The sky was bright, there was wind on the sea, and there were wind and waves 1 meter high. Deng Shichang ordered the whole fleet to set sail, and at the same time warned the captains of all ships that if there was an enemy fleet in front, they must entangle the enemy fleet and ensure that the main fleet is outflanked and encircled. Deng Shichang did not expect that the gunboats he sent did not send the news to the main fleet at all. And Deng Shichang still met the enemy according to the original Jihua, and went to fight with a disparity in Liliang, and a tragic naval battle began.

After sailing south for less than an hour, a huge fleet appeared in front, the battle alarm was quickly sounded, and the ships quickly formed a battle formation. On the Empress, the flagship of the coalition detachment, an officer shouted: "Report to the general, you have found that the enemy fleet is approaching!" "Commander, as you expected, the enemy fleet has appeared." "This is the real naval battle, and the British Empire is a noble gentleman, and never does anything like stealing chickens and dogs. The order was that the Sunset, the Philadelphia, and the France made a detour to the right to intercept the enemy fleet from fleeing south at any time, and the other main battleships formed a battle formation to meet the enemy. Baker gave the order decisively.

The chief of staff was a little confused and said: "Commander, the enemy fleet only has more than 20 warships, and there is a huge disparity in Liliang, it stands to reason that they should run away, looking at the other party's jiashi, it seems that they want to compete with us, and stump the enemy's main fleet nearby?" "There is no need to worry, even if the enemy's main fleet comes, after all, they are far away from the mainland, and if the situation is not good, we can retreat into Manila Bay at any time." At the moment, the initiative is in our hands, but we must swallow the fat in our hands. ”

Entering the effective range, the Liberty opened fire first. The huge cannonballs set off huge columns of water in the sea, which was very terrifying. Deng Shichang ordered to open fire. At present, the range and power of the naval guns of the Imperial Chinese fleet are the same caliber as those of enemy ships. The firing range is much longer than that of enemy ships, and the explosion is powerful, but compared to the caliber of 305 mm, it is not on the same level. At present, only the front and rear naval guns of the Beijing and Harbin are 305 mm in the imperial fleet. At this time, two destroyers and 10 gunboats formed 4 inverted triangles in front to cover the main battleships of the Shanghai and Rising.

The two destroyers in front were rapid-fire guns. The shells were discharged at a high rate. At first, the goal of the coalition warships was to target the Shanghai and Rise. They soon discovered that the two larger ships in front of them were under heavy fire, and a few rapid fires distorted the front main gun of the Liberty, rendering it ineffective. Suddenly. The coalition warships turned their guns on the two destroyers. Project 0012 destroyer and Project 0013 destroyer are not afraid to take advantage of the battle. Constantly firing artillery fire at the USS Liberty.

The main guns in front of the battleship Liberty lost their function and quickly turned the bow. Shooting with the rear main gun. The two destroyers seem to have their eyes on the Liberty. Cannonballs kept exploding on the deck of the Liberty. Suddenly, a cannonball hit the bottom of the rear main gun of the Liberty, and the rear main gun of the Liberty exploded violently, and the barrel of the cannon twisted and suddenly fell silent. Seeing this, the captain of the Liberty screamed in anger, and in less than an hour after the start of the battle, the two main guns in the front and rear were paralyzed.

The captain of the Liberty waved the flag and reported to the flagship Empress, and ordered the battleship to continue firing with its side-rotating guns. The American captain of the Liberty was very depressed and did not expect to be almost twice the size of the battleship by the other side. The front and rear main guns were paralyzed. However, the destroyer ship 0012 and the destroyer 0013 focused all their efforts on the battleship Liberty. Doom ensued, and Baker ordered all efforts to destroy the two ships.

Dozens of shells were hit on the decks of the two destroyers, and the entire deck was shrouded in smoke, but the two destroyers still fought tenaciously. Suddenly, a 305-mm shell hit the middle of the destroyer ship 0012, and with a huge explosion, the boiler chimney disappeared, and then there was another explosion, and the steam flew in the air with countless fragments, and the destroyer stopped swimming and became a live target.

At this time, a large crater appeared in the middle of the battleship 0012, and I saw the soldiers jumping into the sea one after another. The Navy Headquarters strictly ordered that once a warship could not be rescued during a naval battle, all officers and men would immediately jump into the sea. The decoy fleet led by Deng Shichang, including 6 gunboats, is mainly tasked with rescuing sailors who have fallen into the sea. I saw two fast gunboats, and quickly rushed to the vicinity of the 0012 destroyer to salvage the sailors who jumped into the sea.

At this time, dense shells poured down on No. 0012, and the battleship could no longer hold on, and in the billowing smoke, the battleship No. 0012 was broken into two knots and swallowed by the sea. The American battleship Liberty was also taken care of, and at least four gunboats aimed their fire at the battleship Liberty, when suddenly a shell hit the command compartment, the smoke dissipated, and a large hole was blown out of the command compartment. On board the Empress, an officer reported: "Report to the Commander, that the command module of the Liberty has been hit, and that General Mason is seriously wounded. ”

Baker said: "Order the Liberty to withdraw from the battle, the enemy fleet is already at the end of its strong crossbows, and it is full of strength to deal with the enemy's flagship." Deng Shichang saw the sinking of the No. 0012 destroyer, and his heart was very sad, but as a commander, he had to be mentally prepared. He then ordered the destroyer 0013 to withdraw from the battle. Due to the protection of the frigate, the Shanghai was not hit hard. But the contrast between Liliang is too great, and a tragic scene can happen at any time.

A frigate was hit, stopped at sea and did not move. Once a battleship becomes a live target, its fate is doomed. Soon the frigate sank. In order to improve morale, Deng Shichang aimed his guns at a gunboat, and hit them continuously, and the enemy gunboat ignited a fire, and then there was a martyrdom, and the gunboat sank to the bottom of the sea in the fire. Immediately, the morale of the officers and men was greatly boosted.

Immediately afterwards, the battleship Rise, under the command of Guo Shiqi, sent an enemy gunboat to the bottom of the sea, but one of its own frigates also sank. On the flagship of the Shanghai, the adjutant was shocked: "Commander, three large enemy ships are outflanking from the northeast, and the enemy wants to surround us." "Order the transports, the wounded battleships to retreat to the northwest, order all the battleships to slowly retreat to the northwest, we must hold the enemy to the death."

The adjutant said: "Commander, according to the time calculation, the main fleet should have arrived, and Weishenme still can't see them?" Deng Shichang glanced at his pocket watch and continued: "Maybe the main fleet will arrive soon, and persistence is victory." "Report to the commander, Guo Shiqi, the captain of the Rise, asked the commander to retreat, and he took over the command to drag the enemy." ", how can I retreat at this time, tell him that I won't retreat, I'll deal with the outflanking enemy fleet."

On the battleship Empress, Baker put down his binoculars and said, "The enemy wants to escape, so order the gunboat to make a detour to the right to intercept it." Suddenly 10 gunboats made a detour to the left and began to intercept. Deng Shichang led three frigates to deal with more than a dozen warships such as the Sunset, Philadelphia, and France that were outflanked in the northeast, which was even more disparity than Liliang. At this time, it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the main fleet was still nowhere to be seen, and Deng Shichang realized that something was wrong. But now it's too late to retreat.

Deng Shichang ordered Guo Shiqi to lead other warships to break through and retreat to the west, and he himself led three frigates to cover with all their might. The battle has reached such an extent that Deng Shichang has put life and death out of the way. The Rise battleship was also scarred, after Guo Shiqi received the order to retreat, he ordered the two gunboats to stay, and if necessary, Deng Shichang must be rescued, Guo Shiqi gave the order without authorization, so Deng Shichang did not know.

The sea was a mess, and huge droplets of water were still rising. Since Deng Shichang put life and death aside, he also put aside all the burdens. Since there were only enemy gunboats on the west side, Guo Shiqi led three scarred frigates and four gunboats to break through the interception, and pursued and joined the destroyer No. 0013 and two transports. Deng Shichang saw that the Rise had opened a bloody road and rushed out, so he was more relieved and boldly decided to fight to the death.

In fact, Guo Shiqi led his troops to rush out, and the coalition forces still had two battleships and more than a dozen gunboats following in pursuit. In the face of fierce artillery fire, Deng Shichang aimed at the sunset. A shell exploded in the bow of the good ship in Shanghai, and the bow was frightened off, and then another shell exploded in the stern, and the smoke filled the deck. Deng Shichang was in the command cabin, taking advantage of the command of the battleship to evade. "Report to the commander, the 056 frigate is sinking!" An adjutant with a bandage on his head reported.

"Order the two gunboats to retreat immediately after rescuing the officers and men who have fallen into the water!" However, the gunboat did not carry out the order and remained on the battlefield. Seeing that there were only five enemy ships on the battlefield, the British ship made a meritorious service, and took advantage of the fact that the view of the Shanghai was blocked by the smoke of gunpowder, and turned back to its right side to attack. Deng Shichang had already aimed at the Sunset, and when he saw that the Sunset appeared on the right-hand side, he ordered the side-spinning guns to saturate the attack, and suddenly the fierce artillery fire smashed on the Sunset deck, and several of the shells directly hit the command cabin of the Sunset, and the captain and several officers were all killed.

The British officers and men were very tenacious, and although the captain was killed, they still rained down the shells of the Xiangshang Sea. Dozens of shells had already been hit on the deck of the Shanghai, and the deck was unsightly. The situation was very critical, suddenly a 305-mm shell hit the tail, the propeller stopped, and the battleship swung a few times to stop. "Commander, you immediately get on the gunboat and evacuate, and I will take command." The deputy captain said urgently.

"I want to live and die with the battleship, and you immediately lead the officers and men off the ship." Deng Shichang ordered loudly, and at this moment, a shell hit the command cabin, and the smoke of gunpowder rose rapidly on the battleship?????? …… (To be continued......)

PS: Without the baptism of blood and the price, it is impossible to forge the soul of the army at sea.