On August 15 of the second year of Renhe, more than 46,000 people of the 18 famous joint forces around Kyoto attacked Kyoto, in a vain attempt to take advantage of the chaos to kidnap the Japanese king, but were blocked by the third brigade of the Qing Marine Corps, the two sides fought fiercely for a day and a night, when the victory was undecided, the first brigade of the cavalry division of the second group army rushed to Kyoto overnight, and defeated the Japanese in the city in one fell swoop, it was a battle, most of Kyoto was burned down, the Kyoto imperial palace was dilapidated, the Qing army killed more than 13,000 Japanese people with more than 900 casualties, captured more than 11,000 alive, and the remnants of the enemy scattered and fled. The thief chieftain Sei Kazutori and many other daimyo who caused the rebellion were beheaded on the spot, and Yutokugawa Amineshi absconded in advance and was captured alive in his domain a few days later.

On 17 August, the commander of the Second Army of the Qing Dynasty, Tan Ning He, led the Second Brigade of the Cavalry Division and the First Infantry Division to Kyoto. On August 22, the 11th Detachment of the Bohai Fleet of the Great Qing Dynasty entered Edo Bay, and with the cooperation of the officers and men of the 2nd Brigade of the Marine Corps, it successfully captured all the batteries in Edo, covered the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the 2nd Army to land in Edo, swept the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate gathered in the area of Edo, and annihilated more than 20,000 enemies in a battle. He issued an edict to reward the three armies, and ordered Taning River to escort all the Tokugawa families into Beijing to carry out the matter of surrendering prisoners at noon.

On August 23 of the second year of Renhe, at noon, on the ocean surface of 30 nautical miles southeast of Miyako Island, a fleet of considerable size was sailing with full sails, at first glance, it was also majestic and majestic, but it was obvious that it was the meaning of fleeing in panic, this fleet was the combined fleet of the five Western countries that was defeated by the main force of the Bohai Fleet of the Great Qing Dynasty, and after seven days of escape, after several pursuits and suppression of the Bohai Fleet, the huge fleet with a total of as many as 49 ships was originally left, and now there are only 31 left, of which the British warships are the majority, and there are still 16 ships, This was followed by Spanish warships, seven remaining, three each by the Netherlands and Portugal, and two French warships, the earlier flagship "Brave" had been sunk in pursuit by the Qing army, and the commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Edward Vernon, had to transfer to the second class battleship "Hood", and use this ship as the new flagship.

"Report!"

The battle was like this, Edward Vernon was in a rather bad mood, and he had no intention of going to the deck to enjoy the scenery along the way, and was alone in the war room, repeatedly deducing the tactical arrangements for the decisive battle with the Qing army and the Bohai Fleet.

"Come in!"

Hearing the sound of the password, Edward Vernon's brows were even furrowed, there was nothing else, in the past few days, the main force of the Qing Bohai Fleet has always been in hot pursuit, but most of the damaged warships that could not keep up with the main force of the combined fleet were sunk by the Qing fleet that was chasing after him, and the reports he could get were naturally all bad news, so whenever someone came to pay tribute, Edward Vernon couldn't help but be upset.

"Report to the general, a Qing high-speed cruiser has been found ten nautical miles ahead, please make it clear to the general."

As soon as Edward Vernon's words fell, an attendant officer walked in from outside the door, gave Edward Vernon a standard military salute, and hurriedly said a word.

"Huh? Check it out! ”

As soon as he heard that the Qing army cruiser was found in front of him, Edward Vernon's heart couldn't help but twitch, no side, these days, the high-speed cruisers of the Qing Bohai Fleet have always been keeping an eye on the combined fleet, but they are all behind the combined fleet, and they have never surpassed the front of the combined fleet, and now, there are Qing army cruisers blocking the way of their own advance, which is obviously strange, Edward Vernon can't help but be a little unable to sit still, Huo Ran got up, and hurried to the front deck......

"Order, immediately send a report to the commander, our ship has discovered the main force of the enemy fleet, a total of 31 large and small warships, location: 126 east longitude. 70, latitude 24 N. 23. The speed of the enemy fleet is twenty-two nautical miles per hour. ”

Just when the Combined Fleet discovered the Qing cruiser "Shunfan", Zhang Dagao, the captain of the Qing Army standing at the bow of the "Shunfan", also discovered the Combined Fleet that was speeding at high speed.

"Di, Didi......"

As Zhang Dagao gave an order, the ticking sound of the telegram suddenly rang out, and a telegram flew through the space and was transmitted to the Qing Army's East China Sea Fleet, which was thirty nautical miles away.

"Report to the general, the 'Shunfan' has sent an urgent telegram that the main force of the enemy fleet has been discovered."

In the war room of the "Zhenwu," the flagship of the East China Sea Fleet, Admiral Wang Changgeng, commander of the fleet, and more than a dozen generals at all levels were discussing strategy and tactics around a large nautical chart, when they saw a communications officer hurriedly coming in from outside, holding a telegram in his hand, and making a loud announcement.

"Oh?"

As soon as he heard the communications officer's words, Wang Changgeng's brows immediately raised, but he didn't say much, he just quietly whispered, took the telegram casually, glanced at it quickly, took a charcoal pen and drew a few lines on the chart, and soon delineated the predetermined battle site.

"Order: Immediately send a report to the Beijing Division and the Bohai Fleet: Our fleet has arrived at the predetermined theater of operations, discovered the enemy's main force, and is expected to be in the enemy's position in about an hour: 126 east longitude. 72, latitude 24 N. 25 decisive battles, please lead the main force of the Bohai Fleet to join forces with our troops to gather and destroy the enemy fleet as soon as possible, this order, Wang Changgeng, commander of the East China Sea Fleet. ”

After delineating the scheduled battlefield, Wang Changgeng didn't dare to delay it slightly, so he threw the charcoal pen on the table, clapping his hands, and gave the general order with a solemn expression.

"Yes!"

After the order was issued, the communications officer who came to pay the service did not dare to slack off, hurriedly answered the promise in a loud voice, and after making a military salute, he hurriedly withdrew from the war room, and went to arrange for the telegram to be taken without mentioning it......

"Order: All ships are moving forward at full speed, ignore that Qingren battleship!"

At the bow of the "Hood", Edward Vernon held a monocular, looking at the "Shun Fan" on the sea in the distance for a long time, his heart was full of puzzlement and doubts, no side, in the past few days, the combined fleet has changed course several times with the cover of night, trying to avoid the pursuit of the Qing Bohai Fleet, but every time it is always quickly embellished by the main force of the Qing fleet, how can not get rid of it, Edward · Vernon really couldn't figure out how the main force of the Qing fleet was connected with the high-speed cruisers that were roaming near the combined fleet, but one thing he knew was that once it was discovered by the Qing high-speed cruisers, the main fleet of the Qing army was not far away.

Although the Combined Fleet was already heavily damaged, there were still 31 warships in the end, and the "Shunfan" was just a cruiser, so naturally it did not dare to forcibly block the advance of the Combined Fleet, so it could only move to the side, but it never stayed away, and followed four nautical miles to the left side of the Combined Fleet, constantly reporting the position of the Combined Fleet to the main force of its own fleet.

"Qing fleet, ten nautical miles ahead, the Qing people have found the Qing fleet!"

The Combined Fleet did not attack the "Shunfan" that followed the advance, but blindly galloped forward with full sails in an attempt to shake off the main force of the Qing fleet that was chasing after it, but it never expected that the "Shunfan" was not subordinate to the Bohai Fleet, but a reconnaissance ship sent by the East China Sea Fleet. The entire Combined Fleet immediately fell into a panic, and there was nothing else, the scale of the East China Sea Fleet blocking in front was even larger than that of the Bohai Sea Fleet, and there were as many as eighty large and medium-sized warships combined, which was obviously not the Qing fleet that had been chasing after the United Fleet a few days ago!

"Order: All ships take the flagship as the center, immediately seize the downwind line, with the 1st to 8th fleets on the left and the 9th to 18th fleets on the right, arranged in a battle line to block the direction of the enemy fleet!"

With the constant reports of the "Shun Fan", the main force of the Qing Army's East China Sea Fleet had already grasped the direction of the combined fleet's advance and had already made preparations for battle; at the same time that the United Fleet lookout post discovered the Qing Army's East China Sea Fleet, the Qing Army's East China Sea Fleet's lookout post had also discovered the arrival of the Combined Fleet.

"Order: All ships are half-sailed to slow down, with the ship as the center, the 'Rose' and the 'Hundred-Eyed Giant'...... Fifteen ships are on the left, 'Brandy', 'King'...... Wait for the fifteen ships to be on the right, and immediately line up, in an east-west direction, ready to meet the enemy! ”

Seeing that the huge fleet of the Qing army had already seized the T-shaped prefix and blocked the way for the combined fleet to go south, if he really wanted to break through, he would only be sacked by the powerful firepower of the Qing army, Edward Vernon did not dare to act so recklessly, but seeing that he gritted his teeth, put down the monocular he was holding, and gave the order in a low voice.

Although the Combined Fleet was already a lost dog, it was a well-trained division in the end, and its tactical movements were still very fast when it heard the order, and it did not take long for the formation to be adjusted, and the 31 battleships lined up in a "zigzag" manner, unhurriedly approaching the direction of the Qing army's battle line, apparently intending to fight in the same direction to offset the Qing army's superiority in the number of warships.

"Order: The 1st, 2nd, 17th, and 18th fleets will go forward, line up in a wild goose formation, and prepare to meet the enemy!"

As soon as the tactical move of the combined fleet came out, Wang Changgeng immediately guessed the other party's intentions, and he didn't dare to take it lightly, but when he saw that he raised his hand, he gave the order to change the formation......

___Small. Say. Bar. Scholar___