The Republic of Heroes

The nine cannons of the Wusong Fort launched a salvo without warning. Although the first salvo was more for calibration purposes, one of the eight-inch cannon shells landed on the side of the winged ship Miao Gao. On the ground, the violent explosion stirred up a water column more than [-] meters high.A large amount of river water was splashed onto the deck of the Myoko, which drenched the Japanese navy sailors.But what shocked the Japanese sailors more than this eight-inch shell was that the Chinese opened fire on them.

The captain of the armored cruiser Izumo, Shozo Matsuno, was furious, "The Chinese who are overconfident, they will pay for their stupidity!"

The firing of artillery by the Chinese fort defenders was tantamount to a resounding slap in the face to his previous assertion that Wusong Fort did not dare to fire.This made him feel embarrassed, especially in front of the always conservative fleet commander Nomura Yoshizaburo.

The timing of the Wusong Fort's firing was quite perfect. The Izumo had just completed the first turn of the "S" maneuver, and the entire port side was exposed in front of the Wusong Fortress's fortress like a prostitute with an open heart.In this way, the Wusong Fort has a higher hit rate, while the Izumo and Myoko are in an embarrassing situation of a dilemma.

If Matsuno Shōzo wanted to fire back, he had to slow down his speed or simply stand still on the river to hit the extremely small fort. But if this was the case, the two warships would be too close to the fort and they would become live targets for Chinese cannons.Accelerating and turning away to complete the entire "S" maneuver is tantamount to giving up fighting back before re-entering the battle formation, allowing the Wusong Fort to fire without any power to fight back, and there are countless unpredictable accidents during this period.

At this moment, Matsuno Shozo deeply realized the disadvantage of using warships to fortress fortresses, but the unique pride of the Imperial Navy quickly made him get rid of the dilemma in his heart.In an instant he made up his mind.

"The Izumo and Myoko maneuvered at full speed, and launched an attack on the China Fort after re-entering the combat position." He decided to take the risk of receiving the fire from the China Fort before completing the maneuver, and after driving the Izumo and Myoko to a suitable position, Make a devastating retaliation strike on the China Fort.

Lieutenant General Nomura Yoshisanlang, Commander of the Third Fleet, was very satisfied with Matsuno Shozo's order.Lieutenant Matsuno's decision coincided with his decision. Although the previous actions of underestimating the enemy put the Izumo and Myoko fleets in danger of being unable to fight back, he was able to make the most suitable choice after weighing the interests and interests in the face of danger. Very commendable.As long as they stay away from the fort and re-enter the combat position, the initiative on the battlefield will be changed in an instant. As one of the most outstanding naval commanders in the Empire, Nomura still has this confidence.

However, the second round of salvo from the Wusong Fort knocked out cracks in Nomura Yoshisaburo's rock-solid self-confidence.One of the eight-inch gun shells hit the midship deck of the Myoko. What's more terrible is that the shell did not explode on the deck, but penetrated the deck and exploded inside the warship. The violent explosion severely damaged the engine room of the Myoko. The speed of the two ships immediately dropped from 30 knots to 18 knots. Thick black smoke billowed out from the inside of the Miaoko, and the scene was very terrifying.

Yoshisaburo Nomura's heart seemed to have been hit by a sledgehammer, and he felt wobbly and unsteady when he stood up. He didn't stand still until he held on to the special handrails in the bridge.The Myoko heavy cruiser is a treaty-type warship that entered service at the beginning of this year. It far surpasses its current flagship, the Izumo, in terms of performance and combat power.Losing power in front of a powerful battery is tantamount to a death sentence.

Fanatical cheers erupted from the fort bunker of the Wusong Fortress. No one expected that the second round of salvo would be able to severely damage the Japanese ship. Their luck was not ordinary.The morale of the artillerymen was like a rainbow. They had long wanted to have a quick fight with those little devil warships showing off their might with their eight-inch and four-inch guns.Now that they have won the battle, their morale has naturally risen to a higher level.

Although Yu Sanhe led the troops on land, they were daring to fight and fight, but they knew nothing about the navy.In the Shandong officer training class, the instructors repeatedly warned all the students that the commanders are most taboo to pretend to understand, and laymen command experts, so until now, Te still subconsciously follow the instructor's requirements.

Suddenly someone pointed at the sea and shouted: "Look, that warship is going to escape! Hit him!"

At this time, the commander of Yu Sanhe's South Fort was the artillery captain who had advised him not to act rashly just now, and he seemed to be a different person after he entered the fighting state.

"All artillery positions obey the order, abandon the Myoko, and attack the Izumo with all our strength."

The speed of the heavy cruiser Miaoko has been adjusted from 18 knots to 5 knots, which is almost equivalent to paralysis, so it has become a meat on the plate, and it will not be able to run sooner or later.At this time, the most sensible choice in order to expand the results of the battle is naturally to attack the flagship Izumo that is about to escape.

Yu Sanhe saw that the Miaoko had almost stopped moving through the telescope, and the bow turret suddenly turned, pointing at the turret where everyone was, and almost at the same time, the muzzle spewed out dazzling yellow flames.Suddenly, he only felt a deafening explosion sounded in his ears, and the whole ground seemed to be trembling in the distance. Concrete residues fell from the top of the bunker, and his feet were so itchy from the shock.

Only then did everyone realize that the Japanese ship that was hit and almost lost power fired at the fort, and hit the first round with great luck.

It turned out that the Japanese ship Myoko was hit and the engine room was severely damaged. The captain felt that there was no hope of escape, so he stopped completely and prepared to shoot at the Wusong Fort, trying to destroy the long-range cannon in the fort to cover the flagship Izumo and escape as soon as possible. Fortress firepower, re-enter the combat position, and then give Wusong Fort a merciless bombardment.

The idea is good, but it is a pity that the Chinese defenders on the fort seem to have looked down on the crippled Myoko, which has lost power, and are still chasing the flagship Izumo.

This made the captain of the Izumo, Matsuno Shozo, very embarrassed. Although he decided to withstand the artillery fire started by the Chinese and stay away from the shore of Wusong as soon as possible, the shock of the nine heavy artillery salvos made him hold on to the Izumo tightly. A cold sweat.At such a short distance, as long as an [-]-inch artillery shell hits, the Izumo must also be unable to escape the fate of the Myoko.

Fortunately for Matsuno, the three rounds of salvo fired by the Shina Fort were all missed without a single hit. On the contrary, the Myoko, which was desperate and desperate, hit an eight-inch gun position on the North Fort in succession, causing considerable damage. , the eight-inch gun had not fired since the last hit.