The waves are rushing and the coal mist covers the sky.

Nearly 100 square kilometers of sea area, there are many ships. The sharp bow of the ship split and the blue waves rolled out, the huge battle flag was waved in the wind, and the hunt resounded. The artillery was polished by the sailors, reflecting a dazzling light in the bright midday sun.

At this time, the 11 ships of the Beiyang Fleet had already formed a "human" array: in the middle, three large capital ships stood majestically, "Kaiyuan", "Dingyuan", and "Zhenyuan". "Laiyuan", "Jingyuan", "Chaoyong", and "Yangwei" were deployed on the right flank, while "Jingyuan", "Zhiyuan", "Guangjia", and "Jiyuan" were deployed on the left flank. Viewed from above, the sea water split by the bow of the ship soared towards the sides of the battleship, and the sound was astonishing and spectacular.

Why do the Beiyang sailors want to line up in this array? Actually, the formation makes sense. Due to the influence of the Battle of Lisa in 1866, the Beiyang Naval Division battleships were designed to meet the enemy with the bow, so the bow fire was extremely fierce; In particular, the two ironclad ships, "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan", can only develop the power of all eight 305-mm main guns when the bow is aimed at the enemy. Due to the general proximity of the battle at that time, another advantage of the bow against the enemy was that it could effectively reduce the area exposed to enemy artillery and reduce the chance of being shot.

The Japanese Combined Fleet was now lined up in two columns, with the faster First Guerrilla Fleet in front and the comparatively slower Combined Fleet in the back—how similar to the formation of the defeated Italian fleet at the Battle of Lisa! Liu Buyun decided to follow the example of Admiral Taghoff of Austria and let the Beiyang Naval Division line up in a horizontal formation, cutting through the column of the Combined Fleet. As long as they get closer, the Japanese battleship is no match for their own ironclad ships!

10,000 meters!

When the rangefinder loudly reported this distance, Admiral Ding Ruchang, who was standing on the flybridge of the "Dingyuan" ironclad ship, could clearly see the Japanese warship in the distance. Since the combined fleet is on the side to meet the enemy, the figure of the four fast cruisers in the lead is extraordinarily large, except for the battleship "Kaiyuan", it seems that no ship can match it in length!

"Come on, little Japanese, I will let you know the power of Lao Tzu's fleet in a moment!" In the command tower protected by heavy armor, Liu Buyun looked at the Japanese ships that were getting closer and closer in the distance, and clenched his fists excitedly. Around him, more than a dozen officers were busy nervously, either determining the direction or calculating the angle; Be well prepared for the upcoming decisive battle of the fleet.

What worries Liu Buyun is that due to the age of the two crashing cruisers of "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei", coupled with long-term high-intensity use, their boilers have reached the verge of being scrapped; No matter how the sailors pushed, the maximum speed could only reach a pitiful 6 knots. Dragged down by these two old ships, the current speed of the Beiyang Fleet is only 6 knots, far lower than the Japanese No. 1 guerrilla fleet in front of it; If the other side chooses to avoid their own Chinese army at this time and go around to the relatively weak right flank, with their absolute superiority in rapid-fire artillery, the entire right flank will be in danger of collapsing!

"Report!" A herald hurriedly rushed into the command tower and said loudly to Liu Buyun, "The enemy's first guerrilla fleet turns to the northeast, the azimuth is 274, and the distance is 9,500 meters!" ”

"Little Japan, the dog said, it's so good at this time!" Liu Buyun was taken aback, hurriedly grabbed the binoculars and looked, only to see that the four Japanese battleships at the forefront began to accelerate one by one, and the bow of the ship was surging out a large white spray due to the large-angle turn. Obviously, the commander of the opposing side has already made the most correct response according to the formation discharged by the Beiyang Fleet. The naval guns of the Beiyang Fleet were almost entirely concentrated in the bow, and the firepower on the side and rear was extremely weak; If the Japanese warships were to make a detour to the rear of the side and attack their own shortcomings with their own strengths, how long would the old and weak ships "Super Brave" and "Mighty" be able to hold out under the fire of a large number of Japanese rapid-fire guns?

Before the battle, Ding Ruchang handed over the command of the fleet to himself, and in the face of such trust from his old boss, how could he let the Japanese commander's treacherous plan succeed?

Liu Buyun said in his heart: "The speed of the Japanese fleet is extremely fast, and the overall speed of the Beiyang Naval Division can only be maintained at 6 to 7 knots. Chaotic warfare is certainly an established tactic after the addition of the battleship Kaiyuan, but if the entire right flank is gone, can chaotic warfare still succeed? In order to protect the right flank, it was necessary to adjust the direction of navigation, always aiming the bow at the Japanese Navy. ”

"The order went down, and the fleet turned right 4 compass points. In addition, the flag was sent to the 'Kaiyuan' at the forefront of the fleet, so that they could take advantage of the range advantage of the large-caliber main guns that were superior to the 'Dingyuan' and deal the heaviest blow to the Japanese No. 1 guerrilla fleet one step ahead! Liu Buyun's eyes were still staring at the Japanese Combined Fleet, which was already less than 10,000 meters away, and said loudly.

The signal soldier climbed onto the bridge, pulled the rope, and converted Liu Buyun's command into a flag, repeating it back and forth nearly 10 times. When the signal men on each ship saw this, they waved their flags one after another. The huge Beiyang Naval Division began to slowly turn to the right, and each gun completed the first reload; In the command tower of the battleship "Kaiyuan", Claude took the cotton ball from his left and right hands, skillfully plugged his ears, and quietly waited for the time of the shelling.

9000 meters... 8500 meters... 8000 m ...... 7500 m ......

7000 meters!

"Boom!" The two 40 times diameter 283 mm main guns in the bow of the Kaiyuan suddenly erupted into an earth-shattering roar of tigers and dragons, and the muzzles of the guns rushed out of red-purple red light more than 2 zhang long, and the huge recoil made this steel giant ship with a displacement of more than 11,000 tons tremble slightly. 2 armor-piercing shells weighing 240 kg burst with a thunderous burst of 820 meters per second; In an instant, in a few breaths, the Yoshino was on top of the head!

"Boom!" The cannonball roared at a distance of only 200 meters from the "Yoshino" and crashed headlong into the Yellow Sea, and the waves swept wildly; Two white water jets gushed straight up more than ten meters high, spinning and flying, rolling in the sky.

With a bang, the water column burst out, like thousands of silver lions and angry horses, roaring and sweeping around. Looking at the surging and turbulent waves not far away, Pingjing Hangsan's heart was shocked: the fleets of the two armies were 7,000 meters apart, and the other side actually hit the cannonball to a distance of just over 200 meters! However, he realized that as the commander of the guerrilla fleet, he must not show fear and panic at this time; If your fear is known by those recruits, this battle will not be fought at all!

"What are you afraid of! Panic what! Qing cannonballs haven't hit us yet! Tsuboi Kozo suppressed the fear in his heart, pointed at the officers who looked frightened and trembled, and scolded angrily, "Look at your cowardice, are you still a soldier of the Great Japanese Empire?" The combined fleet is blessed by Amaterasu and the Emperor, how can the Qingguo artillery hit us? If anyone has a cowardly and cowardly behavior, greedy for life and afraid of death......" He drew his katana at his waist with a swipe and shouted, "Don't blame me for not being merciful!" ”

"Hey!" The officers awe of the Yoshino replied in unison.

At this moment, on the battleship "Kaiyuan", a hot scene is presented: in the ammunition depot at the bottom of the bow, the sailors operate a unique machinery and carefully hoist two shells weighing 240 kg into the modules that have already been poured; The bell sounded, and the elevator, with a module containing shells, was raised at a constant speed to a compartment below the main turret. The flatbed cart, which had been waiting for a long time, loaded with shells, was driven sideways to another elevator before being lifted into the main turret. By this time, the main gun, which had been fired, had turned back to the loading angle directly in front of the bow from a certain side-firing angle, and the sailors struggled to push the shells into the chamber and pack a certain amount of propellant into the chamber. After all this was done, the main turret of hundreds of tons rotated again, adjusted the horizontal angle according to the latest data from the observers, and when the smoke completely dissipated, it was the moment when a new round of salvo fire began!

"Boom!" There was another thunderous roar that resounded through the sky, and the huge sound seemed to destroy the universe and tear the galaxy apart. Looking at the purple waves and red waves that rushed out of the bow of the battleship "Kaiyuan" in the distance, the Japanese sailors on the cruiser "Yoshino" were terrified; The piercing and sharp scream produced by the friction between the shell and the air went from far to near in a very short time, because the shells of the German 283 mm guns were so fast that at a distance of 6,000 meters, a few breaths were already in front of you!

"Don't mess around! Hide now! Tsuboi Hangsan Kankan shouted these words, the waves were like tilting, and the "Yoshino" suddenly trembled violently; The statue of Amaterasu on the table flew out due to inertia, impartially, and smashed heavily on the forehead of Tsuboi Kozo, and the skin was open. Ignoring the wound that was already bleeding, Pingjing Hangsanyi grabbed the microphone next to him and yelled: "Damage Management Department, report the loss!" ”

After a while, a frightened voice came from the other end of the microphone: "Report to the commander, an enemy shell exploded in the water 10 meters away from the bow of this ship, and 2 compartments were flooded, and the drainage pump has been put into operation, and the water intake is controllable!" One sailor on the 152-mm gun emplacements in the bow of the ship was hit by shrapnel and his life was in danger. ”

Hearing that the ship was not directly hit, the big stone in Tsuboi Hangzo's heart fell to the ground, and he let out a "hmm" sound, only to feel an unbearable sharp pain on his forehead. Thinking of the shaking of the sky just now, Pingjing Hangzo was terrified, and said loudly: "I can't go on like this!" The order was given, and the fleet turned a compass point to the right, changed the track, and quickly narrowed the distance with the Qing fleet! ”

Amid the roar of Tsuboi Hangsan, the four cutting-edge Japanese cruisers of the First Guerrilla Fleet began to turn again. On the cruiser "Yoshino", which has a designed displacement of 4,150 tons, senior officers are encouraging the grassroots sailors over and over again, and as long as the distance between the two sides is shortened to 3,000 meters, they can use the rapid-fire artillery fire like a storm to give the enemy warships the fiercest attack.

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