When the North Sea Fleet passed through the Strait of Tsushima, they did not choose to do so at night as they had done before. At that time, Vézé was very worried that the British would copy the appearance of the warships and increase the combat power of the British Navy. Now that the battle was about to begin, the British could not only clearly see the appearance of China's new warships, but they could also personally experience the combat power of China's new warships. Since any cover-up had become meaningless, it was better to calmly head north and let the enemy feel that the China People's Navy was not afraid of the British Royal Navy.
The Japanese warships cruising nervously in the Strait of Tsushima soon discovered the China People's Navy swaggering through. The Japanese Navy had only fought one battle with China's Tsingtao, in which several warships of the Japanese Meiji government were sunk. Most of the sailors who had seen China's new warships had sunk to the bottom of the sea. The survivors' descriptions of the middle-sized warships were vague, and according to their testimonies, the middle-sized warships were extremely strange and distorted. The Japanese Navy, including the British advisers, could not imagine how such a warship could display such a powerful combat power.
Now the Japanese Navy could clearly see the true appearance of the middle-sized warships. The slender hulls of the warships were all painted in gray, and the turrets were covered with military green canvas armor. The high freeboard of the front half of the warships was in a trapezoid pattern with the top contracting. There was a huge chimney in the middle of the hull. At this time, the fleet was sailing at an economic speed of 10 knots, so the smoke coming out of the chimney was grayish-white, occasionally mixed with some black smoke.
The middle-sized warships with a calm and arrogant attitude completely ignored the Japanese warships watching from afar. They passed through the Strait of Tsushima and headed north. The Japanese warships roughly counted the number of Chinese Navy warships, tailed them for a while, and then turned back to the port. Although the middle-sized warships were fast, they could not outrun the telegraph. At this time, the British Navy had already assembled at the Tsugaru Strait. Before the China Navy arrived at the Tsugaru Strait, they would definitely receive news of the Chinese Navy's northward movement.
Colonel Zhou Xinhua, the commander of the China Dispatch Army in Hakodate, was already a division commander. Before the British Royal Navy arrived in Singapore, China agreed to the request of the Republic of Prawn and increased the number of Dispatch Army in the Republic of Prawn. The main purpose of sending more troops was to help the Meiji government speed up the training of both the government and the army.
By October 1874, the total population of the Republic of Prawn had reached 300 million. When the Republic of Prawn was first established in 1869, the total population controlled by the government was no more than five thousand. On the one hand, the 600 times increase was due to the fact that the local Ainu tribe had been brought under their rule. On the other hand, they had to thank the Meiji government's unremitting efforts.
The Meiji government treated the northern Olympic region cruelly, forcing a large number of people in the Olympic region to move to the Republic of Prawn. The men and women of the Austrian region had received military training and were the backbone of the Republic of Prawn. The number of these people was about 30 million. The remaining two million people were the poor people of Japan.
Over the years, the Meiji government had imposed exorbitant taxes and levies, and the lives of the Japanese people were miserable. According to the people who arrived in the Republic of Prawn with their families or alone, there had been mass suicides led by religious forces that preached the end of the world in many places in the three islands of Japan. There was no reason to live on this side of the world, so the people could only go to the other side of the world described by the religious groups to find happiness. Of course, more realistically, under the double oppression of the Meiji government and the local tyrants, the people had no food to eat and no clothes to cover their bodies. Death was also a relief to some extent.
The Republic of Prawn persisted under the pressure of the Meiji government for a few years, and the story of the republic began to spread in the three islands of Japan. They had land, they had jobs, and the tax was only 40% in kind. Compared with the three islands of Japan, where 70% to 80% of the income was exploited, the life here was like heaven. People didn't want to die. If the price of reaching the other side of happiness was to cross the Tsugaru Strait instead of ending their own lives, the people could easily make their own choices.
A large number of people entering the Republic of Prawn was a great help. However, the number of the core personnel only accounted for one-tenth of the entire country, which was a disaster for the leaders of the Republic of Prawn. China could only help the Republic of Prawn politically, from the grass-roots organization to the entire ideological mobilization and ideological education. The Republic of Prawn needed training from the grass-roots to the top. The Republic of Prawn asked China to send more "troops" to help.
The Republic of Prawn had its own intelligence network, and the news that the British Grand Fleet had arrived in Japan also reached the Republic of Prawn. Everyone also knew that the time to test the strength of the Republic of Prawn had finally arrived. At this time, the capital of the Republic of Prawn had been transferred from Hakodate to Sapporo, and the railway network connecting the main cities had also been built.
In theory, the Republic of Prawn had a total of 100 million soldiers. Of these 100 million soldiers, about 100,000 had rifles, and among these 100,000 soldiers, about 50,000 used the new rifles made by China. Hakodate, Otaru, and Muroran had built new fortresses, but could these fortresses withstand the attack of the British Grand Fleet? No one had absolute confidence.
Now the only thing that could save the Republic of Prawn was China's navy. The Japanese around Zhou Xinhua had less information, so they were far more confident than Zhou Xinhua. And Zhou Xinhua himself knew very well that China only had six cruisers that could really be of use at the moment. These six cruisers had to face dozens of British armored ships.
The Japanese hoped that the Chinese Navy could lure away the British Fleet entrenched in the Tsugaru Strait, and Zhou Xinhua hoped that more British Fleet would be concentrated in the Tsugaru Strait. The best way for a weak army to attack an enemy with an advantage was to divide the enemy and eat them one bite at a time.
But no matter how he looked through the telescope, there were only five British Navy ships in the Tsugaru Strait, and these five warships did not show any signs of going into battle, but only cruised far away. Zhou Xinhua became more and more anxious. What was the British playing at?
The British Royal Navy was playing a strategy of waiting for the enemy to exhaust themselves. When the flagship Agincourt received the news that the Chinese Navy had passed through the Tsushima Strait, the British Fleet was divided into three. The main fleet was 20 nautical miles away from the western entrance of the Tsugaru Strait. No matter how much they looked down on the Chinese Navy, the British Royal Navy did not disgrace their own reputation. This long-established fleet did not adopt the stupid tactic of dividing their forces.
The Royal Navy left ten armored ships and fifteen non-armored ships in Singapore, in order to guard against a raid by the China South Sea Fleet. The remaining forty armored ships and fifty non-armored ships arrived in Japan. The purpose of this fleet was to first deal with the Republic of Prawn, and then take advantage of the north wind to sweep all the way south to the coast of China.
After all, the opponents were ironclads. The British non-armored ships stayed in Tokyo and did not participate in this battle. After the forty armored ships were filled with anthracite produced in Kyushu, they went north and placed ten armored ships at the eastern entrance of the Tsugaru Strait. Inside the strait were the Japanese Navy of the Meiji government and five British armored ships. At the western entrance of the Tsugaru Strait, where the Chinese Navy was most likely to encounter, a total of 25 armored ships, including the flagship Agincourt, were waiting.
The commander of the British Dispatch Force, Lieutenant General Poppe, was not surprised by the appearance of the China Fleet. If the China Fleet wanted to fight the British Fleet, this was the China Fleet's only chance.
On the morning of the 13th of January, the China Fleet finally appeared in the sight of the British Fleet, who were ready for battle. At this time, the cannons on the warships had been taken off. Lieutenant General Poppe was stunned when he saw the cannons of the Chinese Navy through the high-powered binoculars. He looked carefully again and could not help but ask the staff officer next to him, "Is the mid-sized ship equipped with a 6-inch cannon?"
The slender and long cannon on the mid-sized ship was obviously different from the thick cannons equipped by the British Fleet. The staff officer carefully looked at it and said hesitantly, "It should be a 6-inch cannon."
An inch was 25.4 millimeters, and a real 6-inch cannon had a caliber of 152.4 millimeters. China used the metric system, so the 2.4 millimeters was omitted. Vézé's idea was to run if they could not win. The 120 cannon was fast and had strong firepower. It was suitable for running and fighting at the same time. The navy, on the other hand, was looking forward to a cannon as large as possible. The 200 cannon had proven to be unsuitable to be installed on cruisers. However, the navy still raised a question. If they encountered the same type of ironclad, what was the use of the 120 cannon? After some debate, Vézé only made a concession for the navy's sense of security. In the end, the two sides reached a compromise and used the 150 cannon.
With a displacement of 4400 tons and a 6-inch cannon, it was already a standard small cannon pulled by a cart. However, the 6-inch cannon had enough armor-piercing ability. If the commander of the British Fleet saw that China was using a 5-inch cannon, his jaw would probably drop.
The Chinese Navy soldiers opposite the British Fleet looked at the British Fleet with a complicated expression. Such a number of warships was the dream of any navy, and it was also the last thing the Chinese Navy wanted to see. Especially the enemy's flagship, the Agincourt, which gave people a great deal of pressure from afar. There were also other warships of five or six thousand tons, which looked very bold.
"Start fighting!" Ding Ruchang ordered. The Chinese Navy's warships split into two. The destroyer formation, which had little protection, left the front line and kept parallel with the cruiser fleet outside the battlefield. The cruiser formation sped up, trying to get ahead of the British Fleet.
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