The night was deep, the sky was high, and a full moon hung obliquely in the eastern sky, exuding a cold fairy glow.

The breeze blows and the waves gently sway, constantly washing the reef next to the beach, surging white splashes in the sky. Dalian, the harbor on the coast of the Bohai Sea, has entered a sweet sleep, and occasionally crabs rustle over the sand, adding a bit of quiet and peaceful atmosphere to the vast night.

An old man who was close to the sixtieth year stood on the wide flybridge of the flagship "Dingyuan", looking into the dark night where the sea and the sky met in the east, with a solemn expression and seemed to be thoughtful. Hearing faint footsteps behind him, his ears moved slightly, and he said, "Are Liu Shengxiu's troops all on board?" ”

As the sound of footsteps gradually became clearer, a middle-aged man with a stocky figure and a thick beard walked out of the darkness. He walked up to the old man and said, "Most of the four thousand Ming troops have boarded the ship, but the transfer of weapons and baggage is extremely slow. At this rate, it is estimated that the full ascent will not be completed until the sub-hour is complete. ”

The old man turned around slowly, and under the dim bamboo light, a sallow face with slightly sunken cheeks was reflected. He shook his head slightly, and said slowly, "No." We've been in this place for six hours, long past the scheduled time frame; If you delay the fighters on the front line because of this, how can you get it? The order went down, and asked Liu Shengxiu's Ming army to speed up, and be sure to board the ship before the middle of the hour. ”

The middle-aged man answered, turned around and disappeared into the darkness again, leaving only the sound of sea boots touching the plank, proving that he had been to this place before.

This old man is naturally Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division known as the First Fleet in the Far East, and the chief soldier of the army general.

On September 7, 1894, the Japanese army completed the assembly and preparation of troops and began to march towards Pyongyang, an important town in Korea. Ye Zhichao, a general in Beiyang, sent electricity to China and urgently needed reinforcements of personnel and materials. In the face of this 100,000 urgent front-line military situation, Li Hongzhang immediately telegraphed and ordered Liu Sheng's rest house stationed in Dalian, a total of 4,000 Ming troops, to assemble within five days, take a transport ship to land in Dadonggou by sea, and then go to Pyongyang by land for reinforcements. In order to avoid a repeat of the tragedy of the Battle of Toshima and to ensure that this large-scale sea transportation of troops was foolproof, the Beiyang Fleet was ordered to dispatch its entire fleet to escort this operation.

In order to cover people's eyes, in the middle of the night on 14 September, the "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei" rammed cruisers, the "Pingyuan" coastal defense ironclad ship, the "Guangbing" torpedo cruiser, and the "Zhenzhong" and "Zhenbian" two mosquito boats and two torpedo boats left Weihaiwei first, while Ding Ruchang led the main force of the Beiyang Fleet to set off afterwards, first cruising around Chengshantou and then returning to Dalian to rendezvous with the advance force on 15 September. However, what I didn't expect was that because Liu Shengxiu's Ming army carried a large number of baggage, horses, and artillery, the whole boarding process was extremely slow, and the fleet that was originally planned to leave at 7 o'clock in the evening was now delayed until 12 o'clock in the evening, and all of them had not yet boarded the ship.

Ding Ruchang was born in the army, and in his early years, he led the Huai Army Iron Cavalry to fight bloody battles with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom troops, and fought hundreds of fierce battles large and small; The importance of time to the army is all too clear to this self-made general who was promoted to chief officer (equivalent to today's division commander) at the age of 32. If Ye Zhichao can defend it firmly and be a mainstay, it will not be a big deal for this 4,000-strong army to go a few days late; But if the front line is difficult to support and the city of Pyongyang is crumbling, then half an hour as early as possible may have a decisive impact on the situation of the war!

He glanced down at the pocket watch in his hand, the two hands, one long and one short, were at a 30-degree angle, pointing straight to 11 o'clock. The night wind blew, the forest was cold and cold, and Ding Ruchang wrapped the gray coat on his body tighter; From a distance, he stood like a sculpture, and only the fluttering robe gave the motionless old man a bit of life that belonged to a living creature.

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"Brothers in the army, listen up, Ding Junmen has an order: speed up, be sure to transport all the weapons and baggage on the shore to the ship within half an hour!"

The middle-aged man walked to the stern of the "Dingyuan", sank into the dantian, and shouted to the troop carrier moored at the pier not far away; The voice is loud and high, and it is particularly clear and majestic in this quiet night. After roaring this voice, the middle-aged man felt that the grievances and hatred that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time had been completely released, and he suddenly did not want to return to the Admiral's conference room below the aft deck, but only wanted to take another look at the magnificent rivers and mountains that were about to go away.

If it weren't for these damn widows, how beautiful would the world be under the sun......

"Yo, I thought who was so loud, isn't this dear Liu?" A voice with a strange tone, obviously different from that of ordinary Chinese, sounded in the back; Then there was the sound of leather shoes on the gangway, which in a short time turned into the sound of falling on the deck.

The middle-aged man followed the prestige, only to see a familiar foreigner Shi Shiran walking towards him, he was tall, gray hair and blue eyes, and the two mustaches on his lips added a bit of the kindness of the uncle next door. The only fly in the ointment is that the hair loss on his head is serious, although he has not been forced to shave his hair by Mites, but his Mediterranean degree is much deeper than the limit set by Mites.

The middle-aged man was obviously very familiar with the foreign devil in front of him, he laughed twice, and said: "Recently, I have been restless and want to take this opportunity to vent, so I made a cameo appearance as a herald with my pipe band, which made Mr. Hannagan laugh." ”

It turned out that this gray-haired and blue-eyed foreign devil was the German Hannagan, who was discharged from the German army in 1879 and was subsequently hired by the Chinese minister in Berlin to come to China as a military instructor in Tianjin and Li Hongzhang's adjutant. He returned to China in 1891 and returned to China in 1894, and now holds the position of chief instructor and deputy admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, with the rank of general soldier.

Hannagan walked up to the middle-aged man, whose height of 1.9 meters was almost as tall as the entire crew of the Dingyuan ironclad ship. He habitually touched his bare head and said, "It is autumn now, and the wind blows too much at night, and you will get what you call wind and cold; Liu Guandao, come with me to the conference room. ”

The middle-aged man Liu Buyun shook his head and said with a smile: "You go back first, I should take a shift in half an hour, the cold autumn wind is the best sobering agent for me." Besides......" He raised his left hand and pointed to the huge battleship with three main turrets moored on the starboard side of the Dingyuan, and a neatly dressed figure also stood on its deck, and said, "That compatriot of yours is still holding his post, how can I retreat before him?" ”

Although Hannagan and Claude had never known each other before, they were both from the same country after all, and after more than a month of dating, they both knew each other very well. Hearing that Liu Buyun was such a reason, Hannagan couldn't help but shake his head: "Dear Liu, I have to remind you that there is no point in you doing this; When Claude was in the German Empire, he was the only nocturnal creature in the navy, moving until 2 o'clock every night! Instead of standing here and blowing the cold wind, it is better to return to the warm and comfortable conference room and discuss military affairs with everyone! ”

Liu Buyun smiled faintly, but he didn't have the slightest intention of going back to the cabin, Hannagan gave him a blank look, and he also leaned on the railing to enjoy the night view of Dalian: the sky is high, and the mountain shadow is hazy. A cold wind blew, and the chill hit his face, and Hannagan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his knees; He let out a low cry and stumbled, but fortunately his right hand grabbed the railing next to him in time, so that he did not fall.

Liu Buyun said in a deep voice: "Isn't your rheumatism still cured?" ”

Hannagan sighed and said with a wry smile: "After soaking in the sea water for 4 hours, the root of the disease, which was not weak, has worsened again. A look of hatred appeared on his face, and his tone became fierce: "This damned group of Japanese yellow-skinned monkeys dared to brazenly sink the British merchant ship 'Gao Sheng', if I hadn't been a famous swimmer when I served in the army, I would have drowned in the turbulent waters of Toshima!" If I don't kill all these minions, how can I eliminate the hatred in my heart! ”

"In the battle of Toshima, of nearly 1,000 Huai soldiers, only more than 200 survived, and the rest were buried in the vast ocean. This hatred and hatred, I, Liu Zixiang, remember it vividly, and I dare not forget it for a moment. Although Liu Buyun's voice was not loud, it contained a decisive will and determination, "This time I went on patrol, it would be better if I didn't meet the Japanese fleet; If a Japanese sampan dares to enter my field of vision, it will be turned into powder, and then it will be shattered! ”

"I have no doubt that we have the quality. What's more, we still have the 'Brandenburg'...... Oh wrong, it should be called 'Kaiyuan' now, and we will definitely be able to win the decisive battle of the main force at sea! Hannagan looked at the German battleship on the starboard side, which had raised the red yellow dragon flag, and said confidently.

Liu Buyun smiled and nodded, feeling related. A month ago, when the Qing court had just bought this ship, because its combat effectiveness was far superior to that of the "Dingyuan" class ironclad ships currently in service with the Beiyang Naval Division, he, Ding Ruchang and other admirals had discussed for a whole day whether the flagship should be replaced. However, considering that Liu Buyun could not do without the Dingyuan ship, and Ding Ruchang, a naval commander who was not familiar with water warfare, could not do without Liu Buchan, who was proficient in naval warfare, he finally gave up the idea of replacing the flagship. In the past month, except for a few really old warships, all ships of the Beiyang Naval Division have been stepping up their training and running in the array for the addition of the Brandenburg. Over the course of a month, the morale of the officers and men of the Beiyang Navy was high, and everyone, including senior officers, was gearing up to fight with the Japanese Navy. Historically, the senior officers of the Beiyang Naval Division generally lacked confidence in fighting Japan because of their deep understanding of this fleet.

"Okay, since you don't go in, then I'll go first, I don't want to suffer in this place." Hannagan made a gesture of remarks to Liu Butoon, and turned and walked towards the ladder leading to the lower deck. Liu Buyun waved his hand at Hannagan's back, and a smile appeared on his kind face.

Before you know it, the Army's boarding operation is nearing its end.

Bow again and thank nkj8084 for the evaluation votes~~~ The naval battle has kicked off.,Please collect it.