.

Feng Lin did not need such urging at all, because he was already stepping up preparations to improve his combat effectiveness. During the berth in Hong Kong, he purchased a coal ship and a supply ship for the fleet. He ordered the warship to be docked, overhauled the mechanical parts, cleaned the underwater part of the hull, and painted the white ship's side gray.

Brigadier General Tan Fenglin personally checked all the details and asked the ship staff to practice every day, and all the machines on the ship were ready for combat, and could operate continuously as soon as they received the order.

At this time, more accurate information was sent to Tan Fenglin. The original information was proved to be wrong. The Chinese Filipinos could not understand the difference between gunboats and armored ships. After careful observation by intelligence officials, the Spanish fleet had only six warships, "Rena Christina", "~"Don Antonio De Uloa", "Don Juan-de-Austria", and "Luzon Island".

"Rena Christina" Class 1 Unprotected Cruiser

Construction started in Spain on October 24, 1887, with iron and full load displacement of 3,090 tons.

6120mm gun, 270mm rapid-fire gun, 357mm rapid-fire gun, 242m rapid-fire gun, 637mm gun; 3 350mm torpedo tubes.

The horsepower is 3,900 horsepower, the designed speed is 16 knots, the actual speed is 10; the coal load is 720, and the endurance is 3,900 nautical miles.

The design of this colonial warship was not very successful. Although it was equipped with many boilers, it never reached a theoretical speed of 16 knots. Basically, it was already + when it was built.

The first-class wooden cruiser "Castilia"

Construction started in Spain in 1879, completed in 1881, and put into service in 1882. The displacement was 3342 tons (3650 tons after armor was added).

4150mm gun, 2120m gun, 6 57m rapid-fire guns; 3 350m torpedo tubes.

Horses are 4400, with a speed of 15,460 tons.

Don Antonio Deuloa II

Construction started in Spain in 1883, launched on January 23, 1887, and completed in 1889. The displacement was 1,160 tons.

4120mm gun, 242 times port 42mm rapid-fire gun 420 times caliber 37mm gun, machine gun; 2356mm torpedo tube.

Horsepower is 1,600 horsepower, speed is 12.: knots; carries 197 tons of coal, and has a range of 1,950 nautical miles.

=

Construction started on January 23, 1887 and launched on September 22.

4120mm gun, 357mm rapid-fire gun, 237mm rapid-fire gun, 5 Gatling gun, 2356mm torpedo tube. 30 tons.

Horsepower 1,200 horsepower, speed of 812 knots

The ship served in the Philippines along with the ships of the same class, General Leso and Drasco.

c.

Construction of the Armstrong Shipyard in England started in 225, 1886, was launched on 1211, 1886, and completed on September 22, 1887.

435 caliber 120 meters cannon, 443 caliber 57 meters cannon, 3 20 caliber 37 meters cyclone cannon, 3356 mm torpedo launch tube. 30~:

Horsepower is 2600 horsepower, speed is 15.c,:-64 mm, and cannon cover is 51 mm.

The total tonnage of the Spanish fleet is 12,000 tons, but the speeds of the fleet are very weak, without large-caliber artillery, and even the number of medium-caliber artillery is very rare, and its combat effectiveness can be said to be very poor.

The Northeast Republic squadron includes 5 cruisers: the flagship "Tieling" (5870~: Liaohe class (1700 tons).

Tieling No. 5 meters), 8475mm rapid-fire gun 4250 meters Mark Three gun 4250mm|: 152, initial muzzle velocity 2080 feet in seconds, rate of fire 2/min, range of 9 kilometers. The bullet weight is 113.4 kilograms, and the speed is 22.7 knots.

Liaohe 0 meters, front two and back three and three combined with 120 meters rapid-fire cannon, can shoot in any direction, with a speed of 20 knots

The total tonnage of these ships is 13,000 tons, carrying 148 artillery pieces, of which 68 artillery pieces have a caliber of more than 100 meters. And the armor can basically effectively resist the attacks of the enemy's 120mm caliber artillery pieces. Compared with the Spanish fleet, it accounts for all aspects.

This made Tan Fenglin's heart come back to his stomach. Although he was not afraid to fight with You, it does not mean that Tan Fenglin likes to fight under disadvantages. After all, relying on the advantage of military strength to achieve victory is the way to use troops. If you blindly win by tricks, you will always fail one day.

725, the Minister of Navy received a telegram: "Because during the Philippine riots, relatives of several generals in the Northeast Republic were killed. Given that the Spanish government could no longer effectively maintain local order, in order to safeguard the lives and safety of the people of the Northeast Republic, war has officially begun on the Philippines. Go to the Philippines quickly and start operations, and try your best to capture or destroy the Western fleet."

On the 727th, Tan Fenglin rushed south to eliminate the Spanish Navy in the Philippines.

At this time, in the Philippines, 600 miles away from the Northeast Fleet, Major General Don Patricio Montojo of the Spanish Fleet was waiting for the battle.

When he learned about the strength of the Northeast Fleet, Montojo estimated that he would not be able to defeat the Northeast Republic squadron in mobile combat, so he planned to fight at the anchorage and treat his warships as fortress fleets to support coastal artillery bombarding US ships.

The Northeast Fleet made final preparations for combat during a ferry to the Philippines, including day and night combat exercises, practiced ship fire extinguishing and damage pipes, and removed all wooden parts to prevent the fire from exacerbating. At the 730 afternoon, they searched Subic Bay and failed to find the Spanish fleet.

Tan Fenglin asserted: "Now we know their location." He directed the fleet to sail towards the waterway south of Correhill Island, and personally led into Manila Bay, which was embraced by land on three sides.

Brigadier General Tan Fenglin was very confident on the surface, but he was anxious inside. The entire Far East believed that Manila Bay was covered with mines, but Tan Fenglin estimated that Manila would not lay mines on the deep water channel. The reason was very simple. After the deep water channel was mined, the torpedo treated all ships equally. For a long time, Manila would become a dead port, and this level of damage was even greater than that of Manila being captured.

On 81, 1896, when almost all of them were successfully sailing into Manila Bay, several shore artillery fired, but the artillery fire of the warships of the Northeast Republic quickly suppressed them. The fleet lined up in a "one" formation and entered the bay without any damage. At dawn, Tan Fenglin's squadron had approached Manila and began to search for the Spanish fleet. The artillery in the city opened fire, but unfortunately they all went astray.

In order to protect Manila from shelling by US ships, Montojo deployed his fleet in Krabi. Tan Fenglin found them here. Because there was no ammunition supply land and in order to save ammunition, Tan Fenglin ordered to approach the distance of only 5,000 from the Spanish fleet. 54 points. Tan Fenglin ordered the captain of the "Ironing": "After preparing, you can open fire and destroy the Spanish fleet."

The warships of the Northeast Republic sailed back and forth on Spanish warships and continued to shoot, which reminded people of DuPont's battle in Royal Bay. Several Spanish warships, including the "Rena Christina", were severely damaged in several attempts to attack the US ships, either sunk or repelled. At 8:35, Tan Fenglin decided to temporarily evacuate due to a false alarm for a shortage of ammunition, and the entire Spanish fleet was destroyed. When Tan Fenglin ordered a ceasefire, all Montojo's ships either emitting thick smoke, buryed at the bottom of the sea, or were abandoned.

The Spanish suffered 381 casualties in this battle, while only 7 of Tan Fenglin's fleet were injured. The Northeastern ship, which had received regular shooting training, hit at least 470, while the Spanish sailors who lacked shooting practice only hit 45 shots.

The victory of the Northeast Republic not only depends on their strength, but also the result of their full preparation. Tan Fenglin said: "The Battle of Manila was won at the Lushun Pier." He should also add, that is, this is a victory in judging the situation. If he did not discover and defeat Montojo's fleet in time, then his supply would be unsustainable.

Since the strength of the Spanish navy has been lost in this area, Tan Fenglin broke down on the sea near Manila, preventing foreign interference from the Philippines. The arrival of the German warships complicated the problem. The Germans were always looking for opportunities. Once the Northeast Republicans were not interested in the Philippines, they were ready to immediately plunder it as their colony.

Faced with the powerful offensive of the Northeast Republic and the German ambitions, the Spaniards realized that if they could not take effective action, then the fertile land of the Philippines would say goodbye to themselves in the near future.

The Northeast Republic began to mobilize the army at this time to resolutely defend the country it has captured...
Chapter completed!