Chapter 170: Beiyang Fleet Breaks Out

On the west side of Liugong Island Iron Pier, there are more than a dozen ships of the Beiyang Fleet parked. The command tower of the flagship Dingyuan is filled with senior generals of the fleet.

Navy Admiral Ding Ruchang was standing at the front, holding up the telegram in his hand, and said happily: "Everyone, I have received a telegram from the Central Hall, asking our Beiyang Fleet to wait for an opportunity to break out. Now the situation is becoming more and more difficult for us. Unfortunately, both the northern and southern forts have fallen into enemy hands, and the Japanese fleet is eyeing the harbor. Therefore, I feel that the sooner we break out, the better."

Ding Ruchang pointed to Dagukou on the sea map and continued: "We will retreat north to Dagukou. If we encounter most of the Japanese fleet at sea, we will fight to the death. Otherwise, the Japanese will pursue us all the way and there will be no possibility of withdrawal. "

Liu Buchan, the commander of the Dingyuan, echoed Ding Ruchang's words: "Since the support cannot arrive on time, breaking out of the encirclement can be regarded as a retreat. However, breaking out is also dangerous. If we are not careful, our entire army will be destroyed. The Japanese still don't understand our intentions." , Soldiers are valuable and quick, in my opinion, it is better to break through tonight. "

The fleet leaders were shocked at first, and then carefully considered Liu Buchan's words. It is true that our fleet is somewhat unprepared for a breakout tonight, but the Japanese are also ill-prepared, and the chance of a breakout will be greatly increased.

Ding Ruchang was born in the army and had always relied on Liu Buchan. When he heard what he said, and most of the people agreed, he couldn't help but make a decision in his heart.

"Get ready as soon as everyone gets down. Our Beiyang Fleet will break out at midnight tonight." Ding Ruchang breathed a sigh of relief. These days, his heart has been hanging high. Now that he has made a decision, no matter what the consequences, There is no possibility of changing it.

At midnight, when the moon was setting and it was dark, Japanese Fleet Commander Ito Yuhiro had already ordered the first guerrilla group Yoshino, Takachiho, Akitsusu, and Naniwa to monitor the movements of the Beiyang Fleet day and night.

Aboard the Naniwa, Captain Togo Hachihirō was sipping sake while playing Go with the first mate.

"Your Excellency is indeed very powerful. Before I even finished a few words, I was already unable to move forward." The first mate stared at the chessboard, frowning and thinking.

Togo Hachiro pointedly said with a smile: "I have cut off both your left and right sides. Now you only have a way to survive in the middle game. Unfortunately, you don't have many chess pieces, so you will end up defeated in the end."

The first mate suddenly dropped a word, just above the dragon's mouth, and suddenly solved the dragon's situation.

Togo Hachihirō's smile froze on his face, and he lowered his head to watch carefully with a solemn expression. However, it didn't take long before he laughed and said: "Even so, you are still in trouble. You will get more help when you get good, but you will get less when you get bad. Now the overall situation is in my favor. No matter how good you are, you can't beat the general trend."

Togo Hahirō made one move, and the first officer immediately lost everything.

At this time, in the observation room, the Japanese were scanning the sea with a searchlight. The two Japanese soldiers were doing their duty faithfully, following the light without blinking.

Suddenly, a large black fleet sailed into his eyes on the sea.

Beiyang Fleet!

The lookout exclaimed, the Beiyang Fleet had been huddled in the port, and only came out to cooperate with the army to defend the enemy when the Japanese attacked the south and north forts. At this time, it suddenly appeared here. The lookout thought the Beiyang Fleet wanted to make a sneak attack.

Woohoo…

The lookout immediately sounded the alarm, which immediately woke up Togo Heihachiro who was addicted to Go.

What happened? Dongxiang Huo stood up immediately. The alarm sounded indicating that an enemy was coming. Could it be that the Beiyang Fleet had already left the port.

Dongxiang and the first mate hurriedly came to the bridge of the Naniwa. At this time, the searchlights on the sea were like countless rays of lightning in the dark night, all shining on the Beiyang Fleet.

The Beiyang Fleet actually left the port. Dongxiang was overjoyed. He put down his telescope and shouted loudly: "Quick, give the order to your Excellency, the Commander, and we will surround them."

The Japanese ships continued to win at sea, but the Beiyang Fleet did not dare to fight, which made them more arrogant and more dismissive of the Beiyang Fleet. Therefore, Dongxiang saw that there were only four ships on his side, and he dared to surround them.

The captain of the Yoshino, Kaname Kaname, had already surrounded the ship without getting his orders. He had no choice but to signal to the other two Japanese ships and follow them.

On the Dingyuan, the leader Liu Buchan commanded the fleet to move forward slowly in a single column with a solemn face. The sea water was drawn into waves. When he encountered the first Japanese guerrillas, he no longer hid and gave an order. , the whole ship speeded up.

Soon after, Liu Buchan saw that the enemy ship was already within shooting range, and he ordered without hesitation: "Get ready to shoot!"

boom…

It turned out that Dongxiang couldn't wait to fire the bombs. The bombs fell around the Dingyuan. After they exploded, they stirred up tall water columns.

Liu Buchan's face did not change as he gave the order: "Fire the whole ship and break forward with all your strength. We must break out of the encirclement before the main force of the Japanese arrives."

Boom, boom.

The two sides were officially at war.

The artillery shells of the Beiyang Fleet also did not land on the Japanese ships. Only a few grazed the Naniwa and shocked Dongxiang. He did not expect that the Beiyang Fleet would be so desperate.

This is the first time for both sides to test fire, and only after calibration can they show their true skills.

"The impact point is 500 yards away!"

The observer immediately reported the information to Liu Buchan, and the sailors in the firing command room began to get busy. In less than 30 seconds, they calculated the new firing speed based on the impact point of the previous salvo and the speed of the warships of both sides, and conveyed these data to the gunners in each main turret gun as soon as possible.

"Turret No. 1 is ready."

"Turret No. 2 is ready."

…

"Everyone fire in 10 seconds!" Liu Buchan ordered expressionlessly.

Soon, the alarm of the turret began to sound. At this time, the front and rear decks of Dingyuan and the left and right corridors were empty, and the sailors closer to the main turret also covered their ears tightly.

The sound of the salvo of the huge cannon can be described as earth-shaking, and the shock wave and recoil generated by the shooting are also huge. If the ears are not covered, the sailors on Dingyuan may be half-deaf after a battle order.

Less than a second after Dingyuan fired, Zhenyuan next to it also fired, making a roar of huge cannons.

Eight shrapnel shells were fired at the Japanese ship Naniwa, which was in the front, with the hopes of all the officers and soldiers on the ship.

The sound of the shells breaking through the air was getting farther and farther away, and everyone was looking forward to the scene of the burst of fire.

The shells of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan did not disappoint the Beiyang Fleet, or it could be said that Togo's carelessness brought disaster to his fleet.

After a loud bang.

The exciting fire and smoke immediately filled the Naniwa.

"Ahem..."

The dusty Togo Heihachiro got up from the floor and looked at the first mate who had just entered the stove beside him. His command tower was not directly hit, but the pungent smell of gunpowder and burnt smell still filled the small space of the command tower.

"Put out the fire, report the damage. Go to the Chinese fleet at full speed, attack with torpedoes... attack with torpedoes, ahem..." Togo shouted to the officers beside him with difficulty, and a few short words made him swallow a few more mouthfuls of thick smoke.

Togo was very angry, and the consequences were serious.

The smoke exhaust device in the command tower of the Naniwa was operating rapidly, and the command system was also being restored. However, the decks and below decks of the battleship were full of sailors busy eliminating dangers and putting out fires.

The Beiyang Fleet must not be allowed to escape the encirclement. Seeing that the other ships of the First Guerrilla Team had already surrounded them, Togo could not help but feel proud.