Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 54 The South China Sea War (3)
On the other side, the "Dour" and other gunboats always kept a distance of more than 1000 meters from the Qing warships.In Billy's mind, this should be a complete victory.Injury to any ship on your side is an insult to yourself!At a distance of less than 1000 meters, although the main guns of the Qing army were aimed at "Tour"

Big monsters such as "Elegance" and "Victory" have no effect, but they still pose a certain threat to some small gunboats such as "Sony" and "Sign", and may cause fatal injuries.So Billy kept changing his formation and didn't let the Qing army's gunboat approach him.He also made certain achievements, sank 3 Qing army gunboats and seriously injured 2 ships during the wandering.But "Elegance" in the distance seems to be in trouble, and that is the iron-clad ship he relies on the most!
But when he found out and sent two cruisers to rescue.It seemed that it was already too late... Toure was in the observation cabin, staring in horror, watching the "Evergreen" slamming towards him fiercely, but there was nothing he could do.The gunner, who was going to the bow to control the main gun, saw the Qing army gunboat slammed into him in a daze.Where are you going to load any shells? They have already rushed to the stern of the ship.

The French soldiers who were rushing to fill in the loopholes at the bow of the ship also withdrew from the bow of the ship that was about to hit.

At this time, Toure could no longer control the soldiers who were trying to survive, and the entire ship was in chaos.The ammunition box that had just been moved onto the deck was detonated by a "evergreen" shell, forming a beautiful festive firework on the deck, killing a French second lieutenant and injuring ten sailors.

Finally, after a violent impact sound. The "elegant" bow has been buried in the sea, and a terrifying big hole is exposed in the entire front cabin.Xu Shunchang fainted on the deck in the violent concussion. At this time, the "Wan Nianqing" was riddled with holes, and the stern of the ship was on fire and had already sunk.

After another violent impact, the bow of the ship has been completely destroyed.

But the "Elegance" is still standing at sea.Although the severe water ingress caused the bow to sink a little, but the displacement of 6000 tons made this behemoth still stand on the sea, and Toure responded quickly.

"Quick, close all the gates in the front cabin. Prevent the water from spreading."

The design of the "Elegance" took into account the situation that a certain part was pierced, so there is a sealed isolation system at each link.Once a certain place is penetrated into the water, as long as the link of the gate is not broken, the second gate can be quickly closed.No danger of wrecking!Unless the front, middle and back are all pierced.This is also the main reason why more than a dozen warships in the East China Sea did not sink it!

Xu Changshun's "Wannianqing" is like a dying person covered in rotten sores, slowly sinking, and the huge sinking hole makes it impossible for "Ya" to evacuate quickly.The two warships leaned together like this, and a wave woke up Xu Changshun who was in a coma.

He stood up, the water was up to his knees.The deck under his feet was still slowly sinking. He raised his eyes to look at "Ya" and saw that the heavy bow was turning hard. It seemed that "Ya" who was seriously injured was still not in danger of sinking!

He quickly ran to the bow, hoping to board the opponent's ship where the two ships connected.His legs couldn't take a step in the sea water at all, and he tripped over some Qing army corpses, ammunition, and other debris from time to time.It was another headlong fall, and Xu Changshun, who took a mouthful of seawater, saw that "Elegance" had slowly left contact with the sinking "Wannianqing".Just about to turn to the northwest, he tried his best to support his body.He touched something wrapped in an oilcloth by his hand, and he excitedly lifted it up and opened the oilcloth.Sure enough, it was a main artillery bomb, tightly wrapped in oilcloth.There wasn't even a little water in, and there was an excited expression on his face.But Toure, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, never imagined that his nightmare had already arrived.

Xu Changshun came to the bow of the ship with the bomb in his arms, jumped towards the tattered bow of the "Elegance", and miraculously boarded the "Elegance".It's a pity that none of the French soldiers who had left the bow of the ship found Xu Changshun.

The bow of the "Elegance" has also been buried in the sea, and there is no flame that can detonate a bomb.Xu Changshun was already exhausted at this time, holding the 20kg shell but without the tool to detonate it, all the anxiety in his heart was exposed on his face.Another shell hit "Elegance"

On the hull of the USS, it was issued by "Haidongyun".

On the deck of the "Elegance", gorgeous fireworks were once again fired, and the French flag was also burned by the bombing.Xu Changshun was so happy, he ran towards the place where the fire was the biggest.But as soon as he approached there, he was discovered by a French machine gunner, and the French army looked at the yellow-skinned Chinese in surprise.Did he fall from the sky?How could it be on the "Elegance"?Just when he was in a daze, Xu Changshun rushed forward and used the 20 kg shell to make intimate contact with the 2 catties head of the French soldier.Immediately, red and white sprayed Xu Changshun's face, and he himself collapsed on the deck, and the shells rolled out slowly.It fell into a bombed crater, which happened to bury the unexploded shell.

Xu Changshun took the cannon from the hand of the dead French soldier, and aimed at the cannonball.It's a pity that he was born in the navy because of the short distance of ten meters, and a few shells hit the surrounding decks, and the shells missed.Under the bombardment of the deck by machine guns, the crater became deeper and deeper, and the shells were buried deeper and deeper.

Damn it, the shitty shells can't hit it yet.Xu Changshun climbed up with the last of his strength, walked to the crater, and pointed the machine gun at the shell.Slowly pulled the trigger!
There was an earth-shattering loud noise, and the French officers and soldiers on the "Elegance" thought they had been shot again. General Billy on the "Dour" thought it was the ammunition magazine on the "Elegance" that blew up.

And this explosion completely sent "Elegance" to hell.This 6000-ton ironclad ship sank into the South China Sea together with 342 French officers and a Dashimizu Isao-Xu Changshun!Toure didn't know what happened until he died?What kind of cannonball can be so powerful that it blows "Elegance" into two pieces!

Four hours have passed, and it is already 4:4 in the afternoon.The 12 gunboats of the Qing army were finally sunk... The calm on the sea was restored, but the main ironclad ship of the French army was sunk in chaos!

Although the casualty ratio was 1:9, Billy was not happy.Everyone knows what gunboat Daqing lost, and what warship he lost!This is definitely not the value reflected in the numbers.

Billy looked at the sea silently, and raised a standard military salute to the sinking "Elegance".They are brave soldiers of the Republic!For the sacrifice of his friend Toure, Billy felt the sting deeply, and his hatred for the Qing army added a lot of weight!It's a pity that this is not over yet. A communication soldier behind him quickly ran over and said to Billy: "General, there is a fleet flying the Qinglong flag in the northwest direction and is heading here at full speed."

"What? The Qing army still has a fleet? This is impossible!" Billy picked up the telescope and looked northwest. "Guin" two French ironclad ships captured during the East China Sea battle!

Billy looked at the direction of the Chinese fleet in shock. How could this be possible? In just four hours, could it be that the Qing army had already wiped out Fair's fleet? ?Those are two ironclad ships, four cruisers, eight gunboats, and four torpedo ships!This is impossible!Billy couldn't believe that in just a few hours, his fleet lost two-thirds of its combat power.

Billy was right in guessing that Fair's fleet hadn't been wiped out.However, because its flagship "Lang Mu" was built in the 60s of France, its speed was only knots, which slowed down the speed of the entire French fleet, and was soon overtaken by the Qing army.

Under the heavy artillery of the four ironclad ships "Changsheng", "Unbeaten", "Triumph" and "Juyin", although "Lang Mu" was struggling to support, she still could not withstand the baptism of artillery fire, and her soul returned to the sea. The French fleet of the "Lang Mu" has only a group of light-tonnage small ships such as cruisers and gunboats left.

After persisting for more than 3 hours, they all fled to the Honghe Military Port in Vietnam.Lost 1 cruiser, 3 gunboats, and all 4 torpedo ships and the ironclad "Lang Mu".

The two newly launched gunboats "Nanrui" and "Nanchen" were also missing from the Qing army's side, and the other ships were also full of gunpowder.It can be imagined that the battle at that time was no easier than here!
In fact, at this time, the strength of the Chinese and French fleets is still about the same, if the frontal French army does not withdraw hastily.The French ironclad ship also has "victory"

And the "Esso" that fled back to Vietnam, and the large cruisers "Dour", "Parry", "La Pelous", and the three ships that fled back to Vietnam.

Although the Daqingshui Division had four ironclad ships, "Invincible" and "Juyin" were hit by several torpedoes from the French army, and there were already leaks.In terms of cruisers, there are only four "Chaoyong", "Yang Wei", "Nanji", and "Nanxiang", which are two fewer than the French army, and the rest of the gunboats have the same number.

The Qing army was not dominant, but now it is very different.The cowardly Fell led the "Esso" and other cruisers and fled back to Vietnam, leaving the ambush "Dour" alone.

Another big battle has begun...

(End of this chapter)