When the rear main gun of the Laiyuan was knocked off, the battle between the squadron led by the Zhenhai and the Russian fleet was completely unbalanced! It wouldn't take long for Laiyuan and Jiyuan to collapse, and then the battle between the two new Russian warships

Under the attack, it was only a matter of time before the Zhenhai was destroyed. But at this time, the arrival of the Zhiyuan brought the already tilted balance back a little!

It has to be said that Sir William White's design products are still very good. From a purely technical point of view, in 1887, it was possible to mount three 210-meter guns and four 150-meter guns on a battleship of over 2,000 tons, and it was guaranteed to have

A speed of more than 18 knots and relatively good seaworthiness plus 2 to 4 inches

Dome Armor, this Xing was definitely considered top-notch at the time! (Because Beiyang had no money, two 150mm guns were missing when buying it.) When the Zhiyuan had three 8-inch guns and two 6-inch guns on the side string,

When entering the battle, the superb quality and relatively stronger firepower of the sailors on the Zhiyuan rebalanced the situation.

"Damn it, why haven't the two slow guys at the back come up yet?" Captain Evanski of the Pearl cursed in a low voice. Just one minute ago, two 8-inch high-explosive bombs hit the Pearl's

On the poop, another shot hit the bottom of a 6-inch gun. Although the heavy armor blocked the shot,

hit, but the huge vibration and burning still disabled the bomb hoist under the gun emplacement! As the number of hits increased, the fire on the battleship tended to expand further. Although the key parts were protected by armor, it could still be restored in a short time.

There is no threat, but the rest of the battleship will be burned to ashes!

"Sir, what do you see behind you?" Just as the Beiyang Fleet gradually returned to the situation, a messenger pointed at two blurry figures that suddenly appeared on the sea behind him and said.

"Oh no, the Russian reinforcements have arrived!" Shen Shouchang secretly screamed in his heart. The two shadows in the distance are definitely not Xu Jie's fleet, and they are most unlikely to be Lin Yongsheng's fleet. Master Lin's fleet will not be so slow. Master Xu

The battleships will not be that small! The only possibility is the two slow ships of the Russians! Now the Beiyang Fleet itself is already at a disadvantage, and with the addition of two ships, the Beiyang Fleet front is likely to collapse immediately!

"What should we do?" At the same time that Jiyuan discovered the other party, Ye Zusi and Ding Heqian on the Zhenhai also discovered the two battleships. Once the other party joins the battle, the outcome will be disastrous.

A heavy cold sweat flowed from Ye Zusi's head. For a moment, he didn't know what to do!

"Keep holding on and wait a few more minutes! Maybe the situation will change!" Ye Zusi took a deep breath and said.

"Old Ye, you might not be able to run away if you wait any longer!" Ding Zheqian said in a panic.

"Our speed is not fast enough. If we leave now, not only the four Zhenhai ships may not be able to escape, but Dingyuan and Zhenyuan in front may also be flanked! At that time, it will be all over." Ye Zusi paused and continued.

: "If we can ensure the stability of the front, at least before we collapse, the Beiyang Fleet will not be completely wiped out! There may be a chance to evacuate from Dingzhen."

Because the Beiyang Fleet's main team had different entry positions and weather factors, Ye Zusi didn't know that Dingyuan and Zhenyuan at this time were worse than the three battleships led by Zhenhai! But Ye Zusi's decision brought

The impact was huge. Because Zhenhai and other four ships persisted in fighting, the position

The four Russian warships at the rear of the battle line were unable to quickly rendezvous with the Rurik and Bayan. In naval battles, fighter planes were fleeting. Precisely because of the time delay, the 3rd ship Guiyuan could attack with almost no external force.

In case of interference, Rurik will be injured, causing him to temporarily withdraw from the battle due to the fire.

The damage to the Rurik caused Makanov to misjudge the situation. A fire broke out on the Rurik, and the Bayan was damaged. Moreover, Lin Yongsheng's fleet had already arrived, and Xu Jie's fleet might arrive at any time.

Under such circumstances, the evacuation order was issued without knowing the battle situation of the rear fleet. This is understandable in itself. And because of all this, the Beiyang Fleet finally avoided suffering a heavier blow!

"Sir, the Laiyuan ship and the Jiyuan ship broke away from the array and began to move towards the Russian reinforcement fleet!" At this moment, the messenger said loudly.

"What?" Ye Zusi and Ding Zheqian were shocked, and hurriedly ran to the observation hole and looked behind them. They saw that the Laiyuan and Jiyuan, which had lost their rear main guns, simultaneously raised the flag: "Everyone, try your best.

I'll take the first step." Then, Laiyuan and Jiyuan left the battle line and sailed toward the two Russian cruisers behind them.

"They are buying time for us!" Ding Zheqian's heart suddenly tightened. He knew that the Laiyuan and Jiyuan were seeking death. Although the remaining Zhenhai and Zhiyuan had to face each other.

For two 7,000-ton cruisers from various countries, the Turquoise and the Pearl

They have been fighting for a long time. Especially the Pearl behind them, it was not a big problem at first with one against two. But when the Zhiyuan joined, the picric acid high-explosive bombs of the three battleships burned the latter's unprotected area. The combat effectiveness was temporary.

There has been a decline. So Zhiyuanhao itself is not too dangerous.

But the two Russian warships that came up behind have not suffered any blows. One of them is a 5,000-ton cruiser, and the other is a 3,000-ton cruiser. The former has 12 6-inch guns. The latter has 6-inch guns!

All the artillery in Laiyuan and Jiyuan only have 4 8-inch guns and 1

A 6-inch gun. The Russians had an overwhelming advantage in firepower! Although the Russian ships were older, the Laiyuan and Jiyuan had been damaged in the naval battle, and they could not outrun these two old ships in terms of speed.

It can be said that once the two sides fight, the outcome has been decided before the fight.

Faced with an almost certain death, the Laiyuan and Jiyuan did not show a trace of hesitation! The two veterans of the Beiyang Fleet dragged their broken bodies and struggled forward in the waves, using their thin bodies to fight against them.

The Russian warship is far more powerful than your own! Use your own life and the blood of your officers and soldiers to fight for a chance for the Beiyang Fleet to survive! Even if it is just a few dozen minutes!

"For victory, nothing can be sacrificed. The Pingyuan, Jingyuan, and Jingyuan have left us. Because of their persistence, the Beiyang Fleet has won one victory after another. Now it is our turn

Well, naturally we can't let the martyrs laugh?" Qiu Baoren said rather self-deprecatingly.

In just ten minutes, the battle between the Beiyang Fleet and the slowest warship in the Russian fleet officially kicked off! As soon as the battle began, a dense rain of bullets hit Laiyuan and Jiyuan, making them unable to lift their heads. Every shot

When she fires an 8-inch shell, the opponent will fire back with more than eight 6-inch shells. Although the Russians' precision is not high, their high enough fire speed completely makes up for it.

"Let's fight." Faced with this situation, Shen Shouchang glanced at the Laiyuan, which was also struggling in the hail of bullets. "Leave the queue, let's launch a torpedo attack!" The messenger next to him nodded, turned around and ran away, with no trace of trace on his face.

fear and hesitation. A few minutes later, the Jiyuan broke away from the formation again.

It cut across to the Russian fleet not far away. The stokers in the boiler room worked hard to fill the boiler with coal. Coupled with the large amount of air sent in by the forced ventilation, the speed of the Jiyuan was raised to the maximum! It was like a flying string.

Like an arrow, it rushed towards the Admiral Korninov in the Russian fleet!

"Madman, this is simply a madman!" The Russians cursed and tried to avoid it. At the same time, almost all the available rapid-fire guns on the two battleships were aimed at the Jiyuan. The shells of the 6-inch gun and 3-pounder gun were as follows It fell like rain. As the distance got closer, more and more shells fell on the deck of Jiyuan! The fragile hull could no longer withstand such intensive blows. It was not the sound of metal breaking and the sound of metal cracking on the deck. The fire indicates that this old ship, which is more than 10 years old, finally cannot support it!

Finally, the twin 8-inch guns on the bow of the Jiyuan were hit by three 6-inch guns in a few seconds, and the entire gun cover was blown to pieces. The two 8-inch guns finally stopped roaring. One was bombed. Split into two pieces, the flying half of the gun barrel smashed a big hole in the front deck of the Jiyuan. The gun mount of the other 8-inch gun was destroyed, and the gun rolled down from the gun mount.

"It's almost." Shen Shouchang looked at the enemy ship less than 500 meters away, his eyes full of regret. Although the distance was not far away, Jiyuan had no chance. There were too many bullets in the bow, and the dense 6 The 3-inch shell almost destroyed the entire bow of Jiyuan, and a large amount of seawater poured in from the breach. No matter how hard the damage control personnel tried, the Jiyuan could not move forward even half a step. Then, the bow slowly sank. Going down, the tail is raised high and the propeller is still turning unwillingly, but the outcome is certain.

"Shall we continue shooting?" a Russian officer asked.

"Forget it, the other side has already sunk, and it is against international practice for her to shoot down people overboard." Ivanovich, the captain of the Admiral Korninov, shook his head and said, a real navy has to be admired by everyone. War The purpose has been achieved, then there is no need for unnecessary killing. This view is very different among the Russian fleet, but Ivanovich still gave up the idea of ​​massacring the drowned soldiers.

"Another Qing Dynasty ship is also going to launch a collision tactic!" At this moment, the Laiyuan also turned on its power and rushed over! "It seems that we are fighting a group of desperadoes! They don't understand tactics at all!" A staff officer said through gritted teeth.

"Avoid, keep distance." Ivanovich said calmly. At this time, Pingyuan's speed could not be increased. As long as he kept distance, he could destroy his opponent with naval guns.

"Mr. Captain, the Pearl in front suddenly sent a signal, requesting the fleet to evacuate!" At this moment, the deputy captain pointed to the light signal emitted by the Pearl in the distance and said.

"What happened? Did the Beiyang Fast Fleet feel it?" Ivanovich looked at the Pearl in the distance and said to himself. At this moment, the Turquoise gave up its entanglement with the Zhenhai and broke away at high speed. And the Pearl The USS also stopped shelling the Reach and followed the Turquoise to leave the battlefield.

"It seems something has happened. Let's go without delaying for a minute." Ivanovich ordered.

"But the Laiyuan is about to be sunk!" an officer objected.

"If we don't leave, we may not be able to leave." Ivanovich ignored the other party's opinions and continued to order. He had a hunch that the battle had just begun!
Chapter completed!