Shortly after the first detachment led by Dingyuan and the Japanese fleet went to war, the second detachment commanded by Ding Yuqian and Ye Zuqi also quickly engaged the Japanese fleet. Judging by the composition, this is simply a real "combined" fleet. Weiyuan in the South Sea, Zhiyuan and Jingyuan in the North Ocean, four 1500-ton third-class protection cruisers of the Guangdong Navy Division and the Penghu Navy Division. As for the command of this fleet, there were many twists and turns at the beginning.

From the point of view of official position, Ding Yuqian is the commander of the army, while Ye Zuqi is only a deputy general. And from the point of view of the combat power of the battleships, the Zhenhai ship of the Nanyang Naval Division is also the strongest party in the second detachment, and the 8000+ ton battleship is definitely much stronger than the two protective cruisers in the Beiyang, not to mention the battleships of the Guangdong Naval Division and the Penghu Naval Division. However, the Beiyang side did not want to give up the right of command, and the Beiyang side dominated the naval battle against Japan. Draw out nearly half of the fleet's troops, and let a temporarily promoted person in Nanyang command this, whether it is Lao Li, Ding Ruchang, Liu Buchan, etc., they are unwilling. The second is that after the big parade, the Nanyang Navy Division slapped his ass and left as soon as he saw that the war was approaching, which really made the officers and men of the other three fleets angry!

And what is even more inconspicuous is that when discussing the commander of the fleet, a certain Nanyang officer took Fang Boqian to talk about things. This annoyed the Beiyang pipe belt even more. Fang Boqian's incident was originally the fault of Beiyang, and it is understandable. But later, Xu Jie's fleet filled Fang Boqian's basket, and after he came back, he also executed Fang Boqian in public, killing people too much, what do you want?

Immediately, the Beiyang side launched a counterattack, saying that your Zhenhai ship in Nanyang nominally said that it would stay and participate in the war, but it was not even equipped with manpower, is this going to war? Anyway, the Beiyang Fast Fleet has made a lot of trouble in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea under the leadership of General Xu Jie, what did you Nanyang Navy Division do? Playing soy sauce in the harbor all day long?!

In this way, some of the people who were clamoring for command in Nanyang immediately quieted down, although the combat power of the Zhenhai was not weak, but the people who stayed to watch the ship were not even basic manpower! I also have to seconded some people to Beiyang. In this way, is this still a ship of the South Sea Fleet? In the end, after some bargaining, the Jingyuan took Ye Zuqi as the commander of the second detachment, and Ding Yuqian as his deputy.

Some people may ask why Ye Zuqi instead of Liu Buyun or Lin Taizeng? Let's say that both of them are ironclad ship pipe belts, and their own responsibilities are heavy. Moreover, Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng had no experience in commanding on cruisers. And also a side-chord engaged cruiser. Who has the experience? Deng Shichang and Ye Zuqi, although the Zhiyuan-class was also a warship with the bow against the enemy back then, it was changed to a side-chord battleship when it was improved. And Deng Shichang and Ye Zuqi also discussed with Lang Weili, so in the absence of Deng Shichang and Lang Weili, Ye Zuqi directly jumped to level 3 to command this 4-party combined fleet!!

As early as when the two sides met, Ye Zuqi and Ding Yuqian immediately felt that something was wrong. The Japanese fleet is two 8,000-ton warships, three 4,000-ton warships plus one 2,000-ton warship, and what about their own side? Well, an 8000-ton one is considered equal to the tonnage of the opposing side, behind it are 2 cruisers of 2300 tons, and behind it are 4 small boats of 1500 tons. If I had to use an analogy, it would be that there was a lion on the Beiyang side, followed by 2 wolves and 4 cats. Then on the Japanese side, there are 2 lions, 3 leopards, and 1 cat! How does this work?

However, Ye Zuqi and Ding Yuqian could not let the Japanese pass, once the Japanese fleet broke through the defense of the second detachment and went around the flank or rear of Dingzhen, then Dingzhen, which was attacked on both sides, would be dangerous. So the second team can only bite the bullet!

At first, the Japanese fleet also tried to bypass the second Beiyang detachment from the outside, but found that the opponent's speed was slightly faster than the speed of its own formation! After all, he has Chiyoda and Yashima towing speed in his team. The speed of the 3 Sanjing ships is also not fast. Shiki Kayama, who had already lost Izumi and Takachiho, didn't want to leave other warships behind. Therefore, the fleet had to turn to maintain a flush battle line with the opponent's route, and because the Beiyang Fleet went to the inner circle, it expanded faster, and in the early stage of the firefight, the Beiyang Fleet had a positional advantage! But this course made the two fleets deviate farther and farther from the battlefield! …,

"Open fire" accompanied by Ding Oriqian's order, and the 6 8-inch guns and 5 6-inch guns on the side chord of the Zhenhai roared angrily at its fellow ship, the Fuji! Immediately, the Qing and Japanese warships opened fire one after another. The sea was suddenly filled with fire and smoke.

It has to be said that the improved Zhenhai is much higher than its fellow ship Fuji in terms of firepower projection capabilities. The projection of two 8-inch guns was itself larger than that of one 9.2-inch gun, and when it was improved, space was left in the terrace for storing a part of the ammunition, so that a part of the ammunition could be raised from the ammunition depot before the war and then stored, and there was no need to turn the gun back to the original point for reloading. Moreover, compared to the heavy 9.2-inch shells, the 100KG 8-inch shells can still be loaded by manpower with the cooperation of multiple people, not to mention that this is loaded from a section of the terrace into the artillery at the other end of the terrace. As for the problems that arise once hit, Xu Jie didn't think about it, but because the shells are stored in the tail of the zài terrace, they generally can't hit anywhere, so after deciding to thicken the tail magazine.

This improvement was not in vain, and at the beginning of the engagement, the burst rate of fire of the six 8-inch guns shattered the approaching Fuji. With the support of stored shells, the 8-inch gun of the Zhenhai fired a rate of fire close to 1 round per minute, which was a rapid fire at the time! It's also to blame the Fuji for rushing a little too fast, but the result is that the distance is quickly shortened, and the hit rate of the Zhenhae's 8-inch gun skyrockets! In just 8 minutes, Zhenhai's 8-inch gun fired more than 50 shells, and 3 of them hit.

One shot directly blew a 6-inch gun away, the other hit the bow of the ship, opened a big hole in the side chord, blew up the windlasse and other equipment, and one shot actually hit the signal lock. As a result, the encounter of the Beiyang Fleet in that plane played out against the Japanese fleet. What to do if the fleet loses command? This made the Japanese fleet fall into chaos in a short period of time, the hit rate of 8-inch guns increased, and naturally the hit rate of 6-inch guns will also increase, and the higher rate of fire allowed 6-inch guns to hit a lot in a short period of time. After successfully knocking out 2 machine guns, another shot hit the cover of the stern 9.2-inch gun, which damaged the transmission equipment used for remote transmission under the terrace, and the gun was completely useless.

At the same time, the shelling of the Fuji, which was covered in smoke and flames, was less accurate, and after the successive losses of one main gun and one secondary gun, the firepower also decreased, and only four 6-inch shells were hit during this time. One caused a fire in the middle of the Zhenhae's hull and hit the galley with one shot. There was also a shot that hit the waterline armor of the hull, but fortunately, the 10-inch thick steel-faced iron armor was quite powerful and blocked. But another shot pierced the upper armor and exploded inside the hull. Billowing smoke poured out of the breach. But overall, the Zhenhai played very well.

But it's a pity that the table of the Zhenhai does not represent the table of the entire Beiyang Fleet, and the order of attack among the remaining warships is like this, the Yashima covers the flagship on the one hand and shoots at the Jingyuan on the other, the Hashidate and the Zhiyuan on the other, Matsushima and the Sea Dragon and the Sea Tiger, Itsukushima and the Seal, and Chiyoda and the Sea Lion.

On the whole, the balance of combat power can be maintained on the general scale, but a discerning person can know at a glance that this so-called balance will not last long. Although none of the four third-class protected cruisers had the firepower of five 4.7-inch guns, the Japanese side had superior firepower to even the weakest Chiyoda. And in terms of resistance to strikes, the Japanese clearly have an advantage. The displacement of the 3 Haizi cruisers is only about the same as that of a Sanjing ship, and after a long time of shooting, it is no wonder that the Beiyang Fleet does not have problems!! However, this qiē was only covered up after the Fuji's signal lock was destroyed, and the command was temporarily thrown into chaos.

"Raise the commander's flag. Our ship took over the command. Looking at the beaten and dusty Fuji, the captain of the Yashima, Captain Hiroshi Hidaka, ordered. As the command flag was raised, the Japanese fleet realigned its formation, and the Fuji quickly broke away from its position and ran to the side to extinguish the fire. In a short period of time, Beiyang actually showed signs of expanding its advantages. But with the temporary departure of the Fuji, the situation on the battlefield did not improve much. …,

The Zhenhae, which had begun to make a big splash, had already exhausted the 8-inch shells and propellant packs stored in the terrace, and had to move to the origin location to re-pick up the shells and propellants, so the launch speed would definitely be reduced. The Yashima's firepower is the same as that of the Zhenhai, so it will naturally not suffer when firing at the Zhenhai, which is already injured and has a reduced rate of fire. You can even draw out a rear main gun and two 6-inch guns to deal with Jingyuan.

And the Zhiyuan is inseparable from the Hashitachi killing. 3 8-inch guns on the side chord, 2 6-inch guns on the Zhiyuan and 6 4.7-inch guns on the side chord of the bridge date and 1 320 Ghanaian guns fired at each other, although the Ghanaian guns were powerful, but the rate of fire of one shot in ten minutes made Zhiyuan not worried at all. And the rest of the artillery, or Zhiyuan has the advantage! For a time, under the command of Chen Jinhua, the Hashidate was also hit by 1 8-inch shell and 2 6-inch shells. Scrap a 4.7-inch cannon. And the later counter-shooting is also evenly matched for the time being. It's not that a battleship was hit. Blood and fire became the theme of this sea.

"At least until the Fuji returns, we'll be safe." Looking at the worried Ding Yuqian next to him, Ye Zuqi comforted.

"It's up to Admiral Ding to see if they can support them immediately. This balance of power did not last long. Ding Yuqian said anxiously looking into the distance.

But just as the two of them were discussing the current battle, a loud noise came from the back of the fleet, and the huge explosion that followed shocked the two of them, and they hurriedly looked back.

Today's double update~~, the first day of the seal push rose less than 500, the author is really sad. Let's support it a lot~~. At the same time, I would like to thank the book friend zhangyongrc for his reward~~