In the afternoon, Deng Shichang led the warships to bombard Wugong City, and in the command cabin of the flagship Shanghai, Dai Hui heard the rumbling cannons, but he couldn't see the situation of Wugong City from too far away, so he could only judge the shelling situation. The deputy captain said: "Commander, our movements are so realistic, I am afraid that Kaohsiung Port has already learned of the situation, but we don't know anything about whether the enemy fleet will be dispatched or not, which is the most anxious." Dai Hui said: "The most anxious should be the commander, it is useless for us to be anxious, or to implement it according to the proposed jihua." ”

Dai Hui continued: "The Japanese army on Xiyu Island does not have many troops, and it is recommended that the 7th Brigade launch a landing operation on Xiyu Island, if it is possible to take Xiyu Island, the battle base will be beneficial to us." In the next step, if the situation of the battle changes, there will be no problem for the army units to retreat from Xiyu Island. The adjutant said: "The commander is right, I will immediately inform the 7th Brigade to launch an attack on Xiyu Island immediately." An hour later, the 7th Brigade dispatched a regiment and launched a landing operation from the south side of Xiyu Island, supported by five gunboats.

Dense sampans appeared on the sea on the south side of Xiyu Island, and soldiers struggled to rock their oars and rush to the beach. A brigade of Japanese troops defended the entire island and was overstretched. Soon the soldiers, with the strong support of the battleship's artillery, rushed to the beach. The battle began to develop deeper into the island, and then the 7th Brigade launched a more fierce offensive with another regiment, and by dusk, Xiyu Island was occupied, and a large group of Japanese troops was eliminated. After dark, the shelling of the main island of Penghu stopped.

That afternoon, the huge lineup of the lurking fleet was moving slowly from south to north. In the command cabin, Commander Fan Tao's face was very anxious. His mood affected his subordinates. But the subordinates didn't know what to say. Suddenly, one of his subordinates put down his binoculars and said excitedly: "Report to the commander, the reconnaissance torpedo boat is back." Fan Tao hurriedly raised the binoculars to check, and sure enough, two reconnaissance patrol boats came at high speed. Due to the absence of a torpedo, the front bow was almost exposed to the water.

There is no doubt that the reconnaissance patrol boat brought back good news, and Fan Tao listened to the report: "Order the Awakening to lead the detachment, the landing force and the special forces to attack, and order the main fleet to advance to Penghu at full speed!" All the generals let out a sigh of relief, and their faces showed a happy expression. At this time, the roar on the sea began to intensify, and the fleet split in two. The waves that break on the surface of the sea form two white traces, which is spectacular.

Naval battles of this period were impossible to conduct at night. In order to allow the enemy fleet to find the target, Dai Hui ordered all the fleets to turn on the lights, which was clear at a glance. But they didn't know whether the enemy fleet was coming or not. At midnight. The sea on the south side is still pitch black. There is no indication of hostility. Dai Hui did not expect that the enemy fleet had already come to his side, and they did not appear in the southeast and due south directions, but in the southwest direction.

There is no doubt that Paulson led the detachment to control the lights when it entered the danger zone, and they were very experienced and proficient in naval warfare. "Report to the commander, the reconnaissance ship has discovered the Chinese fleet, which is located on the south side of Xiyu Island." An officer reported. "Order the fleet to stop advancing!" Paulson gave the order decisively. The adjutant was a little worried: "The Chinese fleet did not implement light control. Very abnormal, is there fraud? "You overestimate the Chinese. We have been galloping across the ocean for hundreds of years, and the Chinese are still dolls in front of us! Paulson waved his hand lightly and confidently said that he could not make a mistake.

Paulson continued: "Although we have lost one after another in land battles, in the battle on the sea, the Chinese are not opponents at all in their current state. Don't lose confidence just because the Chinese warships have succeeded in taking advantage of the despicable and shameless sneak attack methods, and it is still the free warriors who dominate the ocean. Paulson served in the British Navy in his early years and had extensive experience in naval warfare, and later became an American citizen and became a leader in the navy.

It was dawn, and suddenly the battle sirens sounded. Originally, Dai Hui couldn't sleep last night, and he lay in bed with clothes in the middle of the night. At this moment, an alarm was heard, and a carp jumped up and ran towards the command module. As soon as he entered the command cabin, the adjutant hurriedly reported: "Report to the commander, the alert ship is in a hurry, and the enemy fleet has been discovered in the southwest direction." "Damn, it turns out that they appeared in the southwest direction, and to my surprise, the enemy fleet was worried that we would run away. Order the fleet to meet the enemy in battle formation. ”

At this time, the Shanghai was in the center, the Fuzhou and the Northern Expedition were on the left and right, gunboats were in the front, sail warships were on the left and left on the left, and torpedo boats were in the rear, so as to prevent the enemy ships from outflanking. Dai Hui stood in the command cabin and observed the enemy fleet, and issued a series of orders from his mouth: "Order the sail battleships to entangle the enemy sail warships, the gunboats to the gunboats, the Fuzhou to entangle the enemy Washington, and the flagship and the Northern Expedition to attack the Breaking Waves with all their might." ”

Soon the rumbling cannons rang out, and large clouds of black smoke rose from the sea. In less than an hour, the sail battleship Yang Wei caught fire and was forced to withdraw from the battle, and then the middle part of the sail battleship Bibo was hit, the ammunition was detonated, and it was broken into two sections in an instant. At the same time, one gunboat was also shot and sunk, and two gunboats were seriously wounded and withdrew from the battle. The displacement of the enemy fleet's gunboats is 600 tons, while the displacement of its own gunboats is based on the design of coastal defense, almost all of them are gunboats of more than 300 tons, and the enemy fleet far surpasses them in terms of overall tonnage.

The point is that the main guns of the enemy gunboats in front of them are 130 mm rapid-fire guns, while the own gunboats have 76 mm guns, and the enemy ships have the advantage at the beginning of the battle. Paulson was very experienced, and he ordered the gunboats to come forward and fight, and the capital ships just waved their flags and shouted in the back. Two hours later, five of our sailboats had withdrawn from the battle wounded and one sunk. Two more gunboats were sunk, and four gunboats were wounded and withdrew from the battle. And the enemy ships had three sail ships out of the battle, three gunboats were wounded and out of the battle, and none of them were sunk.

I have to admit that the naval warfare on the right track, the coalition forces are rich in naval warfare, and they are indeed superior in technology. Dai Hui boldly changed Jihua and ordered the three battleships to go all out against the enemy gunboats. Less than three minutes after the order was given, the Shanghai hit an enemy gunboat, only to see a puff of black smoke rise from the middle part of the enemy gunboat, and then there was a martyrdom, the fragments flew sideways and broke into two sections, and sank in the blink of an eye, and the sailors on the ship let out cheers.

Ten minutes later, one of the enemy gunboats was wounded and withdrew from the battle, and one was sunk. However, the enemy ships did not change their fighting methods at all, and still used gunboats to entangle. "Report to the commander, the Chinese fleet has taken the bait!" The subordinates said happily. Paulson said: "Order the Breaking Wave to move forward in half an hour and target the enemy's flagship." Dai Hui saw that the enemy ship had not changed its fighting style in the slightest, and knew that the enemy was using wolf pack tactics to drag him down.

Frankly speaking, if there is no hidden fleet to outflank him, Dai Hui's situation is very bad. Don't look at the enemy fleet with only two battleships, but his gunboats play a huge role, and in the face of enemy gunboats, they can also lose both. Moreover, the gunboats were nimble and maneuverable, and it was much more difficult to hit a gunboat than a bulky battleship. A few shells had already fallen on the foredeck of the Shanghai, and there was a wolf on the deck, after all, there was only one main gun in the front, and there were many enemy gunboats.

Suddenly, the Northern Expedition's right full rudder was wounded, and the battleship came sideways. Dai Hui knew that Deng Shichang was going to use dense side-rotating artillery attacks to increase the intensity of the strike. However, it is more dangerous to do so, and it can be devastating at any time. Dai Hui knew that Deng Shichang was sacrificing his life to protect the flagship, and with the dense firepower, the enemy gunboats were suddenly unable to parry, and in less than five minutes, three enemy gunboats were shot and wounded and withdrew from the battle.

But danger also followed, at this time the battleship Breaking Waves rushed up and began to roar, a shell hit the rear of the Northern Expedition, and a gun was blown away on the side of Zuihou. When the smoke filled the air, Dai Hui closed his eyes in pain, but the roar of anger on the Northern Expedition seemed to be fearless. Dai Hui knew that Deng Shichang intended to sacrifice himself. "Order, shelling the enemy Breaking Waves, the Shanghai fired at the Breaking Waves, and the Northern Expedition got a respite.

Suddenly, a shell fell to the side of the command module, and a huge explosion shocked Dai Hui, who quickly got up and said, "Leave me alone, check the loss immediately." There are gunboats entangled in the near distance, the first battleship bombardment in the distance, and the flagship Shanghai is in a passive position. At this time, several gunboats bravely rushed to the front and launched an assault on the flagship. One of his gunboats was hit by several bullets, and the captain did not give the order to withdraw from the battlefield, but drove the battleship at a crooked and diagonal direction towards the enemy ship.

Apparently the gunboat captain gave the order to die, and the sailors jumped into the sea. The captain personally piloted the battleship and bravely rammed into the enemy ship, only to hear a loud bang, and the two battleships collided together. The small tonnage and small size of their own gunboat plunged into the sea and sank, and a large hole was knocked open on the right side of the front of the enemy gunboat, and the rear of the Dara head was cocked on the deck. The enemy gunboats stood still. Suddenly a shell hit, and the enemy gunboat sank into the sea with a groan.

On the battleship of the Northern Expedition, Deng Shichang stood in the command cabin with a stern face, he had decided to sacrifice himself to attract the enemy and protect the flagship with all his might. Although the Northern Expedition has been modified and equipped with 200 guns, it belongs to the first generation of ironclad ships, and the battleship itself has defects, especially the very poor maneuverability. His front main gun was 200 mm, but the side spin was 76 mm, which was a cut below the enemy gunboats, so it was impossible to deal with the battleship Breaking Waves.

There were two more side-spinning guns, "Report to the captain, there are only three side-spinning guns left, and we can't fight again?" A subordinate rushed into the command cabin to report. Deng Shichang said decisively: "Order to turn around 360 degrees!" "The subordinates knew that Deng Shichang was going to work hard. Accompanied by another 8-gun bombardment of the Northern Expedition, the threat of enemy gunboats to the flagship Shanghai was effectively contained. As a result, the Shanghai made every effort to deal with the enemy's Breaking Waves. The battle intensified. (To be continued......)

PS: The young Chinese Navy must endure brutal naval battles to prove itself!