Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 19: First Battle Victory
Sun Gang stared at the "Yaeyama" approaching little by little. It was a cruiser launched in 1889, with a displacement of 1,690 tons and a speed of 20 knots. In terms of firepower, it was not at the same level as the "Dingyuan". Seeing it rushing towards him like a mad tiger, Sun Gang wondered if this Japanese captain had taken the wrong medicine?
"Boom, boom, boom!" The Japanese warship opened fire. Several shells fell into the sea near the "Dingyuan" and exploded, stirring up tall water columns. Almost at the same time, there was a loud bang. Sun Gang felt his whole body shaken and his head buzzed. He almost fell down. The huge orange-yellow flames spewing out of the muzzle of the "Dingyuan"'s twin 305mm guns told him what had just happened.
The fire like thunderbolt instantly split the hull of "Yaeyama", and the whole battleship was immediately shrouded in billowing smoke. The thick smoke from the muzzle of "Dingyuan" blocked his sight. After the smoke finally dissipated, the entire "Yaeyama" was already surrounded by fire. From time to time, Japanese sailors covered in flames jumped into the sea. Next to them, the 305mm giant gun of "Zhenyuan" also opened fire. There was another violent explosion. "Yaeyama" exploded again, and the hull began to tilt a little bit and slowly sank into the sea.
It was the first time for him to watch the firing effect of a 305mm cannon at such a close distance, and the shock it brought to him was definitely not what he could feel in a movie theater.
From this moment on, the Chinese Navy’s combat record has been rewritten and is no longer Zero!
"So weak." Liu Buchan looked at Sun Gang, who looked a little dazed, and said with some admiration: "Today I know that the power of yellow gunpowder is really terrible." He looked at Sun Gang, who looked stunned, and realized that he was stunned by the sound of the cannon just now. He couldn't help but patted his shoulder with a smile, "I forgot to remind the senator that the sound of the cannon is really shocking, but you will get used to it."
Sun Gang seemed not to hear what he said. He was staring at the other two Japanese ships that were exchanging fire with other warships. The Japanese must have witnessed the shocking scene just now (a light cruiser challenging two battleships at close range had no chance of winning and was simply seeking death), but why didn't they flee?
Another Japanese ship was hit and caught fire. Sun Gang picked up the telescope and looked at it. He couldn't help laughing. From the shape of the ship, it was clear that it was a small gunboat with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons. The Japanese were too ridiculous, right? Where was the "Yoshino"? Where were the "Three Views" (referring to the "Matsushima", "Iwashima" and "Hashidate")? Where did they go?
An idea flashed through his mind, and he said in a lost voice: "General, Brother Bu Chan, they are desperately trying to cover the landing troops! We should attack their landing troops immediately!"
His words immediately woke Ding Ruchang and Liu Buchan from the joy of victory. Ding Ruchang immediately ordered "Zhiyuan" and "Jingyuan" to continue attacking the remaining Japanese ship, and the rest of the ships entered the port to bombard the Japanese landing forces.
Sure enough, when the ships of the Beiyang Fleet rushed into the harbor, Sun Gang, who was standing on the bridge of the Dingyuan, looked at the transport ships on the shore and the Japanese soldiers rushing towards the land like ants, and his excited heart calmed down.
Through the telescope, he could even see the frightened facial expressions of the Japanese officers and soldiers as they looked at Dingyuan and Zhenyuan.
In a moment, these people's lives will be taken away by ruthless artillery fire.
This is war.
He looked at the landing force of more than a thousand people with some pity. How would their relatives feel when they learned the news of their death?
But thinking of the subsequent sins of these armies and their descendants, his heart became firm again.
This is the fate of the invaders!
"Pass the order, look at the flagship signal, all ships fire at the same time!" Ding Ruchang was giving the order.
The 305mm cannon of "Dingyuan" once again spewed out huge tongues of fire. This time, Sun Gang covered his ears and opened his mouth wisely, watching the blooming flames on the shore. Many Japanese soldiers were blown into the air. All ships of the Beiyang Fleet followed the flagship and opened fire, shooting at the shore. Countless Japanese soldiers were instantly swallowed up by the fierce naval gun fire. The huge explosion drowned out the screams of the Japanese soldiers, and all the figures disappeared in the flames little by little.
After an unknown amount of time, the fleet stopped its shelling. Through the thick smoke, the sea was littered with debris and broken bodies. "Those who were not dead on the shore have all escaped. The Jiyuan sent a signal requesting that a land force be sent ashore to investigate," said an officer.
"Let them be careful." Ding Ruchang said.
"The Zhiyuan sent a signal that the Japanese ship has been sunk." Another officer reported: "General Cai wants to see you."
"Let him come over and send a signal to let the 'Baofa' enter the port. The 'Pingyuan' will patrol outside the port together with the 'Zhiyuan' and 'Jingyuan' to prevent any more Japanese ships from coming." Ding Ruchang said.
"I led my troops to sneak into the harbor and saw three Japanese ships and five transport ships near the shore. I wanted to strike I sneaked up to the Japanese transport ships and fired torpedoes. However, I saw that the torpedoes had hit the enemy ships but did not explode. I was just wondering when the Japanese ships discovered my boat and rained bombs. My boat immediately rushed out of the exit and the Japanese ships followed closely. Fortunately, we met the military brigade." Cai Tinggan said angrily, "The torpedoes did not explode. It was really infuriating."
"We have to investigate the torpedo issue after we get back," Ding Ruchang said. "If it doesn't explode, what's the point of hitting it? What's wrong with the Ordnance Department?"
"It's possible that Commander Cai didn't hit the target at all?" Liu Buchan said with a smile. Seeing Cai Tinggan's angry look, he turned back to look at Sun Gang and asked, "What do you think, Lord Councillor?"
"Cai Dusi's troops are well-trained, and they are targeting anchored targets, so it is not impossible that they will miss." Sun Gang pretended to be in deep thought (in fact, he already knew the reason for this result), and slowly said: "I think it may be because the depth of the torpedoes is not set properly. The warship has a deeper draft than the transport ship. The torpedoes fired by Cai Dusi may still be set at a depth based on the warship. When hitting the transport ship, the transport ship has a shallower draft, so the torpedoes passed through the bottom of the ship and failed to touch the bottom of the ship and exploded."
All the officers in the room looked at him in surprise. He smiled and said to Cai Tinggan, "Next time when Commander Cai attacks the enemy, you might as well treat them differently and see what the effect is."
"Your Excellency the Senator, what you said is absolutely right. I, Cai, admire you very much." Cai Tinggan looked at him with admiration and said.
I gave him a push, haha, this is also a soybean, it depends on whether he can kill the boss on the Japanese ship "Xijing Maru" by then.
"General, the 'Jiyuan' sent a signal that the land force has returned and captured several Japanese soldiers." An officer said, and Liu Buchan sneered.
Ding Ruchang thought for a moment and said, "Order all ships to withdraw from the harbor. Order the Baofa to start laying mines in the channel. Order the Jiyuan to immediately pull the three captured transport ships into the channel and sink them to block the estuary."
