Chapter 16 Fierce! (This chapter is free)

As the flagship "Dingyuan" fired a cannon, ten seconds later, the main guns of the first squadron of the Zhenyang Fleet launched the first round of salvo fire. For a time, countless water columns rose around the Japanese warships.

Major General Tsuboi Kozo on the "Yoshino" could clearly see that the firepower of the Qing army's main armored ships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" was mainly pouring on his first guerrillas. If the first guerrillas did not turn around as soon as possible, they would avoid it.

The powerful firepower attack of the "Ding" and "Zhen" ships will not end well.

When the ranging officer on the "Yoshino" sent out the "distance of five thousand yards" signal, Tsuboi Kozo immediately ordered: "Each ship will follow the flagship and accelerate to fourteen knots, with full right rudder and left!"

The four armored cruisers of the First Guerrilla Group turned sharply together and drew an approximately right-angle track on the sea. At the same time, they accelerated to fourteen knots and used a clear diagonal line to seize the road in front of "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan".

It passed by and pounced on the three ships "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan" and "Pingyuan" on the right wing of the Qing fleet.

At 2:44, when the Japanese Combined Fleet "Matsushima" was 3,700 yards away from the Qing fleet, it opened fire with its 32-centimeter main gun and sent out the signal for "general fleet attack."

The Japanese ships also opened fire one after another, and a fierce battle began.

One minute later, the commander of the first guerrilla unit, Major General Tsuboi Kozo, sent the signal "Fire at the right time!". When "Yoshino" drove to three thousand yards from "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan" and "Pingyuan", that is

The attack was launched with a fifteen centimeter rapid fire cannon. The "Takachiho", "Akitsusu" and "Naniwa" behind them also opened fire, and the "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan" and "Pingyuan" immediately concentrated their firepower to fight back.

The Qing army's "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" ships were built seven years ago. Their main firepower is two 21-centimeter main guns and two 15-centimeter secondary guns. The "Pingyuan" was put into service five years ago. Its main firepower is

It has a 25.4 cm forward main gun and two 15 cm secondary guns. None of the three ships are equipped with medium-caliber rapid-fire guns, and their armor defenses are weak. Their opponents are the so-called "Emperor Elites"

The Japanese First Guerrilla Force is composed of four cutting-edge armored cruisers. These four ships are equipped with a total of thirty 15-centimeter and 12-centimeter medium-caliber rapid-fire cannons, and four 26-centimeter heavy cannons. They are all equipped with certain

Armor protection.

Even so, the three ships "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan" and "Pingyuan" were still not afraid of powerful enemies and resisted bravely.

At 3:03, the first guerrilla group 'inserted' into the Qing warship array and separated the three ships "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan" and "Pingyuan" from the main ship array. Two minutes later, "Pingyuan"

The 25.4cm main gun of "Yuan" gave the enemy ship a resounding response. One shot hit "Yoshino". The shell penetrated the side armor of "Yoshino" and exploded on the main deck No. 1, killing three people on the spot.

, injured eleven people and caused a fire.

Almost at the same time, the "Takachiho" was also hit by several 21-centimeter artillery shells. The officer's dormitory area was blown up, shrapnel flew everywhere, a damage control officer was hit in the throat by shrapnel and died, and several others were injured. The fire was raging.

Get up and approach the ammunition depot near the officers' dormitory area.

Seeing that all the officers and soldiers on the ship were about to be killed, the captain of the "Takachiho" Colonel Nomura Sadao ordered: "Except the pilot, engine and artillery personnel, all crew members are involved in putting out the fire!"

The "Takachiho" ship had to deal with the dead, bandage the wounded, and put out the fire, so it was a hectic mess.

The subsequent "Naniwa" ship, under the command of Colonel Togo Heihachiro, avoided several artillery shells from the Qing cruiser, and temporarily suppressed the "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" attacks with intensive rapid-fire artillery fire.

The No. 5 gun mount amidships of the "Akijin Island" at the end of the first guerrilla column was hit by a bullet. Seven crew members below the gunnery officer were killed immediately, and nine others were injured.

Tsuboi Kozo was not worried about this slight damage, and ordered all ships: "Concentrate fire to attack the enemy's right wing ship!"

At this time, on the right wing of the three ships of the fifth squadron of the Qing Army was the 2,150-ton domestic cruiser "Pingyuan". Although Captain Li He and Lieutenant Colonel Li He commanded his men to hit the enemy's first guerrilla flagship first, he encouraged the squadron.

The morale of the ships was lowered, but the enemy's artillery fire quickly focused on the ship. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Colonel Li and Lieutenant Colonel were pierced through the chest by shrapnel, and died heroically.

Under the fierce and intensive artillery attack of the first guerrilla group, the side of the "Pingyuan" almost turned into a honeycomb. At 3:16, an enemy bomb penetrated the bulkhead and exploded in the ammunition magazine. In an instant,

A huge plume of black smoke rose up from the ship's hull, obscuring the nearby sea and sky. After the black smoke gradually thinned out, the "Pingyuan" ship no longer existed, with only a few wooden boards and debris floating on the sea. There were 140 officers and soldiers on the ship.

Only one of the five survived.

Taking advantage of the enemy ship's concentrated fire attack on "Pingyuan", "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" coincidentally turned their guns to "Qiujinzhou" and bombarded continuously, hitting several guns and killing more than 20 enemy people and wounding three others.

More than ten people destroyed one of the gun mounts, causing the "Akitsu Island" to howl like ghosts and wolves. Seeing this, the captain of the "Naniwa" Togo Heihachiro immediately ordered his men to divert the artillery fire, attracting the firepower of the "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan".

To rescue "Qiujin Island".

After the sinking of "Pingyuan", the four ships of the First Guerrilla Group began to circle around "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan", forming a moving semicircle formation to exert broadside firepower and attack "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan"

Far".

Although "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan" fought desperately, due to inferior firepower to each other, they were hit by bullets and caught fire. Unfortunately, the captain of "Jingyuan", Lieutenant Colonel Lin Yongsheng, was shot in the brain and died for his country. The first officer, Major Chen Rong, and the second officer Chen Jingying

The major was also shot and killed one after another.

The "Jingyuan" ship lost its command and relied entirely on the officers and soldiers to spontaneously resist the enemy. Until it was hit by Yoshino's rapid-fire cannon dozens of times at a distance of two thousand yards. The ship's hull slowly sank in the flames. The gunner

However, he still stuck to his post and continued to fire artillery attacks on the enemy. In the end, he died together with the ship. Of the 202 officers and men on the ship, only 12 were saved.

The "Laiyuan" was only one against four. When the captain, Lieutenant Colonel Qiu Baoren, saw the "Jingyuan" sinking, he ordered the whole ship: "Fight to the last man!"

While organizing firefighting, Qiu Baoren commanded calmly. He fired several rounds at "Yoshino", destroyed one enemy gun, and killed and wounded more than ten enemy soldiers. However, the Japanese first guerrilla group relied on the strength of the large number of guns and the rapidity of the artillery to launch a dense attack.

The rapid-fire artillery firepower was concentrated on the "Laiyuan". The officers and soldiers on the "Laiyuan" suffered heavy casualties, and most of the artillery was damaged. The fires on the whole ship were extinguished and started again until they were uncontrollable. The flames rushed to the bridge, and he personally steered the steering wheel.

Lieutenant Colonel Qiu Baoren was unfortunately killed in battle. The "Laiyuan" ship lost control and staggered on the sea. The Japanese ship took the opportunity to get close and bombarded the "Laiyuan". It was hit by hundreds of bullets and finally sank at 3:51.

Of the ship's 202 officers and men, only 23 survived.

At this point, all three cruisers of the fifth squadron on the right wing of the first squadron of the Qing Zhenyang Fleet were sunk.

While the Japanese first guerrilla force intercepted the right wing of the Qing fleet, the flagship of the combined fleet "Songdao" also led the 11th fleet column composed of three groups to sail directly in front of the Qing fleet flagship "Dingyuan". The flagships of both sides spread out

There was a fierce confrontation.

At 2:46, a 30.5-centimeter shell hit the upper section of the turret of the 32-centimeter-caliber "Matsushima" artillery, destroying its cannon rotating device, killing two gunners, and damaging the water pressure pipe.

The Commander of the Combined Fleet, Lieutenant General Ito Yuhiro, was frightened by the "Zhenyuan" and the powerful firepower of the "Dingyuan" cannons, and did not dare to continue the confrontation. He hurriedly ordered the fleet to turn the rudder to the left and speed up to the "Dingyuan" ship.

the right front.

Brigadier General Lin Taizeng, commander of the Qing army squadron, saw the Japanese army turning and immediately ordered: "The left wing will follow the flagship and turn right four degrees!"; and then ordered "The armored battleship accelerates to twelve knots!"

As a result, the five battleships on the left wing of the formation accelerated and turned to starboard along with the two armored ships in the center, facing the enemy with their bows. After accelerating, the "Zhenyuan" and "Dingyuan" protruded forward and slightly separated from the formation. The Japanese ships

The ships of the third formation at the rear of the fleet were far behind the ships of the first and second formations in front due to their slower speed, and were cut off by the protruding two ships "Zhenyuan" and "Dingyuan". As a result, the combined fleet

Our team was intercepted and cut into two sections, and the situation was greatly unfavorable to the Japanese army.

At this time, the left wing of the Qing warship formation completed its right turn one after another. The four warships in the third formation of the Japanese fleet and the two ships "Chicheng" and "Xikyo Maru" lined up on the left and rear of the fleet were forced to move in a straight line.

One by one, the column passed through the main gun firepower composed of two Qing ironclads and five cruisers. The Qing fleet seized the opportunity, launched a fierce attack, concentrated artillery fire, and "roll-called" the enemy ships one by one.

The first one to bear the brunt was the cruiser "Kaohsiung", the flagship of the Japanese fleet's third group. It was hit by two 30.5-meter giant bombs in a row. The front main gun was completely destroyed, and the bow of the ship was flooded and drooped. Then it was hit by several more rounds.

Twenty-one centimeter shells hit everywhere, and a fire broke out on the ship. More than half of the crew were killed or injured. So they turned the right rudder to the left and increased to the highest speed in an attempt to exit the battlefield. However, they were "Jianbei" by the third team on the right wing of the Qing fleet.

, two coastal defense armored cruisers "Jianzhong" intercepted. "Jianbei" and "Jianzhong" first bombarded the "Kaohsiung" from a distance with their 30.5cm main guns, then accelerated and turned to the right, blocking the "Kaohsiung" escape route.

After approaching, the 15-centimeter rapid-fire artillery fire was concentrated on the "Kaohsiung". The "Kaohsiung" was hit by more than a hundred bullets in five minutes, and many parts of the hull were flooded. It sank at 3:09, with the total loss of 200

Twenty-two people rescued a total of 31 people, 16 of whom became prisoners of the Qing army.

Following "Kaohsiung" was the cruiser "Katsuragi". This thin ship with a standard displacement of 1,502 tons was even more vulnerable. A 21-centimeter shell first chipped off its former main body.

Mast, and then the rain of artillery fire enveloped it densely. "Jianbei" and "Jianzhong" came to help after finishing cleaning up "Kaohsiung". "Katsuaki" was hit by nearly a hundred rounds, and the entire ship

It sank at 3:25 a.m. after being completely burned, and 223 of the 230 crew members were killed.

The captains of the "Yamato" and "Musashi" ships of the same class as the "Katsugi" saw that the situation was not good, and before the Qing army's firepower could be transferred, they ordered to turn the rudder to the left, intending to withdraw from the battlefield. At this time, the Qing army fleet was busy besieging

"Katsugi", when "Yamato" and "Musashi" were discovered, the enemy's first and second formations had already circled behind the Qing warship formation. The situation was dangerous. Commander Lin Taizen ordered not to pursue, and the entire fleet turned with the flagship.

, facing the enemy's first and second group formations in the rear.

The "Jianzhong" coastal defense ship of the third team on the right wing returned to the fleet in time, but Lieutenant Colonel Liang Xuezhi, the captain of the "Jianbei", was eager to fight. At this time, he happened to see the Japanese ships "Chicheng" and "Xijing Maru" in the telescope.

"We were desperately chasing Yamato and Musashi, but due to lack of speed and power, we fell far behind. So we attacked against orders and ordered to speed up towards Akamaru and Nishikyo Maru."

On board the substitute cruiser "Saikyo Maru", Lieutenant General Shiki Kawasaki, the deputy head of the Japanese Navy, originally saw the Qing warship array turning back and couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, he discovered that an armored cruiser was single-handedly heading towards the ship at high speed.

He came, feeling frightened, and hurriedly shouted to the captain, Major Yunosuke Kano: "Major Kano, have you seen that an enemy ship is rushing over?"

Major Luye replied: "General, I saw it, but I can't do anything about it. We only have a 12-centimeter rapid-fire cannon and a few small machine guns. Everything depends on sincerity."

In fact, the "Chicheng" is not reliable at all. This small gunboat has a standard displacement of 602 tons and is equipped with a 20.3 cm and a 12 cm gun. Compared with the standard displacement of 4,580

tons, equipped with one 30.5 cm heavy gun and nine 15 cm rapid-fire cannons, what chance does the "Kianhoku" coastal defense armored cruiser have to win in a confrontation? Major Hachiro Banmoto, the captain of the "Chicheng"

I don't want to think about it at all.

"Jianbei" puffed out thick smoke and cut through the waves and rushed over. Major Hachiro Itamoto's hand holding the telescope began to tremble slightly. After the range-finding officer issued a signal of "distance 2,500 yards", he simply threw it away

He picked up the telescope, pulled out the saber with the octopus family emblem on his side, and shouted "Fire!"

The 20.3cm main gun of the "Chicheng" spewed out a monotonous cloud of white smoke. The shell miraculously hit the front deck of the "Jianbei" in the first shot, but was bounced off by the thick armor belt of the "Jianbei".

The explosion outside the armored belt only left a not too shallow dent on the front deck of "Jianbei".

The next two shots of "Chicheng" missed. After that, its front main gun never had a chance to be used. Several fifteen-centimeter shells completely destroyed it. At the same time, "Jianbei"'s artillery fire also covered "Chicheng".

" On the bridge of the ship, shrapnel penetrated the head of the captain, Lieutenant Colonel Hachiro Banmoto, who was at his post. Blood and brain matter spattered on the compass, and the chart table was also red and white. Acting Captain Tetsuta Sato, Captain

A few minutes later, it was blown into two pieces. The lower body was hung on the steering wheel, and the upper body flew to the side of the forward main gun mount. The condition was horrific.

"Chicheng" soon lost its combat capability. Lieutenant Colonel Liang Xuezhi, the captain of "Jianbei", decided to capture it, so he organized 60 sailors, each firing rifle bullets, to wait for the port side of "Chicheng" and lower the rope ladder (because of "Jianbei").

The dry deck of "Bei" was much higher than that of "Chicheng"), and a commando team was sent to board the ship, which broke down the resistance of the remaining Japanese crew members. Lieutenant Colonel Liang Xuezhi also sent several navigation and engineering non-commissioned officers to board "Chicheng" to repair the navigation engine equipment, and then

Detoured to Lushun Naval Port to ask for credit. However, the "Jianhoku" ship spent so much effort to capture a small gunboat, not only the "Nishikyo Maru" carrying Lieutenant General Shiki Kawasaki, Deputy Minister of the Navy of Japan, was

The time and opportunity to escape from the battlefield, and because "Jianbei" broke away from the fleet array against orders, resulted in a lack of cover for the right wing of the flagship, causing irreparable losses to the entire fleet.

Lieutenant Colonel Liang Xuezhi looked proudly at the trophy in front of him. The signal officer suddenly shouted: "The flagship sent a signal - the flagship is in danger. All ships will return to the formation immediately. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"

When Liang Xuezhi heard the word "kill", he felt a chill all over his body. The smoking warship in front of him was no longer a trophy, but was probably evidence of his death in the military court.

He didn't have time to think about anything, and immediately ordered to speed up and turn towards the rescue flagship.
Chapter completed!