Chapter 5: Feng Shui turns

A week ago, the quarrel reached a peak in Chen Congyun's office. Keze's almost paranoid attitude towards Chen Congyun was without any means. In the end, Keze chose to compromise based on the provisional parliament granting Chen Congyun the commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces.

As a standard soldier, compromise is painful. However, Keze's excuse for self-safety is still passed. After all, Germany's highest military leader is His Majesty the German Emperor. Although Chen Congyun is the president's name, his actual rights seem to be no different from the emperor. The temporary parliament pieced together by representatives of each province has no binding force on Chen Congyun.

The focus of the dispute between Kerze and Shen Congyun is the question of attitude towards Japan. Kerze's meaning is very obvious. Although Japan has reached an agreement with Russia in private, it has not been made public yet. According to Kerze's suggestion, we should seize the time to prepare for war in the future, rather than provoking Japan in advance and triggering a war.

What Chen Congyun insisted was that before Russia officially responded, he took advantage of the opportunity that Russia could not complete the assembly of troops in winter to eliminate the Japanese navy and eliminate the danger of the Japanese landing in North Korea. In order to achieve this goal, Chen Congyun even refused to order Deng Shichang's squadron to return to aid, with the purpose of making the Japanese joint fleet feel that there is hope of winning.

Keze thought that when Chen Congyun was not resolved in the Fujian issue, he provoked Japan, and there was undoubtedly a suspicion of fighting on two fronts. This was a very stupid move. Chen Congyun repeatedly insisted that as long as the Japanese joint fleet was destroyed, the pressure on the Japanese landing would be reduced by half when the threat of Japan was eliminated. After all, Japan is too close to North Korea, and North Korea is closer. Whether it is the national plot deep in his heart or considering it from the perspective of future strategy, he cannot get rid of the temptation of destroying the Japanese joint fleet.

Kazawa raised his concern that what if the Japanese Navy huddled in the Tsushima Strait and made full use of the forts near the port to conduct defensive operations and delay the First Fleet? Should we make the First Fleet do nothing outside Japan all day long?

Keze failed to convince Chen Congyun to make a gambling decision. It can be said that since Chen Congyun came to this world, he has been gambling and is still a lucky gambler.

After the signing of the Sino-British Friendship Treaty, China provided the UK with a package of warship procurement plans, including orders for six cruisers and ten torpedo speedboats. This order made the British minister Dou Nale's position stable, and also made the Japanese minister's desire to seek British interference a silence.

There is only interest relationship between countries, but no friendship. Friendship can only be built on interests, and without interests, everything is nonsense. Almost as Japanese minister Ogino left the British Embassy, ​​Tang Shaoyi visited Dou Nale and handed over another agreement, hoping to borrow 10 million pounds from the UK and China invested 10 million silver dollars to purchase all equipment for the construction of two new shipyards in Qingdao and Shanghai.

In the age of silver standard currency, these two orders were simply impossible for any country to refuse, let alone European countries, while they were busy repairing the trauma caused by the economic crisis.

It is obvious that on the issue of how to choose, Dou Nale sent a gorgeous telegram to the country, depicting China's huge procurement power in the next ten years, and finally raised concerns about Russia's rapid expansion of its power in the Far East.

In the eyes of the great powers, Chen Congyun, who borrowed money from various countries, is often like a warlord, a warlord with military force. The existence of such a powerful figure, relying on China's broad strategic depth, is likely to entrust Russia into a quagmire of long-term war.

Germany quickly made a decision to support Chen Congyun. France took a neutral attitude in view of Russia's disobedience. After all, the friendship treaty between the two countries was clearly stated that only when the other party's territory was attacked by other countries would he be obliged to send troops to help. Now it seems that Russia is fighting against China, and this is a bit inappropriate.

France is like this, and Americans who are busy competing with Spain are even less likely to respond to the appeal of the Japanese minister.

……………………

Five minutes sometimes are very long, and Yuyuki Ito feels like this now. The sea breeze in the severe winter is blowing from Siberia, and it is a biting cold. However, Yuyuki Ito's forehead is covered with sweat.

Yes, when Chen Congyun did not solve the Fujian problem, when the squadron did not return to aid, he could only be considered a little superior to the Japanese joint fleet and was not sure of winning. However, the same Japanese base camp was not fully prepared, and the Japanese joint fleet was not ready for the decisive battle against the Chinese Navy First Fleet. The provocation of the Chinese Navy First Fleet at this time was full of crisis and temptation for the Japanese Navy Province.

After learning that China's First Fleet was sailing off the coast of Japan, radicals within the Navy Province immediately began to clamor, "It is the right time to defeat the Chinese Navy, which did not come with all its strength."

Judging from the strength comparison between the two sides, the Chinese Navy has a total of fifteen warships, while the Japanese Navy can pull out 18 forces, with a total tonnage of 100,000 tons and a Japanese joint fleet of 90,000 tons. The gap is not big, so there are still opportunities.

"It can be determined according to the actual situation! If you fight or not, you can decide for yourself." This is the words of His Majesty himself who gave Ito Yukihiro himself before the joint fleet set out.

"Fight! Or not?" This is a question! It was a question that circled in Ito Yuki's mind for a full five minutes. The five minutes came soon, and Ito Yuki finally made a decision: "Retreat into Tsushima Strait!"

"Why retreat?" On the Yamato battleship, Hirahachiro Togo dragged his broken leg and looked coldly at the Chinese fleet opposite, sending flag words to Yuki Ito's flagship.

"Look at the true purpose of the Chinese fleet!" Yuki Ito replied.

"The Japanese fleet actually retreated!"

Liu Buchan couldn't believe the words of the messenger.

"The little Japanese is very arrogant. Go to the door and I will guarantee that I will face the challenge!" Chen Congyun's voice was still in his ears, but the Japanese fleet retreated to the Tsushima Strait.

"Nail chart!" Liu Buchan was almost roaring, and Sa Zhenbing next to him quickly handed over the Shanghai map. After Liu Buchan looked at it carefully for a while, he couldn't help but sneer: "It's a good plan!"

It turned out that the entrance on this side of the Tsushima Strait was relatively narrow, and once the first fleet entered, it would be difficult to expand the formation. After seeing Ito Yukihiro's intentions, Liu Buchan sneered and turned around and ordered: "Order the fleet to turn back and bypass Tsushima."

"The Chinese fleet actually retreated? It seems that they have no intention of a decisive battle." After making such a judgment, Yuki Ito hesitated for a moment and ordered: "Follow with caution!"

"The Japanese fleet has come out!"

The messenger's words made Liu Buchan stunned for a moment, and he couldn't help but sneer with sneer. He never thought that the Japanese Joint Fleet would dare to follow him.

"Send the order, slowly retreat and attract the other party to come out." When Liu Buchan gave the order, another sentence that Chen Congyun explained before going to war: "If the Japanese Combined Fleet refuses to fight, you can take the initiative to launch an attack. No matter what, the result I want is to cripple the Japanese Combined Fleet."

Unconsciously, the Japanese Joint Fleet followed the Chinese First Fleet out of the Tsushima Strait. Seeing that the Chinese First Fleet was about to leave the so-called Japanese "territorial waters". Suddenly, the First Fleet made an amazing move, collectively turned around, and set out a formation in the shape of "one". At this time, the distance between the two sides was about 10,000 meters. Almost as Yuki Ito learned that the Chinese fleet turned around, Liu Buchan ordered: "Go forward at full speed! Pull the alarm! Be prepared for battle!"

"Woo!" A harsh alarm sounded across the sea, at 11:20 am on December 28, 1898.

"No, the Chinese fleet is approaching our full speed!"

After Yuki Ito learned the news, his body shook violently. If it hadn't been to the timely support him, he would have almost been carried on the flybridge.

"Come on the battle!" At this time, there was obviously no way out. Once you retreat, you would not talk about the morale of the Japanese Navy. You should turn the rudder temporarily. If the Chinese First Fleet fires, the joint fleet has entered the range of the main gun of the Chinese battleship, and Yuki Ito dares not take risks.

"This is China's territorial waters. Please explain why the Japanese Combined Fleet is here and accept the inspection of our personnel on boarding the ship." Liu Buchan was very relieved when he issued this order. The "Gaosheng" incident during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 still deeply hurt the hearts of Liu Buchan and all the former generals of the Beiyang Navy.

"This is the high sea! We refuse to undergo the inspection!" Yuki Ito gritted his teeth and shouted fiercely. It was really uncomfortable to be ridden on his head and shit.

"Fire!" After receiving Ito Yuyuki's reply, Liu Buchan gave the order to fire the fire without any hesitation. The "Great Wall" and "Yellow River" ships made two dull loud noises at the same time at a distance of 8,000 meters. The vast sea surface was shaking slightly, and Liu Buchan showed a kind of excitement when a wolf saw food.

The five ships of the Yellow River, the Great Wall, Dingyuan, Zhenyuan and Jiyuan formed their own team, Feilong and Jiutian, and then separated them quickly and used an average of 20 knots to detour to the right side of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Yuki Ito's reaction was almost the same, with Yamato and Musashi as the core, plus ten old-style warships such as Nishikyomaru as their own team, and eight high-speed cruisers such as the Langsu were used as squadrons to fight against the fast squadron of the First Fleet.

Almost at the same time Liu Buchan ordered the firing, Japanese Minister Okino, asked to meet Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi, submitted a stern note saying: "In view of the provocative behavior of the Chinese fleet on the coast of Japan in recent days, if it is not terminated, the empire will respond strongly."

Tang Shaoyi took the note and went to Chen Congyun's office in person, and then reported to him to meet Chen Congyun.

"What is a strong reaction? Humph! I guess Liu Buchan is already impatient and has started fighting. He told the Japanese side that the Chinese government officially proposed to take back the territory of the Ryukyu Islands. If the Japanese side cannot accept it, we will resort to force."

What does it mean to be unreasonable, what does it mean to turn the tables? What does it mean to bully others with power? Now look at Chen Congyun's expression, you can understand the meaning of the above words. After the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Navy, which Chen Congyun worked hard to manage, did not use Japan's half-baked opponent to practice swords. Could it be to provoke European powers?

When Chen Congyun said this, the person he was most afraid of seeing was Hu Xueyan who came to the door with the abacus. When this kid's abacus sounded, Chen Congyun was like Sun Wukong being chanted with a tight spell. War is really expensive, but there is no need to fight and destroy the Japanese navy. Chen Congyun was really unsure. Judging from the current situation, there will be a war between China and Russia within a year. Indeed, the war against Russia and Japan can divert the resistance of some swing elements to the new China and have a diversion effect. However, the side effect is that Chen Congyun's control in the short term will be affected, but Chen Congyun can't even care about all this. With the fact that he will face Japan and Russia at the same time in the future, it is better to let the domestic clowns jump around for a few more days.

"Boom!" Two water columns rose high apart more than ten meters away from both sides of the Yamato. When Ito Yukihoku was not mentally prepared enough, the Chinese Navy took the initiative to challenge it. Ito Yukihoku, with a pale face, thought more about the war during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. That was the war that Japan took the initiative to impose on China on this voluntary basis. This time, it was completely overturned. This was really called a turn of feng shui. What made Ito Yukihoku even more painful was that in just a few years, the navy built by Chen Congyun used China's strong national strength and crazy loans to build a navy. If it was not a gambling war at this seemingly favorable opportunity, it would probably be that within three years that the Chinese Navy would leave the Japanese Navy far behind.

Fortunately, Chen Congyun also has no time, because once the Russians take action and a Russian Far East fleet, the Chinese Navy is also unconfident. Yuki Ito really wants to order the whole rudder to turn the rudder, but the losses caused by turning the rudder are unpredictable, let alone the temptation to defeat the Chinese Navy in front of him.

Musashi and Yamato's counterattack shells also landed on the sea around the Chinese fleet's flagship Great Wall. Huge water columns also covered the sky and the sky, and black smoke was densely covered with black smoke. The fast fleets of both sides were approaching the other side's flank at full speed, hoping to help our team with the firepower suppression of the previous round of rapid-fire cannons.

It is obvious that the wishes of both sides' squadrons have failed. When the opponent's team barely enters a range of five thousand meters, the fast fleet must be more wary of the same rapid-fire cannons on the other side.

Five thousand meters, the squadrons of both sides collided head-on, and quickly used side strings to attack the enemy, firing almost at the same time.

First of all, the old Japanese warship Nishikyo Maru was caught in the fire. To be precise, this warship was an armed merchant ship, and it was basically here to make up the numbers.

The main gun of the Great Wall fell under the mast of Xijing Maru. The 320 mm shell easily tore the Xijing Maru in half. More than 300 Japanese officers and soldiers died and injured nearly 100 others, and all the others became dogs who fell into the water.

With a "dong!", Yamato's main artillery hit Dingyuan's front deck and smashed a huge pit. Fortunately, German goods are more resistant to attack, and the flames that emerged were quickly extinguished by sailors and did not cause much damage.

Japanese warships were mainly purchased from Britain, while Chinese warships were mainly purchased from Germany. Speed ​​and defense. The British Navy advocated sacrificing defense to make up for speed, while the German Navy focused more on defense. At the same time, the German Navy tended to use mass to cover the quantity shortcomings in terms of confrontation with the British Navy. During the World War, the United Kingdom relied on its absolute quantity advantage to block the German Navy.

But the situation is a bit different now. The Japanese Navy does not have an advantage in gross tonnage. The defect of warships' insufficient defense capabilities is exposed faster. This is also the reason why Chen Congyun dared to take the initiative to start a war after separating four cruisers. (This can be regarded as driving a small gold finger.)

"The Great Wall and the Yellow River ships, concentrate their firepower and fight me with the flagship Yamato, the Japanese fleet." Liu Buchan's idea was to capture the thief and capture the king first. The same Yuki Ito was also giving the same order. The main guns of Yamato and Musashi were aimed at the Great Wall battleship at the same time.

"Boom!" The main guns on both sides opened fire one after another, and the Great Wall and Yamato were shot one after another.

The front main gun of the Great Wall was hit by the Yamato's main gun. The grenade failed to tear the thick armor, but the splashed shrapnel hit the bodies of the eight busy soldiers in front of the main gun, and instantly fell to the ground and wailed.

On the other hand, a shell of the Yellow River landed on the starboard side of the Yamato, and immediately destroyed a rapid-fire cannon, exploded a huge hole, and overturned more than 30 Japanese sailors.
Chapter completed!