On the night of July 23, 1894, Pearl Harbor.

"Is it all done?"

The docks of the Hawaiian shipyard were brightly lit, and the newly converted destroyers Swordfish and Exocet were like two black sharks, quietly docked at the dockside, and next to them, several even larger black shadows, the Polaris and the South Pole Star, with four Determination-class heavy cruisers, finally returned to Pearl Harbor Bay for the first time.

Although they are still in port in the name of the Chilean Navy and still fly the Chilean Navy flag, some people already know that in a few days they will join the Pacific Fleet and become the core force of the fleet.

Looking at the six figures in the dark, Li Mo's heart suddenly swelled with an unprecedented sense of heroism, this is his warship, this is his fleet, from today onwards, they will become their strongest force, where they are pointed, it is their goal! Hoarseness and shouting, it is the roar of cannons! They will use their huge steel bodies for themselves! For the whole nation! Blasting away that dusty memory, changing the shame like the top of the mountain!

"Young master, please rest assured, the ground test has been passed, it depends on the results of this sea trial." Chang Lin rubbed his hands, also with an excited face, unlike Li Mo's focus on the fleet, his eyes were always on the rear of the command towers of several warships, and the high metal poles that had been temporarily installed.

That is, for more than a year, the radio developed secretly, since the young master got out of the tube after the Chicago World Expo, this plan has been in high-speed research and development, and now it is finally going to be tested on the ship!

In fact, two months ago, the radio had been secretly tested on several large islands in Hawaii, and the results were exciting. Therefore, Li Mo demanded that a radio transmitter that could be installed on surface ships be developed immediately, knowing that the sea is no better than the land, not only is it shaking badly, but also the water vapor is large, the salt spray is sufficient, and the requirements for electronic devices are very high.

For the sake of safety, several ships with priority refuges have carried several spare ones, and now everything is ready, just waiting for the sea tests to begin tomorrow, and if it can pass, then the radio transmitter will be officially announced.

"Tomorrow, maybe a new beginning!"

Looking at the dawn of the sky, a cold star suddenly lit up in the depths of Li Mo's eyes: "Today, Asan is about to start!" ”

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The red sky rose up, and the sea was illuminated in an instant, facing the sun, Fang Boqian's right eye staring at the telescope subconsciously closed, but when he opened it again, several thick pillars of smoke had jumped on the horizon.

"Unknown fleet spotted."

The sound of the alarm spread throughout the warship in an instant, and some sailors who had just woken up quickly grabbed their clothes and ran to their respective posts amid the shouts of their comrades.

"The bow gun is ready."

"The tail cannon is ready."

Stern gunner Wang Guocheng shoved a huge cannonball into the barrel of the cannon and shouted loudly at the brass pipe next to him. With a shout from the brass pipe to the bridge, the Jiyuan ship was like a hyena that had encountered danger, erected its mane all over its body, and quickly entered the combat state, everyone was looking at the thick pillars of smoke, and their foreheads dripped sweat that I don't know if it was left by a lot of exercise or formed by tension.

"Left full rudder, full speed!"

"Order the Guangyi ship to get closer, send an order to the whole ship, and prepare for battle!"

With the order, a large puff of black smoke quickly rose from the chimney of the Jiyuan, and a few vibrations were accompanied by a rumbling sound, and the warship began to slowly accelerate. But before he could go far, the hull of the ship suddenly shook violently, and the speed of the ship suddenly decreased.

"What's going on!" Fang Boqian stood in the bridge and shouted with a nervous face.

"Maybe it's still an old problem with the boiler!" Shen Shouchang was also short of breath and ran over to explain.

"Damn it!" Fang Boqian jumped to his feet, stomped on the bridge deck fiercely, and shouted angrily: "Qinghe, you will temporarily take my place." Remember, don't fire first! After speaking, he immediately led people out of the bridge and ran towards the boiler room, and said fiercely as he ran: "I'm going to go down and see, it's the blind one who is in a hurry to strike at this time!" ”

"Yes." Shen Shouchang didn't have time to stop him, so he could only respond hurriedly and temporarily took over the position of commander. As Fang Boqian left, several huge pillars of smoke in the distance finally appeared.

"Report, I found that the Yoshino, Naniwa, and Akitsuzu are rapidly approaching me!"

Hearing the report, Shen Shouchang chuckled in his heart, but he didn't expect to encounter these three fast ships that are known for their speed! At this time, the pipe band has already gone to the boiler room to check the situation, what if he suddenly fires the gun?

Looking at the three warships that were getting closer and closer, Shen Shouchang even raised his throat, and at this moment, a huge sound suddenly broke the tranquility of the sea!

Suddenly, a huge column of waves appeared not far from the Jiyuan ship, Shen Shouchang hurriedly raised the telescope to look, only to see a large cloud of smoke spewing out of the front end of the Yoshino, saying that he had completely declared war!!

"It's too late to wait for the pipe to come back!" After Shen Shouchang and Ke Jianzhang, the second deputy beside him, glanced at each other, gritted his teeth and shouted: "My lord has explained, I will temporarily take the command, and open fire!" ”

"Fire!"

The roar followed the sea breeze, and soon spread to the ears of everyone on the Jiyuan ship and the Guangyi ship, and the two ships fired back at the same time, and suddenly the cannon roared on the sea, and the first naval battle in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, the Battle of Toshima finally kicked off.

"Aim for Yoshino and fire!"

Shen Shouchang, like everyone else, was very jealous of this cruiser that had just been launched, especially the opponent's speed of up to 23 knots, which was 8 knots higher than that of the Jiyuan ship.

Seeing that the Jiyuan had aimed all its guns at the Yoshino at the front, the Guangyi ship immediately turned its head and began to attack Yoshino, hoping to quickly eliminate this biggest opponent with the strength of the two ships.

At this time, a cannonball hit the foredeck of the Jiyuan ship, and immediately made a big hole in the deck. The bow of the Jiyuan seemed to be pressed by something, and it sank down suddenly.

Fortunately, the shells did not destroy the bow main gun, and only a few gunners were injured, Ke Jianzhang immediately organized the prepared gunners and personally led the team to rush into the thick smoke of gunpowder.

"Boom, boom, boom......."

As the Naniwa and Akitsuzu also caught up, the battle situation fell into a scorching situation, and the sea was full of columns of water stirred up by the falling cannonballs, and the sea water seemed to be boiling, and both sides opened fire desperately like gamblers with red eyes.

Jiyuan and Guangyi wanted to sink Yoshino as soon as possible to recover the disadvantage in numbers and speed, while the three ships wanted to surround each other as soon as possible and use their speed to cut through Jiyuan and Guangyi, who were crowded in a pile.

But at this time, the three ships not only had an advantage in tonnage and quantity, but also had a clear advantage in speed, basically fighting around the Jiyuan ship and the Guangyi ship. In particular, the three ships all adopted new rapid-fire guns, which were much faster than Jiyuan and Guangyi, and the shells were poured around Jiyuan and Guangyi like a torrential rain, plus they fired first without declaring war, occupying a great advantage!

In less than a while, the Guangyi ship was the first to be hit, a huge explosion lifted the front deck, and the sailors who were caught off guard were thrown into the sea one after another, and what was even more deadly was that a cannonball hit the rudder of the Guangyi ship, yes, it suddenly slowed down a lot with the Jiyuan maneuver.

In the passage of the cabin at this moment, Fang Boqian was even more anxious, just when he arrived at the boiler room, he heard the sound of cannons, he didn't care about checking the situation of the boiler anymore, he only ordered to repair it as soon as possible, and then ran quickly to the bridge.

When he was just about to step on the bridge, a cannonball from the Yoshino accurately hit the bridge of the Jiyuan, and in an instant, Shen Shouchang's plasma not far away splashed, and he immediately fell into a pool of blood, and the blood and brains that were stirred up sprinkled on Fang Boqian's robe like raindrops, like a bloody man.

"Qinghe! Qinghe! Fang Boqian ignored the blood all over his body, rushed up quickly and hugged Shen Shouchang, who only had half of his head left, and shouted at the sky: "I hurt you!" I'm the one who hurt you! ”

At this time, Ke Jianzhang rushed in covered in blood, didn't care about grieving for his companions, and shouted: "My lord, my lord, hurry up and find a way, Guangyi is about to die!" ”

Fang Boqian hurriedly got up, and saw that the Guangyi ship, whose steering gear was damaged, had begun to spin, gritting his teeth and tears! Hurriedly ordered the Guangyi ship to stop caring about itself and take the lead in withdrawing from the battle!

As the Guangyi ship retreated to the west coast of Korea, the Jiyuan ship fell into the encirclement of the three cruisers, knowing that they would die, but the whole ship aroused the hearts of everyone, and one shell after another fell on the three warships.

"Dog!"

The tail gunners, Wang Guocheng and Li Shimao, spat and stuffed the few remaining shells into the breech, and began to adjust the muzzle of the gun, aiming at the Yoshino, who was fighting the hardest next to him.

With the two sides each hit a few shots, a large number of artillery smoke began to disperse, the Jiyuan ship that was struggling to support finally attracted the best opportunity to break through, taking advantage of the smoke, the sea is inseparable, Fang Boqian decisively issued the order to retreat, and hoisted the American flag to confuse the other party.

But he didn't expect it to happen, just when he made the order to retreat, two troop carriers Gao Sheng and Yejiang suddenly appeared in the distance, because the smoke of gunpowder drifted away with the wind, which greatly reduced the sight of the sea, Fang Boqian waved the flag many times and the other party did not see it, but plunged into the center of the battlefield.

The Naniwa and Akitsu Chau, who were chasing after them, also saw the two troop carriers, and took the lead in turning and rushing over, preparing to shell the two unprepared troop carriers, while the Yoshino bit the Jiyuan ship to the death, hoping to rely on speed to sink Jiyuan.

Wang Guocheng stared at the growing Yoshino outside the ventilation window, and nodded at Li Shimao, who immediately opened fire violently, and the violent vibration made everyone in the turret stagger, and the choking smell made people's eyes black.

But before everyone could recover, Kingdom Achievement had already jumped up with a shout, and it turned out that the cannonball had accurately hit the foredeck of the Yoshino, causing the opponent to temporarily lose the main front main gun.

Li Shimao and his partners were also trembling with excitement because of this cannon, and hurriedly fired two more cannons, and I don't know if it was God's favor, the three cannonballs all hit the Yoshino like eyes, and immediately beat the other party to cry dad and mother, and the front deck was even more blazing!

The Yoshino, who was beaten all of a sudden, was too frightened to chase anymore, and took the initiative to slow down and put out the fire with all his might, but at this time, an earth-shattering explosion came from afar, but all Wang Guocheng's efforts turned into flying.

Looking at the Gao Sheng that was burning with thick smoke, Fang Boqian only felt that it was dark in front of him and fell on the deck.

At 12:43, with the withdrawal of the Jiyuan ship from the battlefield, the first sea encounter between China and China ended, the Qing Dynasty lost one warship, two troop carriers, and more than 1,000 officers and soldiers were martyred, and the Yoshino was only slightly wounded.

The first naval battle is over!