Haikou, Hainan Island, the adjutant of the headquarters of the coalition detachment, is making a report: "Your Excellency, the Dutch gunboat Yellow Rose and the tulip gunboat should have returned this afternoon according to the normal patrol time, but as of dusk, there is no shadow of them, will there be an accident?" Commander Eisenken Belle sneered: "The Dutch are expressing displeasure, regardless of him." But the next morning, there was still no sign of the Dutch battleship, and the commander, Eisenkenberg, could not sit still.

He immediately ordered two cruisers to be dispatched to search for the waters of the Wanchuan Islands, but they were not allowed to enter the Lingding Ocean. A day later, the two cruisers searched the waters of the Wanchuan Islands, but did not see a trace of the Dutch gunboats. After receiving the report, the headquarters was immediately nervous, and the adjutant analyzed: "Your Excellency, the Northern Expeditionary Army has several gunboats in Guangzhou, and it may be difficult for the Northern Expeditionary Army to blockade it for a long time, so it has sunk two Dutch gunboats by means of sneak attacks. ”

"In all likelihood, the Dutch may have been clever for nothing, and it is possible that they have been ambushed near the shores of the opposing side!" Another lieutenant chimed in. Commander Eisenken Belle muttered, "Report the situation to the Manila Fleet Command immediately." In addition, 6 cruisers and 4 gunboats were quickly dispatched to Lingdingyang to find out the situation of the Dutch gunboats. "If Commander Eisenkembe had a keen sense of smell and awareness of some kind of danger, and would never have recklessly sent a fleet into Lingdingyang, perhaps he had calmed down, and a greater tragedy would not have occurred, but only maybe. As an invincible armada that dominated the oceans, the British never thought of defeat. The point was that the Northern Expeditionary Army hunted a large number of torpedo boats, and he knew nothing about it, and from this greater disaster followed.

The 10 battleships dispatched, including the flagship cruiser HMS Count Monte Cristo, with a displacement of 1,800 tons, were newly built all-steel warships in the British. His main guns in the front and rear were 203 mm naval guns, with 8 naval guns on each side and 4 130 mm naval guns and 76 mm naval guns on one side, for a total of 18 naval guns. The ship's crew is set at 350 people. The other 5 cruisers, all of which were sail-steam warships, had a steel-framed wooden structure with a displacement of about 1,500 tons, and the 4 gunboats were also steel-framed wooden structures with a displacement of about 600 tons.

After hunting two Dutch gunboats, the torpedo boats, including the sailors, were really put to the test of actual combat. With morale boosted and self-confidence boosted, Tang Zixuan ordered the torpedo boat brigade to be stationed at the secret military port on Hong Kong Island. The secret military port on Hong Kong Island has long been built, but it has not been used because of the frequent occurrence of warships of the Lingdingyang coalition forces. In order to be taken by surprise, the secret military port on Hong Kong Island was put into use, which was convenient for torpedo boats to quickly infest the Lingding Ocean.

At night, an adjutant hurriedly entered the headquarters of the torpedo boat brigade. "Report to the deputy commander, today during the day the reconnaissance ship found the coalition fleet in the Wanchuan Islands. Presumably to find the Dutch gunboats. "Great, take the initiative to send it to the door and order the squadron leaders and detachment leaders to come to the meeting." Immediately after the meeting, the military port was busy, all the torpedo boats set sail, and the rumbling sound of motors roared in the military port.

is about to leave, Dai Hui, Wen Biao, Sun Dingbang, and Zheng Haitao on the dock used the short time before departure to say goodbye. "I said Brother Dai, don't be too complacent, I let you pick up a big bargain last time, and tell you that our three brothers are not bad breeds." Wen Biao was a little jealous. "Look at you, I don't have a tail, isn't it that Commander-in-Chief Deng personally found me, are you red-eyed?" Dai Hui teased.

Sun Dingbang said: "Brother Dai is really doing a good job, I am convinced." It doesn't matter how it hurts. "It doesn't matter if there's a flesh wound." Dai Hui shook his arm, indicating that there was no problem. "Brother Dai, you fought for us and made a good start, and we all held back our strength." Zheng Haitao said. Then the whistle sounded, "Let's see you on the sea!" "See you on the sea!" The four of them put their hands together again, secretly competing and encouraging.

Taking advantage of the night, the four squadrons went to different sea areas and formed a situation of outflanking. Two squadrons met the enemy head-on, and two squadrons outflanked left and right. The 1st Squadron Leader, who was about thirty-five or sixteen years old, was an old sailor on board the 0010 boat. Entering the command platform, Dai Hui saluted and said, "Squadron leader, can you go?" "Yes, you can give the order!" The squadron leader nodded with a smile. Dai Hui gave the order to set off, and the 0010 boat started to leave the berth.

The weather was exceptionally nice, and the sun showed a gentle smile. At this time, a fleet appeared on the sea, chopping waves and cutting the waves with a mighty momentum, this is the search fleet of the coalition forces. Four gunboats opened the way ahead, with the flagship Count Monte Cristo in the center, one sail cruiser to the left and one to the right, and three cruisers to follow. At this time, the commander of the fleet, Admiral Douglas, stood in the command cabin, holding a telescope and looking ahead. The guy is about 40 years old and has 20 years of experience in sea sailing.

The gunboat flag in front gave the signal, and floating objects were found at sea. Douglas ordered the fleet to stop advancing and salvage the floats for inspection. Soon after, the gunboat used the flag to inform that the floating object was the wreck of the Dutch gunboat. "General, it can now be confirmed that the floating objects are the wreckage of Dutch gunboats, apparently they were sunk by the battleships of the Northern Expeditionary Army." An adjutant analyzed. "Order the gunboats to search this area to see if there are any survivors." Douglas was calm and not shocked.

An hour later, the sailors who were on the lookout suddenly shouted that there was a situation, and all the officers and men of the navy immediately became nervous. Douglas was not nervous, he knew that the Northern Expeditionary Army's little water warships were not enough to stuff his teeth, and he didn't have the courage to face the British Empire warships. Douglas raised his binoculars to check, and the expression on his face froze. I saw that dense black dots appeared in front of me, and the speed was extremely fast, especially the streams of black smoke were clear and easy to judge.

"It's a torpedo boat!" "Torpedo boats found on the left!" "Torpedo boats found on the right!" Several adjutants shouted. "Order the fleet to go into combat readiness! It is now established that the Dutch gunboat was sunk by a torpedo boat. Douglas had a solemn look on his face, and he knew in his heart that the torpedo boat was the nemesis of the battleship. With the sound of the whistle, the fleet immediately went into combat readiness. At this time, the four gunboats were scattered to patrol the surrounding waters, and the front was completely exposed. At this time, the gunboat on the left side of the flagship took the lead in the shelling, and a large-scale torpedo boat attack began to be staged.

Due to the formation of the sail battleships and the front cover, the Count of Monte Cristo was the first to open fire. Huge cannonballs stirred up columns of water tens of meters high in the water, like monsters jumping out of the sea. "Serpentine evasion!" The squadron leader gave the order, and the torpedo boat swam quickly forward with a water snake. "Squadron Leader, look at that big guy, if you can kill him, it's worth dying" Dai Hui couldn't help but be excited, and the squadron leader glared at him, meaning that this was unlucky.

Sun Dingbang's squadron launched an attack on the right side, and when the allied gunboats spotted the torpedo boats, they quickly approached the flagship instead of meeting them, with the aim of protecting the safety of the flagship. The speed of the gunboat was 20 knots, and the speed of the torpedo boat was 25 knots, and it was clear that the gunboat could not outrun the torpedo boat. The torpedo boat was moving forward at high speed, and Sun Dingbang was extremely nervous, and his hands couldn't help but tremble. At this time, a torpedo boat on the right was hit by the gunboat's stern gun, and with the sound of explosions, the torpedo boat moving at high speed flipped over, and steam suddenly gushed out.

The torpedo boat then exploded and sank instantly. The sinking of the brother's boat aroused Sun Dingbang's anger, and his fear disappeared in an instant. Angrily, he commanded the torpedo boats, overtook the gunboat in the face of gunfire, and when parallel to the gunboat, the torpedo boat made an arc and aimed at the gunboat's side. When it was too late, a torpedo erupted. Since the torpedo was only 100 meters away from the gunboat, it quickly hit the middle of the gunboat.

With a loud bang, the gunboat was blown up, and then it was torn apart. The wooden gunboat simply could not withstand the bombardment of a single torpedo. Soon another gunboat on this side was also sunk, but it paid the price of three torpedo boats, and many sailors, including commanders, participated in the battle for the first time, and it was inevitable that there would be no battle damage. After killing the two gunboats, Sun Dingbang and his comrades launched an attack on the main fleet. At this time, the shelling became more intense, and the smoke of gunpowder obscured the sky and the sun.

Zheng Haitao's squadron was responsible for the left attack, and one gunboat on the left was entangled by two torpedo boats of the brother detachment. Due to the artillery fire of the main fleet of the coalition forces against the front, the strike artillery fire on this side was relatively weak. At first, Zheng Haitao also saw the big guy, and immediately trembled with excitement. He belonged to the agitated type, and because of his meritorious service, he ordered the torpedo boat to move forward at high speed.

As the Count of Monte Cristo, which was only focused on the front, there was no serpentine evasion under the bombardment of the naval guns, as a result of which the torpedo boat was hit by the left forward spin and a large hole appeared. After the enemy gunboat was entangled, Zheng Haitao ordered to move on, and he targeted the flagship, the Count of Monte Cristo. A sail cruiser stood in the way, obviously, the purpose was to protect the flagship. Dense artillery fire was ongoing, a large column of water rose from the sea, and a torpedo boat on the right was shot and blown to pieces.

Suddenly, a 203-mm shell exploded 5 meters in front of the torpedo boat, and the huge column of water almost overturned the torpedo boat moving at high speed. The torpedo boat passed through the rising column of water and plunged to the bottom of the waves. Presumably, the enemy naval guns thought that the torpedo boat had been hit and quickly shifted the target. After escaping a catastrophe and rushing out of the valley of waves, the torpedo boat piloted by Zheng Haitao appeared in the most advantageous attack position of the enemy cruiser.

Visually about 400 meters away, Zheng Haitao ordered two torpedoes to be fired at the same time. When the torpedo boat made a big turn in the arc, it found two huge explosions in the middle of the enemy cruiser, and after the smoke cleared, two large holes appeared in the middle of the enemy cruiser. Since the cruiser was a wooden structure, it sank into the water and resurfaced, and many British soldiers climbed to the bottom of the ship to save themselves. Zheng Haitao ran out of torpedoes, so he had to order the torpedo boats to withdraw from the battlefield.