone to report to the French consulate in Fuzhou, and in view of the hostility of the Chinese, he said that he would attack in the afternoon.

Just thinking about it, I only heard the sound of the noon cannon on the mountain of Nama "boom" again, and Gu Ba thought to himself: These Chinese are really sick, why did they release one more noon cannon today, did the soldiers who fired the cannon eat enough?

I happened to be smiling, only to hear a loud "boom boom" loud sound, the sound suddenly became very loud, and I was stunned for a moment, and suddenly found that the Chinese warships on the opposite side actually fired together and launched an attack on our own fleet, and a platoon of artillery had smashed over!

It turned out that the second afternoon cannon just now was not a time cannon, but a signal cannon!

These yellow monkeys, they didn't wait for the Zuihou ultimatum to expire, and directly attacked first, so shameless, enough guts!

Lone hurriedly shouted to the dazed sailors under the bridge: "Hurry up and fight!" ”

Only then did the sailors come to their senses, disconnect the anchor chains, start the warship, turn the turret, and start aiming. The other French warships were in a similar situation, and with their high quality, after a moment of panic, they immediately organized themselves and prepared to fight back.

Before it was ready, the second round of artillery of the Chinese fleet "boomed" and smashed again! A huge splash of water splashed at the bow of the ship. Gu Ba looked back and saw that there had already been a French warship hit by a cannon, and black smoke was rising.

At this time, it was November 19, 1880, and at 12 noon, China officially started war against France according to the scheduled Jihua.