Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 27 What to do if you lose your command
He ran to Liu Buchan in the stunned eyes of the surrounding officers and soldiers. Liu Buchan looked at him with a bitter smile on his face. "Brother Liu, the general is injured and can't command. You have to take over the command!" Sun Gang didn't care about the pain in his hand and anxiously supported him.
"It's too late... We can only fight on our own..." Liu Buchan held his shoulders with great effort and tried hard to stand up.
"Lord Sun, the signal ropes have been broken, the signal flags are gone, and the signal can't be sent out!" someone said.
Sun Gang glanced around and looked at the broken mast. Suddenly his whole body turned cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Liu Buchan looked at him, smiled helplessly, and suddenly shouted: "Don't panic! General Ding is still here! I'm not dead yet! Everyone, take your positions!"
Sun Gang helped him sit on the command platform, and the officers and soldiers around him ran to their respective posts. He looked around and saw that the Beiyang Fleet was still moving forward in formation, and each ship was firing back with all its might. The 305mm cannon of "Dingyuan" roared again, and the roar of the cannon instantly gave him confidence. Sun Gang calmed down and saw that the Japanese fleet had been divided into two teams, and was encircling the right wing of the Beiyang Fleet.
The Japanese fleet once again launched an overwhelming volley of fire. For a moment, flames were everywhere and shrapnel were flying. Sun Gang supported Liu Buchan's staggering body. He sat there waving his arms and kept issuing orders through the microphone. Sun Gang looked at the Japanese fleet that was fiercely spewing fire snakes, and a spark suddenly flashed in his mind!
"Brother Liu! Most of the signal cables of our ships have been interrupted, and the signals can no longer be sent out normally. However, all our ships are required to move with the flagship before the battle. Why don't we use the flagship's own movements as a signal to mobilize the entire army?" Sun Gang said anxiously to Liu Buchan.
Liu Buchan stared at him blankly, and suddenly a strange smile appeared on his face. "The lives of my entire army are all thanks to your words." He nodded vigorously, looked at the sea where artillery fire was flying, and snorted, "You want to get behind me? No way!"
He tried hard to sit up straight and gave orders in English again. Thick smoke suddenly came out of the chimney of Dingyuan, and the entire battleship rushed forward as if it had taken stimulants.
Sun Gang watched the warships speeding to the left, drawing a large arc on the sea, and did not understand what Liu Buchan was trying to do. As a result, the "Jingyuan", " Zhiyuan", "Guangjia", "Jiyuan" and "Chaoyong" on the left side of "Dingyuan" all followed the flagship to turn left. The "Zhenyuan", "Laiyuan", "Jingyuan", "Pingyuan", "Guangping" and "Yangwei" on the right side of "Dingyuan" also increased their speed and turned left one after another. The formation of the entire fleet was immediately disrupted.
The sea was filled with smoke and he could no longer see the enemy and our side's positions clearly. However, looking at Liu Buchan's calm appearance, he did not say anything.
Naval warfare is too professional for him, a "navy" who is not even a novice.
At times like this, one wrong decision could mean losing the entire battle.
The sound of artillery fire seemed to have died down a lot. After the smoke finally cleared away, he saw the situation on the battlefield clearly and was shocked!
The Japanese warships "Yoshino", "Takasago", "Takachiho" and "Akitsuzou" that had just made the "Dingyuan" burn with anger had disappeared. In front of the "Dingyuan" were four Japanese warships "Akagi", "Hiei", "Fuso" and "Saikyō Maru" (all small fry)! And "Matsushima" (the flagship of the Japanese main fleet), "Chiyoda", "Iwajima" and "Hashidate" actually appeared behind the Beiyang Fleet!
"You can run, right? Just walk around a few more times!" Liu Buchan laughed. " Fire from the front and back! Hurry up! Send them to hell!"
In fact, without waiting for his order, all the cannons on the ship began to roar consciously, and the side guns of the Japanese "Sankei" were not to be outdone , and desperately maintained continuous firing.
The artillery shells of both sides flew back and forth on the sea like meteors. The accurate shooting of the Beiyang Fleet's heavy artillery began to slowly show its power. The violent explosion of the picric acid heavy artillery shells instantly split the superstructure of the Japanese ship.
Sun Gang saw that the "Akagi" was surrounded by fire before it could send a signal and tried desperately to leave the battlefield. The "Xijing Maru" had no idea where it had run to, and the "Fuso" and the "Laiyuan" that was approaching it were desperately firing at each other with rapid-fire cannons. Soon the two warships were both on fire.
The "Hiei" was forced into a desperate situation and somehow got itself into the middle of the Beiyang Fleet. Suddenly, a shell from nowhere hit the stern of the "Hiei". Its speed immediately slowed down and the stern was full of fire. Sun Gang saw soldiers covered in flames falling into the sea from time to time.
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard behind them. Sun Gang and Liu Buchan turned around at the same time, and saw that the entire "Chaoyong" ship was surrounded by fire and had begun to tilt. Most of the ship had already sunk into the water, but it was still insisting on firing at the "Sanjing" ship!
In an instant, tears welled up in Sun Gang's eyes.
"Not good, the 'Yang Wei' can't hold on any longer!" Liu Buchan said gritting his teeth. Sun Gang looked at the 'Yang Wei' which was on fire and starting to tilt , then looked at Liu Buchan. He sighed and his eyes suddenly tightened. Sun Gang followed his gaze and saw four familiar Japanese warships appearing before his eyes in the hazy smoke.
"Damn it! They're coming so fast!" Liu Buchan shouted, "Step up your speed! Go after them!"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless shells flew over again with a sharp whistle. Sun Gang watched as the surroundings were instantly engulfed by fire. Shrapnel and fragments of the ship's hull flew all around him. He didn't know whether he was hit or not. He struggled to push Liu Buchan to the side.
At this moment, he only knew that he could die, but Liu Buchan could not die.
After an unknown amount of time, a deafening explosion was heard, and the artillery fire from both sides seemed to stop in an instant. He shook off the debris on his body and helped Liu Buchan up. The two of them looked at the scene on the sea, both so shocked that they were speechless.
"It's Lord Deng..." an officer murmured.
