I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 158: Rush forward and die together with the French army!
The entire Japanese fleet is in the waters near the northern coast of Hainan Island. It is now eight o'clock in the morning on January [-]th.

Yagyu glanced at his pocket watch and said to Sakamoto Ryoma and Enomoto Takehi: "At this time, Nakajima Nobuyuki has already set off with the transport fleet. In half a day at most, the French will know the news from the spies.

During this period, the transport fleet will deviate from the voyage, drop the cargo at the border between Vietnam and Guangxi, and replace it with explosives. The transport fleet will be the first bait.

The Vietnamese have set up spies at the port of Saigon. Once the combined fleet of the three countries sets off, they will come to deliver the message. It is a steamship we lent them. When we receive the news, the combined fleet is one to two ahead of us. Hours, but it’s not a big problem. They need some time to find our transport fleet. We only need to sail to the designated location to catch up. "

If there were not islands blocking the view in Hainan Island, Vietnam and Guangxi, the plan would be much simpler, but now it is a bit complicated.

This is a very rigid plan. Once an accident occurs, it cannot be controlled at all. It is very likely that the ambush will turn into an encounter or a head-on decisive battle.

But there is nothing that can be done. There is no wireless telegraphy, and there is no research on telephone technology. Even if Yagyu knows these technologies, he has no talent in his hands, and it is useless to have ideas.

Therefore, he could only designate a rigid plan and let Nakajima Nobuyuki act according to the planned time, and he also followed the plan and executed it meticulously.

As for the outcome, it all depends on God's will.

No plan in war is 100% certain. If you have a [-]% certainty, it can be implemented. If you have a [-]% certainty, victory is already in sight.

Now Yagyu is also betting. If the bet wins, Japan will stand up. If the bet loses, he will have no choice but to take his family and run away for refuge.

From eight o'clock in the morning until the sun rose high, Yagyu picked up his pocket watch and saw that it was almost one o'clock, and the smoke was still rising from the sentry tower on the shore hundreds of meters away.

Takehiro Enomoto said with some worry: "Will there be any problems with the ship delivering the message? How about we go directly to the scheduled battlefield?"

Yagyu said calmly: "Don't worry, we still have time."

At 01:30, black smoke billowed from the sentry tower on the coast. The observation sentry immediately shouted: "Wolf smoke!"

Everyone looked at the billowing black smoke on the coast, and their expressions instantly became excited. Yagyu waved his big hand and said: "Come out!"

"Oh!"

Takehiro Enomoto immediately took the boat and returned to his battleship. The Keio raised the sailing flag. When the ships saw the flag on the flagship, they started to start their steam engines.

"Woooooooo..."

The whistles of dozens of warships were like thunder, and the seagulls on the coast were frightened away. The warships broke through the waves and sailed towards the endless sea.

……

"Have you found the enemy fleet?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima asked the sentry on the mast nervously. Now he was worried that he was surrounded by enemy forces, and the Prime Minister's fleet had not arrived yet.

"not yet!"

The sentry looking around with his telescope bowed his head and responded loudly.

Nobuyuki Nakajima walked back and forth on the deck anxiously, and at the same time looked at his pocket watch, which read two forty.

He immediately raised his head and said: "Look carefully, the enemy fleet may be nearby!"

The sentry immediately continued to check the northern sea. In the sentry's sight, the horizon divided the world, and the sea and the blue sky met at the end of the sight.

However, a group of black mist was a bit uncongenial. He looked carefully and saw that the smoke column broke through the horizon, and then a black and ferocious bow appeared, and the French flag was fluttering in the wind!

"The enemy has appeared!"

The sentry lowered his head and shouted loudly and shrilly.

Nakajima Nobuyuki's expression turned ferocious in an instant. Regardless of his image, he took a deep breath and shouted: "Go at full speed! Hurry!"

In the cabin below, the second officer roared, urging the sailors to add coal to the boiler. The sails on the deck had also been raised, and the entire fleet was accelerating, reaching full speed!
On the French warship, the French captain had already seen the Japanese fleet in the distance. After all, the Hinomaru flag was very easy to recognize.

The French captain had a relaxed smile on his face and waved: "Tell the boys to speed up, there are boxes of francs ahead."

"As you command, Mr. Captain!"

The second officer immediately went to notify the sailors below.

This nearly [-]-ton ironclad ship directly reached full speed and accelerated to pursue the Japanese transport fleet.

The Dutch fleet and the Spanish fleet saw the French speeding up, and they also stepped up to keep up. The Dutch fleet of more than [-] ships, only a dozen could barely keep up, and the Spanish fleet only had five ships to keep up. There were originally more than [-] warships, and all of a sudden, Most of them are behind.

But the French didn't care. The battleship in their hands was enough to sweep the Japanese navy.

On the endless sea, a life-and-death chase has begun, and the gap between the transport fleet and the combined fleet is gradually shortening.

On the French battleship, the first mate suggested: "General, just bombard them."

The French captain shook his head and said: "That's not possible, it's all my money. Don't worry, we can surround this transport fleet in up to an hour."

This is the strength of the French army, and this strength is enough for them to be so proud.

Just as the French captain predicted, within half an hour, the transport fleet was overtaken by the French warship. However, it did not fire its guns, but moved forward at full speed. After 10 minutes, it circled to the front, and a cannon fired in the nearby sea. , and there was a flag warning the transport fleet to stop.

Nobuyuki Nakajima gritted his teeth and immediately ordered the fleet to slow down.

The French captain took a look and said with a smile: "Look, it's that simple."

As the transport fleet slowed down, the combined fleet also slowed down and surrounded the transport fleet.

Nobuyuki Nakajima took a closer look and said secretly: "The combined fleet has lost its formation. As long as the naval fleet arrives, the raid will be successful."

I don't know if his prayers took effect or if he was just lucky, something strange happened to the peripheral combined fleet.

On the French warship, the sentry shouted: "There is a fleet in the south, the Japanese!"

The first mate heard this and exclaimed: "This is a trap!"

The French captain looked at the transport fleet in the middle and felt bad. He immediately ordered: "Destroy these transport ships and keep the distance immediately. Quick!"

When Nobuyuki Nakajima saw the French warship adjusting its cannon, he immediately shouted: "Go ahead at full speed, target the French warship, mount it!"

"Boom boom boom..."

French warships fired dozens of cannon salvos, hitting several transport ships.

"Boom boom boom!"

Several transport ships exploded directly and turned into a big fireball on the sea. People on the nearby transport ships were directly overturned by the air waves, but the Japanese on board were still shouting, and the transport ships accelerated and rushed straight towards the French army. warship.

The Dutch fleet and the Spanish fleet also opened fire. In just one round of shelling, twenty of the remaining twenty transport ships were sunk.

Nobuyuki Nakajima grabbed the mast tightly and shouted: "Don't be afraid, for Japan, move forward, keep moving forward!" The remaining transport ships had already reached full speed and rushed directly towards the French warships.

"Boom boom boom..."

There was another round of shelling, and two more of the remaining steamships were blown up, but the steamship on which Nakajima Nobuyuki was riding had already rushed nearby.

Nobuyuki Nakajima had already jumped onto the boat with his people and tried his best to escape. The steamer was directly loaded onto the French warship. The gunpowder in the front exploded directly, the heavy armor was also blown open, and more than twenty artillery pieces were damaged. , dozens of sailors were injured or killed, the power room was damaged, and the speed of the French warship was greatly reduced.

However, the people on the French warship breathed a sigh of relief, as long as the warship was not sunk.

"The enemy fleet is coming, only two nautical miles left!"

The captain shouted: "Get ready to engage the enemy!"

On the Keio in the distance, Ryoma Sakamoto saw the damaged French warship and shouted: "Success!"

Yagyu also breathed a sigh of relief and shouted: "Assault, rush over!"

All the warships accelerated their speed, completely giving the combined fleet no chance to organize their formation. More than fifty warships approached in a horizontal formation. Keio and Koshi brought ten steam warships of more than [-] tons to besiege the French warships, and the remaining The steam warships concentrated their fire to attack the Spanish fleet.

"Boom boom boom..."

Hundreds of artillery pieces fired at each other, the fire roaring and making people's ears ring.

Yagyu stood on the deck, just holding on to the railing, watching a cannonball fall into the sea in front of him, causing a column of water to hit, and the sea water directly wet half of his body.

And Sakamoto Ryoma was shouting passionately: "Fire!"

"Boom boom boom!"

More than a dozen shells flew towards the French warship, and two of them hit the French warship's armor, but did not break the defense.

Ryoma Sakamoto immediately shouted: "Turn around, let's attack the place where it was bombed!"

"Boom boom boom..."

The French opened fire.

"boom!"

The first mate immediately shouted: "The Tsurumaru has been hit!"

Yagyu looked back and saw that black smoke was rising from the hull of a steamship following behind, and its speed had slowed down.

"Don't be afraid, keep charging and kill the French army. We will win this battle!"

"Keep going!"

The Qingying continued to move forward and went around to the left side of the French warship, where a hole was blown by the transport ship at the water level.

Sakamoto Ryoma saw the hole and immediately shouted: "Aim there and shoot!"

The French captain also reacted and immediately shouted: "Sink them!"

"Boom boom boom!"

At such a distance that was almost as close as a bayonet, the French warships had an absolute advantage. Three of the eleven Japanese warships were directly sunk and four were damaged.

Even the Keio flagship was hit by a shell that penetrated the hull, luckily at the water level.

However, the shelling of eleven Japanese warships also hit the French warship, and several shells hit the gap, causing increased damage inside.

Yagyu wiped off the blood on his face, looked at Ryoma Sakamoto aside, and shouted: "This won't work. Rushing up and detonating it is our only chance!"

Sakamoto Ryoma gritted his teeth and said: "Prime Minister, please leave first, I will lead people to blow it up and sink it!"

Yagyu was a little hesitant. Japan lacked naval talents. The naval school had only been established for two years and it was not enough.

At this moment, the first mate shouted: "Look, the Shikamaru is rushing up!"

Seeing the damage to the flagship, the captain of the Shikamaru was worried about the safety of Prime Minister Yagyu. He gritted his teeth and ordered: "Gentlemen, for the sake of Japan and Prime Minister Yagyu, we must sink the enemy!"

"Shikamaru, target French warship, charge!"

"Woooooo!"

The Shikamaru, which was moving at full speed, crashed into the French warship in the blink of an eye, and then exploded!
"boom!"

The French warship could not withstand the huge internal damage, the rear part of the hull cracked, and the entire warship began to sink.

"Shikamaru!"

The few remaining steam warships all saw the Shikamaru who died heroically, and couldn't help but burst into tears and shouted loudly.

But the naval battle was not over yet, and the remaining naval warships were still fighting against Dutch and Spanish warships.

However, the Spanish fleet that was under fire had already sunk two ships and seriously damaged three ships. The Dutch fleet of more than ten ships had also sunk three ships and seriously damaged four ships.

The French warships were killed, but the Dutch still dared to fight again, so they broke through and fled directly.

Yagyu had already transferred to the Koshi. He looked at the captured French captain and a large number of sailors from France, Spain and the Netherlands. He raised his hands and shouted: "We have won, long live!"

"Long live!"

"we won!"

"Uuuuuuuuah, we have preserved the dignity of the country!"

All the sailors hugged their comrades and cried with excitement!

They won and defeated the Western powers. Although they lost more than half of their warships and many of their colleagues died at sea, these sacrifices were worth it. From now on, they are no longer that backward country!

Some seriously injured soldiers heard the cheers of victory, closed their eyes in relief, and stopped breathing.

Yagyu looked around at everyone and said loudly: "Everyone, in this battle, we have maintained the dignity of the country. From this day on, we are no longer wild dogs with our heads down. We can stand up and be human beings!"

"We're on our feet!"

"Japan will never be bullied again!"

"Long live the Prime Minister!"

(End of this chapter)