The east showed the whiteness of the fish's belly, dispelling the twilight on the sea. The islands in the distance were faintly visible, and there seemed to be some teeth and claws in the haze. "Report! The forward gunboats reported the discovery of enemy patrol boats, and apparently the enemy had spotted us. An officer entered the command compartment to report. Dai Hui smiled: "I'm afraid that they won't be able to find us, so I ordered the gunboats to form a battle formation and launch an artillery attack first." The offensive must be huge, and the firepower must be fierce. ”

The Penghu Islands are located in the Taiwan Strait, across the sea from the mainland's Kinmen Island. The Penghu Islands, about 50 kilometers west of Taiwan, are made up of 90 large and small islands, with a total area of 141 square kilometers at low tide. Among them, Penghu Island is the largest, followed by Xiyu Township and Baisha Township. Only 19 islands are inhabited. The importance of the Penghu Islands has been particularly valued in successive dynasties.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the inspection department was set up in Penghu, but it was abandoned in the Ming Dynasty. It was not until the Dutch fleet attempted to occupy Penghu that the Ming Dynasty sent troops to Penghu to drive out the Dutch. However, the Dutch still managed to capture Penghu in July 1622. In 1624, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack Penghu, which lasted eight months, and the Ming Dynasty recognized the Dutch occupation of Taiwan Island on the condition that the Dutch fleet withdraw from the Penghu Islands. For the Ming court, although Taiwan was large, it was far less important than Penghu, and the short-sightedness of the Ming Dynasty made it easy for the Dutch to get Taiwan.

In 1661, the Ming Dynasty again sent a large army to attack Taiwan, and the general Zheng Chenggong led the fleet to drive out the Dutch, and Taiwan returned to the embrace of the motherland. Since the beginning of the day, the maritime frontier has never been taken seriously, and Taiwan is like a child who is often abandoned, always in the midst of storms and storms. The Ming and Qing dynasties closed the country and banned the sea. It has deepened Taiwan's suffering. Although the imperial court was awakened by foreign warships at the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was too late, and Taiwan became a barren land for foreigners to slaughter at will.

The beauty of Penghu is natural. The Penghu Islands are like a group of scattered emeralds, densely packed between Taiwan and Kinmen. Viewed from the air, between the turquoise sea, the emerald green islands are dotted, and some of the islands are connected by the submerged water Jiaotai, villages and settlements are like houses, and grasslands cover a large area of land. Beautiful Penghu and the treasure island of Taiwan. Under the call of war, he is about to return to the embrace of the motherland again.

Although the Penghu Islands are strategically located, the coalition forces did not build fortresses on the main island of Penghu. The reason for this is that the coalition forces have a large fleet. In view of the fact that the nascent Imperial Chinese Navy was doing nothing at the moment, it could only retreat to the coastal defense. Therefore, the headquarters of the coalition forces believed that the construction of the fort in Penghu was a waste and for long-term considerations. It is more practical for the fort fort to be built on the west side of the main island of Taiwan. on this. The headquarters of the coalition forces only deployed a Japanese brigade in Penghu to defend it.

In order to ensure the safety of Penghu, the coalition forces have laid a cable and submarine cable from Penghu to Kaohsiung Port, so that they can grasp the situation in Penghu at any time, and once Penghu encounters an attack, they will soon be able to get information, and at that time, the huge fleets of Kaohsiung Port and Keelung Port will be dispatched to support at any time. The coalition forces have made such a good calculation, so it should be said that it is not unreasonable. If the Chinese fleet sorties to attack Penghu. The coalition's huge fleet flanked north and south, and could eat the young Imperial Navy in one fell swoop. But is that really the case?

After daybreak, the fleet launched a full-line artillery bombardment of the Penghu Islands, about two gunboats of the coalition forces were sunk, and the patrol boats hid in the harbor and did not dare to come out. An hour after the bombardment of Baisha Island and Xiyu Island, Dai Hui ordered Deng Shichang to lead the Northern Expedition warship, 5 sail warships, 10 gunboats, and 12 torpedo boats into the waterway between Baisha Island and Xiyu Island, and directly attack Wugong City on the main island of Penghu, ignoring the Japanese defenders on Baisha Island and Xiyu Island.

The Japanese army deployed a large group of soldiers on Baisha Island and Xiyu Island, and there was a small amount of infantry artillery fire, and these infantry artillery guns had a short range and little power, and they were specially designed to deal with the landing of the landing troops, so they did not pose much threat to the fleet. The battle was a feint, and there was no intention to land in Penghu immediately, so after Deng Shichang led the battleship into the Penghu Inland Sea surrounded by three islands, Dai Hui ordered the main fleet to cruise on the west side of Xiyu Island to be on guard.

As a matter of fact, when the Japanese discovered that the Chinese fleet had appeared on the sea on the west side of Penghu, the Japanese commander was shocked when he heard the news, and immediately sent a report to the commander of the 2nd Fleet of the Allied Forces in Kaohsiung Port, telling the truth about the crisis in Penghu. Putting aside the measures taken by the coalition headquarters, at about noon, heavy artillery fire landed on the head of Wugong City on the main island of Penghu.

At this moment, Deng Shichang stood in the command cabin of the Northern Expedition, holding a telescope to check the shelling. The battleship shook violently in the roar, but Deng Shichang was very excited, once upon a time, the mighty cannons of the giant ships of the Chinese Empire were deeply touched by Deng Shichang. Now he has a better understanding of the truth that the country is strong and the country's sharp weapon is strong. Seeing that in the harbor, the enemy's patrol boats were blown to pieces in the accurate shelling, and the Japanese fortress fortifications were shrouded in smoke, he couldn't help but applaud in his heart.

The commander of the Kaohsiung Port Detachment, Paulson, was an American, and his flagship was the American-made battleship USS Washington. Although his battleship was 1,000 tons less than the British-made battleship Breaking Waves, in order to accommodate the mood of the Americans, the Allied Headquarters appointed the battleship Washington as the flagship of the Kaohsiung Port Squadron. As a result, Paulson was promoted to deputy commander of the 2nd Fleet and commander of the Kaohsiung Port Fleet.

At dawn, Keelung Harbor didn't seem to wake up yet. In the past two years, the 2nd Fleet occasionally came to the coastal waters of the mainland to show off its military might, but they did not dare to enter dangerous waters for fear of being attacked by Chinese torpedo boats. It should be said that their task is mainly to protect the security of Taiwan, and given the weakness of the Chinese Navy, the ship-to-ship combat against the Chinese Navy has never been worked out in detail, on the contrary, how to target the torpedo boats of the Chinese Navy, they have studied it in a very methodical way.

Although they knew that the Chinese Navy's battleships Shanghai and Fuzhou were in service, and that the reconnaissance ships had seen these two battleships from afar, they were not afraid in the eyes of the coalition forces. They believed that with only two modern warships, they could not be called an opponent at all, so the commander of the 2nd Fleet, the Briton Tantin, was not worried. It can be said that his life has been very comfortable in the past few years, and his life has been very comfortable. But where did Tandin think that the good days of Tandin at the dawn of this day were gone.

The commander was awakened from his sleep and at the same time woke up a petite Japanese woman sleeping beside him. Petite Japanese woman, naked, very reluctant to hug Tandin and play coquettish. Tandin patted the woman's forehead and said, "Baby, don't panic, there's nothing to do, I'll come back when I go." Tandin kissed the obedient and well-behaved Japanese woman vigorously and began to dress neatly. The Japanese woman also got up and began to serve him.

At present, Japan has provided a large number of military prostitutes for the senior generals of the allied forces to meet their physiological requirements. For the well-behaved and amorous Japanese women, the allied generals are very useful, and now the allied generals generally taste the sweetness and are intoxicated by having a Japanese woman. There is no war every day, and it is so pleasant to hold a Japanese woman in my arms. At present, there are also a large number of Japanese military prostitutes in the barracks of the military port, and of course these Japanese military prostitutes are paid to serve in order to earn money from the officers and men of the coalition forces. If you say that their business is good or not, you don't have to guess to think about it.

Commander Tandin arrived at the military port headquarters, and a large number of generals had gathered in the headquarters. "Report to the commander, Kaohsiung Port Paulson reported that they have received an urgent request for help from the Japanese army defending the Penghu Islands, and the Chinese army has dispatched a large number of warships to launch an attack on the Penghu Islands!" Somewhat surprised, Tandin took the message and looked at it. After reading it, Tandin groaned for a while and said, "The report is to determine whether the Shanghai and Fuzhou of the Chinese Navy are among them." ”

Soon the telegram was fed back, and after reading it, Tandin immediately said excitedly: "Everyone, the time has come for us to establish meritorious service, the Chinese Navy dispatched the main fleet to attack Penghu, and they finally couldn't bear it. The Chinese Empire flaunted its might on land, and let them taste the taste of being buried in the sea. The entire Kaohsiung Port Detachment was ordered to be dispatched to be sure to hold off the Chinese warships. All warships were ordered to set off immediately. "The harbor whistle sounded, and if Tandin had known that the Chinese Navy had two jumbos, he would never have done it.

After receiving a telegram from the Japanese army asking for help, Paulson immediately sent a telegram to Keelung Harbor to wait for orders. He then consulted with Webb, the captain of the battleship Breaking Waves, to begin preparations, and when Tandin's order was given, Paulson immediately ordered the fleet to set off. For the two new warships of the Chinese Navy, Paulson was not afraid in his heart. Although there were many old sail warships in the fleet, the fleet was equipped with a large number of new steel gunboats and new torpedo boats, so it was completely ready for war. Moreover, the main fleet can reach the battlefield in two days, and it is not a problem to destroy the Chinese fleet.

Just after the Kaohsiung Port Detachment was dispatched, two reconnaissance torpedo boats were active in the southwest direction, and there was no doubt that they could see it clearly. Two reconnaissance torpedo boats, not loaded with torpedoes, were intended to facilitate fast navigation. The enemy detachment soon spotted them, and several gunboats began to pursue them. The torpedo boat was very fast, and after ten minutes it disappeared. Because the Navy's torpedo reconnaissance boats often haunt the vicinity of Kaohsiung Harbor, the enemy fleet has long been accustomed to it. The Chinese Navy's reconnaissance torpedo boats boldly approach the enemy's waters for reconnaissance, mainly because they are fast and can quickly get rid of the enemy's pursuit.

On the flagship, an officer reported: "Report to the commander, two Chinese Navy reconnaissance boats have been found, and our whereabouts have been exposed." Paulson said confidently: "Don't worry, when they report it, the daylilies will be cold." Order the fleet to sail to the northwest, and we will go around to the southwest of the Penghu Islands to prevent the Chinese fleet from escaping back! "Who's hand to kill the deer, let's see the next decomposition. (To be continued......)

PS: Sweet bait, willing to take the bait.