"I didn't expect the Japanese to have their own steamships!" Colonel Liu Sha put down his binoculars and couldn't help but sigh. What he never expected was that because this was China's first real ocean battle, it was recorded in the war's history. After all, the Liberation Army's previous naval battles had at most fought with the British offshore. The historical significance of going thousands of miles to Ryukyu, where no troops had been sent for hundreds of years, could not be underestimated.
However, this sentence later led to a big problem. It had to be said that big countries were sometimes so slow. There were so many things to manage, and the internal pressure was unimaginable. The lack of intelligence collection on Japan could only be said that no one had ever regarded Japan as an imaginary enemy. The problem was that this sentence really exposed the flaws at that time and led to many people's criticism.
After Colonel Liu Sha casually said this, he completely forgot about this topic. Seeing the huge tonnage difference between the two warships, Colonel Liu Sha decisively ordered the fleet to attack.
After the captain received the order, he shouted in a deep, loud voice unique to sailors, "Full right rudder!" The helmsman struggled to move the rudder, and when he finished the work, he also replied loudly, "Full right rudder!"
At the same time, the signal flag had been raised to the mast of the flagship O54 warship. The O55, O56, and O57 warships that were almost identical in appearance began to operate almost the same way. At this time, the fleet had already lowered the sails, and black smoke was rising from the chimneys. The four warships drew a snow-white trajectory on the sea, accelerating toward the Japanese fleet.
Japan had introduced Western culture earlier than China, and steamships were one example. The three steamships, Hakuhōmaru, Tenyou Maru, and Aoyagi Maru, became the main force of the Satsuma Domain Navy. Saigo Takamori was very clear about the gap between steamships and sailing warships. Seeing the huge warships from afar, he immediately divided the fleet into two. The steamships formed a sub-fleet, and the sailing warships formed another fleet. The two fleets appeared to be in a pincer position, trying to attack the Chinese warships from both sides.
Of course, Colonel Liu Sha could not let the situation develop to this point. He ordered the fleet to first circle around the Japanese sailing ships. In any case, the sailing ships were far less mobile than the steamships. The Satsuma Domain Navy's ships had tonnage in the hundreds to thousands. As long as they were not surrounded and attacked from both sides, the Liberation Army would be able to fully utilize the advantage of having more cannons on their ships. There were at most a dozen or so cannons on each side of the small boat. If it was a warship that was densely packed with cannons, the caliber and power of the cannons would definitely be far inferior to the Liberation Army's navy.
The Liberation Army's warships had two layers of cannons, with more than 20 cannons on each side. The ship also had two 32-pounder cannons that could rotate 360 degrees. Once hit by these huge cannons, the Japanese boat would immediately be finished. The only thing worth worrying about was the speed of the Japanese steamships. If they could not get to the side of the Satsuma Domain's fleet, Colonel Liu Sha really did not dare to start the battle immediately.
After an hour of maneuvering, Colonel Liu Sha discovered a problem he had never thought of. The Japanese navy itself was in disarray. The ships of different sizes were different. The four warships of the fleet commanded by Colonel Liu Sha were sister ships. They were all four of the eight ships produced in the same batch by the Guangdong Shipyard. Although the added armor and the technology used inside were somewhat different, the basic abilities were very similar. Therefore, when these four warships neatly formed a circle around the Japanese fleet, the fleet was neat and uniform.
The Satsuma Domain's steamships on the opposite side were still fine. They were not as uniform as the medium-sized warships, but at least they could quickly and slowly form a unity. Although the sailing ships also wanted to maintain a neat formation, it was really beyond their capabilities. The big ships moved faster and gradually left the small ships behind.
Seeing this situation, Colonel Liu Sha decisively ordered the fleet to insert into the gap between the sailing ships and then run a circle around the small Japanese fleet.
Of course, the artillery command department would not misunderstand this order. When the fleet successfully inserted into the air attack between the Japanese sailing ships, the artillery commanders shouted the same order. "Open fire!"
The Chinese Navy had also introduced Armstrong guns and Armstrong anti-aircraft cannons. However, at this stage, they were equipped with Whitworth breech-loading Rifled Guns. The caliber of these cannons was not considered large, but they were extremely accurate. Firing ten consecutive cannons on land with a difference of less than five points of impact? Muscle = swimming? Flattery? Fear? Rong? Polypus? Ant Fairy Crack?? Using Hope Scorch to buy Climbing Hammer E Gao Tu? Earth Ji Iridium? Zhen?
The Japanese Navy did not give up on the battle. The Satsuma Domain was indeed a strong Japanese domain. The navy calmly fought back. For a moment, water columns appeared on the surface of the water.
White Fengmaru was the flagship of the Satsuma Domain. Seeing the battle begin, the gunners knew that they could not join the battle at this time, so they stretched their necks to watch the battle from afar. Ōyama Iwai and Togo Heihachiro were the gunners and the cannoneer. Both of them watched the battle intently. Ōyama Iwai suddenly heard Togo Heihachiro say, "So that's how it is!"
"Togo, what do you understand?" Ōyama Iwai asked.
Faced with his superior's question, Togo Heihachiro answered, "There is a time difference between the cannons of the Chinese warships."
"Oh?" Ōyama Iwai frowned at first. After thinking about it carefully, he understood.
Togo Heihachiro continued, "They want to use this to determine which cannons hit the target."
Although it was simple, Ōyama Iwai already understood what Togo Heihachiro meant. The Satsuma Domain often had military training in Kagoshima. Once the cannons hit the target, the rest of the adjustments were much easier. As long as the adjustments were made according to the relative distance between the two sides, the hit rate would be very high.
The problem was that there were dozens of cannons on a warship. If they could not accurately determine which one had hit the target, there was no way to adjust it. Togo Heihachiro's words proved that the Chinese Navy was a well-trained army.
The subsequent battle indeed confirmed Ōyama Iwai's worries. In the early stages of the cannons, the hit rate of both sides was not high. However, as long as one Japanese warship was hit, the probability of the subsequent ship being hit increased.
Wooden ships that weighed hundreds of tons could not withstand continuous hits. The Liberation Army was still using explosive shells. The hulls of the small ships in the Japanese fleet that were lagging behind were constantly exploding, or the entire hull was burning. The unluckier ones were the ones that ignited the gunpowder inside, and the ships were blown to pieces by the internal explosions.
On the other hand, the Chinese ironclad warships had coarse skin and thick flesh. Even after being hit by the Japanese small ships, they were completely unscathed. The corners of Ōyama Iwai's and Togo Heihachiro's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. The destruction of every Japanese warship meant the death of dozens of Satsuma Domain's navy. These were their comrades and fellow countrymen that they had been with day and night!
Colonel Liu Sha let out a long sigh of relief. The attack on the small Japanese fleet was very successful. None of the seven ships managed to escape. At this time, the command room was filled with thunderous cheers. Even though they knew that the rules did not allow it, they could not help it. It felt so good to destroy the enemy as if they were chopping melons and vegetables.
However, the cheers soon stopped. The Japanese fleet did not seem to have any intention of revenge. Judging from their course, they were trying to leave the battlefield. How could Colonel Liu Sha let the Japanese ships escape? He gave a new order. "Chase them!"
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