Master Yuan, start!

No one expected that the Zhiyuan, Haiji and Yoshino, which were in the front, were not in trouble, but the Matsushima, which was around the flank, caught fire first.

Why did the Russians choose the Japanese fleet as their main target?

Liu Bohong was puzzled, but after a moment, he figured it out.

The Japanese fleet was not entirely composed of fast warships.

The Saikyo Maru was a converted merchant ship. It was a product of the Fuso and Hiei from 20 years ago and still retained its sails. The Akagi was a gunboat weighing less than a thousand tons.

More importantly, the speed of these ships is extremely slow, averaging only 11 knots.

This is in stark contrast to the Yoshino, which has a speed of 20 knots, and the Naniwa, which has a speed of 18 knots.

The Russians also knew that they would pick on the weak first. When they saw the roof of the Saikyo Maru that had not been removed yet, they realized that it was a merchant ship that had been temporarily converted into a warship.

Sure enough, before Liu Bohong raised his telescope to check the situation, the first mate who was watching the battle shouted again.

"The Xijing is also on fire!"

"The Russian fleet changed direction and rushed towards the Japanese!"

Liu Bohong took out his pocket watch again, remembered the important node Yuan Xiangcheng told him, and confirmed the time.

"Aim at the Russian ships on the flank, fire, fire!"

...

The Russian fleet was engaged in a fierce battle with the Chinese and Japanese fleets, and the British ship Centurion, which was watching the battle from afar, was also busy.

"Major General, the Russians have penetrated the vanguard and are charging into their rear!"

After hearing the report from the sailors at the door, Captain Jeffrey fiddled with the white wooden boat in his hand that represented the Russians.

On the battle sand table, he made a V-shaped formation to pass the Zhiyuan, Haiji and Naniwa ships and rush towards the Japanese fleet at the rear.

"The Russians didn't want to engage these nimble cruisers. They wanted to hit the slow-moving ships as quickly as possible and achieve results quickly."

Jeffrey saw what the Russian commanders were thinking, but his brow furrowed.

The Russians did not take the Chinese fleet's artillery seriously, even though they could not penetrate the armor of Alexander II and Nicholas I.

But there are more than just these two warships in the Russian fleet.

The Ushakov and Pamitrav would be in trouble if they were hit by a 150mm armor-piercing shell.

Not to mention the other auxiliary cruisers and fast torpedo boats, which would probably take on water on the spot if hit by a single shot.

Sure enough, just as Jeffrey expressed his thoughts, the latest battle report came from the door.

"The Chinese, the Chinese are charging! The Zhiyuan is raising a flag signal, requesting the Haiji and Naniwa to follow her!"

"They've caught the Russians in the stern. They've hit a fast torpedo boat!"

"It's sunk! The Russian torpedo boat has sunk!"

Hearing that the Zhiyuan had achieved its first victory, everyone present shouted "good!" in unison.

Deng Shichang received a full set of British naval education and even visited British warships on board in Portsmouth.

He consulted the captains very seriously at that time, and even alarmed the British Admiralty, thinking that they had encountered a spy stealing intelligence.

The British Navy in the Far East also had frequent exchanges with Deng Shichang, and naturally felt proud of the achievements made by such a "family member".

However, they were not happy for long before they received bad news.

"The Ushakov hit the Zhiyuan, and its deck is on fire!"

"The Naniwa was also hit, and thick smoke is rising from the bow!"

Upon hearing this, the British first mate who admired Deng Shichang began to worry.

"The fire is out, the Zhiyuan continues to fight back!"

Upon hearing that the Zhiyuan was safe and sound, the somewhat solemn atmosphere in the cabin returned to normal.

"To L Suo: 0Qi Liu Jiu Yi Si 3 The Lu Yuan was hit again, and the deck is tilting!"

Deck tilt?

The first mate, who had met Deng Shichang once before, felt his heart in his throat.

"What, what is the Zhiyuan doing?"

The sailor who was using a telescope to check the battle situation couldn't help but exclaim.

"The Zhiyuan has raised the battle flag and charged!"

"The Zhiyuan rushed towards the Ushakov. What is he going to do? Boarding and fighting?!!!"

...

Amid the British people's exclamations, thick smoke billowed from the Zhiyuan a few minutes ago.

Amidst the thick smoke, Deng Shichang stood on the ruins of the damaged command tower, unafraid of the artillery shells, and recalled the scenes when he first joined the navy in order to serve his country.

The warmth of Tianjin Naval Academy;

Various conflicts within the Beiyang Fleet;

the conflict between the Fujianese gang and outsiders;

The conflict between the Chinese and the foreign teacher Lang Weili.

For a moment, these scenes appeared before Deng Shichang's eyes like a kaleidoscope.

Of course, the most important thing is that before leaving, Li Hongzhang asked him to preserve his strength and act like a coward.

Thinking of this, the national soul in Deng Shichang's heart could no longer tolerate this.

"I, Deng Shichang, am an upright Chinese. I am not here to be a coward!"

"Puleima, you damn ghost, ah, who scared you!"

Deng Shichang heard the sound of shells falling into the water and couldn't help but curse in Cantonese.

His eyes were fixed on the Ushakov, the ship at the end of the Russian formation.

"Charge, charge over there and fire torpedoes at close range."

"If the torpedo doesn't hit it, just ram it in the middle!"

Chapter 327 Divine Wind?

The Zhiyuan passed through the sea filled with smoke and suddenly appeared on the rear flank of the Russian formation.

It was not until then that Captain Andrei of the Ushakov discovered that the Zhiyuan was targeting him.

Looking at the Zhiyuan that was getting bigger and bigger in his sight, And Lulie was stunned: "Oh my God, what on earth do these Chinese people want to do?!"

It was not until the first mate shook his arm that Andre recovered from his daze and hurriedly gave orders.

"Fire, fire!"

"Quickly launch the torpedoes and sink them!"

Andre was panicked. Since he was born, he had only known about boarding battles from books and conversations with old people.

In his more than 30 years of naval career, he had never seen such a desperate way of fighting.

Andre couldn't believe that even in the era of ironclad battleships, he could still see a navy planning to use close-range boarding warfare in naval battles.

9.758745laoHanjiaoliu

"Does the Russian Navy think it's the Pirates of the Caribbean? How dare it attack in such a low-level way?"

"Full left rudder, full speed ahead, we must not be overtaken by the Chinese!"

Under the order of Captain Andrei, the Ushakov was forced to break away from the formation in order to escape the pursuit of the Zhiyuan.

As soon as it fell behind, it was quickly surrounded by the three speedboats Zhiyuan, Haiji and Naniwa.

...

"Sir Jeffrey, the Russian warship Ushakov is alone!"

The latest information came from outside the door. Upon hearing it, Jeffrey put the wooden boat symbolizing Russia in his hand back in place, pulled out three wooden boats from the Sino-Japanese joint fleet, and surrounded it.

The Sino-Japanese joint fleet seems to be about to achieve victory first.

However, all the officers present saw clearly that although the lone Russian warship nearby was surrounded, the large Russian fleet in the distance had already moved into position!

"The Chinese are too impatient. They want to seize the initiative, but they ignore the two most important fists of the Russians!"

The officers nodded and expressed their agreement with Captain Jeffrey's opinion.

The Chinese wanted to quickly destroy the Russians' manpower, but in doing so, they would also expose their own weaknesses.

The Sino-Japanese joint formation, which originally had some level of organization, was forced to expose its main formation to the Russian Navy because of the separation of these three warships.

5 Although the Russian warships are very slow and the 305mm cannons have a low firing rate, is there any ship in the Sino-Japanese joint fleet that can guarantee that it can withstand a single cannon shot and remain unharmed?

7. Does it have to be God’s blessing that the bullet won’t ricochet off the armor every time?

The British were right to worry, just as they agreed with Jeffrey.

On the surface battlefield, the Alexander II and Nicholas I, at the front of the Russian V-formation, finally intercepted the rear of the Japanese formation and launched artillery fire at the Saikyo Maru and Akagi.

"Commander Ito, the Akagi's engine has been damaged and can no longer move!"

Heihachiro Teratogo stood in the command tower of the Yoshino, anxiously reporting the current battle situation.

"How can we stop!!!"

At sea, being unable to move means becoming a sitting duck.

This also means that our formation has suffered combat power loss.

The Akagi has such a small tonnage, less than one thousand tons, that it doesn't even need to be bombarded by 305mm cannons. A 150mm medium-caliber shell can send all the soldiers on the ship to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish.

Thinking of this, Ito V Heng clenched his back teeth, his eyes were bloodshot, and he clenched his fists.

However, before he could give any orders, more bad news came.

"Commander, the Saikyo Maru's turret is damaged and it is no longer able to fight back!"

The damage to the main turret is better than the damage to the engine room, but only slightly better.

Without a main gun with a caliber of hundreds of millimeters, what can we use to fight against enemy ships?