The battle orders to attack the Japanese ships reached the Yueyang ship, Xiangyang ship, and the officers and soldiers of the two ships were all excited. In the cab of the bridge, Shi Zhi made a cheer, and some soldiers took off their military caps and threw them into the sky.

Because China was generally in a peaceful era before the passage, and there were basically no large-scale wars. Therefore, a large modern warship like the Yueyang ship had almost no chance of actual combat. Although China had escorted the Gulf of Aden and normalized the fight against pirates, the strength of the pirates was indeed too limited. When they saw the warship coming, they would basically escape consciously and would not fight with the warships at all. On the contrary, the Marines who traveled with the ship could also gain some limited practical combat opportunities in rescuing hostages, counter-terrorism, etc. For example, after this evacuation operation, the Marines fought a few battles with terrorist organizations after the Marines landed, but the Yueyang ship, which had strong combat power, could only do nothing in the port.

Just now, Luo Yue led the troops to the shore and immediately fought a solid battle with the Russian army. More than 40 Russian soldiers were killed in one battle. The news first reached the Yueyang ship. Although the officers and soldiers on the ship were happy, they were more envious. The opportunity to participate in actual combat like this is something that every officer and soldier on the ship had been looking forward to for a long time. When can they fight a good battle like the landing troops? Now the opportunity has finally come to the front. How can the officers and soldiers on the two warships not be excited! What's more, this time it's a Japanese warship, and the Chinese team never needs to be mobilized.

Wang Hailong, the captain of Yueyang ship, pounded heavily on the bridge's operating table and shouted: "Let's go and fight the Japanese. All departments will cheer me up and let the Japanese know how powerful we are. This battle is not only to win, but also to win beautiful things. We can't let the Marines compete with us."

Political Commissar Cai Ning said: "Captain, don't be careless. Don't forget that the headquarters has an order that they can only fight with enemy ships with naval guns. They cannot use anti-ship missiles unless they are absolutely necessary. In this way, our advantage will be greatly reduced, and our combat effectiveness may not be as good as the Xiangyang ship."

Deputy Fleet Chen Xiaojiang said: "Yes, I can't figure out why the headquarters issued such an order. If we use missiles, we will stop here and just launch missiles to kill Xiao Guizhi's ship."

Wang Hailong said: "All actions are subject to command. The headquarters has the consideration of the headquarters. We only have dozens of missiles, and one less one is needed to fight. It is really wasteful to use anti-ship missiles to deal with these small ships. We must keep them to fight large ships. We will definitely have a chance in the future. Just naval guns, and we can finally fight a battle quickly, so don't complain."

Cai Ning said: "Yes, this battle is just an appetizer. Since we have traveled to this era, we will not worry about no war. Let's try it with a naval gun first. Besides, the headquarters does not mean that we must not use missiles, but we can save a little."

Wang Hailong nodded, turned to the radar work area, and said, "Where is Xiao Guizhi's fleet there, how far is it from us."

The radar observer is a female soldier Liu Sitong, who said: "Report to the captain, the enemy ship is in the southwest of ours, with a straight line distance of 23.8 kilometers."

Wang Hailong said: "Turn immediately, the speed is 18 knots, the target Japanese fleet, all departments are ready to fight, tell Xiangyang ships, let them keep up, and be ready to fight."

According to the navy's usual order, when a warship formation consisting of more than two warships and without a flagship or a commander of a formation, the two captains who have high ranks will automatically become the formation commander. When the ranks of the same ranks are the same, it depends on the qualifications. The captain of the Yueyang ship Wang Hailong is the rank of colonel and the rank of the regiment, while the captain of the Xiangyang ship Xie Fuzhan is the rank of lieutenant colonel and the deputy regiment. Therefore, when the Yueyang ship and the Xiangyang ship form a temporary formation, the Yueyang ship Wang Hailong is the rank of commander of the formation.

The two warships turned an arc on the sea, one in front and one behind, and headed towards the Japanese fleet.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was only more than 20 kilometers, and the speed of 18 knots was about 33 kilometers per hour. Therefore, in less than half an hour, the distance between the two sides was closer to within ten kilometers. During this period, the Yueyang ship and the Xiangyang ship were also ready for combat. The main gun, secondary gun, anti-ship missile, and air defense missile were all removed, and the fire control radar of the ship gun was also turned on to aim at the enemy ship.

At this distance, as long as the visibility on the sea is not bad, you can basically discover each other with the naked eye, not to mention the telescope. Therefore, the lookouts on the Japanese warship had long discovered the Yueyang ship and the Xiangyang ship. They immediately reported to the captain of the Akitsushi Captain Colonel Iwazhi and found a strange ship.

Although the Akitsutsu was a meritorious warship that won the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, due to the rapid development of naval technology in this era, the Akitsutsutsu was indeed out of date at this time. It was listed as a second-class cruiser by the Japanese Navy in 1898. The current captain, Colonel Iwaki, had just taken over as the captain of the Akitsutsutsutsu before this mission.

The number of people participating in the Eight-Nation Alliance this time was the largest number of troops sent by Japan, with a total of nearly 20,000 troops. The commander-in-chief was Lieutenant General Yamaguchi Sumo, the commander of the Fifth Division, while the Navy dispatched a huge fleet with the commander of the standing fleet, the commander of the standing fleet, the commander of the Takabashi, the Kasakaya, the Chitose, the Yoshino, the Akitsuki, the Suma, the Akishishi, the Akishi, the Akishi, the Akishi, the Akishi, the Akishi, the Akishi, the Asami gunboat Atoto, the Shin-chishi, the Shin-bian, and the twelve warships.

However, although the Japanese fleet is the largest among the Eight-Nation Alliance in terms of quantity, except for the Takapan, the rest of the warships are second- and third-level warships in the Japanese fleet. Among them, the Shallow Water Cannonboat Zhenzhong and Zhenbian were still in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The warships of the Japanese captured Beiyang Navy were directly incorporated into the Japanese fleet without even changing their name. This was mainly because the Qing court's navy was too weak and it was not worth dispatching the main warships. The number of warships in the other three countries was not large, but they all sent a battleship.

At this time, the Eight-Nation Alliance had already invaded Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu had escaped from the capital, and the Qing court had no resistance now. Therefore, the Eight-Nation Alliance also believed that the achievement was completed and had achieved a comprehensive victory. The remaining thing was how to punish the Qing court at the negotiating table and demand more compensation. So the main warships of various countries also left Dagukou, leaving only some small ships to berth at Dagukou.

In the early battles, the Japanese army also looted a large amount of money and supplies, and the huge fleet remained in Dagukou without any use. So Hirahachiro Togo decided to lead five warships, Takasaki, Kasai, Chitose, and Yoshino, to escort the robbed money and supplies back to the country, leaving behind the Akitsushi, Suma, Akishi, Atoto, Ryuta, and Zhenzhong, and Zhenbian continued to berth at Dagukou. Because among the remaining battleships, Colonel Iwasaki, the captain of the Akitsushi, the captain of the Akitsushishi, the highest qualification, the remaining fleet took the Akitsushishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishishi

However, although the Beiyang Navy's main warship "Five Seas" fled to Shanghai and participated in the "Southeast Mutual Protection", it still left certain hidden dangers for the Eight-Nation Alliance. Although the "Five Seas" are all protective cruisers and are not strong in combat, they are new in age, fast in speed, and familiar with the sea terrain, so they cannot be underestimated. What if there is a sudden attack on the "Five Seas"? So the Eight-Nation Alliance's warships took turns patrolling the sea surface of Dagukou to prevent accidents. Today it happened to be Japan's turn. Because the Zhenzhong and the two shallow-water gunboats of the Zhenbian were relatively long in age and were slow in speed, they did not bring these two ships on this patrol.

After receiving the lookout's report, Colonel Iwasaki was so excited that he immediately picked up the monocular lens and looked in the direction indicated by the lookout.

It turned out that although Iwasaki Master Iwasaki was the captain of the Akitsushi, he had ambition to add glory to this meritorious warship. This time, he came to China with Hirahachiro Togo. Iwasaki Master Iwasaki Master Iwasaki was very hopeful to fight another battle with the Beiyang Fleet, and to make another military contribution for Japan like the predecessors who participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and also accumulate capital for himself for promotion.

It turned out that Japan had formulated the "Decade-Year Plan for Naval Development" known as the "Sixth Fleet", that is, in ten years, it would establish a main warship with six battleships and six armored cruisers as the core. As early as before the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in order to fight against the Beiyang Navy's Dingyuan, the two ships of Zhenyuan ordered two new 12,000-ton battleships from Britain: Fuji and Yashima. However, because the ordering time was too late, neither of these two battleships were completed when the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 started, they did not catch up with the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. It was not until the end of 1897 that the two battleships were delivered to Japan and became the first warships of the "Sixth Fleet".

In 1896, Japan customized two armored cruisers Asama and Tobaya to Britain, which were delivered at the end of 1899. The battleships Shikishima and Hatsuse were just delivered at the beginning of the year, and the Hatsusema was still under construction.

In addition, Japan has customized an armored cruiser Yakumo and Yoshi from Germany and France. It has also ordered two battleships Asahi, Mikasa, two armored cruisers Izumo and Iwasaki from Britain. In this way, the "Six Six Fleet" has been gathered. At present, Japan has received five of them, and seven are still under construction and will be gradually delivered to Japan within the next two or three years.

The captains who participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 were all promoted. The commander of the then commander Yuxiangji Ito entered the Navy headquarters. The captain of the Langsuo, Togo Heihachiroji, was appointed as the commander of the standing fleet, and the worst was the commander of the squadron. Therefore, the captains of the "Six Six Fleet" were selected among the captains of the Later Jin Dynasty.

The remaining seven main warship captains were naturally selected from the current captains of the second-class cruisers. Iwasaki Master of course hoped that he could win a place. After all, commanding a 10,000-ton warship and commanding a 3,000-ton warship are naturally very different.

However, if you want to compete for these seven places, you naturally have to come up with some real information. The most convincing thing is the record. Unfortunately, after the fleet drove from Japan to Dagukou, it did not meet a Qing warship. After arriving at Dagukou, I found out that the Beiyang Navy had fled to Shanghai, which disappointed Colonel Iwasaki. Fortunately, before Hirahachiro Togo left, he appointed Iwasaki as the commander of the Japanese fleet stationed in Dagukou, which gave Iwasaki a little comfort. After all, being a fleet commander is not easy even if it is just a temporary fleet.
Chapter completed!