On the Yangtze River, thick fog rolled and dispersed backwards, blown away by the strong winds brought by the Japanese warships protruding from the fog.
A total of twelve warships were arranged in a neat attack formation, pressing in from three directions: east, west, north and west, looking menacing and unstoppable.
Opposite them, there is only one Chinese warship, and it is a light frigate, which is one level worse than the smallest warship among the twelve Japanese warships opposite.
The difference in strength between the two sides is so great that they are not equal at all!
On the warship, the sailors became nervous, held their breath one by one, and looked in the direction of the captain's cabin.
They are waiting for the captain's order.
In the captain's room, the captain pursed his lips tightly, with a very serious expression on his face. He grasped the edge of the table tightly with both hands. It could be seen that he was also fighting fiercely in his heart.
A telegraph operator hurried over, handed a telegram into his hand, and whispered, "Call from the top."
The captain snatched the message and hurriedly read it. He read ten lines of text at a glance, and then the expression on his face changed several times.
The first mate beside him didn’t know what was going on, so he asked, “Captain, what did the higher ups say?”
The captain said nothing and handed the message to the first mate, letting him read it himself!
The first mate took the message and hurriedly looked up. He immediately saw the words on it and his expression changed.
On the message paper, there was something like this written:
"At this time when the survival of our country is at stake, the whole party and country share the same hatred of the enemy. The First Fleet of the Navy has now weighed anchor from the port and will arrive for support in fifteen minutes. I hope your ministry will delay the arrival of reinforcements and fight to the death without retreating. Remember this!
"
Fight to the death and never retreat, fight to the death and never retreat!
The captain and first officer looked at each other, and they understood the fate of their battleship, which was to be used as a bait to attract the Japanese fleet and wait for the arrival of the first fleet.
However, the First Fleet only has six warships in total, and the largest one is on par with the opponent's warships. However, the Japanese have four of the same warships this time, so the strength is not equal at all.
So, this means that their sacrifices were basically in vain.
"What should we do?" the two of them thought in their minds.
The captain raised his head and looked at the approaching Japanese fleet, as well as the aircraft overhead that was about to enter the range of the anti-aircraft guns, and then took a deep breath, "Yu Hai, we have been with this ship through thick and thin for seven years, right?"
?”
First Officer Yu Hai was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, Captain, it's been seven years and four months."
"Do you still remember the oath we made when we boarded the ship?" The captain's eyes seemed to be dancing with flames.
"Remember, of course I remember -" Yu Hai's voice was sonorous and powerful, and at the same time he straightened his chest, "With our passion, we will protect the sea territory thousands of miles away, and we will never give up until we die."
"good!"
The captain took a step forward, stretched out his hand to fasten the collar buckle for Yu Hai, then arranged his own military uniform, then grabbed his military cap, put it on his head upright, reached out and grabbed the radio,
"Listen, the whole ship, enter combat mode, use all firepower, and give me a hard beating."
"beat!"
"beat!"
"beat!"
With an order, the whole ship started to move. Everyone seemed to have been relieved of all their burdens. They became refreshed and energetic. They rushed to their posts as fast as possible and then started to work.
The battleship was like a tiger waking up from its sleep, showing its fangs and claws, and pounced on the Japanese fleet.
"Left rudder 35, right rudder 17."
"18 degree angle, load!"
"First secondary artillery fire!"
"Second artillery fire!"
"Port gun fire!"
"Starboard gun fire!"
Boom boom boom, cannons of different calibers opened fire. The black muzzles spit out dazzling fire, and hateful shells roared out and flew towards the battleships on the opposite side.
The Japanese warships did not seem to expect that the Chinese warships would dare to fight back. They thought that as soon as they appeared, the warships would flee in panic. So when the warships rushed up, these warships did not react for a while and allowed the Chinese warships to rush towards them.
in front of.
Cannonballs roared one after another and landed on the deck and bridge of the medium-sized warship that charged first. More shells landed in the river around the warship, causing huge splashes of water.
Boom boom boom, dazzling flames rose up on the warship. It was the deck of the warship that was hit by the shells, and a raging fire broke out. In this round of shelling, the two broadsides of the warship were hit and exploded.
Turned into a pile of scrap metal.
"Fire, fire for me!"
On the warship, the officer in charge of commanding each gun position stretched his neck and roared. He didn't care that his voice was hoarse. Instead, he desperately directed his sailors to load the shells, then shoot, then load again, and shoot again.
They understood that the time left for them would not be too long. Once the Japanese warships understood this, it would mean the warships' doom had begun.
The intensive firepower of the twelve battleships could tear apart the deck of the battleship almost instantly and plunge the battleship into the roaring river.
Therefore, each of them has only one belief in their hearts, that is, to use these last few minutes to fire as many shots as possible, even if it means hitting one more kid, it is worth it.
The shells roared away one after another like locusts. The sky above the river was enveloped by the dazzling arc. There was smoke and explosion fire everywhere.
Finally, when they severely damaged the second Japanese warship, the other side also reacted and began to counterattack.
The first ones to launch a counterattack were the Japanese fighter planes overhead. They took the lead in launching an attack. They pounced on the warships below like vultures. The pilots in the planes firmly locked onto the lone warship on the river!
Phew, a blanking shell passed by the plane and almost touched the porthole glass. However, the Japanese pilot inside was not panicked at all, but still stared calmly at the warship below.
Anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns roared continuously, and artillery shells and machine gun bullets drew brilliant arcs of light above the warship, chasing the diving fighter plane.
Finally, the first Japanese fighter plane was hit, with black smoke billowing from its wings. It struggled to fly for a certain distance before finally losing control and crashing into a hill beside the river.
There was a roar, and flames soared into the sky from the top of the mountain, and they did not dissipate for a long time!
The second and third Japanese fighter planes were hit and crashed, but more fighters broke through the anti-aircraft fire and jumped over the battleship.
"Wow!"
As the bomb release button was pressed, the magazine below the fighter plane opened, and bombs fell from inside one by one, towards the battleship below.
"Left full rudder, right rudder 21, avoid!" On the battleship, the captain commanded the battleship calmly, dodging in the rain of bombs, avoiding the opponent's bombing, and at the same time, the gunfire on the opposite warship also covered it.
come over.
--boom--!
The warship shook violently. It was probably that he had been shot. The captain saw a ball of fire rising in front of the glass outside the captain's room, mixed with the flying steel debris and human body parts, flying in all directions.
.
With a snap, a severed arm fell from the glass. After hitting the glass, it slowly slid to the ground, leaving a long trail of blood on the glass, which looked very shocking.
The captain seemed not to notice, still staring out the window, giving orders one after another, directing the warships to swim among the Japanese warships.
Boom——, there were flames soaring into the sky on the battleship, and two naval guns were blown into the sky in the flames. Along with them, the sailors who stood by their posts beside the naval guns turned into a rain of blood all over the sky.
The battleship was like a small boat in the stormy waves, being constantly beaten back and forth by the waves. It seemed that it might be overturned at any time and sink to the bottom of the water.
Twelve Japanese warships came from three directions. The large-caliber naval guns kept spitting out tongues of fire. The shells seemed to be like raindrops. Even the sun in the sky was blocked, making it look much darker.
.
--boom--!
Another shell hit the stern of the warship, tearing a large hole at the waterline. Sea water poured into the crack, greatly reducing the speed of the warship.
"Platoon commander, what should we do?" someone shouted to their commander.
The officer whose one eye was blinded by the shell reached out and wiped the blood on his face, and then shouted, "Hit me, even if it means death, I will hit the last shell on the Japanese warship."
"
The sailors gritted their teeth and loaded the cannonballs into the barrels one by one, and then the cannonballs flew into the air, roaring towards the Japanese warship opposite!
The explosions on the sea were all connected together, and the shells blew up and covered the sky, like a tsunami. The wall of water aroused was more than ten meters high, and then fell suddenly.
With a bang, the warship was hit by several more bombs, and a large piece of the deck was blown away, exposing the hull below.
The sailors suffered countless casualties, and the remaining ones were still frantically loading cannonballs, hoping to shoot out more cannonballs before the ship sank.
The Japanese warships also seemed to be annoyed. They did not expect that a light frigate would dare to provoke twelve warships so nakedly. This was simply asking for death.
This is unacceptable to them as the elite navy of the Empire of Japan. Although they are only a B-class fleet, they are not something the other party can provoke.
If you want to wash away this humiliation, there is only one way, and that is to sink the opponent.
There is no other way!
Therefore, these twelve warships poured out artillery fire crazily, treating the warship as a moving target, and fired continuously.
The damage to the battleship is increasing, and it seems to be getting more and more serious. The hull is tilting a bit, and the speed has dropped by about one-third.
If this continues, I'm afraid the warship won't be able to sustain it for long!
However, this warship had no intention of retreating, but still stubbornly struggled with the Japanese warship and refused to give up!
Fight to the death without retreating, this is an order, and it is also the unyielding belief of all the soldiers on the ship today!