The night is coming to an end, and the stars are gone; The red sun rises in the east, shining for nine days.

At noon on September 16, with the roar of the steam engine, the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division arrived safely outside the mouth of the Dadong ditch. The six-hour sea voyage was a common occurrence for the officers and men of the navy, but it was an unforgettable night for the 4,000 officers and men of the Ming Army under the command of Liu Shengxiu. Most of them are going to sea for the first time, and although they have many symptoms of seasickness, in their hearts, they still think about seafaring; After sleeping on a boat for one night, I have already gone through a three-day trip on land.

According to the original plan of Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang, the army group supporting Korea should take a merchant ship and swim up the mouth of the Yalu River to land. However, due to the shallow water level at the mouth of Dadonggou, large ships could not pass through the astronomical tide, so they could only unload at Dadong Port outside Dadonggou. In order to remedy this, as early as September 13, Li Hongzhang urged the officials in charge of cargo transportation at Daedong Port to raise a large number of barges and civilian ships so that the troops could be quickly transported to Uiju (present-day Sinuiju, North Korea), 15 nautical miles away, to land.

Three days later, when 4,000 Ming troops arrived at Dadong Port on 6 transport ships (an American freighter was hired to load the baggage), they found that the civilian barges used to transfer troops had only arrived in a few dozen! In this situation, the first Buddha who led Liu Sheng, the commander of the Ming army, was born and the second Buddha ascended to heaven. It is important to know that the Ming army stationed in Dalian this time can be said to have poured out, carrying nearly 500 war horses alone, accompanied by a large number of guns, artillery, baggage and ammunition. All the personnel and materials on the five transport ships are only transferred by such dozens of small civilian barges, and when will it take for this TM to be landed?

On the ironclad ship "Dingyuan" not far away, Ding Ruchang, who had returned to the bridge, saw the scene in front of him, and there seemed to be a raging flame surging in his chest; He took a few deep breaths of the salty, warm sea breeze and forced himself to suppress the anger in his chest. Ding Ruchang turned his gaze to the right side of Lu, and his tone was full of anxiety and irritability: "At this rate, when will the army arrive in Pyongyang for support?" Zixiang, do you have any ideas? ”

Liu Buyun stared at a small boat undergoing arduous barge operations, where several army soldiers were stepping on narrow planks, carefully moving from the troop carrier to the bumpy barge. He was silent for a while, and then said, "We can connect these civilian ships together with cables in twos and threes to improve their stability so that they can transport artillery and other heavy items." Aren't there still 4 torpedo boats in the fleet? These boats have a shallow draft and are able to sail freely in the Yalu River, so we can have them join in the transport! After the goods are fully loaded, towing a group of barges to Uiju can also slightly increase the speed of unloading. ”

Ding Ruchang's eyes lit up, nodded slightly, and said, "Very good." At this point, this is the only way to remedy it. The order was sent down, and the 'Fulong,' 'Right One,' 'Right No.', and 'Right No.3' were ordered to break away from the formation and go to assist in transporting troops; 'Pingyuan' and 'Guangbing' were to anchor and take charge of the vigilance and safety of the landing ground. ”

Liu Buyun opened his mouth, thinking of what Ding Ruchang said to him last night, the words that had reached his lips were swallowed back into his stomach alive. At this moment, Hannagan, a German with a intestine leading to the end, came over without knowing the current affairs, and asked in the German tone unique to this ship: "Then where should the main fleet go?" ”

The Admiral ignored him, but the next general gave an answer. The main force of the fleet turned to the southwest and anchored in the deep water area of 12 nautical miles at the mouth of the Dadong ditch to ensure the return of the troop carriers. According to the rules and regulations of the Beiyang Navy, the main formation that was berthed still maintained in a two-by-two doubles column, and because there was an extra "Kaiyuan" out of thin air, this large battleship that originally belonged to Germany could only be moored alone at the forefront. Ding Ruchang's move, of course, saw the importance of this deep-water artery for the return voyage, but also had a sense of being out of sight and out of mind - a 30-nautical-mile round trip by barge transporting troops, most of these civilian ships were not equipped with expensive steam power, and relied on sails or even oars......

"Don't meet the main force of the Japanese Navy at this time...... Ding Ruchang prayed silently in his heart.

Just when the Beiyang Army was struggling to move to the land through civilian ships, the Taedong River Estuary in South Korea, hundreds of miles away, was also in full swing. Fresh water, coal, and ammunition brought by the transport ships were loaded onto white-painted battleships by a group of pygmy sailors, the black holes of their guns like the fangs of jackals, shining with an evil and bloodthirsty glow in the sunlight. The entire vicinity of the Datong River Estuary is like opening the gates of hell, with gusting winds and ghosts crying wolves.

"Hi Yaku, Hi Yaku! (Hurry, hurry!) A naval commander in a lieutenant general's uniform stood on the foredeck of the "Matsushima", and was making a loud and dissatisfied urging at the minions in front of him. He was in his early 50s, and had an ordinary face; A pair of weasel-like eyes twitched, revealing a cunning and vicious glow from time to time. Having loved the Navy since childhood, his hard work, and his tactfulness and sophistication, Ito rose to the rank of vice admiral at the age of 50 and became the first Supreme Commander of the Combined Fleet the following year.

Hearing the sound of slow footsteps on the gangway in front of him, Ito thought that some sailor was lazy, slowed down and became furious. Because the Japanese Combined Fleet was established for a long time and was far less old than the Beiyang Fleet, although the performance of the ships was superior to that of the Beiyang Naval Division, there were not enough qualified sailors to be dispatched. Many of the sailors who served on the ship were hired on a temporary basis after the outbreak of war, and they not only did not have professional skills, but also did not have the temperament of a soldier at all. The day before yesterday, when at the anchorage of Nanyang Bay, a temporarily conscripted sailor actually dropped a 152-mm shell weighing 45 kilograms to the ground in the process of carrying artillery shells; If it explodes, the consequences are unimaginable!

He stepped forward angrily, and was about to teach the ignorant sailor a lesson; Halfway through the walk, I suddenly saw the head of Shikinori Kayama, the head of the Naval Commander, slowly rising from the level of the ship's side. He was startled, and hurriedly changed his face to a flattering face, and said with a sneer: "Your Excellency, aren't you on the 'Saikyo Maru', why do you have time to visit the 'Matsushima'?" ”

The roe deer rat of Kayama Shikisheng, due to his age, the power of the years has carved criss-crossing wrinkles on his face. He didn't answer Ito's words, but smiled at the vice admiral in front of him and said, "General, this time, please let me also take a look at the magnificent scene of the Imperial Japanese Navy destroying the Qing warship." ”

Ito Yuhiro said: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, I will definitely dedicate a scene that is even better than the great victory of Toshima in front of Your Excellency!" A look of pride appeared on his face, and he said, "With the mantis arms of the Qing Kingdom's 'super bravery' and 'Yangwei' and a few tattered torpedo boats, how can they resist the Longche Tunnel, the main force of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy?" ”

It turned out that just as the top-secret information about the departure time of the Qing troop transport ship was stolen by the Japanese before the Battle of Toshima, on September 14, the Japanese headquarters also received information from spies lurking in China. Because when the Beiyang Naval Division escorted the troop transport ship to Dalian Port on 14 July, Ding Ruchang only sent ships with weak combat effectiveness, such as "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei," to accompany him, while the main fleet sailed in the direction of Chengshantou, which greatly deceived the decision-making level of the Japanese Combined Fleet. The Japanese decision-makers mistakenly believed that the Beiyang warships escorted this time only had some miscellaneous fish, such as "Chao Yong", "Yang Wei" and a few torpedo boats; But what they didn't expect was that after cruising around the mountain, Ding Ruchang's main fleet immediately returned to Dalian Port and joined the advance fleet.

Due to the miscalculation of the escort force of the Beiyang Naval Division, the Japanese naval top brass believed that this operation would be a repeat of the Battle of Toshima, so they did not send all the main forces; Shikinori Kayama, the head of the Navy's Commanding Department, also insisted on going to sea with the fleet to see the victory at his fingertips up close. Because of his old qualifications and high position, the admirals could not resist him, so they had to agree to let him take the luxurious armed cruise ship "Saikyo Maru" and watch the battle at the end of the team. In order to be able to sail into the shallow water area to kill the Chinese boats, Ito also brought a small gunboat "Akagi" with him. In some books on the First Sino-Japanese War, the naval battle in the Yellow Sea is described as a deliberate naval decisive battle between the two sides, which is actually incorrect; If this is a decisive battle that the two sides have been preparing for a long time, then why should Japan bring the "Saikyo Maru" and "Akagi", two ships that have nothing to do with the decisive battle of the main force?

Shiki Kayama suddenly sighed softly, and said with emotion: "Ito-kun, I can't hide it, the most long-awaited thing in this life is to see the Qing Kingdom completely annexed and defeated by our Great Japanese Empire. The vast and fertile splendid rivers and mountains of the Central Plains have been occupied for too long, and it is the turn of our Great Japanese Empire to take charge. In this national war, the heavy responsibility is shouldered by the monarch; Cheng will open the emperor's immortal imperial business; If you lose, you will fall into the abyss of hell and hundreds of millions of catastrophes, and you will not be negligent in the slightest! ”

"This old thing, when did it become so literary and artistic, and it still knows how to chew words like a Qing people?" Ito Yuhyung muttered to himself, full of disapproval of Kayama Shiki's words. For more than a month since the start of the war, the army has been feasting on the front line, defeating the Qing army to the ground; The Combined Fleet, which was originally relied on as the main force, was busy all day long helping the army deliver supplies and equipment. If it weren't for the Battle of Toshima, the Combined Fleet might have been forgotten in the corner by the people, and what kind of bullshit 'heavy duty is on the shoulders of the king'? If you don't take the opportunity to get a vote this time and hit the Qing country's troop transport fleet hard, how will the combined fleet mix in the military headquarters after that?

Ito Youheng cursed in his heart, but there was a look of deferency on his face, and he said yes again and again. Seeing that the commander of the vice admiral's fleet in front of him was obedient to his own tidying, Shiki Kayama felt a little proud in his heart; He coughed and said, "The supply of the Matsushima is about to be completed, and the fleet is about to go to sea, so I won't make trouble here." Ito-kun, after the victory in this battle, the combined fleet will once again be valued by the people, and you and I don't have to look at the faces of those people in the army anymore! ”

Ito nodded with a sneer, and sent the head of the Navy Command down the flagship. He glanced at the pocket watch in his hand, and it was two o'clock in the afternoon; The Japanese Combined Fleet, anchored outside the mouth of the Datong River, had already completed the replenishment of most of its warships, and the chimneys were wisps of soot and had begun to reserve steam for the boilers. He nodded and muttered, "Sorosoro...... One hit Maas! (almost...... It's time to go! ）”

At 5 p.m. on 16 September, the 12 warships of the Combined Fleet lined up in a long column and sailed out of the Datong River one after another, heading for the destination of the operation, Dadong Port.

Tomorrow the author has something.,I'll send this chapter up first.,Let's collect and recommend it~~~.