Chapter 176: Bloody Case in the East China Sea

Let's say that after Xu Jie sent people to shoot telegrams on land, he did not rush to lead the fleet to defend the Japanese coast, but carefully planned with Peng Haifeng how to calculate the Japanese troop transport fleet. With the establishment of the escort system, it was no longer enough to rely solely on attack ships, and at the same time, in order to provide protection for those merchant ships that were not assigned to escort ships, Japan also deliberately provided some weapons to convert them into armed merchant ships. This further increases the difficulty of the attack, and in addition, these attack ships are mainly civilian people, in their eyes, it is good to be able to grab something, but if they need to face a relatively large risk, they would rather choose to avoid the risk than try their best. Therefore, the losses caused by the attack began to decline, and it was not what Xu Jie wanted to see for Japan to have a stable rear, and if these attack ships were to continue to play, then they had to dispose of some of the annoying unprotected cruisers, at least reduce the escort of the other side. In addition, the number of transport ships faced this time is relatively large, if the Beiyang Fast Fleet goes to intercept alone, when it is entangled by the opponent's escort warship, as soon as the opponent disbands the formation, it will be difficult for him to catch it and chase it separately? How do you regroup? What if you run into a Japanese protective cruiser? Not separated? Most of them must have run away. Therefore, Xu Jie decided to cooperate with the attack ships led by Peng Haifeng, and the Beiyang Fast Fleet would deal with the opponent's escort warships and destroy the opponent's formation, and then Peng Haifeng and the others would go up again and attack the scattered fleet. Since the target of the attack was a Japanese military transport ship rather than a merchant ship, it would be very difficult for Peng Haifeng to make a forced landing or capture it, and the non-military attack ship was not subject to or protected by international law. Therefore, Xu Jie and Peng Haifeng agreed that the other party's transport ship, whether it was the people it carried or the supplies it transported, would be sunk! For people who fall into the water, kill as many as you can!! Anyway, the Japanese will never act in any humanitarian way towards the sunken attack ship, so Peng Haifeng and others naturally do not need to be polite.

In order to ensure the smooth passage of the whole plan, intelligence work and covert intentions were very important, and Boss Peng was really generous, first with the help of other Chinese ships, he gathered a group of sentinel ships to hang the flag of a neutral country (many Chinese ships themselves were registered in neutral countries) to be responsible for reconnaissance of the waters near the interception site, and told Xu Jie and others to avoid other ships by means of relay signals. In order to ensure the concealment of the fleet's whereabouts, Xu Jie also deliberately avoided busy business routes. On the night of the fourth day, they joined up with Peng Haifeng's six raiding ships, and waited for the killing spree to start tomorrow morning. At the same time, the Japanese transport fleet was in the dark about its fate.

This time, the convoy was escorted by three unprotected cruisers from Katsuragi, Musashi and Takao, with three warships ranging in tonnage between 1500 and 1800. The speed is between 13 and 15 knots. Its main purpose was to exist as a garrison fleet, so it was normal to provide escort for convoys. In the recent escort and cruising missions, the appearance of these three warships was indeed good, and with their relatively high speed and strong firepower, the three warships had already destroyed and captured four raiding ships, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of raiding ships operating in the east. Compared with the guerrilla fleet, which had just been beaten, and the main fleet, which could only stay in the Korean Strait and stubbornly defend the line of communication, the results of this garrison fleet were "quite good." If it were a white European, the Japanese who had low self-esteem might take care of it, but how could the Japanese, who thought they were superior to the Qing people, be polite to these Chinese sailors? And this behavior also directly led to a change in the attitude of the Qing raiders towards the prisoners during the attack, and at first the captains were still considerate, and for merchant ships, they would generally still save the life of the crew, and leave enough fresh water and food to put them on a survival boat. But as the Japanese behaved too brutally towards their captives. As a result, the Qing raiders gradually changed from the main operational purpose of breaking the exchange of looting materials to looting and killing, grasping with both hands, and both hands should be hard!! From then on, the captains of the attacking ships no longer have to worry about the so-called moral bottom line, since the Japanese don't plan to be reasonable, then just use guns to explain a qiē!! As a result, the naval raids throughout the First Sino-Japanese period became more and more bloody. And this bloody one started when Xu Jie led the Beiyang Fast Fleet and the attack fleet of Peng Haifeng and others to join forces. …,

ESCORTED BY 3 UNPROTECTED CRUISERS INCLUDING KATSURAGI, 6 NIPPON YUSEN SHIPPING CO., LTD. TRANSPORT SHIPS YAMASHIRO MARU, OMI MARU, TOE MARU, SENDAI MARU, HYOGO MARU AND SUMITE MARU, AND 3 SMALL MERCHANT SHIPS CARRYING 4,500 JAPANESE ARMY, 30 75MM MOUNTAIN GUNS AND FIELD GUNS. THERE WERE EVEN 6 HEAVY MORTARS AND 12 280MM SIEGE GUNS BELONGING TO THE FIRST ARMY. These soldiers and equipment are quite important to the Japanese army, 4,500 people is already a full brigade regiment, and 30 75MM mountain guns and field guns are close to the equipment of an army division. And heavy mortar artillery and siege artillery are the key to the key, these are the big killing weapons that cannot be used even at the division and regiment level. It was the key to the Japanese army remaining to prepare to deal with the fortresses of Lushunkou and Weihaiwei. So the Japanese Navy did not dare to be careless at all. Under the leadership of Oda Hum Dazuo, almost all the battleships in the garrison fleet were dispatched to provide cover for the transport fleet, this force was actually strong enough, but unfortunately, this time they ran into Xu Jie's fast fleet.

After leaving Tokyo Bay, the fleet sailed at a speed of 8 knots to its destination, Nagasaki. A day after leaving Tokyo Bay, the fleet had already passed through the area of high incidence of raiding, and in order to avoid the raiding ships as much as possible, Oda Daisa also specially chose a route based on the principle of trade routes, because the main targets of the raiding ships were merchant ships running a single gang, and these ships would be easier to get hold of and more lucrative. The crew members on the shift stood on the deck, looking at the distant sea view and the seagulls that appeared from time to time, chatting about something.

"Did you hear that? The fleet in Inchon was defeated by the rapid detachment of the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing State, and many of the land forces left in the port of Incheon were also killed. A sailor whispered.

"Those navy red deer deserve to die, I suspect there are spies in the navy." A seafarer with a sharp beak said angrily.

"It's not just the navy, there are also spies in the army, otherwise how could the Oshima Brigade be wiped out in Chenghuan?" An engineer leaned over and said.

"Really?" The sailor who caused the conversation was a little unconvinced of his ears.

"It's true, my father's nephew's neighbor's brother works in the army station, and the Oshima Yoshimasa Brigade has been removed from the current logistics supply and soldier supply lists. Then the War Department found fault and said that because of the defeat of the navy, the Oshima Brigade lost its supplies and was defeated. The Admiralty, on the other hand, retorted that the 4,000-strong Oshima Brigade could not break through the 3,000-man defense line of Nie Shicheng's department, which was the incompetence of the Army. The first mate said rather gossipy.

Just as a group of people were chatting with each other, suddenly, several masts appeared from the sea level in the northeast direction and quickly cut diagonally towards the tail of the convoy.

"What kind of ship is that? Such a fast speed, at least 18 knots! The first mate of the Sendai Maru, a transport ship at the back of the line, muttered to himself as he watched through a telescope.

"What? 18 verses? Ships of this speed could be reached in the entire Far East, except for Kurama and Yoshino, the first guerrilla fleet of the Empire, and the rest was probably only ....... Thinking of this, the captain of the Sendai Maru broke out in a cold sweat in an instant, weren't they in Weihai? Why did you come here?

At the same time that Sendai Maru discovered that there was an uninvited guest behind him, the Kaohsiung, who was on the right flank of the fleet, also discovered the high-speed approaching fleet, and the captain of the Kaohsiung reacted more quickly, and knew that it must be a fast cruiser in the North Seas as soon as he saw the formation. "Oda Osa, who sent a signal to the Katsuragi, prepare to meet the enemy." The captain of the Kaohsiung said with some trembling that the outcome of this battle had been decided before the battle. In the Battle of Toshima, the 3 cutting-edge cruisers can't beat and can't run away, and the tonnage of their own 3 ships together is not as good as the opponent's 1 battleship, which is still a hair? Oda, who received the notification, was even more straightforward, beckoning the Musashi, which was on the left flank, to come over and defend against the enemy with him, and at the same time ordered the transport fleet to be disbanded immediately and sail to the nearest land. It's already certain that you will hang up yourself, but you can't do without a transport ship, this thing is much more important than your own 3 unprotected cruisers. But in this way, it just makes it more convenient for Boss Peng and others who are ambushed in front of them, if you want to say that these transport ships are grouped, in the face of the sampan guns and rifles of this temporary cameo naval gun, Boss Peng's subordinates still have some pressure, but now it's good, you disband the formation, then don't be afraid!! When Katsuragi and the other 3 ships launched a decisive attack on the Beiyang Fast Fleet with the determination to die, the attack ships of Peng Boss and others also began to rush towards the group of fat sheep! …,

Just as the three 5,000-ton warships of the Beiyang Rapid Fleet were spraying a rain of destructive bullets at three Japanese unprotected cruisers, two unexpected guests appeared above the sea level: the British Far East Fleet's Bobbs and the German battleship Illidas. (These two warships were indeed in the Far East during the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, and they also rescued many Chinese sailors in Toshima.) And the relationship between Britain and Germany was quite good at that time, so it was still possible to watch together. The two ships were originally cruising on the waters of Toshima, but they did not catch up with the Battle of Toshima, and when they heard that there was a lively fight on the eastern coast of Japan, they immediately turned to the eastern coast of Japan, and this time, very fortunately, they witnessed the second naval battle of the Beiyang Rapid Fleet.

"The Qing fleet fought very smoothly, and the purpose was very clear, and it went straight to the convoy. The resistance of the Japanese fleet was also very stubborn, and when it was discovered that the three new Qing cruisers had arrived, the three Japanese unprotected cruisers rushed quickly and turned in front of the formation. It was like a T-shaped horizontal head in front of the Qing fleet, but the difference in the performance of the battleship and the lack of grasp of the timing made this heroic interception meaningless. The Qing fleet took advantage of its speed and firepower to pass directly in front of the Japanese fleet's lead ship, the Katsuragi, and slaughtered the scattered transports. The Japanese fleet, which was not in place to intercept, quickly adjusted its formation and chased after it. In this way, the Beiyang Rapid Fleet was between the Japanese escort fleet and the merchant ships, completely splitting the Japanese fleet. In his report, British Captain Filly highlighted the state of engagement between the two sides.

"It was nothing short of a massacre, and in this engagement, the performance superiority of the Qing State's fast fleet was vividly demonstrated. After breaking through the interception of the Japanese fleet, and facing the Japanese fleet that followed after it, the Beiyang Rapid Fleet attacked the retreating Japanese transports with starboard guns and the Japanese unprotected cruisers that arrived later with their starboard guns. The 170mm Krupp guns of the Katsuragi battleship at the head of the team were estimated to have been replaced with new gun mounts before the battle, and the rate of fire was increased, but this qiē proved to be futile, and the Katsuragi and Musashi, with their 170mm guns, had hits, but could not penetrate the opponent's armor, and the two iron-boned and wood-hulled battleships quickly burst into flames once they were hit by heavy guns with picric acid charges. Just 15 minutes later, the Katsuragi, which was at the head of the team, was beaten into a pile of wreckage floating on the sea. The Musashi tried to fire a torpedo closely, but an 8-inch gun that pierced the side chord ended the Musashi's efforts, and the shell should have hit the boiler room, and a huge fireball rose from the middle of Musashi's hull, and the entire battleship shook like a volcanic eruption, spewing out a large amount of water vapor and debris, and after a few muffled sounds, the entire battleship made a tooth-aching cracking sound, and then the battleship sank to the bottom of the sea with his flagship. And the last Kaohsiung cruiser, after finding that the first two battleships were sunk, had the motive to retreat, but the Suiyuan at the end of the line quickly broke away from the battle column and began to pursue the Kaohsiung that was turning, in the following half an hour, Suiyuan and Kaohsiung started a one-on-one battle like a knight duel in the Middle Ages, but in the face of the attack of 3 8-inch guns and 4 6-inch guns, the bridge of the Kaohsiung quickly turned into a burning torch, Then a 6-inch shell (or 8-inch) hit one of the earrings on the side chord, and the port side of the entire battleship suddenly erupted into a ball of flame, and the fire and powerful air currents swept across the entire side chord, and the battleship was as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer on the left side of the hull, and the battleship immediately tilted to the left, and 5 minutes later it capsized and sank to the bottom of the sea. The German captain focused on the record of the course of the war and the engagement between the two sides.

But both Britain and Germany deliberately ignored what happened next, that is, the massacre of Japanese transport ships by the Beiyang Rapid Fleet and Peng Laoda's attack fleet! In the following hour, the entire area of engagement was filled with debris, blood and corpses, in the face of as many as 9 ships of various types, the Japanese transport fleet had no ability to resist at all, after sinking the escort fleet at lightning speed, 3 Beiyang fast cruisers also joined in the massacre of the Japanese transport ships, "We had no intention of taking prisoners at all, since the Japanese did not declare war unruly and killed our captured personnel, then we can only use the weapons in our hands to return a tooth for a tooth, blood for blood!" Peng Haifeng explained his behavior afterwards. Under the blows of various artillery, one merchant ship after another was sunk, and a large number of Japanese army soldiers jumped into the book to escape, but unfortunately, even if they were not hit by scattered fragments or escaped the deadly whirlpool when the transport ship sank, but in the face of strafing and artillery fire from the personnel on the attacking ship, nine out of ten of these soldiers who fell into the water were shot. This attack, later known as the Tokai Massacre, has been the subject of much controversy, with the sanctimonious people in the court criticizing the attack on the ship and dishonoring the face of the Celestial Powers, but many more people thought that there was no need to be reasonable with the barbaric and murderous Japanese. When the Japanese attacked Qing warships in the waters off Toshima, they should have thought that they would have such a day. In less than 2 hours, more than 5,000 enemies were annihilated. The Beiyang Fast Fleet and the Chinese Raid Fleet, which sank 12 ships of various kinds, raised their prestige to an unprecedented height! Boss Peng won the title of the Wolf of the Far East, and Xu Jie became the most dazzling admiral at that time, in less than a month, Xu Jie, who fought the Battle of Toshima, the Battle of Incheon Port, and the Battle of the East China Sea in 3 battles, was called the Drake of the Beiyang! As a genius battleship designer and an excellent naval admiral, Xu Jie's name appeared in major European newspapers and instantly became a real star. However, behind this scenery, various invisible changes are gradually changing the situation of the war.

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