Japan was an island country, and the coastal people were no strangers to being sailors. Kyushu was in the south of Japan, and the people of Kyushu were even more talented in sailing. From the Satsuma Domain expedition to Ryukyu, Togo Heihachiro did not think it was a long distance. But in the fierce naval battle, Togo Heihachiro suddenly understood what it meant to call for help from the heavens and earth.
The warships of the Liberation Army marched slowly in a neat formation, and their precise movements even had a touch of elegance. The constantly changing signal flags on the mast of the flagship, the disorderly landing points, and the large and small columns of water caused by the artillery fire on the sea. The fleet of small boats was destroyed under the fierce attack. Some ships sank to the bottom of the sea in an instant, while others were still floating on the sea, their broken hulls turned into torches. The red flames and black smoke proved that the navy of the Satsuma Domain had been fighting hard not long ago.
Togo Heihachiro saw thick black smoke coming out of the chimney of the evil huge warship, and he was delighted. The thick black smoke was somewhat similar to the smoke on the destroyed Japanese ships, but darker and thicker. The warships of the Liberation Army did not self-destruct, but added fuel to the fire. The Japanese steamships, which were struggling to catch up, found that the distance between them and the Liberation Army was gradually increasing.
Because he was not the helmsman, Togo Heihachiro could only beat the cabin and watch the opportunity to fight the enemy disappear again. At this time, the route of the Japanese fleet changed, and the sailing warships began to withdraw from the battlefield. The steam fleet protected the flanks. This protection was quite skillful. The steam fleet maintained an angle between the sailing fleet and the steam fleet. Once the China steam fleet and the sailing fleet sailed side by side and fired at each other, the steam fleet would immediately catch up from the other side. At this time, the medium-sized warship would face fierce artillery fire from the left and right. This approach was actually the same as the previous choice of the Satsuma Domain fleet, but from active attack to retreat defense.
Would the China people catch up? Togo Heihachiro felt uneasy. This kind of fleet movement was so obvious. Would the medium-sized warship really fall into the trap of being shelled on both sides? If Togo Heihachiro was the commander of the China fleet, he would give up the opportunity to attack the sailing ships and go straight for the steam ships. As long as they could deal with the steam fleet, the sail fleet, which lacked mobility, would not be a match for the steam warships.
However, the fleet did not do as Togo Heihachiro expected. Instead, it changed its direction and headed straight for them. Judging from their course, they did not consider the possibility of being attacked from both sides. They took the shortest route to pursue the Japanese warships.
During the chase, the mid-sized warships raised their sails and quickly increased their speed. Only then did Togo Heihachiro notice that the sea breeze was getting stronger. The two sides had actually met in the afternoon. After a fierce battle, it was already close to evening. If the Japanese fleet could shake off the China fleet, they could escape the battlefield under the cover of night.
"It seems that Lord Saigo is indeed more thoughtful than I am!" Togo Heihachiro's evaluation of the fleet commander, Saigo Takamori, immediately rose.
However, Togo Heihachiro soon discovered that sometimes his thoughts were just wishful thinking. The Liberation Army's warships used both sails and steam power to close in on the fleeing Satsuma Domain's sailing warships at an astonishing speed. At this time, the Satsuma Domain's steam warships also raised their sails and worked hard to catch up from the right rear of the Liberation Army. They tried their best to attack from both sides.
At this time, Togo Heihachiro saw that the front deck of the mid-sized warship suddenly emitted smoke that was unique to shooting. A moment later, a huge column of water was stirred up on the right side of a Japanese sailing ship. In this era, it was very common for artillery to be deployed on both sides of the ship. The centerline configuration was unorthodox. Therefore, Togo Heihachiro never expected that the Liberation Army would actually put artillery in that position.
Regardless of whether this configuration was reasonable or not, this configuration showed its effect in this naval battle. The pursuing Liberation Army could fire fiercely at the enemy in front of them at will, and the Satsuma Domain's sailing navy could only wait for the Liberation Army to enter their firing range.
The first ship of the Liberation Army had fired the cannon just now. After a moment, the cannons of the second military ship also joined the chorus. The Satsuma Domain had sent a total of 17 warships, and seven small ships had already been destroyed. Three steam ships were trying to join the battle, and seven large ships were being fiercely attacked by four warships of the Liberation Army.
The Satsuma Domain's warships had completely adopted a foreign design, and the cannons on both sides of the ship had adopted fixed rails. This was conducive to eliminating the reaction force after the bombardment and increasing the accuracy of the bombardment. However, this also made the adjustment of the cannons' angle very small, and the Satsuma Domain's sailing ships could take a beating.
Togo Heihachiro was moving the cannonballs, and the leader of the cannons was the gunner. Togo Heihachiro's superior, Ōyama Iwai, suddenly roared, "Hurry up and retreat! We can't continue fighting like this! "
Yes, there was a 10: 4 ratio between the Satsuma Domain's ships and the Liberation Army's. The Satsuma Domain had the upper hand in numbers, and the Liberation Army had the upper hand in all other aspects. The Satsuma Domain's navy was preparing to attack the Liberation Army's fleet from both sides, but what Togo Heihachiro saw was a good plan interrupted before it could be implemented. It was very likely that before the Satsuma Domain's steam ships reached the Liberation Army's side, the Satsuma Domain's sailing fleet on the other side would be completely annihilated.
At that time, the situation on the battlefield would become three Satsuma Domain steam-powered warships facing four unharmed Liberation Army warships. If the final result was like this, could there be anything more ridiculous than this?
However, reality was often more outrageous than imagination. The originally imagined cruel pursuit did not lead to the complete annihilation of the Satsuma Domain's fleet. The accuracy of the cannons from both sides was too low. The Liberation Army fired hundreds of cannons, but only hit less than seven. Two hours passed unknowingly. However, before the sky gradually darkened, new warships appeared in front of them. They were warships that were even larger than the original warships that had participated in the battle. After these four warships joined the battle, everything changed. What the Satsuma Navy originally thought would be a pincer attack turned into the Satsuma Domain's sailing ships falling into a desperate situation.
Commander-in-chief Saigo Takamori gave up his original plan, and the steam-powered ships changed directions and fled. Togo Heihachiro watched from afar as the two steam-powered fleets carried out a fierce attack on the sailing fleet. Under the last rays of the sky, he saw the billowing black smoke from the burning ships in the distance.
Six days later, on February 19th, Vézé received a report on the Ryukyu Sea Battle. The report was quite detailed, and it first raised a series of questions. From the accuracy of the cannons to the various problems encountered during the preparation for the battle. The Navy of the Liberation Army basically changed professions from the 6th Army, so what Vézé read was the expectation of the Navy to be able to fight a beautiful annihilation battle like the 6th Army, as well as the frustration when the purpose of the battle was not achieved.
After reading the Navy's report, Vézé suddenly understood the mood of the World Naval Competition that year. To build a large fleet that was both good at offense and defense, and could fight and run. To build a fleet where every warship was the king of the sea. To build a large fleet that could easily sink all the enemy warships in every battle. To achieve this goal, the British formulated a strategy where the world's number one British Fleet was equal to the second and third ranked fleets combined.
The Navy of the Liberation Army also seemed to have this kind of beautiful imagination, but reality taught the Liberation Army a lesson. The mixed fleet of steam and sail had an overwhelming advantage against a pure sail fleet, but in the face of the Satsuma Domain's steamships, which were far inferior to the Liberation Army, this advantage became negligible, and the three Satsuma Domain steamships fled. As long as these three ships were still there, the Liberation Army could not rest easy.
What surprised Vézé was not the Navy's attitude of "eliminating evil", but he found that his understanding of history was wrong. In 1866, the Japanese Navy already had their own steamships, and at this time in history, the Manchu Qing had no concept of steamships. Although it was said that the Xiang Army had their own steamships at that time, it was only an experimental ship, and it did not open up China's modern naval system.
The gap between China and Japan did not exist before the Sino-Japanese War, but had existed since the 1860s. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan only gradually widened the gap. This fact was a great shock to Vézé.
With China's size and confidence in the Restoration Party, Vézé believed that there was no discussion value in overwhelming the backward Japan. But the reality made Vézé realize that the Japan he was facing was a Japan more advanced than the Manchu Qing, and it was not a simple matter to solve such a Japan. Japan was not civilized through the Meiji Restoration, but long before the Meiji Restoration, Japan had been civilized. The Meiji Restoration was a revolution where the advanced Japan defeated the backward shogunate, allowing Japan to embark on the industrialization of the system.
Leaning against the sand, Vézé crossed his fingers on his lower abdomen. He suddenly sneered. No wonder the imperialist countries were so afraid of the countries they bullied. These industrial countries knew the changes that industrialization would bring, so the knowledgeable people in the imperialist countries knew very well how a revolution that led the bullied countries into industrialization would have a profound impact on the world. Out of the interests of the country, suppressing the revolutions of non-industrial countries was an inevitable choice for the imperialists.
Thinking of this, Vézé realized that he was actually an imperialist, and this realization turned his sneer into a self-deprecating laugh. Vézé's secretaries rarely saw Vézé like this. Everyone looked at each other, stunned.
Vézé didn't give any other explanation. He ordered: "Call Zuo Zongtang back, I have a new job for him!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
