Kowloon wins

Chapter 1113 Opening Battle ([-])

On August [-]th of the second year of Renhe, at noon, the huge joint fleet was sailing at high speed twenty nautical miles southwest of Kouzi Island, approaching the Osumi Strait at a very fast speed. According to the schedule, it would enter the Osumi Strait at sunset At the Yakushima waters at the entrance, it was no problem to enter the Tomoshima Strait on the night of the [-]th. Everything went smoothly. As the liaison officer, Yamamura Hisatake was in a good mood. Once he finished contacting the flagship Bravery, he was impatient to One of the last two pigeons was released, and the news was sent to Ichiro Shimazu, the master of the Satsuma domain in Kagoshima, that all was well.

"report!"

At a quarter of noon, Edward Vernon was deducing tactics in the war room as usual, and he was lost in thought, but he heard a password sounded outside the door.

"Come in."

It was loud, and Edward Vernon responded without raising his head.

"Report to the general, a Qing warship was found ten nautical miles to the northwest, please tell your Excellency the general!"

When the door opened, an officer on duty rushed into the cabin in a hurry, gave a standard military salute to Edward Vernon, and hurriedly made a report.

"Oh? Take a look!"

Hearing that the Great Qing battleship was discovered, Edward Vernon frowned. He didn't dare to be careless. He dropped the pencil in his hand, grabbed the binoculars placed on the corner of the desk, and walked out quickly. War room, rushed to the front deck...

"Send a report to General Wang and find the main force of the Xiyi Combined Fleet. The location is: 130 east longitude, 28 north latitude. There are a total of 30 large and small battleships, including 30 battleships of various types, 49 medium-sized battleships, and 27 cruisers. There is also a Japanese merchant ship, our ship has caught the enemy, please tell the general!"

Although the distance of ten nautical miles is not too short, but on such a sunny day, on the unobstructed sea, the soldiers of both sides can easily see each other, just as Edward Vernon hurried to the front deck Just in time, Lieutenant Colonel Su Ke, the captain of the Qing Army standing on the front deck of the "Shunfeng", was already excitedly giving instructions to the orderly who followed him.

"Yes!"

When Su Ke issued such an order, the orderly who was waiting on the side did not dare to delay, and rushed to the telegraph room on the ship. With the sound of ticking keys, a series of passwords were broadcasted. .

"Report to the general, the 'Shunfeng' has sent an urgent call, and the enemy's main fleet has been found."

Thirty nautical miles northwest of Kouzi Island, the main force of the Bohai Fleet of the Qing Army was sailing towards Kouzi Island with half sail. The speed was not very fast, but the formation was maintained extremely neatly. On the front deck, Wang Yanxia in neat military uniform stood awe-inspiringly, gazing at the end of the sea with his brows slightly wrinkled, and was meditating when he saw a herald rushing out of the cabin, rushing to Wang Yanxia's side, Immediately after that, there was a military salute, and he said loudly.

"Huh? Good! Pass the general's order. The whole fleet will speed up with full sail and head towards Kouzi Island. Order the 'Shunfeng' to closely monitor the enemy fleet and report any abnormalities immediately. Then, send a report to the capital and say that our fleet The enemy has been found, and it is expected to encounter the enemy in about an hour!"

Wang Yanxia and the main force of the Bohai Fleet have been cruising on the nearby ocean for more than a day, waiting for the arrival of the United Fleet of the Five Nations. After reading the telegram in the hands of the herald, he quickly gave a series of orders.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing Wang Yanxia's order, the herald who came to report did not dare to delay at all, so he hurriedly responded, and hastily issued the order to various places. With the ticking sound of the telegraph, one The telegram has just crossed the ocean and flew to the capital.

"Qizou Your Majesty, He Tao and Director He are asking to see you at the gate of the palace."

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Hong Qing was sitting behind the dragon case, holding a booklet in her hand, as if she was perusing the content carefully, but she didn’t turn the previous page for a long time, obviously her mind was not on the booklet itself, she was just wandering off , but saw Li Dequan hurried in from the outside, rushed to the front of the dragon case, and reported a word in a small way.

"Xuan!"

The reason why Hong Qing lost her mind was that what she was waiting for was He Tao's arrival. Hearing that he had arrived, her spirits were lifted immediately, and she threw the booklet in her hand on the dragon case, and hurriedly said .

"twitter!"

After Hongqing opened his golden mouth, Li Dequan dared not delay for a moment, he hurriedly responded, and hurriedly exited the hall, and after a short while, he came in from the outside with He Tao who was sweating profusely.

"My humble servant greets His Majesty!"

As soon as he saw Hong Qing who was sitting high above him, He Tao didn't dare to be rude in the slightest, so he rushed to the front of the imperial court in a hurry, paying homage with a big gift in a hurry.

"No, is there any news ahead?"

Hong Qing was obviously very impatient, and before He Tao had exhausted his etiquette, he asked a question impatiently.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I just received a call from General Wang, saying that he has discovered the main force of the Xiyi United Fleet and is expected to encounter the enemy at around the last three quarters. The existing telegram is here. Your Majesty, please have a look."

Hearing Hong Qing's urgent question, He Tao didn't dare to delay at all. While shaking his hands, he took out a telegram from his wide sleeve and hurriedly explained.

"Hand it up."

Hong Qing was really in a hurry, nothing else, it was just because it was the first naval battle that was related to the fate of the country, although even if it was lost, it might not necessarily make the Qing Dynasty slump, but it was inevitable that the vitality would be greatly injured. If this is the case, all the arrangements arranged earlier will have to be readjusted. Without ten years of preparation time, it may be difficult to go abroad again, and this is obviously not a situation that Hong Qing likes to see.

"twitter!"

Hearing Hongqing's order, Li Dequan didn't dare to delay, hurriedly ran down the front door, took the telegram held by He Tao, and carefully forwarded it to Hongqing.

"Well..., immediately send a telegram to Wang Yanxia to inform the soldiers of the three armies that I will pray for the soldiers of the whole army in Beijing. I hope that the iron-blooded man of the Qing Dynasty will wipe out Xiyi and promote the power of our country!"

The telegram was very short, only one line of words, but Hong Qing read it for a long time before deciding on her tone and making a statement.

"Yes, Wei Chen obeys the order."

After Hongqing's golden mouth was opened, He Tao didn't dare to be negligent, and hurriedly and respectfully agreed, and then left the hall, turned back to the Overseas Intelligence Bureau by himself, and sent Hongqing's will to the fleet ahead without mentioning it...

"Order: The 'Qingwei' and 'Desheng' ships attack to drive that Qing battleship away!"

There are two flowers blooming, one for each branch. Not to mention that the Qing army is galloping towards Kouzi Island at high speed, but Edward Vernon is standing on the front deck of the "Brave", observing the "Tailwind" with a telescope. For a long time, after seeing the "Shunfeng" approaching from the flanks to a distance of about four nautical miles from our own side, it did not move forward, and did not see the Qing warship sending out semaphores to communicate, but followed the Our own fleets lined up side by side, clearly showing the posture of surveillance. Edward Vernon frowned, vaguely feeling that things might have deviated from the predetermined plan, but he couldn't figure out where the problem would lie. Distraught, he inevitably had the idea of ​​withdrawing the army. However, withdrawing the army without firing a single shot was obviously unacceptable. It was precisely because of such thoughts that Edward Vernon decided to investigate first. Make a decision on the bottom of the army.

"Yes! The general has an order: the two ships 'Qiangwei' and 'Desheng' will attack and drive away the Qing people!"

Edward Vernon's general ordered, and the orderly who followed him loudly conveyed the order to the bannermen on the tall mast. With the bannermen waving the two small flags in their hands, the "Rose" in the series of the Great British Fleet ' and 'Victory', the two cruisers began to turn to the northwest, and rushed towards the "Shunfeng" in a diagonal stab.

"Report to the captain, two enemy warships are rushing towards our ship!"

The enemy was at hand, and the lookout post on the tall mast of the "Shunfeng" dared not relax in the slightest. Just as the two British warships rushed out of the formation, the lookout post had already seen them clearly, so they dared not be careless. , and hurriedly shouted.

"It's just in time, the artillery positions on the port side are ready to meet the enemy!"

Su Kedang became excited when the lookout sentry made such a rant, and took a look at the two British warships with a binoculars. The fighting spirit in his heart was already burning wildly, and he didn't care that the main force of the enemy fleet was nearby. , roared and issued the order to prepare for war.

"As a flag, let the Qing warships leave this place, otherwise, our army will deal with it decisively."

On the "Rose", Lieutenant Colonel Cook Bosnia, the captain, held a binoculars and watched the movement of the "Shunfeng". Then he gave an order.

"Captain, Xiyi has called the flag, let my ship leave!"

The semaphore soldiers on the "Rose" waved two small flags for a while, and the Qing army semaphore soldiers on the "Shunfeng" immediately understood what the other party meant, and hurriedly roared.

"Leave? Hey, ignore him, order, open the port port gun windows, all guns are in position, ready to engage the enemy!"

Su Ke wanted to fire the first shot of the battle, so she ignored the warnings from the Britons. After giving an order, the two rows of port port portholes that were originally tightly closed were pushed open, and the twelve cannons fired at the same time. Position, the muzzle of the black hole slantedly aimed at the two galloping Great Britain warships.

"Damn it, lower the sails, turn left, prepare for battle, prepare for battle!"

As soon as the gun port of the "Shunfeng" bounced open, Lieutenant Colonel Cook Bosnia immediately realized that something was wrong, and immediately became anxious. There was nothing else. At this moment, the bows of the two British warships were facing the "Shunfeng ", if you charge forward, you will be looking for a dead end, and you dare not hesitate a little, so you hurriedly shouted...

(End of this chapter)