After receiving the news of the Republic's attack fleet, Suoji Xinzheng immediately left Kaohsiung Port with the main force of the joint fleet that had been on alert. A little later than the Japanese, Chen Shiying, commander of the Republic Navy's Nanyang Fleet, also left the base with the main force of the fleet.
On the sea surface of Dongsha, the sound of artillery was rumbling, and the "Li Jing" slowed down its speed, towed behind the fleet, and started an artillery battle with two Japanese heavy cruisers. The two Japanese heavy cruisers intended to flank the "Li Jing", "
The "Li Jing" increased its speed to more than 25 knots, widened the distance from the Japanese ships, stayed outside the range of the Japanese ships, and relied on the advantages of its own artillery to fight with the enemy outside the range.
The two sides were 22,000 yards apart. The "Li Jing" opened fire first, and the Japanese heavy cruiser also began to fire back. Water splashed on the sea, but in this high-speed chase, none of the artillery on both sides hit the target.
At this time, on the sea about fifty nautical miles north of Dongsha Island, two huge fleets coming from the northeast and northwest were getting closer and closer, and their targets were both Dongsha Islands.
Standing on the tall bridge of the flagship "Qilianshan", overlooking the entire sea, Chen Shiying naturally felt a sense of domineering in his heart. This team consisted of six battleships, two large cruisers, six cruisers, and ten
The largest fleet in China's history, consisting of 10 destroyers and 6 auxiliary ships, is under his control.
Although the "Qilianshan" has joined the Nanyang Fleet for a year and a half, as the "big boss" of the Nanyang Fleet, Chen Shiying will be sincerely proud of this powerful warship every time he boards his ship. The dark gray
The navy paint does not hide the edge of this steel behemoth, but can put huge pressure on the opponent. The 10 380mm main guns seem to warn the opponent that it has the power to devour everything.
The bridge of the Republic Navy's "Kunlun Mountain" class battleship is not as tall as the Japanese tower bridge, but it is still as high as a seven-story building. Although the labor cost of the Republic is much lower than that of the United States, Hua Yuan has an economic advantage
After the great crisis, it also began to depreciate year by year. Although the extent was not as great as the depreciation of the US dollar, the cumulative depreciation exceeded 50%. This made the construction price of such a heavy battleship still as high as 92 million yuan.
Some sailors can be seen on the deck at any time with water guns spraying water on the turret and deck to cool down. Under the dazzling summer sunshine of the South China Sea, the temperature inside the turret can even reach as high as 50 degrees. There are several clouds of water floating in the sky like
There are white clouds like snow-capped mountains, and there is only a slight sea breeze on the sea.
Even in such fine weather, swells as high as 1.5 meters will often appear on the sea, but for a large warship with a full load displacement of more than 45,000 tons like the "Qilian Mountain", it is simply like walking on flat ground. On the deck
The sailors hid in shady places as much as possible and gathered together to chat, but they seemed less relaxed than when they went out to sea for training.
The officers and soldiers looked nervous and excited, maybe they would soon face a battle, a real sea battle.
Chen Shiying was able to stand out in the navy and become the most powerful main fleet commander of the Republic Navy, mostly due to the "Temple Street Incident".
In 1919, the Republic and Japan reached an agreement to jointly send troops to intervene in Siberia.
The current commander of the Beiyang Fleet, Wang Chongwen, was ordered to form a Jiang Defense Fleet to station in Heilongjiang and exercise sovereignty. Chen Shiying, captain of the gunboat Jiangheng, led the former Yangtze River Fleet Lisui, Lijie, Jiangheng, Jing'an and other ships from Shanghai to the Songhua River.
, stationed in the Heilongjiang River Basin. The river defense fleet was an inland river gunboat with only a few hundred tons. It was really difficult for them to cross the ocean from Shanghai to Vladivostok like an ocean-going warship. However, the Republican Navy at that time only had these assets.
Towed by the transport ship Jian'an, Chen Shiying led the Jiangfang fleet after all the hardships and finally arrived at Temple Street, but was blocked by Japanese warships.
The Japanese have always wanted to annex the entire Heilongjiang Basin, and naturally they did not want the Republican Navy to get involved in this area.
The fleet under Chen Shiying has been delayed on the Temple Street River. Two months later, the Japanese had to release the Chinese fleet under the pressure of China, the United States, Britain and France. At that time, the Western powers still counted on the Chinese in Siberia.
Intervention Army.
But Chen Shiying was unable to move. It was already November, and the entire Heilongjiang River was frozen, and all the ships of the Jiang Defense Fleet were frozen on the riverside.
In January of the following year, the Japanese troops stationed in Temple Street were attacked by the local Red Russian guerrillas. The Japanese army was not good at fighting in the snow and was defeated by the Red Russian troops. The Japanese consulate in Temple Street was once occupied by the Red Russian troops.
One after another, the defeated Japanese soldiers who fled fled to the Chinese gunboats on the river to take shelter. Chen Shiying was originally from Fujian, and the majority of the navy were from Fujian. When the Beiyang Navy was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War, the entire city of Fuzhou was hung with white flags, almost like
Everyone pays filial piety, but whose family doesn’t have a few relatives who died in the war?
How could Chen Shiying, who grew up in such an environment, not hate the Japanese to the core?
Those Japanese soldiers who escaped to the Chinese gunboats naturally didn't know that they had run into a wolf's den. Chen Shiying ordered his men to disarm the escaped Japanese soldiers and then throw them into the ice caves by the river and freeze to death. They could not be slaughtered with a knife.
Relieve hatred.
In January in the Northeast, the outdoor temperature is over 50 degrees below zero. Even if the Japanese resist the cold, they probably won't be able to withstand it for an hour. Major Chen came up with such a ruthless move to vent his hatred.
More than ten days later, Japanese reinforcements arrived and defeated the Red Russian army. The Japanese reinforcements found dozens of Japanese soldiers who had been frozen into popsicles in an ice kiln by the river. What was even worse was that these Japanese soldiers froze to death before they died.
In the ice cave, he bit his finger and left a bloody letter. The Japanese were so angry that they wanted to seize the Chinese ship and board the ship to arrest people.
Chen Shiying refused to admit it and insisted that the Japanese were framed because he adhered to neutrality and refused to provide reinforcements to the Japanese army. At the same time, he ordered the ships to load their artillery shells to confront the Japanese army, and tied guns on the warships, threatening that if the Japanese
If anyone tries to board the ship by force, he or she will perish together with the Japanese.
The Japanese didn't know what to say when faced with such a tough argument. Later, with the mediation of the Americans, the matter was finally dropped because there was no solid evidence. Since then, the Chinese warships entered the inland river of Heilongjiang and began to fight in this river.
Perform patrol duties on the largest river in the north.
As a result, Chen Shiying became famous, and the then president Lin Shuo personally praised him: he was strong-willed, courageous and courageous.
Chen Shiying, who was appreciated by the president, rose through the ranks and reached the position of commander of the largest fleet in the Republican Navy.
"Sir, a telegram was sent from the Wuchang. The Li Jing is engaged in an artillery battle with two Japanese heavy cruisers. The position is about 20 nautical miles southeast of Dongsha Island." At this time, the combat staff reported from the war room.
"Well, the Japanese want to entangle Wei Zihao, and their main fleet must be not far behind." Chen Shiying returned to the war room and said as he walked, "The telegram ordered Wei Zihao to move closer to us, and also ordered Jiguang and Kunming
Send reinforcements and don't let Wei Zihao get entangled by the Japanese."
At this time, in the war room, the staff members gathered around the chart and kept calculating the possible direction of the Japanese combined fleet. According to the calculation results, the distance between the two fleets should not exceed 40 nautical miles. However, as the vanguard of the main fleet, Dee
The cruiser Hu and the Cullen have not found any trace of the enemy so far.
Suetsugu Nobumasa was also worried. There was a problem with the power system of the Combined Fleet's Fuso battleship. Originally, the two "defective battleships" that had been outdated since they were built had already slowed down the Combined Fleet's speed at a maximum speed of 23 knots. In the morning
Around 12:00, Suetsugu Nobumasa sent four faster Kongo-class battleships to intercept the Chinese cruise fleet. Because the order he received was "to destroy those three damn raiders no matter what."
At this time, there were only four battleships left in Suezhin's hands, "Nagato", "Mutsu", "Fuso", and "Yamashiro". The two Ise-class battleships of the combined fleet were still 140 nautical miles away. I am afraid that by now
Haven't sailed through the Bashi Channel yet.
At 12:30, after receiving a telegram of the exchange of fire between the two sides east of the Dongsha Sea, Sueji made a serious mistake. He believed that the main fleet of the Republic Navy had arrived in the Dongsha Island area to prepare for the attack fleet, and the four ships
The King Kong class is basically no match for the enemy.
He needed to bring the battleships for reinforcements, so he ordered the Yamashiro to be left behind to wait for the Fuso to repair the power system, and then the two slower old-fashioned battleships rushed to the battlefield together, while he took "Nagato" and "Riku"
"O" and four heavy cruisers hurried to the battlefield.
In fact, the Republic Navy was not prepared to respond to Wei Zihao's plan at all. The three cruisers were able to get rid of the enemy with their own speed. Chen Shiying was looking for an opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with the Japanese main fleet.
At 02:10 on July 19, a reconnaissance plane taking off from the cruiser Dihua discovered the last fleet. Both fleets began to adjust their courses, but Sueji believed that the main fleet of the Republic Navy had returned when the reconnaissance plane returned.
direction. In fact, it was just a reconnaissance team moving forward, and the main force of the Republican Navy was
It is about 20 nautical miles southwest of it. "The Japanese fleet has sailed into the northeastern area of the Dongsha Islands, about 45 nautical miles away from us, and the speed is about 25 knots!" The message sent from the cruiser Dihua clearly reported the enemy's main fleet.
In its bearing, it was about 15 nautical miles behind the location expected by the staff.
"Order the fleet to turn, we will stop in front of it!" The report from the Dihua said that the fleet included 2 battleships and 4 to 6 large warships. Where did the other Japanese warships go? Chen Shiying left
He went to the chart and made a mark on it with his two-foot compasses, "Order the Cullen to expand its search southward."
"General, aren't you going to issue a combat alert now?" the combat staff asked.
"No, no need, there are still two hours to go. Being nervous for too long will make the soldiers mentally slack!" Chen Shiying thought for a moment, "Wait until the distance is 30 nautical miles before issuing combat orders. Major, count us.
How much time does it take before we meet!" He said to the navigational staff who was climbing on the chart and holding a triangle ruler in his hand.
"The enemy will enter our range in 1 hour and 30 minutes, sir!" the navigation staff officer immediately reported the current data.
Chen Shiying nodded. What are the Japanese doing? Where have the other battleships gone? Judging from the information obtained, the Lianquan fleet has concentrated eight battleships in Kaohsiung. Why are there only two left? What is this?
Tactics?
The problem is that facing the eight battleships of the Combined Fleet, Chen Shiying will choose to fight with all his strength, let alone the two battleships now. As the president said, when dealing with the Japanese navy, even if they are killed one by one, they must be killed
Use it all up, don't be afraid of losses. I will make up for you as much as you lose. The important thing is to bring people back.
This is also the confidence of the navy of a great power.
The Republic's current industrial capabilities and shipbuilding capabilities enable the Republic's Navy to dare to compete with the Japanese for consumption.
Even if the entire navy is exhausted, with the country's current shipbuilding capabilities, the Republic Navy may be able to return to its original state within two years. But what about the Japanese? I'm afraid they will lose all the wealth they have accumulated for decades and never have it again.
Gambling capital.
This is the gap in national strength.
Even if Britain and France are added, the Republic actually has enough power to cope with it.