Four hours, not to make a mistake? Xiao Mingliang glared at him angrily, "In four hours, a naval battle has been fought, and you are not mistaken?" After a pause, he continued: "The principal has repeatedly emphasized the importance of pre-war reconnaissance and battlefield communications. ”

Listening to the need to write and check, Tang Zao Sheng made a bitter face, he knew that it was useless to explain the lack of manpower, so he had to say in a muffled voice: "Yes." ”

Xiao Mingliang no longer paid attention to him, turned his head and ordered: "Go and take Zaizhao and Guo Zhongmou.... There is also Staff Officer Yi invited. ”

After the three of them entered the official hall, Xiao Mingliang said slowly: "Maputo has just received news that the British fleet stationed in Maputo left the port in two ways, one sail warship out of Maputo Bay to the south, it should be back to Cape Town, and the other way is the ironclad ship leaving the bay and heading north, obviously coming to Inhambane, it seems that the British army is aware that the battle in Maputo Bay is not good for them, so they want to transfer the battlefield to the Mozambique Channel." ”

After a slight groan, Zai Zhao said in a deep voice: "Could the British have guessed that our ironclad ships are equipped with torpedoes?" ”

"It's possible." Xiao Mingliang muttered: "Torpedoes have been invented in Europe as early as a few years ago, but they lack actual combat value and cannot be effectively oriented, and the weapons suitable for naval warfare are not only artillery, that is, torpedoes, tow mines, rod mines, etc., once the British army is suspicious, it is not difficult to guess." ”

Guo Zhongmu said slowly: "If the battlefield is in the Mozambique Strait, where the wind and waves are strong and the sea currents are strong, our submarines are afraid that they will not be able to participate in the war." ”

"It's not just submarines, electric torpedoes aren't useful." Xiao Mingliang said: "However, just the flywheel torpedo is enough for us to be invincible, but if the British army is suspicious, I am afraid it will be a little difficult for us to achieve more brilliant results." ”

Zaizhao said slowly: "Why are we being led by the nose by the British? Since the British have abandoned Maputo, we can go directly to Maputo as originally planned, and force the British to fight us in Maputo Bay. ”

"I'm for it." Guo Zhongmou was the first to say: "We can advance by land and sea to recapture Maputo in one fell swoop, and the British army is forced to return to Maputo." ”

Yi Zhengxing listened to the discussion of several people without saying a word, he knew very well in his heart that he could attend a meeting at this level only because of his identity, if he opened his mouth indiscriminately and expressed his opinions without authorization, it might embarrass several people, and even affect his impression in the hearts of several people, of course, he not only listened, but also remembered, when he returned to Shanghai, the old man would definitely ask.

"Maputo is the entrance to the sea in the Transvaal, and it is really impossible for the British army to give up." Xiao Mingliang said unhurriedly: "However, let's recapture Maputo, it seems that we have the initiative, but in fact it is the home-guest transposition, the British fleet is coming, once the war is unfavorable, you can retreat calmly, the speed of our warships is comparable to that of British ships, if the British ships want to escape, we can't catch up with ........" ”

This is the truth, the British fleet wants to escape, they can't catch up at all, which means that it is difficult to achieve a big victory, just a small victory exposed the torpedo as a weapon of naval warfare, several people here are quite unwilling, Zai Zhao smiled: "I can't see that the British army took the initiative to evacuate Maputo is actually quite clever." ”

"It is indeed clever, if they hold Maputo, the British fleet will be much more passive, and if they take the initiative to evacuate, they can advance and retreat freely, and they will withdraw the sail warships to Cape Town, which should also be to avoid worries." Xiao Mingliang said slowly: "It can be seen that the commander of the British expeditionary fleet, He Bu, is very cautious, if we want to win a big victory, we must follow his wishes and fight the British fleet in the Mozambique Channel!" ”

After a pause, he continued: "The reason why we want to hit the British naval fleet in this battle is not to covet war achievements, nor to increase orders for ironclad ships, but to establish our country's status as a world military power by severely damaging the British Navy.

The great gold mines of the Transvaal, coveted by many European countries, must be completely dispelled through this war, and let England die, otherwise South Africa may break out a larger war. ”

Obviously, this should be the meaning of Yi Zhizhi, and Zai Zhao even said: "If this is the case, then start a war in the Mozambique Channel." ”

Although it was expected that it would be impossible for the British to sail overnight, just in case, the Qing ironclad fleet left the port of Inyanbane that afternoon, went down the river, and anchored in the bay of Inyanbane.

Early the next morning, the fleet left the bay and turned southward, sailing for just over four hours, and at 11 o'clock in the morning, the lookout found the British fleet heading upstream, and at this time, the Qing fleet was less than 50 nautical miles from Inhambane Bay.

"Order the ships and prepare for battle!" Xiao Mingliang ordered in a deep voice, "Keep the formation and catch up." ”

With the order, the officers and men of each ship entered their respective posts one after another, busy making various preparations before the war, and the atmosphere on the ship became solemn and tense at once, and on the main battleship 'Jingyuan', Yi Zhengxing, who participated in the battle for the first time, was also a little nervous, but more excited, and followed behind Zaizhao without pulling a step.

Zai Zhao has been in the Nanyang Navy and the Beiyang Navy for many years, and can be called a veteran of the Qing Navy, but such a big battle is also the first experience, the number of ironclad ships in the two fleets exceeds 60, which is definitely the world's largest ironclad naval battle so far.

After walking up and down from the lower engine room to the deck and returning to the front bridge of the battleship, Zai Zhao glanced at Yi Zhengxing, who was also following the trend, and said: "Our fleet only has four capital warships, and the 'Jingyuan' is one of them. ”

What's the matter of hiding in the bottom warehouse? Yi Zhengxing said in a sullen voice: "Back to the captain, his subordinates are trained in the army, as a combat staff officer, hiding in the bottom warehouse, it doesn't make people laugh, and when he returns to Shanghai, his subordinates can't explain to their father." ”

Hearing him say this, Zaizhao couldn't refute it, so he had to order: "Once the war starts, you will stay in the bridge and you will not be allowed to go anywhere." ”

Yi Zhengxing suddenly smiled and said: "Uncle, don't worry, I promise not to run around." ”

In the bridge of the British fleet, the flagship 'Sultan', Hebu held a telescope with a grim expression and observed the Qing fleet that was getting closer and closer, the distance between the two fleets was less than five nautical miles, and the Qing army still did not change its formation, and has maintained the formation of two columns, and the two columns were only one nautical mile together.

Could it be that this is the battle formation of the Qing Navy? After a little groaning, he said in a deep voice: "Order, change the V formation." ”

On the flagship of the Qing army, the 'Zhiyuan', seeing the British army changing formations, Xiao Mingliang showed a sneer, V-shaped formation, in the Battle of Lisa, the Austro-Hungarian admiral Tegethoff used this formation, and the Austro-Hungarian fleet, which was at a disadvantage in firepower, adopted this formation, and the benefit of this formation was the impact!

It seems that the British army did expect that they would not have an advantage in firepower, so they adopted this formation formation in order to facilitate the impact and form a melee situation, which was definitely beneficial to the British army with an absolute advantage in the number of warships.

However, for the Qing fleet, which had torpedoes in close combat, melee and close combat were all sought by Xiao Mingming, in this case, it was not only conducive to shortening the range of torpedoes, but also greatly improving the hit rate of torpedoes, and it was not easy for British warships to leave the battlefield.

After a slight groan, there was an order in a deep voice, "Order, keep the formation, maintain the speed, and continue to move forward." ”

Seeing that an unprecedented naval battle of ironclad ships was about to break out, the fleets of various countries that were far behind the Qing fleet and the British fleet turned their direction and quickly sailed to the coast.

Seeing that the Qing fleet had not changed in the slightest, He Bu also wondered in his heart, but at this time, he didn't have the heart to ponder, the V-shaped formation is not only conducive to impact, conducive to creating a melee situation, but also conducive to encirclement and retreat, because it is on the periphery, advance and retreat are very flexible.

For the firepower of the Qing warships, he has always had a pimple in his heart, if, if the Qing army really developed and equipped with torpedoes that can be used in actual combat, then, he will not hesitate to order the withdrawal from the battle, compared to the artillery, the lethality of the torpedo is too great, simply put, as long as the artillery does not hit the part below the waterline of the battleship, even if it is twenty or thirty cannons, it will not sink, and if you want to shell the underwater part of the battleship, the difficulty is not ordinary, but torpedoes, maybe a torpedo can sink the battleship! Because torpedoes are designed to attack the weakest protected underwater parts of the battleship.

"Herald!" He put down his binoculars and said in a deep voice: "Order all ships to maintain formation and keep a distance from enemy ships, no more than one nautical mile." ”

Before he figured out the firepower of the Qing warships, he didn't dare to take risks, the ironclad fleet he controlled was the home of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, if he suffered heavy losses in South Africa, it would not only shake the position of the British Empire's maritime hegemon, but also have a major impact on the situation in the whole of Europe, he was not careless and cautious!

Seeing this situation, Xiao Mingliang already understood, the British army did not dare to let go of a battle before finding out their details, he immediately ordered in a deep voice, "Paste it, each ship should pay attention to maintaining the formation, and can shell freely, but must not use torpedoes." ”

On the 'Jingyuan', after receiving the order, Zai Zhao said with a smile: "This order suits our appetite, turn the rudder right and paste it." After a pause, he continued: "Order all gun positions to load solid shells." ”

After the communications officer left, Yi Zhengxing said: "Why do you use solid bullets? ”

"At first, of course, you have to use solid bullets." Zai Zhao explained: "After the explosion of our special ammunition, it will form a fire, and the fire can flow like water, if there are a few holes in the deck of the enemy ship, and then it is concentrated by the special ammunition, what will happen?" ”

As the lead ship of the formation, the "Jingyuan" took the lead in opening the prelude to this naval battle, and it was the "Warden", the main battleship of the formation, which was responsible for the rear of the formation, the "Warden".

Because of the strong winds and waves in the Mozambique Channel, the three main guns of the 'Jingyuan' did not hit, but after correcting the shelling of Zhuyuan, a second round of shelling was carried out soon after.

Although the second round of shelling also missed, it really frightened the officers and men of the 'Prison Warden', and the main guns of the Qing warships were so fast? Even the rear-loading guns could not have been so fast, and it was obvious that the accuracy of this round of shelling was higher than that of the previous one, and the point of impact was closer to the battleship.

He Bu, who saw this scene from the telescope, couldn't help frowning, the Qing army's artillery technology really made a major breakthrough, the main artillery can actually carry out continuous shelling, how did they deal with the abdication and re-advance of the artillery? As a veteran admiral, he knew better than anyone what this meant, and this meant not only the speed of the shelling, but also a significant increase in the rate of hits.

It is no wonder that the number of guns equipped with the ironclad ships of the Qing army is so small, and there is no need for people to equip them with so many naval guns, because one naval gun is enough to be several, and the hit rate is much higher than theirs.

He realized that he might have made a mistake, that even in the Mozambique Strait, the guns of the Qing warships would not be greatly weakened, but that the accuracy of their own warships' artillery would be greatly affected.

His judgment was correct, and in the third round of shelling of the 'Jingyuan', two shells hit the 'Warden', one hitting the deck and the other hitting the side of the ship, and there was no expected explosion and fire, and it was obvious that the enemy ship was using solid shells.

The damage caused by solid bullets to the battleship is limited, even if it can penetrate the armor, it will not have much impact on the battleship, as if it was stared at by a mosquito, it is not painful or itchy, and it is not impossible to sink an ironclad ship with a solid bullet, but the possibility is too small.

However, he immediately realized that something was wrong, the intention of the Qing army was very obvious, first use solid shells to penetrate the armor of the battleship, and then the kind of shells that can form a fire after exploding, if there are more armor pierced, what will be the consequences? The flowing, inextinguishable fire would follow the bullet holes into the second deck, where the guns and ammunition of the broadside ironclads were on the second deck below.

How should this battle be fought? He suddenly felt extremely conflicted in his heart, approaching the melee, worried that the Qing army still had torpedoes, and when it was not far away, the shelling speed and hit rate of the Qing warship guns were very amazing, and even if the guns of their battleships returned fire, they could not pose a big threat to the enemy ships, which was purely a situation of being beaten alone.

If you distance yourself further, what is the point of this naval battle? What's the difference between running away without a fight? Even for the honor of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, he couldn't make up his mind to flee without a fight, not to mention, in this battle, he always had to find out the true combat power of the opponent's ironclad ships!

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